Chapter 4 Chapter 3 The Curse from the Abandoned Watchtower

Early in the morning, Xiaoqian and I arrived at the Xichuan City Coach Station. Last night, after I found out that the bank card that came by courier indeed contained 20,000 yuan, I soon received a call from a woman who claimed to be Du Yumei. Du Yumei told me that she invested in a piece of land in the Xiling Mountains in the outskirts of Xichuan City. It is located in a quiet valley. There is a farm-style hotel there, and the scenery outside the hotel is worth seeing. As for what kind of scenery is worth seeing, Miss Du, who has a nice voice, kept her mouth shut and kept silent, saying that I would know when I arrived.She also told me that she would send a car to pick me up at 9:00 am the next day, and the pick-up location was set at the Xichuan City Coach Station.

The long-distance station is a bit far from where I live. I wonder why I got on the bus there. Du Yumei gently explained to me that besides me, she has to pick up another person to go to that secluded valley, and that person lives The place is very close to the long-distance station. I'm a little depressed, did Du Yumei hire another marketing planning expert?But it doesn't matter, anyway, the 20,000 yuan of real money has been transferred to my own account immediately, and the bag is safe.I have done a lot of marketing planning for scenic spots before, and I am completely familiar with it, so I immediately and happily promised Ms. Du that I would definitely go there on time.

But to be honest, I'm still a little depressed. Du Yumei must have regarded another guest as more important than me, so she chose to get on the bus closer to that person. When I was preparing my travel bag for going out overnight, my cousin Xiaoqian accidentally discovered it. She learned that I was going to a tourist attraction to be developed early the next morning, so she pestered me and insisted on following me.I told her again and again that I was going to work, but Xiaoqian condemned me relentlessly, "Brother, my cousin who is ten years younger than you unfortunately lost her love, don't you pity her, take her out for a trip Do you want to relax?"

"Where am I traveling? It's work! Besides, tomorrow is a working day, don't you go to work? I look down on people who skip work and avoid work, especially angels in white who save lives and heal the wounded." I couldn't help arguing with her Come on, even though I've never fought this quirky cousin before. "Tch—let me tell you, I have resigned from the hospital, and I am no longer an angel in white!" "What?! You resigned? Why?" "Because—" Xiaoqian said with a rare resolute expression, "I met the first two boyfriends who disappeared inexplicably in the ward of the hospital's inpatient department. I don't want to meet the third one in the ward. I will leave without saying goodbye to my boyfriend!"

This sentence is really long and awkward, and even listening to it feels a little short of breath.I quickly took a few deep breaths before I could barely understand what she was talking about. After finishing speaking, Xiaoqian added a sentence: "Since you have the title of master planner, but you don't have an assistant with a bag and a mobile phone around you, what kind of master demeanor is it? What a shame! Others will laugh when they see it! Cousin, Just let me be your assistant." Her voice was so whiny that I couldn't get angry anymore. Well, that's all, what more can I say?

In the early morning of the next day, I had no choice but to go out with my cousin. I went to her house to pick up a change of clothes, daily necessities, and cosmetics, and then went to the long-distance bus station.Xiaoqian was worried about going to a tourist attraction, and I was too busy with work to accompany her. She also brought her laptop with her, and even installed several new movies on the computer. But this dead girl who didn't keep her promise, originally promised to carry my bag and cell phone for me last night, but hung the travel bag around my neck as soon as I went out.There are two laptops in the travel bag, hers and mine, it's really heavy!

Oh, forget it, don't bother with her, who made her a cousin ten years younger than me?What's more, her boyfriend just disappeared a week ago without saying goodbye.If I don't love her anymore, who else will love her? In the parking lot outside the long-distance station, I quickly saw a middle-aged man holding a card with my name "Lan Ruohai". With a gentle and honest appearance, his appearance is not distinctive, and he probably will disappear without a trace as soon as he walks into the crowd.Now he was standing next to a white four-row van, looking around anxiously.I guess, he should be the driver who picked me up.

I quickly raised my hand, waved vigorously at the driver, and kept yelling: "Hey, I'm Lan Ruohai, and I'm here!" The driver glanced at me, with a happy face at first, but when he saw Xiaoqian beside me, he showed a confused expression.Perhaps the young woman named Du Yumei told him that I was the only one coming. Walking up to the driver, I pointed to Xiaoqian and said, "This is my assistant, An Yueqian." "I'm the housekeeper of the Evergreen Valley Hotel, Li Menghui. You can just call me Lao Li." When he answered, his voice was very low and polite, and the confused expression on his face disappeared without a trace.Perhaps in his opinion, it is only natural for a so-called master of marketing planning to have a beautiful female assistant by his side.

From Lao Li's words, I now know that the farm-style hotel I was going to was called Evergreen Valley Hotel.Naturally, the valley where the hostel is located is called Evergreen Valley, a nice name. I opened the door of the passenger seat, and when I was about to sit in, the housekeeper Li suddenly raised his voice and said, "I'm sorry, Master Lan, this seat is already occupied, please and your female assistant Sit in the second row." I just remembered that when Du Yumei called last night, she said that there was another person who would go to the hotel with me. That person lived near the long-distance station. No wonder the passenger's seat was taken away so quickly. Golden seat.However, that person is not in the car now, so he probably went to the bathroom.

I opened the rear door, and as soon as I poked my head into the compartment, I couldn't help being surprised. In the last two rows of the four-row van, there are as many as seven large corrugated boxes with a length, width, and height of 80 centimeters, five of which occupy the entire last row of seats, and the other two Cardboard boxes take up half of the third row of seats. This should be the luggage brought by another guest. How can there be so much luggage?Who is the guest that Du Yumei invited?I can't help but feel a strong interest in my heart. Xiaoqian and I got into the compartment and sat on the second row of seats in the van.While Lao Li was still waiting for another guest outside the car, I turned my head and reached out to touch the corrugated cardboard box behind me, and even pushed it lightly.Contrary to my expectation, the two cardboard boxes were light and light, and they turned around with a light push, almost falling onto the seat.

