(Time: Morning of the third day)

  "Who?! Who's there?!" The bluffing question I'd just yelled out had long been swallowed by the dense fog and dead silence, leaving no echo. It served only to prove my fear and helplessness.

  There really is "something" here! It's watching me! It doesn't like my investigation! This thought clung to my every nerve like a poisonous vine.

  I didn't dare return to the suffocating central area of the village. Forcing down the urge to hide back in my tent, I knew I had to move, had to search for Xiao Zhang and Meiling, and for clues to leave this place, or... at least find some sign I wasn't fighting this battle alone.

  I tried to recall the direction the couple took yesterday evening. They seemed to have headed towards the other side of the village, an area I hadn't explored yet, more remote relative to the ancestral hall and my base. Maybe it would be safer over there? Maybe they found a corner untouched by cursed runes and prying eyes?

  Clinging to this faint hope, I chose a path that looked more overgrown and less travelled, turning off the relatively "wider" main road.

  This path was less a road and more a trace left by mountain torrents and animal trampling. It wound circuitously, disappearing into even denser, wilder vegetation. The weeds on either side were almost half my height, their leaves hanging heavy, constantly scraping against my trousers, leaving cold water marks. Thorny vines intertwined like green vipers, snagging my clothes and backpack now and then, forcing me to stop and carefully untangle myself.

  The ground underfoot became even muddier. Rotten leaves and slick mud mixed into a sticky marsh of varying depths; each step sank deep, requiring great effort to pull free. Exposed tree roots and sharp rocks hid beneath the mire like traps, causing me to nearly twist my ankle several times.

  The air grew heavier, more oppressive. The fog seemed thicker here, the light dimmer. Tall trees intertwined their branches overhead like a huge, tattered umbrella, blocking the sky. A richer scent of decay permeated the air, mixed with the tang of earth and the bitter smell of some unknown plant.

  Dead silence. Still, an appalling dead silence. Even the occasional bird calls heard earlier had vanished. Only my own heavy breathing, the "squelch" of my trekking pole stabbing into the mud, and the "rustle" of my clothes brushing against vegetation echoed solitarily in this space.

  This environment greatly amplified my fear and isolation. I felt like an explorer lost in a prehistoric jungle, where every step could lead into unknown danger. The feeling of being watched, though not as intense as near the ancestral hall, still followed me like a ghost, faint yet present. I constantly scanned my surroundings warily, gripping the wooden stick tighter, every swaying shadow, every oddly shaped patch of moss seeming to harbor a threat.

  As I struggled forward, I carefully searched for signs of Xiao Zhang and Meiling. Their clothes were bright, and their gear wasn't professional outdoor equipment; logically, they should have left more traces. Perhaps a small piece of bright fabric, an empty snack wrapper, or the distinctive prints of non-professional hiking shoes...

  Yet, still nothing.

  This path seemed to lead to a more remote, desolate area of the village. The houses flanking it were more thoroughly collapsed, many reduced to piles of rubble and half-standing walls, already completely swallowed by vegetation. This area seemed to have been abandoned even earlier than the village center.

  Had they not come this way? Or... had they already left?

  Just as a sliver of despair began to rise within me, as I started doubting my judgment and considering turning back, my foot suddenly tripped on something. I lost balance abruptly, stumbling forward clumsily.

  "Ouch!" I cried out softly, instinctively bracing myself with my hands on the muddy ground, narrowly avoiding a face-plant. My trekking pole and wooden stick slipped from my grasp, falling into the nearby grass.

  My palms pressed into the cold, slick mud and decaying leaves, a sticky, unpleasant sensation. I struggled to get up, muttering curses at the damned path.

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  As I pushed myself up, ready to retrieve my "weapons," my gaze inadvertently fell upon the "culprit" that tripped me.

  It wasn't a root, nor a stone.

  It was... a black plastic casing... a flashlight?

  My heart leaped.

  I quickly moved closer to get a better look. It was indeed a flashlight, a very common type, the cheap plastic kind found everywhere in street stalls, a stark contrast to the professional high-lumen flashlight in my backpack. Its casing was covered in scratches, caked with mud, and the lens was cracked; it looked like it had been discarded here.

  Whose... could this be?

  Puzzled, I subconsciously picked up the flashlight. It felt light and rough. I tried the switch, but there was no response – clearly broken or out of battery.

  As I held the battered flashlight, uncertain, my eyes were drawn to a few other items scattered in the mud beside it.

