Chapter 17 Chapter 16 The Warning Behind the Symbols

July 16. Another calm night passed.Yin Jie's face did not have the tiredness that appeared when he was waiting for the shift change in the past.I'm sure he's having a hard time sleeping after the loss of Zachery.For everyone, the shadow of this nightmare will linger for a long time. Yin Jie took out a cigarette and lit one, suddenly thought of Dou Yan behind the camera, and handed him one.Dou Yan stretched out his hand to take it. Helen, who was standing under the tree, endured it for a while, and finally spoke. Helen: Yin Jie, give me one. This is the first time I've seen her smoke.Yin Jie lit a cigarette for her.Her smoking movements are very awkward, and with a baby face, it gives people a very uncoordinated feeling.

After Yin Jie exhaled heavily, he stared at the ground. Yin Jie: You still decided to continue filming? Helen was slightly surprised by his sudden question and didn't answer right away.Yin Jie couldn't hold back a little, and asked repeatedly, and his tone was even tougher. Helen: Are you scared? Yin Jie: What am I afraid of? !But everyone... have you considered that if you continue, there will be danger. Helen lowered her head and stopped talking. At this moment, Teacher Xia's urgent call came from the intercom. Teacher Xia: Helen, Helen... hurry back to the station. Helen: What's the matter? !

Teacher Xia: I'll know it when I get back, but I can't explain it all at once. Helen greeted Dou Yan and Yin Jie, and the three returned immediately. Seeing that they had returned, Teacher Xia drew a symbol on a piece of white paper. I am quite familiar with that symbol in the video tape, and it has appeared many times. Teacher Xia: I removed the tent to reveal this symbol. While talking, he blocked the exit of the original open figure with a square pattern.At this moment, Helen, Yin Jie, and Zhou Lijun are standing on a hillside around Mr. Xia, and the camp is below.From this point of view, the soil that was dug out had already become dry.The four tents that had been placed above were removed and stacked outside the marked area.After the tent was removed, the area formed a complete pattern with the surrounding symbols, which exactly matched the symbols on Liu Yuanyuan, Zachery and other victims.

Teacher Xia: I think this is a restrictive symbol, which means no going out or entering. Yin Jie: You are not allowed to leave or enter. What is their purpose? Teacher Xia: Look carefully, everyone. He pointed to the pattern on the campsite. Teacher Xia: The soil was not turned over randomly.I have measured it accurately, and the outer edge is a square, and looking at the overturned soil, it is not very regular, but almost every one of them is a square, and this large square is divided into 81 equal parts.That is, there are 81 small squares in the large square.If you look carefully, there are some dotted grass in some of the squares, as if they have not been turned over.In fact, these are groups of numbers!

Yin Jie: Ah!No way! Teacher Xia: This is a binary array composed of 0 and 1.The magnitude of these numbers is between 0 and 9 in decimal.You look at these numbers. Teacher Xia pulled out another piece of paper from the bottom and spread it on top.He has drawn a neatly divided square into 81 squares on that piece of paper according to his ideas, and converted the binary numbers into decimal numbers and filled them in the squares. Of course, most of the squares are still blank. Yin Jie: Then what? Teacher Xia pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom and spread it on top. It was a picture filled with numbers.These numbers form a sequence from 1 to 9 no matter from the vertical row or the horizontal row, and there is no repeated superposition of numbers.

Teacher Xia: This is the so-called "SU DU KU" number game, which is especially popular in Japan. It is actually a famous number array. Yin Jie: Wait, I'm getting more and more confused.What's the point? Teacher Xia: The thinking logic used in the process of filling in numbers is the handling and exchange of numbers.So I think that the other party conveys a message to us is to move or exchange something.No one is allowed to leave if the request of the other party cannot be met.Here is my analysis. Yin Jie: If your analysis is correct, aren't we all dead? !Oh, can Liu Yuanyuan go out?She won't have any accidents, will she?

Teacher Xia's words dragged everyone into an even deeper and unfathomable fear.They began to realize that their opponents were no longer ordinary people, and their IQs were far above them.Yin Jie wilted, and his voice weakened a lot, revealing his childlike timidity. Yin Jie: Then, what should we do? Everyone turned their eyes to Helen in unison. Helen pondered for a moment. Helen: Zhou Lijun, Dou Yan, take a look around.Hope Liu Yuanyuan has left safely. Zhou Lijun: Okay, I'll go get ready. Afterwards, Zhou Lijun left and walked down the hill to the camp to prepare to go. Then, Helen was talking to herself.

Helen: Not allowed to leave?exchange? ...what is their purpose? Teacher Xia put her hand in and stood there with her head down, thinking silently. At this moment, no one can answer this question. Zhou Lijun and Dou Yan walked along the route into the primeval forest.This video lasted half an hour and was very boring.When I was most impatient, Dou Yan and the others couldn't hold on anymore. Dou Yan: It's getting dark, we can't go any further. Zhou Lijun: Then go back.I forgot to bring a flashlight when I came here. It will be very troublesome if I go back when it is dark.Go back the same way, and definitely won’t arrive before dark.

