For the rest of the journey, we cautiously scouted ahead with our spears. To improve the accuracy of our feedback, I even made a ball out of vines and wrapped it around the spear.
This allows for a larger contact area when the foot touches the ground, more accurately mimicking the pressure exerted when our foot lands on the ground.
This method actually worked quite well. We found more than ten suspicious spots with soft soil after walking less than 500 meters.
At this moment, Su Su and Dante admired my abilities even more, not only for my extensive knowledge and experience, but also for my keen observation skills, which allowed me to discover anomalies that most people would miss.
If it weren't for the instinct to survive, we would probably already be stuck in one of those swamps, struggling to stay afloat.
However, what we don't yet know is that this unassuming swampy area is just a small appetizer before the enormous risks that lie ahead.
After walking cautiously for two or three miles, we finally felt the solid texture of the spear striking the ground.
However, we still dared not let our guard down. After walking for nearly another kilometer, we confirmed that the ground was now solid, and only then did we feel relieved and continue on our way.
"call……"
Dante let out a long breath, glancing back at the way he had come with lingering fear.
"We really owe you a great deal for reminding us in advance, otherwise we would have suffered so much along the way."
"Don't worry about that, Dante. I think we're not out of the woods yet; some unseen dangers still lurk around us."
"ah!"
Upon hearing this, Dante immediately picked up his spear again and probed the ground in front of him as before.
I was speechless, a black line appearing on my forehead. How could this guy be so honest?
"Ahem... Um, Dante. What I meant wasn't that there's still a swampy area ahead."
I think we've temporarily passed through the swamp area, but don't you guys think it's even stranger and more eerie here than before?
Hearing me say that, Su Su was the first to react. A chill ran down her spine as she thought about it; this place was indeed even more eerie than before.
Although the swamp we crossed earlier had few animals, we could at least hear a few insects chirping and occasionally see a few wild birds flying by.
But once they arrived in this area, everything seemed to have been muted; the environment became deathly silent, and not even a single insect chirping could be heard.
Every step we took, every little sound we made, was amplified many times over by this eerie environment. We could even hear each other's heartbeats, and the thumping sound seemed to quicken.
It must be said that walking in such a depressing environment is a kind of torment and torture for one's mind.
I am not afraid to face the ferocious beasts lurking in the shadows trying to ambush us. I would rather deal with them than stay in this oppressive environment for even a second longer.
Someone once said that true fear is not the danger you face, but the agonizing feeling of waiting for danger to arrive in an uncertain situation.
I hadn't mentioned this earlier, so Su Su and Dante walked relatively easily. Now, Su Su and Dante's faces were covered in fine beads of sweat from nervousness, and their palms, gripping the crossbows tightly, were also slightly sweaty.
"Don't be too nervous. Being too nervous will cause muscle stiffness, which will also affect your brain and reduce your physical performance in all aspects. Just relax and pay attention to your surroundings."
I comforted the two people beside me, while my own back was already soaked with sweat without me even realizing it. I've encountered too many dangers along the way, and now my nerves have been instinctively trained to have a natural, direct sense of danger.
On our way forward, a few miles away in the depths of the dense forest, a place was covered with many beautiful flowers.
Its leaves are 30-40 centimeters long, resilient, and have sharp barbs. The flowers grow in the center of the leaves, small and beautiful.
Beneath these beautiful exteriors lie piles of white bones, concealed by dense foliage. Upon closer inspection, one can discover that the bones are filled with white spider silk.
At this moment, these spider silks are like highways hidden under the branches and leaves, and many black spiders with a red funnel-shaped mark on their abdomens are busy working in them.
This is the red funnel-web spider, also known as the jungle reaper, and it has another fitting nickname: Black Widow!
Even the learned Tang Yi had only heard rumors about this plant before recognizing its beauty.
Sunwheel flower: Its flower disc resembles a gear, possessing a charming appearance and magnificent colors. It emits a strong fragrance that attracts animals.
When an animal lightly touches a flower or leaf, the slender leaves curl up like bird claws, tightly constricting the prey's body and pulling it down onto the damp ground.
Meanwhile, black widow spiders living nearby will swarm in, killing and eating the animals with their venom, and the black widow's excrement becomes a special nutrient for the sunflower.
Since the sunflower is not very large, it does not have a significant advantage when hunting large animals.
Legend has it that the sunflower and the black widow are partners who help spiders drag people into swamps, where a large number of venomous spiders kill the intruders and devour the nutrients on their prey.
…………
At this moment, our nerves are stretched to the limit.
Maintaining this state is akin to making someone carry two buckets of water while standing in a horse stance—it's an incredibly painful experience.
Now I'd rather have a whole bunch of ferocious beasts come out, just to break this damn eeriness. I'd even be willing to fight those beasts to the death the next second.
If this torture continues, we might not even finish the journey before our minds break down and we become proper lunatics.
It seems that the damned heavens heard my inner cry, and things finally began to change, but this change was not a good thing for us.
A grove of low trees appeared ahead of us. It is indeed rare to encounter tree species that are generally no more than three meters tall in a primeval forest.
I didn't recognize these trees at first; I just thought they were some kind of willow I didn't know. But I soon learned that this willow-like thing had a horrifying name: the killer willow.
Its scientific name is *Platycladus orientalis*, a nearly extinct and extremely rare carnivorous plant.
Normally, they are composed of many soft branches, just like most plants, and the branches usually stretch out and droop freely like willows.
Once a person or wild animal touches one of the branches, the tree mobilizes all its branches to act swiftly, gripping the prey tightly like octopus tentacles, while simultaneously releasing a gelatinous liquid that digests the person or animal.
I had never seen what this plant looked like before, and when we encountered it, unaware of the potential dangers, we resolutely entered this forest of death.
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