Ghost Breath

Eight years ago, a tea shop called Qin Mu opened for business. The owner was a Sichuan citizen, known as Old Qin.

Although he was the owner of the teahouse, Old Qin stayed out all year round and rarely took care of the teahouse. The reason was that Old Qin loved to explore the wilderness and always traveled through mountains and rivers to dangerous places. Over time, Old Qin's reputation spread, and he even used the tea house's precious land to get to know and take in trees as a disciple. After the two explored together a few times, Old Qin soon gave up on the tea shop business and established the current Qin Mu Adventure Club with Qiao Mu. They rented an office space and successfully registered as a company.

In the following years, the Qin Mu Club began to attract a group of Wilderness adventurers and began to recruit students. Business also gradually flourished. Until last year when Old Qin decided to go behind the scenes and leave the club to Qiao Mu.

In these past eight years, Qin Mu Club had accumulated quite a bit of reputation in both reality and the internet, and no accidents had ever happened. It could really be said that everything went smoothly for them.

At almost the same time, Zhou Yang and the rest of the six members of the expedition team advanced to what was now known as China's number one ghost village, making Qiao Mu feel apprehensive. Qiao Mu knew in his heart that if another accident were to occur, the impact that it would have on the entire club would be self-evident.

At this moment, Qiao Mu was sitting in his office chair, quietly thinking about something.

At this moment, his cell phone rang.

The caller had indicated that Yang Jie was Qiao Mu's wife who was working at the television station.

"Hello, brother, are you busy?" Yang Jie's clear voice came out.

Qiao Mu and Yang Jie had been married for almost ten years, but Yang Jie liked to call Qiao Mu "brother".

"I'm not busy. Tell me, what's the matter?" Qiao Mu replied.

"Last night, I heard you say that this morning, Zhou Yang and the others are going to the Flower Snake Village, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, I'm here. I just received a piece of news and it was yesterday. I wanted to let you know."

As a reporter from a television station, Yang Jie would often gather all sorts of information and help Qiao Mu.

"What news?" Qiao Mu asked.

Just yesterday morning, a large bus with around twenty people on it turned over on the mountain road near Flower Snake Village. After the accident, the police and rescue team immediately set off, and about the time when it was about to get dark, they found the bus at the foot of the mountain.

"Missing?" Qiao Mu frowned.

"Yes, he's missing!" Not even a corpse! Then, why would I need to tell you about this matter? It's because the place where the bus flipped over is just right within the boundaries of the Flower Snake Village. "

"Is that so …" Qiao Mu's heart sank. "That bus is still there?"

"He's still here, but his car is already destroyed and the roads around are not good enough for him to drag the bus out of there. And the key point was that those people had disappeared! The car didn't matter. The most important thing was the lives. "Oh yeah, bro, I have a few photos of the scene in my phone. I'll send them to you later."

"Alright. Has the accident been identified? Was it natural or artificial? "

"I'm not sure. The driver can't even find him now, so how can we appraise him?" So when I heard this news, when I remembered that Zhou Yang and the others were going to the Flower Snake Village s today, I wanted to inform you first. Oh, by the way, are you really not going with them this time? "

"I can't go. Zhou Yang is leading the expedition, Brother Xiong and Xiao Wang are working abroad, only Miao Yue and I are currently left in the club, once I leave, no one will be guarding the house. "

"That's right, then should we inform Zhou Yang and the others about this?"

"I have to tell them, call Zhou Yang later, tell them to be careful and come back early."

"Alright, I'll hang up first."

Just as Yang Jie hung up, a few pictures from her phone were uploaded to Qiao Mu's phone, showing the scene of the bus accident. She glanced through it and saw that the bus wasn't as badly damaged as he'd expected. The overall frame was still intact, but the car definitely couldn't be used again.

"He's gone missing …" He wondered about this strange accident.

What does disappearance mean? If someone had died in the car, the body would have been found at the scene of the accident, and if all of them had been lucky enough to survive, they would have stayed where they were or called for help as soon as possible, but they had all disappeared. Someone else must have taken control of them or disposed of their bodies.

Qiao Mu quickly came to a conclusion because he could not think of any other possibilities.

Just as Qiao Mu was worrying and was about to call Zhou Yang personally, a knock came from the office door, and was then gently pushed open.

It was an old man in his sixties, wearing a hat and a black jacket.

"Yo, Master, why are you here?" Seeing that person, Qiao Mu hurriedly stood up with a face full of joy.

