Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 209 Qiang Village
"A liaison officer from the intelligence department? Why is he at Panlong Airport?" Sun Hang was dumbfounded. "If I remember correctly, the liaison point of the intelligence department should be in the office building of the management committee, right?"

"Panlong Airport is the only airport in Lizhou City, and naturally it is also the air transport hub of Lizhou City... The liaison officer's task is to transport the collected samples of strange objects back to Chunming City by air. But no one expected that as soon as he stepped into Panlong Airport, the entire airport was swallowed up by the huge fireball that suddenly appeared." Yang Qi said, "What's wrong with you? Why do you look so ugly?"

"Does that liaison officer have a high level of authority?" Sun Hang asked after taking a deep breath.

"That's not too high," Yang Qi said, "but he should be aware of all the weird things investigation activities in Lizhou City."

"Including those hunters who were sent out on missions and have not returned yet?" Sun Hang asked again.

Yang Qi nodded.

"What mission are those hunters on?"

"I have to apply to the Disaster Countermeasures Committee for access to the archives..."

"No need." Sun Hang interrupted her, "Just use my authority."

"Okay... I found it..." Yang Qi looked at the laptop on her lap and frowned, "How about... you look at it yourself?"

She handed the laptop to Sun Hang.

On the screen was a 27-page action plan. At the very beginning of the plan was a drone detection profile.

Two hundred and thirty kilometers west of Lizhou City is a mountainous area with extremely complex terrain, where hundreds of Qiang villages are scattered. These Qiang villages have relatively maintained a very primitive style, and they live a self-sufficient life in this mountainous area with poor transportation.

As part of the jurisdiction area, the Lizhou City Management Committee once thought about moving these Qiang people to the city, but the Qiang people were unwilling to give up the homeland where their ancestors had lived for generations. Only a very small number of Qiang villages that had frequent influx of outsiders moved into the newly built resettlement area in the west of Lizhou City after the fall of the Eternal Night.

In order to prevent the Qiang people from freezing to death or starving to death in the mountainous villages, the Lizhou Municipal Administration Committee could only regularly send people to deliver grain, oil, coal and other supplies to these villages, and repeatedly persuade them to move to resettlement areas and accept unified management...

However, the persuasion efforts had little effect...the Qiang people who maintained their traditional lifestyle would rather gather together and shiver around the campfire for warmth than give up their village.

According to the "Implementation Regulations for the Management of Qiang Settlements" of the Lizhou City Management Committee, long-range drones will regularly patrol these remaining Qiang villages to ensure that no serious incidents of freezing and starvation occur... However, just four days ago, in a Qiang village called "Liangshuigou", all the people in the village seemed to have evaporated from the face of the earth, completely disappearing from the drone's field of vision.

Attached to the reconnaissance data were dozens of drone aerial videos and hundreds of photos. From these videos and photos, we can see that the buildings in Liangshuigou Village are intact and show no signs of damage. There are no signs of fighting, corpses, blood or the like inside the village.

There was a trace of an extinguished bonfire in the threshing ground in the center of the village. In the corner of the threshing ground, there were still a lot of firewood and coal briquettes piled up.

The scenes in these photos are almost the same. Except that there is no one in the picture, there is nothing unusual.

"It looks like the entire village has disappeared." Zhulong commented.

"There is plenty of fuel for heating... As for food, look at these photos." Yang Qi pointed at the screen and said, "There are bacon and corn hanging in front of and behind the villagers' houses. There are even a lot of potatoes piled up in this yard... It can basically be ruled out that the villagers left the village collectively due to lack of fuel or food."

"If they left the village, where could they go?" Sun Hang muttered, "Could it be that they were planning to come to Lizhou City, but got lost in the mountains?"

"Impossible." The old sheriff who was driving rejected it outright. "To be honest, there was a persuasion operation before, and I drove into the mountains. Damn it, those villagers were so stubborn that they refused to come to the city. There was an old man with a white beard who raised his cane to beat us, saying that even if they starved to death, they would rather die on the land left by their ancestors... If we want them to leave the village collectively, we have to find a rope to tie them all up and carry them out one by one!"

