If he had hesitated even slightly when he made his move, I could have prepared myself mentally, at least I wouldn’t have screamed. But this guy was too decisive in his actions; with such disgusting skeletons and so many bugs, he could reach down without flinching. Anyone would be caught off guard in such a situation. Fortunately, this guy finally showed some conscience and wiped the blood on my sleeve; otherwise, I would have been done for this time.

After calming myself down, I realized that in the blink of an eye, not a single bug could be seen around anymore. While I marveled at his power, I also felt a sense of frustration. For a long time, I had felt that my blood had a similar ability in the Qinling and Snow Mountains, but for some reason, it seemed ineffective against these bugs here. Could it be that the blood of a “Muffled Oil Bottle” and my blood are different? Is my blood not strong enough?

The “Muffled Oil Bottle” placed the item he had pulled from the skeleton under the light of the miner’s lamp and examined it closely. I leaned in and discovered that it was a greenish object about the size of a fist. He reached into the rainwater and rinsed it off before bringing it back. To my surprise, I recognized it; it was a twisted old-fashioned copper flashlight.

After a brief look, I knew this item was from the 1980s or 90s, a product of the reform and opening-up period. The copper shell was covered in green rust, and when I opened the back cover, the battery inside was rotten, resembling a moldy bowl of eight-treasure porridge.

I was extremely puzzled about how such an item could appear here—in this animal skeleton? Could it be the remains of a human?

While I was pondering this, the “Muffled Oil Bottle” reached back into the skeleton, and this time no bugs crawled out. He closed his eyes and felt around inside, quickly grabbing something. It seemed to be quite a large object, and he used his other hand with force to dig it out.

I felt a tightness in my throat as I realized it was a section of human hand bone, already decayed and full of holes, filled with black, unknown, rotting filth.

“This…” I suddenly didn’t know what to say.

“This is a large tree python that ate a person. This flashlight belonged to that person,” the “Muffled Oil Bottle” said expressionlessly. “And it was a woman.”

I saw that there was a string of what seemed to be decorative items stuck to the hand bone, and I knew he was right. A strange feeling surged within me, and I became excited, thinking of many things.

The terrain of this oasis was peculiar; it could only be discovered when the underground river Ankalaza surfaced after heavy rain. And rain in the Qaidam Basin is as rare as winning a lottery. If oil workers or an expedition team happened to discover this place during a heavy downpour and then ventured in only to be eaten by the giant python, while such an event was possible, the odds were low. Another possibility sent chills down my spine: could the body inside the giant python belong to a member of the Wenjin Camel Team from back in the day?

After all, Wenjin had given up the chance to enter the Western Queen Mother’s palace at the last moment and returned, while those who entered the ruins of the Western Queen Mother, like Huo Ling, ended up… even she didn’t know what happened to them in the end.

The Muffled Oil Bottle must have thought of this too. He looked at An Ning and the others above, and said to me, “Go up and call them down to help dig out this snake bone and see who is really inside.”