Since it is snowing heavily across the entire Baisui Peak, the roads will soon be covered with heavy snow.
This will actually bring a lot of trouble to the investigation work.
For example, many traces will be covered with heavy snow like the pool of this waterfall, making it impossible to distinguish them.
But the broken vegetation still gave Gu Chen some clues for investigation.
"Junior Brother Gu, there are broken vegetation here." Seeing Gu Chen staring at the vegetation on the left side of the waterfall for a long time, Lu Weiwei discovered something fishy.
Gu Chen nodded silently: "Judging from the broken vegetation, someone should have passed by here."
"Could it be those two senior travel friends?" Lu Weiwei said.
"Maybe, but now the heavy snow has covered the traces, making it difficult to identify the other party's walking track."
Gu Chen also expressed his current worries.
It can be said that the current natural environment is very unfavorable to everyone.
Not to mention the cold weather, poor lighting is also a big factor.
In addition, the ground was covered with snow, which made the investigation process very difficult.
Gu Chen originally wanted to follow the path he came from and look for traces of those two groups of people.
But now it seems that the two senior travel companions stationed near the waterfall have long since disappeared.
It seems unwise to look for the other three now.
Whether to choose to find these two missing travel companions or to find the other three travel companions, Gu Chen decisively chose the former.
"Senior Brother Wang." Gu Chen turned back and couldn't help but said: "There is something going on here."
"Did people come here?" said Officer Wang, who had just climbed up the mountain.
Gu Chen nodded silently: "Judging from the traces on the scene, there are traces of someone walking here, and the traces are obvious. I suspect that they may be the two missing travel companions."
"What about the other three travel friends?" Officer Wang looked worried.
Gu Chen was silent for a few seconds and glanced at Lu Qiang on the other side.
At this moment, Lu Qiang was still cheering for other colleagues.
Thinking that we can only divide the troops into two groups now, we must have people who know the mountain roads to find the other three outdoor hikers.
Thinking that Lu Qiang had followed everyone all the way, Gu Chen wanted to let Lu Qiang lead the team to continue searching up the mountain, while he could take Lu Weiwei and Officer Wang to find the whereabouts of the other two people.
Thinking of this, Gu Chen also hurriedly came to Lu Qiang: "Senior Brother Lu."
"Gu Bureau, what do you say?" Seeing that Gu Chen seemed to have discovered something, Lu Qiang immediately stood up straight.
"There are traces of broken vegetation there. It can be clearly seen that someone has gone down there before. We must organize people to go and investigate."
"But there's no road over there, it's a bit dangerous." Lu Qiang's heart skipped a beat after hearing what Gu Chen said.
You know, Lu Qiang doesn't know the hinterland of Centennial Peak very well.
But Gu Chen wanted to take people to search for missing persons from an unfamiliar area overnight, which itself would involve taking a lot of risks.
Especially when it's dark and the roads are slippery, not to mention there are no roads here at all.
Gu Chen also nodded silently and explained: "The situation is urgent now, we must find those two people immediately."
"Since there are clues here, it is appropriate to go and search for them. However, the task of finding the other three outdoor hikers cannot stop."
After a pause, Gu Chen continued to communicate with Lu Qiang:
"Senior Brother Lu came down from the ridgeline with us last time. Do you remember the road?"
"Remember, of course I remember the road." Seeing what Gu Chen said, Lu Qiang also nodded silently and continued:
"You mean, let me take people to find those three people?"
"Yeah." Seeing that Lu Qiang already understood what he meant, Gu Chen said simply: "You will lead the rescue team and continue searching along the mountain, trying to find those three people and bring them back to Hemu Village."
"I'll take my Senior Sister Lu and Senior Brother Wang here, and give me a few more people, and we'll go over there and search."
"This..." Knowing that the task Gu Chen faced was more dangerous, Lu Qiang hesitated subconsciously.
But after a moment of thinking, he could only reluctantly agree: "Okay, since Gu Ju insists, let's go, but be more careful."
"Understood." Gu Chen nodded silently.
So, the fire brigade leader walked out of the crowd, handed Gu Chen a walkie-talkie and said, "Take this, keep in touch if anything happens."