"Well, have you ever been to Liangshuigou Village?" Sun Hang asked.

"I've never been to Liangshuigou, but the attitudes of the villagers who stayed behind are basically the same." The old sheriff sighed, "In their eyes, violating the rules of their ancestors is more terrifying than evil spirits... I really don't know what's going on in their heads... No matter how strict the rules are, can human life be more important?"

"It is for this reason that the Disaster Countermeasures Committee determined that the collective disappearance of the villagers in Liangshuigou Village might be related to the strange creatures." Yang Qi said, "Two days ago, Lizhou City sent an investigation team consisting of six hunters, four investigators, and 25 sheriffs to Liangshuigou Village to conduct an investigation."

"Two days ago?" Sun Hang continued to ask, "How long does it take to get from Lizhou City to Liangshuigou?"

"In the past, when there were no roads in the mountains, it took at least three days and two nights to walk there. But now the roads have been repaired and it only takes half a day to drive there at most." The old sheriff who was driving recalled, "I remember that I went to a place called Shabaiping at that time. I set out after lunch at 7 o'clock in the morning and arrived at the destination just in time for lunch at 12 o'clock noon. I ate some dry food in the car and then went into the village... Liangshuigou is a little deeper than Shabaiping. I estimated that it would take about half an hour longer to drive there."

"That is to say, this missing investigation team should have arrived at the investigation site on the day of departure?" Sun Hang's fingers flicked lightly on the touchpad, "Why didn't Lizhou City report this situation in time?"

"You can only report a missing person if they have been out of contact for more than 72 hours." Yang Qi explained, "It's only been more than 50 hours now."

"This investigation team has obviously run into trouble... These officials are so rigid. Do they have to follow the rules?" Sun Hang complained unhappily, "What about the drone? Didn't the drone capture the whereabouts of the convoy?"

Before Yang Qi could answer, Sun Hang had already marked the relevant paragraph in the report document.

According to the description in the document, the investigation team's convoy last appeared in the drone's footage four hours after departure, on a winding mountain road more than 60 kilometers away from Liangshuigou Village.

After that, the investigation team's convoy disappeared completely, just like the villagers of Liangshuigou Village.

"Master." Sun Hang reached out and patted the old sheriff's shoulder, and asked, "Can we take a detour to Liangshuigou Village?"

"Ah? What did you say?" The old sheriff was shocked. "Aren't you going to Panlong Airport? Why are you suddenly going to Liangshuigou?"

"The epicenter of this strange attack is not Panlong Airport at all... Liangshuigou is probably the only clue we can use for investigation."

"This... I can't make the decision on this matter!" The old sheriff stammered, "You have to report to the Lizhou City Public Security Bureau... No, the director and others probably can't make the decision either. You probably have to apply directly to the Lizhou City Management Committee or even the Disaster Response Committee. Only with their approval can you go to Liangshuigou..." "I will use my authority to order the Disaster Response Committee to approve my application." Sun Hang said, "Okay, they have agreed, Master, I have temporarily requisitioned you and this car... By the way, should we have enough gasoline?"

"Ah? Are you planning to go now?" The old sheriff was completely dumbfounded. "Just us? No preparations?"

Just a few seconds ago, the old sheriff received an order from his direct superior, asking him to unconditionally obey all orders from the young man named Sun Hang in the car.

"That's enough. Is there any more preparation to do?" Sun Hang asked in return. "Everyone has their own things to do. I'm afraid we are the most idle people in Lizhou City."

"Sun Hang, isn't your decision a bit too hasty?" Yang Qi's tone revealed a trace of worry. "The investigation team sent by Lizhou City has six hunters, four investigators, and 25 fully armed sheriffs... and we are not prepared at all, not even a detailed action plan..."

"Yeah, yeah..." the old sheriff immediately responded, "To be honest, I only know how to drive, and I'm really not good at fighting and killing... We don't even have a gun in this car... I think you might as well go to the city defense guard to borrow an armored vehicle and a few dozen people... That way it will be safer at least!"

