Chapter 132: Human Fear, National Attention and Investigation (First Update)

Zheng Lin is a minor internet celebrity; this time he was also drawn by a hot-search incident, wanting to ride the wave of popularity, so he found a few like-minded friends to set out together.

According to the coordinates, they finally found the big mountain from the video; this journey has really not been easy.

After all, this place is too remote; sometimes the positioning signal is weak, making it impossible to discern the exact road.

At this moment, Zheng Lin compared the pictures on his phone, his gaze falling on the distant big mountain: "It should be here."

? ￠o

Hearing this, the others simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, unable to avoid complaining: "We finally arrived, but this place is really hard to find; we almost took a wrong turn at the start."

Zheng Lin comforted everyone: "There's a village nearby; we'll go ask for directions and rest a bit—we've been driving so long we're getting tired."

Thinking about the future popularity and traffic they'll gain, Zheng Lin can be said to be full of vigor; under his encouragement, the others can also be said to be high-spirited.

The villagers also have their own affairs; they can't constantly guard there, the mountain ranges are adjacent, this route is impassable—worst case, we could enter from the neighboring range, so it's impossible to hold.

However, these people were just the beginning; over the following days, more and more people headed for Longyuan Mountain, and the villagers then realized something serious was happening—the situation blew up!

Earlier, the blogger had also done a few livestreams, but none were like this.

No one knows how much torment they endured in one night.

This Weibo post was liked and shared; many netizens in the comment section strongly supported the blogger, hoping he could successfully debunk those feudal superstitions.

"How strange—normal people hearing our voices would usually stop, and besides, we're not bad people."

Despite the villagers' earnest persuasion, they still insisted on going up the mountain.

The people in the livestream were also startled by the blogger's condition.

Everyone instantly perked up, looking at the distant figure, thinking it might be other mountain-goers.

Those who had been resting immediately stood up, as if seeing hope: "Let's chase after them; maybe they know the way down the mountain."

Sitting under the big willow tree, the elderly man narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the photo on Zheng Lin's phone; after a while he nodded and said, "It's here in our area—what business do you have?"

I don't know if it's Zheng Lin's illusion, but the formerly enthusiastic old man suddenly turned cold, even his tone changed.

Sun Zhenbang and the village chief exchanged a glance, their expressions hard to describe.

Just as everyone was feeling dejected, a rustling sound came from nearby, as if something was approaching, and everyone's nerves instantly tensed.

"Don't go searching anymore—what those people said earlier is all true!"

Seeing Zheng Lin and the others agitated, he could only soothe: "Let's talk after we go down the mountain."

There was a paranormal-exploration blogger with over a million fans online, his popularity decent, and that day he posted a Weibo.

The villagers' feared thing still happened: only those who went up the mountain were seen, none came down; when they discovered this, a day had already passed, and the village chief immediately contacted Sun Zhenbang.

But one wave hadn't subsided when another rose; due to the excessive heat, it finally attracted official attention!

……

Zheng Lin picked up the phone from the ground, quickly looked toward the distance, but saw that the place was quite ordinary, with no eyeballs or ghostly flames appearing.

"What's wrong with you? You couldn't have really seen a ghost, could you?"

Netizens behind the screen could feel his fear; listening closely, even his speaking voice trembled incessantly.

From the outside, this place seems unremarkable, but if you enter the gate, you can see a plaque still hanging at the entrance, bearing large characters—National Secrets Bureau 749 Bureau!

Over the years, the village's incoming population has never been as large as in these few days; moreover, most of the newcomers are just young people coming for the fun, and they simply won't listen to advice.

For a moment, the comments were so dense that the screen refreshed too fast to make out any content.

Among them, the paranormal-exploration bloggers were the loudest and most troublesome.

"By the way, the heavenly fire that appeared before also showed up here; I've heard that thick fog often occurs in these mountains, and we suspect there may be special creatures living in this forest."

"This isn't a person at all—it's clearly a skeleton!"

Under immense fear, their facial features all became distorted.

The village chief sighed and said, "These people all claim they were drawn here by some online video; we tried to dissuade them at first, but it was useless—they insisted on going up the mountain."

"Same here—I felt like I might not make it back."

Several people nodded like pecking chicks, eager to pack up and return to the city, estimating they'd never come again in this lifetime.

Netizens speculated endlessly; a flurry of private messages poured in like snowflakes, and soon they even discovered that the blogger had canceled his account.

"I have to say, the scenery here is really nice—it wasn't worthless to drive this long to get here."

