A total of two cars came from outside the airport, one was used to carry luggage, while Lin Banxia and the others sat in the other. In the car, Li Ye was talking to the man in Russian. The atmosphere seemed to be okay. Song Qingluo stared at the phone and seemed to be communicating with someone. Only Lin Banxia had nothing to do. He yawned and asked where he was from. How far is there.
"That place is very remote, we can only go there tomorrow." Li Ye replied, "It takes at least eight hours to drive from the city, and I live near here at night. It's not like China, it's not safe, so don't run around at night. ."
Lin Banxia obediently said yes.
Song Qingluo asked, "There is still no news from Li Su?"
Li Ye was silent for a while before spit out two words: "No."
Song Qingluo stopped asking questions.
Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a homestay in the middle of a town. Lin Banxia also saw the street scene in Russia along the way. The time in this country seems to be frozen in a certain glorious past, the buildings are mostly filled with the old style, the streets are clean, and there are not many pedestrians on the roads. It was already dark now. Li Ye put his luggage away and went to the balcony, silently watching the lights on the street, wondering what he was thinking.
Lin Banxia sat in the room and looked at his back, stood up and walked to his side, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it over: "Do you want to smoke?"
Li Ye glanced at him, took the cigarette, and thanked him.
"How long has it been since you came back?" Lin Banxia started to talk. In fact, he was very curious about the experiences of Li Su and Li Ye, and felt that there were many stories about them.
"Twelve years." Li Ye said, "After I left, I never came back."
Lin Banxia said: "Oh, I went out to work, but I haven't been home." He smiled, "My parents went early, and they didn't think much of their hometown."
Li Ye was silent for a moment, then said, "What a coincidence? Me too."
Lin Banxia was also a little surprised.
"It's a mess here, my parents were killed, and the murderer has not been found." Li Ye calmly seemed to be telling someone else's story, "I became an orphan when I was six years old, I have no relatives, and lived on the relief of my neighbors and stealing things. ."
Lin Banxia said with a smile, "I'm a bit luckier than you, at least my relatives are willing to give me some food."
Li Ye didn't answer any more, he finished smoking the cigarette, then turned around and entered the house, before entering the house, he said the last sentence of the evening, he said, "If you are lucky than me, you shouldn't stand there. it's here."
Lin Banxia was dumbfounded, and suddenly realized that she couldn't refute it. To some extent, his luck doesn't seem to be any better than Li Ye. But at least for now, it's much better than he expected. Lin Banxia has always been a person who is easily satisfied, so instead he laughed and said, "I think it's fine now."
Spring in Russia always comes so late, even in May, the cold air is everywhere.
The streets were empty in the early morning, Lin Banxia got up early and had a simple breakfast with Song Qingluo. Song Qingluo got a few ice creams with a strong taste from somewhere, and handed one to Lin Banxia. Lin Banxia took it in surprise and licked it happily.
"The quality of dairy and meat products here is very good." Song Qingluo.
"It's delicious." Lin Banxia asked Li Ye, "Do you want it?"
Li Ye shook his head, showing no interest in this. Yiliana and Sergey also smiled and refused. Looking at their expressions, they obviously felt that Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo didn't come to work, but to travel, but this made the atmosphere in the team relaxed. a little.
After eating the ice cream, Lin Banxia sat in the car bound for her destination contentedly.
This huge country has a population of only 140 million, which is truly vast and sparsely populated. This also means that in the outskirts far from the city, no one can be seen at a distance of dozens of kilometers.
The scenery outside the car window became more and more desolate. In the end, no buildings could be seen. The surrounding area was an endless wilderness. You could even occasionally see hares jumping by the roadside.
The atmosphere in the car was very quiet, and no one wanted to talk much.
After a long journey of eight hours, they finally reached their destination, which had been blocked by the police. As soon as they got out of the car, people in police uniforms stepped forward to receive them, but they all spoke Russian. Can't understand.
He had nothing to do, and simply observed the surrounding situation.
This seems to be the entrance to a village. A blocked path spreads deep into the bushes, still full of desolate smells. If they hadn't seen the street signs with incomprehensible names standing next to them, probably no one would want to go inside. Walk. The police set up a guard post and blocked this section of the road. Unfortunately, the effect seemed to be a drop in the bucket, because the protective line can only be extended a certain distance, and it is impossible to completely block the entire area.