I quickly sat down, and at this moment, Lao Li opened the door and sat in front of the steering wheel.At the same time, a young man with a shaved head wearing sunglasses in winter sat in the passenger seat and closed the car door with a "bang". The young man was wearing an exaggeratedly baggy black jacket and a gold necklace around his neck, as thick as a little finger.He has pimples all over his face, the beard above the lips and below the nostrils is cleanly shaved, but the beard on the chin is growing, and there are two shiny stud earrings on the left ear. He is completely dressed as a non-mainstream hip-hop singer. I can't help but wonder why a farm-style hotel that is waiting to determine its marketing direction invites such a non-mainstream young man to investigate?Who is this guy? Just when I was surprised, the housekeeper Lao Li pointed at me and politely said to the bald young man: "This is Lan Ruohai, a famous master of business marketing and planning. The one next to him is his female assistant, Ms. An " Then he pointed to his bald head and said to me, "This is Dick Han, a Chinese-American..." Chinese American?Why did Du Yumei invite a Chinese American to Evergreen Valley?Dick Han is probably not a marketing expert.In this circle, I have never heard of such a person. Before Lao Li finished his introduction, the Chinese-American Mr. Han handed me a business card, which read: Dick Han, CEO of American Dick Outdoor Sports Club and senior expert in paramotor sports. CEO of an outdoor sports club? Paramotor?What is that?What does this have to do with Du Yumei's business development project? Mr. Han obviously saw my doubts, and immediately said in a disdainful tone: "Power parachute, haven't you heard of it? It is a very fashionable and ostentatious modern outdoor sport, but it is not something ordinary people can afford. , Players must not only have money and leisure, but also have superhuman courage and courage." Xiaoqian next to me didn't hear the sarcasm in Mr. Han's words, but asked heartlessly with wide-eyed eyes: "What is a powered parachute?" Seeing heart-shaped stars almost appearing in her eyes, I couldn't help but secretly sigh, what kind of taste is my cousin?He drools whenever he sees a young man, and his eyes are full of love for a non-mainstream young man with a shaved head and sunglasses. But I also know my cousin too well. When she is in love, she can be desperate and vigorous, like a moth to a flame, but the tighter she holds on, the more decisive she will be when she lets go. Once she is convinced that the feeling of being in love is gone, she will Drop everything and go find your next love interest. Probably because he saw the beautiful woman, Mr. Han's tone became much gentler. When the housekeeper Lao Li started the engine, he began to talk about the paramotor knowledge literacy questions and answers to Xiaoqian and me. Speaking of powered parachutes, we must first mention the concept of paragliders. Paragliding has been born in Europe since the 1970s.A French mountaineer named Beden took off from the mountainside of the Alps with a square paraglider, controlled the angle of the parachute with the joystick, controlled the direction of the parachute, and finally landed safely at the foot of the mountain.Since then, this new sport has been favored by people, and the equipment has been continuously improved.But no matter what, the paraglider still cannot change the fact that it can only take off from a high place. In the mid-1980s, a group of French paragliders full of romance and fantasy added a small engine to the paraglider on the basis of the original equipment, and used the engine to drive the propeller. Under this condition, the purpose of staying in the air for a longer time can be achieved, and at the same time, it can take off and land freely in plain areas. The so-called paramotor sports is that athletes drive a paramotor aircraft to complete take-off and lift-off on flat ground, and complete the flight tasks stipulated in the competition at low altitudes, such as kicking down the benchmark set in advance, or bypassing the benchmark, and landing at a fixed point.There are also more demanding competition tasks, such as time delay, map search, precise time navigation, speed competition, etc. Mr. Han's simple introduction basically made me know what kind of sport paramotor is. And I also guessed why Du Yumei invited Mr. Han to Evergreen Valley. She probably wanted Mr. Han to see whether Evergreen Valley is suitable for hosting paramotor sports competitions, and whether it can even become a paramotor sports base . I couldn't help but look back at the six corrugated cardboard boxes with a length, width and height of 80 centimeters on the two rows of chairs behind, and asked, "Mr. Han, these cardboard boxes are the necessary equipment for paramotor sports? There are so many!" "Just call me Dick, don't call me Mr. Han, it sounds uncomfortable. When I was in America, everyone used to call me Dick!" He shrugged his shoulders like a Westerner, and said, "That's right, paramotoring sounds dangerous. After all, it is a sport of flying in the air, and it is full of many unknown dangers. However, as long as you are fully