"Crack~"
The khaki tactical boots stepped through the woods, and the water-logged fallen leaves made a sound that seemed a bit harsh in the quiet fog.
Wearing jungle camouflage combat uniform and covered in mosquito repellent camouflage, Sama frowned, looked down, and then avoided the fallen leaves and walked towards the tree roots where there was no water. But after a few steps, he slipped again and almost fell into the bushes.
"careful!"
Anna, wearing half-finger tactical gloves, pulled the backpack behind her and helped her up. Sama turned her head and looked at her with confusion on her face. Anna took the same route as her, but she didn't hear any footsteps from her along the way.
As if she saw through Sama's doubts, Anna smiled slightly, moved the sniper rifle in front of her to her back, then squatted in front of her and said softly, "Raise your feet~"
Sama hesitated for a moment, but still lifted her foot. Anna took out a dishwashing sponge from her pocket and put it on her foot. Looking down at her feet, she seemed to be stepping on something similar under her muddy shoes.
After both feet were changed, Sama stepped lightly on the ground a few times and found that the stepping sound was indeed much smaller, with only a slight splashing sound, which was barely audible.
These inexplicable little tricks were developed over many years in the wild. They were rarely used in normal times, and they were not learned in the training camp. Sama was a little hesitant, and opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
"Let's go!"
Anna just smiled and didn't take it seriously at all. She moved the sniper rifle in front of her and walked forward.
In the southwest direction, more than a dozen figures were standing in the foggy open space in the forest.
Peridot seemed to have not slept well, with dark circles under his eyes early in the morning. His originally shiny slicked-back hair was now a little messy, with several strands hanging in front of his forehead.
Behind him, four fully armed men were guarding the surroundings with guns, and another man was squatting on the ground, taking out tranquilizer guns, net guns and other equipment from an open suitcase.
"With such thick fog, the sacred beast may not be willing to come out..."
In the open space in front of them, several numb-looking natives were carrying iron basins. The high priest, who seemed to have aged a lot overnight, was still wearing his gorgeous feather crown, hunched over, standing beside Perido and whispering to each other.
"Ha~woo..."
Peredo yawned, rubbed his eyes and said indifferently: "Don't worry about this! Just do your job. If it doesn't work today, there's still tomorrow!"
"But… "
"No buts! You old fool, I never repeat myself a second time! You'd better start now!"
Perido interrupted the high priest, raised his hand and patted his wrinkled face, and whispered threateningly: "Old man, you have lived enough, but your little granddaughter is less than ten years old, right? Just because I didn't send someone to find her doesn't mean I don't know!"
After a moment of silence, the high priest's back seemed to bend further, and he whispered, "I understand..."
Turning around and walking silently forward, the wooden platform that he used to be most proud of seemed to be stained with a layer of blood. The high priest prayed silently in his heart, hoping that the old sacred beast had not yet woken up.
After a while, the fog in the forest seemed to be thicker, and desolate and ancient songs echoed in the rainforest.
"well!"
Ding Yi sighed and looked at the numb crowd around him in a daze, with anxiety in his eyes.
After a night of rain and excessive blood loss, Lao Hei had a fever. Not only him, but Ding Yi himself also felt groggy, his body was sometimes cold and sometimes hot, and his nostrils were a little dry.
The number of people in the square was nearly half of yesterday's. Except for those who were "carried" away, most people had given up struggling. They stared at the armed men like zombies, doing whatever they were told to do.
Five of the twenty people brought by Perido were killed yesterday, and now it seems that they are stretched thin, but the iron demon standing on the edge of the square still makes everyone dare not act rashly.
"What on earth are these lunatics trying to do?"
Ding Yi couldn't figure it out.
Normally, even if no one called the police, it would not be concealed for long. Especially with the chaos last night, it was hard to guarantee that no one would escape. How come these people didn't feel nervous or anxious at all
There was a slight commotion in the crowd in front of him, followed by shouts and scolding. A few women with cold expressions were carrying two wooden buckets and distributing breakfast to everyone: noodle soup that was as thin as water.
Seeing that many people were moving forward and taking the pottery bowl from behind the woman, Ding Yi did not move. He just watched coldly, while protecting Lao Hei in front of him and the little girl in his arms who refused to leave.
After a while, Zhou Tong, with one arm hanging down, squeezed out of the crowd, trotted to Ding Yi, and handed him a small bowl of noodle soup.
"Eat something, you haven't slept all night!"
Ding Yi frowned and shook his head, motioning to the front, and whispered: "Feed Lao Hei something to eat, he has a fever and needs nutrition!"
"Ahem..." Zhou Tong glanced around quietly, and seeing that everyone's attention was on the person distributing food, even the guards outside were staring at that place, she quietly raised her clenched arm, which contained two pills.
Ding Yi was delighted at first, then startled, and whispered, "Where did it come from?"
"I don't know..." Zhou Tong was also a little confused, and whispered: "When I went to get the porridge just now, someone suddenly stuffed it into my hand. When I looked for it again, the person was gone again!"
After a moment's hesitation, Zhou Tong asked worriedly, "Could this be a trap?"
Ding Yi thought about it, then looked down at the frowning Lao Hei, and shook his head, "I can't care so much. Lao Hei can't wait. Even if it's a trap, we have to take the risk!"
Zhou Tong gently lifted up Lao Hei's upper body and held him in her arms. She stuffed the pills into his mouth, and then fed him some noodle soup. He drank a few sips, and then whispered, "Brother Hei has a good physique, just like an animal. It's just a fever. It will definitely be nothing!"
"It's not the fever that worries me..."
Ding Yi frowned and looked outside.
The open space in front of him was still full of mud and blood, but there were no bodies. The bodies had been taken away last night, but no one knew where they were thrown. The tropical rainforest was hot, and if such a large number of bodies rotted for a long time, a plague would be inevitable.
At this time, there seemed to be a quarrel coming from the front, and the crowd gradually became noisy.
Everyone gathered together hesitantly, blocking Lao Hei and Ding Yi behind them and looking with frowns. It turned out that the clan leader, whose presence had been so weak as to be buried in the dirt, was arguing with the guards with several elders.
Faintly, oddly pronounced words such as "corpse", "burning", and "plague" could be heard through the noise, but unfortunately, the chief's request seemed to be flatly rejected by the guards.
"Why? Aren't these people afraid of getting infected themselves?"
Several people looked at each other, puzzled.