Li Ye talked with the person in charge for about ten minutes, then came back and told them that they could go in in the afternoon, but the police suggested that it is best to go in tomorrow morning, because they didn't know what was going on inside. May be high.
Song Qingluo glanced at Li Ye and said, "What do you think?"
Li Ye said: "I'm going in soon, you can prepare again."
Song Qingluo said, "How many recorders did they assign to you?"
"Just me." Li Ye said. "It's safer to have the recorder follow you."
Song Qingluo pondered for a moment: "Then let's go in now, the situation may not improve until tomorrow. If you go in earlier, there may be a turning point."
Li Ye said yes.
Then, a few people started to pack their luggage. Lin Banxia was surprised to see a gun in Li Ye's bag. Li Ye explained that it is legal to carry guns in this country, and there are some large creatures such as bears and wild boars in the area they entered. In order to ensure their own safety, they must bring these things. However, Lin Banxia had never practiced guns, so he only equipped him with cold weapons.
Lin Banxia nodded and had no objection to this.
After packing their luggage, they also saw the recorder assigned to them. There were three people in total. Two were Sergey and Elena who picked them up yesterday, and there was another young man named Alexei. , His Chinese is good, it seems that he should have been specially selected, he has beautiful short red hair, and is a passionate Russian boy. Seeing Lin Banxia and the others, they greeted them happily, and tried to talk with them in Chinese, saying that they were welcome to come to the beautiful Russia.
Then, after confirming that all the equipment could be used normally, Song Qingluo took out the black and white dice from his pocket and gestured to Li Ye with his eyes.
Li Ye said something to Yelena and Sergey, you should come first or something, and the two picked up the dice one after another and rolled out their numbers. Then there were Alexei, Li Ye and Song Qingluo. When Lin Banxia arrived, Song Qingluo still did not let him roll the dice, but put the dice back into his pocket.
"Don't you need it?" Alexey stopped the recording and asked in surprise.
"He doesn't need it." Song Qingluo said without explaining why.
Alexey hesitated, but seeing that Irina and Sergey were not at all curious, he took a breath and silently recorded the data belonging to several people in his own notebook. In fact, it was not his turn for the job this time. Fortunately, his Chinese was good. In addition, the two monitors who came this time were all Chinese, so he squeezed out another senior and successfully signed the contract. agreement. Alexei naturally knew that this trip was very dangerous, otherwise he would not have offered a price of more than one million. But what about the danger, he needs this money too much...
After the record was done, the six drove two cars, and they passed the blockade and followed the path towards the village.
Lin Banxia held a map in his hand, which roughly marked the places where all human activities were carried out in this area. The area involved was very small, and it could be seen that not many people settled in this area. This is also a good thing. After all, it seems that the situation of the residents living in it is not optimistic.
In the desolate plain, there are no tall plants, and the wind blows sand and dust on people's cheeks. Song Qingluo was sitting in the car, staring at the communication device in his hand, and not surprisingly found that after they drove forward for about three or four kilometers, the signal on the mobile phone was almost completely lost.
"How long have you been here?" Alexei is a smart young man. He could see at a glance that Song Qingluo and Li Ye were not easy people to get along with, so he approached Lin Banxia and had a curious conversation. .
Lin Banxia said: "I arrived in Russia yesterday afternoon."
Alexey said, "Oh, so soon, do you know that the last team who entered here has lost contact?"
Lin Banxia said, "I know, there are my friends in there."
Alexei was surprised: "There is actually your friend in there? Is he... okay? But... are you really not afraid at all?"
Lin Banxia was a little strange: "Are you afraid? Then why did you take this job?"
Alexey smiled: "It's not that the salary is high."
Lin Banxia thought to herself that you are really a bit like me.
Unlike the enthusiastic Alexei, the other two Russians may have been silent for a while because they could not understand Chinese. Only when necessary would they talk to Li Ye. Judging from the expressions of the two, they clearly did not agree. Not optimistic about this trip, the sadness between the eyebrows almost turned into reality.
After driving forward for about ten minutes, some changes in the surrounding desolate landforms, some tall and lush pine and cypress trees appeared on the surface, they became denser and denser, and finally formed a small jungle. I saw some low-rise buildings, and if I wanted to come and walk through here, I would be able to reach the village.
