Chapter 726 693 The Same Purpose

Yang Jian was somewhat curious about the group driving the jeep.

Because their actions were bizarre, and it seemed they knew something about that forest. If they weren’t after something specific, who would venture into that old forest in such cold weather, and as a group no less?

Besides that.

The timing was ingenious.

No sooner had he visited that place than others came looking.

The party of four quickly entered the woods.

Leading them was Li Yue, who wore a down jacket with a somber expression. He carried a heavy backpack, its contents unknown. Followed by two men and a woman, all similarly burdened with packs, they resembled hikers or campers.

However, they all looked unwell, their faces drawn and haggard.

But their eyes were peculiar.

They surveyed their surroundings with an odd gaze, unlike that of ordinary people.

“In woods like these… if you died here, nobody would know,” a man joked as he stepped inside and saw the gloomy, dense forest.

“It’s probably been at least twenty years since anyone’s been here. There’s no trace of human activity.”

Li Yue’s voice was somewhat deep, and the thick layer of leaves under his feet felt unsettling.

“There are graves everywhere nearby; who knows what problems there might be. This place feels dangerous,” the woman said, her glances flitting over the old, isolated graves.

“Don’t scare yourself. These lonely graves are from local villagers who were buried here. Nothing has gone wrong for many years; there can’t possibly be any accidents now,” Li Yue reassured.

The group chatted as they ventured deeper into the forest.

Since the woods weren’t vast, they quickly found the cabin shown in the photo, its roof rotten through, ready to collapse at any moment.

“This is it.”

Li Yue held up a photograph for comparison.

The location matched perfectly, though the scene had changed due to the ravages of time. However, the key landmarks were unchanged, clearly recognizable.

“This is the place, let’s get to work,” he said, pointing to a spot before addressing the others.

Immediately, his three companions set down their backpacks, drew out shovels, and began to dig.

But as soon as they touched the earth, they realized something was amiss.

The ground was littered with bones.

“Why are there so many bones here?” the woman quickly asked.

“These aren’t human bones; they’re animal bones. I noticed them earlier but didn’t pay much mind after identifying them. The only strange thing is that these bones look like they were recently left here, not sunken into the mud… wait, someone’s been here recently. There are footprints inside the cabin.”

Suddenly, Li Yue’s expression changed as he noticed a clear set of footprints in the cabin.

He hurriedly crouched down to examine them.

The prints were very fresh, as if someone had just stepped there.

“It must be that person…” Li Yue immediately thought of the man who had carried a body bag across the road earlier.

If he wasn’t mistaken, that person had been here before.

“Impossible, how could he know about this place?”

Deep confusion gripped him, rendering Li Yue’s expression increasingly unsettled, the situation inexplicable.

“We’ve found it, it’s a box,” said one of the men behind him at that moment, his voice tinged with surprise and uncertainty.

Li Yue spun around, only to see a patch of earth dug up, revealing a faded red wooden box. The box wasn’t buried deep at all, even somewhat shallow, and the three hadn’t exerted much effort.

“Open it and see.”

He immediately said, then walked over: “Be careful. If anything goes wrong, we’ll all die here. You all know the situation; I won’t elaborate further.”

“This box has been opened before, the lock is broken,” someone remarked in surprise.

“Hmm?” Li Yue immediately looked over.

Indeed.

The box had been opened.

His expression abruptly changed as he opened the box, only to find it empty except for a wafting, decayed smell that made them instinctively cover their noses.

The others crowded around, their complexions turning just as troubled.

“Where’s the corpse? There should be a body here; without it, what are we going to do now?” someone panicked.

“Could it really have been that person?” Li Yue clenched his teeth.

“What are you digging up in my family’s forest? If you’re relocating an ancestor’s grave, it’s not on this side.”

Suddenly, an abrupt voice rang out. Unbeknownst to them, a man had appeared behind them, standing not far from the forest, calmly and indifferently watching the group of four.

“Who?”

The four men jerked in shock, turning to look in unison.

But they saw Yang Jian standing there, who seemed to have been watching them for quite a while, and they hadn’t noticed him until now.

Was the forest too sinister to take notice, or was there something strange about this man himself?

“Ah, it’s you, young man.” Li Yue smiled, “Thanks for the directions earlier, otherwise we wouldn’t have found this place so quickly.”

“Are you looking for that body?” Yang Jian didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

The faces of the group changed again.

“No need to look any further, the body is with me. Although I’m not sure how you found this place, I’m very curious about the reason you’re here.” Yang Jian tossed the body bag in front of him, seemingly indicating to the group that the corpse they were looking for was inside.

“State your reasons, no hiding anything, and I’ll pretend this never happened.”

“What can you do if we don’t tell you?” a man to the side said somewhat menacingly.

Yang Jian said, “It’s better to just tell me. It’s better for all of us. Otherwise, I’ll feel uneasy, and I can be petty. Once I’m uneasy, there’s no telling what I might do.”

“Heh, you dare to do such a thing?” The man suddenly pulled out a handgun, aiming directly at Yang Jian, “We need that body. Hand it over, and it’ll be better for both of us. I don’t care what you are, but pushing us comes with bad consequences.”

“Four of you, there must be a leader, right? Doesn’t someone have the final say?” Yang Jian seemed unruffled by the handgun and asked.

Li Yue stepped forward. He pushed his companion’s hand down because he had seen that this kind of threat was ineffective against the person in front of them.

No need for these tired, scare tactics anymore.

“My name’s Li Yue, and may I ask for your name, young man?” Li Yue smiled, still very polite.

“Yang Jian.”

What?

As soon as this name was uttered, the Li Yue in front of them suddenly widened his eyes, and the three people beside him instinctively took a step back.

The head of Dachang City?

What a joke.

In such a remote village, they would meet such a person?

Li Yue and his teammates exchanged glances. Some found it suspicious, considering it fake, while others thought they should test the waters.

He too found it hard to believe.

Perhaps this person had just heard the name and was trying to scare them.

Of course… there was also the possibility that it was true.

Yang Jian’s expression was calm. He felt he could get the origin of the corpses from these people, which would help him understand the secrets of the past.

“What? You know me?”

He could see the abnormality in their expressions, especially upon hearing his name.

But Yang Jian wasn’t surprised. He was well-known in the supernatural circle; even if people hadn’t seen him, they must have heard of him. These people were after the body in the chest, so they were probably also from the supernatural circle, but likely not from headquarters—probably civilians.

“Hey, I’ve heard of Yang Jian, the head of Dachang City. But I’ve never met him. He and I are from different worlds, we shouldn’t be involved with each other.” Li Yue forced a smile, “Just didn’t expect to encounter Yang Jian in person here. I thought you just shared the same name with that Yang Jian.”

“Good that you know. It spares me a lot of trouble. You know about this body here? Tell me, where did you get the news? This thing has been buried here for over a decade and was just unearthed by me. If I had been any slower, maybe you guys would have already taken the body away.”

Yang Jian felt somewhat relieved at that moment. Fortunately, he had awakened from the nightmare early enough and acted quickly; otherwise, the body would not be intact.

“A letter. That’s all we know.” Li Yue paused for a moment before speaking.

“A letter? Where is it?” asked Yang Jian.

Li Yue took out a yellow envelope from his clothes. The envelope was quite new, just the style was somewhat old-fashioned.

“Let me see it,” Yang Jian immediately said, sensing unease from that letter.

It seemed like a supernatural object.

“You can’t see it, you’re not the messenger. You shouldn’t look at it, it’s not good for you,” said Li Yue.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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