Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 361 Sun Source Ceremony
When Chen Chuan drove to the scene, Ren Shu and his team had already arrived. They also met an officer sent by the Government Affairs Office who was in charge of this matter.

This person, who heard that Chen Chuan came from the central city and was an executor of the general bureau, was very polite and said that the scene was under good control. It had been cordoned off by the local security team since the incident was reported, and no one had entered until now.

After talking with him, Chen Chuan asked Ren Shu and others to wait outside, and then he went into the hotel where the expedition team was staying temporarily.

The twelve members of the expedition team were divided into five rooms. The team members lived in four of them, the wealthy businessman who invested the money lived in a separate room, and the two security guards lived in one. For the sake of protection, the two rooms were next to each other.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but twelve years ago, a wealthy businessman also came here with two private security guards and nine expedition members. So when these three people first came out, no one thought it was wrong.

After all, they all wear goggles, and foreigners all look exactly the same in the eyes of many people.

If it weren't for the strange incident that happened later, no one would care about what happened to them, and after knowing the truth, they would at most treat it as a curious story.

Chen Chuanxian walked around the rooms of all the missing members of the expedition team and found no signs of the second me becoming virtual.

Next, he focused on checking the three people who had turned into dry bones. He also found nothing on the two team members, but when checking the rich businessman's things, he suddenly felt something was wrong. At this time, the second me showed slight signs of weakness, but this slight sign hardly caused any harm to the human body.

He flipped it over and found that the source of the sign was an amulet, on which was depicted a statue of a person with his arms clasped, squatting, wearing bird feathers on his head, and a sun behind him.

He was unsure of the origin of this thing, so he put it aside and checked other objects. But there was one thing he found very strange, because there was almost no written record left by the entire expedition team.

This is a bit unusual. For an expedition like this, in addition to recording the location, feature type, size and shape of the cave, you should at least record the route and environmental conditions, as well as any noteworthy points. At the very least, you need a map and relevant reference materials.

But now there is nothing. Could it have been left in the cave?

He checked it carefully again and finally found something strange on the waterproof bag he was carrying. He turned it over and found a lot of vortex-shaped patterns inside. He couldn't help but have some ideas in his mind. He sorted out his things, walked out, and said to the officer:
"I need these personal data, including the data of the expedition team twelve years ago."

"no problem."

The clerk agreed readily and soon handed him the sorted information.

Chen Chuan looked through it and found that the investor of the expedition team this time was the son of the wealthy businessman from twelve years ago.

The relationship between these two people as father and son is definitely not a coincidence, but rather an inexplicable connection.

Therefore, this abnormal situation is most likely not some strange talk, but rather some kind of esoteric ritual.

He couldn't make a complete conclusion, but fortunately there were professionals, so he immediately called Director Lei using the hotel's phone and explained the situation here.

After listening to his analysis, Director Lei said, "Your guess makes sense. I'll bring someone over right away."

After waiting for more than an hour, people from the Esoteric Cult Inspection Bureau arrived and took over all matters.

Director Lei looked at the amulet and the waterproof bag that Chen handed over and said, "Student Chen, you are right, these people are indeed followers of the Esoteric Sect.

The Frobergian religion they believe in is translated as Yang Worship. Although it is an orthodox belief allowed abroad, it is strictly prohibited in China. "

"Waiyang Cult?" Chen Chuan thought for a moment, "This cave is called Luoyang Cave. Is there any connection between the two?"

Director Lei said in a deep voice: "These people are likely to use this place to hold the Sun Source Ceremony."

He explained, "The so-called Sun Source Ceremony is that the followers of the Yang Worship Cult believe that the sun reincarnates once every twelve years, and during the reincarnation, they can steal the power of life and true nature from the dark places where the sun cannot reach.

The followers of this sect highly respect the number twelve, and the team formed this time is exactly twelve people, but the ritual requires life sacrifice, so there should be many of them used as sacrifices for the ritual. "

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Among the people who came up this time, there are only the rich businessman himself and two security guards. If that's the case, then the other explorers are the sacrifices?"

