Bird Corpses

With slender fingers, Yu Xing picked up the paper figure. Looking at the bewildered paper figure, unsure of what to do, she said, "Tell Carlos that boys need to protect themselves when they're out and about."

Paper doll. "...?"

Although they didn't understand why Yu Xing said that, the paper figure, being an inanimate object with little autonomy, still did as instructed.

"Has it been conveyed?" Yu Xing asked.

The paper figure nodded.

"Alright, to protect my privacy, now... I'm going to humanely destroy you." Before the paper doll could react, Yu Xing grabbed it and submerged it in the water.

The lake water relentlessly soaked the paper figure, making it limp and shapeless.

It barely struggled or resisted, because Carlos himself often used paper figures to ward off disasters. These paper figures were frequently burned, corroded, and torn to pieces. In comparison, Yu Xing's actions amounted to nothing.

The paper figure's features became blurred. Yu Xing scooped it up, and it crumpled into a ball, no longer deserving the name "paper figure." It lost its abilities as a paper figure and became just an ordinary piece of paper mush.

Yu Xing satisfied now. He leisurely climbed ashore and sat down next to the burning fire to warm himself.

He took a towel out of his bag and dried his slightly long hair and the water off his body. Then he remained sitting by the fire because... his pants weren't dry yet.

Yu Xing wasn't in a hurry. According to Carlos, the exploration of the third path was only halfway done, and it would take at least another day to reach the end. He could go there alone, which would be much faster than a whole team.

Finally, as the sun rose directly overhead, Yu Xing tidied herself up, feeling refreshed. She slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her painting tube, and, swinging her grappling hook, prepared to climb the rocks beside the waterfall.

The waterfall flows down from a great height, flanked by stone walls, offering more footholds than the previous cliffs, but also making it more slippery.

With a "whoosh," Yu Xing accurately threw the grappling hook between the rocks above the waterfall and got it in place. After testing the rope's strength, he grabbed it, stepped onto the rocks with his hiking boots, and swung upwards, accompanied by the roar of the waterfall in his ears.

Fingerless gloves protected his palms from chafing, and he reached the summit in almost no time, finding a flat clearing.

A cliff and a waterfall, their vertical heights both indicating how much Heavy Yin Mountain has risen above the previous two mountains. Yu Xing heard that the entrance to the tomb palace is on Heavy Yin Mountain, which means that the tomb palace itself should be hidden inside the mountain.

Just as he stepped onto solid ground and removed and put away the grappling hook, a damp, cold wind blew by, bringing with it a mournful, hollow sound that was like weeping. The sound was incessant, desolate and eerie, sending chills down one's spine.

But Yu Xing knew immediately that there must be karst caves in Heavy Yin Mountain, and that such a terrifying sound would be produced when the wind passed through the caves of all sizes.

The open space beneath his feet was about a hundred square meters, not large, covered with weeds, and very hard to walk on.

Yu Xing squatted down, poked at the ground with her finger, and found that what she was standing on was not soil, but stones that had been covered in mud for many years and were not easily recognizable at a glance.

The entire open space was just a single, intact rock over a hundred square meters in size. Although the reason for its formation was unknown, Yu Xing immediately realized that if the entire surface of the mountain were like this, it would be impossible for tomb raiders to dig a tunnel to enter the tomb.

This kind of stone is too hard; it would take a very long time to drill even a small hole. Which tomb raider could afford to wait that long? With limited supplies for going into the mountains, ensuring one's own safety is the most important thing before entering the tomb.

Just then, Yu Xing a chill run down his spine.

He felt an intense, almost tangible gaze, like a ghost hovering around him, staring at him without restraint!

That gaze was filled with malice, making you feel as if something might appear at any moment and kill you.

Here it comes—the feeling of being watched, as Carlos had described.

Pretending not to notice, Yu Xing walked along the right side of the flat open space, secretly using the maximum perception he could muster to explore his surroundings.

The small book kiosk that book lovers used before.

The feeling of being watched was ever-present, as if it were part of him. He vaguely sensed that the gaze wasn't coming from one place, but rather was scattered.

This feeling was even stronger after stepping out of the open area.

Inside the cave, behind the trees, among the leaves, even above and below, it seemed as if invisible eyes were watching Yu Xing. Yu Xing personally experienced this pressure and gained a better understanding of Carlos's team.

