New Times, New Hell

A group of people finally crossed the landslide and entered the resort on the top of the mountain.

Siling Resort is built on a gentle slope near the top of the mountain. Because it focuses on high-end concepts, all of them are villas with small gardens and swimming pools. Because the heavy rain washed away a lot of infrastructure, the resort was completely cut off, and the mountain was pitch black. An emergency light hung in front of a villa in the distance, shaking gently in the night.

Ming Peiran held up a flashlight and asked, "Masters, have you discovered anything?"

The masters continued to calculate with compass instruments all the way, but they found nothing. When they got here, they still found nothing. They all frowned and shook their heads heavily.

Ming Peiran showed a strange expression: "Could it be that Hanba has left the Siling area?"

"No." Daoist Mu shook his head, "The water level in Siling is still dropping, and there is no drought in other places. The drought should still be in Siling."

Ming Peiran was puzzled and said, "But we've checked all parts of Siling, and there's no sign of Hanba anywhere. If there's no trace on the top of the mountain...how can this be explained?"

Daoist Mu's expression suddenly became heavy: "That can only show that the cultivation level of this Hanba has surpassed mine."

The other masters nodded in agreement, with serious expressions: "I'm afraid this task will not be easy."

The atmosphere suddenly became dignified, Ming Peiran did not show any sign of shrinking, but continued to ask calmly: "Then what should we do?"

Daoist Mu: "Naturally, we still have to find a way to locate Hanba first."

Ming Peiran looked at the helpless expressions of the masters holding magic weapons one by one, frowned and said, "How else can I locate them?"

Everyone looked at each other, and Taoist Mu thought for a while: "We can only try to open the altar."

This was already the only way out, Ming Peiran was about to tell the staff to prepare something to do something, when Yu Zhengdu said suddenly: "I think Hanba should be on the mountain."

Everyone turned their heads to look at him, and a monk proclaimed the Buddha's name and said, "Little benefactor, this matter is of great importance, and we must not jump to conclusions hastily."

Although the others did not speak, they had similar doubts in their eyes. In fact, they were not to blame. The main reason was that Yu Zhengdu followed everyone leisurely all the way. Like the Internet-addicted youth, he did nothing but play with his mobile phone. , neither using any magic weapon nor making calculations, it can't be judged by intuition, right?

Ming Peiran was more cautious and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Uh, there are some." Yu Zhengdu spread his palms, holding a few wilted leaves, "These are the leaves I picked at the foot of the mountain."

He shined the surrounding ground with the flashlight again, "Look at the grass here again."

Because they were looking for monsters like Hanba, everyone focused on counting and looking at the compass along the way. Although they also observed the surrounding situation, they really didn't look that closely. In addition, it was getting dark, and they only paid attention to whether there were monsters or not. So detailed that you can see the flowers and plants under your feet.

When Yu Zhengdu talked about it, everyone was a little confused, but they still subconsciously took photos of the grass, and some who were dull asked, "Is there any problem?"

"Yes." Ming Peiran pulled a handful of grass leaves from the ground and put them in Yu Zhengdu's hand. Comparing them with the leaves in his hand, everyone suddenly realized.

Although the leaves that Yu Zhengdu picked from the bottom of the mountain were wilted, they were at least green, as if they were still struggling to survive, while the turf on the mountain had completely turned yellow.

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and someone raised an objection: "This can only mean that the Hanba appeared on the mountain, maybe it has left?"

Yu Zhengdu waved his hand: "I compared the geological monitoring data and plant samples sent by the Ming team to everyone. The plants on the top of the mountain were not like this in the afternoon."

Due to the sudden severe drought, which affected a wide range of areas and was serious, relevant departments allocated a large amount of resources to conduct real-time monitoring of various places in Siling, and updated the monitoring results to special departments at regular intervals. The water level was not as detailed as Yu Zhengdu.

Because the report was not updated in real time, Ming Peiran didn't notice it for a while.

Reminded by Yu Zhengdu at this time, Ming Peiran quickly opened the report and took a closer look. Sure enough, the plant samples on the top of the mountain in the afternoon were quite different from those at this time. He was refreshed: "Mr. Yu's analysis makes sense, look Come on we're going to do work on the top of the mountain."

