tkworld #582 - The Hidden Mist Village
#582 - The Hidden Mist Village
When Bai Feng Manor was mentioned, Zhao Gang glanced at Hua Lu, intentionally or unintentionally. Under the moonlight, the red eyes were still as calm as water, as if there was no reaction to the name.
Zhao Gang quickly retracted his gaze and sized up Tang Yin's figure. "Looking at you, you should be able to do it, right? Okay, hurry up and go to the fields above to cut grass." His tone was unquestionable, as if he had already made the decision for Tang Yin.
Tang Yin rubbed his hands awkwardly. "Ah, but, I've already been assigned to work in the cafeteria."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Gang's expression twisted instantly. "What!!! You're going to work with Sister Chen Xiang!!!" His voice suddenly rose, sounding particularly harsh in the silent night.
Tang Yin's heart skipped a beat, and he secretly cried out that things were going wrong. This guy's reaction was too intense. It seemed like he had stepped on some kind of landmine.
Just as the atmosphere was tense, Granny Rong suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a meaningful tone, "Zhao Gang, you're a grown man. It's better for men to take the initiative in some things."
Zhao Gang's face flushed red instantly, and he waved his hands in a flustered manner, "Wh-wh-what things! I don't have any improper thoughts!" He stammered as he explained, but the more he spoke, the more agitated he became. "But, if any man dares to plot against Sister Chen Xiang, who has worked hard to raise two sons and take care of everyone's meals, believe me, I'll crush his dog head!"
Tang Yin was stunned. This person's ability to imagine things was too strong. While he was distracted, Zhao Gang had already taken a few steps closer, staring at him fiercely. "You kid... what tricks did you play to get close to Sister Chen Xiang... Tell me..."
Looking at Zhao Gang's jealous appearance, Tang Yin secretly complained in his heart: To be honest, I really want to make up another story to make you so angry that one Buddha is born and two Buddhas ascend to heaven. I really endured it again and again. However, considering the violent tendencies that this strong man might unleash at any time, he chose to tell the truth, "Ah... that... it was Qin Zhi from Bai Feng Manor who arranged it."
"..." Zhao Gang was stunned.
The air suddenly became quiet, and Zhao Gang's expression gradually softened. "...Ah, is that so? Then there's nothing I can do."
Tang Yin quickly followed the lead, "Ah, I'll work hard at the outside work too!"
"Ah, it's rare for you to have this intention," Zhao Gang waved his hand. "Let's see how it goes first. If we let you do extra work, I'm afraid the people above will come looking for trouble."
Tang Yin keenly noticed the anomaly in his words. "...Hey, do the people above even manage the work arrangements here?"
Zhao Gang sneered, "No, they just want us to always obey their orders." His tone was full of suppressed anger.
Suddenly remembering something, Zhao Gang looked around. "Speaking of which, what are you doing here? Where's Sister Chen Xiang?"
Granny Rong sighed. "The reporter's car broke down. They went to make a phone call."
"Ah? That's troublesome. Doesn't that mean they can't go back?" Zhao Gang frowned.
Tang Yin said in a deep voice, "...The worst case is that it won't be fixed all day today. We still have to be prepared for that."
"Hmm..." Zhao Gang nodded thoughtfully.
Granny Rong shook her head. "So troublesome..."
Tang Yin looked up at the outline of the village hidden in the darkness in the distance and asked, "Are there any other empty rooms?"
Hua Lu's red pupils flickered with a strange light under the moonlight, her voice gentle but not lacking in majesty. "I only have that one small house here."
Granny Rong was slightly surprised when she heard this and looked at Hua Lu. "Lord Hua Lu, did you lend him the small house?" Her old voice carried a hint of unease.
"Well, if no one lives there, the small house will be abandoned," Hua Lu replied indifferently, her slender fingers gently fiddling with the silver hair in front of her forehead.
Granny Rong's expression suddenly became serious. She turned to Tang Yin, her eyes filled with complex emotions. "Tang Yin, you must cherish that small house. The former owner of that small house... was a very great person."
Tang Yin felt the seriousness in the old woman's words and nodded quickly, "Okay, I understand!"
Who knew that Granny Rong would suddenly change her tone, her expression suddenly becoming sharp. "And, it is absolutely forbidden to violate Miss Hua Lu there. Miss Hua Lu is not an ordinary person, understand?"
