I buried the gods in the restricted area.

"Mr. Jiang Mian...aren't you angry?"

On the way to Linjiang City, Jiang Rou asked cautiously.

"What are you angry about?"

"You clearly lost something so valuable, but... but the police station didn't take it seriously at all, and they even hung up on you..."

"What's there to be angry about? They probably have more urgent matters to attend to."

Jiang Mian said gently, seemingly unconcerned, "Everyone's having a tough time right now, so let's be understanding of each other."

Jiang Rou paused, her heart easing slightly, and murmured, "Mr. Jiang Mian has such a good temper..."

Even if Mr. Jiang Mian really wasn't human, but a monster who had lived for two hundred years, he must still be a gentle monster... She reassured herself, then asked curiously, "So, where do we go now?"

Jiang Mian turned her head and smiled slightly at her:

"Of course I'm going to the police station—to file a complaint against that bastard woman who hung up on me twice."

Jiang Rou: "..."

Just as she was about to say something, she saw Jiang Mian suddenly stop smiling and stare at a low slope in the distance.

Following his gaze, one could see a blood-red stone tablet standing on a low slope, surrounded by a large crowd, making it seem quite lively.

"There's a haunted house here too?" Jiang Mian asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yes……"

Seeing that the other person's attention was drawn to the stone tablet, Jiang Rou's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "It must have just opened recently. Shall we... Mr. Jiang Mian, where are you going?"

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Mian had already started walking towards the low slope.

"Let's go take a look. What if that's my stolen tombstone?"

……

Meanwhile, on the low slope.

A handsome man is holding a microphone and smiling at the camera.

"Hello everyone, welcome to 'Exploring the Forbidden Zone,' I'm Zhang Yang, a reporter from the Forbidden Zone. This program is jointly sponsored by four companies: 'Hidden End,' 'Dome Technology,' 'Deep Vision Bio,' and 'Listen to the Universe'..."

After a string of fluent GG words, he finally got to the point.

"I'm sure you've all seen the restricted area stone tablet behind me. That's right, we're about to explore the E-level restricted area that just appeared the day before yesterday—'Mirror Lake'."

"Due to time constraints, the production team has not yet completed the initial assessment of the restricted area, which means this exploration will be more thrilling and unpredictable, but correspondingly—"

His smile deepened, and his tone rose, "The rewards will be even more generous! Everyone who leaves the forbidden zone alive will receive an 'Evolution Potion' provided by the Deep-Eyed Creatures!"

"Exploring the Forbidden Zone" is the most popular TV program since the concept of forbidden zones was introduced, bar none.

This show has only one principle: absolute authenticity.

There's no rough script, no evasive editing, not even annoying pixelation. Blood, death, the bizarre, adventures… it neither conceals nor glorifies, but lays bare that real and cruel forbidden world before the world, allowing everyone to recognize their own predicament.

In this era where existing restricted zones are constantly expanding and new ones are emerging one after another, if these restricted zones are not cleared in time, one day the remaining safe zones will be completely devoured. At that time, everyone will have no choice but to face everything on camera, with no way out.

Because of the unvarnished presentation of "Exploring Forbidden Zones," driven by both crisis and profit, more and more people have embarked on the path of pursuing the extraordinary, and have begun to actively explore and clear out forbidden zones.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs tacitly allows the existence of this program.

Just like now.

Even knowing that the mortality rate of "Exploring the Forbidden Zone" was as high as 70%, the moment the words "evolution potion" were uttered, the onlookers seemed to completely forget the danger and eagerly raised their hands to sign up.

That's an evolutionary potion that only "Deep-Eyed Creatures" can produce. It's said to be able to unlock the genetic locks within a human body, thus enabling them to embark on the professional path of a "Transformer".

Zhang Yang maintained a professional smile and gestured for everyone to draw lots in turn, guided by the staff.

"As before, ten participants will be randomly selected this time. During the recording of the program, participants are prohibited from attacking each other. Violators will be disqualified."

"Furthermore, the E-level restricted area is only open to non-mutated individuals, which I'm sure I don't need to elaborate on. The stage for mutants should at least be a D-level or higher restricted area..."

