Urban Oddities: Soul Contract

Chapter 25 Ghost Mountain Maze

Du Jiajun's words made general Chu feel inexplicably nervous. If the stone carving is not Zhenshan, what is it for?Just thinking about it, Du Jiajun signaled: "Take a look over there."

The light moved over, and not far away, there was a faintly probing person.

It was exactly the same as the stone carving, but it was so shattered that only half of the head was left hanging from the fibrous root.

Du Jiajun peeled off that half of the head, and there was no human-shaped shell. From a distance, the entangled fibrous roots looked like big tree burrs protruding from the trunk. After walking more than ten meters, they found another tree with big burls.

"This is a formation." Du Jiajun knocked on the trunk, feeling more certain in his heart, "And it's still a sleepy formation!"

General Chu Gan was surprised: "The formation is difficult? Could it be to protect something in the mountains?"

Du Jiajun took a branch and drew a circle on the ground: "If the things in the mountain are important, there must be more than one formation of this kind." Outside the circle, another big circle was drawn, "The position we are in is just a trapped formation." just the periphery."

Chu Gan will drop a stone in the center of the circle thoughtfully.

Huo Minghai tilted his head and looked. He didn't know much about formations, but he thought it should be similar to a sheep pen. He took a chalk and drew a sheep on the stone.

Chu Gan held his forehead: "It's a good metaphor."

Du Jiajun nodded: "Now the sheep can't get out, and people outside can't get in either."

Chu Ganjiang felt that there was something in his words, and was about to ask what he meant, when a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, Chu Ganjiang froze suddenly.

The meaning of Du Jiajun's words is very clear.

The trap blocks outsiders and protects the things in the mountains.

Du Jiajun turned the side of the stone with the sheep on it facing down, and Chu Gan raised his head to meet Du Jiajun's eyes.

If the sheep in the sheepfold are not sheep, but very dangerous things...

The trap is not simply to prevent outsiders from entering, but also to prevent that thing from going out!

In the depths of the mountain forest, there is something beyond imagination lurking, and it must be sealed with a formation!

However, not to mention tigers and leopards in the woods, not even a single insect was seen.

What is it that needs to be sealed?

"The people who set up the formation are not simple, they should know something." General Chu said.

"That person is probably gone." Du Jiajun patted the tree trunk, "I also read from the book that stone carvings wrap the tree, and when the tree breaks the shell, the magic circle will officially start. Look at this tree, it has grown for at least 100 years , In other words, more than 100 years ago, the trees had not yet bloomed, and there was no such array.”

"There is no such formation, but there are other formations!" General Chu Gan understood very quickly.

Du Jiajun nodded: "The formations ebb and flow with each other, and they are endless. It may change every few years, or it may change every hundred years. That person has made use of natural resources to create a continuous formation!"

"What if the tree is cut down?" Huo Minghai raised his hand.

"The people who set up the formation have made long-term preparations. Cutting down a few trees will definitely not have any impact, unless it is a fire that burns the mountain and burns all the trees." Du Jiajun raised his hand, took a drop of rain, and smiled wryly, "This In such an environment, it is not easy to start a fire."

It started to rain sporadically again, the moisture gathered around, and the fog thickened a bit. The three of them found a flat place, put up their luggage and set up a tent.

The rain was falling harder and harder, crackling against the tarp.

"Hey, not to mention setting fire, it's difficult to even start a fire..." After the flame that finally ignited was extinguished for the Nth time, Chu Ganjiang threw away the wet branch, got up and said, "I'll go find some firewood."

"Forget it, even if there is a fire in this environment, it won't be long." Du Jiajun fixed the tent and got in first. Huo Minghai didn't bring a tent, so he got in cheekily. Chu Gan followed him not to be outdone. The spider was weaving blankets to build a nest, but now it’s all right, the small space is packed to the brim, the three big men huddled in the corner and stared at it eagerly, the big spider didn’t bother to squeeze in with them, so it immediately gave up and burrowed into it. out of the tent.

