Secret 1

Chapter 23 Mountain Cemetery (2)
Yu Ling cautiously walked up to the old monk. Although there were many monks in the village, the boys would all be ordained in the monastery and become monks at the age of sixteen or seventeen.But the two monks in front of him, one old and one young, were completely different from the monks in his impression. Could this be the legendary wandering monk in the forest?

When she was about to reach out to touch the old monk's eyebrows, the young monk walked up to her and said, "Don't! Don't touch him!"

"what happened?"

The handsome monk replied blankly, "He has gone home."

"Go home? Where?"

"another world."

Yu Ling asked puzzledly: "Another world?"

"We came from 'another world', and we will go back to 'another world'."

Although these words are still in the clouds, Yuling felt a faint feeling in her heart. She looked at the young and handsome face in front of her, and looked at the old monk sitting cross-legged on the ground, and asked softly: "Is he dead?" ?”

"No, Master passed away."

Passing away—isn’t it just going to another world?

No, it was "back" to another world.

Looking at the old monk, he must be a hundred years old. In the depths of this dangerous forest, it must be his destined destination.

And the white mist floating from his body, is it the so-called soul?

The young monk swayed and almost fell on Yu Ling.It turned out that he had not eaten or drank, and had stayed by Master's side for three days, no wonder he was as skinny as a stick.

Yuling quickly supported the young monk, and he no longer had the strength to refuse her. The two leaned on each other and walked out of the forest, gradually getting rid of the darkness and white mist, and returned to the village surrounded by rice fields.

The villagers gave a lot of food to the young monks. A few brave monks in the village temple were led by Yuling into the forest and found the old monk who passed away.They cremated the old monk on the spot, and returned the ashes to the young monk for safekeeping.

The young monk was so weak that he was forced to rest in the village for a few days.Yuling came to see him every day and brought him some rice and vegetables.

He said that he didn't know who his parents were since he was a child, and that the old monk adopted him and took him to travel around Thailand for alms.They belong to a special sect, the forest monks, who have practiced in the forests of Thailand since the nineteenth century.However, in recent decades, the forest has been cut down a lot, and the forest monks who lost their homes have disappeared.The old monk who passed away was the most famous forest monk in Thailand 50 years ago. He never received a gift from the government and insisted on practicing hard in the forest, away from the noisy world.And as the forest became scarcer, the old monk also traveled to more and more remote places until he entered the last forest in northern Thailand.

And this handsome young man is the last disciple of the old monk.He accepted the mantle before his master passed away, and may become the only successor of the forest monk.

Yu Ling looked into his eyes, what a beautiful and tender man's eyes, already occupying the heart of a 16-year-old girl.

Yes, he is the only one who can return home from the temple like the boys in the village.

But the young monk rejected her, and his life was bestowed by the old monk.Before the old monk passed away, he swore that he would stay in the forest to practice forever, pass on the mantle of the forest monk, and search for the true meaning of the world in the deepest part of the forest.

Three days later, Yuling bid him farewell with tears in her eyes.

She knew that he was also crying in his heart, but he just pretended to be indifferent, just because of the monk's robe and the oath in the forest.

Sending him all the way to the edge of the forest, he finally looked back into her eyes and said, "I will remember you, if I can't forget myself."

Yu Ling really wanted to hug his shoulder and cry, but she just stood there in a daze and did nothing but let the tears slowly wet the back of her hand.

The young monk took out a small book from his arms, handed it to Yuling, and said, "This is left by the master. I have read it all and kept it in my heart. I don't need it anymore, so I will give this book to you." You."

Yu Ling took the small book and put it on her chest, wiped away her tears and watched him turn and leave.The young monk never looked back, and walked into the depths of the vast forest until he was swallowed by fallen leaves and vines.

For several months after that, she would wait by the forest every day, expecting that handsome face to appear.

However, Yuling grew up from 16 to 20 years old, and never saw the young monk again.

Did he go back to another world too?

Early morning, 07:30.

Except for Ding Ding and the mysterious girl, everyone gathered on the second floor, Yang Mou and Tang Xiaotian's room.Although there is still the mummy of Tu Nan lying next door, everyone still has to fill their stomachs.Using the liquefied petroleum gas in the kitchen and all kinds of food "borrowed" from the hypermarket yesterday, I made a fairly hearty "adventure breakfast".

The atmosphere today is very gloomy, maybe because of the death of another companion last night, or the howling of the wolf dog in the early morning, everyone seems to have not slept well, and most of them have become listless "panda eyes".Several people's mobile phone batteries died, and the rest were afraid to turn on their mobile phones, even though they never received a mobile phone signal.

