I became Superman

Zhou Ming opened the chat window, and the other person's username was "You have been kicked out of the group chat by the administrator." From this username, Zhou Ming could feel the strong sense of a silly and ridiculous netizen.

He asked: What group chat?

Kick out of the group chat: your own fan group.

Ah... it turns out the original version even had a fan group. Does a small content creator with a few hundred thousand followers get this kind of treatment?

Zhou Ming searched the list and found that there was indeed such a group with only about a hundred members. Since he had just downloaded the software, the previous messages in the group chat were not available, so he did not know what had happened. Therefore, he asked "Kick out of group chat" for information.

Only then did he realize that the round-faced girl had not only recommended the beautiful scenery of her hometown to him, but also praised it highly in the group, enticing people in the group to go and visit.

Zhou Mingdao: Maybe they want to develop tourism resources there, which is not a big deal, is it?

Kick out of the group chat: I thought so too, but recently I saw on other forums that other people are strongly recommending it. Many people have been attracted there and haven't left. Moreover, those who stayed are now trying to recruit their friends and family to go there. It's pretty weird. You'd better be on guard in the fan group.

Zhou Ming thanked the person who "kicked him out of the group chat" and ended the chat.

The above sounds familiar; isn't this just a pyramid scheme?

But pyramid schemes don't operate this blatantly, do they?

Zhou Ming opened his browser and searched for "Shanyin Village" as the keyword. He found that many forums had posts recommending it.

The posts were all made by people who had been to Shanyin Village, who shared their personal experiences of how wonderful the place was. Many people were persuaded by them and felt the urge to go and see for themselves.

The content of those posts was very similar to what Roundface Sauce had sent him, so Zhou Ming didn't pay much attention to them.

However, one piece of news did catch his attention.

That was an organization that sent people to Shanyin Village to search for their relatives.

The poster was a father with the online name Mr. Xu. It is said that his daughter went to that village for a trip after graduating from university in June this year, and never came back.

Mr. Xu made inquiries and found that many people had encountered the same situation; their relatives had gone to Shanyin Village and never returned. So Mr. Xu decided to organize everyone to go there together and find their relatives.

Zhou Ming read through the post and found that quite a few people had already responded.

He found it strange, so he sent Mr. Xu a private message asking, "Mr. Xu, I saw your missing person post. Since you know your daughter's location, why didn't you report it to the police?"

Not long after, Mr. Xu replied, "Do you also have family members trapped there?"

"Many of us have already called the police. The local police went to the village to check, and our family members were not restrained. They just didn't want to leave, and the police couldn't do anything about the situation."

"But we know our families. They wouldn't ignore their family's opinions and stay in a small mountain village for no reason."

"We are certain that something bad has happened to them, and now we have no choice but to organize ourselves to rescue them."

"Do you have family members trapped there too? Would you like to come with us?"

Zhou Ming replied, "Okay, when do you plan to go?"

The two agreed on a time to meet and then ended the call.

After checking the map, Zhou Ming discovered that Shanyin Village was located in the mountains of southwestern Sichuan Province, about 700 to 800 miles from Chengdu. It was a relatively remote place and had never developed tourism before.

It is indeed very strange that so many people suddenly went there and stayed behind despite their families.

At his speed, flying seven or eight hundred miles wouldn't take him long.

However, his flight alone would alarm the entire Shu capital's defenses, which was quite troublesome.

Speaking of which, yesterday Long Yi roamed among the clouds without alerting the city's defenses.

Does she have a flight permit?

This is not impossible. As an alien organization closely related to the Alien Center, it is easy to understand why it would apply for flight permits for its members who are capable of flying.

Later, he might be able to ask the Pet Home to help him apply for a flight permit.

The next day at noon, he met Mr. and Mrs. Xu.

Both were teachers, in their fifties, with refined manners, but they looked unwell. Their eyes were swollen, and anxiety lingered between their brows, clearly indicating they had been worrying a lot about their daughter.

Seeing that Zhou Ming was so young, the two were somewhat surprised and asked, "You are Mr. Zhou. Who in your family is trapped in the village?"

"Oh, a relative's child."

Zhou Ming mumbled, "Just the three of us going together?"

Mr. Xu said, "This time we've organized over thirty people and chartered a bus. We're here to pick you up."

Zhou Ming didn't say much, and took a taxi with the two of them to the meeting place.

Once the three of them arrived, everyone was there.

More than thirty parents searching for their relatives were discussing the matter animatedly, each of them looking indignant, wishing they could rush to the village immediately, beat up the villagers, and rescue their loved ones.

Mr. Xu was the organizer, guiding everyone to get on the bus one by one. Zhou Ming was the last to get on the bus, and he sat next to Mr. and Mrs. Xu.

The car started slowly.

After boarding the bus, people seemed to suddenly lose interest in talking and sat silently in their seats, each lost in their own thoughts.

Clearly, they were not confident about this rescue mission.

After all, even the police had been to that village, but they hadn't found anything unusual.

What will happen after they arrive in the village?

Nobody knows.

But their relatives were inexplicably left there, and even though they didn't know what would happen, they had no choice but to go.

Zhou Ming heard Mrs. Xu sobbing softly beside him.

He was separated from Mr. and Mrs. Xu by the aisle. Looking back, he saw Mrs. Xu looking at a photo on her phone.

The photo shows a girl wearing a graduation gown.

The girl had short hair, was a bit thin, and looked very sunny. She was making a peace sign at the camera, her expression full of anticipation for the future.

"What's her name?"

Zhou Ming asked.

Mrs. Xu said, "Xu Meng."

She stared at her daughter's face, lost in thought, and said, "You know, after she went to that village, we had many video calls. In the videos, she seemed normal. She told us that it was a good place, that she was happy living there, and she even encouraged us to come and meet her."

"But I don't know why, I just feel that it's not my daughter. There's something using her face, her voice, her smile to talk to me, but the real her isn't there."

The carriage became even quieter.

Everyone else listened silently to Mrs. Xu's words, their expressions all becoming serious, but they did not show any surprise.

Clearly, they shared the same feelings as Mrs. Xu.

It was this feeling that convinced them that their child was in danger there, even though the police repeatedly confirmed that there was nothing unusual there.