The black shadows came from far away and were all people from the island, tall and short, fat and thin, all men, wearing coarse cloth clothes similar to the crew members, with a thick hemp rope tied diagonally in front of them, pulling a cart behind them, with a kerosene lamp hanging on the front, making clanging sounds.
They came here to get supplies, not to attack them.
After realizing this, Chen Yang and his group relaxed a little. They were afraid that someone among them would be thrown into the sea just after arriving on the island.
The gray island is filled with small stone houses connected in a U-shape, with no walls touching each other. Each house is surrounded by a circle of strange-shaped stones, leaving only a small door.
From a distance, it looks like a large necklace of stone beads.
The middle-aged man who received Chen Yang and his friends was Li Dafu. He had an old lady at home who was quite agile but hard of hearing, so it was very difficult to communicate with her.
After seeing off the Li mother and son, everyone closed the door and sat under the kerosene lamp, feeling cold and speechless.
Once we got to the island, it began.
Chen Yang looked outside through the shabby wooden window. It was almost dawn and he didn't know what he would face.
The wind blew through the old trees in the yard, making them rustle. A smell of dry firewood drifted in from the window, and a series of shouts suddenly came from the yard next door.
“Oh—oh—oh—oh—”
The rooster crowed.
In this situation, the crowing of roosters brought in the atmosphere of humanity and the smell of fireworks, which made everyone feel a subtle sense of security.
However, the news they received in the morning made that sense of security disappear.
There were no dead people on the island, no one had just held a funeral, and there was no conventional human sacrifice activity a few days later.
Every household has its door open, smoke from cooking rises, the aroma of food wafts from one end to the other, the adults are busy, the children are noisy, the elderly are laughing, the whole place is peaceful and harmonious, and the years are quiet and good.
Everyone became even more uneasy.
If they really came to travel, they would be able to experience the simple folk customs, but they have been to the gates of hell, what is it like now? The style of the painting is seriously wrong.
This mission was extremely unusual. Zhang Yan's experience in hiding from ghosts and finding ghosts last time was completely useless. His face was very solemn: "When you were walking around the village, did you ever feel that something was wrong? You couldn't explain it, but you just felt that something was wrong, or you felt that someone was looking at you from behind, which was creepy?"
Lin Yue and the others shook their heads and said no.
The island is still a little eerie at night, but it is sunny and full of spring during the day. The fishermen have only simple vigilance and curiosity towards them.
Now they were at a loss of what to do. Led by Zhang Yan, everyone looked at Chen Yang and the young man next to him. They were the only two who did not go out in the morning.
The boy never spoke in front of them. He was outstanding in appearance but also very difficult to get along with. There was also an indescribable feeling about him, like a time bomb that made people hold their breath when they got close to him, feeling uncomfortable and afraid to relax.
No one expected to get anything out of the boy's mouth. They all looked at Chen Yang. They wanted to know if there was anything unusual in the room.
Chen Yang shook his head and said, "I stayed in the room the whole time, nothing happened."
Zhang Yan and the others were all silent.
"Maybe we are just lucky. We won't encounter those things in this mission, and no one will die. We will just spend two days on the island."
Zhou Xiaoxiao's voice became weaker as she spoke, and she didn't even believe it herself.
The visible ghostly bloody handprints are very terrifying, but the invisible horror, controlled by imagination, can drive people crazy.
"If we have to point out something abnormal now, it's the mountains of fertilizers," said Zhang Yan.
Several people agreed.
There are too many of them. The number makes people feel uncomfortable.
The two days that tourists stay on the island are their survival time, and their mission is probably to start with the fertilizer that came with them across the ocean.
But what can fertilizers do
It can only be used as nutrients and fertilizer.
"Time for breakfast!"
Li Dafu's shout was suddenly heard in the yard. He didn't know what he kicked, but there were loud bangs. He was very angry, but his danger level was not high, and his emotions were obvious.
"Go ahead." Zhang Yan saw everyone's concerns, "The food in the mission world is generally fine."