"This is already our second breakfast here!" Elena vented her emotions in an American way, and then spit out a common word in Hollywood movies, "Shit!"

While eating instant noodles, Li Shu responded in English: "I hope there won't be a third meal."

"Unless we all die today!" Qian Mozheng poured cold water on them, "Let's prepare for the third breakfast."

Yang Mou finished his breakfast first, and immediately picked up the DV to start recording.Suddenly, he heard the sound of someone sobbing, and the camera turned to the source of the sound, but it was Yu Ling who was crying in the corner of the wall.

Lin Junru comforted her and said, "Don't cry, I know you feel bad, but it's not your fault."

"I am your local tour guide. After Xiaofang and the driver have an accident, I will take full responsibility." Yuling is still wearing a Dai skirt, but it seems to have been washed once. She lowered her head and long hair to cover it. Face, apologizing to everyone, "I'm sorry."

Yang Mou put down the DV and walked up to her and said, "Your family is looking for you too, right? From now on, you are just like us and a member of our big family. We will treat you as our younger sister." watch."

Tang Xiaotian tugged at the corner of her husband's clothes jealously, Yang Mou had no choice but to back away.

When he was almost done eating, Ye Xiao went to the kitchen to make a pot of noodles, and then went up to the fifth floor with the hot pot.

He was delivering breakfast to Ding Ding and the "Unknown Girl".

Walking into the room on the fifth floor, he found that the girl's complexion improved a lot, and Ding Ding even changed her into clean clothes, a KAPPA sports T-shirt that fit well.

Ye Xiao put the pot on the table: "Are you hungry? Eat quickly."

"You are such a good man."

Ding Ding combed his hair back and tied it in a ponytail, looking more energetic.She took out two clean bowls and filled noodles for herself and the "nameless girl".

Although, the girl looks like the embryo of a fairy MM who does not eat fireworks in the world, she eats a lot of noodles, and soon eats up a large bowl of noodles.

Dingding sucked on the noodles and said, "What did you eat last night?"

She blinked and replied timidly, "I don't know."

"Here it comes again!" Ding Ding waved helplessly at Ye Xiao, "She always says 'I don't know'."

"Be patient, she will tell us everything."

Ye Xiao spoke very confidently, he stared closely at the girl's eyes, those eyes always seemed familiar.He felt that he had begun to take the initiative - no matter how hard an ice cube was, it would have a moment to melt into water.

At this time, Ding Ding also finished eating: "What are you going to do in the morning?"

"Well, I want to go around the city and see if there are other roads out of the city."

"I want to go with you too!"

"No, you stay here and take good care of her—" Ye Xiao glanced at the unknown girl again, smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I know you will be very good."

"What if I take her with me?"

Ye Xiao could only pull Ding Ding to another room, and whispered: "First, she might run away; second, if she goes out, she will attract that wolf dog, and then all of us will be miserable."

Ding Ding sighed helplessly: "Okay, then today I will make a sacrifice and stay here to be the warden."

"Yes, you just stay in this room, don't go anywhere, the farther away from that wolf dog, the better!"

"What if it rushes up?"

"Lock the door and use a cabinet to cover it, I don't believe the dog will pick the lock by itself!"

She replied lightly: "I don't believe it either."

The two returned to the unknown girl, who was still sitting quietly, flipping through an old book in the room.Ye Xiao looked at the cover, it was an ancient woman dressing in the mirror, it was exactly the same as the scene where she was found last night.Looking at the title of the book again, it is "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio", which is a traditional Chinese version published in Taiwan, and the top-to-bottom typesetting is more similar to an ancient book.

"Why read this?" Ye Xiao asked suspiciously, "Haven't you read it?"

"No, since I was a child, I have read it more than 100 times, but I still like to read it."

Ye Xiao twitched his lips: "Why are you like my cousin?"

"I know who your cousin is."

The girl's straightforward answer shocked Ye Xiao again.But he didn't want to dwell on this kind of question anymore, he lowered his head and said softly, "Yesterday morning, the person in the alley opposite the gas station was you?"

The other party was silent for more than ten seconds, and finally admitted faintly: "It's me."

"Thank you!"

Ye Xiao let out a long breath, with an unusually strange expression on his face, he turned around and walked out the door.

"Why thank me?"

The girl still asked persistently, and Ding Ding next to her also felt very strange.

"Because you saved my life."