prepared for the equipment, it is actually very safe. In these cardboard boxes , in addition to the powered parachute and engine, there are also helmets, flight suits, altimeters, cold gloves, backup parachute, satellite positioning device, suspenders, non-slip hiking shoes..." "It seems that these cardboard boxes are not very heavy." "Of course, for a senior person like me, the paramotor and the frame are all made of aerospace material titanium alloy, which is durable, lightweight, and easy to carry... These devices are all specially ordered by me in the United States. It cost a lot of money. Of course, money is not an issue for me as long as it's fun!" His voice rose sharply.Dick wanted to continue talking, but Xiaoqian interrupted and asked, "Dick, although it sounds safer than I imagined, but have I ever been injured while playing with a paramotor?" "Of course I was injured! Which person who plays a paramotor has not been injured? Haha, but there is a famous saying in our circle: Scars are the medals of men!" "Wow! It's really amazing!" Xiaoqian praised. I am a little dumbfounded.Dick's famous quote of "scar" and "medal" just now is obviously a line from the classic cartoon Saint Seiya.Of course, only people our age are impressed by this cartoon, God knows where Dick heard this sentence. But at this time, the atmosphere in the four-row van became very harmonious. After all, everyone found a relaxing topic for in-depth communication.Especially Xiaoqian, from time to time asked some dumbfounding low-IQ questions, which made Dick always maintain a proud smile. After driving out of the parking lot of the long-distance station, Lao Li kept driving the car smoothly, neither fast nor slow.About ten minutes later, the van we took came to the boundary between the urban area and the suburbs.The traffic management in this area has always been somewhat chaotic. There are traffic lights and human-shaped crosswalks everywhere, so Lao Li also reduced the speed of the car a lot, stopping from time to time to wait for the red light to end. Just before we reached the last red light at the demarcation point, there was a parking lot on the right hand side, and we could enter the unimpeded boundary in another forty-five seconds, suddenly an unexpected thing happened. The red light just turned to yellow, and it will turn green in three seconds. Lao Li stepped on the brakes and hit the gas pedal. Just as he was about to start, a man rushed to the side of our van and opened the rear door. , got into the car, and as soon as he got in, he shouted hysterically: "Drive fast! Drive fast! Help! Help! Someone is chasing me! Help me, I can give you money!" Tossed a handful of hundred dollar bills. In an instant, colorful banknotes were flying in the car, while Xiaoqian, Dick, and Li were stunned and didn't know what to do. This is a fair-skinned man, about thirty years old, with clean hair, and his face seems to have signs of peeling after sunburn.With a new Nikon SLR camera slung over his shoulder and a large backpack behind his back, he was looking nervously out of the car. I followed his gaze and looked out the car window on the right, and saw several men in black suits with fierce eyes standing in the parking lot looking around, while the strange fair-skinned man who broke into the car was trembling uncontrollably . Saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. Sitting in the passenger seat, Dick slapped Lao Li's thigh vigorously, and shouted loudly: "What are you waiting for? Drive!" This sudden excitement , obviously over-secreting his adrenaline. Lao Li also woke up like a dream, quickly let go of the brakes, slammed the accelerator, and the van rushed past the traffic lights like an arrow from the string.After leaving those ferocious men behind, the strange man stopped trembling, and his face regained some color.I couldn't help but look at him a few more times, guessing his identity. After rushing for a few blocks, Lao Li stopped the car, turned his head and said coldly to the strange intruder: "Okay, you are safe now, you can get out of the car." The man trembled all over immediately, his face turned pale again, the unhealed peeling marks on his cheeks became more and more obvious, and cold sweat still oozes from his face.He looked out of the car window and pleaded in fear: "Don't let me get out of the car alone... Those people have great powers and cover the sky with one hand. No matter where I escape, I will be caught by them... Where are you going? Can you take me with you?" Old Li was stunned.Immediately said resolutely: "No, we are conducting a confidential business operation, the matter is of great importance, and it is absolutely impossible to take you with us!" Ha, I can't help but chuckle secretly.What kind of confidential business operation can a small hotel be?But after thinking about it, I also think that what Lao Li said makes sense. After all, no one's money falls from the sky. Maybe Du Yumei has already invested all the funds in this "Evergreen Valley Development Plan". The project is more important than anything else, and it is normal to think that competitors will interfere with it if you are careless. But the stranger in the dead