Urban Oddities: Strange Tales of Mountain Villages

Chapter 14 Companions

The double-decker bus was driving on the expressway, the windshield was foggy, and the wiper had just been swept and covered with a layer of water.

It was raining and the road was slippery, so the driver dared not drive too fast.The sky was gloomy, and it was daytime, but it looked like night.

Assistant Su rested his chin and watched the rain patter on the windowpane.There are not many people on the double-decker bus, and there are a few aunts sitting sparsely on the upper floor.On the other side of the aisle, Teacher Chen occupied two seats and fell asleep comfortably.

The wind from the air conditioner was blowing, Teacher Chen sneezed, curled up into a ball and continued to sleep.Assistant Su was also sleepy, put on his coat and nestled in the seat, and slept until the car rang an announcement to remind passengers to get off with their luggage.Assistant Su opened his eyes and saw that it was still raining heavily outside the window. He had thought that the weather would be better in Daling Mountain, but he didn't expect the rain to be stronger here... Not only was the rain heavy, but the wind was also strong. It hit him with his head covered, and he couldn't see clearly from a few meters away.There were buses and buses parked at the bus station. Teacher Chen asked him which one to take, but Assistant Su was not sure. The bus either went to Dalingshan Park, or Dalingshan Farm, or Dalingshan Villa... ...all in different directions, and I don't know which one is going to the foot of Daling Mountain.

Assistant Su caught a glimpse of a young man holding an umbrella, who was knocked down by the heavy rain.It was really not suitable to go out because of the strong wind and heavy rain, but there was no way, they had no time to wait any longer.Assistant Su sighed: "It would be great if Lin Yang also came."

Teacher Chen said: "It's no use for that brat to come."

Assistant Su asked, "Aren't you going to tell him?"

Teacher Chen still said the same thing: "It's best for him not to know anything."

Assistant Su made a call and heard a familiar ringtone. The young man who was so knocked down by the rainstorm took out his phone.

Assistant Su: "Hello? Lin Yang? I want to ask you something."

The heavy rain on the other end of the phone rang continuously, but Lin Yang couldn't hear clearly, so he said, "Can you speak louder?"

Assistant Su: "I want to ask you something... Which bus do you take? Bus or minibus?"

Lin Yang felt that the voice seemed to be coming from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Assistant Su who was also hit by the heavy rain...

There were not many people in Zhongbali, Lin Yang was dry, wet and dry, shivering from the cold as he was blown by the air conditioner.Assistant Su saw that he was carrying a shriveled backpack, and wearing beach flip flops with his trouser legs rolled up. He didn't look like a person traveling far: "Did you not bring any clothes?"

"No." Seeing Assistant Su flipping through his backpack, Lin Yang felt a little moved. Maybe Assistant Su would lend him clothes when he saw that he was cold... Unexpectedly, Assistant Su took out a box of cold medicine and gave it to him.

Assistant Su asked, "Where are you going?"

"Where else can I go besides Daling Mountain?" Lin Yang knew that Assistant Su had something to ask, maybe it was about the mountains.Sure enough, Assistant Su said again: "It's windy and rainy, why are you going to Daling Mountain?"

Lin Yang was not stupid, and asked him instead: "You too, why are you running into the mountains at this time?"

Teacher Chen said at this time: "I think you should go back as soon as possible! You don't even look at the weather, and you still wear flip-flops to climb the mountain?"

At the beginning, Lin Yang was just preparing for the interview. He thought he would go back to his residence after the interview. He didn’t bring anything with him. He was on the lower floor, and Assistant Su and Teacher Chen were on the upper floor. Lin Yang got off first at the bus stop. Did not meet.When Lin Yang was in the car, he still regretted being too hasty. He should prepare more things and ask a few more people to go together.But he had a hunch that something must have happened to Luo Yi and the others, and it would be too late if they didn't go.Lin Yang was in a panic, not knowing what role he could play by being alone.Now it's all right, Teacher Chen and Assistant Su are here too.Seeing that they had all the things they brought, such as climbing ropes, wolf-eye flashlights, windproof lighters... At first glance, they were all brand-name items, and thought that the trip was worthwhile.

Teacher Chen closed his eyes and rested his mind, and heard Lin Yang ask, "Is Pu Junying okay?"

Teacher Chen ignored him, Assistant Su said, "I don't know, he hasn't come to class these days."

Lin Yang continued: "What's wrong with Park Junying's inspection?"

It was originally a question, but when Lin Yang saw Teacher Chen frowned, he knew he was right.That report was indeed Pu Junying's inspection report. Teacher Chen saw something wrong and asked Assistant Su to call Lin Yang immediately.Both Lin Yang and Pu Junying came back from Daling Mountain, so something happened to Pu Junying, Teacher Chen immediately asked Lin Yang who returned to the city together to have a checkup.

