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墨書 Inktalez
Mei Shuang had already sensed the danger beneath her feet. She tightly clung to Anriyan's arm, her face pale with fear, her body swaying uncontrollably.
"Don't move." The coachman, who had reached the other side, quickly pulled out the Five-Claw Grappling Hook and aimed it at a nearby large tree, throwing the hook over. Once the rope was securely fastened, he tossed the other end to Anriyan.
In the time it took to speak, they sank down more than half a meter. Mei Shuang trembled all over, her face ashen as she looked at the seemingly bottomless Pit, fearing she would lose her grip on Anriyan.
Anriyan held Mei Shuang tightly with one arm while using his other hand to grab the rope. He swiftly wrapped it around their waists and pressed down. Once the buckle automatically locked tight, those above began to pull them up.
Mei Shuang felt a force pressing their bodies together so tightly that she felt a constriction in her chest, almost nose-to-nose with Anriyan; she couldn't even turn her face away.
Anriyan's Attendant's immense strength came into play at that moment. He was at the forefront and, with the help of several others, successfully pulled both of them up.
As the rope was drawn up, Mei Shuang, still shaken, turned her head and saw that the path had collapsed like a dam bursting.
The coachman Cong Yue bent down for a moment and then raised his head. "This path has been hollowed out by some nesting insects; it can't withstand too much weight."
Mei Shuang then realized that those ahead were mostly using lightness skills, barely touching the path with insufficient force to destroy the hollow Ant Nest. However, Mei Shuang stepped heavily with each footfall, worried about not stepping firmly enough, which nearly caused her to fall.
Once they were back up, Mei Shuang eagerly unfastened the buckle around her waist that had been constricting her chest and making it hard to breathe.
After gasping for breath for a while, Shijieyu offered her water. Mei Shuang drank several large gulps before regaining her composure.
As the saying goes, "One learns wisdom after suffering losses." As they continued on, she finally understood that there were traps everywhere beneath their feet. Having learned from her experience, Mei Shuang became cautious and wielded a long stick to sweep ahead of her while occasionally asking Cong Fei and Cong Yue for tips about traveling through the jungle, keeping an eye on both the ground and overhead.
As they moved forward, their surroundings opened up. The afternoon sunlight streamed in but was no longer as bright as before; dusk was approaching. In the distance, they could hear the sound of rushing water. Towering ancient trees twisted together with thick roots covered in moss surrounded them. Through the gaps in the trees, they could see steep cliffs far away. The sound of water came from that direction.
"They say there are fierce wild beasts lurking in deep mountains and forests. We've been walking for so long without encountering any danger," Mei Shuang muttered to herself.
Not only were there no wild beasts; even ordinary animals like rabbits or pheasants were rarely seen. Occasionally, they heard what sounded like pheasants chirping from afar in the bushes.
In the dark of night, fearing to speak of ghosts, as Mei Shuang's words fell, the driver Cong Yue and Cong Fei walking ahead suddenly halted, their bodies stiffening. They sniffed the air a few times, and their expressions changed abruptly. Anriyan, with his keen hearing, also sensed something unusual.
They quickly exchanged glances and moved swiftly toward a large tree that several people could encircle.
Mei Shuang was startled; before she could regain her composure, Anriyan had already pulled her over.
Meanwhile, Shijieyu had already nimbly climbed up the tree. Cong Fei and Cong Yue followed suit effortlessly, like cats. Only Mei Shuang felt that something was wrong; although she realized the urgency of the situation, her movements were not as quick. She struggled to climb the tree and managed to ascend less than two meters.
Clearly, her speed was far too slow. In the distance, the bushes rustled loudly; it was definitely not a creature of ordinary size. From their elevated position, Shijieyu had spotted the target and urged urgently, "Hurry up."
Mei Shuang felt short of breath and her limbs weak. With no time to waste, Anriyan simply lifted her by the waist while Cong Yue reached out his hand. Together, they pulled Mei Shuang up.
In just a moment, as they had barely left their previous spot, a large brown-black bear burst out of the bushes like a gust of wind!
Mei Shuang had intended to scold Anriyan for taking advantage of her predicament, but upon seeing the situation from her perch on the ancient tree's branches, she gasped in shock.
How to describe it? Hunched and muscular was exactly what this animal looked like. A massive black figure dashed out of the bushes with lightning speed and then disappeared into the underbrush behind the ancient tree. Wherever it passed, it was as if a hurricane had swept through; fragile bushes fell over in disarray.
Initially thinking it was just passing by, they were taken aback when moments later, the direction it had vanished into seemed to collapse again as if blown down by wind. The people in the tree felt a tightening in their hearts.
Sure enough, that massive black figure returned like a cannonball.
It stopped beneath the ancient tree as if sensing something, sniffing at the air here. After a moment, its thick back suddenly arched upward, standing upright.
With sunlight shining down from above, everyone finally got a clear view and couldn't help but change color slightly.
