The oil bottle looked at the bonfire and quietly explained the doubts to us. He said the biggest issue here is that there are many backpacks, and with so many people in the group, even if they streamlined their gear, they wouldn’t have so many fully packed backpacks. Furthermore, the overall condition of the campsite is very natural, with these backpacks randomly placed in each tent, and with various details, it doesn’t look at all like the gear was organized in a light and tidy manner.

The people here did leave in a calm manner, but this calmness is not the usual kind; their departure must have been quite unusual. The doubts that the oil bottle mentioned were something I had also noticed, but I dismissed them because they could be explained by some complex reasons. When he brought it up, I nodded but said, “Maybe they didn’t all leave. That place is so dangerous; perhaps some people stayed behind.”

The oil bottle shook his head: “If someone stayed behind, there would be no need to leave a message. Such a message would only be left if everyone was going to leave. Moreover, Wu Sanxing wouldn’t reveal his fatal intentions to his subordinates; that would be a huge taboo. He must have written it down at the very last moment when all his subordinates had left; those people would accompany him to death.”

However, this still doesn’t explain the current state of the campsite, unless those people discovered the entrance and, feeling happy, went in without bringing anything, but that’s impossible.

Fatty grunted in agreement, clearly finding it reasonable. He took a sip of water, frowned, and thought for a moment before saying, “This is quite strange and a bit chaotic. If we think about it from the beginning, we might not understand; we need to work backward.”

Fatty always has a way, especially in situations like this. I asked him how to work backward, and he replied, “We know many outcomes of this incident, but we don’t know the process. So we need to think from the outcome. Starting with that message, according to the little brother’s explanation, that message here indicates that they all left; it’s impossible for anyone to have stayed behind. So, with so many backpacks here, it means there are fewer people than backpacks. This…”

Fatty paused halfway through, as if he found it hard to articulate what he had deduced, but I already understood what he meant: there were fewer people than backpacks, and significantly fewer.

That implies many people must have died. Moreover, those deaths occurred after they had set up camp here.

After a moment of silence, Fatty continued, “There must have been a huge mutation here or nearby. There are no signs of violence, so the mutation should have happened in the surroundings. Something must have happened to make them leave the campsite and then never return. However, your uncle survived, found the entrance with the remaining people, and then left. That should be the process.”

I felt a sudden clarity but also recognized a flaw in the reasoning, shaking my head and saying, “No, usually in such cases, survivors would inevitably leave and wouldn’t have the mood to search for the entrance, let alone come back to leave a mark.”

“Then they must have discovered the entrance before the incident occurred,” Fatty corrected.

I nodded, and the oil bottle also nodded, murmuring, “Perhaps they discovered that entrance precisely because of that mutation.”

“That’s possible, but there’s no way to confirm it, and it doesn’t really matter,” the胖子 said. “In any case, this thing can definitely happen.”

“So, what is the mutation?” I asked, feeling a bit uneasy. “Could it be that kind of snake?”

The胖子 looked around at the surrounding darkness and the rain forest sinking into nothingness. “Don’t worry. While you were sleeping, I and the little brother managed to get a few buckets of mud. We’ll smear it on the tent and also on the night watchman, so we don’t have to worry about those wild chicken necks. However, this place is filled with evil energy; there might be other sinister things here. Besides, any changes will definitely happen at night, so we must stay vigilant. And remember, if there’s any noise, we absolutely cannot leave the camp.”

I nodded and said, “Then I’ll take the first watch.”

The 闷油瓶 shook his head. “Your alertness is too low. If our judgment is correct, then this change will be extremely dangerous, and you probably won’t be able to handle it. I’ll keep watch all night; you all should get some good rest.”