"i don't know," Bai Ke's voice became a little pitiful under He Yuan's cold gaze. He blinked, and his eyes were already a little red.
"…No one told me these things."
He murmured, then looked at Jiang Chuyan, the leader of the study group, intentionally or unintentionally.
"If someone had told me that filming was not allowed in Longzhao Village, why would I have brought so much equipment here?"
Bai Ke's voice gradually became filled with grievance.
"I was thinking of shooting some footage here to edit the video later. If I had known about this ridiculous rule, why would I have bothered? I'm not doing this out of boredom."
Bai Ke tightened her lips stubbornly and defended herself in a trembling voice.
He had no doubt that Jiang Chuyan wanted to trick him.
He was not like those idiots in school who actually thought Xu Yuanzhou and Jiang Chuyan were childhood friends.
How could pure buddies get along so well? Not to mention Xu Yuanzhou wasn't the type to keep a secret. Previously, he'd argued with Jiang Chuyan and gotten drunk in a bar. Bai Ke, ever the caring younger brother, had stayed by his side. As they carried the drunken man out of the bar, Xu Yuanzhou mistook Bai Ke for Jiang Chuyan, crying and calling him "wife" as he clung to him and started nibbling at him without a care in the world.
At that time, Bai Ke knew that the two had been together for a long time.
He could guess that seeing Xu Yuanzhou being so close to him, Jiang Chuyan must be feeling incredibly uncomfortable pretending to be noble, otherwise he wouldn't have deliberately embarrassed himself like this...
However, after Bai Ke finished speaking, he did not receive any comfort from others.
He Yuan needs no introduction.
Even Xu Yuanzhou, who had always taken good care of him, looked at him with embarrassment.
Wait, is there something wrong?
Now Bai Ke's expression became a little stiff.
"Um. Didn't Jiang Chuyan send all of us a memorandum document before this trip?"
Liu Tianyu muttered.
"Ah?" Bai Ke was stunned.
It was a long time before he vaguely remembered that he seemed to have received a document.
However, Bai Ke was so busy trying to gain popularity at the time, spending almost 24 hours a day online competing with other streamers. He barely even attended classes, let alone read documents. Furthermore, the sender was Jiang Chuyan. He only glanced at the message and found it was full of clichés, nothing more than urging everyone to be careful when traveling...
Bai Ke casually filled in a read receipt and threw the document directly into the mailbox trash.
*
"Longzhao is quite secluded, and the locals are convinced that taking photos can capture souls. Moreover, such behavior will disturb the ancestral spirits and anger evil spirits. Therefore, whether it is taking photos or videos, it is an absolute taboo here."
Jiang Chuyan rubbed his brows and said to Bai Ke calmly:
"I specifically reminded you of this in my memo."
There was no special emotion in the young man's voice, but Bai Ke felt that there was sarcasm hidden between the lines of his words.
Every word in Jiang Chuyan's sentence seemed to be deliberately hurting him.
Bai Ke suddenly became a little annoyed.
"Yes, yes, I didn't read the memo. It's my fault, okay? But isn't this something only people in the Qing Dynasty believed? In this day and age, how can people in this village still be so stupid—"
"Bai Ke!"
"Ahem, Bai Ke, keep your voice down..."
This time Xu Yuanzhou also raised his voice and called out to Bai Ke.
Bai Ke instantly realized his own loss of composure. The round-faced boy's eyes flickered, and he quickly glanced at the "idiot" he mentioned, that is, the village chief of Longzhao Village, Budacuocuo.
Fortunately, because of the conflict just now, He Yuan called Budacuocuo to the other side. At this distance, the other party probably couldn't hear what he said clearly.
Thinking of this, Bai Ke suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, He Yuan obviously heard his words clearly. The boy's handsome face was now as black as the bottom of a pot.
"You don't have to follow the customs here." He Yuan said to Bai Ke indifferently. He pointed to the mountain path they came from. "You can go back now."
But it is obvious that the "go back" that He Yuan mentioned definitely does not mean the kind of "go back" that means driving six or seven hours along the winding mountain road.
Judging from He Yuan's tone, he seemed to want Bai Ke to walk back by herself.
Bai Ke's eyes were really red now.
He is somewhat of a small internet celebrity. Although he was ostracized when he first entered school, he started to be a host in recent years. Many people on the Internet call him "baby", try their best to give him submarines and carnivals, and try every possible way to coax him.
But He Yuan almost pointed at his nose and told him to get out.
For a moment, Bai Ke almost wanted to leave in anger.
However, as night fell, the corridor they came from looked particularly eerie and terrifying, like the intestines of a monster, and the darkness in the distance was indescribably creepy.
Bai Ke only took one look, and the courage that had just been aroused by the blow to his self-esteem disappeared in an instant.
In the end, Xu Yuanzhou still couldn't stand it anymore and stepped out with a dry laugh to smooth things over.
"Oh, Bai Ke must have been too busy and didn't read the instructions... Well, it's a study group, we're all classmates, we help each other and understand each other. There's no need to quarrel over such a small matter."
