Steel steam and flame

The bumpy road was not suitable for rushing. When the light began to dim, Cassia saw a low bungalow building at the end of the dirt road.

A few rows of houses were built on both sides of the road paved with stone slabs, surrounded by a circle of large trees with new leaves. Two dilapidated lamps that did not fit the scene illuminated the middle of these buildings. In a small square, the lights are dim and flicker from time to time, as if they will end their life journey at any time.

It is said to be a small square, but it is not really that. It can be regarded as a larger flat land at best. There were several stone stools made of construction waste. The surface was polished and polished, reflecting a little dim light.

In addition, there were a few small fires that had been lit beside the stone benches. It was not appropriate to set up fires in such weather. Cassia slowed down and looked at the sky, which was getting darker and darker, and then at the old men with white hair sitting on the stone benches, as if she understood the purpose of the fire.

The air was filled with moisture and a cool scent rolling down from the clearly visible outlines of the mountains.

"This should be the nearest residential area to the volcanic zone, right?" With such a mood, Cassia parked the limo at the edge of this small town, and walked towards the person surrounded by lights and The small square illuminated by fire looked at the surrounding simple houses.

They are generally only two stories high, and almost all have wooden doors and windows, without any features at all. It's just that there are not as many people living here as Cassia imagined. It can be seen that some of the houses on the roadside are not occupied by people, and they have been abandoned for a long time.

But at least there is electricity. It should be a branch road led by pipes buried in the city where he came from, Cassia thought. A few years ago, or more than ten years ago, this place might not have been like it is now, gradually decaying until it was swallowed up by the increasingly crazy weeds around it. It will be more lively.

Arriving at the small square, Cassia immediately became the focus of several elderly people. There was curiosity in their eyes. It was always strange that someone would come to their place.

These old people did not reject Cassia, but they did not show welcome, they were just a little curious. From their mouths, Cassia got some necessary information.

"There is a road, and there are several towns ahead, but no one lives there a few years ago. I moved here from the front. Many people are like this, moving here from several different towns. There are only a few people to talk to." Cassia found a somewhat healthy old man and asked some questions respectfully.

",,. It's a big town, of course. Have you seen that mountain range? There is a small lake at the foot of the mountain. On the edge of the lake is the largest town here. It is dozens of times as big as here, and maybe even bigger. A little older. I remember when I was young, I ran to that lake to have a look. There were people living there before, but they came from nowhere and wanted to dig ore and medicinal materials into the mountains. But I don’t know what’s going on behind there. Only people go in there and very few people come out. So there are fewer and fewer people here. In less than ten years, almost no one comes here. I myself My sons have all moved away a long time ago, and most of the ones who stay here are the same age as me."

"That is to say, were there people living at the foot of the mountains more than ten years ago?" Cassia asked. According to the information in the map information album, due to the volcanic eruption, it became a no-man's land. I thought that the local imperial management agency might redevelop the place. After all, after the volcano erupts, there is a certain chance that the ore from the ground will be brought out. But looking at the state of the surrounding cities, Cassia no longer had this illusion.

The old man shook his head to himself, as if blaming Cassia for not understanding what he meant. At this time, the person next to him interrupted.

"Don't listen to him, he's not very useful here." The person next to him patted his head, as if he was talking to himself, "A long time ago, the mountain there was on fire, that is, a volcano erupted, and then the town at the foot of the mountain It was abandoned. The people in the town moved out, some went to nearby cities, and some rebuilt their houses in places farther away. This town is a product of that time, and it has been renovated many times. ”

The old man spoke very hard and took a few breaths before continuing: "No one has gone to the foot of the mountain more than ten years ago. In short, when I was a child, my parents warned me not to run into that mountain range. , saying that there are savages in that mountain range who specialize in eating children like us. In fact, they are not eating children, they are just scaring us. But it is indeed dangerous there. When I grew up, a group of people went in and drove They have a loud limo, guns more powerful than shotguns, and they even have explosives.”

"They said they went in to look for minerals because the volcano there had erupted, and their grandfather seemed to have been here, and he made a lot of money from the minerals found there. I still remember that the leader took out a cloth The bag is full of diamond particles as big as your little finger, and they are still shining.”

"I also remember this. Dozens of limo cars came with a lot of tools and more than a hundred people. They spent money to buy food, dried meat, and quilts from us. There were several people around. Everyone in the town knew about this. They bought things and went into the mountains. But they came back two days later, saying they couldn't find the way and had to spend money to hire a guide. The money was a lot, and at that time Many young people in the town rushed to go. Because at that time, many people in the town would hang out not far from the foot of the mountain. After the volcano erupted, the lake there was blocked and became a dead lake. But the snow water from the mountains will still flow down, and there are still people fishing in the lake. Some people are familiar with the mountains."

",,,," the old man spoke very slowly. Half an hour later, the topic returned to the group of people, "Almost none of them came out. It was probably more than two months later. It was still raining lightly that day, but the heavy rain was still falling. The sound of the cars could be heard far away. Only one car came back. We originally thought it was coming to bring food in, but we didn't expect to bring back a carload of people. They all got sick, their necks were swollen greatly, and their hair fell out. They were bare and their skin was very red, as if they had been exposed to the sun for a long time. Some of them had pimples and some were ulcerated, which was scary."

"When we came back, some of those people died, and a bunch more died on the way to the hospital. But in the end, no one survived. The longest-lived person stayed in the hospital for more than half a year, but he still died in the end. Later, the officials found out about this, so they sent some people to investigate, but we don’t know what the result was. But after that, they told us not to go in, and even pulled us for a long time. Danger warning line. But you also know that we will definitely not be able to control us. Some people were curious and sneaked in shortly afterwards. No one found them. They only found that the lake seemed to have changed and they could smell it from a distance. When I got closer, I noticed the stench and saw that there was a layer of dead fish floating on the lake, as well as the carcasses of the birds that had eaten the fish. It became a truly dead lake."

"What about those people who went to see them later?" Cassia asked softly.

"I still got the same disease, but it was milder, and I died a few years later."