"Understood." Gu Chen said.
After everyone briefly explained the situation at the scene, they immediately began to divide their forces into two groups.
The team was led by Lu Qiang, along with the fire team leader, some police officers, and rescue team members, and climbed up the mountain together.
Gu Chen, along with Lu Weiwei, Officer Wang, and some civilian auxiliary police officers, began to search in the direction of the broken vegetation.
Since there were no roads here at all, Gu Chen still used the old method of tying the prepared red ropes to the vegetation at regular intervals.
Everyone walked forward along the red rope.
Gu Chen also used his master-level observation skills to quickly discover the direction of the traces.
At a ravine, Gu Chen stopped and others gathered around and looked around.
"Gu Bureau, this looks like the hinterland of the mountains and forests of Centennial Peak. There are no mountain roads here at all. How could anyone go this way?"
"There are only a few situations when you go this way, one of which is to go to the toilet." Officer Wang said.
"But……"
After hearing what Officer Wang said, Lu Weiwei was about to add something, but was interrupted by Officer Wang's hand:
"There is another possibility, that is, these people must have ulterior secrets when they come here. Otherwise, who would be able to walk this way? Doesn't it look like there is a road here?"
"Isn't that right?" One of the third-level police superintendents couldn't help but gasp for breath, and he was also out of breath and said:
"If you can run this way, there must be something wrong. Could it be that there is a secret passage here?"
"Secret passage? Secret passage in the forest?" After hearing what the police officer said, Lu Weiwei blinked, hesitated for a moment, and said slowly:
"It makes sense. Maybe there was a secret passage here originally, and these people are obviously not coming to the hinterland of Baisuifang for the first time. They even know the situation here very well."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Glancing in the direction of Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei quickly said: "Junior brother Gu, do you still remember those two senior travel companions, the old village chief, and old wood?
What they said?"
"Remember." As soon as Lu Weiwei finished speaking, Gu Chen knew the specific question Lu Weiwei wanted to ask, so he quickly said:
"When these people went up the mountain, they all hired local guides, and the guides here are not necessarily from Hemu Village."
"And the guide was found from the town, so he should be quite familiar with the situation here."
"Maybe these people know that there are other secret passages in this dense forest that lead to other areas."
"Could it be that these people have been here before?" Lu Weiwei looked around and said in disbelief:
"Junior Brother Gu, where we are now is a bamboo forest. Bamboo forests generally do not grow at high altitudes. This means that we have arrived at a low altitude area from the direction of the waterfall."
"Maybe, there might be a way down the mountain here?"
"It's very possible." Seeing what Lu Weiwei said, Gu Chen quickly agreed:
"This may be the road going down the mountain, but it certainly doesn't lead to Hemu Village."
"Yeah." After listening to Gu Chen's analysis, Officer Wang, who had been thinking with his arms folded across his chest and his chin on his head, suddenly realized:
"This group of people may have moved away from here, giving people the illusion that they are still in the hinterland of Baisui Peak Mountain."
"But actually, they have already escaped. They may have gone directly along the forest path to another village."
After thinking for a while, Officer Wang said again: "Eh? Do you think Xiao Yuan, Yan Zi and the others will just disappear like this?"
"After all, no one saw Xiao Yuan and Yan Zi leaving Hemu Village with their luggage. Isn't this the same truth?"
"The two of them may have passed through the dense forest in the mountains and came to another area."
"But some minor accidents happened over there, and they might have been trapped. Otherwise, how could these people disappear out of thin air?"
Officer Wang's words seemed to wake up everyone.
Everyone looked at each other and seemed to be quite interested in this dense forest trail.
But now, what Gu Chen has to do is to find the traces of the two people leaving.
Snowflakes continued to fall, and the bamboo forest was quickly covered with a layer of white.
However, many of the vegetation on the road have long since turned yellow, so passing through these messy plants will inevitably leave some broken marks.
And these are exactly the clues Gu Chen is looking for.
Squatting down and searching continuously in one of the areas, Gu Chen finally determined the exact location.
