Upon returning to the department, Chen Chuan immediately began pulling records from Shenyu.
The National Security Affairs Department's database was exceptionally thorough; even written documents and map records from the old era could be found, all of which he retrieved together.
From the records, it was evident that the three mountains—Mount Xiaochi, Mount Mao, and Mount Chengze—had actually formed a single unified massif prior to the old era, with mountain paths passing only through the flat depressions between them.
Comparing archaic maps, particularly hand-drawn illustrations by people of the Qi Dynasty, one could clearly see that the topographical contours of these three mountains were extraordinarily unusual. From a bird's-eye view, they resembled a person whose chest and abdomen had been sliced open: Mount Mao was the torso, while Mount Xiaochi and Mount Chengze were the forcibly separated flanks of the rib cage.
And because this area was the southern gateway to Zhongjing, battles involving Xuanji martial artists had taken place here across successive dynasties, causing the terrain to gradually alter under their impact.
In particular, toward the end of the old era, a major battle was fought here, with both sides committing more than a dozen Xuanji martial artists.
Following that clash, the mountains were utterly devastated. After the founding of the Republic of Great Shun, several new roads were cleared and carved directly through the fractured terrain, permanently separating the three peaks.
It was from that time onward that the old urban legend vanished completely. In the blink of an eye, ninety-odd years had passed, and memories of that period had dwindled into mere myth.
Chen Chuan studied the map for a time. Judging from the mountain contours and the timing of the fissure's appearances, it could not be ruled out that the urban legend had been deliberately arranged and cultivated by someone.
That would explain why the legend appeared and vanished intermittently, surfacing each time during the middle of a dynasty's reign—because that was precisely when warfare had subsided and field conflicts had diminished.
The recent warfare had severed the connection among the three mountains, and with the dissipation of the fissure, the urban legend had subsequently vanished for decades.
So why had it reemerged now?
Another set of documents at hand seemed to substantiate the answer.
Back then, a company had planned to establish a joint scenic area here. But merely months after the project began, the high-level figures behind the company were brought down in a political storm. A portion of their assets was transferred to others, another portion was auctioned off, and the entire development plan was shelved.
Yet the sightseeing cable car system had been the phase-one project. To facilitate travel for tourists, cables had been strung up first to link the three mountains together. That action, however, had in all likelihood reignited the urban legend.
The timeline also corroborated his judgment. Before the tourism project opened, there had been no anomalies whatsoever among the three mountains. Exactly three years after that development, the long-haired woman handing people a camera had first appeared.
In fact, there was another circumstance here.
His gaze fell upon Mount Xiaochi near Hai Village, and he retrieved an internal case file from the department's archives.
After reading through it, he had pieced together most of the cause and effect.
He sat and pondered for a moment, then tapped his boundary credential. Once connected, he said, "Mr. Zhan, it's me, Chen Chuan."
Zhan Jiyue's voice came through. "Councilor Chen? Is something the matter?"
"I've found some leads on my end. I thought you might want to take a look, Mr. Zhan."
Zhan Jiyue's pace of speech quickened at once. "I'll be right over!"
Half an hour later, Zhan Jiyue got into Chen Chuan's private car and sat opposite him in the rear seats.
"Councilor Chen, I didn't expect you to find leads so quickly."
Chen Chuan said, "The matter isn't complicated. It just comes down to whether one pays attention and pieces the facts together."
Yet Zhan Jiyue knew it was not that simple. The more he had thought about it after returning, the less sense it had made. He asked, "What is really going on with this anomaly?"
Chen Chuan said, "Let's start with Hai Village, which you were concerned about, Mr. Zhan. The emergence of an anomaly is usually closely tied to certain exceptional individuals or events.
"And the most direct connection to the Hai Village incident was the mudslide that originally destroyed the village.
"In reality, however, that so-called mudslide never existed. The weather on the night of the incident was actually very clear, and it occurred in October—not during the summer flood season when mudslides are frequent."
Zhan Jiyue was taken aback. He immediately looked up the date of the news report on his boundary credential and was surprised to find that the incident had taken place on the night of October 7. Whether by coincidence or not, today happened to be October 8.
Glancing over the weather logs, however, he frowned. "That's not right. The weather records indicate there was a torrential downpour that night, which triggered flash floods as well."
Chen Chuan said calmly, "That is because the record was altered after the fact." As he spoke, he tapped his boundary credential and transmitted a file over.
"Here are the original records. While most traces of information left at the time were erased, records kept by the department and military branches cannot be tampered with."
Zhan Jiyue looked over the file, his gaze hardening. Sure enough, the record plainly stated that the weather that night was "clear and fine." His brows furrowed deeply. "Then what was the mudslide at Hai Village...?"
Chen Chuan said, "There is a group of well-connected youths in Zhongjing whose hobby is demolitions and enjoying various explosion effects.
"On Mount Xiaochi, there is a type of whetstone rock that is exceptionally hard. At the peak lies a massive boulder known as the Mountain Shed, which no one had been able to carve or engrave upon since antiquity.
