After confirming that the danger had temporarily passed, everyone crossed the bridge one after another.
In order to ensure the safety of the two scholars, Wei Xingshan insisted on using the zip line and let them slide over.
Back and forth, this river stopped everyone for nearly four hours. By the time the large troops converged at the other end of the river, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon.
Lin Shuo didn't go far, just waiting for them in the forest.
When he set off again, the starling bird on Lin Shuo's shoulder seemed to be interested in the old professor He Zihong, and flew to the old man's shoulder.
He Zihong was a little surprised, looked at Xiao Ba on his shoulder and asked, "Ba Ye, what's the matter with you?"
"Old man, I heard you say fish just now, I think you know a lot." Xiao Ba asked while combing the feathers on his body with his beak, "I heard you are a biologist?"
"Hehe." He Zihong smiled, "That's right."
"Oh. You biologists, why did you come to find that guy this time?" Xiao Ba continued to ask.
"Research." He Zihong said, "This creature is so special. We, the International Society for Biological Research, are very interested in it."
"I don't like to hear your words." Xiaoba's tone seemed a little unhappy, "I'm not special, Baye? Let me tell you, old man, my patriarch had this one, Brother Shuo said, then It's called the Legacy of the Phoenix, and it's a mess. Otherwise, your research association will pay 30 to 50 million US dollars, so how about I cooperate with you in your research?"
"This..." He Zihong's expression froze, and he glanced at Lin Shuo.
Lin Shuo walked ahead without turning his head.
He Zihong smiled again, and said, "How embarrassing, Ba Ye, you are usually so busy."
"It's okay." Xiao Bahao said dryly, "Isn't it just a matter of drawing some blood? Master Ba, I will make up for it in one meal."
Anne walked up to He Zihong, with a look of dumbfounding, and asked, "Baye, what's wrong with you? Do you want to sell yourself?"
"Woman, go away. One day you will sleep in brother Shuo's bed and become the sister-in-law of the eighth master, and then take care of the eighth master's affairs." Anne was speechless with one sentence from the starling bird.
Everyone was happy, but they didn't dare to say anything. This mynah has an unforgiving mouth. Except for Lin Shuo, it dares to offend anyone.
He Zihong hesitated for a while, feeling that he couldn't be fooled, and finally said frankly, "Ba Ye, what do you think is the most special about you?"
"I'm smart. Which bird have you seen as smart as my father?"
"Yes, smart." He Zihong sighed, "I've heard of the reputation of Master Ba, you are indeed the smartest bird I've ever seen, and you are also the most human-like. But..."
"But what?" Xiao Ba asked.
This conversation between one person and one bird has already attracted the attention of everyone in the industry.
Everyone pricked up their ears, wanting to hear what He Zihong, a biological authority, said.
After all, the existence of Xiao Ba, a starling bird, is itself a strange thing.
But He Zihong didn't continue. Instead, his student Yang Tuo said: "Your intelligence is amazing in the eyes of ordinary people, but it is worthless in our eyes. You are indeed very human. But like a human, on the contrary It is the least researchable feature in biology. Are there not enough people in this world? Besides, your intelligence must be from the Lin family... "
"Don't talk about it, Xiao Yang." He Zihong interrupted Yang Tuo's explanation, put on a smiling face, and said to Xiao Ba, "Ba Ye, you are a priceless treasure, but you already have a master, how can we take away love with a knife? How about it? If not, you can ask Mr. Lin if he is willing?"
"Hmph, these two nerds don't know anything." Xiao Bafei returned to Lin Shuo's shoulder and said to Lin Shuo, "Brother Shuo, I found out clearly, they are indeed not interested in me."
"Stupid bird." Lin Shuo gave Xiao Ba a white look, "Did I ask you to find out?"
"I want to evaluate myself." Xiao Ba said.
"Your value, they don't understand."
"oh."
…
The mountain road was rugged, and the group walked for more than three hours.
The sky is slowly getting dark, but the good news is that there is a road here slowly.
Now that there is a mountain road, the mountain village is not far away.
After turning over the last hill, Lin Shuo, who was bathed in the afterglow of the sunset, finally saw the village.
The strange scene in front of him made him who was in charge of opening the road stop.
The terrain here is high, the view is good, and the village under the mountain can be seen at a glance.
The village is located in a valley between the mountains, with a small river running through it, surrounded by mountains and rivers. The place is a bit out of the way, but the layout is pretty good.
On the village road west of the small river, many people could be seen walking. Right now it is just about time for dinner, and the smoke from the kitchens is rising from every household, creating a peaceful and peaceful scene.
But on the east side of this small river, there is a scene of collapsed houses.
Those wooden houses seemed to have been hit by a tornado, with broken planks everywhere. The broken glass reflected light in the setting sun, and the place was colorful, which should be some scattered daily necessities.
This ten-meter-wide river seems to be the boundary between heaven and hell.
