Two consecutive days of travel had left everyone extremely exhausted.
After hearing my words, the monkey showed a helpless expression: "Young Master Duan, we can't even find a way out now. Are we going to keep messing around in this forest?"
I nodded: "From last night until now, I've been thinking about one thing. Although I don't understand how those paper figures work, I'm sure it's man-made! You said those people could easily trap us by making us lose our way, so why did they steal our supplies?"
Jiang Man was quick to understand and was the first to grasp my thoughts: "Because our current location may have already threatened the safety of Ping'an Village, these people want to make us give up without supplies?"
"That's right! That's exactly what I think!"
Looking at the ashes of the paper figures burned by the campfire, I added, "Thinking about it carefully, although what happened last night was strange, we weren't attacked, which means the other side just wanted to create a terrifying atmosphere to force us to escape! This means that if we continue to move around in this area, we will discover some secrets."
In feudal society, many large tombs had tomb guardians to protect them throughout the ages! We came to Sichuan this time to search for the Miao Jiang Xian Gong (a sacred palace in Miao territory). Your bodyguards mentioned they couldn't find any clues about Ping'an Village, which piqued my curiosity! But now, thinking about it, is it possible that the people of this village are the forces guarding the Miao Jiang Xian Gong, hiding deep in the mountains for so many years?
"If we use this conclusion to infer the purpose of Ping'an Village's existence, it does indeed hold water."
Jiang Man nodded, then looked troubled: "After entering this jungle yesterday, we've been wandering around for a whole day without finding a way out. It's already so difficult to leave. Now, if we want to go deeper and find Ping'an Village without any sense of direction, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult, right?"
"There will definitely be difficulties, and quite a few at that, but it's not entirely impossible to implement them."
I drew a circle on the ground: "Let's assume this circle is our current location. As long as we find the direction to leave the forest, we can walk in the opposite direction. We can't walk in a straight line; we need to keep moving in a 'Z' shape within the forest. Once we determine our location, we'll be able to find Ping'an Village sooner or later."
Lin Que gestured to the travel bag in his hand: "Brother, it's easier said than done! We're running out of food, and there are no supplies in this forest. If we don't leave as soon as we can while we still can, I'm afraid we won't be able to leave when we want to."
"I agree with Lin Que. We can evacuate this forest first, get supplies again, and then come back!"
The monkey also began to consider retreating: "Miss Jiang's bodyguards are stationed in a town just a few dozen kilometers away. We can make a phone call and supplies will arrive in the shortest possible time. We can go into the forest for a second exploration with full preparation. Why cripple ourselves without any guarantees?"
"We can't back down, because next time people come in, they might not be able to find this path again!"
I waved my hand and said, "I think this forest was set up with a formation using the Qimen Dunjia method. We entered the forest from different directions and were trapped in completely different locations. We were lucky this time and accidentally alerted Ping'an Village. But if we take the wrong path next time and just wander around in circles, I don't know when we'll be able to get back here."
Jiang Man took the travel bag from Lin Que and checked it. She said to me, "Based on normal eating habits, the water and food in here are only enough for us for one day. According to the minimum requirements of the human body, it can last for at most three days!"
"Find it in two days!"
I held up two fingers: "If we still haven't found anything by tomorrow night, everyone should head back and leave this place! Get moving and collect tree branches, at least a meter long, but not too thick!"
Half an hour later, we each carried a bundle of tree branches and set off.
I walked in the front, cut down the plants that were in the way, and stuck a branch in the ground: "You follow behind me and stick a branch every two meters. We'll make a path. After walking a certain distance, we can tell if we've gone astray by observing the arrangement of these branches. It's a bit clumsy, but it's the most effective method in this situation."
After we finalized the plan, everyone started using this method to proceed. Every few dozen meters, we would turn back and compare our progress with the tree branches we had planted along the way to ensure that we were walking in a straight line.
Four hours later, I looked at the stream that appeared in front of me and stuck the last stick in my hand into the ground: "Ping'an Village is a closed mountain village. There should be no running water or electricity inside, so natural water sources are very important to them. Let's use this as a turning point, rest for an hour, and then continue the search along the river."
When we went into the mountains before, we had already reached the coordinates given by Fengmen Village, but we still couldn't find Ping'an Village.
The maximum error of a handheld terminal is about five kilometers, but due to the disordered magnetic field and complex terrain in this place, we have lost our way, so I can't be sure how far we have gone.
After the group continued searching along the river for three hours, the monkey, who was walking at the back, suddenly spoke up: "Young Master Duan, fish have suddenly appeared in this section of the river. Why don't we rest here for a bit and catch some fish to replenish our energy?"
Because all our supplies were stolen by the paper figures, the remaining food was only enough to last for three days at most. At noon, everyone was only given a quarter of a compressed biscuit.
I heard the monkeys calling out and saw the fish swimming in the stream. My stomach rumbled a few times, and I nodded, saying, "We've walked for so long, everyone must be tired. Let's rest here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the monkey rolled up his trousers and tied a rope to the front of a tree branch, making a fishing spear.
In these remote, uninhabited forests, the wild fish are quite large. After a short while, we caught several large fish that were about the length of our forearms.
A campfire was lit, and the aroma of roasted meat wafted through the air.
Before long, we each grabbed a grilled fish and started eating. Just then, Lin Que suddenly cried out "Ouch!" and a line of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
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