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The old man remained motionless, but the insects completely avoided him, swarming towards us instead. The earlier sound of "crunching" was indeed made by these creatures.
I was stunned for just a second before shouting, "It's the monster bugs! Run!"
Shunzi and Changshan saw it too. The three of us turned around and dashed back into the jungle. The number of those red monsters was increasing, and we zigzagged as we ran, narrowly escaping being surrounded several times before finally bursting into the thicket.
Once we entered the jungle, it seemed the bugs stopped chasing us. I had barely taken two steps when I halted. "Hey Shunzi, Changshan, stop running! The bugs are gone."
They quickly came to a stop. During our escape, I had bravely glanced back and suddenly realized something crucial: as soon as we entered this jungle, the swarm of red bugs ceased their pursuit.
At the jungle's entrance, those creatures turned around in groups and crawled back. Any bug that touched the threshold immediately retreated; it was as if they were afraid to enter. Could it be... that this jungle is some kind of forbidden area that these monsters dare not invade?
"Let’s go back for a moment," I suggested to them again, eager to confirm my theory.
"Huh? We're going back, Brother Yi? Are you trying to get us killed?" Shunzi exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Just one last time. We don’t need to go deep; we can just stand at the edge of the jungle," I panted.
Changshan glanced at me and nodded. "Alright, let’s go one more time."
Shunzi, looking pale, reluctantly agreed. "Fine, fine, I'll go too."
We returned to the entrance of the jungle, and as I expected, the swarm of monster bugs lingered near the shore. Upon spotting us three, they charged toward us once more.
"My goodness." Shunzi turned to run, but I grabbed him tightly. "Don't move, it's fine."
I was taking a gamble, risking my life. When that swarm of strange bugs crawled toward us, the veins on my forehead throbbed. But a few seconds later, I felt a bit more at ease. When they reached the entrance of the jungle, they stopped advancing, scuttling back and forth instead.
"Strange, it seems like these bugs are afraid to come in," Changshan said, looking at the red insects beneath his feet.
"Yes, that's true. I noticed it earlier; these creepy things seem to be very scared of this place. Look, even though they know we're right in front of them, they can't do anything to us and can only crawl around in a panic."
What exactly is hidden in this jungle? What could make such fierce red monsters too afraid to step inside? Could it really be related to that curse Changshan mentioned?
And then there was the Shrivelled Old Man; he was even more astonishing. These man-eating bugs didn’t attack him but instead bypassed him entirely, heading straight for us. This Mysterious Old Man was truly terrifying.
"Hey, Brother Yi, let's not do this again next time; you scared me to death! Luckily, they don't dare come in; otherwise, we would be done for," Shunzi complained from behind me.
I ignored his words and looked at Changshan. "Brother Changshan, did you notice that those bugs didn't attack the person next to Raft? They just went around him."
Changshan shook his head. "I didn't pay attention to that... but the person next to Raft is indeed strange. Where did he come from? Could there be someone living on this island?"
"How could there be anyone living on a deserted island? The last time I went with Mai Lao to survey the area, it was completely uninhabited," I said coldly, my tone low.
"Then... how do we explain that person we saw?" Changshan looked confused.
"I want to know how to explain it too; unfortunately, there's no explanation." My intuition told me that this mysterious little island might indeed be the next stop on the Nautical Chart. And that Shrivelled Old Man could be the key to unraveling all these mysteries—just an instinct with no basis.
"Brother Yi, it seems our chances of escaping back to Raft are slim," Shunzi whispered in my ear.
I sighed and said, "Let's go find Old Mai and the others first; we can discuss the rest later."
Just as we turned to leave, we heard footsteps coming from the jungle. "Someone's there," Changshan said alertly, glancing at me.
I waved my hand, signaling everyone to spread out and hide in the nearby trees. The three of us took cover behind the large trees on either side. Shunzi stayed with me as I slowly drew out my Diving Knife again.
The footsteps grew closer, accompanied by a beam of light. Soon, I spotted a man with a flashlight, looking rather shifty, sneaking around as if he were a thief checking for witnesses.
I tucked away my Diving Knife and stepped out quickly. "Lao Ba, what are you doing back here?"