The masters who were about to open the altar looked at Yu Zhengdu with complicated emotions, and silently put back the compass and magic weapon in their hands.

To be reasonable, they have been used to finding ghosts and evil things with utensils and Taoism for decades, and this is the first time they have come across such a scientific judgment method... Although they are a bit unwilling, but I have to say, it does seem very reasonable .

But there was a traitor among them, Yuan Qing Xiaodao said in a tone full of appreciation: "At critical times, technology still has power!"

Yu Zhengdu smiled and said: "That's not what I said, it's just that everyone tends to think in a fixed way."

"Yes, yes, yes." Yuan Qing nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "So you can't just follow the old way to practice Taoism, you still have to strengthen comprehensive study and broaden your thinking!"

The masters blushed when they heard this, and some people couldn't help but move their lips. They really wanted to refute a few words, but they couldn't say anything after all.

Mu Daochang said: "If the Hanba is still on the mountain, it will be much easier. We can open an altar to attract it."

Ming Peiran was fairly familiar with the working procedures of the masters. Hearing this, he nodded and said, "We have already arranged the place in advance. Please come with me. Let's rest for a while before opening the altar."

Yu Zhengdu glanced at the only villa with emergency lights not far away. Sure enough, Ming Peiran led everyone to start walking there, and said: "There is no water and electricity on the mountain, and it is not convenient to transport supplies. We have only prepared this villa, please make do with it."

Taoist Mu waved his hand: "The main thing is important, and everything else is trivial."

When we arrived at the villa soon, the fence gate of the small garden was open, and everyone went in directly. The flowers and plants in the garden were all withered, and there was no water in the swimming pool.

When he arrived in front of the main house, Ming Peiran took out the key to open the door, but the key was inserted and turned for a long time without turning it. He wondered: "It's strange, why can't it be opened? Could it be that I took the wrong key?"

"I'll give it a try." A staff member took the key, but didn't open it, but he was more sensitive, "It seems to be locked?"

"Backlocked? How is it possible? There is no one on the mountain." Ming Peiran waved his hand, "It seems that we can only hit the door."

As soon as I said that, the door opened with a "squeak", and a young woman in blue clothes poked her head out: "Who is outside?"

Ming Peiran took a step back and asked cautiously, "Who are you?"

"I got lost. I saw a light here, so I came here." The woman in Tsing Yi responded, and glanced at the group of people outside, "Are you the owners of the house?"

"Lost?" Ming Peiran didn't respond to her words, but looked at her suspiciously, "What are you doing up the mountain at this time?"

The woman in Tsing Yi blinked: "I haven't gone down."

"Didn't go down?" Ming Peiran frowned, and then noticed that the clothes of the woman in Tsing Yi were wrinkled and covered with a lot of mud, and her eye sockets were sunken and black, as if she had not rested well, so she guessed He asked, "Are you a tourist trapped on the mountain by the rainstorm?"

During the heavy rain years ago, many tourists were trapped. Many tourists who were out at that time almost lost their way. Later, it took a lot of effort to search and rescue to find them. Could it be that there are still fish that slipped through the net?

The woman in Tsing Yi thought for a while: "Yes, it rained heavily, and then I got lost."

Ming Peiran looked the girl in Tsing Yi up and down, and after confirming that there was nothing unusual, he said: "This villa has been expropriated by us, we are going to go in and rest now."

"Yes." The woman in Tsing Yi opened the door and said depressedly, "But there are only lights outside, not inside."

"You don't know where the emergency light is." Ming Peiran directed the staff to go in, found the emergency light prepared in advance and turned it on, the girl in Tsing Yi suddenly became happy, "Great."

It was only then that Ming Peiran saw her appearance clearly, and saw that she was very thin, not only her eye sockets were sunken, but her cheeks were also very thin. In line with the image of being trapped on the mountain for a few days, he felt a little sympathy in his heart, and comforted him: "Don't worry, I will find someone to take you down the mountain at dawn tomorrow."

The girl in Tsing Yi showed a happy smile: "Okay."

