The fatty was fully prepared to eat bird butts, but no toothed birds visited until their car entered a small clearing in a forest.
Presumably, the fate of the previous "leading bird" was too tragic, causing these onlookers to lose their desire to rush over and grab tickets to hell.
They merely hid in the surroundings, staring intently at the three of them with sinister eyes, occasionally rustling the leaves with the flapping of their wings.
They were now about halfway up Cloud Peak. There was no road ahead, and they had to get out of the car and walk.
They divided the food, water, weapons, and some small miscellaneous items from the car into three bags, each picking one to carry.
Although the car's windshield was broken, its performance was not compromised. If there were any unexpected situations, it might still serve as their life-saving tool.
The plants here grew too fast, and any landmark object could easily be covered and hidden. After some discussion, the three lit a signal smoke nearby.
This signal smoke emitted dark green smoke, which was less likely to attract the attention of strange creatures. The smoke rose straight up to the sky and could last for a month.
With everything ready, the three simultaneously turned on the miniature cameras attached to themselves.
These were provided by Song Shuning. They could transmit video information in real-time to the research department in the rear. They were very small, attached firmly, and maintained stability.
The only drawback was the lack of communication function, meaning the research department could not contact the three in time.
Of course, this was a drawback for the research department, but entirely an advantage for the Iron Triangle combination.
Especially for Zhang Qiling.
For someone like him, who constantly paid close attention to subtle changes in his surroundings and was easily alerted by the slightest disturbance, having something on his chest that occasionally emitted human voices was quite unsettling.
"There will be a lot of insects and snakes when we enter the jungle later," Wu Tianzhen rummaged through his bag and pulled out a bottle of special insect repellent. "Let's spray some on to prevent them."
"Right, right!" The fatty hurried over upon hearing this. "Quick, spray some on this fatty! I really don't want to see any snakes right now!"
Wu Tianzhen sprayed both in front and behind the fatty. He thought that would be enough, but unexpectedly, the fatty turned his back to him and presented his backside!
"What, you're stopping? My most important part hasn't been protected yet!"
Wu Tianzhen: ???
"Damn it..." He felt the scene before him was simply an assault on his eyes.
"Fatty, aren't you disgusting?!"
"Tsk! You don't understand!" The fatty retorted righteously, "As men, no matter where we get bitten, this part must not be injured!"
"Hurry up, hurry up! It's tiring to keep my old backside like this!"
Wu Tianzhen exclaimed "Yuck~" in disgust and directly threw the bottle of insect repellent to the fatty.
"You'd better do it yourself, you'll be more at ease spraying yourself!"
The fatty caught the insect repellent, snorted, and actually started to operate on himself.
Wu Tianzhen turned away, unable to bear seeing it, and took out a new bottle of insect repellent from his bag.
He looked around and found Zhang Qiling staring blankly at a tree, motionless. He quickly called out:
"Little Brother! Come over quickly and get sprayed with insect repellent!"
Zhang Qiling paused, looking a bit confused. He felt he didn't need this.
Just as he was about to speak, he heard Wu Tianzhen say:
"I know those things usually don't bite you, but it's still uncomfortable to have them fall on your clothes, isn't it?"
"Little Brother, you should still get sprayed!"
Zhang Qiling: ...
He imagined the feeling of insects crawling on his hood and suddenly felt Wu Tianzhen was right.
So, he temporarily stopped his attempt to calculate the tree growth rate and walked over obediently to be sprayed with insect repellent.
---
The depths of this jungle were covered in vines and overgrown with weeds. The three of them, holding knives, cut their way through the trees while cautiously moving forward, their stamina depleting rapidly.
Looking up, the overlapping and winding branches completely blocked out the sky. However, judging by the darkening scenery around them, they could tell it was about to get dark.
So, the three found a flat bluestone on the spot, cleared away the weeds and moss on it, and decided to set up camp there to rest for the night.
They had brought a small foldable tent in their bags. It wasn't heavy and was perfect for this occasion.
