Entering the Mountains at Night

In the past, when Xiang Kun chatted with people, most of his attention was on himself. He was thinking about what to say, what to do, how to respond to a question, and what to say next. But with people he didn't know well, he always worried that whatever he said would be awkward.

Now, thanks to the significant enhancement of his senses and information gathering and processing capabilities, Xiang Kun has a completely different understanding and approach to communicating with strangers.

He can easily figure out what others want to say and hear, so he can also easily use this information to obtain the information he wants to know.

For example, now that he knows the location of the village where the older woman next to him grew up, Xiang Kun begins to deliberately guide her, hoping to hear more relevant information from her.

Many things, once they circulate on the internet or other media, will undergo some processing and differ significantly from the original situation.

Although the "legends" and "rumors" that locals hear are often far from the truth, the information they can obtain is relatively more accurate.

When the topic turned to legends, the older woman became quite animated. She had originally asked the flight attendant for a blanket to take a nap, but now she was really engrossed in the conversation and started talking non-stop.

In a broader sense, the Qinling Mountains are a vast mountain range, stretching over 1,600 kilometers from west to east and 100-200 kilometers from north to south. They are known as the backbone of China, the dragon vein of China, and the father mountain. The region is home to a large number of rare and precious wild animals, as well as large undeveloped and sparsely populated uninhabited areas.

Such a vast mountain range naturally has its share of legends and mysterious events, from ancient tomb tales to spirits and demons, to immortals and cultivators, to wild men and monsters, and even UFOs and extraterrestrial visitors. As a result, it has always attracted adventurers and explorers.

The older woman had heard many similar legends when she was a child, mainly about ancient tombs, spirits, and various wild beasts.

Xiang Kun then used the wild boar video recorded by the Host Xue as a guide, leading the old woman to think in the direction of a "vampire monster".

However, the woman said she had never heard of any similar legends or heard of any monsters being touched in that area. Her opinion was the same as that of most people online—that the wild boar was probably killed by Host Xue and his two companions to create the illusion of a monster and attract netizens' attention.

But the woman didn't rule out any possibility of anything going wrong. She said that anything strange could happen in those deep mountains and forests, so it's best for ordinary people not to go there.

After chatting for a while, Xiang Kun keenly noticed the woman's fatigue and ended the conversation so she could rest and catch up on some sleep.

The information the older woman provided was largely useless, since she had already moved to the county when she was a teenager, and even the mountain village where she lived as a child was quite far from the area where the Host Xue and his group had their accident. A few years ago, they were even relocated as part of a program to convert farmland back to forest.

Everything she knew was told to her by the village elders and her family elders.

Moreover, the absence of useful information can itself be considered a form of information.

The flight went smoothly and landed safely without any turbulence, and the kind of situation the old lady was worried about, like in the movies, didn't happen.

Upon arrival, the middle-aged woman sitting next to him enthusiastically offered to have her relative take Xiang Kun and drop him off at the hotel, but he politely declined.

Xiang Kun didn't plan to stay overnight in the city. While it wasn't too late, he took a bus to a county-level city dozens of kilometers away. After arriving, he hailed a private car to go to a small town, which was also where the Host Xue stayed, rested, and uploaded videos before his death.

After arriving in the town in the early morning, Xiang Kun originally planned to go straight into the mountains that night, but after thinking for a while, he decided to head to the only hotel in town first.

Although more than half a month has passed since the bodies of Host Xue and his two companions were discovered, normally, even if there were officials or media platforms who stayed behind to investigate, they should have mostly left by now.

If anyone else stays behind, unlike Xiang Kun who can move around in the mountains without supplies and day and night, they will most likely need to stay in this small town, just like Host Xue and his group.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Xiang Kun slowed down, went into the lobby to use the restroom, and then began collecting various sensory information.

Judging from the hotel guests, there weren't many people staying there, and no one was heard talking about the Host Xue incident.

