In the square of Longshanji, many villagers gathered here, talking noisily, and waiting for outside rescue.
Several older men who were more prestigious in the village hurriedly walked through the crowd and found the old Taoist priest and his disciple Xie Yunqing who were chatting with the villagers.
"Zhang Daozhang, there is something I want to discuss with you."
A short, fat old man called the old Taoist priest.
Several other old men waved to the surrounding villagers to disperse first: "Everyone, please go and get busy first. I've also called the phone and it said that people have been sent to rescue.
There's no point in waiting here.
Why not take advantage of this moment to go home, pack your things, and then evacuate directly with your bags. If anything happens later, I will have people go door to door to notify everyone.
——Everyone, please remember one thing: stay well when you get home and don’t wander around.
Otherwise, when the vehicles sent from above enter the village and cannot find you when they evacuate, you can’t blame us for not notifying us in place!”
Several old men, some are village accountants and some are village chiefs.
They often convene villagers to hold general meetings and small meetings, and words are indeed more effective. After saying this, the villagers no longer gathered here and went home to pack their things as instructed.
The old Taoist priest named Huang led Xie Yunqing and several old men to a deserted corner.
The short, fat old man, the village chief Wei He, had a solemn face and said straight to the point: "Tao Zhang Huang, someone is missing."
"Old lady Zhu and several other old ladies went to the Wulang Temple at the entrance of the village to offer incense.
Several other people are back.
She didn't come back, she disappeared."
Hearing what Wei He said, Taoist Huang's heart skipped a beat and asked, "Did you ask those old ladies? When they came back, they didn't call Old Madam Zhu?"
"We have asked," the village accountant said solemnly, "They all saw Old Madam Zhu leave the temple, but each of them had a different version of what happened after that.
Some people said that they saw Mrs. Zhu leaving the temple and following them all the time, but she suddenly disappeared at some point;
Some people said that they saw Mrs. Zhu stopped in front of Zhangjiawu and did not follow them;
Some people say that after Mrs. Zhu left the temple, she went directly along the road at the entrance of the village to the Yunlong Temple on the mountain."
"..."
Taoist Huang looked solemn.
Xie Yunqing couldn't help but said: "How come everyone's opinions are different? Even if they are mistaken, it is impossible for their opinions to be so different, right?"
"None of them lied." Accountant Li glanced at Xie Yunqing and did not answer him, but continued to talk to Taoist Huang.
"It's weird, it's really weird." Huang Taoist shook his head repeatedly and murmured to himself.
Village chief Wei He said directly: "Some people have started to disappear, and the situation is getting worse and worse. I think we should gather everyone together now and take care of them.
If anything goes wrong, we can respond promptly.”
"I think it's okay."
"Nowadays, all kinds of rumors are making people panic. By gathering everyone together, we can suppress the rumors to some extent and face the truth."
Several old men agreed with Wei He's proposal.
They all looked at Taoist Huang.
Huang Taoist nodded: "The village chief's suggestion is very good, and I agree with it.
Have you told those old ladies? Tell them not to spread this matter anymore, so as not to alarm people."
"I told you.
I have also warned their respective families." The accountant responded.
"Have Mrs. Zhu's family also been informed?"
"Old Mrs. Zhu's house is relatively repaired. I have asked my son to go find his family and tell him about it."
"OK."
"Then let's do it each!"
“This time, we have to rely on everyone to work together to get through this. We can’t just count on outside rescue, we have to save ourselves too!
Let’s all be united!”
…
"Huh?
Why is there a mud tire here?”
A man with an abnormally bent foot was carrying a woven bag on his back and limped out of the bamboo forest behind him along the path.
The woven bag on his back was filled with drink bottles.
At the fork in the path, there stood a clay statue that was only as high as a person's knees.
Most of the oil on the mud tires has curled up and peeled off.
But it has a smile on its face, and its chubby figure is also very cute, making people unconsciously raise the corners of their mouths at a glance.
The man with a deformed left foot was standing in front of the statue, looking at the statue with confusion.
The path extended forward, and under the trees in front, houses gradually emerged.
"Uncle Zhou, hey, I found you!
Why don't you listen to my advice? I told you to stay at home, but you still have to run around!"
At this time, a young man climbed up from the gentle slope of the path. He looked very much like the village accountant.
He held his waist with one hand, sweat dripping from his nose, and complained to the lame middle-aged man.
The lame middle-aged man looked at him and said with a smile: "I went to pick up some plastic bottles to sell for money. Didn't I just rush back? It's okay, don't worry.
Xiaohu, what do you want from me?"
While he was talking, he walked towards the young man known as "Little Tiger".
"I don't know either.
My dad, the village chief and others are looking for you.
It seems like something happened to Grandma Zhu?" Xiaohu replied a few words, without explaining what the matter was, and hurriedly turned and left, "I have to run to the next house to notify people to gather in the square. Uncle Zhou, you can go and see for yourself.
Bar!"
"well!"
Hearing that something had happened to his mother, Zhou Laizi was inevitably nervous and walked even faster.
