Void Jigsaw Puzzle

"You asked a good question. We actually wanted to ask it too, but we didn't say it. It's true that children speak without restraint." Guo Ling commented with a smile after hearing what Zhong Chenmu said.

While commenting, he also scooped the last bite of food in the lunch box into his mouth.

Zhong Chenmu was brought to the foot of the platform by Pu Yue, went through the procedures for joining the society, and then received a box lunch. Just as he wolfed down his meal, he saw Guo Ling not far away, and the two of them started chatting about the previous topic again.

"Isn't this a simple truth?" Zhong Chenmu curled his lips. "No matter how great a prophet he is, or how lofty his ideals are, he still has to survive. What's the point of not collecting dues? I just don't think it's that good."

Guo Ling puffed out his cheeks and praised, "I didn't realize you were so clear-headed at such a young age... But didn't you join like me? Isn't it just because they provide the food?"

Zhong Chenmu shook his head. "Over the past few days, I've become increasingly puzzled by these phenomena. I really want to see what's going on. Besides, I want to find my parents, and there's no other way. What if he can do what he claims? Anyway, calling the police is useless..."

Guo Ling swallowed the last bite of rice, wiped his mouth, and looked at Zhong Chenmu curiously: "Could it be that the feedback you got from the police is also..."

"Yes, they said that my parents' existence could not be found in the public security system."

"As I expected..." Guo Ling frowned. "It's the same for me. My wife, children, and parents are all completely unknown. In fact, I've done more than you. I was thinking, since the call was connected, could I go to the telecommunications bureau to check the owner of the number? But when I got there, I was told that the owner didn't exist. All calls were directly transferred to their central server, so naturally no one answered... Of course, the one thing I haven't figured out is: why didn't anyone answer even though my wife's phone was connected."

Zhong Chenmu was silent.

Guo Ling also sighed slightly and looked up at the sky.

It wasn't that no one was answering his wife's phone; there were clearly voices coming from it that made him start to have wild thoughts.

After a while, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and said, "Don't worry about the professor and the Prophet Society's profits. I've seen many organizations like this, both formal and informal. Anyway, everyone has their own unique skills, and no one will run a business that loses money. Their survival may not depend on our membership fees; perhaps there are other ways. Anyway... my idea is similar to yours. Let's try our best."

Zhong Chenmu nodded, looked at the people around him who were chatting in groups of three or five, and finally turned his gaze to Pu Yue who had her back to him, and several other "Twelve Apostles".

Although he was inexperienced, it was not difficult for him to see that these twelve women were the most beautiful among all the women in the City God Temple today.

Guo Ling raised the corner of his mouth: "Can't you take your eyes off beautiful women?"

Zhong Chenmu was a little embarrassed and quickly turned his eyes away from Pu Yue: "How could that be..."

"Hey, I'm an experienced person. How could I not see that little look in your eyes? These twelve people are loyal followers of that old man. I don't know where he got all these beautiful women from... But I heard that they are all 'actual widows'."

"Actual widow?"

"Yes, nominally they all have husbands, but their husbands are missing, just like our parents."

"So...they followed Professor Pierce because they hoped to find their lover?"

"That should be it. Otherwise, could it be that Old Man Tu is old and doesn't take a bath?"

"..."

"In fact, I have always been curious whether this old man has any missing relatives of his own." Guo Ling said thoughtfully.

Zhong Chenmu was stunned: "Uncle, your idea is very good, I will go and ask..."

"What are you thinking?" Guo Ling glared at him. "Even if you want to ask, now's not the time! He's the founder of the Prophet Society, a god in the hearts of many people. Even if you ask, he might not tell you the truth. You'll find a chance later. Anyway, you've already joined the society, so you'll receive notifications of their various activities."

Zhong Chenmu looked around and saw Pierce surrounded by several people from a distance, like the moon surrounded by stars.

He suddenly asked Guo Ling quietly: "Uncle, should we retreat first?"

"Retreat? Where to? You have to know that there is no one waiting for us at home."

"No, not going home, I have an idea..."

So, Zhong Chenmu whispered to Guo Ling that he wanted to explore the source of a big river.

After hearing this, Guo Ling opened his eyes and said, "You can do it! Let's go! We can go together! If anything happens, we can look after each other. After all, I'm a few years older than you, so I have more experience."

"Is it just a few years older?"

"..."

