The next morning, the "Old Task Force" waited until the sun had fully risen before leaving the camp and driving the jeep back to Linhe Village.

Everything was the same as before nightfall yesterday, except for the disturbed soil under the old locust tree.

This was left behind when Shang Jianyao and Long Yuehong buried Du Shaochong's remains.

Jiang Baimian carefully examined the area for a while, then said to the team members:

"Let's go into the village."

After walking a few steps, Shang Jianyao suddenly made an "uh" sound.

Just as Jiang Baimian was wondering if this guy was up to something again and was hesitating whether to ask, Shang Jianyao proactively raised a question:

"Do you think the remains buried under the old locust tree are still there?"

How could they not be? We just buried them yesterday! Long Yuehong muttered to himself.

Even so, he couldn't help but imagine the possibility that they were no longer there.

That would be extremely horrifying and terrifying!

Jiang Baimian replied to Shang Jianyao's question with an air of knowing everything:

"I observed it just now, and the condition of the soil is no different from when we left last night.

"Besides, since we're not going to try to dig up the remains now, what difference does it make whether they're there or not? You can't confirm it anyway. After we leave the company, bring Lao Ge and check again."

For some reason, when Bai Chen heard the last sentence from the team leader, an image spontaneously appeared in her mind:

They, the carbon-based humans, were hiding several kilometers away, using binoculars to watch Lao Ge, an intelligent robot, digging with a shovel.

"Okay..." Shang Jianyao was very disappointed that the horrifying development he had imagined was not recognized.

The "Old Task Force" continued forward, reaching the entrance of the village.

Shang Jianyao turned his head, casting his gaze toward the place where Xiao Chong took those children to pee.

"Put those thoughts away!" Jiang Baimian gave a sufficient warning, stopping him in advance.

Shang Jianyao sighed and said:

"That's a holy site!"

...Long Yuehong didn't even know how to retort.

After a few seconds, he muttered:

"That soil is called a holy relic?"

Jiang Baimian didn't give Shang Jianyao a chance to discuss this matter, and directly issued the order:

"Enter the village!"

She took the lead, walking into Linhe Village.

Bai Chen and others followed closely behind.

They peered into the houses along the road through the relatively intact glass windows.

This area of ​​the Marsh No. 1 Ruins had not been discovered before, so until now, it seemed that it had not been visited by ruin hunters. Whether it was high-end items such as televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, and cars, or tables, chairs, benches, instant noodle cans, they were all quietly placed in their original positions, and had not been moved for decades.

As he looked, Long Yuehong suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Something was missing here!

The next second, Bai Chen spoke:

"Where are the people from the entire village?"

No matter what situation the villagers encountered when the Old World was destroyed, some people would have died and some remains would have been left behind, but the current Linhe Village had not a single corpse!

Shang Jianyao laughed:

"Maybe nothing happened to them back then, they survived the destruction of the Old World, and then the whole village moved to another place.

"That's how it is with the protection of a Ruling God."

He spoke with certainty, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Jiang Baimian glanced at him and said concisely:

"An entire village relocation wouldn't happen without taking food."

Especially the more convenient canned and instant noodles.

"Maybe some people got 'Heartless Disease', and others were forced to evacuate in a hurry. Yes, those 'Heartless Ones' chased after them all the way and never came back." Long Yuehong tried to guess.

Bai Chen didn't quite agree:

"If some people really turned into 'Heartless Ones' when the Old World was destroyed, the remaining ones would definitely die. And if the survivors still managed to bring the corpses when they evacuated in a hurry, they wouldn't leave behind portable food."

This was the experience she had gained from the things she had heard and seen over the years:

Once a large group of people in a certain place suddenly turned into "Heartless Ones," people around them would inevitably be caught off guard and be hunted down.

But if there weren't many "Heartless Ones" in Linhe Village, enough for the villagers to defend against, then the survivors wouldn't have to run away in such a hurry, without even bringing food.

"Yeah." Long Yuehong nodded.

He proposed another possibility:

"Everyone turned into 'Heartless Ones' and went to other places to look for food..."

As he spoke, Long Yuehong's voice gradually lowered, because the "Heartless Ones" also knew how to use simple tools, how to open cans, and tear open packaging.

This had been confirmed in many urban ruins.

Jiang Baimian looked around and said thoughtfully:

"What the Ruling God provides may not be protection.

"Do you still remember the situation in Taicheng?"

Bai Chen and Long Yuehong immediately recalled the state of those citizens in Taicheng:

They all died instantly when the Old World was destroyed!

"Could it be that the people of Linhe Village also died out when the Old World was destroyed?" Long Yuehong wondered to himself. "But if they all died, where did the corpses go?"

Hearing this, Shang Jianyao smiled.

He lowered his voice and said:

"Turned into zombies...

"They are hiding somewhere, looking at your neck..."

Although Long Yuehong knew that this guy was telling a ghost story, after experiencing so many abnormalities, he didn't dare to deny this possibility casually.

Jiang Baimian pondered for a while and said:

"Continue searching and see if there are any clues."

