star hunter

It's a weird place.

After finishing the bowl of porridge, Ren Jie finally had some strength in his body. He didn't want to continue lying down, so he ignored Yirou's obstruction and went out on his own. He wanted to find that strange old man.

Hearing the news of his mother's death suddenly, Ren Jie's first reaction was naturally to ask clearly, but the old man's mouth was locked suddenly, and he only said "I will know when I should know" perfunctorily. Then he left like oiling his feet, leaving only the depth bomb-like news that tortured him to death.

"Ren Jie!" Yirou called him behind his back, but Ren Jie didn't seem to have heard of it. He stepped out of the door, and what he faced was a biting cold wind, even mixed with a piece of crystal snowflakes, icy cold. on his cheek.

Ren Jie stared at the vast white snow, and was stunned.

He had a feeling of memory confusion, as if he had returned to the cold winter a few months ago, but it was only a blink of an eye, and soon he came back to his senses - the ice and snow have long passed, and now it is clearly the season of spring and flowers blooming , why is it snowing here again?

"It's very cold outside." A piece of clothing was draped over his shoulders, Ren Jie turned his head, Yi Rou stood there pale and haggard.

"Where is this?" He asked softly, Yirou looked outside, eyes full of confusion: "I don't know... I've been worried about you for the past two days, and I haven't been out much... But I can be sure, I I must have never been here before.”

Ren Jie began to look around. The place they were in was a row of old-fashioned one-story houses. The door and walls were covered with mottled marks, which could be seen for many years; Trees were planted, probably due to the weather, the four trees were all bare, their intertwined branches stretched out to the sky alone and helplessly, and the whole yard was covered with thick snow, which looked extremely sparse.

As for the farther places, as far as the eye can see, it is almost filled with snow. After staring for a long time, the outline of the building can be vaguely distinguished from the uniform whiteness.

Observing this, Ren Jie finally determined that he also felt very strange about this place.

He wanted to continue walking out, but Yirou grabbed his arm: "You don't wear too much, why don't you go out?"

But Ren Jie didn't intend to follow her advice, he gently pushed her hand away, stubbornly went down the stairs, and stepped onto the yard.

Yirou sighed and followed.

Hearing footsteps, Ren Jie paused: "It's cold outside, you go back to the house."

Yirou didn't say a word, but her pace didn't stop.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of her shrinking her hands and feet struggling to move forward in the snow, and immediately softened. Holding his hand, the two of them walked forward slowly.

He also chased her before and asked He Huiqiong what happened, but Yirou didn't know what happened. Ren Jie believed that she was concealing it on purpose, maybe the original intention was for his own good, but he still felt resentful inevitably.

He was uncharacteristically indifferent, and Yirou naturally felt it. Her mouth was bitter, but she couldn't justify herself.

Because she did have something to hide.

They left four uneven footprints in the snow. When they walked out of the yard, Yirou accidentally sprained her ankle in the snow. Ren Jie held her arm hard, Only then can stand firm.

He was somewhat distressed, stretched out his hand to straighten her temples that were blown by the north wind, and said helplessly: "Then you can at least tell me what happened after I passed out? How did we come to this place?"

Yirou also knew that she couldn't keep silent forever, and she didn't want the cold war between them to continue.

"Three nights ago, your mother sent you to my residence, and you were already unconscious at that time." Her voice was fluttered by the biting wind, "She sent you to Me, let me take care of you."

Ren Jie frowned: "What happened after that? Where did she go?"

Yirou lowered her head: "I really don't know... I asked, but she didn't tell me... You know, she doesn't like me very much."

Ren Jie can probably imagine the scene at that time. With his mother's personality, he would indeed feel impatient with Yirou's questioning.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Yirou continued to say: "Later... the old man appeared just now. He seems to be an old acquaintance with your mother. They talked a few words, but they deliberately avoided me. Understand the content of the conversation... Their conversation was very short, and then the old man walked towards me. I was a little scared at the time, so I asked him who he was, and he ignored me, just put his hand on my forehead, and then my mind went Turned into a blank, and when consciousness came back, we were already here."

Ren Jie was shocked.

"I think..." Yirou said in a low voice, "She should have made some kind of agreement with that old man."

Ren Jie held his breath involuntarily: "Agreement?"

"I don't know the details, but it should be some kind of exchange... The old man is responsible for protecting you, and as a price, she will do something."

