Chapter 103
Everyone was stunned.
Low-level toxicity?
This moss is inedible, but those four words are just too tempting.
Jiang Shu said with some regret, "If only we could eat it!"
Jiang Zhi had a sudden inspiration and casually began to examine the other moss patches.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
Everyone was stunned; they were all low-level toxins!
Jiang Zhi had a feeling that she had just expected this.
Those seeds seem so picky; what they want can't be too bad.
She poured the water from the military water bottle and squeezed some water out of the moss with her hand.
As soon as the ginger twig touched the water-soaked moss, it felt a soft, moist mass wrap around it.
It felt like squeezing a water-soaked sponge, but even denser and more pliable, with a cool, damp feel.
With a little pressure, fine water droplets seeped from between the fingertips. After releasing the hand, the moss absorbed the water droplets from Jiang Zhi's hand and slowly swelled back up.
Jiang Zhi reached out to examine the water that had been squeezed out.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
The moment the word "edible" was uttered, the expressions on everyone's faces froze.
Ah Song, who was peeling the bark off the tree, suddenly stopped. When he turned his head, his eyes were wide open like saucers, and he forgot to even out his breathing: "This...this water in the moss...can you drink it?"
Ah Kuan couldn't hide his excitement, "This... low-toxicity water, this moss, these are good things!!"
Han Lei's throat bobbed, and he took two steps forward, almost tripping over a pebble.
He stared at the moss and the testing equipment, and couldn't help but say, "...Goodness, this is the first time I've ever seen water with low toxin levels."
He turned to look at Jiang Zhi:
"Ah Zhi, may I try a sip?"
Jiang Zhi: "It's possible, but I'm not sure if there will be any parasites..."
Han Lei: "It's okay, I won't swallow."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi handed over the military water bottle, and Han Lei tilted his head back and took a big gulp.
He paused as soon as the water slid across the tip of his tongue.
Unexpectedly, the water had a clear, sweet taste, like spring water that had just flowed down from a mountain stream.
Despite being a bit icy, it still made you want to swallow it.
He swirled the water in his mouth a couple of times before spitting it out, his eyes full of surprise: "This water... is quite sweet."
Since the cataclysm, the water they drink has been treated at the base with moderate levels of toxins.
Moreover, due to the favorable conditions, it also has a faint mineral smell.
The water absorbed by the moss tasted almost the same as spring water.
Jiang Shu scratched his head: "So, is this water safe to drink or not?"
Han Lei nodded firmly: "Of course!"
"When the base was first built, it was the hottest time of the year. At that time, spacecraft had not yet been developed, and the transportation of water resources became a major problem."
Back then, the base survived those most difficult days by slowly transporting water back to the base using this mutated moss.
The brother and sister never expected such a thing to happen.
Jiang Zhi: "How is the water at the base filtered?"
Han Lei shook his head, "I'm not entirely sure about that. I heard it uses a special mineral."
In other words, these mosses can only be used to absorb and retain water.
If this water becomes low-toxicity only after being absorbed by the moss, then it's essentially a natural filter, something the base couldn't possibly have failed to discover.
Therefore, this can only mean one thing—the water absorbed into the seaweed is itself a low-level toxin.
Jiang Zhi thought about it more deeply.
I always feel like there's something I haven't grasped.
Then Jiang Shu said happily, "No matter what kind it is, this moss is a treasure. Although it's a bit dangerous, as long as it absorbs water, it'll be fine, right?"
Han Lei laughed and said, "Big Tree is right."
Ah Kuan, who had been listening from the side, couldn't hold back any longer: "Then let's test all the moss in the vicinity. If it's all low-level toxins, we'll take it all back."
As they talked, they no longer felt tired, and one by one they got up and went to search under the nearby dead tree roots.
For a time, the sound of testing echoed everywhere.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
"Drip - Moderate toxicity, can be consumed in moderation."
"Drip—Highly toxic, not for consumption."
Jiangzhi also found a section of half-dried old tree root.
A thin layer of rotten soil had accumulated in the depressions of the tree roots, and dark green moss grew densely along the wood grain.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
It's a low-level toxin again!
Jiang Zhi squatted down directly in front of the tree roots.
She didn't dare to use too much force, afraid of crushing it, so she slowly picked at the edges of the moss, and soon some dark brown mud got into her fingernails.