"This village is the one that was attacked by that strange creature according to the Russian police's information." Anne walked up to Lin Shuo, looked down the mountain, and said softly, "But it's very strange."
"That's right." Wei Xingshan also came to the two of them, "Since the village east of Xiaohe River has been attacked, everyone in the West Village should have run away."
"Who says it's not." Wang Yong said, "Why do you still live as usual? This heart is too big."
"If something goes wrong, there must be a demon." He Zihong said.
"Let's go to the site to inspect it first." Yang Tuo put down the big bag on his back, took out a small box from it, opened it with a "click", and checked whether the tools inside were complete.
"Okay. But since there are many villagers nearby, it's easy to scare the snake when we go down with so many armed people, so let's do this." Wei Xingshan ordered, "The others camped on the spot. Wang Yong, you are responsible for the security of the surrounding hills. .Liu Qing and I escorted the two scholars to the site for investigation. Ms. Anne, Mr. Lin, do you want to follow?"
Anne looked at Lin Shuo's expression and found that he did not object, so she nodded slowly: "Let's go."
…
A group of six people went down the mountain, followed the village road, and walked into the ruins first.
Taking the first step here, everyone felt that the ground here was different from the outside of the village.
Even though it is also a dirt road, the feeling from the feet is obviously much harder and smoother.
From the first moment Lin Shuo stepped into the ruins, his expression became dignified.
He twitched his nostrils quickly, and the faint smell that remained here seemed to pull him back to that thunderstorm night six years ago.
That night, even if it rained heavily, it couldn't wash away the disgusting smell in the air!
This smell, together with the smell of blood spilled from his father Lin Leshan's chest, was engraved in the deepest part of Lin Shuo's memory.
During these six years, this memory was like a nightmare, keeping him awake in the middle of the night and waking him up in the morning.
The color of Lin Shuo's face slowly faded, he touched himself, and only then remembered that the last three cigarettes had been used up when he was asking for the master.
"Mr. Lin, what's the matter with you?" Anne asked at this time.
"Nothing." Lin Shuo forced a smile and asked, "Do you have any cigarettes?"
"Oh." Anne quickly rummaged through her bag and took out a box of Zhonghua cigarettes, which she prepared for Xiaoba.
Lin Shuo took one out of the box, and Anne quickly lit it for him. She noticed that Lin Shuo's hand holding the cigarette was trembling slightly.
"Mr. Lin, are you okay?" Anne observed Lin Shuo's face and asked worriedly.
"It's all right." Lin Shuo took a puff of cigarette, his complexion improved a little, and he looked around.
Looking from the mountain, it seems that this place has been hit by a tornado, but when we actually walk here, we find that it is far more than that.
It's like being run over by a super-sized steamroller, everything is flat.
Those building materials on the ground seem to be one piece. But when Yang Tuo took the samples, he found that he couldn't pick them up with his hands, and they were all broken.
He Zihong's expression was not very good either.
Normally speaking, with this kind of on-site investigation, as clues appeared one after another, the situation at that time gradually surfaced, and the scientific researchers present should understand more and more.
But now, looking at the crumbling walls and tiles here, he became more and more confused.
He Zihong felt that his professional fanaticism was slowly cooling down, and a lingering fear was growing in his heart.
"No blood was found." Yang Tuo stood up, "The villagers here seem to have disappeared for no reason."
"Did it all be swallowed by that thing?" Wei Xingshan said at this time, "Look around, how the house is crushed, such a big thing, just swallow it in one mouthful, there is no need to see blood. "
"But there are more than 180 people missing. Are they stupid? Waiting to be swallowed by this thing one by one, don't know how to run?" Yang Tuo's question made Wei Xingshan startled and scratched his head.
Liu Qing asked tremblingly: "I heard that this thing is a big snake?"
"It's not a snake." Lin Shuo shook his head, "At least, it's not the snake you imagined."
"No matter what it is, it can't fall from the sky, can it?" Yang Tuo asked, "But if you look around, there is no trace of it at all. It appeared here out of thin air, and then brought more than 180 people, and then Disappeared out of thin air."
"Yes." He Zihong also said with emotion, "Such a big body and such a heavy body, it is impossible to fly, right? And even if it can burrow into the ground, it is right to leave a hole!"
Anne was slightly startled at this moment, as if trying to understand something, she suddenly looked at the river tens of meters away.
After looking at the river for a few seconds, Anne looked at Lin Shuo again, as if asking for something in her eyes.
Lin Shuo nodded slowly.
"Mr. Lin, what do you mean..." Anne seemed to want to confirm something, and asked, "Its track is this river?"
"What?"
"This is impossible!"
"This ten-meter-wide river is the whereabouts of that thing?"
"This guy can squeeze out a river once he comes here?"
"The more you talk, the more outrageous it is. What is the concept of pressing out a river? If it really has this ability, I will turn around and leave. This business will not do anything."
Under the eyes of everyone, Lin Shuo slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, "I mean, this river of more than ten meters wide can barely accommodate it. It should come from the water."