Chapter 120: Truth
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Under the cover of night, An Bu silently approached the house. There were no guards around; these natives weren’t worried about the two women escaping at night, considering that running into the primitive forest at night was a dead end, especially when they weren’t even clothed.
Inside the house, rough shouts from the men and weak pleas from the women could be heard. The slightly open door was slowly pushed open, and a dark figure quickly darted in, then closed the door behind them.
The two men seemed to sense something and were about to turn around when suddenly they felt a sharp pain in the back of their heads. Then their eyes rolled back, and they collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“Can you still walk?” An Bu, holding a wooden stick, stood ominously in front of the two women and asked in E language.
“Yes, we can!” The two women were almost in tears when they saw her.
Following An Bu’s signal, they tremblingly took off the men’s clothes and put them on.
“Hurry up.” An Bu urged them in a low voice, observing the situation outside through the crack in the door.
“Okay.” Although they were afraid, the two women remained relatively calm.
An Bu quietly led them out of the house and escaped into the forest along the route they came from.
These primitive people were skilled trackers, but they didn’t dare to enter the forest rashly at night, which provided enough time for An Bu to escape.
“Sorry, I, I really can’t run anymore…” Half an hour later, the two women leaned against a tree, their legs weak and trembling. They had been imprisoned for a month or two, malnourished and weak. It was commendable that they had held on for so long.
An Bu looked around and then called out, “Follow behind me, don’t get more than a meter away.”
The two women immediately drew close to her, almost sticking to her back. The girl had just led them through the darkness without any obstacles, avoiding all dangers, or rather, bypassing all dangers. This made them feel incredulous and at the same time generated immense trust. This girl had become their only hope for escape.
After a short while, An Bu led them to a place, set down her backpack, and took out a sleeping bag, handing it to them. “Rest for an hour first, then we’ll continue.”
Then, she took out some clean water and food, handing it to them.
The two women were starving and eagerly accepted the food.
After waiting for a while, An Bu asked, “Are you Yutafu and Shila?” Both of them were ecological experts in their forties, from different countries.
Yutafu and Shila were not surprised that she could recognize them. After all, they had been missing for so long, and their names must have been made public.
“Girl, what’s your name? And why are you alone? Where is your companion?” Yutafu asked. They had originally thought they were being rescued by a team, but it turned out there was only one person.
“I’m Ann. My companion is outside waiting.” An Bu replied simply, then asked the question they cared about the most, “What exactly happened to you?”
Yutafu and Shila glanced at each other, fear evident on their faces.
After a moment of silence, Shila sighed, “In fact, we’re also at a loss. In the second month of entering the forest, a researcher suddenly died of poisoning. We all thought it was just an accident, but in the following days, more people were poisoned, and the types of poison were different. Fortunately, Dr. Mo had a special antidote, which treated them in time and prevented more casualties. Feeling that something was wrong, we originally planned to abandon the mission and leave the Agarvay Forest, but unexpectedly, we were attacked by poisonous bees on the way, and everyone was scattered. Yutafu and I got lost in the forest and were soon captured by those natives.”
At this point, Shila hugged her arms tightly, closing her eyes unwilling to recall anymore.
“So,” An Bu began, “you don’t know what happened to the others?”
Yutafu and Shila shook their heads simultaneously.
“Are they okay?” Yutafu asked.
An Bu didn’t respond to that question but instead asked, “The ‘Dr. Mo’ you mentioned, is it Mo Dongxiao?”
“Yes, do you know him?”
“No, I just recently found his wife’s body.”
Yutafu and Shila were shocked. “Mrs. Yuan is dead? How did she die?”
“She was poisoned by Agarvay flying ants.”
“How is that possible?” Yutafu couldn’t believe it. “She and her husband developed a special antidote that can neutralize most toxins. Even Agarvay flying ants, as long as you take the antidote within 10 minutes, you can survive until you get treatment.”
“It’s said that this antidote hasn’t undergone clinical trials yet, but its effectiveness shocked all of us. Dr. Mo and his team came to the Agarvay Forest this time to gather materials for making this antidote.”
“Is this medicine really that powerful?”
“Of course,” Yutafu exclaimed, “once it passes clinical trials, it will be one of the greatest research achievements of this century.”
“Is it ‘great’ enough to make people take risks and claim it for themselves?”
Yutafu and Shila were both stunned, their faces changing suddenly.
An Bu calmly said, “Your research team consists of 15 people, and currently, 7 of them have been killed.”
Upon hearing this, the two women’s faces turned even uglier.
“The other party prepared a lot of poisons in advance, probably planning to silence all the witnesses.” An Bu had roughly guessed the cause and effect of the matter. Only immense profits and irreconcilable hatred could drive someone to such madness. At present, these researchers came from different countries, so there shouldn’t be much hatred among them.