Zhao Yuan was suspicious: "This time it's so unusual, I can't say for sure."
Zhou Xiaoxiao's legs trembled as she just stood up, and the small stool behind her fell to the ground with a "bang". The noise made everyone feel suffocated.
Zhang Yan hesitated and said, "No way."
"Even you old people don't know how to be so abnormal, so what else is impossible?"
Zhao Yuan was a fan of heavy-mouthed movies. At the moment, his mind was filled with images of ogres and aliens, blood and flesh flying everywhere. His restless eyes were fixed on the three bags on the table.
The two men's backpacks belonged to Chen Yang and Zhang Yan, and the red leather bag with a smaller space belonged to Lin Yue. Only the three of them brought bags in.
Zhao Yuan's eyes lit up: "Is there food in the bag?"
The expressions of several people present changed.
Zhang Yan frowned: "We have to carry our ID numbers with us 24 hours a day, not even when sleeping, because there are no signs before the mission begins, and no one can prepare anything in advance."
"If I hadn't come in this time, I would be at my brother's place now. I would stay there for a few days."
What he meant was that he was originally going to his brother's place, and his bag only contained spare clothes, but no food.
Lin Yue said nothing and simply opened the bag. Inside was a pack of tissues, a data cable, a cell phone with no signal, and a lipstick. That was all. She never ate while traveling by car.
The only one left with a bag was Chen Yang, and he immediately became the focus.
Chen Yang scratched his face under their gazes that seemed like he was looking at a life-saving straw. He didn't elaborate, but simply said: "I have a box of milk tablets in my bag."
These words warmed up the temperature in the room.
Zhao Yuan said excitedly: "Then let's hold on. It's only two days, right? It's okay for us to eat less. If there is a problem with the water source on the island, we will be wiped out. We must work together at this time. Unity is strength. Let's get out alive together."
Just as everyone was beginning to feel a glimmer of hope, it was extinguished by a voice.
"But if there is really a problem with the water source, it will be too late," said Chen Yang.
Everyone looked at Chen Yang, not understanding what he said for a moment. What do you mean it’s too late
Chen Yang reminded his temporary teammates: "When we arrived here before dawn, the old lady poured us some water and we all drank it."
The warming atmosphere suddenly dropped to the bottom.
Yes, I drank them all.
Only Chen Yang noticed that the boy didn't drink it. However, if there was a problem with the water, he would be useless alone. Two fists could not beat four hands, and his legs could not walk well.
The dead silence spread, and Zhou Xiaoxiao started crying again, which was annoying.
Among them, Huang Qing's reaction was the strongest. He wanted to find something to sew her mouth shut. One should be gentle and considerate to women according to the situation. Now that he doesn't know whether he will die or not, who the hell cares about beautiful women
"Cry your mother off!" Huang Qing picked up a small stool and smashed it against the wall.
Zhou Xiaoxiao screamed in fright.
Zhao Yuan and Huang Qing are of the same age and he doesn't like his behavior: "Why are you so angry? No one wants to come here. No one wants to be involved in this kind of thing. It's normal to be afraid. Crying is a conditioned reflex. Don't be rough with girls. How can you be a man?"
"It's okay." Zhao Yuan comforted the tearful Princess Zhou, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
Huang Qing looked like he had swallowed a fly: "Idiot."
Zhao Yuan was furious. He walked up to Huang Qing and, taking advantage of his height advantage, said condescendingly, "Who are you scolding, shorty?"
The two hot-blooded young men glared at each other and were about to fight, like two roosters whose buttocks had been gnawed off.
"Pa pa pa"
Lin Yue clapped her hands: "They're already fighting before the game officially starts. They really look like newbies."
Huang Qing and Zhao Yuan looked embarrassed.
"And you, my little beauty," Lin Yue glanced at Zhou Xiaoxiao, "Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when two good-looking boys quarrel over you?"
Zhou Xiaoxiao denied it flatly: "No, I didn't..."