Dou Yan: Is there any shortcut? Zhou Lijun: Yes, but it is not easy to walk, and you have to pass through a natural cave several kilometers long. Dou Yan: It's okay, let's take a shortcut and go back.But how do you get through the cave without a flashlight? Zhou Lijun: Just have a lighter.I have candles in my bag. So, the two turned to the left and rear, and embarked on the journey back to the camp. The way back is a trail on the mountainside that has been stepped by Sumen antelope.The feces left by the suman antelope are all along the way.Soon they came to the mouth of a cave.Zhou Lijun took out a candle and lit it.

Zhou Lijun: Candles are better than flashlights when crossing caves.If there is miasma or lack of oxygen in the cave, the candle can detect it immediately.If it's a flashlight, it's easy to let your guard down. They quickly got into the cave. Dou Yan: It seems that you are quite familiar with this place? Zhou Lijun: It's not just familiar!I have also survived the nitrate here, that is, the nitrate for making gunpowder. Dou Yan: What are you doing here? Zhou Lijun: Sell it.When hunting was allowed, hunters made their own ammunition and needed nitrate.And explosives were also needed to blow up mountains and open roads.As the nitrate-containing water seeps out of the stone and remains on the surface of the stone, it becomes more and more abundant.At that time, the production volume was large, and when the nitrate outside was harvested, we dug inside bit by bit.It turned out that in a spur hole, I found several thousand skulls.It was a dead end and it scared the hell out of me!

