Li Chonglou was truly bewildered. While what he said was honest, it could have been delivered as a jest. Did it warrant such a strong reaction? And it wasn't just the Thai woman.
Seeing Li Chonglou's perplexed expression, the blond man patted his shoulder, suppressing a smile.
"Number Five, your words themselves are fine. The problem is you shouldn't have said them to Number Four."
"Why?" Li Chonglou frowned.
The blond man and the other two exchanged glances before delivering news that left Li Chonglou utterly stunned, as if struck by lightning.
"Because Number Four is a transsexual. Do you think she minds?"
Stumbling, Li Chonglou nearly tripped over the revelation. If there were special effects, smoke would have been billowing from his head.
The blond man and his companions could no longer contain their laughter. Just then, Number Four turned around from the front. The three quickly shifted their expressions, as if changing faces, their demeanor instantly returning to one of stern seriousness. They then dispersed as if nothing had happened.
Li Chonglou looked up and saw a hint of melancholy in Number Four's eyes. Goosebumps rose all over him, and a tingling sensation shot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, causing him to involuntarily shudder.
Quickly averting his gaze, Li Chonglou wished he could slap his own mouth. "Why did you have to be so glib!"
For the remainder of the journey, Li Chonglou dared not approach the Thai boxer again. He even regretted having followed her so brazenly. If he were misunderstood, he would truly have no desire to live.
Therefore, even though he knew the young girl had other special qualities, he only observed her from a distance occasionally.
Fortunately, this situation didn't last long. Ten minutes later, another group retreated from the front.
This time, it was an entire squad, a squad that had suffered no casualties.
The blond man again stopped them to inquire about the situation.
"Claws of Death! It's the Claws of Death! If you want to die, go ahead, but don't stop me!"
The man, trembling all over, his eyes filled with terror, spoke. After that, ignoring the blond man's attempts to stop him, he pushed him aside and quickly ran back.
Everyone was filled with curiosity. Those who dared to participate in the competition were not ordinary people; their psychological resilience was already different. Yet, their current behavior seemed worse than that of ordinary people, clearly indicating they had experienced or witnessed something they couldn't bear to recall.
But no matter how terrifying the Claws of Death were, at worst, it meant death. Was it necessary to be so exaggerated?
They were all momentarily baffled and could only continue forward. However, the atmosphere among them became tense.
Man's greatest fear stems from the unknown. The more abnormal others behaved, the stronger the fear induced by this unknown became.
On the subsequent journey, they encountered very few ambushing enemies. What they encountered were groups of contestants who occasionally appeared, fleeing back.
One team, two teams... eleven teams. As the number of fleeing teams increased, their expressions grew more grave.
"Um, no matter how strong we are, we can't be stronger than all these people combined. Even they..."
Number Two, who had been largely silent, suddenly spoke, his intention to retreat clearly evident.
His words also struck a chord with the blond man. Yes, if only a few teams chose to flee, their actions could still be considered brave. But if all teams chose to flee, then their actions would undoubtedly be akin to seeking death.
This was a very practical problem; courage alone couldn't change it.
Thus, everyone stopped in their tracks, no longer moving forward.
It was then that they noticed the surrounding environment had changed subtly. If before they were in a dense forest, now the trees were sparse, replaced by a more complex terrain.
For instance, a small hill they had to cross now had about a dozen uneven slopes, clearly indicating a difficult path.
"Isn't this the gravity hill?"
The Thai woman, silent for a long time, suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention.
"If I remember correctly, the gravity hill is in the middle section, right?"
The blond man suddenly jolted. The so-called middle section was precisely the part with the monsters, half of the Devil's Valley.
And the "Claws of Death" mentioned by the fleeing groups were here!
Thinking of this, their nerves immediately tensed, and they scanned their surroundings vigilantly. Li Chonglou quietly retreated to the side. Although confident in his own strength, he wasn't blindly so; he had to understand any opponent before formulating a countermeasure.
However, after a few minutes, the area remained calm. Not to mention the Claws of Death, not a single shadow or living creature was visible.
"Number One, what do you think?"
At this point, everyone turned their gaze to the blond man. As the temporary captain, his opinion was naturally crucial.
The blond man did not answer immediately but pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Those people couldn't possibly have colluded to lie to us. This means the Claws of Death must be ahead. And since there are four sections to the gravity hill, its presence in any one of them would be fatal to us."
At this, the Japanese man, who had remained silent, also spoke.
"Does that mean we withdraw from the competition?"
Li Chonglou glanced at the Japanese man and noticed a hint of anticipation deep within his eyes. He then looked at the others, finding the same sentiment.
This was not good. Li Chonglou's brow furrowed slightly. This Iron Forest competition was merely the first step of his objective. If he couldn't even get past this, he wouldn't need to return to Shangjing.
Neither the news of Shi Boqiong, who could save his master, nor the information about his father, could make him abandon his return to Shangjing. This meant he absolutely could not withdraw from this competition.
"It seems I'll have to carry their kilograms of explosives and move backward."
Li Chonglou sighed inwardly, preparing himself mentally.
However, to his surprise, the blond man's answer was not to withdraw.
"I think you've misunderstood me. I mean, since we can't confront them directly, let's go around them."
Their expressions froze in surprise.
"But going around would take more time, wouldn't it? Didn't the people from those earlier teams say that many people had already passed before the Claws of Death appeared?" the Japanese man quickly countered.
However, the blond man shook his head. "While that's true, by taking a detour, we at least have a glimmer of hope. If we withdraw, we truly lose our eligibility."
"Moreover, given this unusual situation, who can guarantee that something like this won't happen again later?"
At this, a gleam flashed in their eyes.