The five of them silently swished beef and tripe in the pot, and the atmosphere was somewhat strange...
"Ahem." Lin Qiye was the first to break the silence. "Uncle Li, after being a forest ranger for so long, have you ever heard of... anything strange in these woods?"
At those words, Baili Pangpang's face went pale, as if he had thought of something. He turned to look at Li Deyang.
Li Deyang furrowed his brow slightly. "Something strange?"
"Some legends, like the Fox Immortal, Horse Monkey, paper effigies, or... the Kingdom of the Dead?"
Li Deyang gave the four of them a strange look, slowly setting down his chopsticks as a look of realization appeared in his eyes.
"I get it now. You're not here to film some 'Boonie Bears'..." Li Deyang narrowed his eyes at Lin Qiye and spoke word by word. "You're after the ruins and treasures from those legends."
Lin Qiye and the others exchanged glances, then silently lowered their heads without answering.
"That's what I thought. How could ordinary documentary filmmakers possibly have skills like yours? You do this for a living, don't you?" Li Deyang wore an expression as though he had seen through everything, sneering as he spoke.
"You saved Tingting, so you're not bad people. Let me give you some friendly advice... Legends are just legends. Not every place with a legend has treasure. This is a scientific age. Where would all these gods and ghosts come from?
It's all superstition! Don't belie—why are you tugging on my cloak?"
Li Deyang turned around to see Baili Pangpang beside him lowering his head and tugging at his dark red cloak. His face darkened, and he snatched the cloak from Baili Pangpang's hands, carefully smoothing out its wrinkles.
"Nothing. I just thought this cloak looked