The old man was Qiao Mu's master, one of the founders of the Qin Mu Club, Old Qin.

Ever since he had left, although Old Qin often invited Qiao Mu out for a chat and tea, he rarely came to the office to ask about the club's situation. Thus, the moment Qiao Mu saw Old Qin, he knew that something must have happened to him today.

Qiao Mu respectfully invited Old Qin to sit down and soaked him in Old Qin's favorite drink. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two of them got down to business.

"Ah Mu, do you know why I'm not going to Mr.Guo's funeral?" Old Qin said.

"I think it's because I'm afraid it'll be too painful. Actually, it's the same for me." Qiao Mu sighed.

"That's right. I've been a brother for so many years. I've lost them all just like that. I'm getting old and I'm much more fragile than before. My heart is truly in pain now!" Old Qin patted his chest.

Qiao Mu nodded. He knew that although he and Old Qin had known each other the earliest, they still had a master-disciple relationship, and there was some enmity between them. Unlike Old Qin and Guo Yong, he was close in age and had a common topic. The phone call Guo Yong made right before he died was to Old Qin.

"These few days, my mind is filled with the matter of Mr.Guo telling me on the phone before he died. I can't eat much, and I can't sleep well, so I came over specially today to talk to you about it."

"Sure, I only have a rough understanding of the Mr.Guo. Originally, when you didn't come, I planned to ask you clearly."

"The entire process of the Mr.Guo is quite simple. I told it to the police once, and you know it as well. It was him and his son, Xiao Yi, who went to the mountain forest on the island to step on the ground. It was him and his son, Xiao Yi, who went to the mountain forest on the island to step on the mountain forest. After about two nights, Mr.Guo found a hole in the water and drilled out. However, because he was infected by the toxic water in the mountain, his heart was attacked by the toxic water and he quickly died. Actually, what Mr.Guo told me was not only these, I never told anyone else. At that time, the more I thought about it, the more Mr.Guo made me think that what he said was probably true. "

"Oh? What else did the Mr.Guo say? " Qiao Mu was instantly alert.

"He said that when he and his son were trapped in the mountains, they could hear the female ghosts calling out to them every night, and then the toxic water would come out from the crevices in the rocks. And when he dived into the bottom of the lake, he saw a huge female corpse spreading poison gas. "

"Is there really such a thing?" Qiao Mu had heard stories about the ghost girls of the island, but he had never believed them.

"Ah Mu, I understand your thoughts. If it was before, I wouldn't have believed it either. But, Mr.Guo's death this time is too strange, don't you think so? Up till now, no one had any idea what was going on with the toxic water. That island was also related to the Flower Snake Village that had been recently spread to the masses. And the green lake there, it looks like it's been contaminated. I've never seen a lake of that color. "

"You're right …" Qiao Mu nodded in agreement. "I searched for pictures of that lake on the internet. The color seems to be problematic. "There really is a female corpse at the bottom of the lake …"

Qiao Mu did not continue speaking. This kind of illogical speculation was truly hard for him to accept.

"Where's Zhou Yang, busy?" Old Qin suddenly realized that Zhou Yang was not around.

"Yes, I just left this morning."

"Oh, how long?"

"Probably... Two or three days. "

Old Qin was not aware that Zhou Yang was going to explore the Flower Snake Village, and Qiao Mu was not prepared to tell him, so as to prevent him from being worried.

"How about this, when Zhou Yang comes back, I'll accompany you guys and go explore the island, along with some things that happened in Mr.Guo." Old Qin suggested.

Actually, Qiao Mu had the same idea. If a female corpse was lying at the bottom of the lake, spreading poison gas and polluting a large portion of the water, then it would be considered a shocking discovery.

However, opportunities usually coexisted with risk, and Qiao Mu was a little worried. After all, the terrifying death of Guo Yong was still fresh in his mind.

"Oh right, the son of Mr.Guo, Xiao Yi, where did he run off to? I heard that the Mr.Guo's funeral wasn't even here, what's going on? You should have asked him about the situation. Old Qin suddenly thought.

"Yes, I'm thinking about it too. How about this, I'll call Chen Hui right now."

Qiao Mu immediately dialed Chen Hui's number. A haggard voice quickly came from the other side of the phone.

"Sister Chen, it's me. Qiao Mu, are you alright?" Qiao Mu asked with concern when he heard Chen Hui's voice.

"No …." "It's fine."