Two sturdy legs supported its enormous body; when it stood upright, it was over two meters tall. Its body was covered in about two-inch-long brown-black fur, and the fur on its head appeared crimson in the sunlight. Its small eyes sparkled with an eerie light!
Is this a bear or a Gorilla?
Damn it! It's a gorilla!
The creature circled around the area where the group had just been, sniffing around before suddenly pounding its massive chest with both arms and letting out a long, powerful roar.
This roar was deep and resonant, as thunderous as a clap of lightning, causing the eardrums of those in the trees to ache. The terrifying sound echoed through the dense forest, startling the birds into flight and sending small animals scurrying in all directions. Mei Shuang realized that the forest was not devoid of life; it was just that with this creature around, everyone felt threatened and dared not make a sound.
Crouching on a tree branch, Mei Shuang quickly covered her ears with trembling hands, almost screaming in fear. She regretted her decision to walk at night; she had jokingly mentioned ghosts and now her own bad luck had come true.
She glanced back at the others perched on their respective branches. Shijieyu had climbed the highest, with Cong Fei and Cong Yue beside her. Kato, the big guy, had also managed to climb up nimbly. She and Anriyan were lower down but still about six or seven meters off the ground. Fortunately, the thick foliage of the tree mostly concealed them from view.
Seeing Mei Shuang look up, everyone’s gaze turned toward her, fearful that she might accidentally make a noise that would alert the beast below.
Shijieyu made a calming gesture toward the terrified Mei Shuang, shaking her head to signal that she must remain silent.
Anriyan quietly crouched in place, watching the situation below with an inscrutable expression.
After the roar subsided, the creature on the ground began to act agitated. It spun around several times before sitting down and panting heavily.
The coachman Cong Fei and Cong Yue exchanged serious glances, conveying that no matter how much they tried to avoid it, they had still encountered the Narrow Path.
This creature is called a "human bear," scientifically known as "Ursus arctos." It is one of the fierce beasts rarely seen on Qishan Mountain. It is called a human bear because when it crouches down, it can run like a bear, but when it stands up, it resembles a human. It possesses immense strength and is ferocious and brutal. Once overly hungry, it will descend from the mountain to raid farms for cattle and pigs to fill its belly. When enraged, it can shake trees as if they were mere twigs.
Locals are terrified of these human bears and harbor intense hatred towards them. To prevent them from harming livestock, various hunting methods have been employed at great cost to capture several human bears in the past. This has led to severe conflict between descending human bears and local residents. Therefore, once this Bear-like Creature catches wind of humans nearby, it becomes extremely agitated. It has already begun circling several large trees, seemingly searching for any lingering scent left by humans.
After a moment of fruitless searching, the Bear-like Creature grew furious. It leaped into the air and wrapped its arms around several tree trunks as thick as its own arms, uprooting them effortlessly as if pulling up grass. In no time at all, it had uprooted over ten trees; even those of moderate thickness were shaken loose in mere moments.
Before long, the ground was littered with broken branches and dirt was flying everywhere. The originally open space was suddenly filled with dust and chaos.
The others were understandably startled, having never seen such a monstrous creature before. Even Anriyan was taken aback by the destructive power of this beast that resembled a human yet was not, and his expression changed slightly.
However, the Bear-like Creature seemed unsatisfied, as its keen sense of smell detected the lingering scent of humans nearby. After looking around, it suddenly shrugged its shoulders and assumed a strange posture as it slowly backed away. It retreated all the way to the large tree where Mei Shuang and the others were hiding, leaning its thick back against it and began rubbing against the trunk, displaying a look of comfort on its face, its originally fierce eyes now squinting in pleasure.
It turned out it was just scratching an itch, but while it felt good, the people in the tree were in trouble.
Although the ancient tree was old and thick enough for several people to encircle it, many of its branches slanted down into the ground over time. Coupled with the surrounding Vines, when the Bear-like Creature rubbed against it, the branches and even the crown of the tree began to shake. Though the force wasn't strong, the rustling of leaves made several people fear they might be shaken off and hurriedly grasped onto the trunk. Just as they heard a noise above them and had not yet looked up, a bird's nest containing eggs fell right onto Mei Shuang's head.
The eggs dropped down and hit the Bear-like Creature on its head, while the nest landed beside Mei Shuang. Caught off guard, Mei Shuang let out a scream that echoed like thunder, startling the keen-eared Bear-like Creature into opening its small eyes wide.
Seeing this situation unfold, Cong Yue quickly grabbed the bird's nest and threw it down.
As the nest fell in front of the Bear-like Creature, it bent down to inspect it. Taking advantage of this moment, Anriyan and Cong Yue helped Mei Shuang up and quietly climbed a bit higher, just managing to hide beneath some dense leaves.
Sure enough, the Bear-like Creature raised its head and looked around with its sharp little eyes while sniffing. Suddenly, it stood upright as if pondering something.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze; everyone in the tree held their breath, fearing that this Bear-like Creature would climb up after them.
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