  Were those... playing cards?!

  Several ordinary playing cards, soaked and swollen by rain and mud, warped, their faces blurred, scattered in a small area. A King of Hearts, a Three of Clubs, and... a Joker?

  Playing cards? In a place like this?

  My brow furrowed tightly. Who would play cards here? The long-vanished villagers? Impossible; these cards, though soaked, didn't look like they had weathered decades.

  Could it be... Xiao Zhang and Meiling? Were they bored enough to play cards in such a place?

  A more unsettling thought crept into my mind.

  Forcing myself to stay calm, I carefully examined the surrounding ground. Besides the broken flashlight and scattered cards, there was...

  My gaze locked onto a spot near a trampled patch of grass.

  There, lying quietly... was half an apple?!

  An apple, eaten down to less than half! The flesh had oxidized and turned yellow but wasn't completely rotten. What made my scalp tingle most was that on the yellowed flesh, I could clearly see... several shallow, neat teeth marks!

  These were... human teeth marks! And, judging by the apple's oxidation, it hadn't been discarded here long ago! Perhaps... just yesterday! Or even... possibly this morning!

  An icy chill shot through my entire body like a viper!

  The cheap, broken flashlight, the scattered playing cards, and this half-eaten apple with fresh teeth marks...

  These items absolutely could not belong to the villagers who left decades ago!

  They could only belong to... people who came here recently!

  Was it Xiao Zhang and Meiling?!

  Their attire, their playful attitude, indeed made it plausible they might eat an apple or even play cards in such a place. The broken flashlight also matched their somewhat unprofessional "exploration" gear level.

  But...

  If they really left these things, why discard them here? Did the flashlight break? Did they stop playing cards halfway through? Throw away an apple half-eaten?

  All these signs hinted at something unusual. As if... they encountered some sudden event here? Were interrupted by something? Or... forced to leave in a hurry?

  My eyes swept over the gloomy, silent surroundings again. Dense fog, dilapidated ruins like lurking monsters, the air filled with decay and danger.

  What... did they encounter here?

  Wild animals? Or... something else, more terrifying? The withered old man? Or... the "thing" that spied on me from behind the wall?

  A barrage of questions stabbed into my mind like cold needles. The faint hope sparked by finding clues was instantly replaced by a thicker fog of fear and unease.

  These abandoned items, far from bringing comfort, felt like an ominous warning that something bad had just happened here.

  I squatted on the ground, trembling slightly. Taking out my camera, I photographed these disturbing discoveries one by one. The battered flashlight, the scattered cards, and the half-eaten apple with teeth marks... they appeared in the lens like a set of silent, terrifying evidence.

  I tried to find more clues nearby. Were there signs of a struggle? Bloodstains? A... body?

  I carefully examined the nearby grass and mud, even daring to peek into the ruins of the most collapsed nearby houses.

  Nothing but more trash, rubble, and rampant vegetation.

  No signs of fighting, no bloodstains, no bodies.

  It was as if the people who left these items... had simply vanished into thin air.

  Like the villagers who disappeared overnight decades ago.

  The thought sent shivers down my spine.

  I stood up, legs feeling weak. This was no place to linger. Whatever happened here, it was definitely not safe.

  I carefully wrapped the half-eaten apple in a plastic bag and put it in my backpack (Maybe useful later? Or just evidence?). I left the broken flashlight and playing cards untouched, leaving them where they were.

  I picked up the trekking pole and wooden stick from the grass, gripping them again.

  What now?

  Continue along this ominous path, looking for more clues? Or... retreat immediately to my base, or... try to find a way out of the village?

  A journalist's curiosity and professional ethics urged me to keep exploring, but the successive terrifying experiences and the ominous discovery before me made my survival instinct scream for escape.

  In the end, a strange obsession, or perhaps a desperate, nothing-left-to-lose mentality born from being cornered, took over.

  I was already deep in it; the way back was just as uncertain. Rather than wait passively, better to press forward, see what lay hidden at the end of this path. Maybe... maybe Xiao Zhang and Meiling were just ahead? Maybe they only ran into a little trouble?

  Taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on my weapons and looked up towards where the path led.

  Ahead, still dense fog and dead silence.

  But now, the depths of the fog seemed to hold a more tangible, bloody sense of danger.

  I took heavy steps continuing slowly but resolutely towards that unknown darkness.