Chapter 341
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Chapter 341: The Two-Person Team
Inside the Anta County Forestry Bureau.
“Tsk, how did this thing break again?” A man wrapped in a military coat, with a scruffy beard, patted the radiator and frowned as he spoke.
“It’s too remote here, and the pipes are too old; it’s normal for them to break down.”
A young man in his early twenties carried a stove and placed it in the center of the cramped office. He checked the surface of the stove with his hand, confirming it was warm, and continued, “Uncle Li, why don’t we apply to move the base to the city? Every winter, the heating can’t keep up; how can we manage like this?”
Li Deyang frowned slightly and said firmly, “That won’t do. Monitoring this patch of primeval forest is our squad’s mission. If we move to the city and something happens in the forest, what will we do?”
The young man opened his mouth as if to say something but ultimately remained silent, pulling his frostbitten hands into his sleeves and walking around the room with his head down.
The warmth from the stove hadn’t fully spread, and the entire room felt like an ice cellar. If one stopped moving now, they would soon be frozen stiff.
After fiddling with the heating for a while without success, Li Deyang gave up the struggle, slowly stood up, and walked to an old blackboard at the edge of the room.
The blackboard looked like it had been taken from an old classroom, but it was only half intact. The center of the board was cracked, with sharp edges covered in a few strands of spider silk, and the surface was frozen with numerous fine cracks.
On the blackboard, a large forest map was pinned with a thumbtack, with red circles drawn all over it, along with many small arrows and question marks densely scattered, making it dizzying to look at.
Li Deyang stood in front of the map, rubbing his stubbled chin, his thick brows knitting tighter.
“Xiao Chen, I always feel that the location of that thing is off. Let’s study it carefully…” Li Deyang casually pulled out a red marker from the groove beneath the blackboard, intending to write something on the map, but the tip of the pen only left a barely visible faint mark on the surface.
Li Deyang shook the pen vigorously, then held the tip to his mouth and exhaled a puff of white vapor.
Chen Han sighed, “Uncle Li, we don’t have enough capability. No matter how we analyze those ‘mysterious’ actions, we can’t kill them!”
“Still, we have to try!” Li Deyang shot him a glare. “The application has already been sent; the higher-ups will eventually send a special team over. Our task is to help them find where that thing is truly hiding!”
He turned back to the map and continued, “Right now, the number of ‘mysteries’ in the entire Great Xia is increasing. The burden on the special teams is too heavy. If we can figure out the situation now, it will save them time later, which is also a contribution to the country!”
Chen Han couldn’t help but say, “We’re frozen like this, and we still have time to think about the situation in Great Xia? Besides, this place is so remote, and we’ve only reported the ‘mysteries’ in the ‘Chuanhai’ area. Will a special team really come to help us?”
Li Deyang was taken aback. He fell silent for a moment and nodded heavily.
“They will, they definitely will.”
Knock, knock, knock—!
As soon as he finished speaking, a light but firm knocking sound came from the door. Li Deyang and Chen Han exchanged glances, both seeing the same look of confusion in each other’s eyes.
No one had knocked on the door of this Forestry Bureau for nearly a year.
Chen Han stepped forward to open the door and was stunned to see four young tourists standing outside.
“Do you need something?”
Lin Qiye took off his thick mask, revealing a smile, and politely said, “Hello, we’re here to visit, but we’re not very familiar with the situation in the forest ahead, so we wanted to ask if you have a map you could give us…”
“A map?”
Li Deyang in the room couldn’t help but laugh in anger upon hearing this. “What do you think this place is? A theme park? That’s a primeval forest!”
Lin Qiye pondered for a moment and slowly pointed to the map on the blackboard. “Then… what is that on the blackboard?”
Li Deyang: …
“That’s just a forest planning map; it has nothing to do with the primeval forest behind.” Chen Han said calmly, looking seriously into Lin Qiye’s eyes. “And you cannot enter that forest.”
Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Because… there are bears in the forest.”
“Bears?” Lin Qiye’s face lit up with excitement. “That’s great! We specifically came to shoot a documentary about bears. If it’s not too much trouble, can we go in for a bit? I want to learn more about the situation inside.”
Chen Han frowned slightly. He turned to look at Li Deyang, who had been watching Lin Qiye and his companions for a long time before slowly nodding.
“Young men, it’s windy outside. Come in for a cup of tea.” Li Deyang took out a kettle from under the table and retrieved four paper cups from the cabinet, starting to pour water for them.
Steam rose from the paper cups, and the stove in the room finally began to work. Lin Qiye and his companions entered the room, set down their backpacks, gathered around a small table, took off their gloves, and began to warm themselves by the stove.
“Young men, I don’t care what you want to do in the forest, but now is definitely not a good time to go in.” Li Deyang, wrapped in his military coat, sat on one side and said seriously, “If you really want to go in, you can wait until a month later.”
Lin Qiye and his companions exchanged glances. Bai Li Pang Pang fished out a shiny Rolex from his pocket and handed it to Li Deyang.
“Uncle, can you please tell us why we can’t enter the forest? We came all the way from Guangshen, and it’s really not easy. If we just go back like this… it would be such a loss!”
Li Deyang glanced at the Rolex and snorted. “Don’t try to play city tricks on me. I can tell you’re just rich kids looking for thrills. I’ll advise you again: don’t risk your lives for a bit of excitement.”
Seeing that Li Deyang had already said this, Bai Li Pang Pang could only sit down awkwardly. Lin Qiye turned to look at An Qingyu, who had been staring at the map, and the latter nodded slightly.
Lin Qiye tried to chat with Li Deyang for a bit more, expressed his gratitude, and then stood up to leave.
As Cao Yuan opened the door, he saw a familiar old man standing at the entrance with a checkered bag slung over his shoulder, followed by a little girl with two braids, who seemed to be reaching out to knock on the door.
He was taken aback when he saw the four people behind the door, and then his expression turned strange.