Standing up, Gu Chen pointed to one of the areas and said: "This way, everyone, go this way."
"Everyone go this way." Seeing Gu Chen's words, Lu Weiwei quickly shouted to the others, waving her hands to signal everyone who was resting to follow immediately.
Everyone looked at each other and could only follow him.
Therefore, among the whole team, Gu Chen was at the front exploring the road, and he kept accelerating his pace.
Therefore, while searching for clues, Gu Chen was surprised to find that this road, which is not a trail, is the most dangerous distance from the waterfall down the mountain.
Not only are the slopes steep and densely forested, but there are no rudiments of any roads.
If Gu Chen hadn't relied on his master's level of observation to discover the problem from the broken vegetation along the way, it would have been difficult for everyone to get out of that area.
But at this moment, Gu Chen was pleasantly surprised to find that the spacious area under his feet continued to extend, and soon it looked like a road.
Gu Chen kept speeding up his pace, and the strong flashlight in his hand kept illuminating the area in front of him.
Not long after, Gu Chen found a single-plank bridge.
Under the single-plank bridge is a small river.
Although it has snowed now, the river has a large amount of water due to its large drop.
To cross this river, you must walk on a single-plank bridge on the river.
It is said to be a single-plank bridge, but it can actually be a bamboo bridge.
It's just that the bamboo bridge is very narrow, and only the soles of two feet can pass.
But on both sides of the bamboo bridge, there are bamboo poles as guardrails.
When crossing the river, everyone only needs to carefully hold the guardrail, and basically there is no big problem.
Gu Chen took the lead on the bamboo bridge and used his feet to exert force. He found that the bamboo bridge was shaking violently.
So Gu Chen held on to the bamboo guardrails on both sides with both hands, and then carefully walked across the bamboo bridge first.
Turning to look at the people on the other side of the river, Gu Chen quickly reminded: "The bamboo bridge has limited carrying capacity, so everyone comes one by one."
"When crossing the bridge, remember to hold the bamboo pole guardrails on both sides with both hands."
"Also, use your hands more to reduce the pressure on the bamboo bridge as much as possible."
"Understood." Seeing that Gu Chen said so straightforwardly, everyone nodded in unison.
Afterwards, everyone began to cross the river one by one on the single-plank bridge according to Gu Chen's reminders and requests.
When everyone came to the other side, Gu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that this time was not in vain. At least Gu Chen had discovered a village with bright lights here.
"It seems that there are people living here." The moment he saw the light, Gu Chen let out a sigh of relief.
I'm afraid that there is no one here and everyone will be disappointed.
Officer Wang squinted his eyes, shined a flashlight on it, and then quickly explained to everyone:
"There are residents living here, let's go and take a look."
Everyone didn't hesitate. Seeing that Gu Chen had already started walking, everyone followed behind Gu Chen.
Everyone was lined up in a row, constantly checking what was going on around them.
After walking for who knows how long, Gu Chen finally walked through the woods and arrived at the outskirts of the village.
At this moment, Gu Chen discovered that the mobile phone, which had been experiencing signal interruption, had a weak signal again.
Gu Chen quickly used the map on his mobile phone to check the direction, and then discovered that this was another trail into the mountain from Baisui Peak.
This small village is located in the hinterland of Baisui Peak. It is surrounded by forests and looks very hidden.
"How come I haven't seen this village before?" Gu Chen looked at the current buildings with mixed feelings in his heart.
"Junior Brother Gu." Seeing Gu Chen stop where he was, Lu Weiwei suggested: "It's better to be careful. This village always gives people a sense of unreliability, so be careful and sail the ship for thousands of years."
"Okay." Seeing what Lu Weiwei said, Gu Chen nodded silently, and then glanced at Officer Wang behind him.
Officer Wang understood this and immediately winked at everyone.
Everyone quickly turned off the bright flashlights in their hands, leaving only Gu Chen's light.
Since it was snowing, the sky was relatively dark, and this was a deep mountain, so it was actually very difficult for everyone to walk without lights.
"Everyone should pay attention, cover the flashlight with your hands, and keep a small part of the light to move forward quickly."