Lin Yue thought her acting was too disgusting and interrupted her directly: "My last mission had a large team, a total of fifteen people, eight of whom were women, and I was the only one who survived. Guess why?"
Zhou Xiaoxiao shuddered: "Why?"
Lin Yue sneered: "Because I am the only one who did not try to take advantage of women's weakness, but hid it instead."
"Here, weak and useless people will only be abandoned sooner and faster."
Zhou Xiaoxiao stopped talking.
Zhang Yan acted as a peacemaker and said in a deep voice, "Alright, stop arguing. Since it's too late, just eat. If you don't eat, you won't have the strength. If you don't have the strength, you won't be able to run away, not to mention resisting, when you're in danger. This is my personal advice."
"Besides, if there really is a problem, as long as I finish the mission and return to the real world with one breath left, I should be able to recover."
The second half of the sentence stunned Zhou Xiaoxiao and the other two. They all had their own ulterior motives, but they all had the same goal: no matter what they did, they had to survive and live to the end.
Old Mrs. Li treated the guests very warmly. For breakfast, she cooked a big pot of white porridge, two large porcelain bowls of unknown pickled vegetables, and a stack of scallion pancakes made with old dough.
No one had much appetite and there was little communication during the conversation.
After breakfast, Zhang Yan suggested that everyone act separately and meet up at Li Dafu’s house at noon.
Zhou Xiaoxiao was anxious: "Didn't they say that in case someone goes out and comes back and doesn't know whether it's a human or a ghost, they should be in a group of at least two?"
"The situation has changed," Zhang Yan said. "We don't know where to start now. We can only maximize the existing manpower, spread it out, and try to find as much useful information as possible. We don't have much time left."
This is reasonable and there is no way to refute it, because according to the clues currently available, they can only stay on the island for two days, or 48 hours. There is really not much time left, so they have to hurry.
No matter how scared they were, Zhao Yuan and Huang Qing had no choice but to leave in different directions as they didn't want to act alone.
Zhou Xiaoxiao staggered and seemed to want to say something, but when she saw that no one was paying attention to her, she hesitated for a long time and then walked out while biting her lip.
When Chen Yang saw the young man walking out of the house with crutches, he immediately withdrew his gaze from Zhang Yan's back and followed him out with his bag on his back.
"Where are you going?"
The boy went west.
Chen Yang gave him some advice: "You don't actually have to walk around. You can find a place to sit down and wait for the girls on the island to come to you. The beauty trap will work well."
"… "
The young man leaned on his crutches and looked down at him.
No words, just watching.
Chen Yang gradually became a little panicked, as if he was being stared at by some giant. He pulled the corners of his mouth and revealed a warm smile: "I'm going south, you be careful."
After saying that, he left and soon disappeared in front of the bushes.
The young man stood on his crutches for a while, took out the medicine bottle and opened it to see that there were still eight pills left. He poured two pills into his mouth, scraped his mouth with the tip of his tongue, and went around the corner to find a higher place to stand.
After the newlyweds left, only two old people, Zhang Yan and Lin Yue, were left in the room. The former was looking at the sky in deep thought, while the latter was swiping the screen of his mobile phone, looking at the photos he took in the morning.
The two of them had started out as rookies together, and had seen their teammates die one by one before their eyes. They had also experienced near-death experiences, pain and despair, and witnessed the darkness and indifference on both sides, and had survived with great difficulty.
Lin Yue had already revealed that side of herself in the mission world, but Zhang Yan was still pretending. He was a gentleman, but also a real villain.
"Those people don't even know that you've used them as bait. How pitiful." Lin Yue looked at the photos on her phone. The morning on the island was beautiful, and there wasn't a single ghost to be seen.
Zhang Yan acted helpless: "This time the mission bureau has not been opened, it's too weird, we can only use dead people to break the situation."
Lin Yue sneered and left with her phone in her pocket.
Zhang Yan wiped the porridge particles off his jacket without caring. The chance of a newcomer getting out alive was very small, and it was better to die meaningfully than to die worthlessly.
