Li Cu walked over and smiled at the guy in black glasses, who then pushed him hard. The guy in black glasses was quite stable on his feet, while Li Cu stumbled and fell to the ground.

“Why didn’t you save us?” Li Cu asked from the ground. “You were just sitting here, knowing we were in the sand. Why didn’t you help us?”

The guy in black glasses adjusted his glasses and replied, “Why should I save you?”

Li Cu looked at him, feeling it was unreasonable: “Are you even human? Shouldn’t a human save us? What’s wrong with you people? What do you think we are? Are we just bugs for feeding chickens? Are you just going to watch us die in the sand?”

The guy in black glasses smiled and offered him a cigarette: “Isn’t it quite normal that no one saves you in this world?”

For the first time, Li Cu felt like crying. He stood up and kicked some sand at the guy in black glasses. The guy brushed off the sand from his clothes and sighed, “I’m already giving you a lot of face by sitting here. If it were your so-called ‘humans’ in this situation, you wouldn’t even see their shadow.”

Li Cu took a few deep breaths and calmed down, going over to pull out a cigarette and smoke. After a few puffs, he realized that the guy in black glasses had a point.

“Ph pheromone,” Su Wan said at that moment. “You just got it wrong; the term should be pheromone. If humans can react to a snake’s hormones, that feels weird.”

The guy in black glasses tilted his head and scratched his scalp: “Aren’t these two different things?”

“Pheromones are external hormones that insects and some mammals use to communicate within their species. They can emanate from sweat glands and the outer layer of skin cells, directly affecting the subconscious part of the brain responsible for emotions. But do reptiles have pheromones?” Su Wan stroked his chin. “I should have paid more attention when I was reading this science stuff.”

The guy in black glasses paused, seeming to also not remember, and said, “Forget it, anyway, you guys know what it is.” He glanced at the corner of the room where the white snake had already turned to ashes: “Generally, the young snakes used to communicate are a subspecies of this type of snake, with a comb on their heads. But if you observe closely, you’ll find that these two types of snakes are very similar. These are what we call island species, typically found in certain ancient tombs as burial goods. They have gone extinct in the natural world because the structure of the air has changed significantly.”

Li Cu had no interest at all and continued to smoke by himself, while Su Wan seemed eager to learn: “What do you mean by island species?”

“These are species that have survived in a closed environment and evolved independently. Let me give you an example: if 150 million years ago, someone built an ancient tomb and buried 200 dinosaurs in it, and the lifespan of dinosaurs is very long, they would only evolve in response to the closed tomb. The changes in the external environment wouldn’t affect them, so when the tomb is opened, what you see are species that you think could not possibly exist on Earth.” The guy in black glasses finished this explanation in one breath, feeling like he was reciting. After finishing, he recalled something and sighed, “I’m not well-educated. As long as you can understand it, that’s enough.”

Su Wan thought for a moment and said, “You mean, the reason we were feeling dazed just now was because of the snake’s pheromones? Can we accept the pheromones of this snake?”

The man in the black glasses glanced at Li Zu: “Did anything come to your mind?”

Su Wan shook his head: “Just feeling dizzy.”

The man in black glasses said, “Then you’re holding back.” He looked at Li Zu: “Comrade Ya Li, what about you?”

“Very chaotic,” Li Zu replied. “Countless details, a hole, gold, a person in white clothes who is neither male nor female, a bronze turntable. I can’t remember clearly.”

“Oh, that’s because the information from pheromones can sometimes overlap a lot. After all, humans are not the same species, so we can’t read it in layers,” the man in black glasses explained. “You’re the second person I’ve encountered who can read the snake’s pheromones. I only know three people like that.”

“Really?”

“I have a friend who, whenever he encounters a snake, starts having all sorts of strange dreams that feel very real, but they are indeed dreams. However, he probably isn’t as good as you,” the man in black glasses said. “He can’t understand that information.”

“I can’t understand it either. When you’re reading, you see various fragments and details, but there’s no logic. You can’t judge it with your own logic,” Li Zu said, looking up at the man in black glasses. “Looking at you, I feel like you already knew I could read the snake’s pheromones. How did you know?”

“Someone smelled it,” the man in black glasses replied. “When a person’s nose is severely damaged, to compensate for the loss of smell, the organs that sense pheromones in the nasal cavity develop. I have a senior who realized this issue first after his nose was destroyed. Of course, there’s a very important precondition. They all came into contact with the same highly toxic substance, but they didn’t die. The specific mechanism is unclear, but pheromones are a relatively reasonable explanation.”

Li Zu shook his head, indicating he didn’t understand. The man in black glasses said, “Hey, I’m talking about Boss Wu. He sensed that you and he are the same kind of people.”

“He wishes,” Li Zu said. “My nose has never had any issues, nor have I been poisoned.”

“Something must have happened,” the man in black glasses said as he lit a cigarette for himself, took out a pen from his chest pocket, and pulled out a drawing board from under his butt. “Now, draw me the appearance of that hole and the surrounding environment.”

“What about Yang Hao and Liang Wan?” Li Zu looked at the man in black glasses. “I must know they are safe. Otherwise, I won’t do anything.”

The man in black glasses shook his head: “I can’t take care of so many people alone.”

“I can,” Li Zu handed the drawing board back to him. He had completely understood what Wu Xie and the man in black glasses wanted to do. Su Wan chimed in, “Yes, not a single one can be missing.”

Li Zu punched Su Wan in the face, knocking him to the ground. “Stop pretending! Damn it, you got bitten by a snake and recovered so quickly. Who gave you the serum?”

Su Wan let out a cry, and Li Zu stepped forward and landed two more punches: “Speak! You know there are many snakes here, right? How much serum did you bring? You knew they would bring us to this room, and you knew they wanted me to absorb the snake’s pheromones. I’ve felt something was off about you for a long time.”

Su Wanyi kicked Li Cu over, stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood, then pressed down on Li Cu and threw two punches: “Do you think I want this? Who dragged me into this mess? I’m doing this to save you!”

The two of them started wrestling, pulling each other’s ears and sticking their fingers into each other’s mouths, unable to move.

“Spit.” Su Wanyi spat at Li Cu, who immediately spat back. They both ended up with each other’s saliva all over their faces.

The guy in the black glasses looked on helplessly, turned around a few times in place, and muttered to himself, “I told you I can’t deal with these kids.” Then he went up and kicked each of them over.