After everyone finished the canned meat and chocolate, Zhang Jian conducted a simple water quality test on the river and found that although the river water did not meet the standards for purified water, normal drinking would not cause any harm to the human body.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they waded across the river and headed towards the bamboo forest.

However, although the journey was not long, the atmosphere among the group was quite strange.

At first, Wang Lan would occasionally steal glances at Nan Chen, but Nan Chen seemed to be deliberately avoiding Wang Lan's gaze. Nan Chen also ignored Wang Lan. Gradually, Sha Si and the others also began to cast their observational glances at Wang Lan.

That's rather strange.

Wang Lan noticed that while everyone was eating to replenish their energy, Sha Si and the others would occasionally glance at him. Whenever Wang Lan noticed and looked back, Sha Si and the others would immediately turn away, pretending to be nonchalant.

What are they observing?

Wang Lan couldn't understand it.

As the group walked through the bamboo forest, Ding Taishun and the others noticed that Sha Si and his group kept glancing at Wang Lan. As the first group of people Wang Lan had brainwashed, they immediately became wary. When they saw Sha Si and the others looking at Wang Lan, they also frowned and looked over.

So this is the current situation.

Wang Lan glanced at Sha Si and the others from time to time, and Sha Si and the others glanced at Wang Lan from time to time. Ding Taishun and the others, noticing that Sha Si and the others were looking at Wang Lan, looked at Sha Si and the others. Sha Si and the others, sensing the slightly dissatisfied look in Ding Taishun and the others' eyes, looked at Ding Taishun and the others in strange ways.

In short, the current situation is that you look at me, I look at him, and he looks at you.

Chaos reigned.

The situation inside the bamboo forest was even more chaotic.

As the group ventured deeper, the white fog grew increasingly dense, and their visibility gradually decreased from tens of meters to just over ten meters.

The group gradually slowed down their pace.

Losing one's sense of direction in a completely unfamiliar place is indeed a terrible thing. All they can do is try their best not to get lost and keep walking in one direction.

As Wang Lan walked through the bamboo forest filled with white mist, a sense of familiarity suddenly arose in his heart.

That was the feeling I experienced in the forbidden zone of the final fortress when I was in the safe zone.

Clearly, this white mist shares many similarities with the composition of the evolutionary mist.

Wang Lan was happy to stay in the fog longer, because it would greatly boost his C system, essentially allowing him to upgrade it online.

"Everyone be careful!"

Sasa then said, "Try not to spread out too much. The fog is getting thicker and thicker, and our visibility is getting lower and lower."

Upon hearing this, the group felt a little closer to each other.

Since entering the bamboo forest, the white-armored soldiers have closely followed and protected the Holy Envoy. The people from Hope Village did not object, after all, as Wang Lan said, they should rely on themselves to survive, rather than pinning their hopes on others.

Zhang Xiwang walked at the very back of the column, having volunteered to cover the rear. He was carrying a heavy machine gun, a weapon salvaged from the equipment of heavily armored soldiers, and stood ready, cautiously surveying the blurry surroundings.

Then he suddenly noticed that the bamboo around him seemed to be slightly different.

So Zhang Xiwang stopped and looked closely at the bamboo. He saw that the bamboo was about the size of a bowl, but the surface was not smooth. Instead, it was covered with a dense network of shallow grooves.

When Zhang Xiwang frowned and looked at it, he noticed that there was a layer of something like fuzz on the surface of the bamboo. He mustered up his courage and reached out to touch it, only to find that the "fuzz" was actually extremely hard, like short steel needles, and very prickly.

Zhang Xiwang was puzzled. He looked up along the bamboo, his brows furrowing more and more. But then he suddenly realized something and quickly squinted ahead.

As the crowd had gone further and further away, only vague figures could be seen in the white mist. Zhang Xiwang was immediately anxious and no longer cared about the bamboo's uniqueness. Just as he was about to chase after them, he suddenly heard a slight sound of wind breaking behind him, followed by a "whoosh" sound!

Zhang Xiwang's body jolted suddenly, and the light in his eyes dimmed instantly.

He looked down.

Suddenly, a round "stick" covered with barbs appeared on Zhang Xiwang's left chest. As he looked down, the stick became soft, and the top of the stick split into four pieces, which were then placed upside down on Zhang Xiwang's chest.

Only then did he feel the intense pain spreading throughout his body. Zhang Xiwang's expression turned ferocious, but before he could scream, the long stick suddenly retracted, taking Zhang Xiwang backward with it.

A moment later, from within the white mist, the sounds of tearing and chewing echoed...

The group continued walking forward, perhaps because they were under a high level of tension, so much so that they kept their footsteps very low. This small group of nearly twenty people walked through the bamboo forest without making a sound.

Lu Renjia walked behind, trembling uncontrollably. The silence around him was truly terrifying, especially with the white fog filling his vision and visibility decreasing. The slow pace of the people ahead reminded him of the ghost stories he had heard as a child about the world before the cataclysm.

Looking ahead again, they found themselves unconsciously associating themselves with wandering ghosts and spirits.

Lu Renjia couldn't help but shiver. He quickly pinched his face hard to clear his head, and thought bitterly to himself, "Old Lu, you've wasted over thirty years of your life. If there really were ghosts, you would have encountered them long ago. Why would you have waited until now?"

Thinking about this, Lu Renjia suddenly felt a bit of admiration for Zhang Xiwang.

He covered the rear alone, with no one behind him and danger lurking at any moment, yet he remained calm and composed. Such courage is truly extraordinary.

So Lu Renjia turned around, wanting to give Zhang Xiwang a thumbs up, but when he turned around, he found that there was no one behind him, and he couldn't see Zhang Xiwang at all.

At that moment, the people in front suddenly stopped.

Wang Lan frowned. He had been quietly enjoying the nourishment the white mist provided to his body and C system, but suddenly he sensed danger. Just as he stopped, the sauce also stopped.

Influenced by these two, the others also stopped.

Wang Lan and Sha Si exchanged glances, both seeing the wariness and doubt in each other's eyes.

They glanced in their respective directions a few times, then simultaneously looked behind them.

Lu Renjia was standing at the end of the line, Zhang Xiwang had disappeared, and Lu Renjia was trembling violently as she looked up.

He slowly raised his hand, his fingers pointing upwards.

then…

"Ah! Ah! Ah—"

That was an unconscious scream that erupted from extreme fear.

Suddenly, a sound rang out from the bamboo forest!