"Blogger, don't keep us in suspense—everyone's waiting; hurry up and tell us, the rumors about that big mountain are just hype, really not that mysterious."

Green mountains stretched endlessly; Zheng Lin and his group were among the first to arrive here, as if they'd entered a world completely different from the bustling city.

But although they verbally promised not to go up the mountain, they turned around and forgot the old man's words.

Zheng Lin and the others walked around and found nothing abnormal; only the plants were unusually lush, planning to take some beautiful scenery photos to bring back—so the trip wasn't in vain.

"What's wrong with the blogger? He clearly seemed energetic before; after not seeing him for days, what exactly did he go through?"

Another member of the team suddenly spoke up, only to be teased by the others.

"How did the related info suddenly get cleared? What exactly happened these days, and why did the blogger suddenly lose contact?"

The surrounding tall plants were like a green cage, their sturdy branches becoming natural barriers that completely trapped them inside.

Suddenly having his name called, Xu Chengtian rose from his seat.

In the bustling market, a building stands here, adopting a typical courtyard structure, covering a vast area, looking quite imposing.

Receiving an affirmative answer, Zheng Lin and the others were overjoyed: "Great, we finally found it."

After seeing off that group, Longyuan Mountain briefly returned to tranquility, but Sun Zhenbang and the village chief knew these were only temporary.

"Or should we just go down the mountain and leave?"

This left netizens bewildered, unsure what had happened; afterward the blogger started a livestream, and many curious onlookers swarmed in.

With time passing bit by bit, the sun set westward; the afterglow of the setting sun bathed the verdant peaks, gilding them with a faint golden light, appearing warm and tranquil.

The livestream room had already been closed, but many netizens became agitated.

"It feels like we could just set up camp here, but I'm worried there are many mosquitoes on the mountain, and since these surroundings aren't developed, spending the night is still somewhat dangerous."

Originally this matter already had high popularity; with the blogger's fame, the number of online viewers quickly exceeded twenty thousand and kept rising.

With a swoosh, it seemed a human figure flashed past from not far away.

Zheng Lin and the others felt ashamed and could not bear it, lowering their heads and staying silent.

At that moment, in the main control meeting room, relevant information about Longyuan Mountain was being displayed on the big screen.

"There's a ghost chasing us from behind!"

Sun Zhenbang rushed over as soon as he received the news; after hearing the village head's account, he frowned tightly, "How did suddenly so many tourists appear?"

However, it's also strange that after this Weibo post was sent out, netizens kept waiting for the blogger's feedback, but then there was no further word.

Watching their receding backs, the old man naturally could see what they were thinking and couldn't help shaking his head.

"Young man, so you want to go up the mountain?"

Everyone was like headless flies shuttling back and forth between the broad leaves, going around in circles yet still ending up where they started.

The green trees overhead were like a canopy, shedding a cool shade; the air carried the scent of soil and the fragrance of flowers, making it feel as if the whole spirit had been purified.

White Bone quickly walked toward them.

Rising and falling screams echoed throughout the mountains, instantly startling countless birds into flight.

The village head couldn't help but say, "Officer Sun, what if more people come later?"

"Really or fake..."

"Better to believe it exists than to doubt it; in short, one should always hold a reverent attitude toward everything."

Everyone else was drawn over by his scream, hurriedly asking, "What happened?"

"Village head, you say these youngsters have no sense of propriety; what if they offend the Mountain God?"

"Village head, we must think of a way to stop them, lest something happen later."

"I've received many fan submissions, so I decided to go check out that big mountain that's been hot online lately; I believe many friends have seen it, and I will personally unveil this mountain's mysterious veil—please stay tuned."

"I once heard a ghost story saying that mountain sprites imitate humans; we've been following for so long yet never saw this person's true face—how can we be sure the one following us is human?"

To make matters worse, the surrounding fog grew thicker and thicker, already affecting visibility.

He left behind three ambiguous remarks; netizens hadn't even reacted when the screen before them went black, and only then did they realize the livestream had been shut down.

"This mountain forest is truly terrifying; I almost thought I wouldn't see tomorrow's sun."

After a few days, when netizens went to look again, they found the blogger had cleared all information about that big mountain and then vanished without a trace.

Saying this, the blogger's tone paused; not knowing what he thought of, his complexion turned grim again, the fear in his eyes almost becoming tangible.

Sun Zhenbang wanted to speak but held back, knowing it was useless to say these things now, and hurriedly organized personnel to go into the mountain for search and rescue.