He walked down the low slope.
It disappeared without a trace.
The little tiger ran out of the path and ran onto the cement road.
After bypassing several houses connected by cement roads, he stopped to take a breath and saw a clay statue that was only as high as a person's knees in the fence of a relatively dilapidated residence.
Most of the oil on the mud tires peeled off.
You can vaguely see it with a smiling face.
This statue stands among various scrap iron pots, cardboard, and plastic bottles, looking at Xiaohu through the fence.
It gave him a sudden shock in his heart!
"Why did Uncle Zhou pick up this thing when he picked up rags?
Can this be sold for money?"
Thoughts were running through Xiaohu's mind and he looked away from the statue.
He took a breath and continued running forward.
After running very far, he disappeared without a trace.
…
In the village square.
All the villagers have gathered here.
The originally small square was occupied by more than a hundred households of villagers, and it suddenly became noisy.
The children were laughing and playing in the crowd with their toys, and the adults gathered together to play poker and mahjong.
If it weren't for the unconcealed worry on the elders' brows, no one would have thought that this village was shrouded in mystery.
At this time, it was almost dusk.
No sunset or sunset could be seen in the dim sky, and the houses and buildings all around were shrouded in gloomy shadows.
The village chief and others gathered together with the old Taoist priest.
Talking in low voices.
"Zhou Laizi is missing."
"My son went to look for him, but he also disappeared."
"Now we have a total of four people missing here - one of Zhou Laizi's neighbors also disappeared later.
Their families are in the square now."
Accountant Li's eyebrows were filled with worry, but he still maintained restraint and reported the current situation to others.
Village chief Wei He's eyes were serious and he said: "At first, Mrs. Zhu disappeared.
His son was most likely to disappear after her - after Mrs. Zhu disappeared, some villagers saw Zhou Laizi carrying a woven bag and picking up rags.
Later, Accountant Li's son went to look for Zhou Zizi, but he also disappeared.
After that, there is Zhou Laizi’s neighbor...
At present, all the missing people are because 'Old Mrs. Zhu' disappeared first, and then started to disappear one after another.
‘Old Mrs. Zhu’ is the source.
I have asked the family members of Zhou Laizi’s missing neighbor to be placed alone in the northeast corner of the square - let’s see if there is a chain of transmission for this kind of disappearance?”
Taoist Huang was silent for a moment after hearing this.
He turned to his apprentice Xie Yunqing and asked, "Apprentice, have you contacted anyone outside again? With that Su Wu?"
Xie Yunqing nodded, and the worry in his eyes became more intense: "I called the countermeasures team specially sent from above, and Su Wu again, but the call was not connected."
He looked at the sky in the distance, but felt that the sky was much dimmer than before.
It's obviously only four or five o'clock in the afternoon, but why does the sky look like it's about to enter night?
Everyone fell silent after hearing this.
They have also recently begun to find that their mobile phones can no longer receive signals and cannot make calls...
…
"Panpan, come back, come back quickly!"
In the northeast corner of the square, a woman in her thirties cleaned the ground, spread a blanket on it, and summoned her daughter, who was running around and playing wildly.
She sat on the blanket and looked at the lively crowd not far away, with some fear and confusion in her eyes.
Why would you place your family here alone?
Not letting your family stay with other villagers?
She thought of her husband who was still nowhere to be seen, and couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Seeing that the sky around her was getting darker and darker, almost like it was nighttime, the woman quickly called to her daughter who was squatting on the ground not far away, playing with something unknown: "What are you looking at over there? Panpan."
Come back soon, it’s getting dark, stop running around!”
The daughter turned to look at her after hearing the sound, with a happy smile on her face: "Mom, there is a doll here, there is a doll, I will play with it for a while and then go back!"
"What doll?
Take it back and play with it, don't run too far." The woman told her daughter.
'Panpan' responded, and with some difficulty picked up a 'doll' from the ground, which was almost the same height as her, and stumbled towards the woman.
That ‘doll’ looks like a clay sculpture.
There is a warm smile on the mottled face.
The daughter carried the 'doll' onto the small blanket, and then the woman saw clearly what it was.
"Why did you bring back a statue of a god?
How can you play with this thing? Just wait for me here."
While the woman was talking, she picked up the clay statue, moved it to the grass outside the square, and threw it away.
Then he walked back quickly.
Comforting her unhappy daughter: "Panpan, be good. Panpan won't play with that one. You'll go home later. There are so many dolls in the house. You can play with whichever one you want, okay?"
She was talking to ‘Panpan’,
The figures of both of them gradually faded.
Disappeared silently.
"Oh my God!"
"Disappeared!"
"Really disappeared!"
Several young men who had been arranged by the village chief to take care of the mother and daughter all saw this scene and all screamed in horror.
They left here in a panic and went to report the situation to the village chief and others.
Darkness enveloped the square.
In the square where the power was cut off, piles of bonfires were lit, and the villagers sat around the bonfires.
In the dark places where the bonfires are not illuminated, clay statues stand quietly one by one, surrounding the entire square.