With Xu Yuanzhou's message, Bai Ke calmed down. He bit his lip and turned back into the cute and cheerful boy he was.
"Yes, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I was so heartbroken when I saw my phone fall that I lost control of my emotions for a moment."
Bai Ke spoke to He Yuan in a humble tone.
He Yuan's eyes were still cold.
He stared at Bai Ke for a long moment, a cold sweat breaking out on her back. Her heart was in turmoil. Could it be that He Yuan had really abandoned her outside the village, leaving her to die? Although he knew the possibility was slim, Bai Ke still felt a lingering fear.
"A-choo——"
Jiang Chuyan's sneeze was heard not far away.
The mountains are different from the cities. Once it gets dark, the temperature drops instantly.
Jiang Chuyan was only wearing a single piece of clothing. After being blown by the cold wind for a while, he began to sneeze a little.
But it was thanks to this sneeze that the extremely stagnant atmosphere at the moment was broken.
He Yuan looked back at Jiang Chuyan, and his expression suddenly returned to normal.
"Yeah, that's okay."
The boy's light-colored eyes flashed with a cold cat-like light in the twilight.
"Just be careful next time. Let's go to the village first. I'll apologize to him over there at Budacuocuo."
He Yuan said lightly.
Then he led a few people towards Longzhao Village.
Looking at the other person's tall back, Bai Ke let out a long sigh... The next second he was shocked to realize that he had been holding his breath unconsciously.
*
After going through this, Bai Ke felt a little listless.
Longzhao Village is not very large, but the roads in the village are extremely complicated.
Perhaps because it was getting dark, they did not see many villagers along the way. Even if they did, they just nodded hurriedly at Budacuocuo and rushed back home as if they were escaping.
But the villagers here were clearly extremely curious about these outsiders.
"Crack—"
"Crack—"
…
As the wooden window was pushed open, tiny creaking sounds continued to ring out as the group moved forward. As long as they tilted their heads, they could see what seemed to be a human figure swaying in the dark gap of the window.
The feeling of being watched made everyone feel uncomfortable.
"Fuck, what are these people looking at?"
Liu Tianyu rubbed his arms and looked at Budacuocuo, who was leading the way, who had already walked a long way. He couldn't help but lower his voice and muttered very quietly.
"This place is so remote, maybe they really don't see many outsiders here?" Xu Yuanzhou replied, "...In the past, when foreigners came to China, didn't they often attract onlookers from the entire street?"
"Then why do they have to hide in the window cracks to watch? It's scary."
…
"Sorry, it's getting dark."
At this moment, Budacuocuo suddenly turned around and said to the people behind him with a smile.
Liu Tianyu and Xu Yuanzhou were almost frightened to the point of vomiting bile - neither of them had any idea how this man had heard them talking.
Budacuocuo's face is very special. His face is obviously very smooth, but once he grins, several parallel and deep grooves appear on his cheeks, which looks particularly strange.
"We have to hurry up too."
Budacuocuo then added a long string of words, but unfortunately his Chinese was not very good. Once he spoke too quickly, it was impossible to hear clearly.
In the end, everyone heard the last sentence.
We must seize the time.
Everyone must be inside before dark.
…
After rushing and hurrying, the group finally arrived at the place where they were going to stay this time.
Seeing the small building in front of them, the tired and confused college students couldn't help but exclaim.
It is indeed an exceptionally exquisite and special residence - the whole building is a bit similar to the stilt houses in western Hunan, but the overall design is more exquisite and gorgeous.
At the bottom of the small building, there is an elevated floor about one meter high.
Atop dozens of pillars is a wide platform that extends outward in all directions. The only way to get up is through a narrow wooden staircase.
Above the platform is a two-story wooden building with a unique shape and high-raised eaves.
The entire wooden building is built with an unknown pure black wood, which, combined with various intricate and twisted details, displays a strange and distorted beauty.
"Wow, this building is pretty good. It's a thousand times better than the folk village."
"It really has a unique texture. I feel like it could be used to make a movie."
Xu Yuanzhou was also amazed.
"…"
Standing in front of the stairs, Jiang Chuyan looked at the building with a dazed look in his eyes.
Then, he heard He Yuan's voice in his ear.
"What do you think?"
Jiang Chuyan blinked.
He was stunned for a moment before realizing that He Yuan was asking him.
"...very beautiful."
He sighed.
"It has a very unique form and structure... If I write this paper well, I think the professor will give it a very good grade."
After receiving Jiang Chuyan's affirmative response, He Yuan pursed his lips and smiled very restrainedly.
"That's good."
He said softly.
However, what Jiang Chuyan did not tell He Yuan was that when he stood in front of the building, there was a faint, fishy smell in the smell carried by the night wind, and it was that smell that made Jiang Chuyan feel extremely familiar.
However, this sense of familiarity is not a positive emotion.
Even Jiang Chuyan himself couldn't tell what kind of feeling it was, but he could certainly feel his body trembling slightly unconsciously.
Until He Yuan suddenly spoke, that emotion instantly dissipated.