Chapter 119 Crossing the Primitive Forest
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Daxi Silicon Island, Pulose City, Mebisen Medical Center.
Accompanied by a doctor, An Bu and Jian Ningxuan arrived at the morgue of Mebisen Medical Center.
“We’ve notified the Z country embassy, and they’re still verifying the identity of the deceased.” The doctor introduced as he pulled the body out of the freezer, “This deceased died from the bites of Agarvay flying ants. She was already dead for more than 12 hours when brought to the hospital, with only some expedition equipment on her body, no other identification.”
An Bu looked at the body in the freezer, confirming that she was Molly’s mother, Yuan Jingyun. Her skin was covered with various spots of different sizes, as well as traces of bites from insects and beasts. Other than that, there were no other suspicious signs.
An Bu’s pupils contracted, and the death energy on the body became exceptionally clear in her eyes. A wisp of the source of death aura emanated from the back of the neck, coiling around her neck like a chain.
An Bu borrowed a pair of gloves from the doctor and bent down to examine the wound on the back of the neck. The wound had already decayed, and nothing suspicious could be seen. However, it was impossible for the venom of just one Agarvay flying ant to kill a person. If she was truly killed by these ants, the death energy should be spread throughout most of the bite wounds, not just appearing on the back of the neck. In other words, Yuan Jingyun should have been injected with a large amount of flying ant venom first, and then placed near the flying ant nest. This method of murder was difficult to detect, coupled with the bites of other insects and beasts, when the body was discovered, she probably had multiple toxins in her body.
“Is she the person you’re looking for?” The doctor’s inquiry interrupted An Bu’s thoughts.
She straightened up and nodded, “Yes. We’ll contact the embassy immediately and arrange for her to be sent back to the country.”
Although she knew that Yuan Jingyun was killed by someone, An Bu had no evidence, so she could only remain silent.
Leaving the hospital, An Bu grabbed Jian Ningxuan’s hand, replenishing her energy while telling him her speculation.
After pondering for a moment, Jian Ningxuan said, “I checked the list of members of Dr. Yuan’s team before. They are all currently missing. Perhaps the murderer is among them, or perhaps they have all been killed.”
An Bu asked in confusion, “Why would the murderer want to kill them? They are just a group of ordinary researchers. Could there be some unknown secrets hidden among them?”
Jian Ningxuan glanced at her, “What do you want to do next?” She wasn’t thinking of personally going to the Agarvay Forest, right?
“I want to go to the Agarvay Forest personally.”
Jian Ningxuan: “…”
An Bu continued, “If they were really killed in the forest, I have a way to find them.”
The Agarvay Forest was rarely visited by people, and there weren’t many deaths. Even if there were, they were either removed or eaten by insects and beasts. Although it wouldn’t provide much death energy for her to replenish, as long as she didn’t stay there too long, it wouldn’t have much of an impact. If she found death energy in the forest, it was very likely that it belonged to the researchers who were recently killed. If no death energy was found, it meant that they were probably still alive.
Seeing him silent and serious, An Bu showed him the ring on her hand and smiled, “Just in case, I brought Jian Jian with me. If I encounter any trouble, I’ll let Jian Jian go back and find you.”
Jian Ningxuan looked suspiciously at the little thing lying on the ring, “This? Can it work?”
“Don’t underestimate it, it’s very powerful.” An Bu praised.
Jianjian arched its round body, indicating that what mama said was correct.
“Alright.” Jian Ningxuan compromised. He had to gradually adapt to An Bu’s uniqueness. “I will stay outside the forest with other rescuers. You be careful and make sure to come back within three days.”
“Yes, sir.” An Bu approached, leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek with a smile.
Outside the Agarvay Forest, dozens of tents were set up, gathering sixty to seventy people, including rescue team members and adventurers from different countries.
Jian Ningxuan joined them with a few bodyguards, providing rescue supplies for free.
After learning about a research team missing in the Agarvay Forest, international rescue organizations took action. However, due to the vast area and poor communication, the rescue was very difficult. Even with helicopters and various rescue equipment, there were not many results. Many rescue operations had been discontinued due to excessive financial costs, and the remaining dozens of people were mostly from the governments of the countries where the missing researchers were from and volunteers.
Fully equipped, An Bu avoided the sight of others and entered the Agarvay Forest alone. The air here was fresh, the scenery lush, and towering trees soared into the sky. Vines intertwined, and a variety of species flourished. Rays of sunlight seeped through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadow, as beautiful as a dreamland.
Unfortunately, in An Bu’s eyes, this was just a dull gray-green world.
After walking for half an hour, An Bu found a tall tree about six or seven meters high. Using climbing tools, she quickly climbed to the top of the tree, stood on the branches, and looked into the distance. The entire forest lay before her eyes.
After just a moment, she spotted varying degrees of death energy in three or four directions, with the closest one about twenty miles away.
An Bu didn’t dare to delay. She climbed down from the tree and headed straight for the first target, leaving marks along the way to prevent getting lost and to provide tracking clues for later arrivals.
Just under an hour after An Bu left, a team of adventurers arrived at the spot where she had stopped earlier and found the marks she had left.
