Chapter 121: The Old Corpse of Mount Tai
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Dozens of brown-skinned natives ran through the forest, holding spears, harpoons, and bows, spreading out in a fan shape, each with a fierce look, occasionally whistling for communication.
An Bu deliberately left clues, leading them to turn the other way. The vast primitive forest was like a playground for the old corpse, allowing her to gallop and jump, shuttle back and forth, stretching her body without any scruples.
In the distance, on a high hillside, Smith held a telescope and happened to see this scene.
A group of armed natives was chasing a girl, who was agile and likely the person they had tracked yesterday. Following the marks she left, they had found two victims successively before losing track of her.
“Captain, what should we do?” a team member asked.
“If they don’t change direction, they’re expected to pass through here in just over an hour.” Smith instructed, “Go set up traps and get ready to fight with those natives.”
“Awesome!” The team members responded excitedly and ran off to set up traps.
They had no fondness for these natives. The International Alliance upheld so-called humanitarianism, respecting and protecting their way of life, and not allowing others to persecute them at will. In reality, they were treated as rare animals, observed and recorded in secret. The problem was, these people were isolated from the world, eating meat and drinking blood, even daring to eat human flesh. They never showed mercy to outsiders entering their territory; countless explorers had become their meals. But they wouldn’t be legally punished, and others couldn’t retaliate recklessly. Otherwise, once discovered by the International Alliance, they would be held accountable.
Yes, they could kill others, but others couldn’t kill them. That’s how messed up it was.
Smith stood in place, continuing to observe the situation over there.
Half an hour later, he suddenly realized something was wrong. The girl being chased was still running fast, while the natives chasing her were decreasing one by one.
Looking closely, Smith quickly found the reason. Like they had tracked her yesterday, she could easily pass through the territory of poisonous insects and poisonous grass, while they had to be careful step by step to avoid being led into traps by her.
Even with their experienced running, those natives couldn’t avoid all the dangers while running.
The girl ran into a thicket, and the natives followed closely behind. Soon, petals flew in the air, and a fragrant scent spread. With a thud, two native men fell unconscious successively, while the others continued the chase, completely unaware that someone had disappeared.
Then, the girl passed by a huge tree, grabbed a drooping vine, swung into the air, and with a horizontal slash, cut off a third of a huge beehive. Then she let go of her hand, leaped lightly to another tree, and disappeared among the dense leaves in the blink of an eye. Behind her, countless wasps flew madly, searching for the culprit who had destroyed their nest. At this moment, several unlucky natives rushed in, only to be confronted with angry wasps. It was a one-sided massacre.
Although their toxins were not strong, they were overwhelming in number and swarmed towards them densely. They would make one fear. Anyway, those natives were afraid, and immediately fled towards the nearest water source.
Coincidentally or deliberately, the direction the girl was heading was also the water source. She waded through the river, the deepest part of the river only reaching her waist. After getting ashore, she threw a stone into the river with force, then turned and ran into the woods. The river churned for a while and quickly returned to calm.
Not long after, several natives, chased by wasps, fled here and then jumped into the river without hesitation. In an instant, water splashed everywhere, and waves rolled. The wasps hovered over the water for a long time, eventually unwillingly leaving. However, those natives never came out of the river again.
Smith was too far away to see anything through the telescope and could only speculate silently about the reason for the disappearance of those natives. Many threatening creatures lived in this water area, such as piranhas, water pythons, and electric eels. They could silently kill several adults, and the most likely one to do this was the electric eel. An electric eel could release a voltage of 300-800 volts and often appeared in groups. If you accidentally encountered them in the water, you would definitely die miserably, even if you didn’t get electrocuted, you could still drown.
Smith was secretly shocked. That girl wasn’t being chased at all; she was simply flying those natives’ kites, luring them in, and using the environment to pick them off, hardly needing to take action herself. She was like the owner of this forest, moving freely and manipulating everything.
Dozens of indigenous people, after more than forty minutes of pursuit, had already lost eighty to ninety percent of their members, and the remaining few could no longer keep up with the chase.
Smith put down his binoculars and called out to his companions, “No need to set up traps.”
“Why? Did they change direction?” the others asked in confusion.
“No,” Smith chuckled bitterly, “that girl doesn’t need our help.” She could handle a group by herself.
Over an hour later, An Bu met up with Smith’s group who were waiting for her.
