The Exorcist

Chapter 3 Empty City

"Why? It's obviously easier to walk here!" Xiaoxia asked in surprise.

Mao Fu and Zhao Jiayuan did not reply for a while, but only glanced at each other. Xiaoxia keenly felt that the two people were exchanging information with their eyes, which was very sneaky.

"Yeah, why don't you take the Yangguan Avenue instead of the narrow path?" A reporter from the provincial TV station helped.

Her name is Liu Hong, and she and Xiao Xia are the only two women in this line, so they are weaker. Moreover, unlike Xiao Xia, she does not wear simple jeans, white shirt, sneakers, and a ponytail on her head. She was wearing a beautiful suit and high heels, so she was already out of breath after walking most of the mountain road, and the delicate makeup on her face was already ruined, and she wished she had someone to carry her on her back.

"Besides, it might rain soon and I won't be able to walk!" She continued, looking up at the sky.

At this time, the sky became even more gloomy, and there was a faint rolling muffled sound of thunder. Everyone understood that it was very lucky for them that it had not rained all this time. If they had traveled in the rain, they might not have been able to get half as far as they did! But in this current situation, we can no longer count on God to give us face, and we must make a decision as soon as possible.

"You are not locals, so you may not understand that you cannot pass through a new town that has not yet moved in." Zhao Jiayuan explained under Mao Fu's eyes.

"But what is this for? Is it like a gift that has to be opened on the chosen day?" Before Xiao Xia could refute, Liu Hong started to argue. Fatigue made her a little frustrated and she could no longer care about maintaining her ladylike demeanor all day long. .

"No." Zhao Jiayuan waved his hands quickly, not daring to offend this mouthpiece of public opinion. "We have a custom here. Before entering a new home, you must hold a ceremony and invite people to sing a three-day opera before you move in. This time we are all The town is relocating, so the town has already studied the relocation plan and it will be carried out next month. It has not yet reached that time. If you enter rashly, you will break the feng shui and violate the taboos of the people in the town. Although we are all Materialist, but people’s hearts and minds still need to be considered.”

"I'm just passing by, what does it matter?" Liu Hong was reluctant and turned to look at Xiao Xia, seeking an alliance. But Xiaoxia felt that since people had this custom, it was better to respect it. Although she felt that there was always a twinkle in the expressions of Mao Fu and Zhao Jiayuan, they still did not talk to each other.

"Okay, if you don't leave, I will leave by myself. Anyway, this is just feudal superstition and there is no law prohibiting it!" Liu Hong made an irrational bet when she saw that Xiao Xia, who was also a woman, and the male photojournalist who was her colleague did not help her. Angry, he ignored others and strode towards the new town, not even listening to the calls of the people behind him.

"Tell her to leave on her own. We are feudal and superstitious anyway, and she is a woman of the new era!" an official in charge of political and legal work said impatiently.

Xiao Xia remembered that his name was Wang Wenge, that he was in his forties, chubby, and seemed to have a good temper. Unexpectedly, he was the first one not to blame this beautiful reporter from the provincial TV station.

"People here believe that there will be unclean things hidden in places that are always empty and unoccupied. It has been almost a year since the new town was built, and I have never lived in it before. It is still so big. If Ms. Liu is not afraid, she will do it herself." May you be blessed! Mayor Mao, let’s go this way!”

He spoke in a loud voice, carried by the mountain wind, and smoothly hit Liu Hong's eardrums, causing her to stop in her tracks. She could neither advance nor retreat by standing there, even if she did not dare to walk alone. That might be an 'unclean' place, and I'm embarrassed to look back.

Upon seeing this, Xiaoxia quickly smoothed things over and asked Liu Hong to come back and be with everyone. She understands that it is easy for people to say that they are brave, but there are not many people who are truly not afraid and can deal with it calmly. She has only met two people in her entire life.

After Xiaoxia greeted him two or three times, Liu Hong returned to the main army angrily and continued walking on the mountain road with everyone. As she walked, she said how unlucky she was this time, not only on the mountain climb but also in the rain, and she would never come again. I don’t know if she read it, but anyway, the sky was just gloomy at first, and although the rain was heavy, it didn’t start to rain. But after her nagging, in less than ten minutes, an earth-shaking thunder suddenly sounded in mid-air. The heavy rain poured down relentlessly.

