Looking from this direction, the lake’s water surface appeared to be a kind of strange blue and black color.

 “What’s in the lake?” Yang Guanfeng suddenly asked.

 “Ah, there are fish,” Miao Qingfeng replied.

 “Oh, I’m just curious. Don’t mind me.” Yang Guanfeng looked at the quiet lake.

 “Ah, no worries,” Miao Qingfeng said with a smile.

 He had a strange feeling.

 Yang Guanfeng thought the lake was a little strange. Looking at it from so far away, he felt that it was a little dark and creepy. It was as if there was something in the lake. When he was by the lake, he didn’t feel that way.

 Buzz buzz…

 Just as they continued to climb the mountain, there was suddenly a sound in their ears. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw a group of black flying insects. They were like bees but smaller.

 “What are these?” Yang Guanfeng pointed to the flying insects.

 “Be careful. That is a type of poisonous wasp on the mountain,” Miao Qingfeng hurriedly said.

 Buzz! The wasps were agitated by some unknown factor. They started to attack the three men.

 “Back away!”

 Miao Qingfeng shouted. He quickly took out a piece of something similar to a rope from his body and lit it. A gust of pungent green smoke spread out. He kept waving it with his hand in mid-air. The smoke quickly spread out. The poisonous wasps seemed to be afraid of the smoke. They hovered in the air but did not approach.

 “Let’s hurry up and go down the mountain.”

 Yang Guanfeng and the young man did not dare stay any longer. They immediately went down the mountain.

 After going down the mountain, they were out of danger.

 “Whew! Why did those wasps suddenly attack us?” the young man asked.

 “Those wasps are territorial and will attack creatures who break into their territory,” Miao Qingfeng explained.

 “What happens if you get stung by them?”

 “The consequences include poisoning, redness and swelling, fever, and vomiting. Well, there won’t be any life danger. There are special antidotes in our stronghold.”

 “Are there many of these poisonous wasps on the mountain?”

 “Yes. Not only is there this kind of poisonous insect, but there are also dozens of poisonous snakes and insects,” Miao Qingfeng said. “The mountain is not as peaceful as it looks.”

 “What was the thing you were burning just now?”

 “It is something made from several kinds of medicinal herbs mixed together. They can repel insects, but they smell strange.”

 The trip up the mountain quickly ended. Unconsciously, they came to the lake again. To be exact, Yang Guanfeng took the initiative to walk toward the lake.

 “This lake feels so strange!”

 Once again, he walked closer and quietly looked at the lake. He suddenly felt inexplicably cold. The lake seemed to be a huge beast lying dormant that might devour his body at any time. The feeling was strange.

 Seeing Yang Guanfeng staring at the lake, the young man beside him softly asked, “What’s the matter, Boss?”

 “Nothing, just a very strange feeling,” Yang Guanfeng said with a smile after returning to his senses.

 “What kind of feeling?”

 “I feel this lake is strange.”

 After he said that, he saw that Miao Qingfeng, who was not far away from him, had an unnatural expression for a split second.

 “Well, there is indeed a problem.”

 “How is it strange?” Miao Qingfeng asked.

 “I feel as if this lake is a monster that might devour me at any time,” Yang Guanfeng said. There was no need to lie about these kinds of things.

 “Ha-ha.” Miao Qingfeng laughed.

 “Why is Mr. Miao laughing? Is there a monster in this lake?”

 “Well, how should I put it? There is a big fish in the lake.”

 “How big?”

 “It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. It is 96 feet long, maybe even longer. It’s not too much to call it a monster.”

 “That big?”

 “Of course, this lake is extraordinary. It has never dried up. It existed for god knows how many years before our village was built. Maybe it has a history of thousands of years. After such a long time, what is inside it would not be surprising. What do you think?”

 “Has anyone ever died in it?” Yang Guanfeng suddenly asked.

 “Huh?” Miao Qingfeng was stunned.

 “There has been, indeed, and more than one death.”

 “You are quite frank about that.”

 “Hah, what is there to hide from you?” Miao Qingfeng asked.

 “How did they die?”

 “They drowned.”

 “Do people still go fishing in the lake?”

 “You might also get into a car accident just by walking. Do you stay at home all day long? You might choke to death when drinking water. Do you stop drinking water?” Although Miao Qingfeng’s words were pushing it a little, they were not totally unreasonable.

 “What you said seemed to be reasonable.”

 “Of course.”

 “Where else do you want to see?”

 “You have the final say here,” Yang Guanfeng said.

 “OK, I’ll continue to take you around.”

 The three men continued to walk around the mountain village.