"Quality is more important than quantity. In front of the monster, no matter how many soldiers the city defense guard has, it is meaningless." Sun Hang said, "As for the action plan... This investigation team's action plan is 27 pages long. It's detailed enough, right? But, is it any use?"

"Then you have to at least give me a reason, right?" Yang Qi said, "From just now, I felt that you seemed a little abnormal... Especially after knowing that there was a liaison officer from the intelligence department among the dead. Sun Hang, can you tell me, what is the connection between the fireball at Panlong Airport, the dead liaison officer, and the disappearance of the villagers in Liangshuigou?"

"If I say it's intuition, would you believe it?" Sun Hang turned his head and looked at Yang Qi seriously.

"..." Yang Qi bit her lip and stared at Sun Hang for several seconds before she exhaled forcefully, "Okay, I'll believe you this time!"

“Don’t be so serious. It’s not entirely intuition...it’s a kind of smell, a smell for memes,” said Sun Hang.

"...Didn't you say that you didn't sense any strange memes at the scene where the fireball appeared?" Yang Qi asked with a puzzled look.

"How should I put it? Memes are very mysterious... You are studying this stuff, so you should know more about it than me, right?"

"You go on."

"I don't necessarily need to be in close contact with it... Sometimes, I just need to know that it exists, and I can connect these seemingly unrelated things together. This feeling is like an electric current in my brain. With a 'hiss', I can see an arc connecting some fragmented information into a string..."

"Isn't this intuition?" the old sheriff who was driving couldn't help but say.

"It's different from intuition." Sun Hang emphasized again.

"Okay, okay, you are a high-ranking official, whatever you say is right..." The old sheriff said helplessly, "But can you please change the driver... I will retire in two years..."

"You're scared?"

"How can I not be afraid? More than 30 people disappeared inexplicably, and we are the only ones running to the mountains. Isn't that sending food?" The old sheriff said with a sad face, "I still want to retire peacefully..."

"How about this, you stop the car now and report back to the bureau, and tell them that the mission I assigned to you is to stay in Lizhou City and prevent the invasion of strange creatures." Sun Hang said, "As for this car, I will drive it. Anyway, those mountain roads can be found in the navigation software, and I will not drive the car into the ravine."

"Really?" the old sheriff asked, stepping on the brakes.

"Really, don't worry, I will pretend that I didn't hear your complaints just now." Sun Hang was the first to open the car door.

"Thank you, thank you!" The old sheriff let go of the steering wheel as if relieved and jumped out of the car. "Then I'll leave first!"

"Yeah." Sun Hang nodded and took his place in the driving seat.

The old sheriff took a few steps, then turned back, took off the electric baton and tear gas spray from his waist, and stuffed them into Sun Hang's hands: "I don't know if these things can be used, but it's always a good idea to bring them with you."

"Thank you." Sun Hang took the equipment and threw it into the glove box.

"Huh? Why don't you get off the car yet?" Sun Hang looked back at the three people sitting in the back and asked.

"What do you mean?" Yang Qi was stunned and asked.

"What I mean is that I can go alone for this operation." Sun Hang tilted his head and glanced at Yang Qi and the other two. "You are all a burden to me."

"I don't agree!" Yang Qi slapped Sun Hang on the back of his head. "Don't try to use your authority to pressure me. If you don't agree, you don't agree!"

"Your acting is a bit poor." Zhulong also said with a smile, "You are worried about dragging us into danger, so you plan to act alone, right?"

"No, I really think you are a burden." Sun Hang said seriously.

Judging from Anna's special attitude towards herself, she would most likely not hurt herself... What's more, she still has the trump card of the Three Monkeys, which can absolutely suppress Anna... But if Yang Qi and others are targeted by Anna, or if Anna uses this to threaten herself, she would probably fall into a passive situation.

Sun Hang couldn't guarantee that the fisherman and Yano's good luck would continue to benefit Yang Qi and the others.

(End of this chapter)