256: Chapter 252: Seeking Help 256: Chapter 252: Seeking Help After a brief startle, Chen Hai came to his senses; he hurriedly invited Ye Cheng and his party to the guest living room of the adjacent courtyard.
“Brother Cheng, I got engaged to Qingqing, and you didn’t even have time to come to Yang City; how come you have time to visit me today?”
“It couldn’t be that you want to send a few more bodyguards and drivers to stand guard in my yard, could it?”
He poured a cup of hot tea for each of Ye Cheng’s party.
Chen Hai’s gaze lingered on the few stern-faced soldiers who had come with Ye Cheng, scanning them several times.
He chuckled and joked with them.
Last year, to prevent his sister from secretly meeting with Chen Hai, Ye Cheng had even sent Tian Mingjian to stay by Chen Hai’s side all day.
But now, Tian Mingjian had retired from the military and, instead of serving the country, he had joined Chen Hai’s ranks.
The mention of this caused no small amount of resentment in Ye Cheng.
He glared fiercely at Chen Hai and responded irritably, “Kid, it’s not enough that you took my sister away.
I send someone to follow you, and it hasn’t been that long—how did you manage to make him quit being an officer and loyally serve you?”
“I really don’t know what kind of charm you possess!”
“You and Qingqing are already engaged.
I really don’t care about what you two are up to anymore.
You think you’re going to poach my men?
No chance!”
As he spoke, he looked at Chen Hai strangely for a good while.
In terms of appearance, Ye Cheng felt that Chen Hai, this youngster, definitely couldn’t compare to himself.
In terms of family background, the difference between Chen Hai and himself was like heaven and earth!
Ye Cheng truly couldn’t understand why his sister was so devoted to such a man.
“So, nobody was sent to help me out here?
Well, that’s that!”
Noncommittal, Chen Hai shrugged and said with a smile.
His earlier question was merely offhand.
If Ye Cheng had actually agreed and sent more people over, it would only feel like a hassle to Chen Hai.
“Brother Cheng, did you come over today because you know Qingqing is coming back and you casually wanted to drop by for a simple meal together?”
He glanced at Ye Cheng, and then at the few soldiers accompanying him, pointed to the apron he still hadn’t taken off, and added, “I’ve already cooked the food, but I’ve only made one dish!”
“Qingqing should be back here before too long.”
“How about this, Brother Cheng, you and these brothers sit in the living room for a bit, and after I finish preparing the food, I’ll come join everyone…”
As he spoke, he wiped his oily hands on his apron.
There was no helping it; when Ye Cheng and his party had arrived, he was cutting pork, planning to make some braised pork.
He thought it was Qingqing who was returning and never imagined it would be his brother-in-law Ye Cheng.
When he had come out to greet them, after just having handled the pork, Chen Hai had only rinsed his hands briefly and hadn’t had the chance to wash them thoroughly.
“What meals are you preparing?
We’ve come here to discuss serious matters with you!” Ye Cheng rolled his eyes at Chen Hai and exchanged glances with the men by his side.
After nodding to one another, he continued, “I know you are capable, that you know some strange and rare things.”
“I just want to know if there’s a way for you to search for a certain presence within dozens of miles of mountain forest…”
As Ye Cheng finished speaking, not only he but also the stern-faced soldiers with him focused their gaze on Chen Hai.
“Searching for what?
A fugitive?” Chen Hai asked, somewhat surprised.
“If you say catching a fugitive, it’s not wrong!” Ye Cheng nodded.
After a short pause, he added, “The fugitive we’re after is somewhat out of the ordinary.”
“Infrared, thermal imaging, these kinds of auxiliary devices, can’t scan a shadow of that thing.”
“By night, it moves fast as lightning, winding through the mountains and forests.
Two families nearby have already been annihilated by it.”
“We’ve blocked off that section of the forest under the guise of military exercises.”
“Bullets seem to pose little threat to it; last night, that thing appeared again, and we lost two soldiers to its hands!”
“Yet, in the daytime, we have no idea where it hides.
Even with thousands of us, we’ve combed through that forest several times to no avail—we simply couldn’t find any trace of it.”
“We’ve come here to see if you, Chen Hai, have any way to track down that thing during the day!”
…
Ye Cheng solemnly recounted the incidents they had encountered to Chen Hai.
Truth be told, the thing he was talking about had appeared before the New Year.
Initially, it was just the chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs raised by several nearby families that were ravaged and killed in their pens.
Back then, those villagers hadn’t thought too much of it, assuming that some fierce wild beast had come into the area.
