Night without Borders

Chapter 11 The Invisible Zone
The ridges of the fields are neatly arranged, and the crops, from the roots to the leaves and then to the ears of grain, are all bright and shining, like golden ornaments. They are particularly eye-catching in the dark mountains and are shrouded in mystery.

Everyone present was attracted by Feng Yian’s words. How could such a wonderful sight appear in the mountains with thick night fog?
"Who is working on the farm?" Xu Yueping asked.

Feng Yian shook his head. The lost ranger discovered the place by accident but did not dare to approach.

Afterwards they reported the incident immediately and higher-ups came in person, but they couldn't find him anywhere.

Old Liu, who was over seventy years old, sighed, "The night is endless, there are too many unknown things in the deep mountains and swamps, and the vast uninhabited areas are extremely dangerous. Even if the city lord from afar comes in person, it is difficult to go deep into them."

"Uncle Liu, have you also encountered some strange things?" Qin Ming asked.

Old Man Liu nodded, revealing a look of reminiscence, and said, "Not to mention the wilderness, there are also strange things near our habitat."

At that time, he was still a teenager, flying kites with his friends at the entrance of the village. When he was reeling in the string, he found something sticky and there was blood on the kite.

"Right at the entrance of our village?" Yang Yongqing was surprised and couldn't help looking at the night sky outside the window.

After some hesitation, Qin Ming said, "Could it be that the bird was injured and then collided with the kite?"

"Maybe. When my grandfather saw the bloody kite ribbon, his face changed immediately. He kept this matter to himself, and decades have passed in a flash." said Old Man Liu.

It always makes people feel uncomfortable when this kind of thing happens at their doorstep.

Xu Yueping said: "Let Brother Feng tell us about the things in the mountains."

"Have you ever heard mountain beasts crying at graves?" Feng Yian mentioned it with some caution and awe, his expression was very complicated.

"What kind of grave are you crying for?" someone asked. They had been walking in the mountains for many years and had never encountered such a thing.

Feng Yian said: "Beast Grave."

"Wild beasts need burial?" Xu Yueping was stunned.

Feng Yian nodded and said, "The no-man's land covered by night fog is awe-inspiring, and anything bizarre can happen."

On that day, the old leader of the patrol team discovered something unusual in the mountain. He was worried that the mysterious creatures would further transform and cause a disaster, so he approached quietly.

"The old team leader wants to obtain first-hand information to see what kind of 'strange insect' or 'famous beast' is improving itself, so that we can prevent it and counterattack accurately."

This is because the creatures that have mutated multiple times each have different abilities, and in order to deal with them, different measures and means need to be prepared.

The old team leader was suddenly shocked on the way that the abnormal noise was actually crying, but he did not stop. He then saw an old white-haired beast sobbing and crying at a grave at night, which was very creepy.

Feng Yian said: "That dilapidated earthen tomb must have existed for at least a thousand years, because the ancient cypress that sprouted from the tomb must have lived for at least a thousand years."

The old team leader saw the white-haired mountain beast kowtow like a human, and light rain fell near the earthen grave, illuminating the dark mountain forest.

Afterwards, birds of prey descended from the night sky and monsters came ashore from the swamp and followed suit to worship.

Having said this, Feng Yian stopped.

"What happened next?" someone asked.

Feng Yian said: "The old team leader ventured closer, wanting to see the true appearance of the white-haired mountain beast. He was going to go back and check if there were any local records, so that he could take targeted precautions."

The white-haired old beast kowtowed, shed tears, and then began to mutate inexplicably. Crying at the grave seemed like a mysterious ritual that elevated its life level.

The old team leader retreated quietly, but began to cough up blood on the way and his whole body was itchy. Although he came back alive and reported what he had seen, he died of flesh and blood ulcers.

"A large number of troops were dispatched from above, and they went into the mountains to fight a fierce battle. It is said that fortunately the news was delivered in time, otherwise when the white-haired old beast had fully grown, there would have been a great disaster."

Everyone felt heavy-hearted. On normal days, the outside of the mountain was relatively peaceful, but in the invisible places, there were hidden stories. Some people were silently guarding the mountain and fighting.

Old man Liu had white hair and wrinkles all over his face. He sighed and said, "There are more than one or two people like the old team leader. A close friend I met when I was young was one who stayed in the mountains all year round to stop dangerous aliens. In the end, he got old and I don't know if he died in the mountains and never appeared again."

Feng Yian nodded and said, "Most of the members of our patrol team have been seriously injured, and some of them have a difficult death, not even leaving behind their bodies."

He used the example of the old team leader's master, saying, "Back then, that old senior was extremely powerful and highly respected. He had already retired because he lost an arm, but when he heard that a dangerous mountain monster had appeared, he was worried that the younger generation would not be able to stop it, so he stopped the others from dying, and he dragged his broken body over to kill them."

