Huangfu Yuchen didn’t mind. “The more they respect you, the happier I am.”
Yan Ge stretched out his hand and touched his face.
Huangfu Yuchen felt the warmth in his hand and understood his meaning. He smiled softly, but when his gaze glanced at the Liao Kingdom troops, who were still entangled by the big monster snake, and then at Yilihan, who was acting as if nothing happened, a cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
“Baby, it seems that the possibility of a treasure is very high; otherwise, Yilihan wouldn’t knowingly head towards the tiger’s den.”
“Isn’t that better?” Yan Ge said confidently, “If there is a treasure, Mai Kingdom and Wei Kingdom are probably thinking of using us to find it for them. We won’t play into their hands; once we find the treasure, it’s ours!” He had no sympathy for the Mai and Wei Kingdoms who had malicious intentions.
“That’s the plan.” Huangfu Yuchen nodded.
The two reached a consensus.
Huangfu Yuchen searched with his eyes for the guide and saw him being protected by six Liao Kingdom soldiers, looking panicked. Now that he knew the possibility of a treasure existing was very high, he couldn’t rest assured leaving the guide in the care of others. He turned to Yang Zhuo and gave him a few instructions.
Yang Zhuo went over and said to Wen Han, “General Wen, I will protect the guide for you…if you’re willing.”
Wen Han didn’t hesitate and agreed, “Thank you. However, the guide still needs to lead the way…”
Yang Zhuo said, “It seems you’ve suffered some losses this time. My men are willing to lead the way in front.”
Wen Han was a little suspicious and couldn’t figure out why he suddenly became so kind-hearted, but he wasn’t worried that the people from Great Han would let the guide slip away. Could a mere hundred people escape the pursuit of all the other armies? Thinking of this, he thanked Yang Zhuo gratefully and went to deal with the big monster snake.
After bringing the guide back, Yang Zhuo ordered his men, “Wait until they deal with the big monster snake, then we’ll lead the way in front.”
The special forces soldiers complied, but they were puzzled. It wasn’t their turn to lead the way yet. However, they didn’t ask questions; there must be a reason behind Yang Zhou’s arrangement, and all they had to do was obey.
Huangfu Yuchen said to the guide, “As long as you stay by our side obediently, we will naturally protect you.”
The guide knew that these people still needed him to lead the way, and he wasn’t afraid that they wouldn’t protect him with all their might. He nodded and said, “Thank you.”
Yan Ge took out a bottle of insect repellent from his sleeve, “This is insect repellent powder, apply some on your clothes.”
The guide’s face was covered with small red welts from insect bites. He thanked Yan Ge and took the bottle. He knew about Yan Ge’s abilities; the weird creatures that nobody else recognized, he did.
After applying the insect repellent, he quietly stood beside Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen.
Finally, Wen Han paid the price of two hundred and twenty-three soldiers’ lives to deal with the big monster snake. His face was dark with resentment towards the other armies who stood idly by. However, he couldn’t blame the other armies. First, their final destination was the Demon Fortress, and they didn’t know how many other strange and dangerous things they would encounter on the way, so naturally, they had to preserve their strength as much as possible. Secondly, the jungle was dense with vegetation, and it wasn’t convenient for them to run to the rescue.
In any case, this matter could only be temporarily passed over.
Everyone mounted their horses and continued on. Some horses were scared by the big monster snake and ran off without a trace, so some soldiers had no choice but to walk.
The team from Great Han led the guide to the front. The guide was at the very front, followed by Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen, then Gao Feng, Gao Yun, and Yan Jin, and finally, Yang Zhuo leading the other special soldiers.
Suddenly, a group of dragonfly-like insects flew over. Yan Ge saw their sharp and flexible antennae, like freely retractable steel claws, and raised his spirit sword, swiping it a few times. The “dragonflies” fell to the ground, their threatening antennae shriveling up.
‘What a powerful sword technique!’ The guide secretly praised, and was finally relieved. At least he was in capable hands.
“How much longer until we arrive?” Yan Ge asked.
The guide replied, “At our fastest speed, we’ll arrive tomorrow afternoon.”
Huangfu Yuchen said, “Try to make it faster.”
Fearing his cold demeanor, the guide hurriedly replied, “Yes.” He looked around, using his unique method to determine their current location, then shook the reins and accelerated their pace.
After another two hours of riding, Huangfu Yuchen asked the guide to stop so they could rest, eat, and drink.
The guide was fortunate to receive a can of compressed biscuits. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly accepted it. Following the example of the special forces, he soaked it in water before eating. He found it very delicious, so he couldn’t help but take a big bite.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen had higher food standards and weren’t particularly fond of compressed biscuits. Besides, they were currently in the Golden Core stage, so they didn’t need to eat and only took a few bites.
