I watched curiously and asked An Ning, “What is he going down for?”
“I don’t know.” An Ning looked complexly at the mining light below. “He went down without a word, and when I asked him, he ignored me. I really can’t understand this friend of yours.”
I sighed. Ever since that conversation in the Devil’s City, the Silent Bottle had been saying even less. Recently, his expression had even become rigid, showing no emotion at all. I had no idea what was going on in his mind. Perhaps, as Ding Zhuzhuoma said, he was truly living in his own world, where he was always alone, so there was no need for him to express anything.
Looking at the light below, it seemed to be swaying on the branches, blown by the wind. I was a bit worried he might fall, and then I thought, since this guy is a professional missing person, could he take this opportunity to slip away by himself?
An Ning and the others lacked experience, and this was indeed a bit mysterious… I looked at the swaying light below, unable to see if he was really down there.
Thinking of this, I couldn’t shake off my worry, so I turned on my mining lamp and told An Ning I was going down to take a look. Then, braving the heavy rain, I carefully climbed down bit by bit, holding onto the tree trunk.
When I reached the edge of the mining light below, I looked around and was immediately chilled.
There was really no one!
The area where we had taken shelter from the rain was empty; there was no sign of the Silent Bottle at all!
“Damn it!” I cursed under my breath, “Did he really run away?” I was instantly furious. How could this person be like this? Compared to Fatty, who at least gave you a heads-up before doing something bad, this guy acted as if we didn’t exist at all. It was simply too much.
In a fit of rage, I was about to call Fatty and the others down to discuss a strategy when suddenly the entire branch moved. The Silent Bottle emerged from the darkness above the plant cover, startling me. I looked up and saw that he was standing on top of this cover, seemingly looking at something.
It was a false alarm, and I couldn’t help but let out a long breath. When he saw I had come down, he paused for a moment and then waved for me to come up.
I climbed up and saw that the surface of the plant cover, tangled with branches, parasitic vines, and ferns, had been cut open by him with a knife. The moss was scraped away, and a large number of vines had been severed, revealing something wrapped inside. In the rainwater, I could see a multitude of tiny grass ticks being washed down among these vines.
I didn’t know what the Silent Bottle was trying to find in this pile of stuff, but I smelled a very unpleasant odor. Just as I was about to lean in for a closer look, the Silent Bottle forcefully pulled apart a large patch of already dead vines. In an instant, I felt a sharp sting in my eyes as a mass of insects poured out from the opening.
I was so scared that I quickly stepped back, almost falling from the tree. Luckily, it was pouring rain, and the deluge washed away those grass ticks in an instant. I held onto a nearby branch, covered my nose, and leaned in again to see what was wrapped inside that mass.

It was a mass of decayed fur wrapped around the remains of an animal, the skin had turned black, and it was hard to tell what kind of animal it was. The muffled oil bottle inserted a dagger into the fur, stirred it a bit, and found that the remains had completely rotted away; inside the skin were bones, and vines had grown into its body, entangling around the bones, tightly binding the remains to the tree. It was also covered with moss, which is why we mistook it for an ordinary plant growth intertwined with the tree, sheltering us from the rain below.

“I don’t know what kind of animal it is, but it’s large. It might have died from a disease after these bugs drained its blood. Before it died, it lay on the tree, attracting all the surrounding bugs, which then drained it completely. Afterward, the bugs rested on the corpse, waiting for the next victim,” the muffled oil bottle said, frowning at me.

Hearing this reminded me of our earlier experience hiding from the rain below, and I felt a wave of nausea. I said to the muffled oil bottle, “Are the ticks here really that fierce? The corpse is completely decayed, and they’re still alive?”

The muffled oil bottle shook his head, probably indicating he didn’t know, and then looked down at the pile of bones. He seemed to think of something suddenly, pulled out his black gold ancient knife, made a cut on his palm, squeezed the wound, and blood flowed from his hand. Then he brushed my sleeve with his hand, smearing the blood on it.

I was taken aback, not yet realizing what he meant. Suddenly, he leaned forward, his long fingers extending, and thrust his bloodied hand into the bones beneath the vines.

In an instant, countless ticks surged out like a tide from within, and I screamed in fright, moving quickly, while at the same time, his hand pulled something out from the remains.