It was only after two families were completely wiped out that the authorities started to take the matter seriously.
The military unit Ye Cheng belonged to was stationed in Capital City.
They wouldn’t be called upon to seal off the entire forest unless the situation was truly severe and out of control.
“Brother Cheng, what exactly does that thing you’re talking about look like?”
“People have already lost their lives because of it, so there should be eyewitnesses when that thing appears, right?”
Chen Hai’s brow also began to furrow tightly.
If it were anyone else who came to him because of this matter, he probably wouldn’t be interested in meddling.
After all, he had not yet determined the existence of what Ye Cheng described!
But just listening to him, Chen Hai felt inundated with trouble!
Now though his Divine Soul was strong, his essence was still that of a Physical Body.
If he happened to come across something very difficult to deal with and carelessly intervened, he might inadvertently place himself in a dangerous situation.
But now, the one who had come to him was his older maternal cousin, Ye Cheng.
Out of respect for the monk, one must respect the Buddha, not to mention for the sake of his fiancée’s face, Chen Hai couldn’t simply ignore his plea for help.
“During the day, that thing doesn’t show up, and at night, visibility is blurry.”
“Most of our soldiers who have seen that thing appear were quite far away, only able to see a dark shadow.”
“The soldiers who were closer and saw it clearly, that thing had already pounced on them by the time they recognized it.”
“In such circumstances, there was no way our people could survive!”
With a bitter face, Ye Cheng heaved a deep sigh.
He didn’t even have time to attend his own sister’s engagement banquet, the main reason being that he was utterly tied up because of that thing.
Last night, although they had only lost two soldiers, during the time they had cordoned off the mountain forest, the number of their dead had already reached the teens or twenties.
When that thing didn’t appear, its shadow was nowhere to be found.
Knowing that it would prowl at night, yet its appearances were entirely unpredictable.
Sometimes, it would show up once after a few weeks, and at other times, it would appear again after merely three to five days.
At the shortest interval, it could appear abruptly after a day or two which wasn’t impossible.
Faced with this situation, other than securing the mountain forest to prevent that thing from harming the public, Ye Cheng and his men were at their wits’ end.
As for leveling the forest with artillery fire?
The commotion was too great, the impact too adverse.
After all, that mountain forest’s location was near the suburbs of the Capital City, not in some desolate, uninhabited wilderness.
In these peaceful times, causing the skies to fill with artillery fire could easily spark panic.
Without being driven to desperate straits, no one was willing to issue such an order.
“That thing, if it is truly hidden within that mountain forest, perhaps with Divination, I might be able to divine its approximate location.”
“However, I have absolutely no idea what that mountain forest is like.”
“To have my Divination provide more accurate results, I’ll definitely need to go there myself and take a good look!”
Frowning, Chen Hai said after a moment of contemplation.
In his view, since that thing hid during the day and roamed at night, it likely feared sunlight.
If so, the place it hid during the day would definitely be a site where yin qi converged.
Dealing with such a blatantly non-human entity, would his Divination Skill be interfered with?
Could it divine anything at all?
He truly wasn’t completely sure.
The reason he suggested going to see the mountain forest was the thought that if his Divination Skill was disrupted and failed,
perhaps he could use his Geomancy Inspection Skill to investigate the areas where yin qi gathered in that region.
Of course, a wise man does not stand under a collapsing wall.
Knowing that his Physical Body was not very powerful, while he was willing to help, he would definitely try to avoid putting himself in dangerous places.
“I just knew that you, Chen Hai, would have a way to find that thing!”
“If I hadn’t been staying in that mountain forest all this time and learned that you had returned to the Capital City, I would’ve come to seek your help much earlier!”
“You are my future brother-in-law, so I won’t stand on ceremony with you, come on, follow me to the forest right now!”
Hearing Chen Hai’s words, Ye Cheng and his men noticeably brightened.
Before he could refuse, Ye Cheng grabbed him, ready to walk out of the guest yard.
“Brother Cheng, go now?
So urgently?”
“Your sister is coming back today, and the meal I specifically prepared for her is only half done!” Chen Hai complained with dissatisfaction.
“Nonsense, human life is more important than anything else; how can I not be anxious?”
“Although that thing appeared last night, who knows if it will appear again tonight.”
“The longer we delay, the more people may die.”
“You don’t have to worry about my sister, I will explain everything to her clearly!”
…
Dragging Chen Hai, Ye Cheng stuffed him into a military vehicle outside, and with a wave of his hand, the vehicle started up, speeding towards the front.