Archives Revealed

The Ranger Station's archives are located in the basement, and the air is filled with the smell of stale paper and mold. Lao Zhang pulled open the rusty zipper lamp, and the dim light barely illuminated the small space. The tin cabinet next to the wall was covered in dust, and it was clear that no one had been here for a long time.

Lao Zhang took out the key from his pocket and opened the cabinet in the corner. It was his personal filing cabinet that contained records of all sorts of strange events he had encountered on the forest farm over the past thirty years.

"It should be here," he muttered to himself, his fingers rummaging through a stack of yellowed newspaper clippings.

That "🜏" symbol had been haunting his mind. From the moment he spotted the man and woman, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he had seen something similar many years ago.

Finally, at the bottom of a brown paper bag labeled "1998," he found the newspaper clipping.

"Cult Leader Self-Immolation in the Mountains, Believers Have Failed to Hunt for Believers So Far Yet," the title is still eye-catching, although the paper has turned yellow. In the photo, a charred wooden cross stands on the top of a mountain, and the cross is impressively engraved with the symbol "🜏".

Lao Zhang's hand trembled slightly. He remembered the case, which was a sensation at the time. A cult called "Wilderness Preaching" conducted a mass self-immolation ritual in the Alps, killing 23 people, but several followers are missing, including a Chinese woman with a child.

"Chen Shusheng...," Lao Zhang muttered to himself, "that kid is you?" "

He continued reading the clippings: "... The organization believes that through extreme circumstances and carnal austerities, the soul can be purified and a state of direct communication with the Divine. Its central ritual, the 'Seven Days of Sermon', requires believers to undergo seven days of trial in the wilderness, culminating in self-immolation as the 'final purification'..."

Lao Zhang gasped. If Chen Shusheng was the child who survived the cult ritual, then he took Xu Meifeng to the Alps, most likely to repeat that tragedy.

He hurriedly put away the newspaper clippings, closed the filing cabinet, and walked briskly to the stairs. Just then, his cell phone rang.

"Lao Zhang, there's an accident at the hospital." Chen Guoqiang's voice was nervous, "Chen Shu is alive and dead, and Xu Meifeng's situation is not good." "

In the hallway of the county hospital, paramedics rushed around. When Lao Zhang arrived, Chen Guoqiang was standing outside the ICU with a solemn face.

"What's going on?" Lao Zhang asked.

"Chen Shusheng suddenly went into shock during the interrogation, and died after rescue efforts failed." Chen Guoqiang whispered, "The doctor said that it may be a cerebral hemorrhage, and the previous injuries in the forest were more serious than we thought. "

"Where's Xu Meifeng?"

"After hearing the news of Chen Shu's death, she had an emotional breakdown, and now in the next room, the doctor has given her a sedative."

Lao Zhang nodded, and took out the newspaper clipping from his pocket: "I found this." In the 1998 cult self-immolation incident, the symbols were completely identical. "

Chen Guoqiang took the newspaper clipping and took a quick look: "So Chen Shusheng wants to repeat his father's ceremony?" "

"Probably. We need to talk to Xu Meifeng, she may know more details. "

In Xu Meifeng's ward, the curtains were drawn, and the room was dim. She sat back on the bed, her eyes staring blankly at the wall. The effects of the sedative seem to have waned, but she is still immersed in her own world.

"Ms. Xu," Lao Zhang said softly, "we have found some information about the 'Wilderness Preaching.'" "

Hearing this name, Xu Meifeng's body trembled obviously, but she didn't speak.

Lao Zhang carefully displayed the newspaper clipping: "This group carried out collective self-immolation in 1998, and Chen Shusheng's father was the leader of it. We suspect that Chen Shusheng took you to the Alps to re-enact this ritual. "

Xu Meifeng slowly turned her head and looked at the photos on the newspaper clippings. Her eyes gradually focused, as if she had woken up from a dream.

"Seven days of preaching," she whispered, hoarse, "he's been saying the word... I thought it was just some kind of spiritual practice..."