Du Jiajun touched the blanket. Although the blanket was thin, it insulated the moisture on the ground. It was dry and breathable when lying on it. Huo Minghai was really tired, and his calf was sore and swollen. He wanted to rub it, but when he lay down He didn't want to move anymore, in a trance, he felt someone pinching his leg.

"Is it comfortable?" Du Jiajun gently massaged him.

"Hmm..." Huo Minghai felt so comfortable that his bones went numb.

"Let Zhu Lang watch the night?" Chu Gan opened the door of the tent, and the big spider was lying on the tree, with eight bright eyes facing the tent.

"With Zhu Lang here, we can sleep now." Du Jiajun laughed.

Huo Minghai kicked his legs in a half-dream and half-awake state, and hummed twice.

Du Jiajun massaged him from different angles.

General Chu also kicked his legs and hummed twice.

"Ask your brother to pinch you." Du Jiajun laughed.

"I don't know what he is doing now?" Chu Gan will close his eyes, his thoughts drifting to the distant museum.

There was only the monotonous sound of rain all around. Huo Minghai fell asleep and was snoring softly. Du Jiajun lay down beside him, and after a while, he heard something in his ears, and Du Jiajun sat up again.

"Someone is talking." Chu Gan will open his eyes, "Go out?"

Opening the tent, the place a few meters away was completely dark. Du Jiajun listened to it for a while, then shook his head: "The sound is quite far from here, so I'll check it out after dawn."

Just as the words fell, a shrill scream exploded!

Du Jiajun and Chu Gan will rush out of the tent quickly, and there is a blurry white shadow moving at an extremely fast speed in the distance. Du Jiajun turns on the wolf-eye flashlight, and the strong white light breaks through the rain curtain and shines on that thing. Unexpectedly, the thing Seeing the light, instead of dodging, he turned around and ran straight towards them. As the distance got closer, Du Jiajun saw clearly that it was a woman in white!

"Help! Help!!" The woman with disheveled hair screamed all the way, as if she had seen something terrible, and three men followed behind her.

It turned out that several men bullied a woman?Chu Gan made up his mind, and took a step forward, as if throwing himself into my arms.

"Xiao Miao! Xiao Miao is back!!" Yan Shi looked at it from a distance, and the host ran towards two men who appeared out of nowhere. In this barren mountain and wild ridge, someone who camps without lighting a fire, can he be a good person?

Yan Shi's heart jumped into his throat!

The tent hidden in the night suddenly opened, and a man got out.

"What happened?" Huo Minghai's sleepy eyes were dim, and he caught a glimpse of something that looked like a female ghost in white rushing towards him crazily. Huo Minghai shivered and woke up most of the time.

The female ghost rushed straight into General Chu Gan's arms, and Chu Gan threw her to Du Jiajun with his hands. The horizontal sword blocked the front, and the man chasing behind also killed him at this moment. When the two teams saw it, Huo Minghai and Yan Shi exclaimed at the same time speak out.

"It's you?!"

Then... this female ghost is...

Du Jiajun brushed her long hair away, revealing the panicked face of the host.

"Xiao Miao, don't make trouble, go back!" Yan Shi was a little angry, and stretched out his hand to grab her. If he hadn't met them, Xiao Miao really didn't know where he would have gone.

The host Xiao Miao screamed again after being touched by him.

"Don't—! There's a ghost—!!" Break away and hide behind Du Jiajun.

She seemed to have encountered something, she was terrified, trembling in the rain, Du Jiajun led her into the tent, followed by Yan Shi and Da Mao Er Mao.

The space full of people made Xiao Miao feel at ease, and her body softened, and she passed out.

"What's going on?" Du Jiajun put her on the thin blanket.

"I don't know, she was sleeping well, but she suddenly ran out of the tent and met you guys." Yan Shi couldn't figure out why the host suddenly became like this.

