“Surround them, these beasts can do this too?” The fat man broke into a cold sweat. “I, Fat Master, have finally gained some insight.”

Panzi said, “I told you long ago that these snakes are abnormal. They are definitely snake spirits, almost turning into essence.”

Hearing the commotion ahead, it seemed the group of snakes was gradually closing in, but the treetops remained still, as if frozen. The sound felt like an invisible evil force pressing towards us, causing the hairs on my body to stand up. I asked Panzi, “Does your hometown have any local remedies for dealing with snake spirits?”

Panzi replied, “How could there be a remedy? In the old days, these were all deities. My grandfather said that in ancient times, they even offered up boys and girls.”

The fat man chimed in, “Is there anything more reliable? Where are we supposed to find boys and girls right now?”

Panzi said, “I was talking about ancient times. Nowadays, in the city, where would you still encounter such things? I think a direct confrontation is absolutely not feasible. Look at how quickly A-Ning died. We should retreat. Let’s play guerrilla warfare; I am their ancestor. Let’s just play a game of hide and seek to see who can surround whom.” He pointed in a direction for us to follow him.

As I listened to Panzi, something suddenly sparked in my mind. After taking a few steps, I remembered something and pulled him back, saying, “Wait, I feel something’s off.”

Panzi looked at me, and I said to them, “There’s something suspicious here. Think about it, when A-Ning was struck, she had almost no defensive capability and died instantly. In fact, it would be too easy for these snakes to kill us; they don’t need to use so many tricks. They could simply hide in some bushes and bite us as we walk by. We would lose our lives before we even knew it. Why complicate things?”

“What do you mean? Be clearer,” the fat man asked.

“They had countless opportunities to take our lives outside the canyon, yet we were unharmed. Snakes are different from humans; they don’t make rookie mistakes. These snakes didn’t use ambush tactics, and now they are resorting to this kind of bluster. Perhaps their goal isn’t to take our lives at all.”

Panzi shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. If they don’t want our lives, then why did they bite A-Ning? Maybe they’re wary of us for some reason.”

I said, “Think about what makes A-Ning different from us.”

They exchanged glances, and the fat man exclaimed in surprise, “Could it be because A-Ning is a girl?”

I nodded. “It’s very likely because of that. These snakes behave too erratically. We can’t use the behavior of ordinary animals to infer their intentions. I don’t think this is really a surround; their actions have other, more mysterious purposes behind them. If we act rashly, we might fall into an even more incomprehensible situation.”

The fat man furrowed his brows. “What you say does have some logic. So what should we do? Should we confront them directly?”

I shook my head. “I think we should refrain from acting impulsively for now and clarify their intentions first. Otherwise, we are too passive.”

The fat man grinned and said, “You are so naïve. We’re not snakes; how could we possibly understand their intentions?”

We can all analyze the intentions of the Daoist, let alone the animals. Humans often underestimate the intelligence of animals, leading to their downfall at the hands of these creatures. We should regard these snakes as if they were human. If it were a group of people who, upon our entry, killed the only woman among us and then chose not to kill us, but instead kept us on edge in this way, what would you think their purpose was?

The three of them fell silent. The fat man furrowed his brow and hesitated, saying, “If that’s the case, could they all be female snakes, coveting our beauty?”

I thought to myself, what a time to be joking, but then I realized the fat man was seriously pondering this question.

At that moment, Panzi suddenly gasped, “Ah, Young Master San, what you said makes too much sense. I think I might know what’s going on—have you ever heard of a forest that you can’t get out of once you enter?”

The fat man replied, “Are you talking about the ‘Ghost Forest’ in Northeast China?”

“I don’t know what it’s called. In Vietnam, they call it ‘akong.’ The forest itself is a place where it’s very easy to get lost. However, there are certain types of forests where the growth of the trees is influenced by some kind of pattern. I don’t know if it’s coincidence or inevitability, but it’s particularly easy to get lost there. Moreover, there’s a strange saying about these forests: they can trap you inside as if they have a life of their own, with all sorts of sounds disturbing you.” Panzi seemed a bit excited, cutting a vine and squeezing out some water to drink a few sips, saying, “Locals say the forest has its own damn ideas.”

