240: Chapter 235 Another Strange Encounter

The helicopter flew steadily at a low altitude of about five hundred meters along the river. Inside the cabin, the three men were silent, and the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. Li Quanshuo piloted the aircraft with meticulous care, his gaze constantly scanning the surroundings and gazing into the distance, while Duan Hong held a compass and frequently checked the instrument panel.

Cao Xiao appeared to be leisurely resting with his eyes closed, but his mind was fully immersed in the detection interface within his consciousness.

As they entered the canyon, the air currents became increasingly unstable. For safety's sake, the helicopter flew lower and lower.

The magnetic field also showed significant changes; the compass needle flickered in small arcs, and the cell phone signal dropped from full bars to two. Further ahead, there might be no signal at all. Fortunately, under his intervention, the electronic instruments on the plane were not affected, though the satellite positioning system had failed. Following the river upstream meant they didn't have to worry about losing their way; otherwise, they would have had to turn back.

"Hmm?! People!!"

Cao Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with astonishment.

In his mental field of vision, signs of human activity actually appeared in the center of the canyon! Three tents were visible on the riverbank, less than a kilometer from the danger zone!

"Boss, there's something on the ground ahead!"

Although the flight altitude was low, the weather was clear today with no mountains blocking the view, so visibility was high. From less than ten kilometers away, those tents appeared so abruptly that the focused Li Quanshuo spotted them immediately.

Camping permanently in a place like the Gates of Hell, which was practically a forbidden zone for life, was a risk even national scientific research teams wouldn't dare take. Moreover, the scale of the camp suggested very few personnel and equipment. Amateur adventure teams seeking excitement wouldn't be this persistent in seeking death, nor would a mass suicide group come all the way here. Thus, there was only one possibility—someone wanted to obtain something extraordinary from the core area. Recalling the various legends here, it wasn't hard to deduce the level of friendliness and threat these people posed to them.

"Brother Duan, prepare the weapons; we're going down. Brother Li, approach at full speed! Don't land the helicopter; hover over the target and be ready to support us at any time. Brother Duan, prepare the weapons; we're going down."

Li Quanshuo didn't need to remind him; no one knew the situation there better than Cao Xiao. At this moment, he felt a sense of crisis coming from the unknown. His mind began to tighten, losing its previous calm. After a moment of hesitation, seeing they were about to arrive, he made a decisive judgment.

"Yes!"

The two men accepted the order in unison. Li Quanshuo focused on decelerating the helicopter, while Duan Hong reached back into the cabin for a long, dark alloy case. He quickly unlocked it with his fingerprint, took out a fully assembled assault rifle to sling across his shoulder, hung several small grenades on his waist, strapped a dagger to the outside of his calf, and then took the rifle in hand, chambering a round.

Cao Xiao found tactical gloves in his bag and put them on. He took his own weapon case, hung grenades on his waist, and took out two pistols. After chambering them, he tucked one into his lower back and held the other. After a thought, he tucked the pistol into the other side of his waist and instead drew a sixty-centimeter straight blade from the edge of the alloy case, gripping it tightly.

"Arriving ten meters above the target. No one is visible below, and there's no movement. It might be an abandoned temporary camp; there shouldn't be any danger. Get the ropes ready, I'm opening the cabin door."

Looking solemn, Cao Xiao instructed Li Quanshuo, "Don't be careless. This place is strange. Be careful up here. If we encounter an accident below, ascend immediately. The radio on the plane won't be affected; immediately call the nearest military district for help. Fly a distance away and then land to pick us up!"

Things weren't that simple. If this were an abandoned camp, it was far too tidy! Those twenty-odd iron rods standing densely around were lightning rods, clearly high-end foreign models. Combined with the other advanced lightning protection equipment on the ground, the value was no less than ten million yuan. Even he wasn't generous enough to discard ten million yuan worth of equipment after one use; it was clearly abnormal at a glance.

Moreover, he had already scanned the area several times. It wasn't that there were no people; there were quite a few, more than twenty. These people were all in the tents, but they were long dead. They likely died in the early morning, dying in their sleep with expressions of terror. The causes of death were cardiac arrest and cerebral hemorrhage, with no external injuries. No traces of viruses or lethal toxins were found in any of the bodies. It was as if someone had reached into their chests out of thin air and squeezed their hearts, causing blood to surge and burst the blood vessels in the brain, leading to instant death. He had only seen such eerie things in horror novels; even with his beyond-the-era technological means, he couldn't explain what had happened. It was certain that mysterious forces were involved, whether natural, unknown creatures, or man-made.

After experiencing the Chuliang Grotto-heaven incident, he didn't dare to be overconfident or even take risks when facing any potential mysterious power. He hated these unknown, uncontrollable factors because his own power was too weak. Once he encountered a mysterious force that the industrial mother machine couldn't react to or solve in time, he would be in trouble and very likely lose his life. So, even if he was curious and the treasure was right before him, he would abandon it without hesitation.

As a member of the Supervision Department, he naturally knew that China had no shortage of powerful and extraordinary individuals since ancient times. To this day, the Gates of Hell remained a restricted area, and he didn't even have the authority to access relevant information. Combined with what was before him, it was clear the power involved exceeded his imagination. Even with the help of the industrial mother machine, he might not be able to set foot here yet. When he discovered this place, he had already intended to leave. The reason he still wanted to go down personally was to retrieve some data in front of Li Quanshuo and the other. Furthermore, as he expected, there was indeed a Super Jade Vein in the center of the valley, with staggering reserves and peerless quality. For some reason, the vein also contained Divine Materials that were invisible in reality and only existed in legends. He detected unknown mysterious energy in those Divine Materials, with fluctuations similar to Vital Qi.

Jade nourishes people; the health-preserving mechanism of jade has been confirmed by modern science. He speculated that the mysterious energy in the Divine Materials likely had direct benefits for the human body. From here, he could include the entire vein within his spatial collection range. With the treasure right before his eyes and easily obtainable, there was no reason to leave empty-handed. Besides, this was the edge, and it was broad daylight; as long as he was careful, perhaps no danger would occur.

The cabin door opened, and the rope dropped.

Seeing Cao Xiao grab the rope to jump down, Duan Hong stopped him. "Boss, don't go down yet. Let me scout the situation first."

Without waiting for Cao Xiao's reaction, he leapt down.

Up until now, over ten minutes of countless scans and detections had revealed nothing unusual except for the chaotic magnetic field. No threatening objects were found either. This meant that the horror that descended last night was either time-sensitive, mobile without regional restrictions, or triggered by specific conditions. In short, it was full of uncertainty and impossible to guard against. He only hoped his luck was good enough not to run into it.