Soon, a small patch of moss, along with a thin layer of soil, was lifted off. Afraid of squeezing out all the moisture if he squeezed it, Jiang Zhi quickly stuffed it into the basket behind him.
Then, he leaned closer to stare at another spot on the tree root, and there was a large patch of fertile flesh on the back.
Jiang Zhi repeated the previous action and picked another large patch.
The six of them searched around under the tree roots and managed to collect several hundred kilograms of water-soaked moss.
Apart from the moss on this small hillside, which is all of low toxicity, the quality of the other tree roots and ground is uneven.
She gathered all the moss into a basket and stored it away using her spatial storage device, planning to distribute it later when she got back.
After finishing their collection, the group found a relatively flat rock to rest on. As soon as they sat down, the mountain wind whistled through the air.
Han Lei and the others instinctively wrapped their coats tighter, but the chill was impossible to block, seeping in through their sleeves and collars.
Exhausted, Ah Kuan leaned against a rock and exclaimed, "I've never felt this tired climbing mountains before."
The group had spent four or five hours on the journey. When they looked up, they realized that the place under their feet was not even a proper mountain path of Min'an Mountain. It was at most the foot of the mountain. They were still wandering around the outer edge. They hadn't even really stepped into the foot of the mountain, let alone covered a third of the distance.
Han Lei wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked at the sparse vegetation around him, and said with a hint of helplessness, "It seems that there really isn't much edible stuff in the Qiling Mountains."
Asong squatted on the ground, rubbing his sore legs: "I wonder if all the mutated beasts on the mountain have frozen to death in this awful weather. If they really have frozen to death, we might be able to pick up some leftovers."
Jiang Shu used his ability to survey the surroundings. The area was still surrounded by dead trees, with some new shoots occasionally emerging from the ground.
Directly ahead, another cluster of dark pine trees stood there indistinctly.
He looked away. "If it doesn't work, let's collect more pine cones and needles today. There's still a large pine forest ahead."
When Ah-Kuan heard that there were pine trees again, his face lit up with a smile. "I wouldn't mind if it were just pine trees, as long as they're edible."
Jiang Shu muttered, "It's a pity I didn't see any squirrels, otherwise I could have had a treat."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi suddenly remembered something. "I've heard that squirrels hoard food before winter, specifically choosing sturdy tree holes to stuff nuts and seeds inside, hiding them very well. We can look around; maybe we can find some of their hidden stash?"
Upon hearing this, Han Lei exclaimed, "A-Zhi is right. How could I have forgotten about that?"
Ah Song's eyes lit up instantly, and he jumped up from the ground, patting the dirt off his pants: "That's right! The squirrel must have hoarded a lot of food!"
Ah Kuan perked up as well, the news seemingly washing away most of his earlier fatigue. He stood up and eagerly asked, "Sister Zhi, shall we go up and take a look now?"
After collecting the ginger, my fingernails were full of black mud, and my hands smelled earthy.
My OCD is about to flare up.
He could only say, "You guys go first, I'll come right away after I've cleaned my hands, so I don't get muddy everywhere."
The pine forest was just seven or eight meters ahead; you could barely see shadows of each other, and they were all visible to each other, so it wasn't considered dangerous.
Han Lei: Okay, we won't go far, just up ahead.
After the group disappeared into the tangled branches ahead, Jiang Zhi turned around, staring at the black mud on her hands with a troubled expression.
The dark brown grime embedded in the nail crevices was sticky and uncomfortable on the fingertips.
Jiang Zhi was about to carefully scrape out the sticky stuff when, for some reason, her wrist turned and, almost unconsciously, she used the detector to dab the dirt under her fingernail.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
As soon as the electronic voice finished speaking, Jiang Zhi's hand suddenly stopped, and her eyes widened abruptly.
This black mud—
Low-level toxicity?
In an instant, Jiangzhi no longer cared about the sticky black mud.
She brought her fingers close to her eyes, staring intently at the inconspicuous layer of grime, and the thought she had missed earlier became clear in her mind.
—Since moss absorbs moisture from its surroundings.
The biggest source of moisture is the soil and dead wood underfoot.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Jiang Zhi couldn't help but get excited.
Without wasting a moment, she ran directly to the roots of the old tree to verify her thoughts.