The vehicles on the next road could not drive, so they had to park the car nearby, walk through the woods, and walk in the woods. Sergey suddenly said something to Li Ye, and Li Ye turned his head and translated. : "Sergey found bear excrement on the ground. There may be large wild animals nearby. Be careful."
When everyone heard the words, they all cheered up.
About ten minutes later, the nervous group successfully passed through the jungle and reached the village safely. But even so, everyone's dangling hearts could not be let go, but they became even more nervous. The village was quiet, not like anyone. The doors of every household were wide open, but the villagers who were supposed to live here were gone.
Lin Banxia quickly checked a few rooms and determined that the room was empty. He said, "Everyone is gone."
"Look for any other clues." Song Qingluo quickly gave a plan, "The monitor and the recorder are in two groups, don't separate."
Although Lin Banxia was working for the second time, he was also a genuine monitor, so he was separated with Alexei. He had a good impression of Alexei, so he had no objection.
The village is not big, and most of the houses are of wooden structure. At first glance, it looks very dilapidated. When you walk into the house, you will find all kinds of beautiful wooden ornaments in the house, and some are decorated with colorful feathers. Exotic. Lin Banxia and Alexei entered the nearest room and checked the room but found nothing.
"Where did you say they all went?" Alexei said. "There is no one there. Could it be attacked by some large wild animal?"
Lin Banxia said, "What wild animals can block electronic signals?"
Alexey said, "Yes." He wasn't keen on such things as searches, so he rummaged around, sat down lazily on a soft stool, dug out a black leather notebook and started a record, looking at the She looks so amused, she doesn't know what she's writing.
Lin Banxia was still worried about Li Su's whereabouts, and naturally wanted to collect clues as soon as possible, but he didn't see anything after walking around the room, so he wanted to go outside and have a look, and greeted Alexei.
Alexey stood up and said, "Where are you going? There might be bears around here."
Lin Banxia joked: "Don't you often keep bears as pets?"
"Not anymore." Alexei said frankly, "It's illegal to keep bears now."
Lin Banxia: "...So you guys really had support before?"
Alexei: "Yes."
Lin Banxia: "..." Okay, you guys are amazing.
After coming out of the house, Lin Banxia and Alexei went to several other houses next to them, but found nothing. Each of these rooms was exceptionally tidy, and there was no sign of any violent intrusion, as if living in The villagers here all turned to dust overnight and were blown away by the wind. However, Lin Banxia noticed that all the electrical equipment in the village was still running. Even when Alexei entered a certain room, he was startled by the sound from the TV that was on. He patted his chest and said. : "Why is this TV still on?"
Lin Banxia said, "Maybe it didn't close when you left?"
Alexey said: "Oh, then he better not come back, or the electricity bill will be enough for him to cry."
Lin Banxia thought to herself, little brother, you are really humorous.
Apart from that, they had nothing else to gain. Lin Banxia was a little disappointed, but there was nothing he could do. After he went to meet Song Qingluo, Li Ye, and the others, he learned that the others had not found any useful information.
"Then let's rest today." Song Qing said, "It's already dark, it's not safe to continue the investigation."
Li Ye didn't say a word, just a cigarette in his mouth, smoking silently.
Song Qingluo ignored him, found a house with several bedrooms in the village, divided each bedroom, and said some things to pay attention to at night.
Li Ye said: "Don't give me points, I can't sleep."
"Are you going to continue looking for it at night?" Song Qingluo asked.
"He's waiting for me." Li Ye said calmly, it didn't seem like he was arguing with Song Qingluo, but there was no doubt in his tone that made it impossible to say words of comfort.
"Okay." Song Qingluo didn't try to persuade Li Ye, he said coldly, "I hope that when Li Su knows your decision, you won't regret it."
Li Ye's green eyes gave Song Qingluo a deep look: "I'll be back at dawn."
Song Qingluo: "I hope so."
After Li Ye finished speaking, he pushed open the door and hid his figure in the dark night.
"Let's rest." Song Qingluo didn't bother much about Li Ye, as if she was used to it, she turned around and went into the room to rest, leaving Lin Banxia and the rest to look at each other.
Li Ye left, which meant that there was no translation. Lin Banxia had to say good night to Elena Sergey in broken English. Fortunately, Alexey could help Lin Banxia communicate with him, so that the situation was not so embarrassing.
It was late at night, and it was twilight outside the window, but Alexei didn't feel sleepy. He lay on the bed for a while, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, and finally sat up and went back to the living room.