Her fingers gently stroked the wooden cross in the photo: "Seventh day... He said that the stars would be arranged in a cross shape... That is the time of the Revelation..."

Lao Zhang and Chen Guoqiang exchanged a look.

"Ms. Xu, can you tell us what happened in the cave?" Chen Guoqiang asked softly.

Xu Meifeng's eyes became empty again: "Ritual... Prayer beads... Chains... Imprint..."

She sat up straight suddenly, and a hint of clarity flashed in her eyes: "Wait... That's not branding..."

"What do you mean?" Lao Zhang asked.

Xu Meifeng's hand touched her back, and her eyes showed a look of sudden realization: "That night, he beat me with a chain... I fell on the thorns... Those thorns cut through my skin..."

Her voice grew more and more urgent: "I remember! That's not Deuteronomy verse! That's the pattern formed by the thorn marks when I press against the thorns! When Ah Sheng saw it, he said that it was a 'revelation of God', in the shape of an 'inverted cross'..."

Lao Zhang frowned: "Inverted cross? "

"St. Peter's Cross." Chan explained, "Legend has it that St. Peter did not think he was worthy to be crucified like Jesus, so he asked to be crucified upside down. In some cults, the inverted cross is seen as a symbol of rebellion. "

Xu Meifeng suddenly laughed, with a creepy hollowness in her laughter: "He said it was a revelation... Say I was chosen... Then he took out the Polaroid and took a picture of the 'miracle' on my back..."

Her laughter stopped abruptly, her eyes full of fear: "Those pictures... He took a lot of pictures... Every time he completes a ritual, he takes a photo... It is said to 'record the purification of the soul'..."

Lao Zhang remembered the photo he found from Xu Meifeng: "Where are those photos now?" "

Xu Meifeng shook her head: "I don't know... Maybe in a cave ... Maybe in his backpack..."

Just then, there was a shrill crow cry outside the window. A crow perched on a windowsill, its dark eyes staring straight inside.

When Xu Meifeng saw the crows, she suddenly trembled violently: "They are coming... They've found me..."

"It's just a bird." Lao Zhang comforted and walked to the window to drive away the crows.

When he opened the curtains, he was surprised to find not only a crow on the windowsill, but also a Polaroid paper, which was pecking at the edge of the paper.

Lao Zhang carefully picked up the photo paper and found that it was a photo that had not yet been fully developed. In the photo, Xu Meifeng's naked back is clearly visible, and the marks drawn by those thorns do form a vague inverted cross. But what is even more disturbing is that in the corner of the photo, a distorted face is gradually revealing - Chen Shusheng's face, but the expression is hideous, not at all human.

"This is..."Lao Zhang looked at the photo in shock.

Xu Meifeng caught a glimpse of the photo and suddenly screamed, her voice piercing the silence of the ward: "No! No! Take it! "

She struggled frantically, trying to get up from the bed: "He's watching me!" He's still watching me! "

Paramedics rushed to her and injected her with a stronger sedative. Xu Meifeng's screams gradually turned into whimpering, and finally fell into a coma.

Lao Zhang and Chen Guoqiang stood by the window, looking at the weird photo.

"It can't be." Chen Guoqiang whispered, "Chen Shusheng is dead, how did this photo appear here?" "

Lao Zhang shook his head and his eyes fell on the windowsill. The crow had flown away, but on the dust of the windowsill, a small symbol was clearly left: "🜏".

"This case is far from over." Lao Zhang said in a deep voice, "We need to find those pictures, and the cave." "

Chen Guoqiang nodded: "I have contacted Interpol and asked for assistance in investigating the situation in the Alps. But it will take time. "

Lao Zhang looked at Xu Meifeng who was sleeping, her expression finally calmed down, but her brows were still tightly locked, as if she was still entangled in fear in a dream.

"Time," Lao Zhang muttered to himself, "I'm afraid we don't have that much time." "

Outside the window, the sun was setting, and the last blood-red afterglow shone on the Polaroid photo. In the photo, Chen Shusheng's distorted face seems to be smiling, and in the depths of his pupils, the reflection of the "🜏" symbol is faintly visible.