The only thing we can do now is to separate everyone and let the monster lurking in the dark take action.
Once someone dies, the game is over.
Chen Yang did not go outside the village. He strolled for a short while and then returned to Li Dafu's house. In his pocket was a long iron nail that he had picked up on the road. It was pulled off the broken wooden boards and was covered with rust.
One nail is not enough, it's better to find a few more.
When Chen Yang passed by Li Dafu's house, he met Mr. Zhou, the teacher on the island.
He is quite young, less than 30 years old, wearing a gray cloth gown and black-rimmed glasses. He looks warm and humble. He is highly regarded by the islanders and has a strong appeal.
Chen Yang went up to say hello with a smile.
Teacher Zhou chatted with him gently for a while: "The weather is nice today, Mr. Chen, why don't you go for a walk on the island?"
Chen Yang said: "My stomach feels a little uncomfortable."
"Are you suffering from acclimatization? I have some herbs, why don't you follow me..."
Before Teacher Zhou finished speaking, Aunt Liu's loud voice came from next door: "Teacher Zhou, why are you here?"
"Aunt Liu, didn't we agree yesterday that we would definitely send your little son to school today?" Teacher Zhou said, "Why didn't I see him this morning?"
Aunt Liu stood under the wire clothesline, bent over to take out the wet clothes from the old wooden barrel and wrung them out: "You don't want to go!"
"I almost knelt down and kowtowed to him. Teacher Zhou, are you angry? I really have no other choice. If Erzi's father and brother hadn't fallen into the sea, I could still control him... Oh!"
Aunt Liu blew her nose and said, "Teacher Zhou, you have to help my little son. He can't not study. He can't be like me, illiterate."
Teacher Zhou pushed up his glasses and said: "Children have their own little world. You should talk to them more."
Aunt Liu felt as bitter as if she had eaten coptis root when she talked about it. "We can't talk. He thinks I'm annoying when I say something. I don't know what's wrong with him. He used to like to go out and have fun. He would always shout for food and would not go home until he had a meal. But recently, he hasn't gone out for many days and just stays in the house."
Chen Yang was thinking about taking a piece of the wire away for use. He was also interested in the abnormality of Aunt Liu's youngest son. He asked in confusion, "Did something happen at school?"
Aunt Liu didn't understand.
Teacher Zhou understood and looked unhappy: "I understand what Mr. Chen means, but that is impossible. There are not many children on the island. They all know each other well. There is no school bullying."
"..." Chen Yang coughed, smiled a few times and then moved on.
Mr. Zhou was the only teacher on the island. He knocked on the door several times but didn't see any students. He was in a hurry to go back to class and didn't stay long. Before leaving, he asked Aunt Liu to communicate with her youngest son.
Aunt Liu hung the clothes and muttered, "How can we communicate? The child is here to collect debts. I am so busy all day long, and I still have to worry about him."
Chen Yang smiled and said, "It's normal to not like going to school. I often skipped classes when I was a kid."
"I used to like him." Aunt Liu sighed again, "I still have to go to school. What else can I do if I don't go to school? I can fish by myself. I don't need him."
Chen Yang saw the woman's hard work and expectations: "How old is the child?"
Aunt Liu said, "Nine years old."
"He's a little rebellious. He has a lot of ideas of his own. I can only talk to him nicely."
"It's not easy to explain. He doesn't even come out for dinner. I'm like a transparent person at home. The child is getting more and more alienated from me as he grows older." Aunt Liu was sighing. Seeing Old Lady Li slowly coming to her door with a dustpan to dry the food, she didn't bother to care: "Da Fu's mother, Grandma Chen notified us to hold a meeting tonight to distribute fertilizer!"
Mrs. Li couldn't hear clearly: "What?"
"Fertilizer, your Dafu knows about it." Aunt Liu shouted until her throat was smoking. She shook her head and said, "I'm old and my hearing is not good. My son still complains about it. It's also a pain for him."
Chen Yang noticed the old lady's hunched figure and asked Aunt Liu, "I see you brought a lot of fertilizer to the island. What are you going to do?"
