Yong Shanling raised an eyebrow. "What, are you scared? It's not too late to go back now."
"Are you going to leave?" Hou Hua folded her arms and watched him with a look of amusement.
Challenged by the two of them, Li Zhuo, who had been hesitant, immediately took a firm step forward.
As they walked into the town, they found there were very few people, and those moving around were mostly the elderly.
"Young people, what are you doing here? Leave quickly if you have nothing to do!" An old woman sitting on a chair in front of her house, hunched over, said coldly.
Seeing the old woman picking vegetables, Yong Shanling stepped forward to help.
"Grandma, we're here for a trip. We heard the scenery here is nice, so we came to have a look." Yong Shanling squatted there and looked at the old woman cutely.
The old woman didn't refuse. Hearing her words, she sighed. "Scenery? It's just a desolate mountain area. There's nothing to see. I think you should leave quickly. If you don't, you'll have to stay."
"Stay here? That's okay. Is there a hotel or something here?" Yong Shanling's eyes curved into crescent moons, and her dimples were faintly visible, making it hard for people to refuse.
The old woman paused and looked at this innocent girl curiously, wondering if she really didn't understand or was just pretending.
Suddenly, she threw the vegetables into the basin. The wrinkles on her face twitched, and her droopy eyes widened. "I said, we don't welcome outsiders like you here. Get out of here!"
After saying that, she snatched the vegetables back from Yong Shanling, hunched over and walked into the house, slamming the door shut with a "bang".
"Xiaoling'er, she doesn't even give you face. It seems I have to step in." Li Zhuo curled his lips, pretended to tidy his clothes, walked to the old woman's door, and his magnetic voice sounded. "Grandma, our car broke down. The repairman won't come until tomorrow. Could we bother you for a night..."
Li Zhuo talked at the door for a long time, but this time there was not even an echo.
"Pfft—hahaha!" Hou Hua laughed without giving any face. "You've been putting on an act for so long, and you're not even as good as Xiaoling'er."
"Humph! At least I went to ask. You..." Li Zhuo and Hou Hua immediately started bickering again.
"That grandma is not a bad person, but she's not a great one either. Why is she so eager to drive us away?" Yong Shanling looked at the shabby house in confusion.
"There's a hotel up ahead. Let's go and check it out." After saying that, Mu Yijie took Yong Shanling's hand and walked forward, ignoring the bickering couple.
When they got there, they found a girl sitting there lazily, flipping through a book. When she saw them, her eyes lit up, but then dimmed the next second.
"Sister, we'd like to ask you something." Li Zhuo showed a bright smile, and his masculine face suddenly looked like a little sun.
Infected by Li Zhuo's smile, the girl, who had been very perfunctory, finally looked at them seriously.
"Ask away. Trade with snacks. I don't want money or jewelry." Wang Qing scanned their bags and said straightforwardly.
"Do you mean these snacks?" Yong Shanling said as she took out a bunch of things from her backpack, like beef jerky, chocolate, chips, and spicy strips.
Mu Yijie rubbed his forehead. He wondered when she had put these in. No wonder she wouldn't let anyone touch her bag today.
"Yes, yes, yes!" The girl stood up briskly and reached out her hand.
But her hand was blocked by a long, slender hand. Mu Yijie looked at her coldly. For some reason, she felt a bit of danger and instinctively withdrew her hand.
"Everyone, ask your questions. I'll tell you everything I know." Wang Qing suddenly seemed full of energy and looked at them attentively.
"Where have all the people in this town gone?" Mu Yijie asked directly.
"They've left. At first, some people wanted to leave this remote town. Then more and more people left, but no one ever came back. So the number of people has been getting fewer and fewer." Wang Qing said indifferently.
Li Zhuo thought for a while and keenly sensed something was wrong. "Did those people not want to come back or were they unable to?"
Wang Qing muttered with an ugly expression. "Who knows?"
"Then why don't you leave, sister? You're a college student, right? College should have started by now." Yong Shanling pointed to the "College English I" on the table and asked curiously.
Hearing that Yong Shanling had guessed, she rolled her eyes. "I'd like to leave, but I just can't."
Later, they learned that she and some classmates came here to paint. When they were about to leave, they found they couldn't get out. Then her classmates disappeared one by one. She was so scared that she didn't dare to wander around anymore.
After hearing her story, they all frowned. No wonder the old woman had told them to leave quickly.
"Girl, do you know what's going on?" Mu Yijie looked at Yong Shanling and asked gently, lowering his head.
Wang Qing beside them widened her eyes. Just now, this man had a cold face and was expressionless, but now he was completely different. What was the relationship between this cute girl and this man?
"There are two possibilities. One is that someone has set up a formation to isolate this place from the outside world. The other possibility is that there's a natural formation here. But we didn't sense any trace of a formation when we came here, which means someone has used the surrounding environment to create an isolation formation." Yong Shanling patted her chest. Coincidentally, she had just read about rare formations.
"You understand formations? Then can you take me with you? I came here half a year earlier than you. I can definitely help." Wang Qing didn't even look at the snacks anymore. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Mu Yijie. For some reason, she just knew this man could make the decision.
Mu Yijie lowered his eyes and asked softly, "What do you think, girl?"
Yong Shanling looked at Wang Qing, who was looking at her eagerly, and nodded. "Sure, sister. Do you know how to get to Yuling Villa? We're going there."
"Yuling Villa? What are you going there for? It's been abandoned. There's nothing there except a one - eyed old weirdo."
"You don't need to worry about it. Just let us go there." Mu Yijie said in a deep voice.
Wang Qing shrank her head and led the way with an embarrassed smile.
They walked along a mountain path for more than an hour. Just when Yong Shanling was so tired that she could only be dragged by Mu Yijie, they finally saw a gate.
On the wooden gate, the words "Yuzhen Villa" were faintly visible.
Yong Shanling curiously poked her head out. "So this is what a holiday villa looks like. It's not even as good as Uncle's house."
Li Zhuo laughed and tapped Yong Shanling on the head. "Xiaoling'er, this is an abandoned villa. How can it be compared to a luxury mansion worth tens of millions?"
Suddenly, a hoarse and unpleasant voice came. "Come in."