Da Mao scratched his head and said falteringly: "Actually... Lucy said that Xiao Miao always sees a few children these days..."

Xiao Miao's body shook, Yan Shi bounced up like an electric shock, and stood up to block the door.

Xiao Miao murmured a few words, then remained motionless again.

"Who is Lucy?" Huo Minghai was curious.

"Xiao Miao's assistant." Yan Shi sat down directly by the door and asked Da Mao, "Why haven't I heard from her?"

"She thinks that Miao Miao is dreaming." Da Mao leaned over and said in a low voice, "Team leader, do you remember that we lit a fire to bake bread at noon yesterday?"

"remember."

"At that time, you were the one who lit the fire?"

"Of course, I've always been the one lighting the fire." Yan Shi felt strange, why did he talk about this for no reason?

Da Mao showed a very strange expression, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Listen to Lucy, Xiao Miao saw a child squatting in front of you."

Yan Shi was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud: "Since I light the fire, and there is only a fire in front of me, how can I squat like a child?"

"So, she feels that the child is not human."

After Da Mao finished speaking, Yan Shi fell silent, the surroundings were eerily quiet, Huo Minghai even had goose bumps all over his body.

Du Jiajun spoke suddenly: "That child...is there only one?"

"Several." The more Da Mao said, the more he felt chills all over his body, as if a child was beside him.

Huo Minghai stared blankly at Da Mao. Behind him, there was a little boy squatting, but Da Mao couldn't see him at all!

The little boy reached out and touched Da Mao, and Da Mao shivered from the cold.

The little boy touched the host's pocket again.

"What are you carrying?" Du Jiajun asked.

"Ah? What did you bring?" Yan Shi counted on his fingers, "Tent...stove..."

"For example, offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods?" Huo Minghai added after understanding what Du Jiajun meant.

"Yes! A bundle of incense!"

"Where is it?" Huo Minghai's eyes lit up.

"At camp."

"Strange..." Huo Minghai looked at the little boy blankly. If he wasn't human, he should like incense, but if he didn't go to the camp to find incense, why did he come here?

Soon, he understood.

The little boy took out a candy from the host's pocket, tore open the package and ate it.

"Wow!!!" Big Mao and Ermao rushed to Yan Shi and shook into a ball, Yan Shi was also shocked, a candy popped out by itself, and even unwrapped it automatically, didn't it hit a ghost or something? !

Seeing that the host's pocket was bulging, Huo Minghai touched it and took out some candies.

The little boy stared straight at him.

"Hey...it's all for you..."

The candies were placed on the ground, and in the blink of an eye, all the candies disappeared...

In the early morning, the rain stopped, and at dawn, Yan Shi led the film crew to burn incense and worship, and a bag of candy was left on the ground as a sacrifice.

Xiao Miao was supported by the assistant, her face was livid.

"We're leaving, how about you?" Yan Shi handed Du Jiajun a cigarette, and Du Jiajun asked Yan Shi to light it for him, took a puff, and then explained that they were going to the mountains for a geological survey, and they didn't go out so soon. Tell them that there are signs along the way, just follow along.

Yan Shi opened his mouth and swallowed the words again.

Da Mao followed the team, and when he passed the trio, his footsteps paused.

"Actually..." Da Mao glanced at Xiao Miao who was walking in front, "Why did she see those things?"

"Personal physical problems." Du Jiajun also looked at Xiaomiao, "She doesn't look very good, is she sick?"

Da Mao nodded, Xiao Miao had a fever on the second day after entering the mountain, and became weaker and weaker day by day, running wildly last night was simply a miracle of potential explosion.

Du Jiajun dismantled the tent, arranged the equipment, and the two teams separated and went their separate ways.

After the rain, the woods became more humid, and the ground was soft and rotten. After walking for a long time, Huo Minghai gradually became tired, and his feet slipped. Du Jiajun had quick eyesight and quick hands, and helped him when he slipped and fell.

