Judging from the distribution and state of the bones in the soil, Long Yuehong was more inclined to believe the team leader's theory of collecting and burying them.
This indeed ruled out the possibility of it being done by survivors, because even if there were survivors who returned to Linhe Village after many years, knowing how difficult life was, they wouldn't have left behind useful supplies.
If they didn't do it, the wilderness wanderers who found this place in the future would.
So, who buried these villagers in the ancestral hall?
Shang Jianyao leaned on his entrenching tool and slapped his face:
"I know who it was!"
"Who?" Although Long Yuehong didn't expect to hear a normal answer from this guy, he couldn't help but want to hear what kind of "whimsical ideas" he had this time.
Maybe it could give everyone inspiration.
Shang Jianyao replied with a straight face:
"Xiao Chong."
Before Jiang Baimian and the others could question him, he explained in detail:
"Didn't Xiao Chong stay in the Marsh No. 1 Ruins for many years?
"He also has a bunch of 'Mindless' under his command who often work for him, and it's only a twenty- or thirty-minute drive from here to the Marsh No. 1 Ruins.
"Could it be that one day, he suddenly remembered the people in his old home, remembering that his own bones were cold, but he hadn't been buried yet, which didn't conform to the custom of being buried for peace, so he sent a large number of 'Mindless' with his skeletonized corpse to bury him under the old locust tree, while collecting the corpses of the villagers of Linhe Village and stuffing them into the ancestral hall?"
This was a pure ghost story. What do you mean by remembering that his own bones were cold and he hadn't been buried yet... Uh, this feels a little ridiculous... Long Yuehong muttered to himself.
He had to admit that the situation described by Shang Jianyao was quite possible!
After all, Xiao Chong couldn't be regarded as a normal person. He was likely a personality split from the deity "Zhuang Sheng" or one of his incarnations, and he did have a precedent of driving the "Mindless" to work, even having those higher-level "Mindless" work to support him.
Given his relationship with Linhe Village, it was quite a reasonable development for him to remember this place by chance and send his "subordinates" to let the people of his old home be buried for peace.
Jiang Baimian pondered for a while and said:
"This possibility is quite high.
"Yes, because this is Xiao Chong's old home, the 'Mindless' were restrained and didn't take things randomly, and even brought their own food."
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao released his hand holding the entrenching tool and applauded himself.
And the entrenching tool stood upright in the soil, without shaking.
Bai Chen also nodded slightly and said:
"Indeed, Xiao Chong has the motive and the ability, and he used to live very close to here."
Jiang Baimian wanted to pace back and forth a few steps, but seeing that there were graves everywhere, she would accidentally step on "someone's" head, so she gave up on this idea.
She said with consideration:
"But there are two problems, one is why the bones under the old locust tree are incomplete, and the other is why Xiao Chong didn't bury himself in the ancestral hall."
"Maybe the old locust tree has a special meaning for him." Shang Jianyao acted as if he was "very familiar with Xiao Chong."
"What meaning could it have..." Long Yuehong muttered.
Bai Chen "mm"ed and said:
"There are too many possibilities."
Shang Jianyao's eyes lit up, as if he had conceived a grand drama of love and entanglement.
Jiang Baimian didn't give him a chance to elaborate, and nodded slightly:
"If it wasn't Xiao Chong, what about those who buried the remaining bones in the Marsh No. 1 Ruins laboratory ruins?"
This obviously didn't refer to the three ruin hunters, but to those behind the scenes.
Bai Chen and Long Yuehong began to consider this possibility.
Jiang Baimian said to herself:
"They obviously have a certain understanding of the Marsh No. 1 Ruins, or rather, Great River City, and know where that secret laboratory is, so it's not too strange to find Linhe Village here.
"Well, in a certain year after the destruction of the Old World, they brought Du Shaochong's corpse, entered the depths of the marsh, came to Linhe Village, and buried it under the old locust tree, but for some reason, they dismembered Du Shaochong's corpse and only buried half of it...
"Hehe, this reminds me of the cursed techniques Wei said before.
"At the same time, maybe to cooperate with the cursed techniques, or maybe they received instructions from a certain being, these people collected the corpses of the villagers of Linhe Village and buried them in the Du Clan Ancestral Hall."
Long Yuehong recalled his own experiences and boldly guessed:
"They only buried half of it because they knew that something abnormal would happen if they buried the whole thing.
"But, before Qiao Chu came in, the Marsh No. 1 Ruins was completely unknown..."
Jiang Baimian immediately smiled:
"Qiao Chu knows about this place because he belongs to the Eighth Research Institute.
"Those people may also have a certain relationship with the Eighth Research Institute."
