Chapter 208 - Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Entering the Mountain at Night (1/2)

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Entering the Mountain at Night

Translator: 549690339

When Xiang Kun used to talk with people in the past, most of his attention was on himself, thinking about what he was going to say or do, how he should respond to the conversation, what he should say next. However, when it came to strangers, he always had a fear that anything he said would be awkward.

Now, due to a significant improvement in his sensory and information collection and processing capabilities, Xiang Kun’s understanding and approach towards communicating with strangers have completely changed.

He can easily gauge what others want to say or hear, and hence can easily get the information he wants based on this.

For instance, after learning about the location of the village where the lady sitting next to him has lived since childhood, Xiang Kun began to deliberately guide her to get more related information from her.

Many affairs, once circulated on the internet or other media, tend to be somewhat distorted and differ significantly from the actual situation.

Although the local “legends” or “rumours” often heard tend to deviate from the truth, they relatively provide more accurate information.

Speaking of legends, the old lady developed an interest. Originally, she wanted to have a nap with a blanket she had asked the flight attendant for, but now she was overwhelmed with excitement and started to chatter non-stop.

In a broad sense, the Qinling is a giant mountain range, extending about 1600 kilometers from west to east, and about 100-200 kilometers wide from north to south, also referred to as the Chinese Backbone, Chinese Dragon Vein, Father Mountain. This area is home to a large number of rare and precious wild animals and vast areas remain undeveloped and uninhabited.

Such a vast mountain range is rife with all sorts of legends and mysterious incidents, from ancient tombs, to monsters and demons, to immortals and monks, to wild men and beasts, even UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors. Therefore, it always attracts adventurers and investigators.

The older woman had certainly heard plenty of such legends when she was a child, mainly focusing on ancient tombs, spirits, and various beasts.

Xiang Kun used the video recorded by Host Xue of the wild boar, to have the older woman think about the “blood-sucking beast”.

However, she mentioned that she had never heard of such legends. And like most netizens, she believes that the wild boar was most likely killed by Host Xue and his team, creating a false impression of a monster to draw attention.

The old lady didn’t completely dismiss the possibility, remarking that anything could happen in the deep woods so ordinary people should avoid it.

After a while, Xiang Kun, noticing the woman’s fatigue, concluded the conversation so she could rest.

The information from the old woman didn’t prove very useful, as she moved to the county when she was a young teenager, and the mountain village where she lived was a long way from the area where Host Xue and his team had their incident. Moreover, all the villagers had moved several years ago as part of an ecological restoration project.

The information she knew mostly came from the older villagers and her elders.

But, the lack of useful information is also, in itself, a kind of information.

The flight was smooth and landed safely without any turbulence or any incidents that the old woman had worried about following the movie-like scenario.

Upon arrival, the older woman sitting next to him enthusiastically offered that her relatives would take Xiang Kun to his hotel. However, he politely declined.

He had no plans to stay overnight in this city. While it was still early, he took a direct bus to a county-level city a dozen kilometers away, and from there, he hired a private car to a small town, which was also where Host Xue stayed, rested and uploaded videos before he died.

Upon reaching the small town in the early hours of the morning, Xiang Kun was initially planning to go straight to the mountains, but after some consideration, he went to the only hotel in town.

It had been over half a month since the bodies of Host Xue and his crew were discovered. Normally, any official investigators or media personnel should have been long gone.

If there were any left, unlike Xiang Kun who was self-reliant and could move around in the mountain day and night, they would likely need to stay in the small town, similar to what Host Xue and his team did.

Upon reaching the hotel, Xiang Kun slowed down, went to the hotel lobby restroom, and started collecting sensory information.

Considering the hotel’s occupancy, there were not many guests, and none were discussing the Host Xue incident.

Xiang Kun didn’t waste any more time. After leaving the restroom, he walked out of the hotel, ready to go straight into the mountain. However, he paused again after hearing a conversation between two men leaving the hotel behind him.

“Do we really have to drive back overnight? Can’t we just leave tomorrow morning?” one of them complained.

“The flight booked by the company is at half-past eight in the morning. They are practically forcing us to drive all night. Do you think you can make it otherwise?” the other one retorted.

“Can’t we just buy our own tickets?”

“Go ahead, make the call. If they agree to change our flight times, I’ll pay for your ticket.”

“Damn, they’re just messing with us. Coming here for this thing is utterly meaningless. All they gave us was a pile of mud, a pile of dirt. What could we possibly find? And that dead pig, we put in so much effort, and it’s rotten to the point of uselessness. What can we possibly find? They think they are the CSI or something…”

“Stop rambling, you’ve signed the non-disclosure.”

“What’s to be scared about? No one heard us. Can you tell me what the company hopes to achieve by having us do all this?”

From their perspective, Xiang Kun, who had left the hotel before them, was already across the street. Even if they were to shout, he probably wouldn’t hear them.

“Why don’t you ask them?” The other one was clearly annoyed by his companion’s complaints.

With that, the two of them got into a white Prado and drove out of the hotel parking lot.

Hearing their conversation, Xiang Kun immediately realized that their purpose of coming here was potentially the same as his. But unlike him, who had a clear aim and knew why he was here and what he was looking for, they were most likely “staff” acting on someone’s orders.