We carried him back into the tent, and I immediately checked his injuries. To my relief, I found that he had been bitten on the wrist, with two puncture wounds. Fortunately, the wounds weren’t deep; it was clear that he had managed to shake off the snake the moment it bit him. Such wounds can occur, and I can hardly imagine how thrilling it must have been yesterday.

The fat man told me that he had quickly applied a tourniquet to the artery, sucked out some of the venomous blood, and made a cross incision to let it bleed, but some of the venom had definitely entered his system. That snake was highly venomous; just one bite had already caused his hand to turn blue. Luckily, the young guy acted fast and managed to pinch the snake’s head at that moment; otherwise, he might have been in serious trouble.

I injected serum into the mute oil bottle and massaged his temples. His breathing gradually calmed down. I squeezed his hand and found that the overall swelling wasn’t severe. I told the fat man that he should be fine; no matter how poisonous something is on land, it’s not as toxic as what’s in the sea. We just needed to keep him still.

Panzi was still lying there, and we placed the mute oil bottle down carefully. It was a headache to see two of them lying there. It was lucky for them; if it had been me, I would have been dead by now. This place is completely different from anywhere we’ve been before. Even these two experienced guys ended up like this.

Then I asked the fat man what exactly happened yesterday.

His account was similar to what I had guessed. He said that while they were on night watch, they gradually realized they couldn’t see anything. The fat man remembered my words and instinctively thought that the fog might be toxic, so he immediately went to look for gas masks. But after searching, he couldn’t find any, and as visibility decreased to nothing, he became frantic.

He and the mute oil bottle first used mud to wet some towels and cover their noses, which actually worked. Later, they found a few gas masks in one of the tents. Just as they were about to put them on, the mute oil bottle, unable to see well, was bitten by a snake hiding in his backpack. Thankfully, he reacted quickly and managed to pinch the snake’s head, but he still got bitten, and his hand turned blue immediately.

However, since the amount of venom injected was limited, the mute oil bottle didn’t die right away. They handled the situation as best they could. At that moment, the fat man heard me calling, so he rushed over to me with a gas mask. Outside the tent, he discovered a large number of chicken-headed snakes appearing from the gaps in the surrounding buildings. These snakes were all hiding in the crevices, neither coming out nor going in, and all he could see were the red scales glowing from within, as if they were waiting for something.

So he quickly returned to give me a gas mask and then went back to take care of the mute oil bottle, carrying him back. On the way, he witnessed an astonishing sight. Countless chicken-headed snakes began to surge out from the gaps, gradually intertwining to form a massive “snake tide.” It moved rhythmically, almost like a mass of soft-bodied creatures, moving extremely fast, resembling a huge school of fish in the sea…

The fat man said, “This must be their way of transporting A Ning’s body. I still can’t figure out how they managed it. That snake tide felt like a single living entity.”

I asked in confusion, “But why did they destroy this place like this?”

The胖子 said, “They must be aware of our presence, but because of the mud on the tent, they can’t find us. These are indeed beasts; in the end, they resorted to this method.” I was taken aback by what I heard, and the胖子 immediately said that we couldn’t stay here any longer. They would definitely come back tonight, and we had to leave—preferably as far away as possible. He asked if I could see clearly, and I nodded. He told me to gather the food and supplies here and pack them up. We would assess their condition by noon and then decide where to go.

I smiled wryly, knowing this was necessary. However, I wasn’t sure if the snakes had left, so I took a short break. Once the sun was out, I began to sift through the wreckage of the tent, dragging out everything useful while he stayed to take care of the two of them.

The most important thing I collected was food. I found a large amount of compressed biscuits all piled in one bag, and later, I was lucky enough to discover some canned food among them. When we had the vehicle, An Ning and the others also brought canned food, but since they needed to scout the way, they left the heavy cans outside the canyon. Since entering the forest, we had been surviving on lightweight compressed rations, and my lips were already blistered from the dry food. I didn’t expect that my uncle and the others had brought such good stuff; they really went through a lot of trouble. However, bringing such bulky items didn’t seem like something my uncle would do.

The field rations were very close to regular food, usually high-protein beef cans, tuna cans, or glutinous rice and soybean cans. These foods provided strength and were filling, making it hard to go hungry.

I hurriedly called to the胖子 to ask if he wanted some. He shook his head and said there was no way to carry them, but we could eat them right away. Looking at the types of cans, he started drooling: “Holy Mary, your uncle is really something, quite the connoisseur.”

I continued searching for dry food and other items, as well as containers since we needed something to hold water. When I dug out a backpack, I found a photo of his family inside. I didn’t recognize the man; he looked to be in his early thirties. His wife was holding a child, leaning against him. The photo looked quite rustic, and their clothing was very simple, but it was clear they were very happy.

I felt a bit emotional, thinking about how this man was doing. If he died here, what would happen to his wife and child? In this line of work, life and death are too common; why should we delay others?

I also thought about An Ning dying on the road, and Wu Lao Si and those who died in Devil City. Did they even know why they died? Then I thought about myself, and couldn’t help but feel self-deprecating. Damn it, if I hadn’t come with the team back then, I should be in my shop now, enjoying the air conditioning and surfing the internet, and I had the nerve to criticize others without reflecting on myself.

After collecting everything, I was lost in thought while counting the items. By the time I finished packing everything, it was already noon. The胖子 wanted to set off immediately, but the conditions of the Muffled Oil Bottle and Panzi weren’t good. Panzi was still in a daze and hadn’t eaten anything. We fed him water, letting it trickle down his lips, while the Muffled Oil Bottle was conscious but weak and couldn’t stand up, though the bluish tint on his hands had faded.

This was quite troublesome. We couldn’t possibly carry two people and all these supplies too far from here.

The muted oil bottle pointed to a nearby temple and said weakly, “Go inside, away from the water source!”

We thought about it and realized that beneath the cracks in the stones was all water, connected to the swamp. No wonder the snakes all came out from those crevices.

At this point, there was no other option, so we began to carry our things inside. The temple had completely collapsed, leaving only a rough shape, and we couldn’t even tell where the door was. We randomly found a corridor to enter and discovered that the interior space was still quite large. This structure was originally supposed to have two levels; the underground level was severely damaged, but the upper level still showed the original structure, built of black stones. It wasn’t tall, but there were many exquisite stone columns in between. We didn’t know how the two levels were originally connected, but now the debris had formed a steep slope.

We climbed up and entered a nearly intact stone chamber, where we could see the camp below. After putting down our things, we carried Panzi and the muted oil bottle over as well. By this time, he was basically able to walk.

The sun felt like a death sentence, and I sensed time passing quickly. The fear and nightmares from yesterday had not yet faded. When I turned around, the sun was already setting, and dusk was approaching.

There had been almost no rest or pause throughout the day. Watching the shadows of the trees grow menacing, I felt an invisible pressure closing in.

Despair—there was indeed a hint of despair. A voice seemed to be asking in my mind, “You’ve held on for two nights; can you endure another tonight?”