Ma Tian felt a little uncomfortable. In that instant when sparks flew, he had looked into those snake-like pupils and sensed something strange, but he could not say exactly what was wrong.
Yang Cheng did not think much of it. "What's so strange about that? It's perfectly normal to find a few snakes in the deep mountains and old forests. It's not like they were pythons or anything. Why are you making such a fuss?"
None of them took the encounter with the snake to heart. Only Hu Xiaocao, standing to the side, had her originally dim little eyes light up once more.
It's Grandpa Mountain God!
Grandpa Mountain God really heard my call and came to save me!
Seeing that they had rested enough, the group prepared to set out again. They had no intention of staying there for long.
Yang Cheng threatened her viciously. "If you dare make a sound, I'll break your legs, cut out your tongue, and throw you onto the street to beg."
They had brought only a small amount of knockout powder this time, so they had to conserve it whenever possible.
Perhaps his threat had worked. Hu Xiaocao really did quiet down and no longer shouted herself hoarse.
Or perhaps she had shouted herself tired and resigned herself to her fate.
Seeing how sensible Hu Xiaocao was being, Yang Cheng nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it. Cooperate with us, and you'll suffer less yourself. Otherwise, when it's all over, you'll be the one who ends up in bad luck."
The four of them walked along the mountain path, with Hu Xiaocao joining them. They tied her up with a rope and led her along like livestock.
The knockout powder had worn off by now, and Hu Xiaocao could walk on her own, which saved them some effort.
As the sun sank toward the horizon, the crescent moon overhead seemed to shine a little brighter. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled across the earth, draping the lush mountain forest in a layer of pale golden light.
Half of the entire mountaintop was shrouded in darkness, while the other half still struggled within the light. Light and darkness intertwined, but it was only a matter of time before night drew back its curtain.
At some point, a thin layer of mist began to rise and spread through the mountains. It was not very noticeable, so Yang Cheng and the others failed to detect it.
Only when the mist lightly covered their feet did it become visible to the naked eye.
Yang Cheng frowned as he looked at the indistinct white fog around them. Finding it strange, he said, "Why did it suddenly become foggy for no reason? We need to pick up the pace."
The mountain path was difficult enough to traverse as it was. If the fog grew thicker, they might not be able to see anything at all, and then things would become troublesome. They had not brought any equipment and did not want to spend the night in the mountains.
Ma Tian immediately shoved Hu Xiaocao. "What, didn't you eat? Why are you walking so slowly? Move faster, or I'll hit you."
Hu Xiaocao was completely unprepared. She stumbled and fell to the ground, scraping her hands and feet until bright red blood pearls welled up.
She bit her lip and endured the pain, refusing to cry. Hu Xiaocao awkwardly climbed back to her feet.
"Xiao Cao is the strongest. Xiao Cao won't cry. Besides, Grandpa Mountain God is right beside me. He'll come save Xiao Cao very soon."
Hearing this, an inexplicable surge of vicious anger welled up in Ma Tian's heart. For some reason, a pair of icy snake pupils flashed through his mind. He spat to the side.
"Fuck your Grandpa Mountain God. Are you saying the mountain god made this white fog?"
"Let me tell you! We uncles don't believe in that nonsense. Don't think you can scare us with this!"
Ma Tian even deliberately yanked hard on the rope in his hand. If Hu Xiaocao had not been prepared this time, she would probably have taken another nasty fall.
By then, the setting sun in the sky had already sunk more than halfway below the horizon, and the light falling into the mountain forest had grown even fainter.
Ink-dark colors began to spread layer by layer across the sky, eroding the remaining light. The crescent moon seemed to become even more conspicuous.
The white fog spread everywhere, and the surrounding scenery looked as though it had been veiled in white gauze, becoming blurry and indistinct. Yang Cheng and Ma Tian grew anxious as they hurried through the mountain forest.
Yet the more you feared something, the more surely it came.
In no time at all, the white fog thickened further. All the scenery around them was swallowed up, and they could no longer see what lay in the distance.
The shadows of the trees were shrouded in white fog, leaving behind only vague outlines. From far away, they looked like black giants glaring at them with watchful, hostile eyes.
Everything within sight was a vast expanse of white. Only by walking closer could they see anything clearly, which made their hearts grow even more unsettled.
On top of that, they still had not found their way out after walking this far.
Yang Cheng's heart gradually sank to the bottom of a valley. "Judging by the situation, I'm afraid we've lost our way."
Although they had scouted the area beforehand, they were newcomers, and the white fog had obstructed their vision. It was only natural that they might lose their way in it.
The others froze, then said anxiously, "What do we do now? We're not really going to spend the night here, are we?"
"We can't spend the night here. It's too dangerous."
Yang Cheng took out a flashlight. This powerful flashlight should have been able to illuminate a distant area, but because of the boundless fog, it could emit only a faint glow.
The flashlight's light slightly dispelled the panic in everyone's hearts.
By then, the sky had completely fallen into darkness. As the last trace of afterglow was devoured by the dark, night spread its black wings and made its grand, heavy entrance.
Looking at the darkening sky around them, Yang Cheng raised his head. A full moon overhead barely gave him some peace of mind.
If the sky had been covered in dark clouds, their mood would probably have been even worse.
He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but he felt that tonight's moon was brighter than usual.
Hu Xiaocao was also looking up at the moon. Her eyes grew increasingly bright, as if she could even ignore the pain from her earlier fall.
"When I first met Grandpa Mountain God, the moon seemed to be like this too."
Hearing her muttering mysteriously, Ma Tian felt even more uncomfortable. Looking closely, he could see a trace of barely perceptible panic in her eyes. He rolled up his sleeves and strode over viciously.
"So you took everything I just said as wind blowing past your ears, did you? Spouting all this ghost nonsense is really bad luck."
Just as his fist, as large as a cooking pot, was about to fall, the skinny Liu Siming from the group stopped him.
"She's just an ignorant little girl. Why are you getting worked up over her? With all this free time, you'd be better off carefully looking for a way out. If you knock her out, we'll have to carry her when the time comes."
That made some sense. Ma Tian lowered his fist and said irritably, "You damned brat, you'd better watch yourself. Once I get out of this mountain forest, just wait and see how I deal with you!"
Yang Cheng waved at them from the side. "Come over here for a moment."
He looked at the compass in his hand and checked it carefully. "We should reach the foot of the mountain if we head southeast."
He put the compass into his pocket.
No one noticed that the needle, which had originally remained motionless, began to tremble wildly, as if disturbed by some inexplicable magnetic field.
At last, unable to withstand that force any longer, it stopped in one place and became completely still.
Yang Cheng, Ma Tian, and the others knew nothing of this as they slowly walked into the depths of the fog.
The vast white fog was like a monstrous beast that had come from the void, opening its gaping maw and waiting for them to step inside before slowly swallowing Ma Tian and his group.
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