The detector was pointed at the roots of the old tree.
"Drip - Moderate toxicity, consumption in moderation is recommended."
Jiang Zhi then examined the rotten soil around the roots again.
This time, Jiang Zhi stared intently at the instrument screen—
A green dot appears.
"Drip—low level of toxin, edible."
really!
The soil covered by this low-toxicity moss is also low-toxicity!
Jiang Zhi's cheeks flushed with joy, but she couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings at that moment.
She had just applied for land to plant crops when she unexpectedly found the soil she wanted on her first trip into the mountains.
It's important to know that this kind of soil with low levels of toxins is extremely rare in the outside world; even the researchers at the base have rarely seen it.
Even the vast grassland in the sinkhole that once attracted so much attention had soil with only moderate levels of toxins.
what does that mean?
This means that as long as seeds with moderate toxins are sown in this soil, the toxin content of the plants that grow will definitely be reduced to below moderate levels!
Now, they have encountered soil with low levels of toxins. Although the current amount is not large, its significance is immense.
For a moment, Jiang Zhi felt like she had been hit by a pie from the sky.
She quickly rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a thick cloth bag. She brushed aside the withered branches and leaves on the surface to reveal the layer of dark brown rotten soil underneath.
Then he pulled out a folding shovel from his waist pouch, opened it with a "click," squatted in front of the rotten soil, and with a slight force of his wrist, the shovel sank half an inch into the ground.
The dark brown clods of earth, covered with rotten leaves, were pried up, carrying a damp, cool scent.
She didn't dare dig too deep, afraid of mixing in the bottom layer of miscellaneous soil, so she just shoveled along the surface to test it.
When the detector's warning changed to a high-toxicity alert, Jiang Zhi rummaged through it and took a look.
It looks like it weighs only two or three hundred grams; it doesn't even fill the palm of your hand, so there's really not much.
Even in small quantities, it's still a low-level toxin.
She picked up the soil and weighed it in her hand, then returned to the flat slope she had just been on.
Continue repeating the same actions.
After detecting that it was a low-level toxin, the shovel then gently scraped the ground little by little.
Jiang Zhi intuitively felt that this soil was perfect for that particular seed.
She spent half a day on that flat slope, bending over and scraping the soil bit by bit, as if she were digging for gold in a sand pile. In the end, the soil piled up in her cloth bag probably weighed only a dozen pounds.
Even so, she still searched every place around where low-toxicity moss had grown, and in the end, she only managed to collect about twenty or thirty pounds of soil.
It was more than an hour later when Jiang Zhi finally managed to scrape away all the soil with low levels of toxins in the vicinity.
When I looked up again.
The view was completely obscured by a thick, gray smog, a blinding white blur, making it difficult to even see the shadows of trees a few steps away.
There was no sign of her brother or Han Lei and the others ahead.
She stood up involuntarily. The surroundings were so quiet that only her own breathing could be heard; there wasn't a single other sound.
"Brother?" she called out, raising her voice.
No one answered.
The only visible thing is the constantly churning white mist.
On the other side.
Jiang Shu and Han Lei were climbing uphill, their feet sinking into the deep water, the withered branches and leaves underfoot crunching and crackling in the wet, melted ice.
The five people climbed over a steep slope using both their hands and feet and soon arrived at a pine forest.
The dark green pine needles were scattered all over the ground, and when you stepped on them, they felt soft and fluffy, like stepping on a thick blanket.
Jiang Shu glanced down and could still see his younger sister cleaning her fingers before looking away.
This grove looks more open and the trees are sparser than the ones below.
The group stopped under a pine tree that was one meter in diameter.
Jiang Shu looked around and said, "There are a lot of pine cones and needles here too. Should we collect some more?"
They climbed all the way up, and apart from these pine cones, they really couldn't find anything else to eat.
Who knows what lies ahead beyond this forest, or what we might find there?
Looking at the forest full of pine cones, Han Lei and his companions were reluctant to leave empty-handed.
He immediately said, "Let's collect more!"
Jiang Shu: "Okay, Brother Lei, you teach me how to find the squirrel tree hole, and Brother Dali and I will be in charge of finding it."