Teacher Chen knew that he couldn't hide it, so he said frankly: "Maybe I told you that you don't believe me, but your friend's heart rate is abnormal... that is, the heart rate is slow, and it has not reached the normal target."

Lin Yang's brain exploded, and his heart suddenly panicked: "How much does he do every minute?"

"Less than forty." Teacher Chen said, "This is the result of the inspection a few days ago, I don't know how much it is now..."

Lin Yang asked anxiously: "What is his disease? Can it be cured?"

"It's hard to say, I dare not draw conclusions, his blood sample has been sent for further testing." Teacher Chen thought for a while, and then said, "The heartbeat is less than [-], this person has long been in shock and needs to be rescued, but he checked It's normal at times. Do you know something when you are with him? I hope you can tell us the truth for the sake of your friend... Has he touched anything or been bitten by something?"

In the blink of an eye, Lin Yang remembered the little cat that Pu Junying mentioned.Could it be that Pu Junying became like this because he was bitten by that cat?But...it shouldn't be!Park Joon Young was just scratched by the cat's teeth!

Lin Yang's thoughts were mixed. When he looked up, he saw Mr. Chen and Assistant Su staring at him.Maybe they can save Pu Junying, Lin Yang decided to tell them about the cat.After listening to Mr. Chen, he gave an example of a poisonous snake. He said that when a person is bitten by a poisonous snake, the venom will permeate the whole body, causing that person to appear poisoned.Lin Yang didn't understand why he used this example. Snake teeth have venomous glands, so of course the bitten person will be poisoned.

Assistant Su said, "It's impossible for cats to have poisonous glands in their teeth, right?"

Teacher Chen asked him back: "Then tell me, why did Pu Junying get infected after being bitten? How do germs spread?"

Assistant Su figured it out: "Saliva?"

"To be precise... it should be bodily fluids. It's like being bitten by a snake. Not only blood, but also saliva, spinal fluid... as long as it is bodily fluids in the body, all can detect toxins. But I didn't want to understand, if It's really a virus, so where did the virus come from, and how long did it last?" Teacher Chen was writing and drawing in his notebook, when he suddenly thought of something, and his body jumped!Lin Yang watched Teacher Chen take out his mobile phone and dialed a number: "Hello? Teacher Zhao? Hey, it's me...Did you say last time that classmate Wei could be contacted?...Yes, it's him! Help me Busy, hurry up and arrange to send him to an address... I will send it to you later."

Seeing his anxious look, Lin Yang asked him what happened. Mr. Chen was busy sending addresses and ignored him, but Assistant Su secretly told him one thing——

Teacher Zhao is Pu Junying's class teacher. During the chat, she said that Pu Junying has been a little bit wrong recently. Not only is she in a daze in class, but she also makes frequent mistakes in homework. This is something that has never happened before.The students in the dormitory also reported that Park Junying secretly got up and walked around in the middle of the night, seeming to be manic.Classmate Wei blamed him for this matter, and the two fought, and Classmate Wei was bitten on the hand by Pu Junying.

Lin Yang was stunned. Assistant Su said, "It would be great if we found out earlier. At that time, we could still control Pu Junying. It's too late to say anything now."

Perhaps Pu Junying had already shown signs of abnormal changes when he came out of the mountain, but Lin Yang didn't pay attention to it. It would have been nice if he had been taken to the hospital for an examination.Lin Yang regretted it in his heart: "Pu Junying didn't go to class for several days, did he stay in the dormitory all the time?"

"He disappeared after biting his classmate. He didn't go back to the dormitory. Mr. Zhao, the homeroom teacher, was also looking for him." Assistant Su was silent for a moment, and then told Lin Yang, "The laboratory lost a batch of medicines. Formalin and barbiturates... that is, tranquilizers, we suspect that Park Junying took them, as for where he went, we have no idea. Lin Yang, where do you think he will go?"

Lin Yang faltered and said, "Would you... go home?"

Assistant Su shook his head: "Impossible, if he goes home, we can find him right away...Pu Junying is obviously aware of his changes, I guess he will find a place to hide, or find a way to heal himself."

The minibus arrives at the station, and the passengers get off one after another.The minibus waited for a few minutes and saw that there were no passengers, so it closed the door and drove back. On the road, it met three people who were struggling through the storm. The driver said to them, "Hey! Are you going to climb the mountain?"

Lin Yang said, "Yes."

"Hey, what kind of mountain are you climbing in this weather!" The driver pointed at Daling Mountain. "It is said that there are landslides in the mountain, and many places have collapsed. What are you doing climbing the mountain! Hurry up and go to the nearby village to shelter from the rain!"