Everyone entered the villa one by one. This is indeed a high-end resort. Although the water and electricity are cut off, the decoration in the villa is still very high-end. Everyone was tired after walking for a long time on the mountain road, and they couldn't care less. They hurriedly sat on the sofa Resting on the chair, there is not enough space to sit directly on the carpet.

Ming Peiran found someone to register the situation of the girl in Tsing Yi, and notified the rescue team at the foot of the mountain, and directed the staff to distribute food and water to everyone, while discussing the arrangement of the practice with Taoist Mu and others.

Yu Zhengdu couldn't compete with his seniors for chairs, so he sat cross-legged on the carpet, looking down at his phone.

After a while, Ming Peiran's arrangement was almost done, and he said loudly to everyone: "Everyone rest for another 15 minutes, adjust it, and explain to me if there is anything wrong. If there is no problem, we will start later." Already working."

Everyone responded one after another, and the masters began to meditate with their eyes closed to recharge their batteries.

Yu Zhengdu hesitated for a long time along the way, and finally made up his mind at this time, got up to find Ming Peiran, handed him the things on the phone, and said, "Captain Ming, I think, you may have to talk to your superiors, the relevant departments It's best to thoroughly investigate Si Ling's religious beliefs."

Ming Peiran watched the video on Yu Zhengdu's phone, and frowned suddenly: "What is this?"

Yu Zhengdu said, "Where is Mom going?"

Ming Peiran didn't react for a moment: "What?"

Yu Zhengdu: "The variety show videos distributed to everyone by the village committees in Siling may actually be these things."

"What?" Ming Peiran was startled. What was played on the video was obviously videos and audio recordings of some strange scriptures. Pulling back, there was a man whose face could not be seen clearly speaking about some strange teachings.

Yu Zhengdu: "I suspect that it's not that Si Ling has no religious beliefs, but has gone underground, probably because what they believe in cannot be known to the outside world."

Ming Peiran watched the man on the video repeating the words of piety, worship, concentration, and secrets, and felt a chill run down his spine. The content of this video was indeed in line with the characteristics of a cult, but it was not the cult that shocked him. In itself, but if what Yu Zhengdu said is true, then it is very likely that the entire Siling has been controlled by this cult, and even cadres and units have participated in it, and it may have lasted for a long time. What is this like? a force?

"What kind of religion is this?" Ming Peiran watched the video. Their special department knew all kinds of cult organizations across the country, but the one mentioned in the video had no records at all.

Yu Zhengdu shook his head. Daoist Mu happened to be beside him. He watched the video for a while, showing a puzzled look: "They seem to worship the Great Emperor of Beiyin Fengdu."

Yu Zhengdu frowned: "Emperor Fengdu of Beiyin?"

"Didn't you ask me about Luofeng Mountain before?" Daochang Mu said, "Emperor Fengdu is the master of Luofeng Mountain and the supreme ruler of the entire underworld."

There are many historical records about Emperor Fengdu of Beiyin. It is said that he is the owner of Fengdu Ghost City in Luofeng Mountain. He is in charge of the entire underworld and the underworld.

Yu Zhengdu already knew the history of Luofeng Mountain when he joined Luofeng, so he naturally knew that the former owner of Luofeng Mountain, it is said that the heaven and earth collapsed later, and the emperor of Fengdu and the king of Hades also fell. The work will be taken over by Shang Que, the original ghost king.

Daoist Mu said, also showing a puzzled look: "Siling has worshiped ghosts and not gods since ancient times, and has always worshiped Emperor Fengdu and the King of Hades, so there is no need to make it so mysterious?"

Ming Peiran was at a loss when he heard this: "Mu Daochang, do you mean that Si Ling also worshiped Emperor Fengdu before?"

"Yes." Taoist Mu explained, "Si Ling sent people to participate in the previous National Religious Conference. It's still the same as before, only Si Ling didn't appear again, and everyone thought that the Si Ling area had given up their original beliefs, but if you look at it this way, they are actually still worshiping?"

"If something goes wrong, there must be a demon." Ming Peiran said in a deep voice, "I will report to the higher-ups immediately after dealing with the matter of Hanba."