Dou Yan: Ah!what year was that Zhou Lijun: Fifteen years ago.I was a kid in my twenties then. Dou Yan: Did you not call the police? Zhou Lijun: Then why call the police?Must have been dead for a long time.I also sold the skulls of those dead people in the town to earn some pocket money. Dou Yan: How did those people die? How could there be so many people? Zhou Lijun: I heard that when the bandits were suppressed in the early years, those bandits and their families hid in these caves.Our army refused to come out no matter what they did, so they blocked the entrance of the hole and suffocated everything inside.There are also some people who have taken the wrong path and will never get out and die inside.Did you know that if you walk along this hole, you can go down to a dark river underneath.The dark river goes all the way to Sichuan. Dou Yan: Really? !I have a few friends who specialize in exploring the dark river, and I will bring them next time. Because they needed to protect the flame of the candle with one hand from being blown out by the wind, they moved very slowly.Suddenly, the walkie-talkie on Zhou Lijun made a small noise, which lasted only two seconds and then disappeared. Dou Yan: Is it your walkie-talkie? Zhou Lijun: Yes.Probably out of power. As soon as he finished speaking, the intercom rang again, and this time it lasted a little longer. Dou Yan: This sound is scary. Zhou Lijun: We have already become frightened birds.Dou Yan, what do you think of these things that happened? Dou Yan: You turned off the intercom, it's annoying enough. Zhou Lijun took out the walkie-talkie and was about to turn off the power when the walkie-talkie rang again, with a faint voice of someone mixed in with the noise.Zhou Lijun stopped immediately and turned around suspiciously. Zhou Lijun: Did you hear that? Dou Yan: Could it be an auditory hallucination? There was another noise from the intercom, mixed with a faint gasp.Zhou Lijun tentatively spoke into the walkie-talkie. Zhou Lijun: Is there anyone? After speaking, he himself felt unbelievable. Zhou Lijun: Impossible.In the cave, the outside signal cannot be received. But he pressed the intercom button on the intercom again. Zhou Lijun: Is there anyone? It was very quiet.Zhou Lijun held his breath, lest he miss any suspicious sounds.At this time, Dou Yan's camera tilted, and he seemed to have temporarily forgotten his duties. Dou Yan: Look, on the rock in front...the candle is raised a little higher. Zhou Lijun raised the candle a little higher to make the area of ​​light larger.Sure enough, there was a patch of red on the rock wall in front, which formed a sharp contrast with the blue-gray rock wall.They walked a few steps quickly, came to the front, and looked at the red ball.Zhou Lijun's expression suddenly froze. Zhou Lijun: This symbol again! Sinusitis: what is red?It still seems wet. The symbol was carved into the rock, with red painted in the indentations of the symbol.Zhou Lijun dipped his fingertips and sniffed near the tip of his nose. Zhou Lijun: It's blood, very fishy.Someone has been here before, and it won't be too long. He swept the light of the candle around.No anomalies within reach of light. Zhou Lijun: What should I do? Dou Yan: Let's hurry.Do you remember living here? Zhou Lijun: Remember. Zhou Lijun and Dou Yan continued to walk forward, but they didn't talk any more.They locked their attention tightly on the area illuminated by the light ahead.Dou Yan's video camera was also taken off his shoulder and carried in his hand. After the boring and long picture lasted for more than ten minutes, suddenly, a burst of strong noise began to interfere with the normal picture, and the picture presented by the chaotic and irregular noise was dazzling.The unthinkable happened again. I stopped the video recorder and played it frame by frame according to the method last time. Sure enough, those symbolic patterns appeared in various places on the screen like insects passing by in an instant.I counted them carefully, and there are a total of 75 frames of such symbols. According to the TV system, it takes about 3 seconds to play at normal speed.In this short 3 seconds, a total of 81 symbols appeared, and it was the same symbol, exactly the same as the one on the campsite.According to Mr. Xia's speculation, this is a restrictive symbol. If his analysis is correct, then the other party must be sending a strong message.Perhaps due to the inability to communicate, no matter how the information is released, it cannot be accepted, so "they" lose patience.From the frequency and shape of those symbols, there seemed to be an angry emotion hidden. Since Dou Yan was holding the camera in his hand, he must have missed this clip, and neither of them noticed anything unusual. Zhou Lijun suddenly cried out. Zhou Lijun: Lighter! As he spoke, he bent down and picked up a lighter from the ground. Zhou Lijun: It's quite new. Dou Yan: Let me see... Dabo's. Zhou Lijun: Just kidding. Dou Yan: Look at the words below. "Da Bo's 30th birthday love save", engraved on it.It should have been given to him by his girlfriend. Zhou Lijun: Strange.Wouldn't it be the same name? Dou Yan: If so, it would be even more strange.How could it be such a coincidence! Zhou Lijun: Did Dabo not leave? Dou Yan: What is he doing here?Not in touch with everyone. Zhou Lijun: He is quite bold.Come here, risk your life, isn't it.Heck, did Zachery's death have anything to do with him? They met before Zachery died. Dou Yan: Now only Dabo knows about it.If they had met, it might have been on Zachery's tape. Zhou Lijun: It seems to be getting more and more chaotic.Those symbols...the ones carved on the trees are okay, the camp is as big as it is, it doesn't seem like one person can do it.What do you say? Dou Yan: I wish I had an answer. As they talked and walked all the way, the entrance of the cave gradually appeared in front of them. The entrance of the cave is in a bush, covered by a network of dense vines, it is hard to find without looking carefully.When Zhou Lijun and Dou Yan got out of the vine, it was around five o'clock in the afternoon, and the sun was lazily fading away. The camera starts and stops from time to time, the scene keeps jumping, and the sky quickly turns to evening.I guess it was due to insufficient battery or the end of the videotape that Dou Yan adopted the start-stop shooting method. Just when the sky was hazy and the lighting conditions were about to be unsuitable for shooting, a dazzling object stood in front of them—an orange-red rucksack. Zhou Lijun rushed forward and picked it up from the ground. Zhou Lijun: This is Liu Yuanyuan's! Then he aimlessly called Liu Yuanyuan's name all around, his voice echoing in the mountains. Soon, Zhou Lijun found another sleeping bag not far away.Next to the sleeping bag is a GPS locator. Zhou Lijun: Liu Yuanyuan's, yes, hers!Liu Yuanyuan—— Zhou Lijun ran around in the woods like a headless chicken, yelling like a madman.Although as a child who grew up in the mountains, he was used to many cruel and bloody scenes, but this time, he was defeated.Deep fear often does not come from the senses, but from the bottom of the spirit. The video tape came to an end, and the picture was pitch black. Before shoving the tape marked July 17th into the VCR, I must admit that my mind has reached a certain level of confusion.This is partly because I have been watching these tapes for more than eight hours, which makes me feel overwhelmingly tired.But more importantly, I was amazed by the experience of those people who once lived in this world in the video tape, but now they are in danger. Of my previous four victims, two had paid with their lives, one lay unconscious in a hospital bed, and one had even lost part of his memory.I must carefully examine my own situation. What is the reason for me to live safely until now?good luck?I dare not hope so much. Maybe it was because I was too involved while watching the video, I felt like I was already deep in it and became one of them.But because I can stay out of it, I can see more information than the parties in the video tape.This is a new and strange experience, you have a kind of prescient magic, you already know the tragic ending of the protagonist, but you are still watching them go to the abyss with relish. Could it be that I was chosen by "them" on purpose to fulfill some kind of mission? Those who can record symbols on video tapes with magical techniques, and try to convey a certain will through them...how to call them?Let's use "they" for now.Where exactly do they come from?What is their purpose?Are they human or savage?Or a messenger from outer space? I calmed myself down and pushed the videotape into the magazine.The tape made a pleasant sound when it hit the sensor inside the VCR.