The two men walked around the crowd in a low-key manner, walked quickly to the entrance of the City God Temple, and pushed the door open under the cover of the screen wall.

When the heavy vermilion door closed behind them, Zhong Chenmu felt like he had entered a completely different world.

The noise and the crowds were isolated behind me, and the world before me was now filled with darkness and silence.

The two of them stepped onto the soft ground at the door again, walked around the woods and headed towards the road.

Compared to when he arrived by bus just now, Zhong Chenmu felt even more lonely at this moment.

"Shall we walk over there?" Guo Ling asked.

"Well, since we're exploring, it's better to walk to get more freedom."

Guo Ling wanted to say something, but he didn't say it.

There was no one walking on the road, and no cars passing by. Only the dim street lights carefully illuminated the area beneath their feet.

Zhong Chenmu walked a few steps on the road before he noticed a sign on the side of the road: Shanqian Road.

"What a simple name."

For some reason, he felt that the place names in Wuming City looked ordinary, yet seemed to have a history and a heavy feeling.

Guo Ling patted his shoulder.

"Let's go in the direction of the sound of water. There's a big river flowing down from the mountain. We just need to find the river and then walk upstream along the river bank."

Zhong Chenmu asked, "Do you feel that our place names are quite simple, yet familiar, as if we've known each other for a long time?"

"We live in this tiny place, and seeing these place names every day makes them feel familiar."

"I don't think that's the reason, but I can't really say why."

"Don't overthink it. You young people just like to 'force sorrow for the sake of writing new poems.' You seize on the smallest details of life and overthink them, and the sight of them triggers your emotions. To put it bluntly, you're just too sensitive and haven't experienced the rubbings of life. When you reach my age and your heart has grown a layer of calluses, you won't be so bothered by trivial matters."

Zhong Chenmu didn't say anything, but followed Guo Ling silently and walked towards the direction where the sound of flowing water came from.

They walked northwest along the mountain road for a while, then turned a corner and took a path on the right.

The path disappeared into the grass, appearing and disappearing. After turning a few corners, it continued to rise as the terrain rose. Fortunately, there were no tall trees in this area, mainly shrubs and grass, so you could see it leading to the middle of the mountain until it disappeared into the mountain.

The two walked along the path and turned four or five corners. The road and city behind them were completely out of sight. At this time, the view in front of them suddenly opened up.

Not far from their feet, the ground suddenly dropped away, giving way to a huge river pouring down from the mountains. In the dim light of the night, the water was rolling and transparent, and the sound of the rapids was particularly prominent in the surrounding silence, as if it had subdued the whole world.

"This is simply a waterfall..." Guo Ling exclaimed in admiration. "I've lived in Wuming City for forty years, and I never thought of coming here to see it. Today's trip is indeed worthwhile."

After saying this, he did not hear Zhong Chenmu's response, so he turned around curiously and saw that the young man had his eyes closed and was trembling all over, as if he was suffering from something.

Yes, just a second ago, the green number appeared in Zhong Chenmu’s mind again.

Moreover, it quickly jumped from the previous "110" to "1011"!

Directly promoted to four.

At the same time, the feeling of being watched that had arisen earlier returned. Moreover, compared to being in the city, this feeling was even stronger in the mountains.

Zhong Chenmu tried hard to keep his body steady to avoid falling into the river beside the path because of the brief dizziness he had just felt.

"Are you OK?"

Hearing Guo Ling's question, he suddenly opened his eyes, then immediately calmed down and forced a smile: "I'm fine, don't worry, uncle."

Guo Ling stared at Zhong Chenmu doubtfully for a long time before he heaving a sigh of relief and half-jokingly said, "Don't scare me in this desolate mountain..."

Before he could finish his words, he noticed that the young man in front of him had a strange expression on his face, and his open eyes were filled with fear and confusion.

Guo Ling was startled and quickly turned around, looking in the direction of Zhong Chenmu's gaze.

I saw the path climbing up at a steeper slope than before, leading to a place higher than halfway up the mountain.

Just as it was about to turn the corner and disappear from view, a large tree appeared. Its trunk was thick, its crown was magnificent, its branches and leaves were lush, and it had a regal air, as if it was a century old.

However, at this moment, the two of them were completely unaware of this ancient tree with its extraordinary temperament.

Because on a branch on the right side of the trunk, there seemed to be a person hanging!

The man was dressed in red, and he was particularly conspicuous and strange among the green mountains and white waters.