Chapter 462 [(*^▽^*)]
I don't know if it's because of the rain, but the black ants have all disappeared. It seems they have returned to their nests to take shelter from the rain. Even after the rain stopped, there weren't many black ants left outside.
It seems the threat of the black poisonous ants is temporarily gone. Jiang Changdong and his group didn't encounter many people throughout the night. It's probably because the roads were difficult to travel after the rain, and it was even more dangerous at night. Many people chose to find a relatively safe place to spend the night instead of continuing their journey overnight.
Jiang Changdong and his group's plan to wait for more people also failed.
It was still dark, but everyone had their own way of checking the time. It was still six in the morning. According to the usual practice, the sun should have already risen by now.
The reality is that the sky is still filled with rolling dark clouds, and there isn't a single gap in sight. Although you can barely see anything, it's only barely.
Jiang Changdong checked the time. "We can't wait any longer. We have to find a way to cross the river."
Not just them, everyone had already packed their things and gone to the riverbank to see if there was a chance to cross. Unfortunately, they couldn't fly across, and...
The river in front of us had narrowed to about fourteen or fifteen meters in width, and the water was quite calm. It just looked a bit eerie against the gloomy sky.
"How do we cross the river? Are your supplies usable?"
Soon someone shook their head, "Yours is useless, ours is useless, they've all been banned."
"How about we build a simple raft?"
"If there are so many of us, building a raft shouldn't take too long. What do you all think?"
Everyone looked at each other, but in the end no one objected. Everyone needed to cross the river, and if they made a raft, everyone could get across. So there was no objection. Besides, there were so many people and everyone had the tools. If they worked quickly, they could probably finish making it before noon.
"Then it's settled. Everyone come over and let's find the materials first."
The plan was fine in itself, but the problem was that there was a huge downpour yesterday and the rain didn't stop afterward. They couldn't find anything dry in the whole forest; everything was wet. Of course, it's not that wet wood can't be used to make rafts, since they all had to be put into the water anyway.
However, looking at the wet forest, everyone felt terrible. Someone casually threw a branch into the river. It was just a casual throw, but unexpectedly, a whirlpool appeared where the branch was floating. The branch was then sucked into the water by the whirlpool and never floated back up.
Many people witnessed this scene, and everyone was surprised that something falling onto the water could cause such a thing. They wondered if the same would happen if they made a raft and placed it on the water.
"If you're worried, shall we try again?"
Everyone threw things into the water that could float, but without exception, they were all pulled underwater by the whirlpool and never resurfaced.
"Hiss... This is preventing us from crossing the river!"
"Flying gadgets are banned, and anything that lands on the water will be sucked in. What do we do now? Are we supposed to build a bridge? Are we going to build a bridge here?"
Building a raft with so many people is relatively simple, but building a bridge? Are you kidding me?
Jiang Changdong suddenly had an idea. "Maybe we don't need to build a bridge. We just need to put a few ropes across the river. As long as we can cross, that would be much simpler, wouldn't it?"
When everyone heard him say that, they realized their habitual thinking. Building a bridge is fine, but it doesn't have to be an actual bridge. If it's just ropes, it's simple. Maybe it can be done in half an hour, and everyone will be able to cross in no time.
Setting up a rope is indeed simple, but figuring out how to wrap it around the tree on the other side is a problem. Fortunately, there are plenty of strong people. Tie a weight to one end of the rope and swing it across. With good technique, you can succeed in one or two tries.
Eight out of ten people here are skilled, and ropes and other equipment are essential items when coming to the deep mountains. Everyone brought them, but it's impossible to take them all out. Those who brought more should give up more, and at least keep some as spares, just in case they come in handy later.
There were enough ropes, and a very simple rope bridge was quickly built. Although it was called a rope bridge, it was really just a few ropes. Everyone just needed to climb over the ropes.
The rope looked very sturdy, and everyone had a lot of confidence in it. Everyone had checked it beforehand, but when it came down to it, no one wanted to be the first to cross.
"Who should go first? We can't just stand here and not move, it's a waste of time."