The CMB drove away, and after another half an hour, the rain gradually weakened. Under the leadership of Lin Yang, Teacher Chen and Assistant Su finally set foot on the path into the mountain.

"It's not difficult to walk." Teacher Chen has good physical strength, and he can enjoy the scenery along the way. "There is a driveway and steps are built, ha!"

Lin Yang said, "If you go any further, it will become a muddy road."

Assistant Su asked, "Lin Yang, is this the only way to the mountain village?"

"Well, there is only this one road." Lin Yang thought he thought the road was bad, so he said, "It's not too long, it's just a section of road, just a few kilometers."

Assistant Su said, "We can come in, so can Liu Qi go out?"

Teacher Chen added: "And those cats..."

Lin Yang suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, yes, if he can go out of the mountain, then those "things" must be able to too!

He can only pray now, as long as there is something to stop on the road.As a result, after going around the bend, there was really no way—landslides and the road was buried.The three of them had no choice but to take a detour. Teacher Chen grabbed a branch and jumped up the dirt slope. Assistant Su also went up smoothly. Only Lin Yang, who was wearing beach flip flops, climbed and slid a few steps. Teacher Chen stretched out his hand He dragged Lin Yang up.There was no road on the mountain, and it was dark and dark. Fortunately, Lin Yang knew the direction, and the three of them detoured for more than an hour and finally returned to the mountain road around the landslide.Lin Yang's foot was cut and bleeding.Assistant Su cleaned the wound for him and applied a lotion. He said that there was no need to bandage it, and it didn't matter if it touched the water, because the lotion was oily and could protect the wound from water vapor.There are various medicines and medical equipment in Assistant Su's medicine box. Lin Yang felt inexplicably relieved. If it was them, maybe they could really cure Liu Qi... As long as Liu Qi is cured, of course Pu Junying can also be cured.Not too far along the mountain road, there was a landslide again. The soil and weeds on the mountain were piled up on the road in a mess. Lin Yang looked at it and said that the mound was not high, so he could just climb over it. As a result, he stepped on the stone " Baji" and sank into the soft mud.This road is blocked, so we have to continue to detour.There were several landslides along the way, and the mountain was wet and slippery, with water constantly rushing down the soil.Teacher Chen stopped Lin Yang, saying that it was too dangerous to go ahead.Lin Yang looked up and saw that the electric pole had fallen down. "The power is cut off, so the village probably has a power outage." Teacher Chen's words reassured Lin Yang—it turned out that there was a power outage. No wonder Luo Yi didn't charge his phone!

Lin Yang turned around and slipped as soon as he lifted his foot. Assistant Su grabbed him and slipped too.The fallen leaves all over the ground were wet, and it was as if they fell on a slide, and then slid down the slope. Assistant Su had quick eyesight and quick hands, and grabbed the branch with one hand, and grabbed Lin Yang with the other.Teacher Chen also grabbed the branches with one hand and Assistant Su with the other, and lifted them up with strings.

There were too many fallen leaves in the mountains, so Lin Yang slipped and slipped several times... he didn't slip, but he scared Assistant Su very much.Assistant Su walked at the back, protecting Lin Yang with fear.Teacher Chen broke off a branch and used it as a walking stick for Lin Yang. Seeing him moaning and groaning, Teacher Chen couldn't laugh or cry: "You said you climbed mountains and wore flip flops... you will be killed sooner or later! Did you break your foot?"

"Fortunately..." Lin Yang limped while leaning on a tree branch. His foot didn't hurt when he lifted it up, but it hurt when he landed, and he was obviously sprained.Assistant Su rummaged through his backpack and gave him a bottle of vital oil.

The three of them detoured all the way and didn't see the small mountain village until after nine o'clock in the evening.There is no electricity in the small mountain village, and it looks dark from a distance. "It's almost here." Lin Yang signaled, "You can enter the village after going around."

Teacher Chen took a photo with a flashlight: "This slope is quite steep, or else you can save half the distance by going directly down here."

Teacher Chen opened the way ahead with a flashlight, and the rain started to get heavier again, with rushing water rushing down the slope.Teacher Chen was so soaked that he didn't even use an umbrella. "Be careful, the road here is very slippery." Teacher Chen turned sideways, grabbing the hanging vines, "You two stay close!"

As soon as the words fell, there were two plops. Teacher Chen turned around and saw that Lin Yang was gone. Assistant Su was hanging on the edge of the steep slope, grabbing a piece of weed. In the blink of an eye, the weed was pulled out with mud and roots. Assistant Su also slipped down.Teacher Chen hurriedly shined down with a flashlight. The steep slope seemed like a gate leading to hell. The bottomless darkness engulfed the two people who fell down the slope...