General Chu: "Do you want to rest?"

Du Jiajun nodded: "It's already noon, find a clean place and have something to eat first."

There was silt everywhere under his feet, General Chu Gan wanted to find a dry place, just split the weeds, and stepped into the air——

"what--!!"

- Pfft!

"Hey, are you okay?!" Huo Minghai pushed aside the weeds, and a small cliff with a drop of seven or eight meters appeared in front of him!

Looking from the cliff, they could only see a patch of green branches and leaves. After calculation, they should have reached the middle of the ghost mountain.

"Both sides of the cliff are very long, and I'm afraid it will take a long detour." Du Jiajun turned his head, "I'll carry you on my back..."

The surrounding is empty, Huo Minghai is gone!

"Ming Hai—?!"

"This way—!" A hand protruded from the weeds and waved, Huo Minghai climbed the rope and rubbed down bit by bit, the wet rocks were covered with moss, and the area near the rope seemed to be covered People have stepped on it, peeling off a large piece of rough rock face.

Huo Minghai was hanging in mid-air and didn't dare to look down. His speed was a bit slow, so he had a foothold anyway, didn't he?Huo Minghai thought to himself, Du Jiajun would be fine if he lacked exercise. He was only halfway down when the strong wind howled in his ears. At this time, the beautiful roll relieved the momentum and landed safely.

Huo Minghai, who was hanging sausages in the air, stared straight at it.

"The place where the moss fell off has not yet grown new ones." General Chu touched the rock, "It took only a day or two, could it be them?"

Yan Shi's team walked out from the mountain, while they walked in from the outside.

The road they walked happened to be Yan Shi who passed by a few days ago.

"But...it's not right..." Huo Minghai who went down to the bottom of the cliff tugged at the rope, "If Yan Shi walks up from below, then who made the rope?"

The rope is new, no rough edges yet.

The cliff is so steep that it is almost impossible to hang a rope from below.

Just as he was thinking, Du Jiajun suddenly pointed to the corner and told them to look.

On the moss, there is a word 3 engraved.

"There are more here." Du Jiajun pushed the weeds away, revealing a word 4, and after a while, they followed the clues to find 1 and 2.

Numbers from left to right, a total of four.

Chu Ganjiang poked the muddy ground under the numbers with his sword, nothing special, and there was no trap.

They didn't care about it at the time, they just thought it was some kind of counting.

But no one expected that this string of numbers would be the beginning of a nightmare.

The three of them had something to eat at the bottom of the cliff, and then started on their way again. This journey took another half a day, until the evening, when the thick clouds finally cracked, and the light of the setting sun added a layer of warmth to the monotonous scenery.

"Hey, another day." Chu Gan will split the weeds and take a few steps forward, but he didn't expect to step on the ground——

"Well--???"

- Pfft!

Huo Minghai pushed aside the weeds, and a small cliff with a drop of seven or eight meters appeared in front of him!

"Strange, is it a cliff again?" If there is a cliff, of course there will be a rope. Huo Minghai searched around, but he couldn't find the rope. Just wondering, he heard General Chu's voice from the bottom of the cliff.

Thinking that something happened, the two quickly looked down.

"here!"

A few dozen steps away, Chu Gan will wave to them from afar.

"Guess what I found?" General Chu Gan shouted.

Could it be the rope?Huo Minghai thought to himself, since the previous cliff had ropes, of course there will be this one too.

So, when he saw the rope, he was not surprised.

"Are you climbing the rope?" Du Jiajun asked.

"Hmm! Hero, you go down first, I can do it myself!" Huo Minghai skillfully grabbed the rope and rubbed down, while Du Jiajun repeated his old trick and ran down the cliff easily.

"It's getting dark, let's camp here tonight." General Chu suggested.

"Okay." Du Jiajun unloaded the package and started to set up the tent.

Huo Minghai was still falling on the rope at this time, anxious, he stepped on the wrong foot again and again, hanging in the middle of the sky and dangling.

