After calming down, everyone carefully observed the horses standing in the river, and indeed, like the first two horses that crossed earlier, they showed no signs of anything unusual.
Everyone suddenly understood.
Could it be that as long as they don’t touch the water, they’ll be safe?
Yilihan instructed a soldier, “Try riding the horse down the river without getting wet.”
“Yes.” The soldier lifted his legs onto the horse’s back and rode the horse into the river.
Everyone watched him closely, subconsciously holding their breaths until he reached the other side safely before exhaling a sigh of relief.
“Just as I thought,” Yilihan said in a relaxed tone. “It seems those creatures only eat… human flesh.”
The memories of the soldiers being devoured by the creatures were brought back, and everyone’s faces turned pale.
Huangfu Yuchen looked at the dense jungle on the other side of the river. Each tree was thick and robust. He guessed that even if he extended his arms, he wouldn’t be able to touch both sides. Looking up, even the shortest trees were sixty to seventy feet tall.
“General Yang, there might be even more unpredictable dangers once we enter the jungle. It’s better to rest here and let the soldiers regain their strength,” he suggested.
Yang Zhuo nodded, “That makes sense. General Yilihan, General Bai, what do you think?”
Yilihan and the others had no objections.
Everyone rested, ate their rations, and remained vigilant against any potential threats from the sand-burrowing creatures.
After eating and resting, the teams checked their numbers again. The greatest loss was suffered by the Youji Kingdom, with over fifty soldiers falling victim to the Demon Spider’s attacks as they were the first to encounter them at the southernmost point. Overall, however, the losses for all teams were not too significant.
“Let’s continue.”
From now on, it was the Liao Kingdom’s turn to lead.
Wen Han, the leader of Liao Kingdom’s team proposed, “Since it won’t be easy to switch the order of teams within the jungle, how about we form five-person exploration teams from each kingdom to lead the way?”
The other team leaders weren’t foolish.
General Fik was the first to protest, “Before this, we took turns at the forefront. Why should we change the method now that it’s your turn?”
“That’s right,” Bai Shaobai agreed, “General Wen, it’s better to keep the soldiers together for easier management. What do you think?”
Wen Han’s plan was revealed, but he didn’t feel embarrassed and smiled, “Since you all think so, then from now on, Liao Kingdom will lead the way. If we discover the treasure first, you’ll be at a disadvantage.”
No one paid him any attention.
He then ordered his soldiers to cross the river. The guide was naturally protected by him.
All soldiers lifted their legs to avoid touching the water.
However, some were still careless.
“Ah, there are bugs!” A soldier felt a sudden pain on his thigh. Looking down, he saw his pants soaked with blood, and several red bugs had burrowed into his flesh.
It turned out that the soldiers’ close proximity to each other disrupted the water flow, splashing water onto the horses’ bellies. The bugs hid in the water.
As is known, horses have stirrups to support their legs and maintain balance. However, when crossing the river, they lifted both legs, making it difficult to maintain stability. The bitten soldier screamed in pain and instinctively stood up, accidentally bumping into the soldier beside him. One soldier fell off his horse to the left and hit the soldier on the left. Four or five soldiers fell into the river, screaming in agony.
Other soldiers were more cautious and managed not to be knocked down.
“Help!” The soldier closest to them grabbed the outstretched hand, but when he saw the red bugs crawling all over the man’s body, he panicked and let go. The soldier sank to the riverbed and quickly turned into a skeleton.
Wen Han had yet to cross the river, and upon seeing this, he understood what happened and urgently reprimanded the remaining soldiers, “Don’t get too close! Take your time crossing!”
Yilihan wore a somewhat amused smile, seemingly enjoying the misfortune of others.
Yang Zhuo frowned and said to Wei Hao, “Instruct them to separate when going down to the river later.”
“Yes!” Wei Hao conveyed the message, and the special forces reminded each other. This was no joke; if they got poisoned, Yan Guiqing could treat them. But if insects burrowed into their flesh, even if it could be treated, remaining as just bones was terrifying.
“Zirui, let’s go and take a look.” Yan Ge looked towards the dense jungle on the opposite side of the river-he had an idea. Each tree in the forest was thick, and even with arms outstretched, they couldn’t completely envelope it. Looking up, the shortest tree was sixty to seventy feet tall.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen understood each other even without words. Just by looking into Yan Ge’s eyes, Huangfu Yuchen guessed his thoughts and curved his lips into a smile.
The two of them leaped from their horses and used the shoulder of a soldier who was crossing the river to land on the other side.
The soldier felt a gentle force on his shoulder and turned around in confusion.
Yilihan, Bai Shaobai, and several other leaders were puzzled, not understanding what Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen were up to.