 Unbeknownst to them, it was getting dark.

 “Accommodations have been arranged for the two of you. In the evening, our chief wants to hold a banquet for you two.”

 “Please thank your chief for his kindness. We are better off making do with some simple food.”

 “How can that do?” Miao Qingfeng asked. “You are distinguished guests from outside the village. Besides, we don’t have many outsiders in our village.”

 “Well, alright.”

 As the sky gradually darkened, Yang Guanfeng and his colleague went to the largest wooden house in the village and met the village chief again.

 “Are the two of you satisfied?”

 “Satisfied, very satisfied.” Yang Guanfeng replied with a smile.

 “That’s good.”

 To entertain their two foreign guests, the chief, Miao Xihe, had prepared a plentiful dinner with food from the stockade. It was natural, delicious, nutritious, and nourishing.

 “Come, I’ll give you guys a toast.”

 “Thank you.”

 When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The two of them drank some wine but in moderation. They had, however, eaten quite a bit of food.

 “Thank you for your warm hospitality, Chief Miao.”

 “You’re welcome. All who come from afar are guests. Our stockade is located in a remote place. It’s rare to see a guest here all year round.”

 After dinner, the two of them were taken to the house that been prepared for them. It was a clean and tidy wooden house.

 “Ah, Boss, their food tastes so fresh and delicious, and the wine is good as well.”

 “Yep, what else is there?” Yang Guanfeng kept walking back and forth in the room while he was talking, searching around as if he was looking for something.

 “Boss, I don’t think that Miao Qingfeng told us the truth about everything today.”

 “Oh, for example?”

 “He said that there aren’t people in this stronghold who haven’t come back after leaving in the past two years. That is quite unrealistic.”

 “Oh, how can you tell?” Yang Guanfeng asked.

 “When we were walking around the stockade, today I carefully observed the village. There were at least 10 houses in the village that were uninhabited. It’s apparent they have been empty a long time.”

 “Oh?”

 “The yard was full of grass. Judging from the height of the grass, it has been at least a year. It could be longer than that, maybe more than three years.”

 “That’s good! There’s progress!” Yang Guanfeng clapped him on the shoulder.

 “Ha-ha, it’s all because of your great teaching,” the young man said with a modest smile.

 “What else?”

 “Well, Miao Qingfeng is a trained martial artist.”

 “A trained martial artist?”

 “Yes, he has calluses on his hands, and they are around his knuckles. It’s definitely not from hard work. There is something fishy regarding the chief as well.”

 “What’s the problem?”

 “I can’t put my finger on it, but there must be something wrong with him,” the young man said. “I simply feel that something is amiss with him.”

 “Good. You’re ready to graduate from my training,” Yang Guanfeng said with a smile.

 “They do not seem to be defensive against us, but they are guarding us from every angle,” Yang Guanfeng said. “The places they showed us today were probably already tidied up and prepared beforehand.”

 “I could vaguely understand the conversation between them just now.”

 “No way! You know that too, Boss?”

 “They actually speak the Tujia dialect, which is near the south of Yunnan, but it has been slightly tweaked. I can understand it on the whole. There is a problem in the dialogue between these villagers, which proves that they knew we were going to come long ago. They were ready for us before we informed them.”

 “Is there a spy among us?”

 “Also, there’s something wrong with that lake.”

 “What’s the problem?”

 “I can’t place my finger on it, but the lake is strange. It makes my skin crawl as a monster would,” Yang Guanfeng said.

 “It can’t be that someone has died there, can it?”

 “I’m sure some must have died there. I’m afraid it’s not rare.”

 In the biggest wooden house in the village…

 “How is it going?”

 “There were no accidents, but Captain Yang paid a little too much attention to the lake.”

 “Oh?” Miao Xihe was slightly shocked.

 “What did he say?”

 “He said that the lake was like a monster. He felt scared when looking at it.”

 Miao Xihe was silent for a long time.

 “Master, do you need someone to watch them tonight?”

 “Find someone and watch them from afar. Don’t get too close. Yang Guanfeng is a criminal investigation expert. His investigative and detection abilities must be very strong. If the person we send is found out, it would only prove that we are guilty and hiding something. They will probably not be able to find out anything.”

 “OK, I got it.”

 The night was quiet.

 There were no entertainment activities in the stockade. People had been working hard all day, so they all had a relatively early bedtime. Before 9 p.m., the stockade lights had been turned off and people had gone to bed.

 They worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. They still maintained most primitive living conditions.

 Yang Guanfeng laid down on the bed, recalling experiences in the village.