man's van didn't look like a corporate espionage at all. Dick, a non-mainstream young man, developed a strong interest in strangers. While chewing gum, he asked in an exaggerated tone: "What did you do? Why would someone chase you down?" The stranger's lips twitched, and he replied hesitantly: "My name is Hogg... I am a freelance photographer, and I make a living by taking various pictures and selling them to newspapers and magazines... Some time ago, I took some touching pictures. Unexpected photos...Once the photos are published, some people will suffer huge economic losses from them, and the loss is estimated to be hundreds of millions...Those people must prevent the photos from being published in order to avoid damage...so..." "What kind of photo? Will it be so powerful?" Xiaoqian asked curiously. Hogg fell silent for a moment, and turned his gaze out of the car window. I quickly interrupted Xiaoqian's words, the less you know about some things, the better, curiosity will kill the cat.The reason why Hogg is silent is to prevent us from being involved in the unknown vortex.From this point of view, I still quite appreciate his approach. Compared with Xiaoqian, Dick is obviously much smarter, and he didn't intend to ask such a question at all. But Lao Li still said coldly: "Mr. Huo, what happened to you has nothing to do with us. Please get out of the car, otherwise I will call the police and ask the police to ask you to get out of the car!" "Please, let me go with you..." Hogg begged for mercy, but Old Li was unmoved at all, with a cold gleam in his eyes. I couldn't see it anymore, and said to Lao Li: "What does it matter if he goes to Evergreen Valley with us? The big deal is that he will live in the Evergreen Valley Hotel as a tourist. Anyway, your hotel will be put into use sooner or later. It's okay to let Mr. Huo be the service object of the trial operation first." But Lao Li retorted sharply: "The hotel has not yet opened for trial operation, and it is not qualified to receive guests. Moreover, Mr. Lan, you and Mr. Dick were hired by our boss Du to spend a lot of money to work. Since you have already received the money, It is equivalent to signing a work contract with us, and you are obliged to go to Evergreen Valley with me. Therefore, Mr. Lan, you have no right to dictate my decision to reject Mr. Huo!" What he said really made me angry, I wish I could throw 20,000 yuan into his face immediately, spit again, and said sternly, "Can I stop working?".But 20,000 yuan, that's real money, I can't bear it, so I have no choice but to stop answering in despair. But at this time, Dick, a non-mainstream young man, sneered sinisterly. "What are you laughing at?" Xiaoqian asked. Dick glanced at Hogg's SLR camera, and asked, "Mr. Huo, are you a freelance photographer?" Hogg nodded. "So your photography skills must be pretty good?" "Of course, the photos I took have won many awards for the best photojournalism. The photography technology is second, but the composition of the photos I took is quite good and creative. Creativity is the soul of the picture!" "So are you good at taking sports photos?" "It's not bad..." Dick smiled, brightly this time. "Mr. Huo, I am Dick Han, the CEO of the US-owned Dick Outdoor Sports Club. Now I officially invite you to join my company and become my exclusive photographer. This time I will go to Evergreen Valley to investigate whether the local area can become a paramotor base , please take your camera, go with me, and take pictures of the wonderful moment of the paramotor flying in the blue sky for me." After finishing speaking, Dick turned his head and said to Lao Li slyly: "Mr. Huo is my full-time photographer now, can you let him go to Evergreen Valley with me?" "This... this..." Only then did I understand Dick's intentions, haha, he is quite cunning, and I couldn't help feeling a little fond of him. Seeing that Lao Li was still hesitating, Dick said with a smile again: "What? Master Lan can take his beautiful female assistant with him, but I can't take my exclusive photographer with me? Are you going to engage in sexism? I am U.S. citizens, if necessary, I will protest to your local business department through the U.S. embassy!" Although everyone knew that Dick was bluffing in a joking way, it also made Lao Li completely lost, so he could only spread his hands and said helplessly: "Okay, okay! I'll listen to you, let Mr. Huo together Go to Evergreen Valley." The van drove into the Xiling Mountains in an hour. Xiling Mountain is a mountain range at the junction of the northeast of Xichuan City and neighboring cities. It is an "anticline" mountain created by the movement of the earth's plate 70 million years ago, with a high altitude.It is said that in ancient times there were active volcanoes all over the place. Of course, there are no active volcanoes there now. I have been to Xiling Mountain a few times before. I remember that the last time I went was summer. I went to a Taoist temple on the top of the mountain and looked down at the four directions. Smoke is not smoke, majestic and smoldering, and the atmosphere is myriad.Outside the Taoist temple, there are towering ancient trees, green bamboo forests, and exotic