Rules of Strange Tales and Extraordinary Files

Chapter 38 The Mushroom House is Not Trustworthy

……

The two left room 1-406 and had just arrived at the lobby of the Mushroom House when a girl wearing a baseball cap and oversized black-rimmed glasses immediately came to greet them.

"Li Jiu, Tang Mubai... hello."

When Li Jiu and his companion were stopped, they looked at her in surprise.

"You are... Lin Weiwei?" Li Jiu asked tentatively.

"It's me, this is my partner, Zhang Fanjie." Lin Weiwei pointed to a girl next to her.

Li Jiu subtly observed the two of them.

Lin Weiwei is petite and wore a mint green loose sweatshirt with an abstract logo of Shanhe Daily, paired with light blue ripped jeans and a pair of dirty gray sneakers. She also had a cute cartoon camera hanging around her neck and a backpack covered with all sorts of strange badges.

Although she is older than Li Jiu, her overall style is more quirky and girlish.

Zhang Fanjie, on the other hand, was different. She was not tall and had a very ordinary appearance. She was the kind of person who would disappear in a crowd if you didn't look at her at first glance.

She wore multi-pocket cargo pants with a tactical vest, thick-soled high-top hiking boots, and a sturdy canvas tool bag slung around her waist, giving Li Jiu a practical yet somewhat strong impression.

Tang Mubai's eyes lit up when he saw the two girls with such different styles, especially Lin Weiwei's cute outfit. He enthusiastically extended his hand, "Oh, hello there! Nice to meet you!"

"Zhang Fanjie..." Li Jiu turned to Lin Weiwei suspiciously, "She doesn't seem to be one of our summer camp members?"

Lin Weiwei quickly explained, "Fan Jie is also a section chief at our newspaper. She heard that you encountered the Dragon Servant, so she rushed over overnight..."

"Going up the mountain overnight?!" Li Jiu looked at Zhang Fanjie in surprise.

"No, not at all," Zhang Fanjie waved her hand. "I arrived in Duchuan District last night, and took a motorcycle taxi up the mountain as soon as it was light this morning. Those local unlicensed motorcycle taxi drivers don't dare to go up the mountain at night, otherwise I would have just stormed up last night!"

Tang Mubai sighed and facepalmed, "Good heavens! Going up the mountain overnight... You really dare to think that way! Are you out of your mind?"

Zhang Fanjie, however, wore a "what's so special about this?" expression, her eyes gleaming with almost fanatical excitement: "A dragon servant!!"

"A legendary existence! The last time it was reported was back in 08 with the sensational 'Fulong Mountain Monster'!"

"If I could write an exclusive report on Dragon Servant, do you know how much traffic I could get?"

She licked her lips, her eyes burning with desire at the mention of the dragon servant.

Lin Weiwei quickly tugged at Zhang Fanjie's arm, signaling her to tone it down, then turned to Li Jiu and Tang Mubai, asking expectantly, "So, have you thought it through? Do you want to act together?"

Li Jiu glanced at Tang Mubai and said, "I'm fine with it, but Old Tang might have to stay at the Mushroom House for a medical check-up..."

"Hey! Old Li, really!" Tang Mubai interrupted Li Jiu, then turned to Lin Weiwei. "I'm so sorry, I've been trying to persuade Old Li to go hiking, but he's just a bit hesitant... Look, he's using me as a shield..."

Li Jiu looked completely bewildered: "What???"

Tang Mubai patted his chest: "Let me state upfront, I actually love climbing mountains the most! The mysteries and wonders of Fulong Mountain have always been secrets I yearn to explore!"

Li Jiu: "Huh...???"

It's not Lao Tang, believe it or not I'll print out the chat history and stuff it in your mouth later!

He tugged at Tang Mubai's clothes and lowered his voice, "Seriously, did the aftereffects of your Invincible Wind and Fire Wheels go to your brain? You were acting like you were dying just now, and now you're not even getting a checkup?"

Tang Mubai said, "Inspecting a market?! I feel perfectly healthy! I told you it was the water problem, a shower will fix it!"

Although Lin Weiwei was an outsider, she blinked thoughtfully after seeing Li Jiu and Tang Mubai's conversation. Then, with a somewhat solemn tone, she said softly, "Actually... for certain reasons, I don't recommend that you have the people from the Mushroom House check your bodies."

"Huh? Why?" Li Jiu became a little wary.

Lin Weiwei casually glanced around, making sure no one was paying attention to their little group, before stepping closer and lowering her voice to say, "As a token of my sincerity in forming a team, I can tell you a conclusion first—"

"The Mushroom House... isn't entirely believable."

"What?!" Li Jiu was startled.

Lin Weiwei said, "If you want to know more, we can talk about it while we're climbing the mountain."

Li Jiu hesitated; Lin Weiwei's words were indeed extremely tempting to him...

Tang Mubai, who was standing to the side, couldn't wait any longer and shouted, "Hey, what are you hesitating for! Two beautiful reporters have extended a warm invitation to team up, and you're still dawdling? No wonder you're single! Anyway, I agree!"

He grabbed Li Jiu's shoulder and half-dragged, half-pulled him.

"Come on, let's go hiking right now! Old Li, are you in?"

Seeing Tang Mubai's unusually excited state, as if he had been injected with chicken blood, Li Jiu's doubts deepened, but Lin Weiwei's statement that the Mushroom House was unreliable made him even more uneasy.

He quickly weighed the pros and cons, and finally gritted his teeth: "Okay! But it's agreed that if anything feels wrong, we'll head down the mountain immediately!"

Tang Mubai was speechless: "No, bro, it was me who shattered the darkness with thunder. I'm not even in a hurry, why are you so anxious? You're really acting like a king..."

"Besides, we've already reported the plane crash to the Mushroom House. If there's a problem, we can just go down the mountain immediately. And Dr. Su went hiking too, right? We can just ask her!"

"Hey, you just said you didn't believe her..."

"Hey! Times have changed!" Tang Mubai kept urging, as if he didn't want to stay in the lobby for even a second longer.

Seeing this, Lin Weiwei smiled and said, "Then let's create a group chat so we can stay in touch! Um... Li Jiu, I'll add you on WeChat."

"Add me, add me..." Tang Mubai leaned over, about to reach for his phone, when he suddenly remembered that his phone had been soaked in water, and immediately wilted.

……

Ten minutes later.

On the hiking trail of Fulong Mountain, Tang Mubai was happily playing with a mobile phone.

He eventually managed to join the four-person group chat created by Lin Weiwei.

He was using a temporary phone borrowed from the Mushroom House; it was a bit old, but better than nothing.

The hiking trails on Fulong Mountain are actually quite wide, and because they are close to the foot of the mountain, they are not steep.

The starting section of the hiking trail on Fulong Mountain is quite wide, paved with flat bluestone slabs, and the slope is very gentle, making it quite easy to walk on.

After walking a few steps, Li Jiu began to observe the surrounding environment.