In the battle, although the old team leader's master severely injured the mountain monster, he himself died tragically. In addition to leaving a large amount of blood, only the lower half of the knife was left.

"The greatest wish of that old man before his death was to be buried outside the mountain with his deceased wife and children. However, his wish was not fulfilled and his soul could not return, and ended up in the dark mountain." Feng Yian shook his head and sighed.

The old man's wife and children died prematurely due to a mountain monster's rebellion, and he never remarried since then.

The forest patrol team brought back his blood-stained broken knife and buried it beside the grave of his wife and children.

After hearing this, Qin Ming felt that the spicy old wine had no taste at all and remained silent.

Feng Yian was in low spirits and said, "In the end, the rangers were injured, dead, and some went crazy and fell into the mountains. They ate bloody and hairy raw meat like wild beasts and turned into complete monsters. Alas, we don't know what the final fate of our group will be. Maybe the mountains will be our final destination."

The atmosphere at the table was a bit depressing. Something had changed in the mountain, and perhaps the mountain was about to be cleared. No one knew what would happen next.

Feng Yian drank the wine in his glass in one gulp and said, "Brother Xu, I'll have to trouble you to plant the medicinal seeds."

He solemnly took out a wooden box from his arms, and when he opened it, there were four black seeds inside, as big as kidney beans.

Xu Yueping was startled and asked, "We have to plant them in winter?"

Feng Yian looked solemn, and said, "If we put it in the fire spring for nourishment now, it will flourish in early spring. The patrol team will definitely be at the forefront of this battle. The lives of some brothers are probably beginning to count down. Even if they survive, they may be half-crippled. I don't know if they can survive until the Black Moon grows up. This is a life-saving medicine for many people, Lao Xu, you must pay attention to it!"

The black moon is rooted in the fire spring, its leaves are like orchids, and when the full buds bloom, each petal is like a black crescent moon, shedding black light and surrounded by white mist.

Feng Yian wiped off a little bit of wine from his beard, stood up and said goodbye: "Thank you for your hospitality, Brother Xu. If you can come back alive after sweeping the mountain, we will meet again."

"Brother Feng is very capable and will surely be able to turn danger into safety," said Xu Yueping.

The people present sent Feng Yian to the village entrance and watched him disappear into the night.

"It's a bad year, but the patrol team is considerate enough to send us only four seeds. The spiritual energy drawn from the fire spring can be tolerated." Someone said.

The rangers not only monitor the dangers in the mountains, but also guard them. People from all over the country are willing to grow life-saving herbs for them and they do not object.

According to the agreement, each village has to provide four to eight Black Moon plants every year. If there are only four plants, the impact on the crops in the fire fields will not be that great.

The people present dispersed.

Old man Liu hadn't left yet. He stared at the four black seeds and said, "They really worked."

When Qin Ming left, he found that Xu Yueping seemed to be worried about something.

……

There were a lot more people on the streets, all carrying bows and arrows and hunting forks, ready to go into the mountains.

Yesterday they asked Qin Ming in detail about the situation in the mountains and started to act early this morning.

The main reason is that each household has little grain left in reserve and food is in short supply.

"A big harvest, we hunted two saber-horned deer!" A group of people returned with good news and a great harvest.

"At present, the outer areas of the forest have become calmer. As long as you don't go too deep, you can hunt with caution."

The next day, more people went into the mountains and brought back a lot of prey.

Many children cheered, not afraid of the cold, exhaled white mist, and ran around in the streets as if it were New Year's Day. The atmosphere in the village was obviously much better.

"Uncle, come to my house to try something new. Today we're having musk deer meat." Wen Rui happily called Qin Ming.

After eating the game, Qin Ming walked out of Lu Ze's house and saw Xu Yueping coming back from the village entrance with a frown on his face.

"Uncle Xu, are you seeing someone off?"

"Well, the mountain patrol team is here, urging me to plant the Black Moon seeds." Xu Yueping said.

Qin Ming felt that being a mountain patroller was indeed not an easy job. Facing all kinds of dangers, one might get injured or even die at any time.

He saw that Xu Yueping was worried and had a frown on his face, so he didn't say much.

On that day, the last group of people who had entered the mountains caused a commotion when they returned because most of them were injured and covered in blood, and all their prey had been lost.

"It was a close call. We encountered a mutated snow ape and one of Lao Chen's arms was nearly torn off." The villagers who escaped back were still in shock.

"Fortunately, we used bows and arrows to drive it back and escaped." They survived the disaster and said that they had gone too deep into the mountains this time and must not be reckless next time.

The thick night fog dissipated and a new day came. Although some people were injured yesterday, it did not scare others because there were new students following them this time.

However, it didn't take long before a group of them came back, many of them were covered in blood, and the freshman was the most seriously injured.