Although Daoist Mu explained part of the content of the video, Yu Zhengdu's doubts in his heart became heavier. Just like what Daoist Mu said, if the Siling area has been enshrined to Emperor Fengdu since ancient times, there is no need to suddenly go underground.

He thought of those chilling facial sores, could it be related to those things?But Shang Que hasn't come back yet, he's not sure whether he should tell Ming Peiran about this.

Yu Zhengdu was deep in thought, when suddenly Wu Qimin's voice came from beside him: "Hey, isn't this a scripture for praying to Emperor Fengdu?"

Yu Zhengdu turned his head to look, and found that Wu Qimin had sat next to him at some point, and was secretly eating dirt while others were not paying attention, while poking his head over to look at Yu Zhengdu's phone screen.

Yu Zhengdu looked at him: "You recognize this?"

"I know, Siling has always worshiped the ghosts of Luofeng Mountain." Wu Qimin replied casually, "But it's not very specific. When I first arrived in Siling, they still worshiped the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain. Later, the ghost king was After the three realms joined forces to seal it, they began to worship Emperor Fengdu and Hades of the Ten Halls."

Yu Zhengdu's temples twitched, his fingers gripping the phone tightened slightly, and he continued to ask calmly, "Was the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain used to be enshrined here?"

"That's right. At that time, the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain was very popular in the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no two in the limelight, but it is normal. The ghost king was born from the evil spirit of Luofeng Mountain. He was born with supernatural powers. He can recruit a hundred thousand evil spirits. Yes. As a true 'son of Luofeng Mountain', it is not surprising that Si Ling enshrines the King of Ghosts."

Yu Zhengdu: "Then tell me, why is it that the Ghost King was sealed by the Three Realms?"

He thought of the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain who suddenly disappeared from all kinds of legends thousands of years ago and has never been recorded in the world since then. Was it actually sealed?

"That's not clear." Wu Qimin spread his hands, "How can I, a mere commoner, know the decisions made by the powerful people?"

Yu Zhengdu said suspiciously: "Little commoner?"

"The citizens of Wuqi are also ordinary civilians!" Wuqimin said rationally, scratching his head, "Oh, I usually live in a cave, so I don't know much about human affairs."

Yu Zhengdu pondered for a while: "Think about it again, if you can remember, I will teach you a way to eat dirt openly in the future without being regarded as a monster."

"Is there another way?" Wu Qimin's eyes widened in an instant, and he began to think seriously.

At this time, the woman in Tsing Yi also finished her cross-examination, walked around the room, and finally looked at the only Wu Qimin who was wearing a skirt like her, and chose to sit next to him without hesitation.

"Ahhh, I can't remember!" Wu Qimin scratched his hair irritably.

Yu Zhengdu Shi Shiran said: "Continue to think."

"I really don't know about the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain." Wu Qimin rolled his eyes, "Well, I can tell you a horror story about that time, do you want to hear it?"

Yu Zhengdu squinted at him: "Scary story?"

Wu Qimin rubbed his arms: "Yes, it's very scary! Oh, I still get goosebumps when I think about it now."

Yu Zhengdu hesitated for a moment when he saw that he was serious, and nodded: "Okay, then tell me."

Wu Qimin then moved a little closer, and said in a low voice: "Not long before the ghost king of Luofeng Mountain was sealed, I met a woodcutter on the mountain. , Wow, almost scared me to death... Did you know that there is a human face growing on his leg."

Yu Zhengdu's face changed instantly, and he looked at Wu Qimin silently.

Wu Qimin patted his chest and subconsciously took out a piece of soil and chewed it.

Yu Zhengdu was about to ask carefully when he suddenly heard the woman in Tsing Yi ask curiously: "What are you eating?"

Wu Qimin was still stuck in the cold, without thinking about it, he handed a piece of soil to the woman in Tsing Yi: "Do you want to try it?"

"Okay." The girl in Tsing Yi took the clod carefully selected by Wu Qimin, took two bites with "Kacha Kacha", chewed and swallowed it, and then commented: "I don't think it tastes good."

Yu Zhengdu:? ! ! !

Sister, is this just not tasty?