His words came to an abrupt end.

At that moment, everyone's gaze passed over him and turned to look behind him with strange expressions. Even the photographer quietly moved his camera and aimed it in that direction.

Zhang Yang turned around and saw a pale-faced young man standing in front of the restricted area stone tablet. He was examining the tablet intently, touching and tapping it, and even bringing his nose close to smell it. He was muttering something, and you could vaguely hear words like "It looks so much like it."

He was accompanied by a young girl who, perhaps feeling that she was disturbing the filming, was bowing and apologizing to everyone around her with an embarrassed expression, while reaching out to try to pull the young man away, but she couldn't budge him no matter what she did.

"Mr. Jiang Mian, they're still recording a program. It's very impolite of you to barge into the camera like this... Let's go quickly..."

Jiang Rou was inwardly groaning, wanting nothing more than to get Jiang Mian away from here as soon as possible.

She certainly knew what this production team did—if she could successfully join, she would most likely start as an intern reporter for "Exploring the Forbidden Zone," and only after successfully surviving a few times would she be officially hired.

But at this moment, she wasn't concerned about politeness at all; she was just worried that these people's repeated mentions of the "forbidden zone" would anger Jiang Mian and lead to unpredictable consequences.

She never wants to experience that suffocating, near-death feeling again.

Fortunately, Jiang Mian didn't seem to pay attention to what the reporter had said. He stared at the stone tablet in front of him for a long time, then shook his head regretfully and muttered to himself:

"Unfortunately, although it looks more like the previous stone tablet, it is definitely not a tombstone I carved myself."

Jiang Rou was slightly taken aback and couldn't help but ask, "Are there any differences between these two stone tablets?"

Aside from the differences in the inscriptions on the monuments, she had never heard of any other differences between the forbidden zone monuments.

"Of course there's a difference..."

Jiang Mian was about to explain when she heard a hearty laugh behind her.

"Hello, are you two also here to participate in 'Exploring the Forbidden Zone'?"

"Exploring forbidden zones?"

Jiang Mian raised an eyebrow, turned around and looked at Zhang Yang, who was holding a microphone, and the staff member next to him holding a lottery box.

"It's a scenic area, a themed exploration area!"

Jiang Rou, standing beside her, felt a jolt in her heart and quickly lowered her voice, forcing herself to speak, "Nowadays, many haunted houses pursue an immersive experience, focusing on real-life exploration, so they like to set up their locations in scenic outdoor areas. Sometimes even TV stations send people here to film..."

She was well aware that her words were full of holes, but she was not good at lying, so she could only fool people for the time being.

Did they go to a haunted house to film a scene?

Jiang Mian was puzzled, but before she could think about it, she heard the man holding the microphone in front of her say with a smile, "If you two also want to enter the restricted area, please draw lots as soon as possible. The program is about to start recording."

"A lottery?" Jiang Mian glanced at the secluded path behind the stone tablet and asked doubtfully, "Don't we need to buy tickets to go in?"

He had never heard of being able to enter a haunted house without buying a ticket. Even if he posted it on his WeChat Moments and got a lot of likes, he could only get a discounted price at most.

"Tickets?" Zhang Yang paused for a moment, but still maintained a polite professional smile. "Of course not, we..."

Jiang Rou was afraid that something bad would happen if he continued talking, so she quickly grabbed Jiang Mian's arm and waved her hand, saying, "Sorry, we don't draw lots, sorry to bother you."

Jiang Mian pulled her arm out of her crook, and while reaching her hand into the lottery tube handed to her by the staff, she earnestly asked, "Does this mean that if I draw a winning lot, I can get a free day trip to the scenic area?"

He remembered someone saying that he had always been too busy.

Thinking about it carefully, it does seem to be true.

To date, he has never visited any tourist attractions, and he has never even had time to experience amusement rides that young people like, such as haunted houses. Now that he has some free time and a chance to get something for free, he naturally can't miss it.

Zhang Yang smiled slightly: "That's one way to understand it."

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Mian's eyes suddenly lit up.

What he pulled out of his hand was a dark red wooden plaque that resembled a forbidden zone marker.

This is a special signature made specifically for this program.