If you don't consummate the marriage for three years and then marry a successful educated youth

On Niujiao Mountain

Two figures darted back and forth. Ding Rui looked at the compass in his hand, which was shaking continuously until it finally stopped responding completely. His brows furrowed involuntarily.

"Wang Hansheng, have you marked this place? I feel like we've been here before."

Wang Hansheng's expression was also not good. His eyes were fixed on the scratches on a tree. The marks were very fresh, and they were made after they entered Niujiaoshan.

Despite being so careful, they still got lost. The compass was useless; they could only find their way by looking at the sun and gazing up at the sky.

The leaves are lush, and the sunlight is slowly being obscured through the gaps in the trees; mist is beginning to rise in the forest.

Ding Rui followed his gaze and saw the fresh scratches on the tree; his expression instantly turned grim.

"It's foggy. This place is too eerie. We can't go any further. It's not good for us to exhaust ourselves too quickly. Let's climb up that mountain wall and see if we can find any clues."

"Okay, got it."

The uninjured person climbed up first, then dropped the rope to pull up Wang Hansheng, whose injuries had not fully healed. The two stood at the highest point, looking down.

The mountain is shaped like two cow horns. They have definitely come to the right place. But what's with this fog? Why didn't Lin Qingqing mention it? It's unbelievable.

The two sat down, their brows furrowed.

Wang Hansheng looked at it for a while and said in a low voice, "We have to check them one by one. The news said that those things were hidden in caves, but we haven't seen any caves along the way."

"Now that it's foggy, we can't see anything. Ding Rui, let's choose a direction first, and when the fog clears, we'll go down and search in that direction. It's good to try our luck."

"Okay, I got it. We'll sleep up here tonight too; it's safer up here at night."

Ding Rui hummed in agreement, looking at the white mist with a strange feeling. He sniffed, but the air wasn't humid. Where did this white mist come from?

As darkness fell.

The howling of wolves echoed through the woods, keeping the two men awake. While one slept, the other kept watch, vigilantly observing their surroundings to prevent any danger from arising that would leave them unable to react in time and die in their sleep.

"Huh? What's that?"

In the darkness, countless tiny lights, like will-o'-the-wisps, appeared out of nowhere, floating in the air like flames, growing ever more numerous.

Wang Hansheng hurriedly woke the sleeping man: "Ding Rui, get up quickly and see what that thing is."

Ding Rui sat up abruptly, looking down at the lights in the night sky. After careful observation, he said, "These lights seem to be moving eastward."

"This kind of phosphorescent light usually appears in cemeteries, near piles of corpses, in places where many people have died."

"The news said that a whole battalion of Japanese soldiers went into the mountains and disappeared. They said they were all dead. If a team of more than two hundred people all died, then..."

"Will there be phosphorescent light where those skeletons are? Could the weapons they carried...?"

Wang Hansheng's eyes lit up: "You mean, these phosphorescent lights might lead us to that cave, the place where a large number of weapons are hidden?"

"But why did that entire Japanese battalion die? Normal weapons transport shouldn't end like this."

Ding Rui stood up and said coldly, "Who cares about all that? Anyway, the boss told us to come and get weapons, so we just need to do it. We don't need to think about anything else."

"Perhaps they encountered a maze of ghosts, lost their way in this forest, and it's not impossible that they completely perished."

Wang Hansheng nodded and said, "Okay, let's go down and take a look. Bring your pistols; it's not safe in the woods at night."

Ideally, it's best to look during the day, but you can't see the phosphorescence during the day, so they might go in the wrong direction. It's definitely more accurate to go at night.

The two descended the cliff face and followed behind the phosphorescent flames, slowing their breathing and warily watching their surroundings as they gripped their guns tightly.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, both of them felt their legs were about to break and their strength was starting to give out. They took off their water bottles from their waists, drank a couple of sips, and continued to follow behind.

Wang Hansheng, not knowing what he saw, quickly grabbed the clothes of the person next to him: "Ding Rui, look! Isn't that a cave ahead? Great, we found it!"

Ding Rui looked at the dark cave entrance, where only specks of phosphorescence shone faintly, and drifted inside.

"Hmm, hopefully this is the cave entrance, but it's too dark now, and our flashlights are almost out of power. It's not safe to go into the cave now."

"With our vision obstructed, and once the flashlights run out of power, we'll be like blind people inside. If we accidentally touch something we shouldn't, we won't even know how we died."

Wang Hansheng nodded repeatedly: "Yes, you're right. Let's find a place to wait first, and then go into the cave when it's light to see what's going on inside."

Ding Rui pointed to a big tree: "Go sleep in the tree. Leave one person on watch tonight. Be extra vigilant. There must be a reason why people from the foot of the mountain have never dared to come here."

"Yes, I understand."

Around 3 a.m.

Wang Hansheng, who was on night watch, rubbed his eyes and yawned. He was really too sleepy. He caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and his body jolted awake.

Her wide eyes were filled with terror. She reached out and gently shook the sleeping person next to her. Just as he was about to open his mouth, she instinctively covered his mouth to signal him not to speak.

He pointed down.

Ding Rui frowned and looked over, then his eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the phantoms of Japanese soldiers emerging from within. Yes, a continuous stream of phantoms of Japanese soldiers were walking out of there.

They were carrying boxes, which looked like blurry images, but they could really see them. Decades had passed; there was no way the Japanese could still be there.

What are these things? Are they really haunted?

The two of them breathed softly, watching the Japanese troops leave and return to the cave. With a rooster's crow, the phantoms dispersed like mist.

As dawn broke, the two exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with undisguised horror: "So it really is haunted?"

"So this is the place we're looking for. It's so strange. Why would a person who has been dead for decades reappear with those ethereal, misty figures?"

"Ding Rui, did you notice anything? Why did this Ghost Shadow team go out and come back? What are they repeating? I'm getting a little creeped out."

Ding Rui slowly climbed down from the tree, looked at the cave not far away, and said with a serious expression, "Let's eat something to replenish our strength first. Today we're going to go into the cave and see what they're up to."

"Okay, let's eat first."

As the sunlight streamed down, the surrounding black fog dissipated, the sky brightened, and everything around us became clearly visible.

After the two ate some simple steamed buns and pickled vegetables to fill their stomachs, they tidied up their belongings. Ding Rui led the way, and together they entered the cave.

The cave entrance was empty, with nothing in it. Ding Rui gripped the wooden gun in his hand and continued walking forward.