Qi Family Gang (19)

Headman Qi gave the order.

Setting aside the risk of flash floods from the continuous rain, if these blisters were to get more rain and mud, it would truly be life-threatening. Dying from mosquito bites would be too embarrassing.

“Hey, where’s Song Laoqi?”

“Has anyone seen Song Laoqi?”

“Is he perhaps in Manager Wu’s building?”

“He still has my goatskin bag, my last bit of liquor!”

The man, craving alcohol, thought about it, but his thirst for wine was too strong to resist. He quickly donned his straw raincoat and hurried to the other building.

This small interlude amused everyone, and they all teased him about his love for drink.

The atmosphere in the building lightened slightly.

But this atmosphere didn’t last long, because the man soon returned.

He was still wearing his straw raincoat, water dripping from his clothes, but his face was pale, almost bluish.

“Headman! Song Laoqi is missing!”

Song Laoqi wasn’t in the building. The people from both sides gathered to count, and discovered that not only Song Laoqi, but one other person was also missing.

“Where are they?!”

“Could they still be in the forest?”

“Impossible! In that situation, they would’ve stuck close to the group. Who would dare run off?”

“With how hard it was raining just now, if they really fell behind, we wouldn’t have heard them even if they shouted.”

The discussions gradually died down. Everyone clearly understood that someone might have truly fallen behind, and they hadn’t known.

They imagined how miserable it would be to be stranded in that forest.

“Should we go look?”

“Are you stupid? How would we even look? Who would go? Who knows where they are? We might just lose a few more people.”

“Headman, I’ll go.”

Nan Yue’s voice interrupted their discussions. They looked over, somewhat incredulous.

“Nan Yue, I disagree.”

Headman Qi frowned. “You heard everyone’s discussions. No one knows where Zhao Laoqi and his companion are now. The forest is so vast, and with such heavy rain, how can we find them?”

Nan Yue said, “Twenty minutes. If I don’t find them, I’ll come back.”

Nan Yue wasn’t actually trying to find the two horsemen; in her opinion, they were already dead.

But she wanted to see how they died.

This world was eerily strange, and so far, apart from the speculation about the deep pool, there was nothing else that could connect the odd occurrences they had encountered.

Today was already the fourth day.

They still knew nothing.

They were too passive.

If they could find out how the two horsemen died, there might be a breakthrough.

But whether they could find anything was truly a question mark.

After all, with so much rain, any traces would likely be washed away.

Still, she had no choice but to try.

Headman Qi patted Nan Yue’s shoulder. “Nan Yue, I know you’re righteous. I understand your heart, and the brothers all understand.”

“But man cannot fight against nature.”

“Twenty minutes.”

Nan Yue said, already walking out, and Jiang Siyan and the others followed.

“You three wait for news inside.”

She said this to Chi Yu and the other two.

This trip was extremely dangerous; they didn’t know what they might encounter.

The entity that killed Zhao Laoqi and his companion might still be in the forest, and flash floods could occur at any moment. Only people with excellent teamwork could go together.

Nan Yue trusted Chi Yu and the others, but this was their first collaboration, and their teamwork hadn't been honed yet.

This time, she could only bring her own team.

The four figures disappeared into the rain.

“Ah!”

Headman Qi stomped his foot heavily and then patted his chest.

The rain outside was just as heavy as before, showing no signs of letting up.

Nan Yue and her three companions, clad in straw raincoats, quickly headed towards the rainforest.

Iron thorns emerged from Gu Xiang Kai’s palm, acting as ropes to bind their waists, with the other end securely tied to a doorpost of the foremost stilt house.

Now that there were no horsemen, they could use their abilities as much as possible.

“The rain is too heavy; the ants will be washed away.”

Zhu Xi Ning’s voice, muffled by her Ant God mask, came through.

“There’s nothing eerie in the forest.”

Zhu Xi Ning frowned, trying to sense. “I don’t sense any returning spirits or white mist now.”

Only rain.

The danger in the forest now seemed to be nature itself.

“Let’s go.”

Nan Yue led the way, Jiang Siyan followed, and Gu Xiang Kai brought up the rear. If there was any movement, he would use the iron thorns to pull them back.

The rain had only been falling for half a day, yet the water in the valley already reached below their calves.

If it continued like this, flash floods were truly imminent.

Nan Yue dared not be careless, moving quickly through the mud.

Underfoot, there was not only water but also mud and branches, making their progress as difficult as struggling through a swamp.

A strong itch rose on her legs, and Nan Yue almost couldn't resist stopping to scratch.

White mist enveloped the four figures in the rain. Nan Yue steadied herself, ignored the unbearable itch, and continued forward.

All she could see was rain and mist, along with trees and bushes that looked identical in the downpour.

Underfoot, the muddy water was already swirling, and breathing felt like being underwater, with copious water vapor making them cough.

Water was everywhere; raindrops streamed down her eyelashes, creating a blurry, watery view.

Although they wore straw raincoats, their clothes were already soaked through.

The rain was too heavy, and the situation was worse than Nan Yue had imagined.

According to their memory, they should have reached the last place the Qi Family Gang stopped. They hadn't gone far, just kept circling around this area.

If something was truly here, it should be nearby.

Just as Nan Yue thought she might not find anything, Zhu Xi Ning’s voice came from beside her.

“A-Nan!”

Nan Yue turned around. Zhu Xi Ning was bent over, feeling around in the muddy water.

“Ants! There’s something!”

The rain was too loud; she could only hear a few words from Zhu Xi Ning, but she understood.

Ants would be washed away by the water, so she had wrapped countless human-faced ants around her legs to sense things underwater.

Although many would be washed away, more would cling to her skin and remain.

Now, the ants in the muddy water must have sensed something.

Nan Yue and the others laboriously made their way towards her.

Each step was like pulling up radishes from the earth.

Except it was their own feet they were pulling.

Though they weren't far apart, it still took some time to reach her through the heavy rain.

Zhu Xi Ning seemed to have found something and was trying to pull it out.

The object must have been tightly encased in the mud, as it hadn’t been washed away even in such heavy rain.

However, it still took considerable effort to dig it out.

Just as Nan Yue and the others gathered around Zhu Xi Ning, she gave a tug and pulled something out of the mud pit.

It was white and elongated.

Like… a bedsheet…

Zhu Xi Ning’s hand trembled, and the object fell back into the water.

It was about to be carried away by the current.

Nan Yue quickly snatched it up and unfolded the white cloth to examine it.

She saw a flattened human face.