"They took a liking to that boulder and, pursuing a spectacular visual effect, set off high-yield explosives with excessive directional blast.
"They completely disregarded the village below—or perhaps they simply didn't care. Once the massive, naturally loose scree layers below lost the weight anchoring them from above, a tremendous avalanche of mud and rock poured downward, wiping out Hai Village at the mountain's foot. Even the Hai Family Restaurant at the far edge was not spared."
Zhan Jiyue said in a heavy voice, "So all of this was entirely man-made?"
"Yes."
Zhan Jiyue fell silent for a moment, then asked, "The Hai couple's son wasn't at Mount Mao at the time. Did he find out about this later?"
Chen Chuan said, "I looked into the son's situation as well. He may have had his suspicions back then and approached several departments requesting an investigation, but nothing came of it.
"Later, he received a sum of relief funds and a student grant from the government, but in Zhongjing, that meager amount was far from enough to get by, so he dropped out the following year.
"Around that time, he heard about the urban legend and likely harbored the hope of bringing his parents back through it, which prompted him to venture into Mount Mao of his own accord."
He paused, then added, "I checked the records. Most of those who voluntarily went into the mountain may have been influenced by the urban legend's bewitchment, but that wasn't the primary reason—" He tapped his boundary credential. "Here are the photos I retrieved, along with comparison shots with the anomalies filtered out. You can take a look, Mr. Zhan."
Zhan Jiyue flipped through several photos in succession and froze in surprise. "This is..."
"The stories claim only the long-haired woman appears in the photos, but in reality, she isn't the only extra figure. The lost relatives of those tourists appear as well."
Chen Chuan spoke slowly. "In truth, only a minority were drawn in by the anomaly itself. Most sought it out after hearing the rumors, simply hoping to find loved ones who had passed away or gone missing."
Zhan Jiyue asked slowly, "Are the two anomalies connected?"
Chen Chuan nodded.
Zhan Jiyue fell silent again. After a while, he asked in a low voice, "Who was responsible for what happened to Hai Village?"
"I've already identified the participants from back then."
Chen Chuan transmitted a roster over to him. "The organizer—the mastermind behind the entire 'entertainment event'—was Song Shicheng, son of Song Haiying, president of the Chiyin Dayu Company.
"Chiyin Dayu is a state-owned enterprise primarily responsible for inland construction and civil engineering projects, and it's quite a powerful corporate giant within Great Shun."
Upon hearing that name, Zhan Jiyue's brow furrowed even tighter. Recalling something, he asked, "I remember Hai Village had two survivors. What about them...?"
Chen Chuan said, "After the incident, the two villagers initially had no idea what had happened and only wanted to return home. One of them had a daughter studying in Zhongjing who noticed something was amiss, pieced together much of the truth, and secretly gathered evidence intending to file an appeal. But before she could accomplish it, she disappeared.
"As for those two villagers, they contracted some contagious illness and died."
Zhan Jiyue clenched his fists tight.
Chen Chuan continued, "The investigators from the constabulary and the Security Affairs Department at the time performed their duties conscientiously, uncovering the full truth from start to finish. However, they ran into obstruction when submitting the case file.
"The copy with the constabulary was lost, while the one sent to the department, though preserved, had viewing restrictions placed on it by someone. Anyone below the rank of administrative commissioner couldn't view it at all.
"It can be inferred that the person who helped cover this up back then was at least a departmental commissioner, though an administrative commissioner cannot be ruled out, and it might not even have been just one person."
Zhan Jiyue's gaze turned sharp. Though he had witnessed plenty of such matters, a surge of fury still rose within him.
Yet as he scrolled through the roster and caught sight of a certain name, his expression shifted slightly, and he regained his composure.
He said, "Councilor Chen, how do you intend to handle this?"
Chen Chuan said, "The anomaly of Hai Village and the anomaly of Mount Mao are now intertwined and entangled. Dealing with either one in isolation will achieve nothing. We must begin with the Hai Village incident—arresting and thoroughly investigating everyone involved from that time."
Zhan Jiyue looked into Chen Chuan's calm eyes. Not knowing whether Chen Chuan's reasoning was genuine or an excuse, he harbored a slight suspicion that Chen Chuan was deliberately seeking justice for the people of Hai Village and had tied the two matters together for that purpose.
After considering it, he said in a deep voice, "Councilor Chen, this matter ought to be investigated, but I don't recommend acting right now. It would be best to wait a few more months."
Chen Chuan shifted his gaze to Zhan's face. "Why?"
Zhan Jiyue said, "Remember that Second Young Master Zhu? The son of Vice Minister of Finance Zhu. Quite a few names on that list belong to their circle.
"We are currently lobbying the Nature faction to jointly push for your entry into the Supreme Advisory Council. Several members of that faction belong to this circle as well, and they have the power to influence the nomination rights—"
Chen Chuan said calmly, "So what?"
Chapter 1366