flowers and plants all over the place. When the flowers bloom, they are colorful.Even if the scorching heat at the bottom of the mountain is unbearable, the cool breeze on the mountain will make people linger and forget to return.My favorite is to move barefoot by the stream deep in Xiling Mountain, move the stones to catch crabs, and then send the caught crabs to a nearby farmhouse to make a pot of delicious fried crabs. But now it was November, and there were no crabs in the creek.I have never been to Xiling Mountain in winter, because it is too cold in winter.Not to mention that the inaccessible peaks are covered with snow all winter, and even where there are people, Taoist priests in Taoist temples will run down the mountain to avoid the cold, let alone tourists. So I wonder why that Ms. Du Yumei chose this time to invite Dick and me to visit Evergreen Valley?Even if you need to plan ahead, there is no need to go up the mountain in this early winter, right? However, judging from the name Evergreen Valley, as the name suggests, could it be that the valley is really a place where winter is warm and summer is cool, and flowers bloom all year round?If this is the case, as long as the transportation is convenient, it may become a popular attraction for urban tourists.After all, in winter, it is rare to find such a place where you can relax and avoid the cold.Of course, it would be even better if Evergreen Valley had a few hot springs. The van climbed up the national road along the Panshan Highway, and I could already see the white snow on the top of the mountain far away from the car window.But fortunately, the altitude of this national road leading to the neighboring city is not too high, and it is only early winter, the snow did not fall here, but the trees on both sides of the road have almost lost all their leaves, leaving only bare trunk. Along the way, Lao Li remained silent. It seemed that his mood had been greatly affected by Hogg's joining.Hogg didn't talk much, probably he hasn't escaped from the panic of fleeing, he just kept his ears up, listening to the chat between Xiaoqian and Dick. Xiaoqian has been chatting with Dick, but Dick's attitude is always a little arrogant, and he must talk about "what happened when I was in the United States, what was like when I was in the United States", which turned me off, and finally I just closed my eyes and raised it. god. Just when I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly felt a heavy bump in the car, which almost made me fall off the seat.He opened his eyes and saw that the van had already driven off the national road leading to the neighboring city and turned into a small road paved with gravel. Both sides of the path are also full of thick and thin bare tree trunks. Although the leaves have all fallen, the dense tree trunks far and near still block the line of sight, making it impossible to see further places.These tree trunks are quite tall, so most of the daylight is blocked, and the path leading to the depths of the forest looks dark and gloomy.The narrow path that can only accommodate one car is in bad condition. Gravels fly out from under the tires of the van from time to time and hit the tree trunks on the side of the road, forming small pits that slowly ooze sap. I couldn't help frowning, my heart was cold, and I said to myself secretly: "The traffic problem is the lifeblood of the tourist area. Such a small road is not much different from the machine farming road. How can it attract foreign self-driving tourists? ?” So I raised my head and asked Lao Li: "How long will it take to reach Evergreen Valley?" "There's still an hour." "Is it all gravel paths like this?" "Yes. As for this road, Boss Du paid for the nearby villagers to repair it." I couldn't help but shook my head and sighed.No wonder Lao Li was so determined to oppose Hogg's joining because he was worried about whether Hogg was a commercial spy.To build this road, and it is a small road that lasts an hour's drive, even though it is so simple, it will cost at least close to a million dollars.This is not a small sum, and it must have caused Boss Du to vomit a lot of blood when he made the decision. This road is so narrow that it can only accommodate one vehicle. Once a two-way traffic is encountered, one vehicle must be parked under the roadbed while the other vehicle slows down and passes slowly.So even if Du Yumei spent so much money, it may not be able to achieve the desired effect.I really don't know why Du Yumei spent money to buy the development rights of Evergreen Valley.Of course, this is my rather pessimistic view. If I switch to an optimistic view, it can also be understood that even if it costs so much money to build simple roads, Du Yumei is willing to buy Evergreen Valley and build a hotel, which is enough to see Evergreen Valley It has temptation and attraction beyond imagination. I hope so, I pray silently with my palms together. For the first fifty minutes, this path has been going up the mountain.But in the last ten minutes, it suddenly turned sharply and went down a steep and curved slope, which was very dangerous.Fortunately, we didn't encounter other vehicles that crossed along the way, so