Yan Ge raised his head and looked at a large tree, walking towards it. “The river is about fifteen to sixteen zhang wide, and this tree is tall enough, it should be workable.”
“Mm.” Huangfu Yuchen nodded.
Yan Ge drew his spiritual sword and swung it at the bottom of the tree.
“Hey! General Yang, why don’t you control your men? Cutting down a tree is not that easy. What if the tree falls in the wrong direction and blocks our way?” Yilihan complained unhappily. He had thought of using trees as a bridge, but those trees were too thick. Even if they cut them down, it would be challenging to make them fall in the right direction.
Yang Zhuo acted as if he hadn’t heard. How could the Emperor and Yan Guiqing do something without certainty?
Just as the tree seemed to be falling, Huangfu Yuchen lifted his foot and kicked forcefully against the tree trunk. The thick tree immediately fell towards the side of the desert.
“Get out of the way quickly!” Yilihan was furious. He didn’t know if those two were doing this on purpose, but the tree fell exactly in the direction where his army was located.
The soldiers quickly urged their horses to run aside, and in a short while, the area was clear.
The big tree fell with a dull thud, cleverly creating a simple bridge across the river.
Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen walked back along the tree trunk with ease.
While everyone was satisfied with Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen’s intelligence, they were also amazed. This tree was so thick, weighing at least several thousand catties. Yet this man had managed to kick it over with just one foot. How much strength did that require!
Wen Han silently turned his head to look at Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen. If he had known earlier, he would have taken his time to cross the river.
But regrets were useless, and he ordered the soldiers who hadn’t crossed yet, “Cross over from the tree trunk.”
The soldiers crossed the river by stepping on the tree trunk, and simply led their horses as the horses had no problem walking in the water.
Huangfu Yuchen whispered to Yang Zhuo, “Have the soldiers place the detoxification pills in easily accessible locations.”
Yang Zhuo conveyed the order discreetly. Yan Guiqing’s amazing medical skills were now known to the others, who knew if the foreigners might covet the pills he gave them? It was better to be cautious.
The soldiers of Great Han deliberately waited until about half of the people had crossed before leading their horses into the river. The other kingdoms’ soldiers in front acted as the vanguard, while the soldiers behind formed their rearguard. It couldn’t have been better.
Yilihan also kept lingering behind. Only after Great Han’s soldiers had crossed did he order his troops to cross the river. For some reason, he felt it was safer to follow Great Han’s troops once inside the jungle. His gaze involuntarily shifted between Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen.
The Emperor of Great Han was really unpredictable. He had only sent a hundred men, giving the impression that he didn’t attach much importance to this treasure hunt. However, he sent such formidable experts, and one of them was an exceptional physician, it seemed he cared a lot about this mission. Otherwise, why send such a skilled physician when he knew they would encounter numerous poisonous creatures and monsters in the Demon Fortress? Wasn’t he worried that such an exceptional physician might perish on the journey? Furthermore, they even brought an eight or nine-year-old child, which was peculiar.
Unable to figure it out, he decided to stop pondering. Everything should proceed according to the plan.
As they entered the jungle, the scorching heat dissipated, but it became stiflingly hot. Soon, they were drenched in sweat, and after a while, they had to wave their hands to wipe their faces.
After about a quarter of an hour of advancement, Yilihan discovered the advantage of the peculiar military uniform worn by the soldiers from Great Han. The pants’ legs and cuffs were tightly sealed, and the collar fit snugly, making it difficult for mosquitoes and insects to crawl inside.
Yan Ge reminded, “Everyone, be careful. If any mosquitoes or insects land on you, don’t directly slap them with your hands. They might be poisonous. You can use a twig to flick them away.”
“Yes!” The special forces soldiers replied in unison.
Yilihan heard this and quickly reminded his own soldiers in the same manner, feeling wise for following behind the soldiers from Great Han.
Suddenly, several screams came from the front. The jungle was dense, and everyone was on horseback, almost following one another closely and making it difficult to overtake the others. They couldn’t be sure what had happened, but it probably wasn’t anything good.
Indeed, after walking for another mile, the following teams began to see several bodies lying in the grass. Some had swollen faces, others had swollen hands, and two of them had no visible wounds, most likely bitten by venomous insects.
Although they weren’t from their own Kingdom, these were still several living beings who had lost their lives in the jungle. As they sympathized, they became even more vigilant.
“Hiss—” an unfamiliar hiss from above made everyone raise their heads in alert.
They saw a yellowish-brown snake, as thick as an adult’s arm, coiling on a tree branch, staring coldly at them. They were so frightened that their hearts almost jumped out of their chests.