Han Lei wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned against the tree trunk: "Okay, squirrels like to hide in old pine trees. Pay more attention to the forks in the branches, and those inconspicuous places with wood chips piled up at the entrances are most likely their food stores. Let's split up and sweep the ground, and pick up some ripe pine cones that have fallen into the pine needles. Doing both at the same time will be faster."
Ah Kuan, whose stamina was the worst among them, leaned against the tree trunk and caught his breath. "I used to love raiding squirrel holes, Tree Bro, I'll join you guys."
Jiang Shu was stuffing a muddy pine cone into his cloth bag when he heard this. He turned around and smiled, "Good job, you know what you're doing."
The group didn't spread out too much. After Han Lei and A Song located a pine tree that was about the width of three people's arms, Jiang Shu and the others searched the surrounding area.
Ah Kuan perked up: "I know better than you two. Squirrels hide goods in two ways: 'open warehouses' and 'hidden warehouses'."
He pointed to an old pine tree with a dent in its trunk, saying, "Where the bark is cracked, it could be a granary. There's a small opening there where you can stuff things inside."
Jiang Shu was immediately invigorated upon hearing this.
He rushed over in a few quick steps and immediately saw the state of the faces inside.
It was a hole about the size of a fist, and sure enough, there were some nut shells piled up inside. Although there was nothing else, this sight was enough to show that Ah Kuan did have a good eye.
Jiang Shu laughed heartily: "Well done, A-Kuan! You've really got it! Even though this place is empty, judging from the way it looks, you must have hidden something here before."
He glanced around the old pine tree again and asked, "So, if that's the case, we still need to find a place where the bark is cracked?"
His abilities were limited in this strange fog; he could only see about six or seven meters ahead at most, and it was extremely mentally taxing.
If you have Ah-Kuan's experience, it will save you a lot of effort.
Ah Kuan turned to the right and said, "Brother Shu, how about we walk over there? I think we might find something there."
Jiang Shu and Niu Dali followed him deeper into the forest.
After a few steps, Ah Kuan, with his sharp eyes, spotted a tangled mess of dry pine needles at the intersection of three branches diagonally above, noticeably half an inch taller than the surrounding fallen leaves.
"Brother Shu, come quick and take a look!"
Jiang Shu immediately perked up and rushed over. He saw A-Kuan reach out and pull the clump of pine needles, revealing a hole the size of a bowl near the ground. The hole was covered with some scattered dead branches and leaves, and at first glance, it looked no different from other piles of tree roots. If you weren't paying attention, you would have missed it.
Ah Kuan quickly parted the branches and leaves in front of the cave entrance, peeked down, and found the cave dark and gloomy, with no way of seeing what was hidden inside.
Upon closer inspection, Jiang Shu discovered that the hole hidden under the tree roots was much deeper than it appeared.
It was more than a meter deep.
At the bottom was a layer of soft hay, densely piled with plump hazelnuts, round acorns, and some other unidentified nuts.
This is clearly the hidden warehouse that Ah Kuan mentioned.
Jiang Shu's eyes lit up, and he patted A-Kuan's shoulder hard, his voice filled with barely concealed excitement: "A-Kuan, there really is something inside!"
Upon hearing this, Ah Kuan's face immediately broke into a smile, and he reached into the hole to reach in, but Jiang Shu stopped him. "Don't rush!"
Jiang Shu carefully probed into the cave, holding a sharpened bone stick in his hand.
Just as the tip of the stick touched the half-full pile of nuts, a rustling sound suddenly came from below, followed by a dark brown shadow that darted out—it was a centipede as thick as an arm, its legs crawling in dense swarms, its antennae swaying on its head, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.
"Watch out!" Jiang Shu jerked his hand back, the bone club whistling as it swept back, striking the centipede's back. The creature winced in pain, curled up, and then turned to crawl towards the nearest, A-Kuan.
A-Kuan was startled and jumped aside, grabbing a rock from the ground and throwing it: "Holy crap, how did this thing mutate to be so big!"
Jiang Shu didn't hesitate either, and with a backhand, he drew the short knife from his waist and threw it.
With a muffled "thud," the blade struck the centipede squarely in the head, embedding itself deeply into the surrounding soil. The creature twitched violently a few times, its numerous legs instantly curling into a ball, and then fell silent.
Ah-Kuan's eyelids twitched. He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he couldn't help but glance at the cave entrance again. "Is there... anything else hidden in this cave?"