Ye Xiao walked out of the room as he spoke, and quickly ran down the fifth floor—yes, yesterday morning, opposite the gas station, it was the appearance of this mysterious girl that attracted the attention of Ye Xiao and others before leaving the dangerous gas station , ran to the alley across the road.Otherwise, they'll all be blown to pieces along with the driver!

On the fifth floor, Dingding locked the door again, looking back into the girl's eyes, as if facing a pair of unfathomable black holes, which are spewing out vortices to swallow all time and space...

At [-]:[-], the expedition set off from the "base camp".

Due to the many changes that happened yesterday, it was decided to change the three groups of people into two groups, so that the number of each group increases and they can take care of each other.

Tong Jianguo, Qian Mozheng, Yang Mou, Yu Ling, and Jiancheng formed the first group. The five of them just happened to sit in a BMW and set off to the east of the city.

Ye Xiao, Sun Zichu, Lin Junru, and Yi Lianna formed the second group, and the four of them walked to the west of the city.

The purpose of the two groups of people is only one: to find the way to the outside.

You must not stay here and wait to die!Two days have passed, and no rescuers have yet appeared. Instead of waiting to die one by one like Tu Nan, it is better to rush out and try to see if there is a way out.What's more, the mysterious girl found last night shows that there are still people in Nanming City, maybe they can find other people, at least to find out the situation here.

This time, no one objected anymore, and even Cheng Jian, who had always stayed close to his wife and daughter, volunteered to go out with the team on an expedition.

The left-behind troops were also assigned. Except for Dingding who took care of the mysterious girl on the fifth floor, the rest stayed on the second floor——Li Shu, Huang Wanran, Qiuqiu, Tang Xiaotian, and the Frenchman Henry.

Li Shu also wanted to go on an adventure together, but Ye Xiao decided to keep him.There are five women in the base camp, but only one man, Henry, and he is a sick and wounded man, so another man must be kept just in case.Considering that Li Shu's English is the best and he has no problem communicating with Henry, he was asked to "guard" the rear.

The first group got on the BMW and set off with a map of Nanming.

The second group walked in another direction, and Sun Tzuchu complained with a map in his hand: "Ye Xiao, you should also get a car to drive, so we don't have to practice marathons every day."

"I don't think it's necessary to drive here, and I just sit in the car and watch the flowers, and I may miss many useful clues. If I also drove yesterday, it would be impossible to find the mysterious girl."

Lin Junru couldn't help echoing: "It makes sense, you are a police officer who is really not simple."

"Cut." The conceited grandson Chu didn't take it seriously. He spread out the map and said, "Okay, don't go blindly, let's see which way to go on the map."

Ye Xiao said with confidence, "I marked the road I walked on last night."

"Last night? Which way did you go?"

"The road to escort."

The four of them walked straight west for 10 minutes, and Ye Xiao suddenly turned right at an intersection.

Sun Tzuchu stopped him immediately: "Where are you going?"

"Look at the ground over there."

They looked down at the sidewalk, where there were three bricks lined up in a zigzag pattern. Elena asked anxiously, "Is this your mark?"

"Last night, on the way back with the girl, Dingding and I left such marks at every intersection so that we won't get lost next time."

"GOOD!"

Ye Xiao led them through several intersections to the north, and they all saw this brick formation in the shape of a character.Sun Tzuchu studied the map carefully and said, "Hey, our direction is wrong. We should go west to get out of the city."

"Go somewhere with me first."

They turned into a smaller street. Some unknown trees were planted on the side of the road, and there were garden houses on both sides. It looked unusually quiet, enough to be a location for a horror movie.

Lin Junru recalled that Taipei also had this kind of small street: "It seems like a place where rich people live."

Finally, Ye Xiao stopped in front of a garden, and behind the low wooden fence were mulberry flowers blooming.

This is where the mystery girl was captured last night.

Is the house in front of me as mysterious as that girl?

The four of them easily stepped over the fence and across the flower-studded path.On the rose-like branches and leaves, there are countless white flower clusters, exuding a rich and attractive aroma. Yi Lianna asked in surprise: "What kind of flower is this? It's so beautiful!"

"Tu Mi Hua!"

Sun Zichu, a history teacher at the university, answered her question.

"Why have you never heard of it?"

"Well, it is indeed extremely rare, and it only existed in legends in the past. The scientific name is Rubus rose, and the Latin name is: Rosa rubus. It usually blooms at the end of the spring flowering period, and it is extremely luxurious and gorgeous. Because it is the last season of flowering, the flowers are about to wither As the saying goes, no flowers bloom after the tea season, and in "Dream of Red Mansions", there is a story of 'the flowers are in full bloom'."