Xiang Kun didn't waste any more time. After leaving the restroom, he walked out of the hotel, ready to leave and head straight into the mountains. However, after taking only a few steps, he slowed down because he overheard a conversation between two men who were walking out of the hotel behind him.

"Are we really going to drive back tonight? Can't we leave tomorrow morning instead?" one of them complained.

"The company booked our tickets for 8:30 this morning, isn't that just forcing us to drive back overnight? Otherwise, how could you make it?" another person said irritably.

"Holy crap, can't we just buy our own tickets?"

"Sure, call them and if they agree to let us change the dates, I'll buy the plane tickets, and I'll pay for yours."

"Damn it, they're just messing with us. Coming here to do this is pointless, just a pile of mud and dirt, what can they possibly find? And that dead pig, we went through so much trouble to get it out, it was rotten to the core, what could they possibly find? Do they think they're CSI...?"

"Stop talking nonsense, don't forget you signed a confidentiality agreement."

"What are you afraid of? Nobody's listening. What's the point of the company making us do all this?"

From their perspective, Xiang Kun, who had left the hotel ahead of them, was already across the street; at that distance, he might not even hear them if they shouted.

"Go ask him yourself," the other person said, clearly impatient with his companion's complaint.

As they talked, the two got into a white Prado and drove away from the hotel parking lot.

Hearing their conversation, Xiang Kun immediately realized that their purpose in coming here was very likely the same as his. However, he had a clear goal and knew why he was there and what he was looking for, while they were likely doing someone else's bidding, acting as "staff members" under orders.

As Xiang Kun watched the car drive out of the hotel parking lot, several plans flashed through his mind.

Pretending to run off from the roadside to stage an accident and attract the police to find out their identities? That's not a good idea. Not only would they need to go to the hospital for a checkup, but just exposing themselves to these two people would pose many risks. They don't even know where they came from yet. Doing that is too dangerous.

Trying to flick the bead he had established a "Super-Sensory Link" with onto the car and then track where they went? That's also not a good idea. Putting aside the fact that it would be difficult to keep the bead "on" the car without it falling off at that distance, judging from their conversation, they were leaving by plane the next morning. Even if he tracked them down overnight, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

Just to be on the safe side, Xiang Kun chose to do nothing, except to write down the license plate number of the Prado.

Xiang Kun looked back at the hotel not far away. Perhaps he could find a way to sneak into the hotel and access their registration system to see what identities and organizations the two people who had just left had registered under.

However, after considering several plans, although each would allow him to obtain that information, they would inevitably leave "traces," making people aware of him and remember his face. If the other party later notices something, they might investigate in reverse and find out about his existence from there.

Since I'm still in the shadows, it's best not to reveal myself rashly for now. After all, in this information age, once you catch someone's shadow, their true identity can be easily exposed.

At times like these, he felt particularly frustrated that he hadn't received the ability to directly "hypnotize" with language from Guo Tianxiang.

Xiang Kun decided to put this matter aside for the time being and go into the mountain first to determine whether there were any Mutated Creature present.

So Xiang Kun, carrying the huge bow case, headed straight into the mountains along the road. Before sensing any approaching vehicles, he would move to the side of the road to avoid being discovered.

Normal people wouldn't go into the mountains alone at this time, let alone Xiang Kun who didn't even take a car and started walking directly from the town. Keep in mind that it's still more than two hours' drive to the place where the Host Xue and his group went into the mountains.

But Xiang Kun had his own considerations. He had studied the terrain on the map and knew how to take shortcuts. What was insurmountable for others was not a big problem for Xiang Kun.

After leaving the town and walking along the mountain road for more than two hours, Xiang Kun turned onto a mountain path. After walking for a while, he put down the heavy bow case and, in the darkness, took out the composite bow that Tang Baona had given him, assembled it, attached the arrows, and carried the composite bow and quiver on his back.

Xiang Kun hid the bow case in a pit and left behind a sphere that established a "Super-Sensory Link." This sphere could not only help him find the bow case when he returned, but also serve as a coordinate for positioning.