Jiang Shu checked it carefully again, then shook his head, "It's gone."
He turned to look at the dead centipede; its densely packed legs were enough to make one's scalp crawl.
This giant centipede was poisonous enough to kill people even before it mutated; after it mutated, anyone who touched it would probably die.
It truly proves the old saying—a scourge can live for a thousand years.
Even such a powerful cold wave couldn't kill them!
With lingering fear, Ah Kuan used a branch to push the mutated centipede aside.
Then Jiang Shu picked up the centipede, which was about the length of his arm.
"Drip - Moderate toxicity, can be consumed in moderation."
Jiang Shu grinned.
"nice one!"
He turned to the two of them and said, "Ah Kuan, Dali, I'll take this centipede back and have my grandpa teach me how to process it. I'll share it with you guys after I've processed it."
Although the centipede, as thick as an arm, had a ferocious appearance, it was not entirely a menace in Jiang Shu's eyes.
Because of Grandpa Jiang, Jiang Shu knew that centipedes could be used as medicine after being thoroughly dried.
The traditional remedy for rheumatic pain is a folk method passed down from our ancestors. If you crush the herbs, mix them with other herbs, and apply them to mosquito bites, the swelling will subside quickly.
Even if it's not used in medicine, if you go fishing by the stream, you can tie it with a straw rope and hang it on the hook. Catfish and eels will come because of the smell, which is much more effective than ordinary bait.
Ah Kuan waved his hand: "Brother Shu, you can take it back. We don't know anything about this. If we really need it later, we'll ask you for some more."
Niu Dali scratched his head and replied in a muffled voice, "I'll listen to whatever you say."
Jiang Shu chuckled, and after putting away the centipede, the group began to dig into the tree hole.
In no time, he pulled out a bunch of scattered nuts.
Ah Kuan was short and couldn't reach the bottom with his hands, so Niu Dali had to do it.
Niu Dali pushed off one sleeve, stretched his thick arm inside, and rummaged through the dry grass with his fingers.
With a flick of his wrist, his fingertips touched the hard soil at the bottom of the hole, and with a sudden pull, all the remaining nuts in the hole were brought up.
When all of them were piled together, they filled more than half a basket.
This is much easier than collecting it from the tree yourself.
Moreover, it contained not only pine cones, but also hazelnuts, pecans, and other nuts they had never seen before.
Jiang Shu: "Brother Dali, hurry up, you take the test, A-Kuan and I will continue digging!"
Niu Dali gave a simple, honest reply.
Niu Dali gave a simple, honest reply, then squatted down and began to gather the nuts on the ground.
Jiang Shu and A Kuan plunged into the newly discovered tree hole, using shovels and hand diggers to dig out a large handful of plump hazelnuts and acorns.
Not far away, Han Lei and his companion were also busy. One of them was stuffing sacks, while the other was cutting branches from the trees—for a time, the forest was filled with the rustling sound of pine needles turning over.
An hour later, a small mountain of nuts had been piled up on the ground, and three large sacks were bulging with nuts, all of which had been tested and found to be edible.
Han Lei's side was also filled with pine needles and pine cones.
If you don't bring enough burlap sacks, just tie them up with rope.
After the five of them piled up all their harvest for the day, a small clearing in the woods was almost completely filled.
Three large sacks of nuts were piled in the middle, the sacks open to reveal plump hazelnuts and acorns inside. They looked heavy, and each sack probably weighed over a hundred pounds.
Next to them were piles of pine needles and pine cones that Han Lei and Asong had brought. Two large bundles were tightly bound with hemp rope. The pine needles were sticking out loosely, and the pine cones hadn't been picked; they were just hanging on the branches, so they weren't much lighter.
With so much stuff, it had to be stored in the spaceship. Jiang Shu finally remembered his sister.
He couldn't help but mutter, "Why is Ah Zhi taking so long to come up? What is she doing?"
As soon as he spoke, he turned to look down, where a hazy white mist shrouded the withered trees below in a misty haze.
Jiang Shu looked down and saw that the fog seemed even thicker than before. Not only were people blurry, but even rocks a little further away were indistinct.
The woods were so quiet that not even the chirping of insects could be heard.
"Huh? Where is she?" Jiang Shu frowned, his voice unconsciously rising a little. "A-Zhi? Jiang Zhi?"
