The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

Yang Xia brought the grass to his nose and smelled it. The scent was weak, almost nonexistent. He really couldn't understand why these fireflies were afraid of it. It's just a matter of one thing being the natural enemy of another!

Having found the nemesis of fireflies, Yang Xia originally wanted to go back and harvest the remaining grass, but then he thought that the people around him didn't know how long they would be sleeping. If he harvested the grass too early, it might turn into dry grass, which wouldn't be as effective against the fireflies.

After thinking it over, he decided to stay where he was, put the grass in his hand on the ground, and sit down to rest, waiting for the people around him to wake up.

Time passed by, and more than six hours had gone by, but the person next to me still showed no signs of waking up.

Yang Xia was a little hungry, so he ate some of the dry food he had brought. After waiting for about two hours, Yuan Feng was the first to wake up, still feeling groggy.

He looked around sleepily and said with a smile, "I thought we had completed our mission and returned home victorious, but I didn't expect to wake up still in the same place."

He had just had a very long dream in which they completed all their tasks and returned to the Great Zhou Dynasty.

They were even granted official titles and ranks, becoming heroes in everyone's eyes. But unexpectedly, the memories in the dream became increasingly blurry, and when they opened their eyes, they were back to square one.

It turns out that all of this was just a dream I had.

Yuan Feng glanced at the person still fast asleep beside him and asked Yang Xia, "Your Majesty, how long have I been asleep?"

Yang Xia said, "It's been about eight hours, and they still haven't shown any signs of waking up. If they still don't wake up after another hour, I might have to wake them up myself."

Prolonged drowsiness can erode a person's will. He didn't know if it was the influence of these fireflies that allowed them to sleep so soundly in such a damp place.

Yuan Feng tried to stand up, but felt a wave of dizziness and fell back down, still feeling weak.

"Damn it, everyone says fireflies are beautiful, but I think these fireflies are messengers sent from hell, all here to kill us."

If anyone ever says fireflies are beautiful again, he'll definitely get angry with them.

What's so pretty about this? They're all biting at them, determined to bite them to death.

Yang Xia tossed the grass in his hand over and said, "While you were asleep, I found this grass in the swamp behind us. It can suppress the fireflies here."

Yuan Feng took the grass, brought it to his nose and smelled it. There was no smell at all. He looked puzzled and said, "This grass has no smell at all, so why are the fireflies so afraid of it?"

In his opinion, something that could control fireflies should at least emit some special scent, but this plant was far too ordinary.

He had some doubts in his heart, wondering if the king had made a mistake, but he dared not say it aloud. After all, it was a matter of life and death, and he did not want to lose his life because of a single sentence.

Yang Xia had actually expected him to ask this question. After all, when he first got the herb, he couldn't believe it either. It wasn't until he went in and tested it himself that he realized these insects were indeed afraid of the herb.

"Just because we humans can't smell something doesn't mean these insects can't smell it. What we might not notice could be fatal to these insects."

Every species is different, so the situation will be different as well.

Just like some people are naturally allergic to fish and shrimp, while others love to eat them, different people react differently to different things.

Yuan Feng nodded as if he understood, and after resting for a while, he felt that his strength had almost recovered. His head was not as dizzy as before, and he could at least stand up with difficulty.

He took out his water bottle and took a big gulp, only then did he feel refreshed.

Yang Xia advised from the side, "You haven't eaten for several hours and have been unconscious for so long. You may not be used to it yet after just waking up. It would be best if you could rest for a while longer and adjust your condition."

Yuan Feng nodded and began to circulate his internal energy, intending to restore his physical condition as quickly as possible.

Another half hour passed, and those who had fallen into a coma gradually woke up, in a similar condition to when Yuan Feng had just woken up.

Everyone was in a daze and couldn't stand up on their own.

Yang Xia reminded them from the side, "You are too weak right now, you can't even stand steadily. It's best to stay where you are for a while, regulate your breathing, and we'll set off when you're ready."

Mengyin struggled a few times, but found that she couldn't stand up at all, so she stopped struggling and obediently sat in place.

They were too careless this time, and didn't consider the consequences of their actions, which is why they've ended up like this.

Thankfully, the king is alright. From now on, we must be more careful in everything we do, lest unexpected situations arise and we have no one to deal with them.

After resting and recuperating for a while, everyone's condition improved significantly; at least they were able to stand up again.

If we were trapped and died here by a few tiny insects, people would laugh at us.

Seeing that they had recovered, Yang Xia began to explain the purpose of the herb in his hand: "If you want to pass through here safely, you must use this herb. Do you understand what I mean?"

Mengyin took the grass from Yang Xia and felt that it looked familiar: "I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."

“It’s right on the way we came.” Yang Xia led them to the grass.

Actually, there's quite a lot of this kind of grass in the middle area.

However, it was somewhat dangerous to go back and forth, so Yang Xia didn't go to get it at first.

Moreover, when he first took it, he wasn't sure if the herb was useful, so he only took one. Now he brought them here hoping they would take more.

Not everyone needs to carry it; as long as some people have it, they can pass through safely.

Yang Xia took only one blade of grass and walked into the swarm of fireflies, who dared not do anything to him. If he could take more, it would be even easier to get out of here.

Yuan Feng had rested the best, so he volunteered to step forward: "Leave this to me, I'll go get it."

He lightly touched the ground with his toes, and his whole body flew out.

He recovered better than the others, after all, he was the first to wake up. In such a dangerous situation, he had to be at the forefront and not let anything happen to the brothers behind him.

He could only carry so much by himself, and he couldn't carry much in one trip. After putting the things down, he caught his breath and rushed out again. When he returned, he was carrying a whole bunch of grass. Actually, the roots of the grass weren't very deep, and there was a muddy area underneath, so it was easy to uproot them.