"Then you go ahead, we're not in a hurry."
The first person to speak paused slightly, stroked his chin without objecting, and after thinking for a while, decided to go first. "In that case, I'll take my leave first. You can decide what to do yourselves."
And so, he actually carried his things and was the first to climb onto the simple rope bridge, slowly moving forward. When he reached the middle of the river, he could even feel the cold aura emanating from it.
He quickened his pace and climbed forward. Fortunately, the river wasn't particularly wide, and he reached the other side unharmed. When his feet touched the ground, he turned around with a smile, waved to the people on the other side, and walked away. Those who hadn't crossed the river yet felt resentful when they saw him go first.
Not long after, the second person appeared. He was much faster than the first one and should have reached the other side quickly, perhaps even catching up with the person in front. But unfortunately, when he reached the middle of the river, he somehow let go of his hands and fell into the river.
After this person fell into the river, he didn't even make a splash. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from everyone's sight. The people who were just rushing to queue up to cross the river quickly were suddenly startled. Forget about scrambling, now no one dared to cross the river again.
A deathly silence. Why did this person loosen the rope? Why did he fall into the river without making a splash? What kind of ghost is in this pitch-black river?
Jiang Changdong thought for a moment, took something out of his pocket and put it on his wrist, then slowly walked over. He crossed the river safely, while the people behind him were very envious. Could it be that odd numbers meant safe crossing, while even numbers meant falling into the river?
However, Tian Zhong, Lü Yan, and Qin Yan all crossed the river safely one after another, and everyone felt that it should be safe from now on. There was indeed something fishy about this river, but maybe it only took one person?
Unfortunately, the person who crossed the river right after Qin Yan once again lost his grip on his hands and feet when he reached the middle, and silently fell into the river and disappeared.
"They're gone! They didn't even look back. They must have found a safe way to cross the river, and they didn't even tell us! What are we going to do now?"
"I think I know why."
"What is it? Tell us about it, and we can all take a look."
"I'm just guessing, what if I'm wrong..."
"It's alright, tell me what happened."
"I think I just saw them take something out of their pockets and put it on before crossing the river. Maybe it was something to ward off evil spirits? Do you have any?"
Suddenly someone said, "I got a talisman when I went to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha last month. Is it effective?"
Everyone's attention was drawn to the red triangular object, which was tied with a red string and hung around the person's neck. No one knew what was inside the red triangular bag.
"Something obtained from a temple? Isn't that something you can get just by going to a temple? Does this thing really work? Why don't you go and try it first?"
Those who were initially considering snatching it immediately abandoned the idea. "What if it's useless? If it's useless, then I'll fall into the river!"
The person holding the amulet seemed to become the target of everyone's anger in that instant. He stared blankly at the people in front of him, all their eyes fixed on him, as if they would throw him into the river if he didn't agree. "What are you going to do?!"
"We didn't do anything. We just wanted to see if you could get through safely with the amulet on."
"What do you mean? Are you forcing me to cross the river? What if I don't want to? What are you going to do then?"
"It's no big deal. If you don't want to, then you don't have to. Are we going to force you? We can just keep waiting. There were five people who just passed by, right?"
"That's true. If they beat us to it, we might not get anything by the time we get there!"
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's think of a solution..."
"If there were a way, would we still need to stand here doing nothing?"
Just then, someone behind them seemed to have noticed something, "Hey? This is..."
The exclamation drew everyone's attention, and soon they found a completely wet piece of paper nearby. Those who had been lucky enough to find similar paper before recognized it at a glance.
"Could this be..."
"It's all wet, I don't know if it can still be opened."
"Let's open it and see. It should still be okay. Although it got wet, it's still in pretty good condition."
"Let's dry it a bit first and see if we can salvage it."
Yesterday's rain was indeed heavy, but this map was fortunate enough to be preserved intact. Even so, unfolding it completely is not an easy task.
Fortunately, everyone still had some tricks up their sleeves. In the end, although there was some damage, the damaged parts were insignificant. The crucial route was a bit blurry, but we could still make out the general outline.
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