The living room is not big, and there are messy handicrafts everywhere. This seems to be a common problem in this village, no matter who's house is full.
Alexey randomly grabbed a few and looked at it, but he didn't see any clues, so he threw it aside. At this time, there was no signal on the mobile phone. He was really bored. He found the remote control on the sofa and turned on the TV that was turned off during the day.
The screen of the TV flickered a few times, and a picture popped up. Alexei sat on the sofa and watched for a while, looking at the few people coming and going on the screen, and felt that the sitcom was really boring. He picked up the remote control and wanted to change a few channels. Who knew that when he pressed other channels, the TV was full of snowflakes, and only this channel was still playing late-night programs.
Ah, how boring, Alexey thought, does anyone really watch a show like this? Why hasn't the show group closed down yet? But Nai He really had no choice, so he continued to watch boredly.
Spring nights are supposed to be noisy, insects scream, frogs croak, there are always such sounds in nature, but at this time in the wilderness, it seems that someone has pressed the mute button, except for the loud noise in the house. TV show, can't hear any sound.
Alexey, who was watching the TV series, felt a little uneasiness. This uneasiness came very suddenly, as if his sensitive intuition had discovered something strange before his reason. He glanced at the program on TV, and it was still the boring sitcom, which happened to be the father quarreling with the rebellious daughter. There was nothing wrong with the picture in front of him, but Alexei was unexpectedly uncomfortable. He didn't know why he was like this. He just hurriedly pressed the power button to restore the darkness to the TV screen.
There was no sound from the TV, and the room was instantly dead silent.
Although Alexei was still not sleepy, he decided to go to the bed and lie down obediently. He stood up and hurriedly walked towards the bedroom. When passing the dining room, he accidentally saw the family portrait on the TV. There are a total of five people in the family photo, all of them are showing bright smiles, which should be a warm photo. However, when Alexei saw the face in the family portrait clearly, it seemed as if someone had poured a basin of ice water on his head. He knew everyone in the family portrait, and it was the one in the sitcom that was broadcast on TV just now. actor. Goosebumps appeared all over his body almost in an instant, and Alexei would not be stupid enough to think that he happened to meet the show they were performing.
He licked his lips heavily, rushed into the next bedroom, and woke up the sleepy Lin Banxia.
Lin Banxia opened his eyes blankly and saw Alexei's pale face. He immediately realized what had happened and said, "What happened?"
"I think I found a villager," Alexei said. "Would you… come and see?"
The answer to this question doesn't seem to need an answer at all. Lin Banxia immediately followed Alexei to the living room, but when the two of them turned on the TV, the program inside was gone, leaving only endless white snowflakes.
"I really saw it, it wasn't a hallucination—" Alexei was a little anxious, afraid that Lin Banxia might think he was wrong.
Lin Banxia patted his shoulder and said, "I believe in you."
"What about now?" Alexei asked. "How could they be on TV?"
Naturally, Lin Banxia couldn't answer. After thinking about it, he simply walked over to the TV and checked it carefully. I saw a black liquid overflowing from the gap of this old TV. At first glance, it looked like asphalt used for sealing, but if you gently poke it with a hard object, you will find that it is soft.
"What is this?" Alexei swallowed. "Is this… a part of a TV?"
Lin Banxia felt that this was obviously not a part of the TV. He even had a conjecture about this liquid. He glanced at Alexei and said in a low voice, "Go and take Song Qingluo - it's with me. The watchman cried."
Alexey said yes, turned around and ran to the bedroom to find someone.
Lin Banxia went to the side of her luggage and found a handy tool, then went back to the TV, and carefully took apart the old TV case little by little. Song Qingluo came very quickly, and Lin Banxia just took off the shell when he came, revealing the contents inside.
Lin Banxia's expression froze for a moment when he opened the TV case. He saw the electronic accessories inside and a black mud-like liquid attached to the accessories.
"What is this?" Lin Banxia asked softly, as if asking Song Qingluo, but also asking herself.
Song Qingluo looked down at the black liquid inside, picked up a tool and lightly touched the surface of the liquid.
