The forest at the foot of the mountain was dense, resembling a primeval wilderness.
Due to the perpetual dampness, numerous poisonous insects crawled across the ground.
From Zhang Tian's perspective, the entire forest was enveloped by thorny poisonous weeds.
"Old Hu, can you locate our position?"
Fatty looked at Hu Bayi, who was walking ahead with a shovel.
Fatty was quite adept at clearing paths, his shovel tearing through large swathes of vegetation.
"There's a strong magnetic field here; compasses and luopans seem to be malfunctioning."
Hu Bayi frowned, looking at the constantly spinning needle of his luopan that couldn't discern direction.
"It's also difficult to identify the stars here, and the direction of the mountain range is obscured by the tall trees," Hu Bayi added.
He gazed at the towering trees surrounding them, through which no sunlight could penetrate.
"Let's head deeper inside for now. We can try to determine our location when we have a chance, and we don't know the exact direction of the Xian Wang's tomb, so we'll have to look for clues around us," Zhang Tian suggested.
After all, with the dense vines and countless venomous snakes and insects on the ground, it was not advisable to linger.
The group walked in one direction, and to avoid getting lost, Zhang Tian and the others left markings.
Meanwhile, within Zhelong Mountain, by the riverbank.
The team of experts stood before the wide river, unsure of what to do.
"Teacher Li, which way should we go now?" Xiao Guang asked Professor Li.
"From what that young girl told us, we need to follow the river. However, to do so, we need a boat."
"In our current state, we can't build several boats. I suggest we all walk along the riverbank," Professor Li said.
Most of the experts were middle-aged, and having been hungry and confined for a long time, many found it difficult to chop wood.
Furthermore, with their numbers, they would need at least two boats, which significantly increased the difficulty.
The group began walking deeper along the riverbank.
Time passed quickly.
Before nightfall, the team of experts reached the vicinity of a mountain cave.
To cross the mountain, this cave would undoubtedly be the fastest route.
"Look! There's a raft over there!"
Suddenly, Xiao Guang pointed towards a pool of water ahead, as if he had seen something extraordinary.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that this raft was Zhang Tian's.
Due to its large size and the water's backflow, the raft had been washed out.
Seeing the raft before them, everyone rejoiced.
With this, crossing the cave would be much simpler.
"How did a raft get here?" a middle-aged man asked.
"Perhaps someone else left it. It must be from the villagers; who else would enter here?"
"Think about it, there's only one entrance to this place. Besides us, it must be the villagers," Xiao Guang said.
His words were quickly accepted.
After all, in this wild and desolate place, who else could there be apart from them?
"I'll go find a stick to pull this raft over," Xiao Guang said, and he quickly found a wooden pole, successfully pulling Zhang Tian's raft over.
As the team of experts was too large, they could only enter in batches.
Professor Li naturally became part of the first group to enter.
Professor Li, Xiao Guang, and a few others, as the first batch, proceeded with extra caution.
"The current isn't strong here. There should be an exit cave at the end of the water flow, and the cave probably isn't very large," Professor Li observed, assessing the surroundings.
"I wonder if there's any danger in this cave," Xiao Guang said, feeling somewhat apprehensive as he looked around.
"It's just a cave, Brother Guang, don't overthink it," one of the team members said.
At this moment, the raft gradually entered the cave.
The cave appeared very quiet, with nothing but dark water.
A strange, unpleasant odor permeated the air.
"What is this?" Xiao Guang suddenly looked at the water's surface.
Floating on the water were countless piranha carcasses, forming a large lake of dead fish.
Seeing this, everyone felt a sense of bewilderment.
"What's going on? So many piranhas are dead?"
"Could this water be poisoned?"
Several people's expressions turned serious.
Professor Li also frowned slightly.
He took out a test strip from his backpack.
These were brought by him, developed during World War II when Fuji country frequently used gas attacks.
If the river water was poisoned, the strip would turn purple.
As the strip submerged, Professor Li observed that it remained white, with no color change.
"It's probably not poisoned. These piranhas must have eaten something they shouldn't have and died," Professor Li stated.
His hoarse voice carried a hint of confusion.
"Eaten something they shouldn't have? What could that be?"
Xiao Guang's mouth formed the question, and at that very moment, black things began to surface from the water.
These black insects, resembling fleas, started to jump wildly.
Simultaneously, the previously calm surface of the lake began to boil as if it were cooking.
"What's happening!"
"No good, these insects are poisonous, paddle faster!" Professor Li shouted.
His face showed agitation.
From the surrounding piranhas to these insects, Professor Li easily deduced that these insects carried some form of toxin.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Guang paddled with all his might.
He was afraid of being crawled on by these insects if he was even a second late.
Xiao Guang's paddling seemed to agitate the insects further, and some even began to leap towards the raft.
On the raft, some individuals began to wave their clothes, attempting to ward off the surrounding insects.
However, their efforts were clearly ineffective, as some insects still managed to land on the raft.
Soon, a few insects landed on the raft and immediately burrowed into the experts who had been attacked.
Originally, there were five people on the raft; now, two were already infected.
Xiao Guang paddled even more desperately.
Soon, they reached the shore. Fortunately, Xiao Guang's speed was sufficient; otherwise, reaching the shore wouldn't have been so easy.
As for the two individuals whose bodies had been invaded by the black insects, their faces turned black, and their bodies began to tremble.
"They must have been infested by those insects," Professor Li murmured, his eyes filled with worry.
Although worry was of no use, Professor Li and the others felt a sense of gloom.
"Alas, let's keep moving forward. This place is not safe for long. We'll leave a message for the others to warn them not to come over," Professor Li said after some thought.
Xiao Guang nodded.
Given the extreme danger, he didn't want anyone else to fall victim.
Xiao Guang then placed his backpack on the raft, leaving a letter inside with a clear message: do not let anyone else cross.
Xiao Guang and Professor Li, along with two other members, then proceeded further in, carrying the two poisoned experts.
Deep in the forest.
Zhang Tian, Hu Bayi, and the others were sitting beneath an old tree.
It was late at night, and no one felt like venturing further.
In front of the tree, Shirley Yang's expression was grave.
"I think I heard someone calling for help!" Shirley Yang exclaimed.
Everyone was bewildered. Even Zhang Qilin looked over.
They hadn't heard anything at all!