"Oh, by the way, is Xiao Yi home? I want to talk to him. If it's convenient, I can come over. Old Qin is with me right now." Arbor said straight to the point.

"Xiaoyi is not at home."

"Ah?" Where did he go? "Are you coming back today?"

"He shouldn't be coming back."

The more Qiao Mu heard, the weirder he felt it was. He then asked calmly: "Sister Chen, if you have something to say tell me, Old Qin and I are very concerned about you. After all, we are brothers with Mr.Guo for so many years."

"I really don't know. Xiaoyi just left a note saying that he had to go out for a few days and didn't explain clearly to me. He called but didn't answer it. Sigh …" Chen Hui sighed.

"So it's like that …" Qiao Mu finally understood that Chen Hui was not in the right mood, so he thought for a moment and said, "It's fine, Sister Chen. Xiao Yi must be trying to get some fresh air, but he doesn't want to be disturbed. After all, this incident was a huge blow to him. It's also good to let him relax. He'll be back in a few days, don't worry. "

"En, I think so too. But no matter what, you have to tell me. That child …"

Qiao Mu carelessly comforted her a bit more. However, when he hung up the phone, he fell into deep thought.

"Where did Little Yi go?" Old Qin asked.

"I don't know. I left a note for his mom saying that she was going out for a few days. Then she disappeared."

"If you didn't say where you were going, why aren't you answering the phone?"

"Yes."

The two of them did not speak for a while, but exchanged a moment of silence.

"That little thing..." Where can I go? " After a long while, Old Qin asked to himself.

"..."

The Qin Mu Club was not too far away from the Flower Snake Village. In merely two hours, Zhou Yang and the rest had already arrived at the ancient village which the Flower Snake Village belonged to. However, to enter this village, they would have to go through a winding mountain road.

On this trip, other than Zhou Yang, the other members were Chen Ya, Lili, Fann Wenqiang, Sun Miao, Faang Zexi and Faang Zexi. Chen Ya was the only female member of the club, with a head full of short hair. Lili was Zhou Yang's female student and the one who advocated the expedition. Fann Wenqiang and Sun Miao were both veterans of the club, he was forty-five years old, was four years older than Qiao Mu, had a steady and experienced personality, was relatively young, was only thirty-three years old, and was the member with the highest education in the whole club. The last one, Faang Zexi, was Fann Wenqiang's student. He was a 1.9m tall boy who loved to exercise very much.

They were well-prepared for the expedition. In addition to a large backpack, they had a first-aid kit and a toolbox. All sorts of equipment, tools, food, medicine, drinking water, and tents were available. Even if one was caught in a critical situation, it would still barely last half a month.

Zhou Yang parked his car in the ancient city and the six of them went to find a restaurant to eat, then proceeded to walk up the mountain.

The reason he didn't drive the car was because Zhou Yang had just received a call from Yang Jie and knew about the bus overturning.

Before going up the mountain, Chen Ya asked a few locals about it and determined that it would take them about two hours to go from Ancient Tower Town to Flower Snake Village.

"How is it, are you scared? so that you don't have to do much exercise. " Faang Zexi was extremely excited, he knew he had to climb the mountain, and using his good physique, he teased the others.

"Tsk, don't look at how this young mistress doesn't usually go to the gym. If she really runs a step, she might even be better than you!" Chen Ya retorted.

"Is that so? Sister Chen Ya, how about we try running all the way there? " Faang Zexi laughed.

"Sure! "You're still carrying a big bag, if I still can't outrun you, that would really be too embarrassing."

Indeed, Faang Zexi was in charge of the big backpack. It was also because he was young, had a strong body, and could take on a lot of hard work, that Zhou Yang considered letting him go.

The Qin Mu Club was roughly divided into a member and a student's aptitude. It was similar to the relationship between teacher and student. All the members were experienced Wilderness enthusiasts, and their overall ability was much higher than that of the students. Usually, the students would not have the chance to explore the dangerous areas like the members, but this time Zhou Yang brought two students, one was Lili and the other was Faang Zexi. Lili had proposed this expedition because she was also known as the one who had visited her relatives in Flower Snake Village. With a certain understanding of Flower Snake Village, it was natural for her to bring him along. Faang Zexi took the role of a hard worker, taking care of all the dirty work.

"Stop joking around. Be a bit more serious. You should act like you're exploring." Seeing that Chen Ya and Faang Zexi started to get used to making trouble, Fann Wenqiang spoke in a coarse voice.