An incomprehensible scene happened, and the black liquid began to scream—yes, scream. Above the liquid, a few human-like black mouths were formed, screaming like a night owl. There were men and women in the cry, and Alexei shuddered violently almost at the moment he heard the voice. He widened his eyes, took a few steps back, and almost fell to the ground. After he calmed down, he looked at Song Qingluo and Lin Banxia, but found that the faces of these two monitors who came from afar did not show any fluctuations.
Even the one named Lin Banxia lightly poked the liquid with a tool, and his eyes were stunned: "Could this be..."
Song Qingluo said, "It should be."
Lin Banxia was silent.
He still remembered that in the video sent by Li Ye, the woman who suddenly melted, she seemed to have turned into a pool of black liquid, but it did not remain on the ground, but completely integrated into the ground. Linking to the TV show and family portrait that Alexei saw just now, could it be that these things are... Lin Banxia thought of this, and pursed her lips slightly: "Then what should I do with these...?" He originally wanted to talk about people, but An object of this form in front of him, no matter how you look at it, is beyond the scope of human beings.
However, before Song Qingluo could give an answer, this mass of black mud began to slide down the TV continuously, fell to the ground, and then merged into the ground through the gap in the floor. This process happened extremely fast, but within a few breaths, they had disappeared without a trace.
The room was quiet, and Lin Banxia froze in place until Song Qingluo softly said, "Go to sleep first."
Lin Banxia said, "What about this TV?"
Song Qingluo said, "Just put it there, don't look at it." He glanced at Alexei.
Alexey understood Song Qingluo's words, and nodded hurriedly.
So the three of them went back to their rooms, Lin Banxia was lying on the bed, but Alexei tossed and turned, and didn't sleep much all night. It wasn't until dawn the next day that he got up from the bed with two blue eye circles.
The others had already started to eat, and Li Ye, who had gone out last night, returned safely. They did not touch the water and food in the surveyed area, but chose to eat the dry food they brought.
When Lin Banxia saw that Alexei woke up, she greeted him with a smile. There was no haze on her face, as if everything that happened last night was Alexei's hallucination.
Alexey smiled reluctantly. He knew that the monitors were a bunch of freaks, and there was always something unusual that made them worthy of this name. When he first saw Lin Banxia, he was still muttering in his heart, how did this young man with a handsome face and a gentle temperament become a watcher. Now, his question has been answered. Sure enough, it is normal that there is no watcher. people.
Alexei ate something casually and heard Li Ye talk about the information he got last night.
Li Ye went out and roughly figured out the surrounding environment. The difference from the map was that there was an unmarked swamp in the southeast of the village.
Swamps are actually very common in the West Siberian Plain. It is cold in middle age and the permafrost layer is deep. Although there is little rain, if there is precipitation, it is difficult for the water flow to enter the deep layer through the solid permafrost, so the swamps are all over.
According to the official map, there is no swampy landform next to the village, so the existence of that swamp becomes abnormal.
"It's too late, I didn't enter the swamp to take a closer look." Li Ye said, "But there are indeed bear tracks around here, try to be careful."
Song Qingluo briefly explained what happened last night, and waited for Li Ye to continue. He knew that if he got nothing, Li Ye would not come back.
"We have to pass through that swamp." As expected, Li Ye said in a shocking voice, "I was in front of the swamp and found clues about the previous team."
Lin Banxia said, "What is it?"
Li Ye took out something from his backpack and put it in front of everyone - it was a human skull. I don't know what was nibbling away the flesh and the flesh, leaving only the white bones. The dark eyes stared blankly at the five people in front, and the breath of silence spread among them.
Sergey, who can't speak Chinese, said something in a low voice, Li Ye glanced at him blankly, and he immediately stopped talking.
Lin Banxia still held the compressed biscuits in her hand, took a bite, and said politely, "Can you take this out after we finish eating?"
Li Ye said, "Okay." He actually took it back.
It's a pity that even if it is taken back, no one wants to eat except Lin Banxia. Song Qingluo propped her chin up and said to Li Ye if she could consider the acceptance of the masses, so that everyone would not be able to eat.
Li Ye looked away, but the expression was obviously very dissatisfied, even Lin Banxia seemed to be able to read the sentence in his heart: This is it
The author has something to say:
Alexei: How can you not be afraid
Lin Banxia: The best way to defeat fear is to face him.
Alexei: Got it!
Three months later, Lin Banxia: Ahhh, Song Qingluo, help, there seems to be something strange on the TV in our house—
Song Qingluo: ... How did you teach others