As the blogger slowly lifted his head, a pallid face was exposed beneath the camera; it was clear he hadn't slept well for days, the dark circles and eye bags almost impossible to hide, making him look extremely exhausted.

Those people are omnipresent, always thinking up all sorts of methods.

"It's obvious the blogger's condition is really bad; there's no need to go to such extremes for views and heat."

"They're over there!"

"This friend, we accidentally got lost in the mountains; do you know the way down?"

He couldn't help swallowing, "Nothing much, maybe I just misread earlier."

After they finally made out the scene behind them, everyone's smiles instantly stiffened on their faces.

Even from far away, they could still feel that sensation of being watched; the crowd had no mind to continue admiring the scenery, and after what just happened they felt somewhat unsettled.

The crowd chuckled, still thinking Zheng Lin was playing a prank, deliberately scaring them, and still hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation.

He glanced at his phone; it showed no signal, calls and texts couldn't be sent—one could say it was like calling heaven and getting no answer, calling earth and getting no response.

"The earlier online frenzy about heavenly fire, the monster fog program, and the recent anomalies are all closely related to this big mountain."

At the same time, some people posted their experiences on Longyuan Mountain online; the related posts quickly entered the public's view.

But staring at them without blinking does seem a bit eerie.

"Hey!"

"Behind, behind."

"Strange, we clearly came this way just now—how could we have lost the way?"

Sun Zhenbang looked behind them, but there was nothing.

The deep mountains and old forests haven't been developed; who knows, there might be some large beasts lurking, and everyone couldn't help but worry a little.

For a moment Zheng Lin recalled all the rumors online about this mountain, but when he voiced the idea, his companions nearby burst out laughing.

Knowing there are tigers in the mountain, yet still heading toward tiger mountain.

If one says the blogger uttered those words just to attract eyeballs and earn traffic, then his goal has already been achieved, and the livestream's effect was excellent.

"What's wrong, does this big mountain pose any danger? Are there wild beasts?"

Looking at the old man's solemn expression, Zheng Lin's mood also turned tense.

"Curiosity killed the cat; really don't try certain things, because in this world there indeed exists some mysterious power."

"Thank you all for your attention; I want to say something about the previous debunking effort——"

"Hey, these days people just love to go around seeking the odd, but some places——"

Unlike those common departments, the 749 Bureau operates very discreetly, with very few people knowing of it; its secrecy is extremely strict, and its staff are all carefully selected, each possessing extraordinary abilities.

The village head sighed, "I told you early on not to go up the mountain, but you still wouldn't listen."

Within the team someone complained anxiously, and Zheng Lin also felt a faint regret rising in his heart; although traffic and heat are important, these cannot compare to life and property.

"Hey, do you guys feel like there might be other people around?"

After that livestream, he gained quite a few more fans; there's no need to cancel his account at this critical moment.

When they saw Sun Zhenbang, Zheng Lin and the others were like seeing a savior, their eyes shining; several big men were crying with snot and tears, but

It was clear he was exhausted, not at all like he was pretending, and even his speech sounded weak and listless.

For a moment, cold sweat broke out on everyone's foreheads as they tiptoed away; fortunately, the animals merely stared at them, showing no attack intent for the time being.

"Why are there suddenly so many animals? Just a moment ago there were none."

The next second, the figure turned around unexpectedly, and what came into view was actually a skull!

With no flesh covering it, the hollow eye sockets stared at Zheng Lin and the others, a bone-chilling cold sweeping over them as if the gates of hell had just opened.

The figure always kept a certain distance, and with the surrounding mist, they couldn't see it clearly, only making out a rough human silhouette.

The old man's face was solemn as he earnestly advised, "Beasts are secondary; the main issue is that the Mountain God does not like outsiders disturbing him. If you barge in recklessly, you'll disturb him, and the consequences will be dire."

"Hey, it looks like someone's over there!"

"Don't you think the streamer is a bit odd? Sudden loss of contact, then suddenly going live."

They are humans, not gods, and can only do their utmost.

These three sentences not only failed to clear up the netizens' confusion, but actually made the situation grow even more baffling.

Zheng Lin and the others didn't even dare to breathe.

"Even the Mountain God has shown up—you're being way too exaggerated; anyway, I don't believe it."

Specifically handling difficult cases involving national security, espionage, and matters that the military and police find inconvenient to intervene in.

"Crack—crack"

Several young people obviously didn't believe these claims, but following local custom, they wisely chose not to refute them.

"Yeah, I don't even know where they came from."

Others rescued from the mountain had pretty much the same experience as Zheng Lin and the group.