Du Jiajun: "Young master, do you want to help?"

Huo Minghai: "Young master, you are busy with your work, I call it slow work and meticulous work!"

After fixing the tent, Du Jiajun looked up and saw that the young master was still working slowly.

General Chu put the firewood aside and looked up: "Young master, I have already picked up all the firewood. Haven't you finished your work yet?"

The young master instructed: "Go and pick it up again!"

Du Jiajun: "What about the tent? Do you want to tear it down and open it again?"

"... Let's take it apart."

"I'd better prepare a bed for the young master." Du Jiajun smiled and got into the tent.

Huo Minghai went down to the bottom of the cliff, sweating all over, sticky and uncomfortable.

Du Jiajun opened the tent, and saw Huo Minghai squatting naked by the puddle, pouring water on his body, as if feeling Du Jiajun's gaze, Huo Minghai's ears turned red.

The rippling water surface reflected a strong body, and the unique breath of men came out. There were large and small puddles at the bottom of the cliff, and the water was clear. Du Jiajun and Huo Minghai chose the same one. Huo Minghai's heart beat fast. They were honest for the first time, that Du Jiajun had large and small scars on his body, the biggest one was slashed from his left shoulder to his lower abdomen, Huo Minghai took a quick glance and didn't dare to look at it again.

Du Jiajun stuck his hand into the puddle, took out a handful of water and poured it on his body.

"It's pretty cool." Du Jiajun said, and suddenly splashed a handful of water on Huo Minghai. Huo Minghai was caught off guard and was drowned. He took a deep breath and splashed water on Du Jiajun.

Chu Gan was about to move the branches back, and seeing the two of them splashing water happily, his heart itched, and they were stripped naked, so he picked a puddle and began to take a bath.

After a day of fatigue, the cool water sprinkled on the body is a comfort. The three of them are enjoying it. Suddenly, there is a high-decibel scream from the cliff, and the three of them are frightened. People were staring at them with their eyes wide open, as if they were looking at hooligans. Xiaomiao and Lucy covered their faces with their hands, facing the bottom of the cliff in the same direction. God knows if they were secretly watching through their fingers...

At night, with a cool breeze, a group of people sat around the woodpile, with their heads lowered in unison. Only the head of the family, Yan Shi, was busy, sorting out the branches very professionally, picking out the thin ones and piled them into a pile, and covered them with moss , drenched with oil, and after a while, a warm fire was lit. Although the fire was not strong at first, as it burned, the moisture evaporated, and the flame gradually flourished.

With the fire, Huo Minghai felt more at ease. Yan Shi distributed some chocolates to them, then scooped water from the puddle and boiled it on the fire.

"Go take a bath with Miao Miao, save the hot water." Yan Shi warned, "But don't go too far, at least you can see the fire here."

The two girls responded, and sneaked a glance at the trio as they left.

When they walked away, Yan Shi pursed his lips and said with a smile: "Today is really a feast for the eyes."

Da Mao winked: "You have a good figure."

Ermao echoed: "The size is also good."

The trio blushed and drank water, wishing they could just get into the cup.

"By the way, didn't you guys go to the mountains? How come..." Before Yan Shizhen could finish asking, he heard the voice of lighting engineer Xiaoqiang.

"Team leader! There are a few more holes here!"

"A hole is just a hole, what's the fuss?" Yan Shi walked over, and Xiao Qiang brushed aside the weeds to show him.

Under the light of the torch, there were several holes in the ground.

"Maybe it was dug by a mouse."

"No, team leader, look, this is too coincidental, isn't it?" Xiaoqiang clicked one by one, "From 1 to 4, one number corresponds to one hole."

Snapped!

The cup fell to the ground, and Chu Ganjiang stood up with a face full of surprise.

"It's so strange, it didn't exist before." Xiaoqiang muttered, picked up the stone, and carved a 4 after the 5.

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