we didn't need to stop to give way. Lao Li controlled the speed of the car very slowly, and kept staring ahead, fearing that something might go wrong. The passengers in the car also noticed the steepness of the journey, and they all remained silent, holding on to the armrests next to their seats, not daring to move, fearing that any slight movement would affect the balance of the car.Fortunately, it is daytime. If it is night, I really can't imagine how to drive a car safely on this dangerous mountain road.If there is no accident, I guess the traffic management department will require this road to strictly prohibit driving at night. This is also a key to tourism planning.If there are tourists in the scenic spot who suddenly become seriously ill and must be sent to the hospital for treatment at night, then this road will become a checkpoint that hinders the hospital. Fortunately, Lao Li had excellent driving skills. After ten minutes of near misses, the four-row van stopped on a small flat ground, and there was no road ahead.Then, Lao Li turned around and said to us: "This is Taniguchi, there is no road ahead, and the only way to get to the hotel is by walking." I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and thought to myself with resentment, I still have to walk?It seems that this Evergreen Valley development plan must come to a dead end. Fortunately, Lao Li immediately told us that we only need to walk down the stone-paved steps for ten minutes to reach the bottom of the valley.The place where we are now is halfway up the mountain above the valley. There just happens to be a gap here. Standing on a platform-like open space, you can have a bird's-eye view of the Evergreen Valley from top to bottom. I got out of the car immediately, and the bitter mountain wind made me shiver.Looking at the watch, it is twelve o'clock at noon. Although there is a reddish winter day in the sky, I can't feel the temperature of the sun at all. But when I walked to the edge of the platform and looked down at the natural gap in the mountain, I couldn't help but let out an exclamation. I saw a lush green color in the valley surrounded by mountains. It is a kind of emerald green that shows the vigorous power of life, covering the entire valley bottom, really worthy of the name "Evergreen Valley"!Surrounded by emerald greenery, there is a T-shaped two-story building with a pointed roof, which should be the Evergreen Valley Hotel.I can't help but wonder why such a refreshing verdant green can be seen in the middle of winter? Xiaoqian also issued a series of praises. Freelance photographer Hogg took out his SLR camera, removed the lens cap, added a wide-angle lens, and began to press the shutter continuously to take pictures one after another. Hogg called out the photos he had just taken, enlarged them, looked them up in front of his eyes carefully, and exclaimed: "Beautiful, it's so beautiful! I'm sure I can shoot great works here!" As for Dick Han, a non-mainstream youth and CEO of an outdoor sports club, this guy is standing on the edge of the platform, constantly measuring the position with the length of his fingers, and taking out the wind vane and anemometer to record the state of the mountain wind—he is considering this platform. Can the gap on the roof become the take-off place of the powered parachute base? Old Li stood aside and smiled proudly. He seemed to have expected such a reaction from us. After a while, when we got together again, Lao Li led us down a stone path next to the platform, and began to talk about the situation in Evergreen Valley. "Why is it like spring here all the year round? That's because there are hot springs at the bottom of the valley, rich in geothermal heat, and the surface temperature maintains a constant value close to spring in all seasons. The valley covers an area of ​​about 20 hectares, and our boss Du has bought it for fifty years. The development right, the follow-up investment is of course to widen the simple road leading here, but because the road construction requires logging, you have to report to the forestry department and wait patiently for a reply. So now it is only temporarily paving the original local dirt road with gravel , just use it in the future.” So, it seems that as long as the forestry department agrees to Du Yumei's logging report, there is still a lot to be done for this farm-style hotel.My mood couldn't help but lift up. "We planted a large corn field next to the hotel. Hehe, they are all planted in different months, and they can be harvested in different months. After tourists check in, they can eat fresh corn that was just picked that day at any time. Corn varieties It is a small waxy valley imported from Xishuangbanna, which is fragrant and sweet. We have also built a large greenhouse in which various rare flowers and trees are cultivated. Most of the soil at the bottom of the valley is formed by the accumulation of ancient volcanic ash, which is rich in nutrients. After the flowers and trees in the valley are cultivated and survived, they can continue to grow when they are moved to the valley. Over time, Evergreen Valley will become a natural and precious botanical garden. As long as the