Chapter 236

The ranger cursed at us, gun drawn, then he looked at my friend and me and asked why we were here instead of on patrol.

“My friend has become like this, and you are here asking us why we didn’t help you? You are so weird, didn’t you work before we came here?

We promised you to do something, and we are doing it now. Are we just lying in your house and resting? No.

If anything happens to my friend because of your work, I will never forgive you."

My friend shouted to the ranger.

The ranger pointed a gun at him. The muzzle was still steaming and was black, the color of death.

"Boy, I know you are young and hot-tempered, but I advise you to be polite when you speak to me.

Otherwise, I can't guarantee that my finger will not pull the trigger. There are bullets in it, specially designed to deal with people like you who are ignorant of the world.

Do you want to taste these? I'll give you a bite."

The ranger treated my friend with great contempt.

I suddenly grabbed the gun, and my friend quickly cooperated with my action and punched the man in the face.

I hit the ranger in the back of the head with the butt of the gun.

The ranger shuddered and fell facedown in the dirt as if he had fallen, closing his eyes as if he were about to fall into an endless sleep.

I knew that this was the end of it, so I handed the gun to my friend, who looked at me nervously.

"What do you want to do?"

Although my friend knew what I would do after I stole the ranger's gun, and we worked together very well, he couldn't understand my purpose and thoughts.

He suddenly felt that the person in front of him was like looking at him through a layer of glass, as if he had suddenly become the master of the world, and I had built a barrier between him and me with my own hands.

I smiled at him and comforted him, saying it was okay.

He blinked doubtfully.

I searched Hu Linyuan's body and found something black, twisted, and squirming, covered in mucus, in the lining of his clothes.

"This thing looks like an octopus tentacle, but an octopus tentacle should have suction cups, not black with a little purple. Is it more purple-red?"

My friend took one look at it, frowned deeply, and felt disgusted.

"Maybe this thing can be useful to us."

I smiled at my friend and began to feel the surface of the object with my fingers until I felt a small crack.

I dug my fingernails into it and used force to spread out the round, tentacle-like thing until it became a thin sheet like hawthorn skin.

My fingernails were stained black and gave off a rancid smell, as if I had just dissected a corpse with my bare hands.

My friend almost stepped back, but looking at me, he thought I was out of my mind, so he stood still.

I'm so grateful that he cares about me so much.

I shook the thing in my hand and handed it to him. He took a look and shook his head, not knowing what I meant.

"This is a living thing, can you feel it? This thing is not dead."

I said to my friend.

I withdrew my hand, took back the things in it, and started to feel around.

This thing is uneven inside and out, as if there are some special marks marking the location.

Although I don't know where the traces correspond to, I know that these things may be part of the forbidden area.

It would not be surprising if forest rangers had these abilities to accurately detect tree thieves.

If the forest ranger had this thing, he could enter the restricted area without having to worry like other people, either going crazy or dying.

Then can I go in with this thing?

A crazy idea came into my mind, and I knew I shouldn't act on it now.

So I started discussing with my friend how we were going to explain to the ranger what we had done to him.

"I thought you were totally unprepared. You can think of this. It seems you have a clear mind."

My friends laughed at me.

I made a gurgling sound, and felt a little hungry. I wanted to eat the food in my hand. I held my friend's hand and said, "Don't stand here and say frivolous things. You can't escape."

My friend smiled and said, "I am just feeling lucky. Don't worry, there is a way to deal with this. I have some medicine in my backpack."

It just so happens that I know what those medicines do, so we can give the nurse some medicine and tell him that he was attacked by the thief he was chasing, and we saved him and gave him medicine.

Even if he had doubts, he didn't understand the medicine.

What's more, we can say that after we gave him the medicine, it was gone. Not even the medicine bottle was there, because we didn't bring anything like that with us for the convenience of carrying.

This is also to save energy and limited space. I hope he can understand. If he can't understand, it's useless. Anyway, we won't give him more, and he won't get more.