This time, the group was even more embarrassed. The few raincoats they had were given to Xiaoxia, a reporter from the provincial station, and two reporters from this town. The rest, including Mao Fu, lined up in a line and walked forward in the rain.

The rain was so heavy that people couldn't even open their eyes. It was like a thick curtain of rain hung around them. People who were a little further away couldn't see clearly, and the dirt and weeds on the mountain road were all over the place. When the rain hit, it was extremely slippery. Xiaoxia was fine, but Liu Hong would fall down after taking only three steps. In the end, she started crying!

"Keep on holding on, we'll reach the town in a short distance." Zhao Jiayuan's voice came from the front.

Xiaoxia had also never walked on such a mountain road, and she was very tired at the moment. She just gritted her teeth and followed the people in front of her. Although the raincoat blocked the rain, the sweat on her body also soaked her clothes, not to mention her face was full of rain. It doesn’t make much difference whether you wear a raincoat or not.

She was walking with her head down, and unexpectedly bumped into something soft in front of her. It was Wang Wenge's back, and her back was also hit by Liu Hong behind her.

"What's going on?" Liu Hong asked angrily.

However, Xiaoxia couldn't answer because she, like the others in front of her, was completely stunned by the image in front of her!

In front of me, in the gray rain curtain, a town stood quietly in front of me, appearing strangely clear in the blur - a square city, although it had no walls, but it had a gate like the ancient city. It's just symbolic, built of beautiful blue-gray stone, simple and historical. There are neat rows of small houses with green tiles and red walls in the city, and there is also a tall tower that is higher than all other buildings in the center of the town!

Didn’t you say you won’t pass through this town? Why are you coming back now? !

"This is the south gate!" Wang Wenge murmured, as if he wanted to explain it to Xiao Xia and Liu Hong, but also to himself.

This uninhabited new town is to the west of the old town, so it faces the east gate of the old town. The one Liu Hong forced to enter just now was the west gate, and have they gone around to the south gate of the city now?

"Is there something wrong?" The photojournalist, who was originally separated from a local reporter, joined in at the moment. "We don't go through the town. If we go from the outside, we will pass by the south of the city."

"This mountain road back to the old town has to go through a small mountain col. You shouldn't be able to see the new town from this direction." Wang Wenge answered mechanically.

His reply was not loud, but it was particularly clear in the heavy rain. Thinking back to all the things just now - the car's unexplained death, the discussion about the uncleanness of the empty city, the sudden heavy rain, everyone's heart was "thumping" Suddenly, I had an ominous premonition.

"It's me! It's my fault. Haha, I'm sorry everyone." Zhao Jiayuan's voice rang from the front, but he obviously lacked confidence, his voice was trembling, and his laughter was extremely dry, "It's raining too hard, I took the wrong route. , so we turn to the new town side. If we--if we go again, we will definitely go back."

Will definitely go back? What does this mean? Can't they go back? Or have you fallen into some trap? !

But before Xiaoxia could think about it, the team started moving forward mechanically again. They walked for an unknown amount of time. When Xiaoxia was about to be exhausted, the people in front stopped again.

Xiaoxia felt quite bad, and sure enough, when she took a look, she found that the empty city they had always wanted to avoid appeared again in front of them. This time, the green-gray city wall had 'East' written on it.

It's the east gate! So if they walked in the opposite direction, they should be back to the old town, but when they turned around, they would find that there was a towering mountain wall in that direction. There was no road at all, and it would not lead to the old town!

"It's my fault, it's me -" Zhao Jiayuan shouted again, but it sounded like a conditioned reflex and not convincing at all.

"Okay, let's keep walking!" The photographer's loud voice was passed from behind Xiaoxia to the front, giving the people who were a little panicked for a moment some sense of stability, although it was not complete.

His behavior couldn't help but make Xiao Xia look at him with admiration. Originally, she looked down on the photojournalist named Zuo De who kept teasing Liu Hong, and she looked down on him. Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, he showed a bit of a man. courage.

The team moved again, but this time Xiaoxia was cautious. Seeing that the scenery around her hadn't changed much, she began to wonder if they were still staying where they were after walking around, so she decided to take something to mark them. She had nothing else on her body, so she had to pull off the twist silk and tie it to a branch. Unexpectedly, the trees here were so tall that she couldn't reach them. Fortunately, Zuo De helped her.