“This mark is new, let’s follow it and take a look.” Smith examined the marks left by An Bu on the stone and then stood up, saying to the team members beside him.
“We’ve searched this route before, is there anything we missed?” A team member asked in confusion.
“Maybe.” Smith didn’t say much, leading the team to follow the marks.
He noticed footprints on the ground, very small in size, presumably belonging to a girl, and she was alone.
Smith furrowed his brows. How could a girl venture alone into the depths of the primitive forest?
After tracking for nearly an hour, the group arrived at the bank of a swiftly flowing river. The marks changed, with one pointing deep into the forest and another pointing to the river. Following the mark pointing to the river, they saw a rope tied to a rock by the riverbank, with the other end disappearing into the water, tied to something.
“What’s under the water?” A team member asked in amazement.
“Let’s pull it up and take a look.” Smith and several team members grabbed the rope and pulled it up with force. After a moment, an object was pulled out of the water, revealing a swollen corpse. The body was covered with water plants, its skin decomposed, and there were traces of being gnawed by fish and shrimp everywhere.
“Judging from his clothing, he should be one of the missing persons we were looking for.” Smith examined the body and concluded.
“No wonder we didn’t find it before, he died underwater.” A team member asked, “How did he die?”
“The body is too badly damaged to tell, it could be drowning or poisoning.” Smith ordered, “Use the satellite phone to notify the people outside to send someone over to deal with it. Let’s continue tracking.”
Smith was now very interested in the person who left the marks. Not only did she accurately find the location of the missing person, but she also dared to walk alone in the primitive forest, definitely a very capable adventurer.
After properly disposing of the body, they followed the marks to continue tracking.
Smith found that the person who left the marks had a very clear route, with almost no detours. In some places where exploration was needed, she had stepped over them; passing through the nests of poisonous insects without any hesitation; traversing dense patches of poisonous grass as if entering an uninhabited area… Following her, they almost fell into traps several times. When they arrived at a deep ravine about dozens of meters high and six or seven meters wide, they couldn’t help but get angry.
“God!” A team member looked at the ravine on the opposite side and then at the vines on the tree, unbelievably shouting, “Don’t tell me she swung over there!”
This kind of thing only happens in movies or is done by those primitive tribes. In reality, few people dare to directly grab the vines and leap over a ravine without any protective measures.
“Is she Tarzan?!”
“I’ll never dare to call myself a seasoned adventurer again. Compared to her, I’m d*mn weak.”
“Smith, should we bypass this ravine or use ropes to climb over?”
“This ravine stretches for tens of miles. Let’s just climb over it.” Smith made the decision reluctantly.
Whether bypassing or climbing, it would take at least an hour. Bypassing was safer, while climbing ensured they wouldn’t lose anyone.
Cursing under their breath, they moved forward. By the time they successfully crossed the ravine, An Bu had already found four of the missing individuals.
According to the list Jian Ningxuan had obtained, there were a total of fifteen team members, including mercenaries. The four deceased individuals An Bu had found so far had mostly died from poisoning. One was underwater, one was covered by dense foliage, and the other two fell into traps set by primitive tribes.
Although the primitive tribes were brutal, An Bu didn’t believe the researchers were killed by them, at least not most of them, because these indigenous people wouldn’t use sophisticated methods like poisoning and staging accidents.
An Bu now just wanted to find a survivor and uncover the truth. Her cat master only gave her three days, so she had to make every second count to ensure she returned within the deadline, sparing him from worrying.
After running through the forest for more than ten hours, the sky darkened, and the forest was shrouded in darkness, concealing countless unknown dangers. No one dared to traverse the primitive forest at night, except for An Bu, who had no qualms.
She tracked the traces left by the natives near the traps and successfully found their tribe.
The tribe was built in a valley, with fifty to sixty houses made of grass, wood, and vines encircling a bonfire in the middle. Faintly visible were several moving figures.
An Bu quietly sneaked in, but accidentally stepped on a trap. Five arrows flew out of the darkness, with four missing and one piercing her abdomen.
Expressionless, An Bu pulled out the arrow and continued to sneak into the tribe. This time, she was more cautious, trying to avoid traps as much as possible. Although she wasn’t afraid of getting shot, losing too much vitality points would still be regrettable.
As she delved deeper into the territory, she could faintly hear voices coming from the tribe. An Bu silently searched between the houses, room by room, trying to confirm if anyone had been captured by these primitive people.
She wasn’t sure beforehand, just trying her luck, but unexpectedly, she found the person she was looking for in one of the houses.
There were only two of them, both female. They were barely clothed, looking haggard, with visible scars all over their bodies. It was evident they had been imprisoned for a long time and had endured unimaginable hardships. Death lingered around them, and if they remained here any longer, they probably wouldn’t survive another ten days.
Looking around, An Bu noticed that although the house was made of wood, it was constructed like a prison cell, with only one front door for entry and exit. It wasn’t too difficult to rescue them, but the challenge was not to alert the natives.
While contemplating her next move, an opportunity presented itself.
Two lean men opened the cell door and walked in with fierce expressions, their intentions clear without the need for guessing.
Watching the scene in the room, An Bu’s eyes exuded a chilling aura as she merged with the darkness.
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