The painkillers I took were different from those sold in domestic pharmacies. According to Song Laosan, the painkillers that Sasha prepared were all veterinary drugs, with particularly large doses, so that even if a bone was broken after being attacked by wild animals, there would still be a chance to escape.

This large dose of the drug also had a sedative and hypnotic effect. I tied my body to the tree trunk, ignoring the pain from the branches digging into my skin, and fell into a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes, I found that it was already daylight, and my body was stiff from the cold. I saw Song Laosan and the others gathered under the tree. It took me a while to recover before I climbed down: "Why didn't anyone call me when I was on night duty last night?"

“You and Zhou Peng were both injured and took sedatives. Sasha didn’t let me call you.”

After answering my question, Song Laosan sniffed and said, "Xiao Duan, something strange happened last night."

Seeing that Song Laosan's expression was off, I immediately frowned: "What's wrong?"

Song Laosan clicked his tongue and said, "Our equipment is lost!"

My first reaction upon hearing this was to drop my gun. In this primeval jungle, without weapons, our journey ahead would inevitably become incredibly difficult.

However, Song Laosan and Sasha, who were not far away, were clearly carrying sidearms.

Seeing my confusion, Song Laosan pointed to a rope on a tree next to him: "What we lost wasn't the guns, but the supplies and handheld satellite terminals. Apart from the four guns, the team only has one set of Luoyang shovels left."

Sasha had previously hung all our packages on trees to prevent wild animals from carrying them away, but now only a rope remains on the tree where we hung our equipment last night.

Did someone run away with the equipment?

As I spoke, I glanced at the crowd and found that all six people were still there; no one had left.

Song Laosan stepped over and shook the rope with his hand: "This is what I find strange. This morning, I wanted to get something from my bag, but I found that both of my travel bags were gone."

I looked at the jagged breaks in the rope: "It doesn't look like it was cut, but rather torn. Did some animal come last night?"

“Last night, apart from you and Zhou Peng, everyone else took turns keeping watch. Everyone insisted that they did not sleep. However, after a whole day of hard work yesterday, someone might have thought they only dozed off for a few seconds, but in reality, it was more than ten minutes or even half an hour that passed.”

Song Laosan licked his lips: "We can't find out how the food was lost in a short time. The biggest problem now is not the loss of food, but the loss of the positioning equipment. As a result, the subsequent support will not be able to find us. If we continue to go deeper, we will really be fighting alone."

"We can't back down, we can only keep moving forward."

I made the decision almost without thinking: "Wei Shengnan and the others entered the jungle on the same day as us. Although we may not be heading in the same direction, they have a much larger search area thanks to their drones. We have already wasted two days. If we turn back now, all our efforts during this time will be wasted."

Song Laosan was still somewhat worried: "Sasha is not familiar with this forest. If we rush in and get lost, it could cause a big problem."

I lit a cigarette and called out to Sasha, "Mr. Sasha, how much longer until we reach the mountain you mentioned?"

Sasha shrugged and said, "If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to get there in two days, but as you can see, there are many dangers here."

I continued, "If you lose your GPS, can you still find that mountain?"

Sasha replied confidently, "Of course, I never rely on those things to find my way in my hunting career. Stars, mountains, jungles, and rivers can all serve as our guides. As long as we leave marks along the way, there is no problem in returning the way we came."

I gave Sasha a thumbs up and looked at Song Laosan: "Now that we've gone halfway and Sasha is confident she can find the mountain, let's keep going."

"Smoke it sparingly, this is our last pack of cigarettes."

Song Laosan took a cigarette from my cigarette case: "I'm fine, but can you hold on with your injury?"

I took the military dagger from my waist and haphazardly chopped at the branches of a nearby tree: "If someone else beats me to it, not only will my injury not heal, but I'll probably feel even worse."

...

In addition to food, our two lost travel bags also contained a large amount of medicine and ammunition. Fortunately, when I was injured last night, I casually put two boxes of anti-inflammatory medicine into my pocket and distributed them to everyone.

As the night passed, several wolf carcasses had been dragged away by some unknown creature, and the remaining carcasses had been devoured and left a bloody mess.

To prevent our wounds from getting frostbite, Sasha skinned a wolf, cut it up, and wrapped it around our wounds to keep them warm.

As we continued our journey, the monkey deliberately slowed his pace and approached me, lowering his voice to say, "Young Master Duan, this whole thing about our lost luggage is really strange. Judging from the height the rope broke, it must have been at least 1.5 meters, almost as tall as a person. It would have taken at least a bear standing up, right? And the ropes binding the luggage were all nylon; how much force would it take to break them? If it were really a wild animal, it probably could have snapped tree branches, so how could it have only broken the rope? Besides, with such a commotion, how could no one have heard it?"

After hearing what the monkey said, I continued to ask, "So what do you think?"

The monkey blinked: "After thinking about it, I still think this must have been done by a human."

“I had the same suspicions as you before, but I dismissed them. If there really was a mole in the team, they would have to take Sasha out in addition to taking the luggage. Only in this way could they stop us from moving forward.”

I patted the monkey on the shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Maybe the smell of the food in our bag attracted some wild animal, which bit through the rope. If it were a wild cat or a lynx, it could easily climb up the rope, bite through it, and then drag it away."

"What if there's a mole within the team, just trying to cut us off from our support?"

The monkey still hadn't dispelled his doubts: "Look, in our team now, besides you, me, and Third Master, there's only bodyguard Ivan, guide Sasha, and translator Zhou Peng left. If the problem really lies with Zhou Peng or Ivan, they might not be a match for Sasha if they launch a sneak attack while they're all alone. So, by isolating us, we've already succeeded halfway."

"It's unlikely." I shook my head again. "We've been eating and sleeping together these past few days. If there really is a spy in the team, they could have just reported us for not having legal status and preventing us from entering the mountains. Why go through all that trouble? Besides, without backup, everyone will be in danger. If the spy didn't dare kill Sasha, they could have run away with the equipment last night. Why would they continue to risk their lives with us? The road ahead is arduous. Without evidence, we must not make wild guesses. Otherwise, if things fall apart internally, we'll have completely lost this round!"