Aunt Liu fished out the last two pairs of socks from the wooden barrel, dripping with water: "What can fertilizer do? It's just for the fields."
Chen Yang said casually, "It seems there isn't much land on the island."
"Not much, some places don't allow it, saying..." Aunt Liu seemed to realize something, and stopped talking abruptly, then shouted again: "Da Fu's mother, has your fertilizer been stolen?"
Old Lady Li squatted down and shook the dried wild vegetables in the winnowing basket: "Ah?"
"I said--" Aunt Liu repeated it several times with great effort before Grandma Li could hear it clearly.
"That's impossible," Old Lady Li waved her hands. "I closed all the doors and windows when Dafu was out at sea. When he was at home, even weasels didn't dare to come in."
Aunt Liu recalled the sad things and sighed: "It's different when there's a man at home."
Chen Yang shifted his gaze to the woman's honest face that was exposed to the sun and wind: "Aunt Liu, your fertilizer was stolen?"
"Of course," Aunt Liu poured out the water from the old wooden barrel and spat on the ground, "It's half a bag full. I don't know who stole it!"
Chen Yang sincerely chatted with Aunt Liu for a long time, which made her guard almost down. Before leaving, she asked if he could help look after her son if she didn't go out for a walk in the morning.
Chen Yang naturally took on this job. He had to see the child, the sooner the better.
Just when Chen Yang had a piece of rusty wire and two big iron nails in his pocket and was about to lead the child out of the house, a round little head popped in from the yard gate.
He is a dark-skinned boy, skinny and very naughty.
Chen Yang used a milk tablet to attract the skinny monkey and learned that he was a classmate of Aunt Liu's youngest son. He had taken a leave of absence at home for the past few days and came here out of boredom.
"This morning, your teacher Zhou came to his house to look for him. He said he didn't go to school again. His mother couldn't do anything about it. Do you know what happened to him?"
The skinny monkey slurped his milk tablets and said, "I didn't get elected as a class leader."
Chen Yang: “…” So that’s what’s happening.
He sat on a tree stump, propped up his head and said, "Just because I haven't been selected as an official, I won't go to school?"
"His self-esteem was hurt. He thought he would win this time. He hadn't even taken the position yet, but he had already shown off his power as a leader. In the end, he was embarrassed." The skinny monkey gloated, "Xiaoxing is no longer on good terms with him."
Chen Yang was not interested in the little brat's "I'm good with you, but not with him". He took out another milk tablet and said, "Aunt Liu asked me to look after your classmate, but he has been staying in the room all the time and it's useless even if your teacher Zhou called him. Do you have any way to get him out to bask in the sun?"
The skinny monkey quickly grabbed the milk tablet, put it in his pocket as if it was his baby, and said like a little adult: "You adults like to make things complicated. It's very simple to ask him to come out."
"Watch me."
He patted his chest and shouted to the room: "Second son, Xiaoxing is here!"
The tightly closed door suddenly opened from the inside, and a boy, a little fat, with a soft face, ran out. He looked into the yard, and when he didn't see the person he wanted to see, his eyes immediately widened.
"Li Yang! You lied to me!"
The skinny monkey made a provocative face and ran away.
The boy was angry and disappointed, his eyes were red and he felt aggrieved. He looked at every corner of the yard without giving up, and then ran to the gate of the yard to look again.
Chen Yang looked at the boy who looked like a wilted eggplant and couldn't help being dazed for a moment. Childhood was so pure and transparent. Whether happy or unhappy, there were no impurities in it.
He half-knelt and handed over a milk slice: "It's delicious."
The boy's hand moved, wanting to have it but feeling embarrassed. Chen Yang pushed the milk flakes forward, and he reached out to take it, blushing and saying, "Thank you, big brother."
Chen Yang smiled and touched the boy's hair. When he stood up, the smile on his face disappeared.
The child had a strong, strange taste in his mouth, which came from his stomach.
It smells like fertilizer.