True TAIWAN Horror story

The location for this time is still in China, and close to other Southeast countries.

It is rumored that during the past wars, to prevent invasions from other nations—and to stop China from taking advantage of the chaos to attack—both sides agreed to retreat dozens of kilometers (some say a hundred kilometers) from their respective borders.

This agreement still seems very effective today.

Because this area shows no signs of ever being developed, according to a friend’s description, the mountain forest is vast. Due to its high altitude, the forest is often shrouded in clouds and mist, with dense tree canopies. Apart from the paths frequently used by locals, which have formed trails, the surrounding weeds grow tall. Judging by the lichens on the trees, the environment there is remarkably pristine.

There’s a piece of gossip about this place: this vast region was originally under the jurisdiction of the local government. However, the person in charge, when young, was saved by someone. To repay this life-saving favor, he handed over the management of this land to that individual.

Of course, you might think, “Damn, it’s at a high altitude, undeveloped—what’s the point of managing it? Does it have any economic value?”

Surprisingly, it does. There’s actually an economic crop hidden in this dense forest, which has attracted many people eager to secure the rights to operate there.

For my friend, though, he doesn’t care about this economic crop. What he’s concerned about is whether the tomb recorded in his guidebook points is still safe.

Since the terrain there is not only high but also stretches endlessly, my friend has many spots to verify in this area. As a result, he’s become quite familiar with the local indigenous people.

On that particular trip, the location he requested was deeper into the area. Because he needed to check two specific spots, the locals recommended a few hunters to act as guides.

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This time, they were received by two hunters—one old, one middle-aged. According to my friend, they weren’t family but more like master and apprentice.

Since the locals are generally warm and hospitable, the group ended up eating, chatting, drinking a little, and gossiping at the homes of these two indigenous hunters.

After a few rounds of drinks, the middle-aged hunter told us that the area we were about to pass through had once been the site of a disappearance case.

As mentioned earlier, the area has a fairly abundant economic crop. However, this crop can’t be relocated—it can only be harvested locally. So, whoever controls the information about its location can profit handsomely, whether by selling the intel or directly exploiting it after securing the rights.

This incident involved two individuals. They had ventured into the deep forest to gather geographic information about this crop. They usually searched and recorded near the village with the help of locals.

But this time, it was their first attempt to go into the dense forest without local assistance.

And then they vanished without a trace.

Though the local government sent out a search team to find them, the two hadn’t made any satellite phone calls or indicated where they were headed. Plus, the forest is completely undeveloped, filled with dangerous creatures like venomous snakes, so the search progressed very slowly.

That’s not to say there were no findings. About three kilometers off the usual route, the search team discovered their abandoned satellite phone and map.

Honestly, this was bizarre. Abandoning these two critical items could only mean something happened while they were using them, forcing them to drop everything and flee.

After the search team gave up, the families of the missing men could only turn to the locals for help—after all, they wanted to see them alive or at least recover their bodies. And so, these two hunters—the old one, the middle-aged one —took on the case. (Though I suspect there was a hefty reward involved…)

The two set off with light packs and three hunting dogs.

Naturally, they started where the search team had found the items. Relying on their years of experience (though they didn’t specify what techniques they used), they locked onto a direction and ventured deeper into the forest.

After a day, they actually found several empty compressed biscuit wrappers—about two kilometers from where the items were originally discovered. They also found clearer signs that the missing men had headed even deeper into the forest.