Hua Lu's originally calm expression suddenly bloomed with a hint of mischievousness. "Oh oh oh?" She looked at Tang Yin's embarrassed expression with great interest.
Zhao Gang's eyes widened. "Ah, hey, are they that kind of relationship?"
Tang Yin only felt like he had a big head and was suffering unspeakable pain in his heart. "Hey, this is a 100% misunderstanding, but it's about to be fabricated into an established fact. I sincerely hope all this stops quickly." He took a deep breath, trying to bring the topic back on track. "...We're off topic. So what do we do now?"
An awkward atmosphere filled the air. It would have been better if this delicate topic wasn't being pushed forward by Tang Yin, the newcomer.
Zhao Gang's expression became serious. "...Well, to be honest, it's not good for anyone to let outsiders stay in Mist Hidden Village." He turned to the old woman. "Granny, are there any other empty rooms?"
Granny Rong shook her head. "The one given to Xiao Mie is already the last one. The other rooms either have holes or broken walls... They don't meet the conditions of Wu Ji."
Tang Yin listened to this statement and secretly thought: You're lying. Aren't there empty rooms in the dormitory!
Just then, a sleepy female voice interjected, "That..."
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young woman with long hair walking over while yawning. Zhao Gang frowned and said, "Wang Lina, did you oversleep again? Hurry up and go help Old Man Gao."
Wang Lina smiled embarrassedly. "Ah, sorry, sorry, I picked up the habit of sleeping in late outside..." She suddenly remembered something. "By the way, Granny Rong, there's still an empty room in the dormitory, right?"
Granny Rong's face suddenly became solemn. "...Lina, you should know, right? That's a place that we and the four elders' families finally managed to build after much negotiation." Her voice carried a hint of choking. "He wanted to at least let the children live in good houses close to Bai Feng Manor. For this reason, he even poured cement steps on the hillside."
Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Wang Lina quickly waved her hand to smooth things over. "Ah, ah haha... you're starting to talk about the past again." A trace of unnaturalness flashed in her clear eyes.
Zhao Gang took a deep look at Tang Yin, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness. "...Hey, Tang Yin, right, you see, Mist Hidden Village is just such a place."
Tang Yin nodded silently. He knew that there were too many unknown secrets hidden in this mist-shrouded village.
Zhao Gang rubbed his hands and looked at the broken van in the distance. "How should I put it, I hope the car can be fixed."
This is troublesome. Tang Yin looked at the darkening sky and felt a trace of unease in his heart. Dark clouds covered the last ray of sunset, and the wind in the mountains became increasingly cold.
Sure enough, the rescue company on the other end of the phone was polite but firm: it would take too long to get to this remote mountain village. Even if they left immediately, they would not be able to reach their destination until late at night.
More importantly, the mountain roads at night are winding and bumpy, the visibility is poor, and the roads are slippery, making it extremely dangerous. The rescue company suggested waiting until dawn tomorrow morning to deal with it.
So, the topic inevitably returned to the issue of their accommodation tonight. A subtle awkwardness filled the air.
At this time, Granny Rong had finished her sermon and turned to leave. Her hunched back looked particularly lonely in the dim light. Tang Yin noticed that the old woman's attitude towards outsiders was indeed extraordinarily cold.
Zhao Gang, who was still standing there, hesitated for a while, and finally suggested that the reporters spend the night in the car. His tone carried some embarrassment, but he had no choice but to propose this.
Unexpectedly, the two reporters actually agreed to this suggestion. Tang Yin frowned. Putting aside the awkwardness of men and women being in the same car, the bigger problem was that there was already a large person lying in the car. It was simply impossible to squeeze another person in. Although the van was not small, it could not withstand such tossing.
Nevertheless, everyone seemed to accept this arrangement. Tang Yin's heart became even more uneasy. If they really let them spend the night in the car, they probably wouldn't survive tonight. There seemed to be some kind of fatal danger hidden in the night.
Looking around, the only people he hadn't seen yet were a few students who went to school, Gao Zhijie, who went hunting early in the morning, and that mysterious Wolf Grandfather. Since he had already seen the people he could see, he might as well go outside and take a look.
Night fell, and Tang Yin followed the winding path to the Qian Corporation's residence. The solemn building looked particularly oppressive in the twilight. In that kind of situation just now, Tang Yin couldn't make too many suggestions, as that would only seem unnatural.
