Chapter 3

Just browsing around

I am not quite sure, "Xuanji hesitated for a moment, "You go ahead and continue speaking."

The first segment features a clear female voice, likely that of a female host: "Alright, we have entered, let's take everyone around to explore here casually."

What exactly is the complex and peculiar energy field in the heart of Chiyuan? Within the Bureau of Anomalous Control, there are numerous theories, among which the most widely circulated is the "Sealing Theory." However, regardless of the theory, everyone agrees that there may be some extremely dangerous entities hidden beneath that forest. Without thorough preparation, it is best not to allow them to resurface.

Xuanji raised an eyebrow: "What does 'riot' mean?"

tired of it

"This is urgent," Xiao Zheng said, unceremoniously thrusting a folder into his arms. "You can talk about resigning later. Even if you are just a temporary worker, you must finish this task for me first. There is no small matter in Chiyuan; we cannot afford even the slightest mistake."

There are a total of 8 trees, which almost simultaneously underwent mutations. The local safety bureau's field personnel marked the original locations of the 8 mutated trees on a map. For some reason, Xuanji vaguely felt that the pattern formed by those 8 points looked somewhat familiar

Xuanji listened to this perplexing task objective, and due to confusion, her expression blanked for two seconds. Afterward, she let out an "ah" as she recalled her role

The chubby girl is named "Ping Qianru". She seems a bit introverted; when she encounters strangers, she becomes nervous. In her nervousness, her small hands appear to have a mind of their own, instinctively digging into her pockets. After a moment, she regains her composure and reluctantly pushes the snacks she had taken out back into her pocket.

To make a long story short, Xiao Zheng said, "During the Golden Week holiday, several ancient trees in the primeval forest of Chiyuan Grand Canyon suddenly underwent mutations, and the reason is still unknown. These trees are quite cunning; after mutating, they can move within the forest, making them difficult to deal with. For safety reasons, the local safety bureau communicated with the surrounding scenic areas and requested that they suspend visitor reception under the pretext of 'geological hazards.' However, a small group of thrill-seekers, feeling overly adventurous, insisted on entering despite the restrictions. Not only did they sneak in without paying, but they also happened to encounter the mutated trees in a state of upheaval.

On the first day of work, having previously studied a field that was not quite relevant and lacking experience, I felt embarrassed. Xuanji chuckled, then hesitated, turning to seek help from her new colleagues, "Comrades, according to convention, how should we generally handle this situation?"

The third segment features another man with a slightly hoarse voice: "As for me, I wouldn't say it's particularly hard; everyone has their own difficulties. Isn't a nine-to-six job tough? It is indeed challenging, but at least we still have our freedom"

We dispatched an emergency rescue team to retrieve the several tourists who were trapped. Xiao Zheng said, "Fortunately, everyone has been rescued. These individuals had taken refuge in a natural cave and escaped a disaster. However, we currently do not know how much they witnessed—your aftermath department's task this time is to handle these individuals.

When people generally mention "Chiyuan Grand Canyon," they often think of the "5A" level scenic area. However, the scenic area is merely a small part of the periphery, and the true primitive forest has not been developed.

Chiyuan, this place is very special, so special that whenever there is the slightest disturbance, the entire Anomaly Control Bureau has to tremble a few times in response

Xuanji: "... ..."

He was neither sent to cut down the mutated trees nor consulted about how these strange trees went mad. Now, he is the leader of the 'Butt Wiping Team' and the head of the 'Mother's Helpers', with the primary task of soothing the injured citizens' fragile hearts, ensuring that they see nothing and remember nothing

How?

"There is no problem with this sentence," Xiao Zheng said, "the issue lies here."

Just now, Director Xiao was urging like a death sentence, and Xuan Ji casually pointed out three people before hurriedly leaving. Now, upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that these three individuals each have their own complicated circumstances.

Historical records indicate that the Chiyuan region once experienced "earthquakes spanning a thousand miles, raging flames flowing across, and for dozens of miles on both banks, not a blade of grass grew." Contemporary historians generally believe that this is merely a descriptive technique, illustrating the extreme brutality of the wars that once occurred in this area, with bloodshed likened to the legendary "raging flames."

Next to me sat a well-dressed and composed gentleman, whose hairline was rather unfortunate, with his hair having taken on a hollowed-out appearance. Nevertheless, he meticulously applied hair gel, neatly securing his hair atop his head. From a distance, it resembled a barcode on his crown.

The days of working from 9 AM to 6 PM

"Sheng Lingyuan." Xiao Zheng said, "He claims to be called Sheng Lingyuan."

However, those who are in the know understand that this description is likely true

Xiao Zheng had a glaring phrase hanging on his face: "What did I say?" I gave him a sidelong glance, subtly hinting: "Go quickly and come back soon, Old Song from the security department wants to invite you to dinner."

"We must pay close attention to this person," Xiao Zheng glanced at Xuan Ji, "appearing out of nowhere in Chi Yuan, I even suspect he might not be human—your plane should be ready."

The camera shook violently, the image was constantly trembling, and the signal was quite unstable. Suddenly, a massive shadow swiftly swept by, as thick as a person's embrace, moving with incredible speed, resembling a giant python on the hunt

"There is one more thing," said Xiao Zheng beside him. "When we received the report, it was said that there were a total of five trapped tourists. The life signs detected by the rescue team initially also indicated five people. However, in the end, we pulled out six individuals. The other five were engaged in a bizarre live stream; after sneaking into the scenic area, they recorded the entire process. However, during our field investigation, we found that all the footage capturing this sixth person was blurry, from start to finish. We only recorded his voice—this person spoke very strangely. You should listen to it; there is something to prepare for."