They moved forward slowly, occasionally opening a door and entering inside to do some inspection.

The situation in these houses was quite similar, stuck in a certain moment of life, and then suddenly solidified in time.

As a result, the "Old Task Force" saw that some families had bowls and chopsticks on the table, and the food had long rotted and evaporated, leaving only some bones and stains. Some families had mops lying in the middle of the living room, as if they had only completed half of their work...

This was becoming more and more like Jiang Baimian's guess just now:

When the Old World was destroyed, the people here died instantly, no matter what they were doing.

But the problem was, their bodies were all gone.

"How is it?" Shang Jianyao looked at Long Yuehong and said with a smile, "A real ghost story."

"There must be some reason behind this." Long Yuehong retorted stubbornly.

"Yes, that reason is that the corpses have all mutated..." Shang Jianyao deliberately made his voice eerie.

Jiang Baimian retracted her gaze and looked at the distance ahead:

"According to my knowledge of folklore, that should be the village's ancestral hall. Maybe we can find something interesting if we go over and take a look."

For example, a memorial tablet with the name "Du Shaochong" written on it.

"Okay." Bai Chen didn't want to listen to Shang Jianyao telling ghost stories here.

The "Old Task Force" continued forward, bypassed a house, and arrived at the location of the Linhe Village ancestral hall.

This ancestral hall had the style of the old ancient times of the Old World, but both the eaves and the arches were made of cement.

At this time, the black double wooden doors of the ancestral hall were tightly closed.

"Shall I open the door?" Shang Jianyao rubbed his hands, volunteering.

His "Berserker" assault rifle was slung across his chest just like that.

Jiang Baimian nodded:

"Go ahead, be careful."

Shang Jianyao excitedly quickened his pace and walked to the door of the ancestral hall.

He listened carefully for a while, then closed his eyes and sensed for a while, before putting on his gloves and pushing the door with his palm.

After all, Jiang Baimian told him to be careful.

The creaking sound echoed in the open space in front of the ancestral hall as the door opened backward, and the situation inside was gradually revealed in the eyes of the several members of the "Old Task Force".

Because there was a distance, Long Yuehong picked up the binoculars.

Bai Chen had undergone corresponding genetic modification, and Jiang Baimian also had very strong eyesight, still relying on her eyes.

Soon, they saw gray-white grave mounds.

These grave mounds were not large, located in the courtyard of the ancestral hall, densely packed, filling every place.

"Wow!" Shang Jianyao exclaimed.

He turned his body halfway and shouted to Jiang Baimian and the others:

"This place has become a mass grave!"

Not only the courtyard, but even the sides, back, and main sacrificial area of ​​the ancestral hall seemed to be filled with grave mounds.

Jiang Baimian stared for a while, and muttered to herself:

"The corpses that disappeared from the village?"

Those dead people were buried in the ancestral hall? Long Yuehong was shocked.

"Should be." Bai Chen felt that there was no other possibility.

She then pursed her lips:

"But who buried them?"

Survivors? Long Yuehong guessed in his heart.

But he quickly overturned this possibility again.

Because the survivors would not have avoided consuming or taking away those cans and instant noodles.

Shang Jianyao poked his head around the entrance of the ancestral hall for a while, until Jiang Baimian and the others walked to his side, then he said with a look of reverence:

"There should have been a few people who survived back then, and buried all the dead people in the village in the ancestral hall."

This was the same as Long Yuehong's guess just now, but the following development was completely different:

"At the same time, they lost the confidence to live, dug graves for themselves, and then buried themselves."

Another horrifying and bleak development... Long Yuehong muttered.

He didn't refute, because this was not without the possibility.

Jiang Baimian "hmm"ed and tried to walk into the ancestral hall.

There was only a little bit of space to set foot between those gray-white grave mounds. The several members of the "Old Task Force" had a rather difficult time entering the hall where the ancestors were enshrined without stepping on other people's graves.

This place was still full of small grave mounds, only a few places with memorial tablets were not occupied.

Jiang Baimian looked carefully for a while and found that this place belonged to the Du family, but there was no name of Du Shaochong.

"Before the Old World was destroyed, Du Shaochong had not died, or the news of his death had not been sent back." She said thoughtfully.

Then, she looked at the gray-white grave mound at her feet and hesitated for a moment:

"Dig one open and take a look. I always feel that these graves are too small, and they don't look like they can bury a person, unless they are buried vertically."

"Okay!" Shang Jianyao volunteered.

He led Long Yuehong out of the ancestral hall in a Yangko-like posture, and soon brought back two engineer shovels.

Before long, they dug open a grave mound.

The corpse inside was not buried deep, just a little below, all the bones were piled together.

Obviously, they were not buried in a normal posture.

"Chopped up and buried? This saves space." Shang Jianyao "suddenly realized".

Insane... Long Yuehong only had this one thought.

Jiang Baimian shook her head:

"It should be a bone burial.

"After the corpses had rotted into bones, they were buried here."

"Then who buried them?" Bai Chen frowned.

This was definitely not done by the survivors.