Gu Chen also reminded everyone not to expose the target based on his own experience.
Everyone heard the words and obeyed them.
Not long after, a trio consisting of Gu Chen, Lu Weiwei and Officer Wang took the lead in arriving at the entrance of the village and began to investigate the buildings in the village.
This small village doesn't have a large population at first glance, but it feels like a small warehouse to build a village here.
The old building structure gives people a sense of age.
"That's weird, who could be living here?" Gu Chen felt mixed emotions when he saw the village in front of him.
Lu Weiwei said indifferently: "Who cares, let's go over and take a look now."
"Let's go." Gu Chen was a little impatient at this moment, leaving only Officer Wang behind, and Officer Wang seemed a little at a loss.
So he reminded everyone behind him: "Follow me and keep quiet."
After the words fell, Officer Wang followed Gu Chen's footsteps again.
Everyone quickly lowered their voices and came to a building at the entrance of the village.
Gu Chen looked at the map on his phone and wondered: "This place seems to be in the mountains. How can anyone live here?"
"Maybe it's quieter here? Didn't the previous villagers of Hemu Village also live in the same environment?"
"It's just that Hemu Village is the only way to enter the top of the mountain, but this side seems like an omitted village."
"But the buildings here look old and have many similarities with Hemu Village on the mountain."
"One of the things, all the architectural styles, are obviously different from other villages in Baisui Peak."
"Although the color and architectural structure are a bit strange, there are indeed many similarities with Hemu Village."
Thinking of this, Gu Chen quickly glanced at a local policeman next to him and asked quickly:
"Are there many villages with this kind of architecture in your area?"
"Not much." The trainee policeman shook his head like a rattle.
"Then who are the people living here?" Gu Chen asked again.
The trainee police officer scratched the back of his head and hesitated, but after a moment of thinking, he seemed to remember something? He quickly explained to Gu Chen: "Gu Bureau, I remembered, this seems to be an uninhabited village."
"What? What did you say? This is an uninhabited village?" Seeing what the local police officer said, Gu Chen's eyes suddenly lit up.
Lu Weiwei on the side quickly asked: "Are you not mistaken? Aren't the lights still on here? How can it be an uninhabited village?"
"It is indeed an uninhabited village." Seeing that Gu Chen and others were not confident, the local police officer quickly explained to everyone:
"I have heard my grandfather talk about it before, saying that there is an uninhabited village in the hinterland of the mountains and forests of Centennial Peak. I heard that it was haunted by ghosts many years ago. After that, these people moved away and went to live elsewhere.
.”
"Haunted?" When Officer Wang heard this, he burst into laughter and said:
"I said, are you kidding us? How long has it been? Is this village still haunted? No one even lived in it many years ago?"
Taking a deep breath, Officer Wang pointed in the direction of the village buildings and continued:
"If this village is uninhabited and haunted, what was the situation with the lights that were on just now?"
As soon as Officer Wang finished speaking, the people behind him involuntarily shrank back.
Officer Wang looked puzzled and couldn't help but said: "What's wrong? Why are you hiding behind me?"
"Hey, what happened to all of you?"
"Old Wang." Seeing Officer Wang's confused face, Lu Weiwei behind her patted him on the shoulder, then pointed in the direction of the village and said:
"The lights are out."
"No... no lights?" Officer Wang looked dumbfounded and quickly turned his head to look.
Indeed, the faint light that could still be seen just now has turned into a black light at this moment.
Officer Wang scratched the back of his head and said in confusion: "Wasn't it still on just now? Is the master going to sleep?"
"After all, we are in the mountains, and there are not many entertainment activities."
Officer Wang actually came up with some seemingly reasonable excuses for himself.
But the words of the local police officer just now still made other police officers a little scared.
After all, this place doesn't look like a place where people can live.
The main thing is that the light here is not good and it is basically blocked by some tall plants.
Moreover, this place is at the foot of the mountain. Looking up at the peak of Centennial Peak, it seems that a strong sense of oppression is coming.
Living in a place like this is more like living in seclusion.
"Can't you? The lights were on just now." Officer Wang was speechless and complained to Gu Chen.