I knew about this notion. Some say it’s a manifestation of evolution; all forests are complex and mysterious, and the more they evolve, the more complex they become, because the forest wants to trap everything that enters, providing nutrients for itself. This is a form of collective intelligence of the forest.

But I didn’t believe it; such claims were too mystical. I believed in another theory: that this phenomenon is due to certain animals driving their prey into a surrounding circle.

Panzi added, “The current situation might be similar. I feel these snakes are indeed forcing us to move in a certain direction; they are correcting our course.”

Hearing this made me break out in a cold sweat; it seemed too unbelievable.

We dared not go towards the source of the sound, and going back was not an option, so we were bound to choose a detour. This meant that as long as sounds were made in the direction we were moving, after several detours, we would definitely reach a certain location. This thought actually resembled the invisible walls in the Devil’s City.

Panzi pointed in the direction of the sound, saying, “I know of a type of wolf that drives large prey to their deaths in this manner. If the prey keeps avoiding the sound of the wolves, they can be pushed to a dead end, like the edge of a cliff, and then forced to fall by the wolves. So once we start taking a detour, we would have fallen into their trap.”

As he spoke, a fierce light appeared in his eyes, and he said to us, “Thanks to Young Master San’s suspicion, otherwise we would have really been in big trouble.”

I thought to myself, is that a compliment or an insult? The fat man then asked, “So what should we do now? Are we only left with the option to go back?”

Panzi said, “I’m afraid there won’t even be a way back. Since they’ve blocked the front, they will definitely block the back as well. This is what we call being forced onto Liangshan. We can only go meet them. Since they don’t want to kill us, it must mean that we are either beneficial to them or they have some other motive. Let’s take a gamble and see if we can push through.”

Originally, we thought we could avoid danger and find Uncle San, but it seemed impossible now. Panzi suggested taking the initiative to attack. No matter what the opponent is, we can’t be lured into a trap, as there might be things worse than death waiting for us.

Fatty said he had suggested doing this long ago, but we insisted on taking a roundabout way, wasting time. So we started to prepare. However, in this environment, our weapons were nearly useless for self-defense. Panzi’s gun couldn’t fire continuously; if the first shot missed, it would be less useful than a dagger. In such low visibility, hitting a target would almost depend on luck.

After some discussion, the three of us made a few torches—two short-handled and one long-handled. Most animals fear fire; even large predators like bears wouldn’t dare approach if they saw three flames. As long as we had the flames to intimidate the opponent, Panzi would have the time to shoot and reload. We should be able to handle any danger that arises, but of course, we wouldn’t know the real situation until we faced it.

Panzi said that if the opponent was human, he could sneak up on them without being noticed. His skills in ambushing in the jungles of Vietnam were quite impressive. However, if it was a snake, that would be tantamount to courting death, not to mention that strange creature whose identity was still unknown. That thing might not be An Ning, but since the sound was coming from it, it must be ahead of us. Therefore, we should try to avoid direct confrontation and prioritize passing through; if there was no other choice, we would fight desperately.

Once we were ready, we lit the torches and slowly crept toward the direction of the sound. This was actually quite contradictory; holding a torch in the midnight rainforest made us the biggest targets, more conspicuous than driving a tank. Yet the three of us crouched down, as if we were planning to ambush someone. It felt a bit like walking into a women’s restroom with a sign saying, “I’m an idiot, I’m here to peep.”

The rustling sound was not far from us, probably only two or three hundred meters away. We focused all our attention on our surroundings and that sound, listening as it grew closer and clearer, with the feeling of radio static becoming more pronounced. I couldn’t help but swallow hard. However, even so, we still couldn’t make out what the sound was saying.

Soon, the sound was almost directly above us. Panzi raised his hand to signal us to stop and looked up at the ghostly shadows of the trees overhead. After a moment of trying to discern, he couldn’t make out what it was.

In this place where moonlight couldn’t reach the treetops, our torches weren’t long enough, and the light couldn’t illuminate above. All we saw was a pitch-black canopy, and the sound was coming from within it. We couldn’t even describe the full shape of the trees; all the canopies seemed to merge into one, making it impossible to tell which tree was which.