On a large tree far across the mountain wall, a man saw five people enter the cave, a satisfied sneer on his face, and then he turned and ran behind a tree not far from the mountain wall.
*
Inside the cave, the group hadn't gone far when a swarm of bats, startled by them, flew around wildly, disrupting their rhythm.
Suddenly, arrows shot down from all directions from the cave walls, all with steel arrowheads.
An Moxue drew her broadsword from her back and swung it around, creating a series of afterimages that scattered all the arrows. The others were not to be outdone and used their own methods as well. After a while, the bats were fewer and the arrows were gone.
Before they could even catch their breath, they heard a "chirping" sound, and everyone's nerves immediately tightened. The five of them moved forward back to back.
Xu Qingfeng said, "Oh no! It sounds like a man-eating rat. Everyone be careful!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than rats pounced on them.
"What the hell? Such a big rat!" An Moxue exclaimed. This was the first time she had ever seen such a big rat. It didn't look like a rat at all; it was almost as big as a fat rabbit. Its front teeth were sharp and looked extremely sharp. Its eyes were red and creepy.
Xu Qingfeng said, "Be careful, they eat human flesh. Don't get bitten or caught. They carry many kinds of viruses."
An Moxue said, "Release the sleeping powder." She then lit the sleeping powder in her hand and waved it around.
The others quickly took out the antidote, smelled it, and then lit the sleeping incense, shaking it around. Soon, the man-eating rats started to act like they were drunk, and then collapsed to the ground unconscious.
The group finally got a moment's respite and checked themselves for any signs of rat bites.
After the inspection, all five people were found to be safe and sound. At this moment, Xu Qingfeng said, "We've only been here a short time, and this is what happened. We don't know what other tricks they have up their sleeves. Everyone must be extra careful. This also proves that there's something here."
The five people looked back at the road they had come from, which was pitch black; they looked ahead at the road, which was also pitch black. They suppressed the heaviness in their hearts and continued on their way.
Along the way, the group proceeded cautiously. After walking for a while, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a pool of water ahead. However, the pool was teeming with snakes of all shapes and sizes, so numerous that just seeing them made one's skin crawl. In fact, they had to find a way to get past them, and some of them were venomous. Fortunately, everyone had brought medicine bags with them to repel both insects and snakes.
Inside were all natural stone caves, and for a while, no one had a good solution. However, without passing through the snake cave, they could not proceed.
Xu Qingfeng asked, "What should we do? Does anyone have any ideas?"
"Light the sleeping powder first, then use the rope to climb over," Wu Sicheng said, taking out the sleeping powder and lighting it.
After a while, all the snakes had fainted, and Wang Wei finally dared to speak. "My God! Look at those snakes! Red ones, green ones, and even some with multicolored markings. They look extremely venomous. I didn't dare to breathe. Let's go over there quickly! This is the first time in my life I've ever seen so many snakes!"
An Moxue thought to herself, "Who isn't? It makes my scalp tingle just looking at it! She hates these kinds of creatures the most; they're cold and smelly."
"I'll go first, you guys be careful." After saying that, Wu Sicheng took out his climbing lock and grabbed the opposite wall. He grabbed one, which was very secure, and then, with the help of the rope and the wall, he successfully crossed over.
An Moxue didn't want to face the densely packed snake corpses, so she went over second. After passing through, she saw that it was a crisscrossing natural stone cave with a well-developed water system.
After everyone arrived, seeing the complex terrain, the group could only rely on their instincts to find a spot and start moving forward.
They walked for what seemed like an eternity, more than half an hour, until they came upon a series of fenced cages stained with blood. Some were empty, while others held people inside. Each cage was filled with man-eating rats and snakes. Some people were unconscious, while others struggled erratically. None of them were unharmed; their bodies were covered in wounds, bruises and welts, and not a single one was conscious.
When Xu Qingfeng and his group got closer, they couldn't believe they were their comrades. The five of them quickly opened the cage, killed the rats and snakes inside, and rescued everyone one by one. They started feeding them antidotes and bandaging their wounds. In the end, there were only fifty-one people left.
An Moxue didn't recognize anyone; she was only responsible for cleaning and bandaging the wounds. Xu Qingfeng and the other three started to recognize people and simultaneously fed them medicine and bandaged their wounds.
For a moment, the five men felt like they couldn't breathe. It was clear that they had been subjected to severe torture and poisoned by man-eating rats and snakes. Even the five of them didn't know how many of the fifty-one people would survive or how many would remain conscious.
An Moxue said, "They need to be treated as soon as possible, and we also need to get them some liquid food. How can we manage so many people?"
Xu Qingfeng said, "We can't stay here. If someone discovers us, this is their territory, and we'll be like meat on a chopping board, at their mercy. We have to move them over."
Wu Sicheng said, "There's no one here, that's not normal. Logically speaking, there should at least be two guards. Where are the other comrades?"
"Separately investigate, quickly, and see if there are any new discoveries."
The five people gathered together and discussed splitting up to look for clues, leaving Xu Qingfeng to keep watch, as he was the only one who didn't know ancient martial arts. They agreed to meet again in an hour.
The four of them each went in a different direction and sped off into the distance.
Xu Qingfeng stayed where he was, took out the only map in his hand, and began to look at it again.
After watching for a while, he stood up and began to check on each of his comrades, but still, none of them were awake.
The anger in his eyes was barely contained; a raging fire was burning in his heart.
However, when he sensed someone approaching, he was struck hard on the back of the neck with a stick, and he fell to the ground unconscious.
A man walked over from a short distance away. He wasn't tall, but he was unhurried. He kicked Xu Qingfeng and muttered, "This is the second person tonight. I didn't expect these people to be so much more capable than the previous ones. They found the granary and even this place. But that's all!" As he spoke, his disdain was blatant.
"A bunch of weaklings, daring to sabotage and stop our grand plan! What pipe dreams they have! They're overestimating themselves!"
As he spoke, he kicked Xu Qingfeng twice more, then lifted him up with one hand as if he were carrying a small bag. He then walked in one direction and disappeared in the blink of an eye, which was the direction An Moxue was searching for.
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