He clasped her thin shoulders tightly: "What's the matter?"

Yirou was obviously in pain, she shook her head with difficulty: "I don't know."

Her words once again made Ren Jie's restlessness that had been suppressed with great difficulty come back, but after touching Yirou's pale face, he let go suddenly, and quickly turned his back: "I'm sorry, I just..."

Yirou looked at his back and said in a low voice, "I know, it's okay."

After a while, Ren Jie sorted out his emotions, turned around, and continued to pull her forward.

Along the way, they passed many similar dwellings, which looked like a residential area, but without exception, the doors were closed, there was not even a piece of laundry to dry, and there was no smoke or smoke.So far, they haven't seen the shadow of the third person, including that mysterious old man.

"Is it an abandoned no-man's land?" Ren Jie walked along the path between the houses, feeling that the place was too cold and secluded. Apart from their footsteps, there was only the sound of the wind, and they didn't see any living things. , even if it is a dog or a cat, not to mention, the trees here are all dead.

Even the flying snow dancing in the sky is full of treacherous meaning.

He once wondered if this would be Xicheng, but even if it was the isolated area of ​​Xicheng, it would not be left out like this, at least there would still be aliens.

Absolute silence can easily cause uneasiness, Yirou subconsciously leans towards him: "Will those things suddenly come out?"

"Those things" in the "isolated island" generally refer to alien species. If they are really alien species, Ren Jie can rest assured that there is a specific target to attack, which is better than unknown existence.

Although the current physical condition is still not very good, it is not impossible to protect Yirou.

He clenched her hand even harder: "don't be afraid, nothing will happen to you."

Yirou gave a "hmm", and then murmured to herself, "I won't let you have any accidents either."

Of course Ren Jie didn't take this seriously, his attention was still scattered in the mysterious environment, guarding against everything around him like walking on thin ice.

After they turned left and turned a corner, the road continued to extend straight, but they soon found that the end of the road was coming, because there was a circle of railings tens of meters away.

After getting closer, you can vaguely see the red paint on the metal from under the covered snow. The paint color is dull, and many places have peeled off, revealing the rusty surface.

Behind the railing is a huge, sunken area similar to a rift. The terrain is obviously lower than the sides, and the end is invisible at a glance. It looks like a dry river, but at this time there is snow piled up, and no one can see that it is a What's the situation.

With no other choice, they could only follow the direction of the railing.

After walking for a while, Ren Jie suddenly found a sign standing a few meters ahead. There seemed to be handwriting on it, but it was completely invisible due to the snow.

"That's..." Yirou also noticed, they looked at each other, quickened their pace tacitly, and soon came to the sign.

Ren Jie quickly patted off the covered snow with his hands. It must have been frozen for a long time. After the snow fell, there was a thin layer of ice on it. Fortunately, it did not affect the viewing.

A line of words on the header is written in red oil paint, and the font is deliberately bold, which is particularly eye-catching - the beacon living area.

"Benghuo...living area?" Ren Jie chewed on these words, always feeling a little familiar.

Say the rest softly.

"Fenghuo Machinery Factory (formerly State-owned No. [-] Factory) is a military enterprise established in [-] according to the decision of the central government. More than [-] cadres, employees, and family members come from all over the country to contribute to the construction of national defense in our country. "

Ren Jie gasped, he finally remembered where he had heard the name "Fenghuo".

From the mouth of his father Ren Yan.

Ren Yan was a high-level member of the Administration Bureau before his death, and he had heard about the secret that the Administration Bureau had pursued for many years: Mengchuan used to be a famous military industrial center. After the unexpected disaster broke out, chaos and crisis As a result, the large amount of guns and ammunition stored in the military factory naturally made all parties covetous.But what is strange is that this piece of cake that everyone coveted disappeared overnight, with the cake box along with it.

Fenghuo Machinery Factory is the military factory that disappeared.

He still remembered that when he was a child, he heard this place name more than once from Ren Yan's mouth, and his tone was full of regret and regret, but after so many years, the Management Bureau failed to track down any clues about Fenghuo, so he simply gave up. Yan didn't mention it anymore, and this place gradually faded from Ren Jie's memory.

He never thought that one day, he would appear in this factory that had disappeared for more than 20 years.

It turns out that it really exists, but if that is the case, why has no one found it for so many years?

Ren Jie couldn't understand it.