After calling out twice without a response, Han Lei and the others felt a pang of anxiety and hurried back to where they had come from. However, all below was shrouded in fog, and not only could they not see anything, but their voices were also swallowed up by the vast expanse of fog.
"Where did this girl go?" Jiang Shu asked anxiously. "How could we not hear her at such a short distance?!"
"A-Zhi?" Jiang Shu called out again, but his voice drifted through the fog without receiving any response.
His initial sense of relief vanished instantly, and he stared intently into the depths of the fog.
Even with all his might, he could only see what was happening seven or eight meters away.
Elsewhere, there was only surging whiteness, so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat.
Ah Kuan panicked. "Shu, Brother Shu, what should we do? Will Sister Zhi be alright?"
Jiang Shu composed himself.
Apart from Niu Dali, Han Lei and the others are all ordinary people. If he panics, it's hard to say whether he can even get out of this foggy forest, let alone find Azhi.
Jiang Shu tried to keep his voice steady: "Don't panic, Azhi might just be wandering around nearby."
He leaned into the fog and said, "Ah Kuan, you have a loud voice, call out a couple of times. Dali, you stay here with Asong and guard the things. Don't wander around. Lei and I will go downstairs to look for them."
Ah Kuan took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sister Zhi! Sister Zhi—!"
His voice struck the thick fog like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating only a ripple, without even an echo. Silence remained all around.
He shouted several more times, his throat tightening, but the fog remained silent.
The hazy fog, like solidified glue, stuck all sounds in place, making even their breathing seem unusually abrupt.
The air seemed cooler and more humid. The group had been so engrossed in collecting the materials that they hadn't noticed anything amiss.
Only then did I notice that the surrounding environment was eerily quiet.
The tree trunks in the distance turned into blurry black shadows in the mist, like figures crouching there, or like monsters with open mouths, staring at him motionless.
Ah-Kuan suddenly turned his head, trying to see what the dark figure was, but the fog was churning and the shadow swayed, as if it had moved an inch closer to him.
"Who?" he shouted instinctively, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
The only response he received was the sound of his own heartbeat, pounding like a drum, exceptionally clear in the deathly silent forest.
Jiang Shu and Han Lei had slid down two meters when they heard A-Kuan's voice and stopped. "What's wrong?"
Ah-Kuan pointed tremblingly at the strange-looking white mist over there, "Something seems off over there!"
Jiang Shu looked over, but saw nothing.
The fog is indeed getting thicker and thicker.
Jiang Shu checked the time; it was already three in the afternoon.
Seeing that A-Kuan's expression wasn't good, Han Lei said, "Big Tree, let's move together. This fog doesn't seem quite right."
Jiang Shu nodded.
"OK."
He also had a spatial device, which was a reward given to him by Huang Xianming.
However, he didn't know how to use it very well. He tried several times before he was able to put everything into the space device.
After we put everything away, another ten minutes or so passed.
Without further delay, the group decided to return the way they came.
The distance between this pine forest and the flat slope below is not far, only about seven or eight meters in height.
Before coming up, Jiang Shu looked back and could vaguely see Jiang Zhi's figure.
Logically speaking, at this distance, even with some tree shadows in between, there's no reason why the other person wouldn't hear you if you shouted at the top of your lungs.
But it's strangely unsettling.
Not to mention that Jiang Zhi was quite a distance away from them, even the five of them, who were only two or three meters apart, had their shouts seem to be swallowed up by something.
When it reached my ears, only a faint murmur remained.
The road down the mountain still had very low visibility, and the mountain road was slippery, so it was easy to roll down the steep slope if you were not careful.
Jiang Shu walked ahead, trying his best to hold onto the withered tree to keep his balance.
After walking down about seven or eight meters, the slope became gentler, and the withered branch that Jiang Shu was holding snapped in his hand with a "crack".
He staggered to his feet and was about to turn around to warn the people behind him to be careful when he caught a glimpse of a blue stone half-buried in the mud beside him—the stone had a crescent-shaped notch on its edge, which he had deliberately avoided when he came to the pine forest.
"Stop." Jiang Shu's voice was barely perceptible as it tightened.
Han Lei and the others stopped as well.
"What's wrong?"
"We... seem to be going in circles."
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