It's late at night.

"Brother Su, is your dad really in the construction business?"

Chen Qi broke the silence and asked curiously.

Xia Yao was driving. When he introduced himself, he used the pseudonym Su Mo. When someone called him, he almost didn't react.

"I'm lying to him." Xia Yao turned the steering wheel and made a turn.

Zhou Ze'an seized the opportunity to ask, "You said you were a delivery driver, but you were lying to us too?"

Xia Yao said she was a newcomer, but she acted too calmly, so Zhou Ze'an couldn't help but be more careful.

Xia Yao remained unfazed. "How could that be? I really am a food delivery person."

"Brother Su's speech and behavior are like those of a cultured person," Zhou Ze'an calmly concluded.

"Pshaw, what kind of cultured person are you? Just a bunch of college graduates who can't find jobs and are just corporate slaves. Let me tell you, these bosses are ruthless these days; they'll try to kill you for three thousand yuan!"

Xia Yao carefully chose her words and spoke with great emotion, managing to get away with it.

The three of them walked around for a while and chatted with a few more staff members, trying to get information from them indirectly.

Although their versions differ, the content is largely the same as what the two masters said.

There were indeed accidents during the construction of the scenic area, but only injuries occurred, no one died, and the injured are still alive.

Therefore, the speculation that the death was caused by construction work can be ruled out.

Of course, it's also possible that the staff has concealed something, and they'll need to investigate further.

As for the orange grove, there are still no clues.

"Let's go see the flower field."

The thought of the juicy oranges bursting in the soil made Xia Yao feel slightly anxious.

As we headed towards the sea of ​​flowers, it gradually grew dark.

Dark, gray clouds piled up, as if a storm was brewing.

The flower field is vast, and there are many varieties of flowers.

The most unique feature is the rose maze next to the campsite, which is as big as four basketball courts.

It's called a rose, but it's actually a climbing rose.

Thorny green branches climbed all over the barbed wire, forming a two-meter-high wall.

The lush green and vibrant red wove together a complex web.

At this moment, an old man was working outside the maze.

Although he was wearing rubber boots, the blue work pants were still covered in mud, which looked like they had been splashed while watering the flowers.

The old man was wielding a large pair of scissors, trimming the wildly growing branches and leaves of the roses, making the flower wall smooth and angular.

Zhou Ze'an stepped forward to greet him as before, "Grandpa, this flower wall is really beautiful."

"Of course, I trimmed it piece by piece with scissors."

The old man turned around and sized up the newcomer.

Zhou Ze'an offered the old man a cigarette, but the old man waved his hand repeatedly.

"Smoking isn't allowed here. What if a spark ignites me?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't think of that."

Zhou Ze'an tucked the cigarette he was offered behind his ear, looking apologetic.

Xia Yao stepped in and brought over the Wanglaoji herbal tea tube, saying, "It's so stuffy today, grandpa, have some herbal tea."

But the old man still waved his hand and refused.

Seeing this, Zhou Ze'an simply pulled out three red bills.

"Sir, I'd like to ask you something. I heard this used to be an orange grove. Whose orange grove is it?"

His plan was to proceed step by step, first inquiring about the owner, and then finding out if anything had happened.

But the old man's expression changed, and he immediately tried to drive them away.

"Let's go, let's go! Don't ask any unnecessary questions. A reporter already fell into the river because he was meddling. Don't ask anything, just get going!"

Reporter, did you fall into the river because you were meddling in other people's business?

These combinations are not a good thing.

"Sir, what kind of reporter? Please tell us about it, and we'll give you more money."

But the old man wouldn't listen to reason or threats, and he tried to drive people away with a fierce expression.

Under the threat of the large pair of scissors, the three were driven away from the flower field area and found out nothing.

"It seems something really did happen in that orange grove, which is why the old man is so secretive about it."

Zhou Ze'an put the red bill back into his wallet and drew his conclusion.

"And that reporter he mentioned, perhaps he's connected to the orange grove."

Xia Yao's eyes darkened slightly, after all, the reporter was only brought up after mentioning the orange grove.

"It looks like it's going to rain today, let's go back to the hotel."

Zhou Ze'an looked at the gloomy sky and felt slightly uneasy.

"it is good."

Xia Yao had no objection to this; the gloomy sky didn't seem like a good omen.

Sure enough, not long after the three returned to the hotel, a light drizzle began to fall.

Before it got completely dark, the other three finally returned to the hotel.

They were a bit soaked by the rain and looked rather disheveled.

After changing out of their wet clothes, the six of them met at the restaurant.

Xia Yao first recounted their experiences, and then summarized them.

"First, there were rockfall accidents and ghost stories during the construction of the scenic area. However, the victims were only injured and did not die, although the possibility of workers covering it up cannot be ruled out. The scenic area seems to have performed exorcism rituals, which may be a breakthrough in confirming the origin of the horror. Next time, we can check with a well-known local fortune teller and pay for clues."

"Second, the area around the flower field was originally an orange grove. The ghost must have some connection with the orange grove, which is why it used oranges as a marker for murder. We can investigate the original ownership of the land. For such a large-scale land acquisition, the nearby village committee should have some documents or public notices to make it easier to find the relevant people."

"Third, the gardener was unusually hostile towards us. He mentioned the reporter's accident. Although falling into the river was different from the way we are seeing people die now, it would be best to investigate and verify it as a precaution."

Xia Yao's analysis was clear and logical, drawing everyone's attention.

His behavior clearly didn't seem like that of a newcomer to the world of horror.

However, no one cared whether he was pretending to be a newbie; the more skilled his teammates were, the better it would be for uncovering the truth.

"Great, take a look at what we found."

Liu Lili expressionlessly took out a black plastic bag, which was still wet from the rain.

I pulled a crumpled old newspaper out of the plastic bag.

"We asked the villagers nearby, but they were unwilling to say much when the scenic spot was mentioned. Later, we walked a long way and spent nearly a thousand yuan before we finally got some information."

"There used to be some residents on this mountain. Before they moved out, there seemed to be some conflicts, and an elderly person had an accident. I don't know if it's related to the developer."

Liu Lili unfolded the old newspaper, and bold headlines and black-and-white photos came into view.

[A terrifying incident occurred on a rainy night! An elderly person died after being caught in a landslide, highlighting the urgent need for safety measures in mountainous areas.]

The somewhat blurry photos sent chills down Xia Yao and Zhou Ze'an's spines.

The old man in the photo is none other than the grandpa pruning the branches and leaves by the flower maze!

The old man was dead, so what they encountered was a ghost?

"Four years ago, this elderly man who lived alone died in the mountains, the very mountains where we are now."

Liu Lili gently tapped the newspaper with her slender fingers, her silver nail polish reflecting a faint, cold light under the dim lamplight.

"The report said that the elderly man went into the mountains during a heavy rain and was hit on the head by a falling rock. Because there were few people in the mountains, no one came to his rescue, so he died."