road is repaired, tourists will definitely come here. As your club’s paramotor sports base, your paramotor performances will definitely become a major selling point for tourists in Evergreen Valley.” Lao Li looked forward to a bright future, and Dick couldn't help but agree with him. Dick left seven cardboard boxes in the van and asked Lao Li to lock the door—if he thinks Evergreen Valley is suitable for paramotor sports, he will try to fly in the air, and this platform is just the best place to take off. So leave the equipment here for the time being, so as not to move up and down. On the way down the mountain, Hogg kept fiddling with his precious camera, taking photos from all angles, front, back, left, and right. When we went down for about five minutes, Hogg suddenly stared at a photo just taken, zoomed in, and exclaimed: "Ah! There is a building there!" I leaned in front of him and saw on the LCD screen of the digital camera, a three-story building hidden among green trees appeared. This is a small building with a semicircular shape, like a round barn cut into two parts, and it is tightly attached to a mountain wall about the same height as the Taniguchi platform.The small building is very dilapidated, the walls are riddled with holes, and the color of the original red wall bricks has almost fallen off, leaving only a dirty dark red.It is a bit strange that there is no window on the first floor of the small building, only windows on the second and third floors. "Oh, that's a watchtower. It was built by the mountain people here." Lao Li walked over and glanced at the LCD screen of the camera, explaining nonchalantly. "Daolou?" Xiaoqian asked curiously. I have also heard of watchtowers, which are said to be strong fortress-style buildings built by mountain people to prevent bandits, prevent waterlogging, and live in themselves.But little is known about the specific situation. This is also the first time I have seen the watchtower with my own eyes. Lao Li also introduced us in detail: "Well, watchtowers. There used to be bandits in the depths of the Xiling Mountains. A good place like Evergreen Valley is naturally a place for bandits. In order to guard against bandits, the mountain people rely on the mountain wall A tube-shaped brick building with only one entrance was built, and the walls were made of gravel mixed with yellow clay. Note that there are no windows on the first floor of the watchtower, only small windows are left on the upper floor. The windows are not real windows, but shooting holes, which are used to shoot at the bandits. Considering that the bandits may attack the watchtower from all directions, in order to prevent shooting dead ends, the watchtowers built against the mountain wall are built in a semicircle ，每个角度都有射击孔。你们现在看到的这幢碉楼，大约已经有上百年的历史了，据说还进了文物部门的保护目录。” I see.这种半圆形碉楼，我过去在杂志报纸上也看到过介绍，在西陵山区里应该有不少这样的碉楼。 “那么，以后路修好了，碉楼也能成为一个景点吗？” 老李摇摇头，说：“碉楼早就年久失修，成为危楼了。如果修葺，必须得到文物部门的许可，而且还得按旧貌复原。就算有游客去游览，从投入产出来看，也是得不偿失的——造旧，比翻新花的钱多得多了！我们也不能因为这么一桩平平常常的碉楼，就专门另收门票吧？呵呵，收门票的话，估计也没几个游客去游览了。” “可是……如果不修复，万一有游客看到碉楼觉得好奇，擅自跑去玩，在楼内出了意外，那可就糟了。” “没错，本来从半山腰平台到碉楼也有一条土路的，但为了防止有人擅自去碉楼玩耍发生意外，我们把土路截断了。另外，杜老板还派人用砖头堵死了碉楼的大门，甚至还用砖头把楼上所有的窗户都封死了。” “文物部门不来管你们堵门封窗吗？”小倩又好奇地问道，她真是满脑子的“十万个为什么”。 老李笑了笑，说：“杜老板没请修路的施工队去堵门窗，而是找另外的人花钱请附近山民来堵的。日后文物部门发现了，一路追查过来，也查不到我们杜老板身上——哈哈，事实上这里实在太偏远了，文物部门根本从来就没人来视察，根本不可能有人知道门窗被堵死了。” “哈哈！你们的杜老板真是太聪明了！”小倩由衷地叫了起来。 昨天接到杜瑜眉电话时，我听到一个清脆如银铃般的嗓音，原本以为她会是个容貌靓丽的年轻女人，还期望着能否凭借我自身的魅力，在远离城市的幽谷中寻得一段艳遇。但在旅社外的玉米田旁，当我见到传说中的杜老板时，不由大失所望。 杜瑜眉，从相貌看，大概三十七八岁，长得平淡无奇，眼神时常无意流露出岁月所造就的沧桑感。她用一根黄色发带将长发全束到了脑后，因此额头显得有点高。她的嘴角还有一颗很醒目的媒婆痣，这颗痣让我看到她时，总觉得有点滑稽的感觉。 不过，我还是看得出，杜瑜眉身穿的职业套装绝对是一线时尚品牌，全身上下的打扮应该不会低于万元。 我们在旅社外见面时，我就显得狼狈多了。没想到谷底竟然比谷外温暖了那么多，穿越玉米田时，脚踏在松软的泥土上，能依稀感受到从地底深处传来的阵阵热气。我脱掉羊驼毛休闲西装，挽在臂弯，里面还穿着一件厚毛衣。才走十分钟下坡路，但背心已经渗出了细细密密的汗液，将保暖内衣完全浸润湿透，披在肩后的长发也湿得纠缠在了一起。 其他几人也比我好不到哪里去，只有老李早有准备，他穿了两件薄毛衣，脱去一件恰好合适。 杜瑜眉不禁莞尔，她转过头，朝T字型的砖墙旅社做了个手势，一个老态龙钟、腰弯得像虾子一般的老太太走出了旅社。她手里拎着两个纸袋，走到我们面前后，把纸袋分别给了我和迪克。打开纸袋，里面是一件薄薄的毛衣，连商标都还没剪。 真是考虑得太周到了。 大概是因为没预料到小倩和霍格的到来，纸袋没有他俩的份。但老太太只是瞄了一眼小倩和霍格的身材，便转身向旅社走了进去。 杜瑜眉眼角含笑地说道：“这位老太太，是旅社的厨师，黄阿婆。旅社早就考虑到游客无法预知常青谷里会如此温暖如春，所以准备了各种型号的薄毛衣。呵呵，黄阿婆瞄了一眼这两位朋友的身材，就已经知道应该取哪件毛衣了。”她的声音还是那么清脆如银铃一般。 小倩轻声在我耳边嘀咕道：“耶，杜姐的嗓音是娃娃音哦，像林志玲一样。” 我也不由得笑了起来，半老徐娘，还娃娃音，真是让人觉得有些好笑。 尽管常青谷我还是第一次来，但这里已经给了我一次又一次意想不到的“惊喜”。 我向杜瑜眉介绍了小倩与霍格的身份，当然，介绍霍格身份时，说的是迪克的专属摄影师，杜瑜眉将我们请入旅社中，旅社有着西洋庭院的漂亮前庭，前庭外是一条小径，小径两侧种着两排青翠欲滴的低矮松柏，脚下则铺着碎圆石和银白色的细沙。 刚走入玄关，黄阿婆就送来了两件未拆包装的薄毛衣，递给小倩与霍格。 不过，我发现这位慈眉善目的黄阿婆两次送来薄毛衣的时候，始终一言不发，但或许是她老人家天生沉默寡言吧，我也未多加理会。 霍格倒是很敬业，自从进入常青谷中，他便端着相机不停拍着照，大部分照片，他都以迪克为主角，当然也为我和小倩拍下了不少照片，就连杜瑜眉和老李、黄阿婆也成为了他的拍摄目标，虽然不知道迪克究竟会不会给他工资，但或许他真的把摄影当做了自己的生命，无论走到哪里都不能让生命停顿。 时候已经不早了，正是正午时分。 杜瑜眉为我们分配房间，每个人都在旅社二楼得到了一间客房。客房装修得很朴素，单人床、写字台、衣帽间、单独卫生间，干干净净，清清爽爽。我和小倩的房间门挨着门，迪克和霍格则住在我们对面的客房里。 杜瑜眉提醒我们，餐厅在旅社一楼，十二点半的时候，她将为我们举行接风午宴。 但迪克却婉拒了用餐的邀请，他把随身携带的背包扔在客房里，便摸出几个面包，独自一人出门去观察常青谷谷底的地形——他准备下午就进行一次动力伞飞行。迪克有着很西方化的思维，毕竟收了杜老板的钱，他就得以工作为上，替杜老板把事做好。 我在客房里换了一件薄型内衣，套上黄阿婆送来的薄毛衣，果然很合身。我正准备敲门把隔壁的小倩叫出来一同去餐厅，却忽然听到有人敲门。 敲门的人是霍格，他斜背着单反相机，很难为情地问我：“蓝先生，您应该带了笔记本电脑到这里来吧？可以借用一下吗？我想把今天拍到的照片输入电脑里放大再看一看。” “嗯，没问题！”我转身从旅行包里取出一台小巧的粉红色笔记本电话，递给了霍格。这台电脑是小倩带来的，本来她以为这次到常青谷来她会很无聊，所以拷了很多电影放在电脑里。至于我的笔记本电脑，因为里面有太多商业资料，所以我并没有借给霍格。 霍格接过电脑，说了声谢谢后，又说：“我大概会晚几分钟去餐厅，麻烦您给杜老板说一声，吃饭不用等我。” 呵，过一会儿杜瑜眉一定会很郁闷，本来她就没想到来这里的人会比预想多两人，一定让黄阿婆多做了几个菜，但却想不到最后来餐厅却依然只有两人。 几分钟后，我与小倩准时于十二点半来到了餐厅里。 