“Swoosh…”
A strange sound came from the sky as a group of black-feathered birds with white bellies, similar in size to pigeons, landed on the surrounding trees and surrounded the group. They looked down at them with fierce and open beaks, emitting sharp cries.
A strange monkey on a tree looked extremely afraid of them. It turned and jumped to another branch, attempting to escape. However, it was spotted by one of the birds, and with a screech, the bird flew toward it like an arrow. The bird’s way of flying was very peculiar – it flapped its wings once, then closed them, gliding like a wing in the hang glider. It landed on the monkey’s back, and the monkey let out a miserable scream. With it’s saw toothed mouth, it pecked the monkey repeatedly, hundreds or even thousands of times, until only a bloody skeleton remained.
Looking at it sent shivers down people’s spines!
‘Damn it! Aside from eagles, this is the first time I’ve seen birds that eat meat!’ The soldiers all shouted this in their hearts. These birds were small and flew so fast, making it difficult for them to fight back.
“Stay alert!” Yang Zhuo ordered solemnly.
Seemingly angered by this command, the head bird let out a cry, and the other saw-toothed birds swooped down, attacking the group. In an instant, several places in the large group echoed with pitiful wails.
“Stand still,” Huangfu Yuchen ordered the guide in a calm voice.
The guide nodded.
Three of the birds flew towards them simultaneously. Huangfu Yuchen raised his spirit sword calmly and, as the birds approached, drew a twisted arc in the air. “Puff, puff, puff,” three soft sounds rang out. The three birds were all cut in half and fell to the ground.
“Fire arrows!” Yang Zhuo commanded.
The archers knelt back to back in pairs, set their bows and arrows, and looked up at the sky. After aiming, they shot the arrows.
The birds flew too fast, and out of over twenty archers, only six arrows hit the birds.
Yan Ge noticed the guide gripping the reins tightly and asked cautiously, “What’s the problem?”
The guide said, “Last time we came here, we also encountered many strange creatures, but we never saw these birds… nor the black fleas, black spiders, or red bugs we encountered earlier…”
Yan Ge suddenly understood. Yilihan intentionally concealed this strange point.
Huangfu Yuchen said coldly, “At this point, it’s not important anymore.”
“Exactly.” Yan Ge agreed. No matter what weirdness this jungle held, since they had already arrived here, their goal of obtaining the treasure was certain.
He noticed a special forces soldier being surrounded by two saw-toothed birds, struggling to deal with them. Yan Ge swung his sword, and the sword light sparkled, deliberately only cutting down one of the birds.
“Baby, you protect the guide,” Huangfu Yuchen said.
“Don’t worry,” Yan Ge said.
Huangfu Yuchen then paid attention to the movement of the special forces soldiers. As soon as he saw someone in danger, he would take action to help.
Under his protection, none of their people were harmed.
The saw-toothed birds were small in size, agile in body, and flying in the air, making them harder to deal with than the monster snakes.
This time, apart from Great Han, which didn’t suffer any casualties, the other armies had significant losses. The strong smell of blood in the forest made everyone nauseous. Fortunately, all the strange birds were killed.
Looking at the intact hundred-man team fo Great Han, Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, Wen Han, and others were envious and resentful.
Huangfu Yuchen said, “The smell of blood here is too strong. We shouldn’t stay here for long. Let’s leave immediately!”
The people from the other teams hadn’t yet cleaned up the battlefield, but what Huangfu Yuchen said made sense. They had no choice but to quickly catch up, not even having time to count their numbers.
After riding for nearly half an hour, the large group arrived at the side of a small river. The grassy area on the riverbank was relatively open, and the trees were sparse. Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, and a few others insisted on resting here.
The guide said, “This is the only water source available before reaching the Demon Fortress.”
Yilihan doubted, “Can we drink the water in the river?” Having experienced the black river before, everyone was hesitant about water sources in the jungle. However, since entering the desert until now, they had been drinking the water they brought with them, and it was indeed running low.
The guide replied, “When we came in last time, we boiled the water from here and drank it without any problems. But this area is very strange, and I can’t say for sure whether the water is safe to drink now.”
Everyone looked at Yan Ge at the same time.
Yan Ge was speechless. He was a physician, not a water quality expert. In the end, he could only say, “It’s best not to drink it.”
“But we don’t have much water left,” Bai Shaobai said.
Huangfu Yuchen looked at Yang Zhuo.
Yang Zhuo also said, “Ours is the same.”
Yan Ge thought for a moment, “There’s only one way—I’ll poison the water first, then detoxify it, and finally, we can boil it and drink it.”
Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, and others remained silent, feeling awkward. Poisoning it first, then detoxifying it—who knows if you might pretend to detoxify but actually not, poisoning all of us to death?