This kind of gaze is like a hypnotic induction that awakens the fear in people's hearts. Those who can hold on without emotional collapse are definitely not fools; they all have some ability. Regardless of whether there are any particularly strong big shots in Carlos's team, at least no one is dragging them down.

I wonder which of Alice and Shi Jiu is on Carlos's side?

Two minutes later, the sun began to set.

Wait... slanting westward?

Yu Xing looked up at the sky in surprise. He wasn't mistaken; the sun, which had just risen directly overhead, now seemed to be turning the sky a deep red, as if dusk had fallen.

In just a few minutes, it turned from noon to dusk here?

How could that be?

Yu Xing remembered that when he climbed the waterfall, the sky was still normal; the problem must have occurred the moment he stepped into Heavy Yin Mountain.

Is it that this mountain possesses an unusual protective barrier, affecting the time it takes for the people living there to see it, or is there something here that challenges common sense and reasoning?

Yu Xing stood still and waited for a while. Dusk did not quickly turn into night, or even change at all, indicating that the flow of time on Heavy Yin Mountain was not accelerated.

He reached a conclusion and continued forward. The sky changed again, growing darker as he went deeper, as if hinting at something.

Even more terrifying, the sky turned from red to dark, and the gaze that had been watching them changed from scorching to icy cold, as if a serial killer had grown tired of those who had been captured and was now saying to them, "You're useless now, die today."

Yu Xing had a bad feeling; he felt that something bad was about to happen.

He searched through the rocks, but it was exactly the same as before; nothing came of it.

"Tsk, hurry up, I want to see it too." He was dissatisfied with the slow pace of the change and urged it on silently.

Now, ahead of him was a narrow mountain crevice, which was probably the path to the right that Carlos had mentioned. If he went in, he could find Carlos inside.

At the same time, the gazes from behind him became intense.

"Strange... where is that gaze coming from?" Yu Xing muttered to herself, drew her Tang sword from the painting tube, ignored the gaze, and walked in without hesitation.

The crevice was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. If a person was too fat, they wouldn't be able to squeeze in at all and would have to find another way.

Yu Xing adjusted the painting tube to the front of him, turned slightly to the side, and shuffled over little by little.

It can truly be said that at first it was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but after walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious place.

After passing through a short crevice in the rocks, there was a wide open woodland. The soil on the ground was finally more abundant, no longer all rocks, which could support the growth of plants. However, the nutrients could not be supplied in large quantities, so most of the tree trunks were somewhat withered.

But... this forest felt somewhat familiar to Yu Xing, as if he had been here before.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow: Another hallucination?

If, in the real world, someone has traveled to so many places and encounters a place that seems familiar, then the probability that they have been to that place before is very high.

But this is a world of deduction, so how could he have a feeling of déjà vu?

Could it be...?

Yu Xing had a vague guess in his mind, but he didn't confirm it immediately. Instead, he continued forward with a try-and-see attitude.

The sun was blocked behind the mountains, announcing the arrival of night in the mountains.

Yu Xing spent almost as long as it took from dusk to night to walk this route, and he didn't encounter anything. Because of this, he believed that Heavy Yin Mountain was secretly preparing a big move.

Before, there were poisonous insects and bone vines, dead bodies in the valley, and Tianjin white flowers, but upon arriving at Heavy Yin Mountain, there was only psychological pressure and no other danger? Yu Xing didn't believe it. He felt that if the demon daoist wanted to protect the tomb palace, he wouldn't do it this way; otherwise, wouldn't he be a complete idiot?

It's impossible that the demon daoist first swiftly wiped out the tomb raiders, and then, when building the Heavy Yin Mountain Tomb Palace, the sorcerer changed his mind, was moved by the tomb raiders' near-death experiences, and decided to open the gates to welcome them into his home?

Shaking his head, Yu Xing refocused his attention, which had begun to wander due to the oppressive feeling of being spied on, and stopped his random thoughts to concentrate on dealing with the current situation.

A cold wind kept blowing, and judging from the atmosphere alone, Heavy Yin Mountain was indeed the most frightening one. The howling sound brought by the wind appeared and disappeared, whispering in Yu Xing's ear.