"I know, I saw it just now." Gu Chen didn't care. He picked up the bright flashlight in his hand and continued walking inside.
Seeing that Gu Chen was fearless, everyone followed him.
But everyone at this moment obviously retreated into the team.
The team is almost packed with people, for fear that if someone is not careful, he will disappear into this dense forest, causing the sky to respond and the earth to be ineffective.
Of course, when you come to such a strange environment at night, the most primitive fear of human beings is still there.
Especially the environment here, the wind blowing in the bamboo forest and the "rustling" movement can still make people feel chilled.
"This is the room." Gu Chen walked to a wooden house and looked up and down at the wooden house.
It can be said that the wooden houses here do look somewhat similar to Hemu Village on the mountain, but they are also very different.
However, compared with the surrounding villages, the architectural style is obviously different.
"Junior Brother Gu, come in and take a look?" Lu Weiwei, who was standing at the door, was a little impatient at this moment and wanted to know who exactly lived here.
Gu Chen stepped forward and knocked on the old wooden door down the mountain: "Dudududu, is there anyone there?"
Seeing no one responded in the house, Gu Chen continued to knock on the door and call: "Is there anyone there? Is there anyone in the house?"
It was also amid the constant knocking on the door that a faint response came from inside the house.
But what specifically? Because there was a cold wind blowing outside and the people in the room spoke very quietly, Gu Chen did not hear what the other party said clearly.
However, as Gu Chen continued to knock on the door, the lights in the room that had just been extinguished turned on again.
Only then did Gu Chen realize that the light just now looked like a lit candle.
The light source even flashes continuously according to the condition of the flame.
"Squeak!"
Accompanied by the hair-raising friction sound of the old wooden door, everyone shuddered and felt even weirder.
At this moment, an old lady walked out of the dark room.
The old lady's eyes were sunken and her whole face was covered with wrinkles.
When they saw Gu Chen and others, they were also surprised and asked curiously: "You? Who are you?"
"We are the police." Gu Chen took out his police card and quickly asked:
"Old lady, are you the only one who lives here?"
"Yes." Seeing what Gu Chen said, the old lady responded.
Since the old lady spoke very quietly and seemed weak, Gu Chen also needed to use his master's observation skills and listen very hard.
But because the old lady seemed to have some local accent and spoke in dialect, Gu Chen was a little embarrassed.
He quickly turned back and glanced at Officer Wang.
Officer Wang, who understood the situation, immediately reminded everyone behind him: "Which of you understands the dialect? Come over quickly and translate it."
"Me." A second-level police superintendent raised his hand and immediately came to Gu Chen's side.
Gu Chen then asked the old man again: "Old man, are you a permanent resident here?"
"Yes." The old lady nodded silently.
Gu Chen understood this sentence, so he asked again:
"Then there's no one else in this village?"
"No, I'm the only one left here." The old lady also shook her head, and her voice was still very low, very weak.
The second-level superintendent even had to put his head close to the old lady to barely hear clearly.
It was also translated simultaneously while the old lady was narrating.
After Gu Chen listened, he continued to ask: "Are you a local?"
"Yes." The old lady nodded silently and couldn't help but said: "This is my home. My family has always lived here."
"But why are you the only one living here? Where are the others?"
Officer Wang was also very curious.
After all, it is very strange that there is a village in such a hidden place.
What's strange is that there seems to be no electricity here, especially since there is only one resident.
This makes Officer Wang unable to understand no matter what, who is this old lady in front of him?
In particular, everyone traced their way here based on the traces of broken plants.
This shows that people have come to this village before.
But now, looking at the old lady's calm expression, there seems to be no emotion at all.
This made the experienced police officer Wang a little suspicious.
"My family has always lived here, this is my home."
The old lady seemed to keep repeating that this is her home.
After everyone asked several times, they still answered the questions.
Gu Chen had a headache, so he glanced behind the old lady and quickly asked: "We are here to find someone. It's very cold outside. Can you let us go in and take a rest?"
"Well, okay." The old lady's voice was weak, but she did not express any unwelcome.
He just grabbed it with a calm expression, muttering something in his mouth, and then kept walking inside.