As the fog thickened, the surroundings grew more hazy; all scenery was swallowed by the white mist, and that figure became even more ethereal.

Hearing others tease him, Zheng Lin shrugged, and just as his gaze fell on a nearby spot, he suddenly saw something, his eyes widening instantly and his face gradually turning grim.

"The mountain air is great—no pollution at all, unlike the city where car exhaust fills the streets."

Scared stiff by the White Bone, the group nearly chased all night; exhausted, they dared not stop for a moment, feeling their legs might give out.

Those who originally didn't believe in this now began to waver.

Because of fear, Zheng Lin's voice trembled; seeing his expression didn't look fake, the others also turned around sharply.

A grating noise came from ahead, like the sound that could only be produced by bones rubbing at the joints.

"..."

"Good advice can't persuade a ghost bent on death!"

"This is the data we've gathered these days."

"I originally thought those people were just exaggerating or trying to come here for clout, but now it seems it might not be true."

What frightened them most was that, after they stopped, the figure up ahead seemed to sense something and actually stopped as well!

Compared to Li Minghai, Zheng Lin and the others were relatively fortunate—they hadn't fainted, suffered no obvious injury, just been overly frightened.

The atmosphere inexplicably grew tense.

A man with a square face sat in the chief seat, his eyes shining with sharpness, imposing without anger.

Upon reaching the mountain base, a few people wolfed down their food; they hadn't thought much about the ascent, nor expected to get lost, so they hadn't brought much provisions.

"All right, old man, we know."

"Is it really that mysterious? Could it be just hype to attract attention?"

"This situation is somewhat tricky; it has already generated widespread attention and discussion online, and we must resolve it as soon as possible."

"As someone who has personally experienced it, I can tell you for sure: it's real, so I advise you not to go again."

The village head was also anxious; he finally came up with a plan, having villagers split into several groups to guard each mountain path, stopping that crowd from ascending, but it only treats the symptom, not the root.

"I originally planned to go to that big mountain with friends, but now I don't; it feels a bit scary, and some things we still have to believe."

"Yeah, recently so many people have suddenly come up the mountain, angering the Mountain God; we can't bear the consequences."

No matter which direction they went, the surrounding scenery seemed unchanging, and in the end they were completely lost.

The group walked until they were exhausted, then collapsed on the ground to rest.

"From personal experience, this mountain is truly peculiar—just entering it you get lost and heavy fog rolls in, really mysterious; the villagers at the base even warned us, saying it would disturb the Mountain God, but we didn't believe them, and we ended up unlucky."

"What's your take on this?"

Originally they couldn't pinpoint Zheng Lin and the others' location, but a wail of ghosts and wolf howls came from nearby, immediately letting Sun Zhenbang fix on the target.

"It feels like the streamer went through something terrifying."

Judging by appearance, it seems to have some history.

"That mountain that's gone viral online lately—definitely don't go; I barely made it back, so I warn everyone: don't lightly try such things."

Although these people mean no harm, just coming out of curiosity, the sudden influx of so many makes it hard to guarantee they won't disturb the Mountain God.

The old man shook his head, full of disapproval, saying, "I advise you guys to just drop this idea."

"I think we need to go onsite to see whether someone is faking the supernatural or if this place truly has something special; if it really is special, we should ascertain the cause and clarify it—nothing more than factors like location, magnetic field, environment, etc."

Zheng Lin was energetically filming with his phone when a pair of greenish eyes suddenly appeared in the frame, like two balls of ghost fire, frightening him so much he dropped his phone.

This proposal gained everyone's agreement, but just as Zheng Lin and the others were about to descend the mountain, they were dumbfounded because they couldn't find the way down.

In the nearby thickets, countless pairs of greenish eyes stared at them—just ordinary small animals.

The old man eyed them suspiciously: "Young folks, what are you here for?"

But their condition wasn't good—they'd been hungry for a day, were frightened and scared, and when going down the mountain their legs went weak, requiring police support to move.

By rights, at this distance they should be able to hear their voices clearly, but that person remained unmoved.

"In short, remember this: don't recklessly rush into certain places."

Unless this matter is thoroughly resolved, similar situations will keep occurring.

Moreover, some netizens said they'd go to expose fraud, while many streamers, hoping to chase clout, declared they'd visit that big mountain to see if it's as mysterious as the netizens claim.

Old man, you still don't know, right? This big mountain has gone viral online; I heard that earlier, the scene of purple aura coming from the east appeared here. You live at the mountain foot, you must have seen it too, right? That sight must definitely be even more spectacular than what we saw online.

