My scalp tingled for a moment, and my heart raced, feeling tense.

Panzi swallowed hard and said, “I didn’t notice… but it definitely isn’t this side.”

The fat guy cursed, “Damn it, there’s a ghost! Did it turn by itself? Or did we trigger some mechanism?”

I said it was impossible; I had seen it clearly when we approached earlier. It was obviously made of stone, and it was a solid piece, making it unlikely to have any traps or mechanisms.

Panzi stared at the stone statue and said, “I didn’t look closely before; maybe this statue has two sides.”

“Two sides to your head! When we left earlier, I looked back several times, and the back of the statue definitely didn’t have this face,” the fat guy said. “Besides, this face looks a bit off.”

Indeed, compared to the front view, the face of the statue appeared strange; it was expressionless, yet there was an air of gloom and resentment emanating from it, sending chills down one’s spine.

“Damn it, it must have turned by itself; is this thing alive?” Panzi said. “We’ve encountered a stone spirit!”

I replied, “We didn’t walk in a straight line; maybe it’s just an angle issue. Don’t scare yourself.”

The fat guy cursed, “Bullshit angle! There’s definitely something wrong; you’re just deceiving yourself.”

Feeling a bit awkward, I didn’t know how to respond. The fat guy then asked, “Should we go back and take a look?”

Panzi shook his head, suddenly pulled out his gun, chambered a round, and aimed at the giant face, ready to shoot. We were startled by this action and barely had time to react. The fat guy quickly raised his hand, and with a bang, the bullet whizzed past, hitting the dragon’s brain wood beside the statue, shaking the entire tree. We immediately looked at the statue, thinking it was too reckless; if it really was alive, he might have provoked it directly.

The fat guy was already prepared for a fight, his hand hovering near his waist. The three of us watched the stone statue, ready for any sudden movements. However, the statue showed no reaction; that eerie face remained cold and expressionless, showing no signs of change, as if it were just an ordinary statue. After a while, Panzi retracted the bullet from his gun and said to us, “See? Nothing happened; it’s just stone. I might have really misjudged it. The paths here are all winding; let’s hurry and not waste time.”

I also breathed a sigh of relief, realizing I had been scaring myself. In a place like this, it really put my nerves on edge. I even lost my ability to judge correctly.

The fat guy frowned, still unconvinced: “When I was stationed at the border, I worked on a lathe; my eyes are sharp. How could I possibly be mistaken?”

“A lathe is a lathe; this is a forest. The references are complex; it’s not surprising to make a mistake,” I replied.

Panzi urged us to hurry, but the fat guy stubbornly refused, wanting to take Panzi’s gun and put down his own equipment. He said to us, “Don’t move; I’m going to take a look. Just two minutes.” Saying that, he walked toward the statue.

Knowing the fat guy’s temper, we had no choice but to let him go. I sat down to rest, and Panzi cursed about the trouble.

I then saw the fat guy carefully strap the gun to his back and cautiously walk back. Halfway there, he suddenly stopped and took a step back, unsure of what he had seen.

Panzi, feeling impatient, shouted at him, “What the hell are you doing? Hurry up!”

Before he finished speaking, the fat guy suddenly turned around. He turned and ran wildly, shouting at us, “It’s alive! Run!” At the same time, we saw the “face” of the monstrous bird in the distance change; its eyes lifted, and the corners of its mouth inexplicably curled up, transforming from an expressionless state into an extremely sinister grin.