餐厅并不大，只有四张圆桌，被屏风分别隔开。 其中一张圆桌上，已经摆满了精致菜肴。黄阿婆的手艺真是不错，色香味俱全。各式菜肴均是由常青谷里就地取材而烹饪出来的。附近溪水里捞出的肥鱼，清蒸后浇上一层柠檬汁，再配以香草点缀。烟熏腊肉更是切得薄薄的，纸片一般，与青红椒和蒜苗混炒。还有绿油油的凉拌野菜，当地土鸡熬成的靓汤，野生番茄做成的番茄炒土鸡蛋。整个餐厅都漂浮着一股令人垂涎欲滴的浓重香味。 圆桌旁，坐着三个人，是杜瑜眉、老李和黄阿婆。 看来旅社里的人都已经坐在这里等我们了。 我告诉杜瑜眉，霍格或许要晚一点，吃饭不用等他。但杜瑜眉却笑了笑，答道：“我们还是等等他吧，反正我们还得等玉儿呢。” “玉儿？她是谁？”我还是第一次听到这个名字呢。 老李解释：“玉儿是常青谷里的农艺师，负责在花房里培植各种名贵花木。呵呵，她出生在距常青谷约有三里地的一座山里，虽然从未学过农艺与苗木栽培，但毕竟是山里长大的女孩，天生就知道各种花木的习性，她才来常青谷一个月，但我们每个人都很欣赏她的工作。” “哦，原来是位花房姑娘呀！”我不禁轻声哼唱起那首著名的歌曲。 你问我要去向何方/我指着大海的方向/ 你的惊奇像是给我赞扬。 你带我走进你的花房/我无法逃脱花的迷香/ 我不知不觉忘记了方向。 你说我世上最坚强/我说你世上最善良/ 你不知不觉已和花儿一样。 刚唱到一半，我就听到餐厅入口处传来“噼里啪啦”的掌声。回过头去，我看到一个肤色白皙，穿着运动套头衫的女孩正笑盈盈地走入了餐厅中。 “她就是玉儿。”杜瑜眉笑着介绍道。 玉儿大概只有二十出头，她将长发梳成两根粗粗的麻花辫，垂落在两边肩下，看上去与小倩年龄相仿，也很漂亮，不过，小倩是那种带有都市时尚的漂亮，而玉儿则带有一种极淳朴的美，仿佛山谷中的一朵野兰花般，未沾染上任何来自外界的污染。 玉儿朝我点点头，说：“你就是蓝大师吧？您刚才唱的歌可真好听！” 我故意调笑道：“你怎么知道我是蓝大师？说不定我是迪克·韩呢！” 我知道，之前玉儿应该听说只有两位客人会光临此处，我得和这个可爱女孩开开玩笑，让她做一次判断题。 玉儿却撇撇嘴，说：“别骗我了，刚才我在花房外见到了那个戴金项链的光头。他才是迪克呢。” 餐厅里的人都哈哈大笑了起来。 我显得有些尴尬，赶紧岔开话题，问玉儿：“你在花房外见到迪克了？他在干嘛？” “他在常青谷里四处闲逛，与我闲聊了几句后，但沿着去谷口的石台阶上行，大概现在已经快到谷口了吧。不过，我不太喜欢他，他说话的语气太骄傲，太喜欢吹牛。” “哈哈，你也看出来他骄傲了？”我故意提高了嗓音，想让一路上满眼桃花的小倩也了解一下旁人眼中的迪克是个什么模样。 “嘁——”小倩却不满地反驳，“人家不叫骄傲，那是个性的张扬。” 我又忍不住打击她的积极性，说：“人民的眼睛是雪亮的，你得相信我，毕竟，我比你大十岁，吃过的盐比你吃过的饭还多。” “嗯，那只能说明，你口味太重，爱吃盐。”说起斗嘴，从小到大，我还从没占到过小倩的便宜呢。 我只好加了一句：“我走过的桥，比你走过的路还多！”看她怎么反驳。 小倩为了反驳我这句话，开始绞尽脑汁，但怎么都想不出合适的话语。而这时，餐厅入口传来了一个声音：“那只能说明，你已经无路可走了。” 说话的人，是斜挎单反相机的摄影师霍格。看来他已经输入完了相机里的照片。 餐厅里又爆发出一阵善意的嘲笑声，霍格连忙笑着对我说：“蓝大师别生气，我只是开个玩笑罢了。” 我赶紧摆摆手，说：“没事，我没生气。” 而小倩则竖起大拇指，对霍格说：“霍摄影师真是厉害，接得太妙了，一句话就把我表哥说服了。” 啊哦，小倩一下子就让所有人都知道我是她表哥了。我不禁有点汗颜，担心杜瑜眉会不会认为我是带表妹来常青谷里混吃混住了？ 但杜瑜眉似乎并不介意，只是招呼霍格赶快入座。 霍格也不客气，径直走到表妹小倩身旁的空位坐下，而花房姑娘玉儿则坐在了我身旁。 大概是因为喝了一点酒，原本一直显得有些心事重重的霍格，在接风宴上竟不时妙语如珠，引来阵阵笑声，令酒席上的气氛很是活跃。 而表妹小倩似乎也忘记迪克，转而将目光投向了这位曾惹来黑道追杀的自由摄影师，两人不断将脑袋凑在一起窃窃私语，偶尔还会露出只有他俩才能懂得意思的会心微笑。 我再次注意到，那位黄阿婆在整个用餐过程中，始终一言不发，自顾埋头吃饭，真是奇怪，难道她是哑巴吗？ 玉儿似乎看出了我对黄阿婆的注意，低声在我耳边说：“黄阿婆是聋哑人，既不会说话，也听不到别人说什么，杜姐一直都是用手语与黄阿婆交流的。” I see. 聋哑人能做出这么一桌好吃的饭菜，显然下过很多苦心，我不禁有些默然。 接风宴大约持续了四十多分钟，临到结束时，趁着霍格去洗手间，我侧过身问表妹：“你和摄影师聊什么呢？聊得这么投机。” 表妹眨了眨眼睛，答道：“你一定猜不到，我们在聊电影。哈，是聊欧美血腥恐怖片！” 真是有病，他们居然在吃饭的时候聊那些血肉模糊的恐怖片？真是倒胃口。 嘿，我还真没想到霍格居然也是血腥电影的爱好者，正合表妹的胃口。 表妹又低声说：“我在车上和迪克也聊过电影，没想到那家伙居然只喜欢看卡通片，真是没品位。还是这位摄影师，有内涵多了。” 呃，喜欢看血腥恐怖片就叫有内涵？那么，我也很有内涵啊。 我忍不住将头偏到一边，问玉儿：“你喜欢看电影吗？” 玉儿点了点头，说：“喜欢，我最喜欢看卡通片了。” 我顿时感觉额头滑下几根黑线，但我还是应道：“其实，我也很喜欢看卡通片呢！” 看来我和玉儿都会被小倩归类为没品位的一类人中。 不过，从现在的情况看，表妹已经从前男友失踪的阴影中走了出来。而且她也已经不再对那位非主流青年迪克感兴趣了，她把兴趣完全转移到了这位自由摄影师霍格的身上。 黄阿婆的手艺真是太好了，圆桌上的菜肴基本上被一扫而空。我们结束酒席后，准备各自回客房睡午觉，当餐厅里众人都不再喧哗的时候，我们同时听到窗外传来了异响。 那是一种“嗡嗡嗡”的声音，仿佛从空中传来一般，有点像马达轰鸣。 “啊！一定是迪克在玩动力伞！”小倩大声叫了起来。 我们一起移步来到餐厅窗边，探出脑袋向空中望去。 天空中，漂浮着一朵展开的天蓝色滑翔伞翼。伞翼下方，拉拽着操纵绳的，正是戴着头盔脚蹬登山鞋的迪克·韩。他戴了一副足足遮盖了半张脸的护目镜，我们看不到他任何表情。伞翼在空中时而随风盘旋，时而又扶摇直上，迪克看上去很是潇洒。 小倩与玉儿不停发出惊叹，霍格也取出单反相机，冲出餐厅，先上楼取下了他的背包，然后在旅社外寻找合适角度，对着天空拍摄着镜头。他一会儿站在旅社外的小径上，一会儿仰躺在地面上，捕捉着空中的画面，还不时从背包里取出其他镜头，长焦、短焦、广角，更换后继续拍摄着照片。 迪克驾驶动力伞，在山谷中翱翔着，掠过旅社上空，又掠过玉米田，还不时在玉米田另一端的上方停留——玉儿告诉我，那里就是花房所在的位置。当他掠过我们头顶的时候，还故意抬起双腿，挥舞着胳膊，向霍格的镜头方向打着招呼。 “真不错呀！迪克确实有一套！”我身后传来了杜瑜眉的声音，她凝视着空中的滑翔伞，喃喃说道，“我请迪克来这里考察，果然没请错。” 她的话音刚落，奇怪的事发生了。 空中的滑翔伞翼突然开始疾速下坠，呈四十五度向旅社方向直撞过来。我们同时发出了惊呼，但当动力伞就要撞到旅社砖墙时，又随着气流上升，掠过了屋顶。 “是这小子故意这么干的吧？”老李有点生气地说道。 但我却始终感觉动力伞上升的速度非常勉强，只差一点点，迪克的双足就撞到旅社房顶了。如果真是迪克故意为之，那他的胆子也太大了。如果是因为技术欠缺而造成的，那他差点又为自己的身体添加了一枚男子汉的勋章。 再抬头向天空望去，我看到动力伞再次疾速降落，迪克悬在空中的双足正慌乱地摇晃着，仿佛垂死挣扎一般。 Oops!莫非出了什么意外？ 不等我多想，只听“唰”的一声，动力伞一头栽进了旅社外的玉米田里，一片玉米杆应声倒下。 这就是资深动力伞专家在常青谷里的首秀？我差点快要幸灾乐祸地捧腹大笑了。 呆在旅社餐厅里的人，除了又聋又哑的黄阿婆之外，其他人全都大惊小呼地冲出旅社，向玉米田狂奔而去。 其实我也不是太担心迪克的安全，毕竟动力伞有着很大的伞翼，即使是疾速降落，也是相对而言，下落速度始终有限，更何况还有玉米杆缓冲，他应该不会受伤。 但迪克首演失败，作为一路上看他不顺眼的我，现在去凑热闹看看他出洋相，是多么令人开心的一件事呀。 哈哈，我的心理真是阴暗！ 迪克降落的地点就在玉米田边缘。我与霍格最先赶到迪克身边，看到滑翔伞翼平铺在一片玉米杆上，迪克身上似乎没有任何伤痕，但他却躺在玉米地里一动不动。护目镜已经取下了，他瞪大眼睛，眼神迷茫，脸色也苍白得没有一点血色，仿佛冷藏过的尸体一般。 “怎么了？”我分开玉米杆走过去，弯下腰毫不客气地拍了拍他的脸颊，力度还用得不轻。 迪克却像没感觉到我的拍打一般，只是两眼空洞地望着我身后的天空。几秒后，他才恢复了神智，紧接着他的身体开始剧烈颤栗，眼神中也充满了恐惧。 他蓦地扭过头，伸出手臂，指着玉米田深处，语无伦次歇斯底里地大声叫道：“玉米田里有具尸体……真的！一具尸体！好恐怖！如果不是我在空中翱翔，从山谷谷底的平地望去，根本就不可能看到！” 说实话，我并不是一个胆子很大的人，虽然无法分辨迪克说的是真话，也不知道他是不是在开一个不好笑的玩笑，可我还是没有胆量钻入茂密的玉米田里一探真伪。 霍格就不一样了。他是自由摄影师，据他说，他曾经抓拍过很多车祸现场，还在大地震后亲赴灾区做志愿者，见过无数死状惨烈的尸体。所以听了迪克的话，他立刻端着相机分开玉米杆，迈步向迪克所指的方向钻了进去。 他的身影消失在青纱帐中，我只能听到远处传来窸窸窣窣的细碎声响，那是他分开玉米杆时发出的声音。片刻之后，一切静谧了，应该是霍格找到那具尸体的所在之处了吧。 约莫十分钟后，霍格钻出了玉米地。他眼神阴郁，脸色非常难看，本来就很白皙的一张脸，变得更加苍白了。 霍格走到我身边，默然无声地把相机递给了我。 我将视线落在了相机的液晶屏上，立刻看到一张惨不忍睹的照片。 那是一个全身赤裸的男人，横躺在玉米地的中央。很显然，那是一具尸体，因为喉咙处有一处赫然的血洞，应该是被利刃割断的。但这还不算触目惊心，真正令人无法呼吸的，是尸体的胸口，被剖开了一条长长的裂口，露出里面血红的腹腔。 又向后翻了一张照片，竟是尸体腹腔处的特写。一股难忍的呕吐感从喉头下方油然而生，我赶紧扭过头来，狠狠吸了几口气，才压抑住了呕吐的欲望。 “腹腔里空无一物，所有器官都不见了。”霍格语气低沉，仿佛心理遭受了极大打击。 “什么？！”我强迫自己定下神来，却也不敢相信自己的耳朵。 霍格所说的，岂不是传说中的开膛破肚吗？ 他点点头，又说：“尸体旁没有留下太多血迹，凶案的第一现场应该不是在玉米田中。” 我看到小倩与玉儿在玉米田外正以疑惑的眼神望向我们，为了不吓着两个女孩，我赶紧让霍格结束了恐怖的介绍，然后将杜瑜眉和老李招呼了过来。 等在玉米田外的杜瑜眉和老李，得知真在青纱帐中发现了尸体后，杜瑜眉当机立断，立刻高声说道：“所有人全部回到旅社中去，紧闭房门！” 她又转过头来，对老李说：“你赶快去报警！” 杜瑜眉告诉我们，旅社因为距离最近的人家，也要走三华里山路，所以没迁入电话线，也没有安装宽带网络。但在谷口的那个平台附近，却能搜索到半格手机信号。那信号不知道是从何处而来的，有时能连接网络，有时又不能。老李先去平台那里试着打电话报警，如果实在无法连接手机网络，那就开车去附近的乡镇报警。一来一回，最多也就三个小时。 安排妥当之后，老李出了旅社，快走向通往谷口平台的上行石台阶跑去。 而我则发现，霍格眼神游移，不断朝我眨眼睛，似乎有话想要私下对我说。 我走到他身边，他立刻以极低的嗓音对我说：“蓝先生，到我的客房去一趟。我有话要对你说。” 一分钟后，我来到霍格的客房中。小倩的那台粉红色笔记本电话还摆在客房写字台上。 “蓝先生，我想让你看张照片。” 霍格一边说，一边熟练的打开电脑。电脑启动完毕后，他打开了放在桌面上的一个文档，里面全是图片格式的文件。霍格点开一张照片，液晶屏幕上出现了一幢破败的房屋，正是我们下山时看到的那幢废弃的碉楼。 “我们放大看看这张照片，你看能够看到什么？” 霍格开始放大这张碉楼的照片，并不断移动着照片。几秒之后，我看到了碉楼的黑色墙面。墙面上，似乎有很潦草字迹般的涂鸦。 “这是什么？”我诧异地问。 霍格又调整了一下显示屏的对比度与亮度，喃喃地说：“在数码相机上，我只是恍惚觉得碉楼的墙壁上似乎涂着字迹。吃饭前我把照片输入到电脑放大后，才看清了墙壁上写的是什么，本来以为是某种开玩笑似的诅咒，但是见到玉米田里那具破开腹腔的尸体……” 与此同时，一行歪歪斜斜但又清晰无比的字迹，出现在破败碉楼外的墙壁上，也映入了我们的眼帘。 “扰碉楼宁静者，必须遭受开膛破肚这酷刑！”