Director Lei said: "Judging from the number of people and the composition of the ritual, this should be the case. This time they may have made a mistake in some step during the ritual, or were affected by some extra factors, so problems occurred. Not only did they fail to obtain the power they wanted, but they also caused their own deaths." At this point, his expression became serious, "But if it were just this, there is another issue that needs special attention. Anyone who holds a Sun Source Ritual must carry a special ritual material. This thing is very important. It is the core of the ritual, called the Sun Wheel Stone.

This thing is very valuable, and all countries prohibit its export. Its specific purpose is unknown, but it is dangerous and will have a serious impact on the people and animals around it. So if possible, we have to find a way to bring it out. If we can't find it, we have to find a way to seal off this area and report it to the higher-ups for handling."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "Director Lei, this cave is very dangerous. It is well-known in Yangzhi. It is difficult for ordinary people to enter and exit normally. Let me do this."

When walking in underground caves, you will encounter many dangerous situations. Most people will get injured or even die if they are not careful, but these are not a problem for him.

Director Lei thought for a moment and said seriously, "Okay, Xiao Chuan, I won't be polite with you. I'll leave this matter to you."

He knew that this was the right thing to do. His team was very professional in esoteric rituals, but if they entered the cave to look for things, they would be no different from ordinary people. It would be better to ask Chen Chuan for help. The survival ability of a third-level fighter was definitely not something that ordinary people could compare to.

If Chen Chuan can't do it, then almost no one in Yangzhi City can do it.

He quickly took out some papers, noted the possible composition of the ceremony, and some points that needed special attention, and handed them to Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan took it and wrote it down carefully, then made some preparations, mainly bringing some water and nutrient paste, as well as a lighting lamp and necessary tools, and then walked into the cave under the gaze of everyone.

He had been to the front section of the road a few days ago. It was relatively wide, the gravel on the ground had been cleared, and the light was still relatively bright. But after passing this section, the road became narrower and narrower, and the light gradually dimmed, making it inconvenient to walk, so he turned on his headlamp.

Because so many people had been there before, and the traces of people's footsteps were very obvious to him, so he just had to follow them.

He had originally made preparations to overcome all the difficulties, but when he actually started to do it, he found it was unusually simple. Where there was a place that required climbing, he could just jump up; where there was a high place, he could just jump down; where there was a corner, he could just turn around lightly; it was not an obstacle at all.

In fact, the biggest difficulty is still the lighting problem.

Not to mention the searchlight, he also possessed keen senses. Even without using his eyes to see, he could feel the way ahead based on temperature, airflow and sound feedback, not to mention the traces left by humans. So he moved very fast and penetrated more than two miles in less than five minutes.

He found several man-made rest stops on the road and also found a package discarded at the bottom of a pothole. He found information inside. He didn't have time to look at it carefully, so he took it with him and continued to explore inside.

After going about two kilometers deeper, he finally came to a fairly spacious cave. The ground here was relatively flat, with a top height of about seven or eight meters, and a space of roughly three to four hundred square meters.

After just scanning the area with the headlight, he looked in the middle with his eyes slightly fixed. There were people kneeling there in a circle, about twenty in number, and there were many scattered bones on the ground.

He walked over there and found that most of the kneeling people were mummies. Only three of them were breathing so weakly that it was difficult to detect, just like animals in hibernation. They were wrapped in a layer of cloth with dense ritual symbols painted on it with bright red paint.

He ignored the three people and looked directly at the enclosed ground, which also had ritual symbols on it. By comparing it with the temporary drawing given to him by Director Lei, he could confirm that this was the "Riyuan Ritual".

In the very middle, there is a pit on the ground with a strange stone in it. The stone is red, but more like a crystal. When light shines on it, it seems that the inside of it is glowing slightly. It should be the Sun Stone that Director Lei mentioned.

Chen Chuan took a quick look and after confirming the surrounding situation, he walked over there.

As he approached the ritual circle, especially when approaching the Sun Stone, signs of virtualization began to appear on his body. The closer he got, the greater the degree of virtualization. When he reached the center, the degree of impact he suffered was no less than that of an ordinary ghost story.

Just when he was about to pick up this thing, the Xuejun Sword he was carrying began to vibrate slightly, and at the same time, wisps of white mist emerged and surrounded the red stone. However, this situation only lasted for a moment, and the mist quickly retracted.

At the same time, Chen Chuan noticed that the originally strong signs of emptiness had suddenly weakened, almost to a harmless level.

……

……

(End of this chapter)