After setting up the tent, it was completely dark.
They lit a campfire, and the three sat around it to eat dinner.
"Wow!" The fatty took a bite of the compressed biscuit and savored it in his mouth.
"This thing really has no taste at all?"
"No, I heard that compressed biscuits now come in various flavors. This Little Song's preparation is too careless!"
At that moment, a bowl of water was handed to him. Wu Tianzhen, with a lifeless expression, took a bite of the compressed biscuit and said weakly, "Yours is ordinary compressed biscuit from the market. This one is said to be specially made. One piece can provide energy for two days. The lack of taste is unavoidable."
"If you really can't eat it, here, use that fire to boil some water, and you can dissolve the biscuit in it to make porridge."
"Only you make sense..." The fatty grumbled, but he still took the water, boiled some biscuit porridge, and drank three large bowls in a row.
Zhang Qiling listened to the fatty slurping his porridge, mechanically taking another small bite of the biscuit.
...It was truly hard to eat.
He thought that he didn't really need to eat at regular intervals, so perhaps he should save the compressed biscuits for later.
He even wished he could catch a toothed bird and roast it now.
"Little Brother, have some water."
Wu Tianzhen handed him a bowl of warm boiled water.
Zhang Qiling glanced at him, nodded, and reached out to take it.
...With the water, he could finally wash down the biscuit in his mouth. At least he couldn't waste food.
After dinner, they started to clean up and rest.
The tent was very small, only able to accommodate two people sleeping inside. Three people absolutely could not squeeze in.
Moreover, they were in a deep mountain of unknown danger. Falling asleep rashly was too risky, so it was necessary to have someone on watch.
Zhang Qiling's constitution was special, and it was normal for him not to sleep for several days. So, he directly offered to stand watch for the entire night.
But for some reason, Wu Tianzhen and the fatty felt that Zhang Qiling's team's collective behavior was too untrustworthy. If they let him guard alone, he might guard himself away!
Then, when they woke up in the morning, wow, a living person would just disappear!
In such a large forest, it would be difficult to find anyone!
After considering this, the two exchanged glances and immediately reached a consensus—
Take turns! Someone must stay with Zhang Qiling!
...It's not that their worries were entirely unfounded, but in fact, in this dangerous environment, even if Zhang Qiling saw the bronze door at night, he would definitely wake them up to explore it together.
If Wu Tianzhen and the fatty's safety were not guaranteed, he would not simply disappear.
But obviously, he did not understand the complex communication between the two through their glances, and thus had no opportunity to explain.
A warmth came from his side, and the fatty had already sat down.
The fatty would guard the first half of the night, and Wu Tianzhen would seize the opportunity to rest. At midnight, the fatty would wake him up to switch shifts.
Zhang Qiling was slightly puzzled by the fatty's insistence on staying awake, but the fatty insisted that he was an artistic youth who loved watching the stars in the forest at midnight and felt uncomfortable if he didn't do so for a day!
Zhang Qiling: ...?
He looked up. The trees were densely covered, making it difficult to even see the sky, let alone the stars.
Slowly turning his face, he gave the fatty a speechless look. Zhang Qiling said nothing and chose to hug his saber and continue to warm himself by the fire.
Whatever Wu Tianzhen and the fatty were thinking, it would not be something harmful to him, so he was too lazy to inquire.
Time slowly passed, and Wu Tianzhen had fallen completely asleep.
The fatty, with his eyes narrowed, yawned and dug holes in the ground to pass the time.
Lowering the campfire from bright flames to embers, Zhang Qiling quietly looked into the distance.
The vegetation here was too thick, and he couldn't even use Feng Shui geomancy knowledge to determine key points. He could only explore like this, bit by bit.
This was too slow...
Just as he thought this, Zhang Qiling suddenly felt the leaves on a distant tree shake violently in a strange way!
He instantly stood up, the Black Gold Ancient Saber already poised!
Then, in the flowing darkness on that tree, a conspicuous human figure appeared!!!