At first, when we went there, we didn't plan to visit the crime scene or interview the people involved; after all, we were just there to make money.

Based on our experience, we only needed to use our former identities as journalists to get some official material from local colleagues, then interview a few relevant people, and take some mysterious shots of woods and wasteland before we could finish our work and go back.

However, when we arrived at the destination, things began to go off track.

The incident location was near the Sino-Russian border. The county had once relied mainly on state-owned forestry as its primary industry. After the industry was downsized, the forestry workers also gradually moved away.

When we first arrived in the county town, we could feel that the urban planning and facilities did not match the population.

The streets were wide, but there were no vehicles, and we were the only pedestrians.

Shopping centers were densely built but most had been closed for years, and even the transfer signs had become blurry.

Only the occasional passing snowplow proved that someone still lived here.

Our first stop was naturally the county's TV station.

According to the county TV station staff who received us, the town now mainly serves administrative functions, and most residents are civil servants or work in institutional roles.

Most of them had passed the exams from other places and were not familiar with the local area.

So they couldn't provide any valuable materials but arranged a welcome banquet for us.

At the welcome banquet, we met Li Guofeng, the head of the forestry farm where the person involved, Bai Moumou, worked.

Compared to discussing the news, Li Guofeng was more enthusiastic about promoting the local folk carvings produced by their forestry farm, and he eagerly invited us to visit their production workshop during the interview.

Having traveled far and wide, we naturally knew this was an exchange, so we promised to help them shoot a promotional video at that time. The other party immediately expressed that they could arrange interviews with the person involved, Bai Moumou, and the "Immortal" who was currently in detention.

We were very happy at that time.

Such exclusives could be sold at higher prices, and up to that point, nothing had gone beyond common sense.