Sun Tzuchu proudly showed off his knowledge, and even translated all Latin.

But Lin Junru looked at those white flowers and shook her head in confusion: "But it's September now?"

"Well... this is Southeast Asia. Of course, the climate is different from that of the Central Plains. It cannot be divided by spring, summer, autumn and winter. The blooming of Tumi flowers means the end of a woman's youth, and also the end of a relationship. When love is in full bloom, the most beautiful thing in life The splendid, most prosperous and most unforgettable love is about to be lost, and in the eyes of the ancients, it is a community of beauty and perdition!"

"Flower of death love?"

"Add [-] points! Congratulations on your progress!" Seeing Lin Junru resonate with him, Sun Zichu became even more motivated, "To apply the lyrics of "Dark Fragrance" is 'let the heart die in splendor, let love be reborn in the ashes' .”

Lin Junru continued to look at him with admiring eyes: "It's so melancholy and such a special flower."

"Du Liniang's visit to the garden in the Kunqu opera "The Peony Pavilion" also has the libretto of 'The tobacco outside the tea is drunk and soft', implying the tragedy that she will die of depression just after witnessing the beauty of spring."

He was so excited when he said it that he almost raised his voice and chanted "It turns out that there are so many colorful flowers, but it seems like this is all ruined".

Ye Xiao couldn't stand it anymore, so he cut him off sharply: "Enough! Are we here for an adventure, or to listen to your classical literature popularization class?"

Sun Zichu finally kept his mouth shut, and the four of them stepped across the garden to the main entrance of the small bungalow.

The whole house was gray, and the silence made people panic. The eaves were covered with weeds, accompanied by the fragrance of tea flowers all around. Yi Lianna pulled Ye Xiao's clothes and said, "This house reminds me of "The Shining". "."

"Don't be afraid, I've been in."

Ye Xiao was the first to push open the door, a lot of ash immediately fell from the roof, and a cloud of black smoke rose from the room.He ran in with his head covered, and waved to the others, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.It was pitch black inside, and Ye Xiao turned on the flashlight, illuminating a dilapidated corridor.

Most of the plaster on the walls had peeled off, and the dust on the ground was also thick, and there was a stale smell everywhere.Lin Junru covered her nose and said, "My God, how could people live here?"

After saying that, she was choked by the ash and coughed a few times.Ye Xiao didn't expect this to be the scene, why didn't he feel this way last night?He thought of the "Liao Zhai" he read when he was a child, and the gorgeous houses that scholars saw at night turned into ruined temples and deserted tombs during the day.

Pushing open a door next to it, it is a small house facing the garden.The window is open and you can smell the fragrance of flowers, only to notice that the window decoration is extremely delicate, in an Arabic style with plant geometric patterns, as if you have come to a foreign land in the Arabian Nights.There was no furniture in the room, save for a small table in the center with the remains of a candle on it.

That's right, the mysterious girl was in this room last night, and he also jumped in through this window.

Elena suddenly called out, and everyone turned their heads nervously. It turned out that there was a mirror embedded in the wall—the oval mirror was covered with dust and looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a long time.Elena stood in front of the mirror, unable to see her face clearly, only a vague silhouette of a woman.

The girl combed her hair in front of this mirror last night, right?But how can you see it so blurry?Maybe just face a little candlelight?
At this moment, the most surprising thing happened—Irina left the mirror, but the figure of the woman in the mirror remained unchanged!
At first, only Ye Xiao noticed this, he stared at the mirror dumbfounded, as if he was facing a picture of a ghost.Until Sun Zichu turned to the mirror inexplicably, but was so frightened that he almost sat down on the ground.Lin Junru and Yi Lianna also turned their heads, seeing the woman in the mirror, their faces were ashen.Especially Yi Lianna, it was clear that she was standing in front of the mirror just now, could it be possible that she created a copy in the mirror?

Ye Xiao slowly approached the mirror, reached out and wiped the dirty mirror surface.It turned out that there was an image of a woman printed inside, which was very blurred due to being covered by dust.The woman in the mirror lowered her head, her long hair hung down to cover half of her face, and she held a wooden comb in one jade hand, which was exactly the posture of the mysterious girl last night.

Is she a ghost coming out of the mirror?

First group.

The BMW drove through the deserted streets, and soon reached the easternmost side of the city.Passing through the last row of buildings, the road disappears in the desolate weeds.

(End of this chapter)