Now he had to find other places to settle them. Tang Yin took a deep breath. Although the hope was slim, he could only try his best.
He stood in front of the gate of the Qian Corporation's residence and hesitated for a moment before pressing the doorbell. The crisp ringing broke the silence of the night.
Before long, a middle-aged man's voice came from inside the door, "...Oh, a newcomer, do you need something from me?" Qian Jin's voice sounded slightly tired.
Tang Yin said respectfully, "Mr. Qian Jin, I am here to ask for your guidance as an elder."
Qian Jin let out a chuckle. "You are really attentive, but do you think I will be fooled by this level of flattery? Just say what you want to say."
Tang Yin was stunned for a moment, secretly wondering: Could it be that the courtesy I showed was really so unnatural? The night wind blew, bringing a faint mist, as if hinting at something.
Tang Yin sorted out his thoughts and looked up to face Qian Jin's slightly cloudy eyes. "I was rude. Then I won't beat around the bush."
Qian Jin put his hands in his suit pockets and nodded slightly. "Hmm." His voice was low and hoarse, as if he had experienced too many vicissitudes.
Tang Yin took a deep breath and cut straight to the chase, "—I heard that the fog is coming soon. Is this true?"
The effect of this sentence was immediate. Qian Jin's slightly tired face tightened instantly, and his eyes began to wander unconsciously. Although he tried hard to remain calm, his slightly trembling fingers still revealed his inner unease. Under the moonlight, the cold sweat on his forehead was clearly visible.
"...What's going on? Who told you that, instilling that kind of superstitious idea as soon as you moved here?" Qian Jin's tone carried some anger, but more of it was undisguised panic.
"Hua Lu told me," Tang Yin said calmly.
Qian Jin was silent when he heard this, his expression even more complicated than before. Tang Yin laughed inwardly. This person's mind was really easy to understand. It was like a piece of unpainted wood, and you could see the grain at a glance.
"Others have also told me something about the fog, after all, Qin Zhi arranged for me to move here," Tang Yin added. The night wind blew, lifting the broken hair in front of his forehead.
Qian Jin's eyes lit up. "So it's Qin Zhi. He's a year younger than me. What did he say?"
"Nothing. I don't know if I heard it wrong, but he just said that the fog is probably coming soon." Tang Yin noticed that Qian Jin's expression became tense again. Although it was completely unfounded, from the current situation, the fog was indeed coming. The distant mountains were already shrouded in a thin layer of fog.
"And, Hua Lu just told me a lot of rules that must be followed when the fog comes..." Tang Yin paused. "Because the van had a flat tire, there are now two people trapped here, so I was wondering what to do with them."
"What, there's even such a thing... How troublesome." Qian Jin frowned, a trace of impatience flashing in his eyes.
"Hmm... So, what do you think?" Tang Yin deliberately showed a confused expression.
Qian Jin pondered for a moment. "Mist Hidden Village only experiences dense fog once every ten or twenty years in early summer."
—Once every ten or twenty years? Tang Yin was shocked. This cycle was too strange.
"Judging from the time... it's not impossible, but recently there shouldn't have been any signs that were enough to predict the fog," Qian Jin's tone carried some uncertainty.
"Is that so... Is the fog dangerous? Everyone seems very nervous," Tang Yin continued to probe.
"If dense fog rises, people will definitely die in Mist Hidden Village." Qian Jin's words were as cold as ice.
...Oh my, can you say it so directly? Tang Yin's heart trembled.
Seeming to realize that he had spoken too bluntly, Qian Jin quickly explained, "That, don't misunderstand. I'm referring to dense fog that is far beyond your imagination, the kind with zero visibility."
Tang Yin thought to himself: I know. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have thought that there would be that level of dense fog in this world. That kind of white hell that seems to devour everything.
"Therefore, everyone is very cautious when the fog rises, but there will also be idiots who run around and end up falling to their deaths," Qian Jin's tone carried a hint of sarcasm.
"I see." Tang Yin nodded thoughtfully.
"Have you seen the site of that landslide accident nearby? That project was undertaken by my family. Many people died because of the fog," Qian Jin's voice suddenly became hoarse, as if he had recalled some unpleasant memories. Under the moonlight, his face looked particularly pale.