Chapter 694: A Million Times for You (56)Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
A young chap stood up and explained, “Ms. An, here’s what happened. An herb farmer went to the mountains to pick some herbs during the cold winter, and he happened to stumble across that cave opening in which there was a coffin. The herb farmer then entered the cave but ended up dying mysteriously. His family tried to search for him in the cave, but they too lost their lives the moment they entered. The other farmers in his village were then alarmed and decided to call the police, who then called us. None of us dared to enter the cave. It’s really spooky and terrifying. There seems to be the presence of supernatural beings inside the cave. We also heard sounds of footsteps coming from inside the cave, but there was not a single soul in sight at all.”
Just his description alone was enough to give Pan Zhenghui the chills and gooseb.u.mps.
“Does everyone die as long as they enter the cave? Did you see them dying with your own eyes or did you come up with that conclusion purely based on a wild guess?” An Xiaoning asked.
“It was just a conjecture. Well, after all, none of us was brave enough to take the risk and enter. We heard that you were psychic and can see supernatural beings that we ordinary people can’t. So we thought of seeking your help to go take a look and see if there really are any spirits or supernatural beings in the cave,” said the man.
After hearing his description, An Xiaoning decided that there was no harm in going to take a look. “Which mountain is that?” she asked.
“Somewhere between Mount Heyuan and Mount Nanshan. There isn’t a specific name for it, but it’s situated above a river.”
“I’ll go with you guys to take a look then,” An Xiaoning agreed, since it wasn’t too far away.
Everyone was surprised to hear her answer.
“Ms. An, our team members are still waiting within the vicinity of the cave. Shall we head there now?”
“Okay.”
An Xiaoning’s curiosity was the main reason why she agreed to go with them.
She, too, wanted to find out why there was an empty coffin in the cave.
Pan Zhenghui dared not tag along and thus instructed the members of the Special Investigation Unit to follow them.
“Is the coffin still inside the cave?”
“Yes, no one has dared to enter the cave.”
An Xiaoning leaned her head against the window, finding the entire situation rather mind-boggling.
Why would a person just die for no rhyme or reason after entering the cave?
Could it really be because of a supernatural being?
“I suppose you guys have seen lots of coffins and corpses before, since you’re archeologists. Have you ever encountered any unusual events?” she asked.
They shook their heads in unison and answered, “No, actually… we’re atheists who don’t believe in the afterlife.”
“Has this incident changed your mindset a little?”
Everyone turned to look at each other before saying, “Just a little. We still don’t quite believe in such superst.i.tions now.”
“How long will we take to arrive?”
“About two hours if we take the expressway.”
An Xiaoning closed her eyes and said, “I’m going to take a short nap now, wake me up when we’re there.”
“Alright.”
The car proceeded along the expressway steadily.
They finally arrived at the foot of the mountain after two hours.
One of the archeologists gave An Xiaoning a nudge and said, “Ms. An, we’re here.”
“Okay…” She opened her eyes and looked out of the window.
The two cars were parked one before the other.
Ma Jianguo and his colleagues approached and said, “We’d better hurry. The sky seems to be getting gloomy. I read the weather forecast and it’s very likely to snow today.”
“Let’s go up from here.” The archeologists led the way while they followed behind.
The path to the mountain is uneven, and there were no stairs. They had to trek up the rocky road.
Mountain trekking was already an extremely exhausting task to begin with, what more trekking one with an uneven road surface.
An Xiaoning’s calves began to ache halfway through the journey.
However, she noticed that no one had requested to stop for a break and thus continued to proceed forward without uttering a word.
Fortunately, the mountain was not too high, and the cave was situated near the peak. They could already see a bunch of people waiting outside the cave before reaching the summit.
They proceeded forward unhurriedly. An Xiaoning then turned around to scan her surroundings.
A vast river caught her attention.
Although it was her first visit to the place, she could not help but find it somehow familiar.
She was filled with bewilderment.
“You must be Ms. An.”
An Xiaoning turned around to see a man, who seemed to be in his fifties, and shook his hand. “h.e.l.lo, I’m An Xiaoning.”
“h.e.l.lo, I’m w.a.n.g Jinsheng, the captain of the archeological team. You may call me w.a.n.g.”
An Xiaoning nodded and followed him to the cave opening. “We observed the situation here for a really long time just now but we didn’t dare to enter. Ms. An, please take a look from the cave opening.”
“Alright.”
She stepped on the pebbles on the ground and approached the opening.
Although the sky was gloomy, it was only three o’clock in the afternoon. Thus, she could still see inside the cave clearly, especially since it was facing the north.
The cave was brightly lit, and several corpses could be seen on the ground. However, there were no stains of blood or any traces of a physical brawl at all.
An Xiaoning s.h.i.+fted her gaze onto the other areas of the cave and realized that there was nothing around except the corpses.
To their puzzlement, the cave opening was large, though the s.p.a.ce inside the cave was rather small.
“Ms. An, did you see anything?”
Shaking her head, An Xiaoning answered, “Just like you guys, I didn’t see anything supernatural. Perhaps it’s because it’s daytime now… Did you guys carry out any investigations even though you didn’t dare to enter?”
w.a.n.g Jinsheng answered softly, “The corpse on the extreme right doesn’t belong to their family member. It belongs to one of their fellow villagers who was said to be the bravest person in the village. He entered the cave right in front of the other villagers. Once he entered the cave, he died and never came out again…”
“In that case, bring me a live chicken and release it into the cave. I’d like to take a look and see what happens,” said An Xiaoning.
w.a.n.g Jinsheng found her idea to be rather sound. The villagers then took the initiative to bring one of the chickens they reared.
The village was situated near the foot of the mountain.
While waiting for the villagers to return with the chicken, An Xiaoning asked the other villagers, “Why isn’t there an official name for the mountain?”
An elderly villager answered, “We don’t have a clue about that. No one knows what the mountain is called. Usually, we wouldn’t allow the younger villagers to come to this mountain to collect herbs.”
“Why?”
“For one, it’s because the path leading to this mountain is very narrow, which makes walking extremely difficult. People who live in the mountains don’t find it a big deal since they’re not afraid of hards.h.i.+p. Secondly, when we were younger, we used to hear an old folk’s tale about there being spirits and supernatural beings in the mountains. We were told not to go to these mountains all year round. Yet, there were mischievous children who were bent on coming here to take a look. However, they realized that nothing disastrous ever happened. Besides, there would always be herbs available for picking, which would fetch high prices, regardless of whether it’s summer or winter. That’s why… who would’ve thought that a mishap would actually happen? How pitiful.”
“Uncle, do you believe in the existence of spirits and supernatural beings?”