She only said that there was a certain relationship, and didn't say that those people might be from the Eighth Research Institute, because according to the Eighth Research Institute's style, they would rather blow up the old locust tree, blow up Linhe Village, and destroy everything related to a certain truth of the Old World than bury corpses.
"But why didn't those people collect some supplies?" Bai Chen raised an objection.
Coming here from outside the marsh would definitely consume a lot of supplies, and normal people would replenish some on the spot.
Shang Jianyao lowered his voice and helped Jiang Baimian answer:
"Because those supplies are poisonous."
Everyone has a brain, why can you come up with such a strange answer? Long Yuehong didn't know what to say.
Jiang Baimian chuckled:
"It's impossible for them to be poisonous, but this is Xiao Chong's old home, the old home of the 'Zhuang Sheng' incarnation. Even if they just take something casually, they would be afraid of not sleeping well at night."
"They dared to take away the other half of the corpse." The honest Shang Jianyao pointed out the problem.
Jiang Baimian was quick-witted and immediately replied:
"Because they had received guidance and knew that as long as the corpse was not complete, nothing would happen, uh, this is only limited to the corpse itself."
After listening, Bai Chen nodded thoughtfully:
"That's about it for the two explanations."
One is Xiao Chong's theory, and the other is the mastermind's theory.
Jiang Baimian looked around and issued an order:
"Although time has passed, and the sun and rain have made it very unlikely that any traces remain, we still have to do our best. Well, let's wander around and search each room briefly to see if we can find anything."
She wanted to find traces of the buriers.
Immediately afterwards, Jiang Baimian added:
"This is Xiao Chong's old home, and a certain house here should belong to his grandparents or some other relatives.
"Maybe there are valuable clues hidden inside."
As for Xiao Chong's own house, it was likely moved to Great River City, and then to Taicheng.
Hearing that the main direction was to find Xiao Chong's grandparents' house, Shang Jianyao became excited, as if he was playing hide-and-seek with Xiao Chong.
In this way, the Old Task Force wandered around the village, entered different houses, and looked for possible clues.
Unfortunately, decades had passed, and the area was often exposed to wind, rain, and snow, so many of the original traces had been erased by time.
Near noon, Shang Jianyao, who had always been at the front of the team, pushed open the door of a house.
After entering the house, Jiang Baimian checked it briefly and frowned, saying:
"Something's not right here."
"What's not right?" Long Yuehong didn't find any problems.
Jiang Baimian looked around again and said:
"Compared to other houses in the village, there are a lot of things missing here.
"The shrine for the previous generation doesn't have any ancestral tablets, and the walls, coffee table, and TV cabinet don't display family photos or photos of certain people in the family like many families do. Also, at a glance, I can't find any place where there are words..."
She simply pointed out several things that were wrong.
The members of the Old Task Force immediately dispersed, two people in a team, and carefully searched the first and second floors of the house.
They were unable to find things that proved the owner's identity like they did in other houses in Linhe Village, and they weren't even sure how many people were in this family.
After meeting in the living room on the first floor, Shang Jianyao stroked his chin and said:
"The fact that there are anomalies but no clues precisely shows that this is Xiao Chong's grandparents' house."
"Someone deliberately erased the traces of Xiao Chong's existence, so that later people wouldn't investigate related matters? This has a bit of the Eighth Research Institute's vibe." Jiang Baimian said with a slight turn of her eyes.
At this point, compared to the theory that Xiao Chong sent the "Mindless" to bury the villagers, she was increasingly inclined to her own guess.
"It looks very similar." Long Yuehong and Bai Chen both thought so.
Then, they left here and prepared to go to the surrounding houses.
When they went around to the side, Jiang Baimian and the others simultaneously saw a painting on the wall of the house they had just been in.
The painting had been blurred by the sun and rain, and only vaguely showed a sea and a bird, in a very childish style.
"A sea, a bird..." Jiang Baimian tilted her head and looked at Shang Jianyao.
She remembered that "Zhuang Sheng's" recent dream was about this.
…………
After leaving Linhe Village, they returned to the campsite.
Shang Jianyao slapped his left palm with his right fist:
"I'm going to the 'Mind Corridor'."
"Don't go exploring 'Zhuang Sheng's' dream." Jiang Baimian quickly stopped him.
Shang Jianyao shook his head:
"I won't, I just want to see what changes there are.
"Then, I'll go to the side of Xiao Chong's crack and try to wake him up."
"How will you wake him up?" Jiang Baimian asked with a frown.
"How can we be sure that it's Xiao Chong who's being awakened?" Long Yuehong asked in inexplicable horror.
Shang Jianyao laughed:
"I'm going to play games next to that crack!"