Using this bead as a reference will help him orient himself when he enters the deep mountains later.

He measured the rest of the way on foot, gaining a very detailed understanding of the distances and terrain. When the "Super-Sensory Link" bead was sensing, it could create a very clear "map" of the route in his brain.

If necessary, he will throw out a few more items that have established a "Super-Sensory Link" to facilitate more detailed location and map building.

The biggest problem with going into the mountains late at night is the light, which affects visibility. But for Xiang Kun, he has a night vision mode he got from Giant Owl. The faint light in the mountains at night is enough for him to see clearly what's going on along the way.

Another problem is the complex terrain in the mountains. One wrong step and you could lose your life. Moreover, Xiang Kun deliberately chose to take shortcuts in places that were deserted, steep, dangerous, and overgrown with grass and branches.

Even experienced and well-prepared people would have to slowly climb steep cliffs and clear paths through dense forests to make the most of such a route. They would need equipment, tools, and supplies, and the journey might even be slower than taking a detour. Plus, there's a high risk of injury.

Xiang Kun had practiced and trained a few days ago. With his superb finger strength, core strength, reaction speed, and almost inexhaustible endurance, he was very adept at short-distance rock climbing.

However, because of his weight, he is prone to breaking small rock points. But during the climb, he makes various possible plans in his mind for every movement, and makes all kinds of preparations. Then he controls his body with strength and reaction, which has a high degree of fault tolerance.

Of course, Xiang Kun is not a professional rock climber and will not deliberately choose those large rock walls to "challenge". Even when taking a shortcut, he will choose an easier route with fewer difficult rock walls.

In the dense forest, he didn't need to clear a path. He used his usual way of charging up mountains, directly clearing the way with his own body, forcibly crushing through like a wild boar, running wildly all the way, not caring about the branches and thorns that scratched and wounded him. Anyway, he recovered quickly, and the wounds would heal in less than ten minutes. He treated it as a long, low-intensity mountain-charging training.

Sometimes, if necessary, he can jump directly from a height, using tree branches to cushion the fall and save time.

At around 5 a. m., Xiang Kun stood atop a low peak, activated the infrared imaging vision mode, and observed the activities of various organisms in the distant forest.

He believed that if there were indeed Mutated Creature, he had the infrared imaging mode he obtained from Guo Tianxiang, which, combined with his sense of smell, would allow him to detect them before they could detect him.

Shortly after entering the mountains, Xiang Kun discovered that his cell phone had lost signal, which was expected. However, by identifying several landmarks at a high vantage point and relying on the "Super-Sensory Link" items he had left on the path, he could calculate the distance and his location, and find his position on a paper map.

Before arriving, Xiang Kun had already deduced the approximate area of the no-man's land that Host Xue had entered by using various information online.

According to Xiang Kun's original prediction, he should have arrived near that area before nightfall the next day.

But in fact, by noon the next day, Xiang Kun had already confirmed that his trip had not been in vain.

He smelled that very distinctive scent again.

The scent was very faint, and completely different from the scent of the Giant Owl and Guo Tianxiang, but Xiang Kun knew it was the kind of scent that would subconsciously attract his attention—the hallmark of the Mutated Creature's scent.

Xiang Kun's brain was working at lightning speed, his attention was highly focused, and his vision, hearing, and smell were all pushed to the limit as he continuously gathered information, searching for traces of the Mutated Creature.

The compound bow was already in hand, the arrows were nocked, and he was ready to fire at any moment.

However, Xiang Kun discovered that the smell came from all directions, some from trees, some from the ground, without any discernible pattern or specific direction.

In infrared imaging mode, there were many small animals around, and the scents and footprints left by some large beasts could be smelled, but no specific traces of the Mutated Creature could be found, and even the scent seemed to appear out of nowhere.

This strange situation made Xiang Kun even more vigilant and cautious.