While weeding, mud got all over his clothes, which made him a little disgusted. But when he thought that it was crucial for saving lives, he still carried the grass back.

Meng Yin couldn't help but praise, "Your lightness skill is getting better and better. You can land silently and move freely on this. I really admire you."

Yuan Feng was a little embarrassed by the praise. He felt that this was what he should do: "It's just basic skills. It's not as exaggerated as you say. Every brother here can do it. It's just that their physical strength hasn't recovered yet."

He was telling the truth, without any exaggeration.

For each of them, light-footedness was nothing more than the most basic skill.

At this moment, Yang Xia came out and said, "Now that we have the goods, let's make our escape."

They've already spent a lot of time here, so they need to speed up their journey.

The group returned to the area where the fireflies had gathered. Their previous experiences had made them wary of the fireflies.

Gazing at the fireflies dancing in the sky, a sense of unease was almost etched into their hearts. However, the road ahead was long, and they had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue onward.

Yang Xia, carrying his belongings, went inside first. Surprisingly, the fireflies didn't attack him; instead, they retreated as if avoiding venomous snakes or ferocious beasts.

Seeing this, the people behind them were no longer afraid. They held tightly to the seemingly insignificant little grass in their hands and walked past the fireflies. At this moment, they discovered that the fireflies not only dared not bite them, but they didn't even dare to get close.

Yuan Feng couldn't help but exclaim from the bottom of his heart, "It's really amazing! Before, when these fireflies saw us, they were like mosquitoes seeing blood, wanting to suck all the blood off us. But now, because of this little blade of grass, they don't even dare to come near us."

Mengyin also found it very amazing: "Everything in the world has its reason for existence. The fact that these fireflies dare not approach this grass precisely illustrates the principle of mutual generation and restraint among all things. For every thing that appears, there must be something else to restrain it."

This is indeed a truth that has existed since ancient times.

And so, the group emerged unharmed, having encountered no attacks along the way.

They walked quite a distance before finally throwing away the grass they were carrying.

Yang Xia stared at the puddle at his feet, his brows furrowed. He stood motionless, while the people behind him were full of curiosity.

"Your Majesty, why have we stopped?" Yuan Feng asked.

Perhaps if we walk a little further, we can reach the very center, and then we'll have completed our mission.

Yang Xia voiced his doubts: "I suspect we might be going in circles."

He knew that saying this might cause panic among the crowd. But ever since encountering those snakes, the seed of doubt had been deeply buried in his heart. Until he saw this calm pool of water, the seed of doubt took root, sprouted, and grew into a towering tree, and he had no choice but to speak out about his thoughts.

Yuan Feng's face turned extremely ugly. The King never speaks carelessly; could it be that they've really been going in circles the whole time?

If that's the case, wouldn't all their previous efforts have been in vain?

We spent so much time and energy circling around the road, but we never even got to the very center.

Meng Yin retorted directly, "That's impossible! We've been through so much, how could such a small outer area be so big?"

He knew in his heart that the island was indeed not small, but this was just a cave on the island. How could they have been circling around it the whole time?
Yang Xia was actually very unwilling to admit this fact, but that was the reality, and there was nothing they could do even if they didn't want to accept it.

“We are indeed circling around. Come and look at this puddle of water; it shows no signs of movement. If we were heading towards the center, given the island's geography, the water would be flowing no matter what. But this puddle just sits here quietly, accumulating more and more, yet there's never been a trace of movement. This is enough to show that we've been on the outer perimeter.”

The center is located relatively far inward; in other words, the lowest point is at the very center. If they weren't circling around on the outside but had already reached the center, the water flow would be downward, not remaining still and forming a circle.

He wasn't sure if the people behind him understood what he was saying. But the most crucial thing right now was that they hadn't found the way into the center. If they kept going around in circles on the periphery without finding a way in, they might never reach the center.

Upon hearing Yang Xia's words, everyone deflated like a punctured balloon, as if all their hopes had been shattered at that moment, and their previously high enthusiasm had vanished without a trace.

They thought that overcoming the fireflies would allow them to reach their destination directly, but after all that trouble, they were just going around in circles. Fate had truly played a cruel joke on them.

It's like someone telling you you've won the grand prize, but when you excitedly go to claim it, you discover that the grand prize never existed.

That's their mindset right now; they're on the verge of a breakdown.

Yuan Feng asked, "So what should we do now?"

Returning by the same route is definitely not realistic now, and such a claim is unlikely.

If they grit their teeth and continue forward, they don't know if there will be a way out in the end. They are now truly in a dilemma, caught between a rock and a hard place.

Yang Xia sighed and said, "Let's keep going. If we come to a fork in the road or have other options, we'll split up. At least that way we'll increase our chances of finding the right way out, instead of wandering around aimlessly like headless flies."

If you can't find your way in, all your efforts are in vain.

This is the only way right now.

After regaining their composure, everyone continued on their journey.

Having learned from their previous experience, they no longer rushed forward blindly, but began to pay attention to their surroundings. In particular, they carefully observed the direction in which the water droplets fell from the rock wall, trying to move in the direction the water was flowing, because only by following this direction could they possibly get out.

The space inside is very narrow, barely enough for two people to walk side by side, and even breathing feels a bit suffocating.

"Tick...tick..."

Yang Xia heard the sound of water droplets falling, and felt that the flow of water was quite strong.

He followed the direction of the water flow and indeed saw water dripping from the rock wall, forming a small stream, about the thickness of a thumb. The group was overjoyed to see this stream. (End of Chapter)