Anyway, the second-level superintendent behind him didn’t hear clearly.
Seeing that there was a place to stay, everyone immediately walked in through Gu Chen and others.
The wooden houses here are obviously much shabbier than those in Hemu Village in terms of architecture.
Moreover, some wooden houses have long since collapsed and look a bit dilapidated.
And this old house seems to have become the newest house in the village.
After walking into the house, everyone discovered that there was only one bed in the house.
On one side of the bed is a lit candle.
The light source that everyone saw just now is the candle that is lit and visible through the window.
"Old man, is there no electricity here?" Lu Weiwei looked around and looked at the houses in front of her and couldn't help but said.
The old lady shook her head: "Many years ago, there was no electricity here."
"Why?" Officer Wang asked.
"Everyone in the village has moved away," the old lady continued.
It was only with the help of the second-level superintendent's translation that everyone understood the old lady's words.
So Gu Chen hurriedly came to the old lady and continued to ask her: "Why do you want to move away?"
"Why do you want to move away?" The old lady slowly sat on a Taishi chair and murmured:
"Because, a long time ago, a plague broke out here, and many people got sick."
"Then, the number of people here began to decrease. Everyone moved away to live outside, and no one came back."
The old lady talked a lot and seemed to be helping everyone tell the history of this hidden village. Everyone was stunned for a moment.
The other police officers who entered the house also began to look around the old house.
It can be said that the life here is still relatively primitive, but the food is relatively abundant, especially the old lady's rice vat, which is almost full of food.
After the inspection, a trainee police officer walked directly to Gu Chen, whispered into Gu Chen's ear what he had discovered just now, and reported it in a low voice.
When Gu Chen heard this, he narrowed his eyes and nodded silently to express his understanding.
Seeing that the exchange between Officer Wang and the old lady had just ended, Gu Chen quickly asked:
"By the way, old lady, what do you do with your daily meals? Is there anyone delivering food and stuff?"
Hearing what Gu Chen said, the old lady who was chatting with Comrade Lao Wang just now suddenly stopped talking and looked at Gu Chen with curious eyes.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Seeing this, Lu Weiwei quickly asked: "Old lady, let us ask you, who usually brings you food?"
"Including daily necessities, you have to consume them, right? It must be difficult to live here alone, right?"
"Someone gave it to me, someone gave me something." The old lady muttered after hearing this.
But it was obvious that from this sentence, the old lady began to be wary.
Lu Weiwei, who noticed the problem, also looked at Gu Chen, feeling that there seemed to be something fishy in it.
Officer Wang also saw all this and came to the old lady with a smile on his face and explained:
"Old lady, we are here to find someone. There is someone from the mountain."
Having said this, Officer Wang specifically pointed in the direction of the mountain and then said:
"Someone came down from the mountain and passed your village. Just what happened in the past two days, or someone has come to your place before. Do you still have any impressions?"
"No, I'm the only one living here. I didn't see anyone coming."
Seeing what Officer Wang said, the old lady seemed to be in a mood, and her tone of voice changed a lot.
But in fact, everyone can see that this is a sign of the old lady's guilty conscience.
But everyone was also very puzzled. The old lady was so good. What was she guilty of?
If someone really comes down from the mountain in the past few days, they will definitely come to this village.
You will also meet the old lady here.
But now, the old lady has denied it, which makes everyone confused.
Gu Chen felt that there must be something fishy involved, but for such a detour, Gu Chen felt that it was better to leave it to Officer Wang, so he stepped back and began to check the condition of the house.
Gu Chen first found the trainee police officer just now and asked the trainee police officer to take him to the kitchen.
"Gu Bureau, it's right here. Look, the rice vat is full." As he spoke, the trainee police officer opened the lid of the rice vat.
I have to say that in rural areas here, they still like to put rice into rice vats and cover them with wooden lids.
Gu Chen fiddled with the rice with his hands a few times and said involuntarily:
"The food reserves here are very sufficient, enough for the elderly to eat for several months, or even longer."
"Especially because the elderly can't eat much, so are these reserves just for the elderly? Or do others also need supplies here?"