The longer you walk, the drier and more menacing the trees become. As night falls, the tall trees resemble fierce ghosts baring their fangs. One or two strange shadows drift by in the forest, but you can't tell what they are.

Yu Xing felt that this place was becoming more and more familiar.

He tried to turn on his flashlight when suddenly, footsteps came from behind him. The footsteps were fast, rustling rapidly over the dry branches on the ground, accompanied by heavy breathing from his throat and nose due to excitement, like a dying patient begging for an oxygen tube.

And judging from the location, those footsteps were aimed directly at him!

"...?" Yu Xing's heart skipped a beat. Without thinking, she immediately hid behind a tree and then used the cover of the trees to move to another location.

Only then did he have a chance to see who was rushing towards him from behind. He clung to the tree trunk, peered out, and saw a tall, thin, hunched figure lingering in the darkness where he had just been standing.

The figure was at least 2.4 meters tall, with limbs as thin as bamboo poles, an excessively long waist that was bent over, and shoulder blades that protruded upwards, making him appear deformed.

What a monster!

The human head was embedded in the front of the bent neck, the face was blurry, and Yu Xing felt sorry for its neck when she saw it, feeling that it was very tired.

It was as deformed and brutal as the zombie Research Institute that Yu Xing saw in Alice's Park. It was the kind of thing that you could tell was no good just by looking at it. The figure was holding a thin rope, which dragged on the ground as it walked.

"What was it trying to do to me just now?" Yu Xing couldn't help but wonder. He was just standing there, and he was probably only seen, yet he was almost grabbed by this figure.

After two days of traveling alone in the mountains, the change he had been waiting for finally arrived.

The figure reached around and grabbed at something, but found nothing, which enraged the creature, causing it to let out an angry roar.

"What's going on with this thing? Could it be a monster native to the mountains?" Yu Xing stared at the monster-like figure for a long time. He didn't think a normal person would bring such a companion along, so he could only assume it was a native of the mountains, just like the giant gray worm, a specialty of Heavy Yin Mountain.

Whether it is a person or something else is debatable, but in any case, it looks like a large, thin little giant.

The giant was not completely naked; he wore shorts made of vines that were just enough to cover his private parts.

This was enough for Yu Xing to realize that the monstrous figure possessed a certain level of intelligence and was not easy to deal with.

Yu Xing noticed the monster figure was about to leave and quickly followed. He looked around and saw that the monster figure was heading towards the depths of the fork in the road on the right, so he followed it all the way.

At first, everything went smoothly.

The monster walked forward, avoiding the low trees, glancing around every now and then, as if it Yu Xing, whom it had just seen, and wanted to continue searching.

Later, as the forest grew denser, Yu Xing almost lost sight of the monster's figure with a single misalignment, and the monster disappeared into the forest.

Tsk, lost them.

The forest was vast, Yu Xing simply took out a compass and followed the general route the monster's figure had taken. He thought that this way there was a high probability he would encounter the monster again, and perhaps even see it again.

Soon, Yu Xing also ventured into the forest where the monster's figure had disappeared. As soon as he entered, he keenly smelled a strange odor, somewhat like rats, or like rotting meat.

"Hiss, what's here?" Yu Xing murmured, looking up thoughtfully.

"Smack!"

In his vision, a palm-sized Black Shadow rapidly grew larger, from a tiny dot into a...

A bird?

Dead bird.

Yu Xing nimbly retreated, and the dead bird crashed to the ground. Had he reacted any slower, the bird carcass would have landed on his face. The small bird with gray feathers and white stripes had its eyes closed, and its head was deformed from the impact. Gone was its adorable hopping; all that remained was an eeriness and an unsettling presence.

Yu Xing crouched down to examine the scene. He squinted, keeping his flashlight on and controlling the beam to illuminate only a small area, so as not to attract the shadowy monster from before.

He examined the bird's condition and found that it hadn't just died, but had been dead for some time, so it definitely hadn't fallen from the sky halfway through its flight.

Furthermore, the bird carcass's ankle was broken, showing an unnatural bend.

It's a side effect of being tied up.

... Did it fall from a tree?

Yu Xing got up, held the flashlight and shone it above the trees to the side. Sure enough, he saw a bird carcass hanging upside down on a branch.