After much persuasion from everyone, Xu Le finally agreed to the camping plan.
It's early autumn now, and the temperature difference between day and night in the mountains is extreme. During the day, it can reach 20 or 30 degrees Celsius, but at night it drops to only 7 or 8 degrees Celsius.
We lit a campfire, which not only kept us warm, but the firelight and smoke also drove away wild animals in the vicinity.
Because of the approaching fog, the air in the mountains became increasingly humid. Manjing and I searched for a long time near our campsite but couldn't find much dry firewood to start a fire.
I surveyed the surrounding terrain, shone my flashlight into the woods ahead, and said, “Let’s go over there. I remember the vines there grow very thick. If we can find a dead tree that’s been strangled, we can cut it down and drag it back.”
"Why!"
Manjing gave a muffled reply and followed me, carrying his machete.
To prevent the presence of any wild animals in the woods, I carried the hunting rifle in one hand and, as I moved, continuously struck the trees along the way with the back of the blade, hoping to deter any potential predators.
We are now in the deepest part of the mountains and forests. It is pitch black inside, and vines as thick as a wrist hang down from the trees, densely packed like curtains.
I walked through the vines and saw a few dead trees along the way, but those trees were thicker than me. Even if Manjing and I broke them, we wouldn't be able to take them back.
As we walked, I finally found a dead tree that was slightly thicker than my thigh. I shone my flashlight on it and said, "This is the one we've chosen, Manjing. Break it down, then cut off the branches and stuff, and we'll take it back with us!"
"..."
After he finished speaking, there was no response from behind.
"Manjing?"
Seeing no movement behind me, I turned around and shone my flashlight in that direction.
It was completely empty.
There was nothing behind him except trees and vines.
Manjing has disappeared without a trace.
The woods were quite open, so Manjing's footsteps were very clear.
Just before I found this tree, I could confirm that Manjing was right beside me.
Seeing that Manjing had suddenly disappeared and there was no light from his flashlight around, I raised my voice: "Manjing, where did you go? Can you hear me?"
Silence.
Although Manjing wasn't very bright, he was a very obedient person, and he was extremely loyal to me.
In such a dangerous environment, he couldn't possibly abandon me and run around alone.
The only reasonable explanation is that something happened to him.
I remembered what Uncle Xiong had said about the forest being full of traps left by poachers, and I started to feel nervous. I began to retrace my steps to find Manjing.
As technology advances, poachers are also upgrading their methods.
On the way here, Uncle Xiong told us that poachers nowadays no longer rely on primitive methods like animal traps and digging holes.
Larger poaching gangs bury the battery packs underground, leaving only two wires above ground. If an animal touches them, even a bear will perish.
Some poaching gangs also use infrared emitters to obtain a complete tiger skin, firing large doses of poison needles whenever prey passes by.
The ingredients of this poisonous dog needle are almost entirely potassium cyanide, a highly toxic substance. Under a large dose, even a tiger that has been hit by a needle will not be able to walk more than 20 meters.
If Manjing accidentally stepped on such a trap during his journey, he could very well fall down silently.
However, due to my occupational habit, I always carefully observe my surroundings wherever I go, and I have not seen any traces of human activity along the way.
Could there be a hunter's abandoned trap hidden by fallen leaves here? Or was Manjing bitten by some highly venomous snake?
With these thoughts in mind, I began to walk back along the trail.
The woods were filled with decaying leaves, and each step you took could sink several centimeters, so our footprints were very clear.
After walking back about seven or eight meters, I found two sets of footprints.
Judging from the footprints, after Manjing and I arrived here, we didn't continue forward, but instead turned to the right.
I looked at the woods to my right, hidden by vines, and the footprints that stretched into them. I picked up my shotgun and walked over. "Manjing, are you in there? Answer me if you hear me!"
"..."
I stood in front of the vines and shouted a couple of times. Seeing no response from inside, I slowly walked over and used my gun to pry open the vines in front of me.
Behind the vines, there are two rows of leaning trees that intertwine with each other, like an archway.
Because of the shade provided by the tree trunks and canopies, there weren't many fallen leaves in the passageway. Apart from two faint footprints at the entrance, you couldn't see inside anymore.
As I watched the centipedes and scorpions, each as long as a finger, crawling on the tree trunk, I had a feeling that something eerie was going on behind this "door": "Manjing, are you in there? Make a sound!"
"..."
The woods were quiet. I could hear birds chirping before, but now there was no sound at all.
Faced with Manjing's bizarre disappearance, I had a bad feeling. I was thinking of sending the location to Song Laosan and the others to ask them to come and help, but I didn't expect that because of the dense foliage in this forest, neither my handheld satellite terminal nor my satellite phone could connect to enough satellites.
It took Manjing and me at least twenty minutes to get here. If we were to search for satellite signals outside the woods, it would take at least half an hour to go back and forth.
In such a long period of time, too many unexpected things can happen.
I wanted to fire a shot to attract Song Laosan and his men's attention, but I felt that at this distance, and with the cover of the trees, they might not be able to hear me.
Most importantly, our signal gun and powder pouch are on Manjing's person. If I fire this shot and then encounter other dangers, I'll have to use a knife.
I looked at the two footprints on the ground, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped inside.
I don't know if it's because the place is too yin or because it never sees sunlight, but the moment I stepped into the corridor, it felt like opening a refrigerator in the middle of summer, and I could clearly feel a cold air rushing towards me.
As I was walking, I suddenly felt someone tap my shoulder.
Turning around, I saw a large snake, as thick as an arm and entirely black, coiled on a tree branch. It was its tail that had just drooped down and landed on my shoulder.
"hiss!"
When the snake saw me turn around, it suddenly stretched out its body and lunged at me to bite.
In my haste, I didn't have time to draw my knife, so I swept the barrel of my gun horizontally, trying to knock it away.
Unexpectedly, the snake moved very quickly, dodging my attack with a quick movement and retracting its body.
Then, he smiled at me.
Seeing this scene, I felt my hair stand on end.
The snake laughed.
Its mouth was curved upwards in a peculiar arc, and its eyes, which looked up, held a hint of mockery, almost like a human's.
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