This is the recording of the few trapped tourists chatting with the audience during the live broadcast, which may not be discernible when placed within the entire sentence

Xiao Zheng opened the laptop and turned the screen towards him: "This was captured by the surveillance at the scenic area."

I...

Xuanji had not yet had the chance to escape back to the elevator and start anew when she was confronted head-on by Director Xiao.

The environment there is extremely complex; some say it is an ancient battlefield, while others claim it is an ancient burial ground

Xuanji: "Oh my, is this the scene of the 'Python Disaster'?"

"Eat, eat, it's fine." Xuanji wanted to say a few words, but faced with these few people, she truly did not know what to say, so she could only smack her lips and force a smile

He spoke as he opened a video on the computer, and for some reason, the man in the footage seemed to be melting into the light, with only an overexposed, blurred outline visible.

As he turned around, he clearly saw the few individuals behind him

The roots, resembling giant pythons, first struck the ground, creating a hole, and then slithered along the surface with a menacing display. Soon after, they collided with an ancient tree not far from the camera, immediately wrapping around it. The ancient tree visibly withered, as if its life force had been drained away, and in less than ten seconds, it had become a pile of dead branches

Bi Chunsheng was puzzled: "What is wrong with this sentence?"

Come out

In the depths of Chiyuan, there lies not only the tomb of Emperor Wu of Qi.

Here, ancient arrays and inscriptions that have been lost to time are almost everywhere, and to this day, less than one-tenth of them have been successfully deciphered, which are intricately connected to many incomplete ancient texts that await restoration

He suddenly felt tired, as he had just single-handedly raised the average attractiveness of the department, leaving him quite exhausted

This is one of the mutated spruces. After accumulating some energy, they begin to rapidly expand outward, plundering the life force of all living beings along the way, which is extremely dangerous

It is like a dangerous yet highly attractive living fossil

The speed of speech, tone, pauses, and emphasis are all identical. It is as if the same audio has undergone voice modulation; this person is not imitating someone else's speech, but is completely replicating it. Xiao Zheng raised his head and said, "A single word may be a coincidence, but through comparison, we found that every word spoken by this mysterious man is 'copied' from someone else's speech."

Xuanji called out to him: "What is this person's name?"

One of them is the lady who just shouted "one two". Perhaps feeling a bit warm from wearing too many layers, she has now removed her outer black suit and is wearing a "death Barbie pink" knitted cardigan underneath. The autumn shirt peeking out from the neckline has lace trim, which is quite exquisite. She is currently wearing floral glasses and is busily writing in a small notebook.

Bi Chunsheng's glasses slipped down from his nose: "Ah? What? Are you saying he imitates how others speak?"

Um..." Xuanji quickly flipped through the materials at hand

Upon closer inspection, that "giant python" is actually a root of a large tree emerging from the ground

Not just learning. Xiao Zheng first isolated the four words "just browsing" spoken by the female host, and then immediately played the same phrase "just browsing" said by the mysterious man. When these words are embedded in conversation, they are not prominent and pass by the ear in a second. However, when isolated and compared, they send chills down one's spine.

I can tell. "Xuanji interrupted him, "This mysterious figure has taken words from what others have said and rearranged them to form a new sentence.

Bi Chunsheng—The elder sister wearing glasses said: "Rest assured, we all have basic office procedures. First, we will talk to each person one by one; there is nothing complicated about it... Well, we will provide some comfort, especially for those with serious psychological trauma. Occasionally, we might use a few 'props', but it is not complicated. Finally, make sure to check their phones and computers, especially those connected to the internet, to avoid leaving any traces. You can let Qianru handle this; the young people are quite adept with computers. Our office printer is broken, and we always ask her to fix it."

I am tired of the nine-to-six routine and just want to go out and wander around

Ten minutes later, he was forced into a difficult situation, accompanied by several new subordinates of unknown origin, and they boarded the helipad of the headquarters

The third person is a young woman, appearing not very old—of course, she could also be older, but her fullness smooths out any wrinkles, making her look youthful. She occupies two seats by herself, nervously pulling snacks out of her pocket while listening to Director Xiao speak. When she notices the new boss looking back at her, she hurriedly stuffs half-extracted chocolate back into her pocket, with a piece of peanut stuck to the corner of her mouth.

Xuanji was about to make a few sarcastic remarks when she heard the words "Chiyuan" and was taken aback, immediately adopting a serious expression: "What happened?"

He spoke and then played several other audio clips

Although only the voice is present, one can sense that the speaker seems to be smiling. The tone is warm and friendly, instantly evoking a sense of affection in the listener

The roots of the "well-fed" plant had noticeably thickened, and then it reached towards the air, shaking a few times as if to show off, before suddenly crashing towards the camera, causing the screen to go dark, presumably due to the lens breaking

The second segment features a deep male voice: "Traveling, you see, is simply going from a place you are tired of to a place others are tired of. Nowadays, during holidays, there is still traffic congestion. I think it would be better to lie on the sofa and watch others run errands. Today, we are responsible for travel, taking your eyes on a tour. If you all enjoy watching, do send some gifts as well."