However, what we don't know is that we are now heading towards a familiar place.
That was a place Dante and I would never have wanted to stay for even a second longer, but things don't always go according to plan. What's meant to happen, you can't avoid.
Top continued leading the way, and we lost track of how far we had traveled. Then, a white fog rolled in ahead, and we wondered why it had suddenly appeared when we were walking so peacefully.
Due to the fog, Pat lost his air superiority at high altitude. I called Pat back with my survival whistle, and he followed us nearby.
"Dante, everyone be careful. This fog is a bit strange. Let me light a torch first."
As I spoke, I took out some pine torches and dry branches from my backpack, then found a piece of dead wood on the ground and trimmed it with a machete, splitting one end into four forked branches.
The dry branches contained some pine resin, and the bottom layer was some dry grass for starting a fire. This pine cone-shaped torch was stable and durable, and could usually burn for half an hour without going out.
Next, I opened a completely dry bamboo tube, took out some black carbonized cotton from it, and carefully placed it on the hay.
He found a stone and tapped it a few times on the back of the knife. The sparks that flew off ignited the carbonized cotton. After blowing on it a few times, the torch burst into flame.
Because the dry branches contained pine resin that aids combustion, the torches quickly burned brightly.
Dante seemed puzzled that I was carrying a torch in broad daylight.
"Sir, lighting torches now won't do any good. It's foggy inside, and the torches won't light very far."
“Friend, a torch isn’t just for lighting. We don’t know the air quality inside, and it could be dangerous if we go in rashly.”
"Oh... I see."
Dante nodded and followed closely behind me. We walked inside together, using the torches in our hands.
Once we entered the mist, we realized that we seemed to have entered a deep valley.
The trees here are tall, and the surrounding environment is pretty much the same. Getting lost in a place like this would be a real problem.
Fortunately, the torches did not go out as we entered the forest, proving that the air quality here should be fine; however, the sudden appearance of thick fog seemed rather strange.
We dared not stray too far, keeping only about a meter apart. We could still hear birdsong from the treetops overhead, but in this open forest, it sounded rather eerie.
What is obvious is not scary; what is unknown is the source of fear.
I glanced at Top, who was walking in front of me. It was still alert and its expression didn't seem unusual.
The occasional slight flapping sounds coming from above were probably left by Pat. Although Pat's hearing wasn't as sensitive as Top's, he could still hear some basic unusual sounds.
But they haven't found anything wrong yet. I wondered to myself, could it be that we're looking in the wrong place?
Or perhaps the Haru have moved to a different location and no longer inhabit this area, which is why we haven't been able to find any trace of them.
"Sir, could it be that I've come to the wrong place? The fog is so thick here, wouldn't it be very inconvenient for those guys to live in a place like this?"
At this moment, Dante expressed his own thoughts.
I know what Dante meant. The fog here allows the Haru to hide, which means that wild beasts can also easily hide among them and ambush passing Haru.
So in a sense, Dante's idea was not wrong. If they chose such a place as their nest, it would undoubtedly bring considerable challenges to the survival of the species.
The Haru we saw were indeed running in this direction. In that situation, we could only imagine that they would first flee back to their own habitat before gathering their brethren to retaliate.
But the reality might be a little different from what we imagine. Those guys might actually never go back to the brine spring after they found us.
At this moment, I was also a bit frustrated, unsure whether I should continue going in. The fog here was so thick, just as we had feared, that any wild beast could lie in ambush and wait for its chance to strike.
Just as we were hesitating about whether to stay or leave, Top squeaked twice ahead and quickened its pace.
"Top, slow down!"
I immediately tensed up, gripped the shotgun tightly in front of me, and chased after Top in the direction he had run.
Seeing that I suddenly started running, Su Su and Dante, who were behind me, followed closely behind, not knowing why.
"Sir, what happened? Why did you suddenly start running?"
As Dante caught up with me, he asked me a question.
"I don't know. Top barked twice and then sped up and ran forward. I don't know what it sensed that made it so excited."
I frowned. Top wouldn't normally do this. What exactly did it sense?
We hadn't gone very far when the scene before us shocked us once again.
Top didn't run far. At this moment, it and Pat quietly looked at the scene in front of them, as if they were stunned for a moment.
We can hardly believe that nature could possess such a masterpiece, creating such a world.
Following Top's gaze, the thick fog had long since disappeared, replaced by a clean and refreshing forest.
Various unnamed wildflowers can be seen blooming everywhere on the grass, and lush green climbing vines twine around the trees. The egg-sized, bright red fruits on the trees are the fruits of these climbing vines.
A babbling brook flows about 100 meters to our left. The view here is excellent, and we can even vaguely see the stones at the bottom of the water.
I was thinking that if there were a fairy tale world, it would probably be nothing more than the scene we see before us.
This place is secluded from the world, yet it is a rare paradise.
But just then, Dante, who was standing nearby, looked at the torch in my hand and exclaimed in surprise,
"Good heavens! Sir, look what's going on! Why is this torch burning so fiercely!"
Hearing Dante's cry, I snapped out of my daze. In the blink of an eye, I saw that the torch had burned down to a single stick, but it was still burning fiercely, emitting a dazzling white light.
Seeing this, I threw away the torch in my hand and frowned. This place was also an unusually high-oxygen zone.
The torch that had fallen to the ground was still burning eerily until it turned to ashes.
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