His left shoulder blade was broken, one of his legs was bent unnaturally, his chest was partially collapsed, and his mouth was full of blood foam. It was unknown whether he could survive.

"what happened?"

"We encountered a blood bear!" someone said with trembling lips.

The blood bear is a very powerful mutant creature. Its fur is blood-colored. It is violent and ferocious. Even a newborn may not survive if it encounters it.

"Where is Brother Lu?" Qin Ming quickly came to the next yard.

"He went into the mountains." Liang Wanqing became anxious after learning about the situation.

"I'll go find him!" Qin Ming turned and left.

When Xu Yueping learned that a group of people had not returned, he became anxious and called all the new students to go into the mountains together.

Qin Ming was running in the front, with large waves of snow on both sides of his body, which frightened Xu Yueping, who was closest to him, and made him a little dazed. As for the others, they had been left behind.

Near the forest, Qin Ming stopped because a group of people were staggering out.

He saw Lu Ze being carried out.

"Brother Lu!" He rushed over.

Lu Ze's face was as pale as gold paper, his eyes were closed, his clothes were torn and bloody, his chest and abdomen were the most seriously injured, and he had at least three broken ribs.

There were cries coming from the side, and two of the seriously injured people who were carried back had already died.

"Were you injured by the blood bear?" Qin Ming asked.

Someone said with a look of fear: "Yes, if the rangers hadn't shown up, many of us would have died."

Qin Ming stared at the dark forest and pulled out his sharp dagger.

Xu Yueping arrived, stopped him, and said, "Don't take any risks, go back first!"

When Liang Wanqing saw Lu Ze being carried back, she turned pale with fright and ran over, stumbling. The two children burst into tears.

"Sister-in-law, Brother Lu just fainted." Qin Ming said.

He checked carefully and found that Lu Ze's broken ribs did not pierce his internal organs. After he reconnected them and treated the wound, the problem was not serious.

Many people were injured this time, and you could hear the crying of the elderly and children standing on the street.

The atmosphere in the village was depressing, and Xu Yueping ordered that from now on no one was allowed to enter the mountain.

Qin Ming walked into the courtyard of Xu Yueping's house and found that Old Man Liu and Yang Yongqing were also there.

"Do you want to kill the blood bear?" Xu Yueping asked in the house.

Qin Ming said in a low voice: "Although Lu Ze has injuries from bear claws, several of his ribs seem to have been broken by fists."

"You have this feeling too, it's probably caused by human factors." Xu Yueping stood up suddenly and said angrily: "Some people are too much!"

Qin Ming had already sensed it and had some guesses.

Because, ever since Xu Yueping got the fourth seed, he has been worried.

"Why?" Qin Ming asked. It was one thing to guess it, but it was hard for him to accept it in his heart.

Xu Yueping said in a low voice: "The patrol team forced me to plant the Black Moon immediately, but I refused. I didn't expect them to retaliate in this way."

Old Man Liu said, "There is something wrong with the seeds. They must have mutated and will absorb a large amount of spiritual energy from the fire spring, affecting the cultivation of the fire fields. There may be famine next year."

Qin Ming was in a very upset mood. Seeing that bearded Feng Yian was very heroic and told some sad stories of the mountain rangers, which made people feel touched, he ended up doing such a thing.

Yang Yongqing said: "What Feng Yian mentioned are all true stories, but they have nothing to do with the main members of this group now!"

Qin Ming thought of what he had said before: Some rangers are very responsible.

At that time, he felt that Yang Yongqing seemed to be implying that some people were very irresponsible, and his expression was quite subtle.

Old Man Liu lowered his voice and said, "This group has hunted blood bears. I seriously suspect that someone is now using that bear skin to do evil."

Qin Ming was furious when he heard this. Patrolmen are supposed to guard the mountains, protect the area, and be respected by others, but what are they doing? They appear to be generous and responsible, but they are doing evil in secret, with the blood of the villagers on their hands. Where is their conscience?
"Is Brother Xu at home?" Feng Yian led four rangers into the courtyard.

"It's all our fault. We failed in our duty this time and failed to protect our fellow countrymen." Bearded Feng Yian said with a guilty look that he would go after the blood bear immediately.

The knuckles of Xu Yueping's fingers turned white from being pinched in his sleeves, but he was unable to lash out and had to straighten his posture to deal with it.

He felt extremely uncomfortable. The other party came to apologize after killing someone. This was simply like riding on someone's neck, looking down at him, and ridiculing him with a smile.

Qin Ming sat quietly, temporarily resisting the urge to draw his sword.

Thanks to: sssxi, Gentleman Never Looks at Xuebai, Lili卌卌, Xiaowuwuwuwu, the name doesn’t have to be too long, just about the same will do, thank you for your support!

(End of this chapter)