Picking up their backpacks and rolling up their blankets, Xiao Feng and the others began to run quickly forward.

At this moment, they no longer cared about the potential awkwardness of running into Zhao Guo'an.

Previously, everyone worried whether something might go wrong on Zhao Guo'an's side.

But now, everything was fine with Zhao Guo'an, while problems had arisen on their side.

"Hiss... hiss..."

The sound of snakes flicking their tongues, like a Life-Ending Talisman, hovered around everyone's ears.

Xiao Feng stayed at the back, holding a knife in one hand to prevent any sneak attacks while they escaped.

"Whoosh!"

A black-and-white patterned silver ring snake suddenly lunged at Xiao Feng.

Xiao Feng raised his left arm to shield his face, preventing venom from hitting his eyes while his right hand swung the knife upward.

"Rip!"

The attacking silver ring snake was sliced in two and fell to the ground, twisting and turning.

Xiao Feng dared not be careless; he retreated without turning his back to the snakes.

During this brief moment, Xiao Feng saw that dozens of snakes were climbing up, of various species, both venomous and non-venomous, but there were more venomous ones proportionally.

Moreover, Xiao Feng understood that even a snake cut in two should not be underestimated, as it could still attack its prey for a period.

At this time, Fujiwara Keiaki, holding a long knife, stepped out from the group and stood alongside Xiao Feng.

"The lady asked me to assist you," Fujiwara Keiaki said, with a tone of obvious reluctance.

Xiao Feng didn't plan to argue; Fujiwara Keiaki's long knife was clearly more suitable for dealing with the snakes.

The longer the weapon, the greater its advantage, a simple truth.

"Swish!"

A flash of white light, the attacking venomous snake was cut in half.

Xiao Feng's eyes narrowed slightly; in terms of speed, Fujiwara Keiaki ranked among the top three experts he had seen.

However, now wasn't the time to focus on this; it was most important to shake off the pursuing snakes.

Especially after the hornbill "went on strike," no one could say if a mass "outbreak" of the snake group could happen.

Imagine if all the snakes from under the bridge climbed up, ran wild, then hid in the top or in a crevice, and attacked—enough to make one's scalp tingle!

At this moment, as Xiao Feng and Fujiwara Keiaki retreated, they heard a shout from behind: "Move aside!"

Xiao Feng was slightly stunned; was that Uncle Jiu's voice?

In the next second, Xiao Feng and Fujiwara Keiaki instinctively moved aside to make space, waiting for Uncle Jiu's next move.

Uncle Jiu didn't hesitate, pulling a handful of yellow powder from his pocket and throwing it at the snakes.

The snakes immediately halted their pursuit, those in the front row covered in yellow powder twisted on the ground as if in great pain!

Suddenly, the snakes stopped pursuing and moved away from the yellow powder, surprisingly effective.

Xiao Feng didn't stop walking while observing the ground's yellow powder. It looked like regular cornmeal, but the smell was extremely unpleasant and pungent.

"Sulfur powder?" Xiao Feng glanced at Uncle Jiu.

Uncle Jiu nodded, confirming Xiao Feng's guess: "Underground, there's a lot of snakes and bugs. Back in the day, you had to sprinkle sulfur powder around when sleeping to prevent venomous attacks."

The crisis was averted, and Xiao Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

However, no one knew that as the snakes dispersed, the hornbill was already lurking at the bridge's edge, waiting for a feast.

If there was excess, it would just push them off the bridge, too cunning to believe!

...

"What's going on with you all?" Zhao Guo'an, holding his pants and with his belt still undone, was startled when he saw the group running over.

Fortunately, he lifted his pants early; otherwise, wouldn't his backside be on display along with his pride?

"Don't flatter yourself; no one wants to watch you take a dump. A lot of snakes came up from under the bridge, so we had to retreat," Lin Jiaxuan explained irritably.

Zhao Guo'an quickly secured his belt, saying, "It's okay if you're mean to Old Xiao, but I'm on your side. We should join forces, become united..."

Before he finished, Lin Jiaxuan's face showed a disdainful smile: "Hmph, birds of a feather flock together; you're just two of a kind!"

"..." Zhao Guo'an.

Is it really this hard to find an ally?

At this moment, the little girl following them pinched her nose, looking disgusted, "What did you eat?"

Zhao Guo'an's face flushed red; whose crap smells good anyway!

"Let's not talk about this; keep moving forward a bit more," Lin Zhiyan urged, leading the way.

The group continued their journey, their pace slower than before, staying vigilant for potential dangers around them.

After walking for about ten minutes, turning a corner, Lin Zhiyan suddenly stopped, signaling everyone to halt: "Wait a minute!"

About thirty meters ahead, lay a figure full of arrows in its back, like a hedgehog, lying there motionless, as dead as can be.

This sight, however, no longer shocked the group.

It may seem exaggerated to say they were calm, but compared to before, their psychological resilience had genuinely improved!

Xiao Feng shone his flashlight on the person's head, discovering a showerhead-like rock above. The arrows must have been fired from there.

"Find the trap mechanism before moving on," Xiao Feng said.

Judging by the corpse riddled with arrows, Darcy wasn't lying; their team indeed blazed a trail with their lives.

Moreover, the deceased person had an Asian face.

Every one of them searched the ground like floodlights inspecting for suspected trap mechanisms, but after five minutes, they still couldn't confirm the trap's location.

Or rather, everywhere seemed suspicious, but they couldn't be sure.

Xiao Feng thought for a moment and said, "It's possible that the body is covering the mechanism. I'll go first. Remember my path and follow."

Saying this, he moved forward, bypassing the body on the ground, unharmed.

Everyone followed one by one. Although the odds of two traps in the same place were low, no one wanted to take a chance.

After all, lying right in front of them was a lesson learned, and no one wanted to be the next victim.

The group continued, but no one spoke.

On this journey, they'd grown accustomed to the occasional dead bodies, and fear was no longer a topic of discussion.

But after all, the dead are humans, peers.

It's not precisely the sorrow for a kindred spirit's death but rather a heavy heart they couldn't avoid...

Soon, a soft noise reached everyone's ears.

The sound was faint, barely perceptible without conversation within the group.

Most importantly, this increasingly distinct sound seemed like footsteps?

"Let's stop for a moment and see what's going on," Xiao Feng halted, suggesting.

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