There is no one else here now. Whatever we do, as long as the other party doesn't tell anyone, it will be perfect. What is there to be afraid of? I believe you will not betray me, and you should believe me as well."

My friend said to me.

"But I remember that you didn't bring your backpack when you knocked on the door last night. Even the person next to you didn't have a backpack. Where did you put your backpack?"

I asked.

"Hide it in a safe place where you can find it at any time, so that it won't be stolen or inspected. Otherwise, it's hard to say whether the drugs will be effective."

my friend replied.

I nodded.

My friend went to get his backpack, took out the medicine from it and hurried back.

And I was standing next to the unconscious ranger, watching over him in case he suddenly woke up and tried to run away or do anything else.

The plan went smoothly. My friend took the medicine from his backpack, stuffed it down the ranger's throat, and gave the ranger some water.

The amount of water was not much, which ensured that the ranger would not vomit and that the water could flow down his throat into his stomach.

After some time, the ranger still hadn't woken up.

I was a little confused and asked my friend what medicine he had taken.

My friend said that part of it was sleeping pills, which guaranteed that he would sleep long enough.

During the break we can explore, play, rest, and take care of his supplies.

I nodded.

We returned to the house and began to search, and in a corner we found a line of small words scratched in with fingernails.

The general meaning of that line of words is that if too many trees are cut down every day, the forest ranger will be killed by the god of the forbidden area.

The new ranger will be chosen by the god who killed the previous ranger.

"According to the description of this line, the selection of this position seems to be random."

My friend said.

"If we cut down too many trees while the ranger was unconscious, he would be killed. Would the new ranger be chosen from among us?"

"I'm afraid they will not only choose from us, but also from the villagers. Then things will become even more troublesome and worse. We can't be sure that the next forest ranger will be the same as the current one."

my friend replied.

I nodded.

We restored the house to its original state and lifted the ranger back to bed.

The ranger was also fast asleep due to the effects of the drugs.

Suddenly, I felt something move in my pocket, and the cloth next to the pocket was soaked. I quickly took the thing out of my pocket and found it was the tentacle.

The tentacles squirmed on my palm and took the shape of a snail. Although it had no shell, no eyes, and no patterns, it was a very crude imitation, but the tentacles pointed me in a direction.

I said to my friend, "Let's go over here and take a look."

My friend nodded.

We followed the instructions and came to a piece of wood. There were only two words on the wood: Forbidden Area.

"It seems that this is a forbidden area. Are we not in the wrong place at all?"

My friend was very skeptical.

"Let me go in and take a look."

I said to my friend.

"But it would be dangerous to go in, and you're not a forest ranger."

My friend was a little worried.

"It's okay, don't worry, I'll be fine. If I really die, then you're still alive, and you can leave here. You don't have to look for me, and you don't have to wait for me."

I comforted my friend with a few words and went straight into the forbidden area.

My friend shouted, but I didn't look back. My friend knew I was definitely going in and didn't plan to follow me. He just stood at the intersection to alert the forest rangers and others for me.

It was pitch black inside the forbidden area, as if a huge net had been formed in the sky.

I was walking on the road and felt a little stomachache. I covered my abdomen and felt a lump there, but I didn't eat anything before.

I suddenly remembered what the villagers had said to me. I started to become alert and pressed hard inside. I felt a living thing moving inside. I had been affected by the forbidden area.

It seems that tentacles alone cannot be recognized as a ranger by the creatures here, so I have to move faster.

I gritted my teeth and moved forward. My skin began to crack and bleed, most of the blood was black mucus.

Movement became difficult.

I didn't plan to go back like this, so I rushed in faster.

I finally saw something.

It was a huge tree, without any leaves and without a trace of green. It looked like a poor imitation of a tree.

I thought of tentacles.

The tentacles trembled and exuded more mucus, emitting a sewer odor, a bit like the grain in the warehouse that has gone bad, and a faint smell of alcohol.

I couldn't stand the stench and started vomiting.

The abdomen is more swollen than before.