“Although I don’t know who the killer is, the one who shows up alive in the end is the most suspicious.” An Bu pondered for a moment and asked, “Yutafu, Shila, do you want to know who the killer is?”
“Of course!” The two women answered in unison, their faces filled with immense anger.
“Then let’s continue to ‘disappear’.”
An Bu let the two rest here, reminding them not to wander around, even if they needed to relieve themselves, they could only do it in place. Then, she alone disappeared into the forest.
The two women squeezed into the sleeping bag, neither daring to close their eyes. It was pitch black all around, and occasionally, rustling sounds could be heard. Without the protection of a tent, they felt as vulnerable as insect larvae exposed to the outside world, where any random mosquito could bite them half to death. But strangely, they held on for a long time, and surprisingly, not a single mosquito approached. Finally, unable to hold on any longer, they fell into a deep sleep.
They didn’t know how long it had been when they were awakened by a chorus of birdcalls. The sky was slightly brightening, and they could roughly see their surroundings.
The two women opened their eyes wearily, only to witness a terrifying scene.
Above and around them were spiderwebs everywhere, with large spotted spiders crawling on them, crisscrossing like a giant beehive. They were under the “beehive,” as small and fragile as silkworms.
No wonder there were no mosquitoes! Faced with such a huge group of spiders, not to mention mosquitoes, any snake, insect, rodent, or ant would retreat.
“Wake up and get ready to go.” A voice suddenly came from behind, startling the two.
“Ann, why did you let us sleep in such a place?” Shila asked nervously, looking at the group of highly toxic spotted spiders. The thought of being with them made her scalp tingle.
“Conditions are limited, sorry.” An Bu explained lightly, “Their nest is the safest place nearby.”
Safe?! Do you have any misconceptions about safety?! These are highly toxic spotted spiders. A bite from them could make someone feel like they’re in h*ll.
It was only now that the two women understood why An Bu had reminded them not to wander around earlier. Spiderwebs were everywhere around them, and if they weren’t careful, they could get a face full of webs.
“Don’t waste time; I must get you out of the forest today.” An Bu quickly packed up the sleeping bag, bypassing one spiderweb after another, leading the way ahead.
Yutafu and Shila followed closely behind her, wondering why these spiders weren’t attacking them.
The reason was actually very simple, because An Bu’s death aura was the deadliest poison in this forest, capable of delineating a territory. Strictly speaking, she was also the favorite food of these poisons, but few poisons could withstand her death aura.
Checking the time, An Bu saw that it was already 4 o’clock, and the group of natives would probably catch up soon. She made some arrangements that should delay them for a while.
An Bu led the two towards the forest exit.
“Stop.” An Bu waved her hand, signaling the two to stop, then climbed up a big tree and looked into the distance.
“What’s wrong, Ann?” Shila asked nervously.
An Bu slid down from the tree and said, “It seems like those people are catching up. They’re less than ten kilometers away from us.”
“What should we do?”
“You follow it, and I’ll cover you from behind.” An Bu pointed casually, then began to pack her backpack.
Following her gesture, the two looked around but only saw a thicket of trees, their faces showing a strange expression. “Ann, who are we supposed to follow?”
“My little friend Jianjian.” An Bu raised her hand and pulled a few leaves, then a chubby “little dragonfly” flew out from among the leaves. It was only the size of a fingernail, with two pairs of transparent wings flapping cheerfully, and a short and fat body that vaguely resembled a dragonfly. If not for this, Yutafu and Shila would almost mistake it for a caterpillar with dragonfly wings.
This was definitely the smallest and fattest “dragonfly” they had ever seen, completely subverting their previous knowledge.
More importantly, how could a “dragonfly” lead them? Did it have that level of intelligence?!
An Bu ignored their confusion and took out food, medicine, and a few self-defense tools from her backpack, handing them out respectively.
“It’s about ten hours’ journey from here to the exit. Try not to rest along the way, follow Jianjian, it will safely lead you out. Also,” An Bu handed them a note, “be discreet when approaching the exit and find a way to deliver this note to my colleague. He will arrange your next steps.”
The note briefly explained the reasons for the researchers’ deaths and instructed him to secretly take Yutafu and Shila away.
“Are you staying behind alone?” Yutafu asked, worriedly. “Why not travel with us? Those people might not be able to catch up with us.”
“Don’t worry about me. There are other exploration teams in the forest, and I’ll ask them for help.” An Bu re-shouldered her backpack and urged, “Don’t waste time here; let’s go.”
With that said, she turned and ran into the depths of the forest, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Well, she also wanted to find some trouble for those natives.
It was two days before the agreed time with the cat master. Let’s see if we can find the killer hiding in the forest during these two days, and incidentally rescue a few lost lambs.
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