Chapter Twenty-Three: The Strange Group Photo
Chang Wenxu’s narrative provided Liu Haoyu with many new clues. The most important of these was the shadow of an old man mentioned in the diary, which likely had a connection to Gu Qianyang. Although this old bastard was killed by Qin Liu, his remnant soul seemed restless from the beginning, potentially being the culprit behind the mine disaster. However, there were still many unanswered questions, and the truth could only be discovered by going to Ye Shangfeng.
“Chang Wenxu, where is the owner of this diary?”
“He’s in this ancient town,” Chang Wenxu replied directly. “But don’t expect to get anything out of him; the man has gone mad.”
Liu Haoyu pondered for a moment and then said, “Even if his soul is lost, we might still be able to glean something. Take me to see him.”
“Alright.” Seeing Liu Haoyu’s persistence, Chang Wenxu agreed to take him to meet the miner.
Chang Wenxu parked his car outside, and the two drove to a very secluded corner of the ancient town. It was eerily quiet, with no one walking around. The entire area looked less like a tourist spot and more like a dilapidated ruin, with even the air feeling extremely oppressive and heavy.
“The old miner is here,” Chang Wenxu said in a low voice, a hint of unease in his tone. “His name is Wang Defa, and he was the sole survivor among the miners who voluntarily formed the rescue team back then.”
As they spoke, they arrived at a dilapidated wooden house. The door was ajar, and from inside, a mixture of low crying and laughter could be heard, creating a particularly strange atmosphere.
“He’s crying and laughing; he’s completely lost his mind and can’t communicate normally.” Chang Wenxu explained, his voice trembling slightly. Although he was also a ghost exorcist, not all ghost exorcists were fearless heroes.
Liu Haoyu nodded, held his breath, and gently pushed open the wooden door. The interior of the house was very dim, filled with the mixed scent of mildew and herbs. An elderly man with white hair and a haggard face sat in a corner, his hands trembling incessantly, muttering something to himself.
“…They’re here… they’re back… they’re watching me from the mountain…”
Seeing the eerie old man, Liu Haoyu’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. He walked forward and cautiously asked, “Hello, are you Wang Defa?”
“Heh heh… old man… vines… children…” The old man continued to murmur cryptic, unspeakable words. Chang Wenxu then said to Liu Haoyu, “He’s always like this, rambling nonsense. I don’t know what he’s been through.”
Liu Haoyu realized that conventional methods would be difficult for communicating with the old man. He took out a calming talisman, hoping to temporarily restore the old man’s soul. However, the moment he took out the talisman, the old man appeared to see something terrifying. His expression contorted, and his eyes filled with fear.
“Go away! Take that thing away!”
“No! Don’t come any closer!”
“I don’t want to go up the mountain, I don’t want to go up the mountain!”
His voice grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a near scream. Liu Haoyu and Chang Wenxu were startled and instinctively took a step back.
“Calm down!” Chang Wenxu tried to appease the old man, but the old man suddenly stood up, waving his hands wildly as if warding off something invisible.
“Don’t come near! Don’t come near! I don’t want to go up the mountain!” His voice was filled with despair and terror. He then collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing, foam emitting from his mouth.
“What happened to him?!” Seeing this, Chang Wenxu quickly took out his mobile phone to call for emergency services. However, in less than three seconds, the old man’s body stiffened, and his breathing became extremely weak. Soon, his face lost its color.
The two stood in silence, looking at the corpse on the floor.
“Hello, this is the 120 emergency hotline…” Chang Wenxu’s phone call broke the momentary dead silence.
“You communicate with the ambulance team,” Liu Haoyu told Chang Wenxu to liam with 120, though it was more like arranging for a corpse collection. Liu Haoyu, meanwhile, began searching the house for any useful clues.
Before long, he found a dilapidated wooden box under the old man’s bed. The box was covered in dust and spider webs. It was empty, containing nothing inside. Liu Haoyu carefully opened the box, revealing a stack of yellowed photographs. They were group photos of the miners from that year, all smiling brightly. Behind them was the collapsed mine shaft.
On the back of one photo, a line was written: “Souvenir group photo at E12 mine shaft.” However, for some reason, Liu Haoyu felt something was off. Didn’t there seem to be more people in this photo?
“1, 2, 3… 28…” After counting the people, Liu Haoyu took out the rescue file that Chang Wenxu had given him earlier. It clearly stated that 19 people had died in the collapse. What was the deal with these extra nine people? Wait a moment… Liu Haoyu seemed to have realized something. The first batch of casualties was 19, and the second batch was… nine. This meant that this photo wasn’t a group photo from the E12 mine shaft, but rather a photo of the missing people. Realizing this, Liu Haoyu felt a chill run down his spine.
He continued to sift through the photos and soon found one with a date. The photo was dated “July 15, 2004.” This was five years after the Ye Shangfeng mine disaster. Yet, the people in the photo were still the same group. This implied that the old man, five years after the mine disaster in 2004, went up the mountain alone for a group photo with those missing persons? Furthermore, Liu Haoyu found other photos with different dates: 2007, 2010, 2012, and so on, with most of them taken on July 15th.
Placing the photos back in the box, Liu Haoyu remained silent for a long time. This situation was indeed too bizarre to be normal, but this was a supernatural event, and anything was possible here. Even the most terrifying and horrifying things could exist. However, there was still one question: for what reason did this old man go up the mountain every year for so many years?