I'm beginning to believe it; this mountain might indeed be the hideout of some exalted person, which is why these strange occurrences are happening.

Ah!

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's faces in the team turned pale, they looked dubiously at the figure ahead, and instinctively stopped their steps.

Sun Zhenbang shook his head, looking somewhat dejected, and said, "For now we can only take it one step at a time; if it really doesn't work, we'll report it to the city."

Everyone was chatting animatedly, failing to notice that in the nearby woods, countless pairs of eerie green eyes had appeared, watching their every move.

The matter, which had just slightly calmed down, was stirred up again into a new wave of heated discussion because of these netizens' appearances and statements.

Zheng Lin thought for a moment, also feeling a bit jumpy at shadows, and immediately retorted, "No way!"

In short, I'm seriously telling everyone here: cherish life, stay away from that mountain!

Blogger, did you go or not? What about the promised debunking? Everyone's waiting for your feedback.

Yeah, we came here to explore, wanting to unveil the mysterious veil of this big mountain and see what special things it holds.

Passing villagers saw their arrival and were puzzled, after all, Longyuan Village rarely sees outsiders.

Around here everything is publicly open, not private; neither villagers nor Sun Zhenbang can control the surroundings, so they can only try to stop people as much as possible.

Zheng Lin and the others exchanged glances, not expecting the old man to give such an answer; they breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but shake their heads and laugh.

Zheng Lin and company, looking at the scenery before them, almost forgot their original purpose.

Zheng Lin chattered on excitedly, completely failing to notice the old man's expression growing ever stranger, interrupting their long-winded discussion.

Originally posting these experiences was meant to dissuade everyone from getting close, but unexpectedly it also sparked some people's rebellious spirit.

Regarding these online claims, many people are skeptical, thinking these folks are exaggerating just to chase clout.

Kyoto, a certain district.

Sun Zhenbang has been busy with a criminal case lately and hasn't paid much attention to the internet; after hearing what the village chief said, he pulled out his phone, searched, and found the relevant video.

There are many unknown forces and forbidden zones in this world that we cannot just freely set foot in!

For a moment, horrifying images filled everyone's minds; they wanted to run, but found their legs weak, though they eventually regained some strength.

But the White Bone had already lunged at them.

At this time, the mountain mist had gradually dissipated.

Hello, old man, excuse me, is this mountain right nearby?

The once lush green plants all became a hazy blur, leaving only rough outlines; from afar they looked like slender, elongated ghostly silhouettes, adding an intangible sense of pressure.

The 749 Bureau, which lies hidden in the city, was founded on April 9, 1970; it belongs to neither the government nor the military, and is an independent special department outside both.

That figure didn't stop, seeming not to have heard Zheng Lin and the others' shouts; everyone could only follow closely behind, but after walking a stretch, they realized something was off.

While everyone was leisurely wandering, a thin layer of fog quietly arose around them, and the trees began to take on vague, indistinct shapes.

Just thinking about it is terrifying—this blogger has already deleted their account; could it be that the big mountain really has some special power?

I feel this place isn't as mysterious as other netizens claim; it's just still in its primitive state, undeveloped.

Even though the scenery before us hasn't changed at all, after what just happened we no longer feel the freshness of clear mountains and pure waters; instead, we feel a bit more eerie and gloomy.

After eating and drinking their fill, the few people gradually recovered, and only then did Zheng Lin begin to recount what they encountered in the mountains.

The netizens were discussing heatedly, but the blogger kept their head down and stayed silent; soon people noticed the blogger's abnormality.

In a short time, Longyuan Mountain sparked widespread discussion online.

When did you become so timid, starting to suspect ghosts and gods? Surely you weren't scared by what the villagers said?

If I'd known this mountain was so weird, we wouldn't have come; now we can't get out.

You must have caught Zheng Lin's nerves—this place only has us; who else is there, ghosts or not, it's all the same.

Far from the hustle and bustle of steel and concrete, compared to the constant flow of people on the streets, this place feels especially vast; wherever you look, it's full of vibrant life, with insect chirps and bird calls never ceasing.

Ah!

I don't know if it's Zheng Lin's illusion, but a chill came over, as if the surrounding temperature had dropped considerably.

Even though the figure hadn't turned around, inexplicably everyone felt a cold gaze lingering on them.

Wang Xuehao nodded, "That's right, we need to quell public opinion as soon as possible; this is also what the higher-ups mean, so the meeting ends here."

Because of the uncertainty of this operation, everyone must heighten vigilance, prepare weapons, and assemble promptly at 2 p. m. for the mission!