“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Smith, may I know your name?” Smith approached warmly, extending his hand.
“Hello, I’m Ann,” An Bu replied, scanning them with her gaze.
“Did you find those deceased researchers?” Smith smiled, “You’re really amazing. Were you often surviving in the wilderness before?”
An Bu countered, “How many deceased researchers did you find?”
“Two,” Smith replied.
An Bu nodded, “Two more died in traps set by the indigenous people.”
As she spoke, she noticed a subtle change in someone’s expression, a mix of surprise and perhaps excitement.
Smith realized, “No wonder you attracted the attention of those indigenous people. What are your plans next? Do you want to join us?”
An Bu asked again, “How long have you been here?”
“About two to three months,” Smith replied, “Ever since we learned about a research team missing here, we joined the search. In fact, we found three members of the research team a month ago, one was Dr. Mo, another was Dr. McGee, and there was also a mercenary.”
An Bu was surprised. If they found three people a month ago, why didn’t they receive any news?
“Captain,” a crew-cut man stepped forward, his face grim, “the company instructed us to keep this matter confidential.”
An Bu looked at him, “Who is he?”
“Oh, he’s our team’s doctor, Doyle,” Smith briefly introduced the other members, glossing over the details about the three members of the research team.
“Mr. Smith, can you tell me if the three people you found are still alive?” An Bu inquired.
Smith hesitated for a moment before finally saying, “Dr. Mo and Dr. McGee are still alive.”
If they were still alive, Mo Dongxiao couldn’t possibly avoid contacting the outside world, unless he was being held captive by someone else, or temporarily incapacitated.
What puzzled An Bu was that Mo Dongxiao had been found a month ago, while Yuan Jingyun had died in the forest just a few days ago. With so many people searching for them outside, why were they still wandering in the forest?
Could it be…
An Bu could only think of one possibility: the research data they were after had been lost in the forest. Even the Mo Dongxiao couple didn’t have a backup. Only by finding that data could they claim ownership of the research results. Yuan Jingyun hid in the forest, possibly to search for the data, and probably to evade pursuit.
Unfortunately, she ultimately failed, and Mo Dongxiao was also in a precarious situation.
“Ann, do you want to join us?” Smith invited again.
“No, I should probably leave soon,” An Bu replied calmly, observing Doyle, the doctor. He seemed unperturbed by her identity, unlike the others who were curious. His plain reaction seemed abnormal in contrast.
An Bu suspected that he might be someone’s informant, staying behind to confirm the deaths of those research team members. They had already found 10 people, and as soon as they found the remaining 5, the mastermind behind the scenes would reveal themselves. No, for them, there were still 7, as Yutafu and Shila, whom An Bu had rescued earlier, were not part of their plan.
Separating from this expedition team, An Bu wandered around the area and secretly followed them, taking a few photos with her camera. Continuing to stay wouldn’t be meaningful; she had to find Mo Dongxiao as soon as possible.
As for the research data… An Bu took out a chip from her pocket. It was the one she had retrieved when she destroyed the beehive earlier. She had casually put it in her pocket, not sure if it was what they were looking for. She would have to wait until she returned to find out.
In the camp outside the forest, Jian Ningxuan’s bodyguards secretly sent Yutafu and Shila, who had successfully escaped, to the car and hurried to the nearest city to settle them properly. He stayed in the camp, waiting for An Bu to return.
There was only one day left until the agreed time; he didn’t know if she could return safely.
“Jianjian, go and see where your mommy is.” Jian Ningxuan looked around, but didn’t find Jianjian’s figure. He could only speak into the air.
At this moment, Jianjian, who was swimming in a cup of water, swayed its tentacles in boredom, not intending to move at all. It had flown for over ten hours and urgently needed to replenish its energy. With her formidable abilities, why would it need to worry about its mommy?
Jian Ningxuan didn’t usually communicate much with Jianjian and didn’t understand its abilities well. Just now, he had only mentioned it casually and didn’t have high hopes for its intelligence.
He walked out of the tent and looked at the pitch-black forest, calling out softly, “Bubu, are you alright…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a pair of arms suddenly reached out from behind, wrapping around his neck. Then, he heard a cheerful voice in his ear, “Mr. Jian, I’m back early. Surprise, surprise?”
Jian Ningxuan, who was preparing to lament, paused, “…”
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