He was probably following Xiao Xia because he wanted to accompany Liu Hong, who started to cry.

"No matter what happens, don't come out! If something happens, please contact me secretly!" She whispered to the bracelet.

If there is danger and Abai comes out to save her, then other people will know of Abai's existence, which may be detrimental to Abai, so it's better to be cautious!

At this time, the sky was getting darker, and there was no light from the stars and the moon in the heavy rain. The group of people relied on a flashlight that only every other person had for lighting, and almost rolled and crawled forward.

Xiaoxia followed in a daze, only to hear a cry of "Ah", and six flashlights instantly shined in one direction - New Town appeared in the rain again, but this time it was the North Gate!

Upon seeing this, Xiaoxia immediately searched around. Zuo De's flashlight clearly followed her gaze, and sure enough, he saw something fluttering on the branches of the two trees growing next to each other. It was the beautiful colorful twist silk. !

Sure enough, they were running around in circles. If they didn't get lost in the rainy night, they would have encountered a long-lost ghost! But what about that city? Why do they stay where they are and see different doors? Is it an illusion or is the city alive and spinning on its own? !

Xiao Xia was thinking about it when she felt pushed by Liu Hong behind her. It turned out that the team started to leave again. This time, no one called for it, so they started walking automatically. This situation probably made everyone panic and subconsciously I wanted to run away, so I started walking without thinking.

Xiaoxia was caught in the middle of the team and followed passively. Although she felt that something was wrong in her heart, her brain was frozen and unable to turn away until she saw the marking thread again, and at the same time she also saw the building. The west gate of town!

"ah--"

Liu Hong wailed, sat down on the ground, hugged Zuo De's legs and started crying for the third time tonight, but this time she cried in fear.

"I'm afraid! I'm afraid!" Her delicate voice sounded shrill and shrill at this time, and her cry brought out the fear and anxiety in everyone's hearts. Although she did not shout out of control, the scene was still It also suddenly became unstable!

If people's hearts are dispersed, danger will take advantage of the situation, which will virtually increase people's risk of harm. Therefore, unity and calmness are the most important at this moment!

"Don't cry! Everyone, come together!" Zuo De shouted again. Although he seemed to be a gentle person, his tone was very stern.

When the others were confused, they immediately became quieter after hearing his shout.

"Now we stay where we are. If we continue to run, we won't be able to get out. It will only waste our energy." Zuo De said loudly, "Sit around and let the light shine outside. Don't panic if anything happens!"

"I agree!" Xiaoxia immediately followed in order to strengthen the reliability of Zuo De's words.

"Okay, I agree." After a moment of silence, Mao Fu, who had been silent, also answered, and then came to Zuo De's side.

As soon as he moved, other people also sat on the ground one after another. The people in raincoats took off their raincoats and asked everyone to raise their hands to protect themselves from the rain. They extinguished three of the flashlights according to the instructions to save power, and the others Three are facing the outside.

Although it is very dark now, it is not even ten o'clock when I look at my watch. Although they had been walking for four hours, there was still a long night ahead of them, and some lighting had to be preserved!

After everything was arranged, Xiaoxia looked at Zuo De, who was still standing there, hoping that he could help her get the twist silk from the tree. It was given to her by Ruan Zhan. Although it was not valuable, she didn't want to lose it. .

Zuo De understood what she meant and reached for the branch, but as soon as he turned around, Xiaoxia saw a black figure standing behind him!

The face of the black figure could not be seen clearly, and its whole body was dark. It stood there in the dark night of wind and rain, floating and unnoticed by people. It was not known how long it stood, making it difficult for people to distinguish who it was. The entity was still a shadow, and Xiaoxia couldn't figure out whether she was the only one who saw the shadow or whether everyone could see it!

And just when she was so shocked that she couldn't even speak, the black shadow floated towards them!

Xiaoxia pointed at Zuo De's back, wanting to warn him, but at this moment she found that she was speechless. It was not her own fault, but something seemed to cover her mouth. She wanted to jump up to save people, but found that I can't move my body! At this moment she could do nothing but look at Zuo De anxiously!

When Zuo De saw Xiao Xia's expression was different, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. His hand slowly fell from mid-air. Then he realized something and suddenly turned his head away!