The man was indeed Jiao Ba. "Oh, Brother Yi! You scared me! Where have you been hiding? I thought I was seeing things," Jiao Ba said, patting his chest and catching his breath.
"Seeing things? Come on, don't be so jumpy. How was I supposed to know who it was? Why didn't you just stay put? What made you think to come back?" I asked him.
"Well, obviously! It's been ages, and you guys still weren't back. Mai Lao and I were worried about you, so I came back to check," Jiao Ba replied anxiously.
"It's fine now; we were just about to head back. Let's go," I said, giving his arm a reassuring pat.
Suddenly, Jiao Ba asked, "What about those bugs?"
"They're just outside the jungle. Why? You want to catch up with them?" Changshan quipped coldly.
"I don't have time for that! Come on, Brother Yi; Mai Lao and the others are waiting for us."
Jiao Ba led the way at the front, while I brought up the rear. The four of us walked deeper into the jungle, which still felt cold and eerie to me. Once we entered, I felt uncomfortable all over.
“Lao Ba, how much farther is it?” Shunzi asked as we walked. We had already passed the place where we had rested earlier, and it seemed we were about to reach the path leading to the mountain peak.
“Not far now; they’re just ahead,” Jiao Ba replied as he continued walking.
As we approached the spot where we had gathered firewood earlier, I suddenly noticed some movement in the nearby thicket. It seemed like someone was following us. I quickly stopped and turned to look around.
The surroundings of the jungle were pitch black; the moonlight was completely blocked by the tall trees, and no light could penetrate. I didn’t have a flashlight with me, so I couldn’t see clearly. I stared into a dark corner where there were faint sounds coming from the bushes.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept through, causing the thicket to sway. I involuntarily shivered; it was just the wind after all. It seemed I was being overly suspicious. But when I came back to my senses, I realized that Jiao Ba and Shunzi had already walked far ahead.
Oh no, they can’t leave me behind! I hurriedly ran a couple of steps forward, feeling my way through the darkness. When I reached a fork in the path, I spotted their figures and felt a wave of relief wash over me. In this environment, being alone was unbearable; the pressure was too much to handle.
I jogged a few steps to catch up with them. This path felt unfamiliar, surrounded by dense trees and vines that even blocked out the wind.
We were climbing uphill all this time. Where was Jiao Ba taking us? It felt like we were getting further away. After walking for a while, I suddenly sensed something was off—Jiao Ba had turned off his flashlight.
And it was too quiet; why wasn’t anyone saying anything? Even Jiao Ba, who usually talked the most, had fallen silent. Without the flashlight’s beam, I could only vaguely see the silhouette of the person in front of me—it should be Changshan.
I tried calling out, “Hey Lao Ba, where are we going?”
There was no response from Jiao Ba. The jungle echoed only my voice; there were no other sounds at all. Even Changshan in front didn’t say a word but kept walking ahead without turning back.
I suddenly had a very bad feeling. Everything seemed too weird. The surroundings were so quiet that I couldn't hear anything except footsteps. By the way, footsteps? As I walked along, I only heard the footsteps of two people, one was my own, and the other was Changshan in front of me, but where were Shunzi and Jiao Ba? "ChangshanBrother, don't leave. Where are Shunzi and Jiao Ba?" I asked Changshan. "It will be there soon." Changshan spoke very slowly, and his tone suddenly became very deep. No, this is not a deep voice, but a very old voice. My heart skipped a beat, and I stopped immediately, not daring to follow him any further. As soon as I stopped, the person in front of me also stopped, but he still didn't turn around, just stood there and moved. Not moving either. I didn't even dare to blink, and stared at Changshan in front of me. The voice of Changshan was very familiar to me. It was a very masculine and manly voice. It was not the kind of voice that was about to die. tone. "ChangshanBrother." I tried calling him in a low voice again. But he remained motionless, neither answering my words nor continuing to move forward. He just kept his back to me, which made me feel nervous. I was not far away from him. When I was about to go over, suddenly, a ray of moonlight passed through the woods and shone directly on him. Only then did I realize that the person in front of me was not Changshan at all. ......< 】
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