I'm trapped in a block

Chapter 1092: Solidified Unrest

After walking in the jungle for nearly twenty minutes, Mo Ling began to sweat on his forehead. He didn't know whether it was the dew drops on his head that slid down or he was too nervous. He wiped the sweat and continued to scan the surroundings.

The uneasy feeling still lingered in Mo Ling's heart. He could still feel the prying eyes, but he couldn't find where the eyes came from.

He didn't dare to alert other explorers because he had no evidence and reminding them would only cause panic.

Because there had been no danger, the organizer who was leading the way was no longer as nervous as he was at the beginning. Although he was still leading the way diligently, his steps had become much bolder and more aggressive.

This lush jungle can easily make people let down their guard. Although the vegetation is lush, it is mostly low shrubs, and the treetops above do not block people's sight. Although there is fog from time to time, the scenery in the distance can still be clearly seen.

If there is any danger, it can be spotted from a distance.

The explorers knew the horror of the abyss, but they had never been there in person. Many of them had never even touched the relics, and their understanding of the abyss was limited to their imagination.

The atmosphere in the team was gradually becoming relaxed, but Mo Ling's nerves were becoming increasingly tense.

The feeling of uneasiness grew stronger and stronger, and it seemed to be about to burst out from his chest.

"Why do I feel this way?"

Mo Ling didn't know either. He had been observing his surroundings, being alert to everything in the jungle with an extremely meticulous perspective. He hadn't discovered anything, so why was he so uneasy?
"Could it be that I have actually seen some danger, but my subconscious mind has ignored it?"

Is this a danger that can be seen but not felt?

Mo Ling took a deep breath and calmed his thoughts temporarily.

He retracted his vision that had reached far into the distance, cleared his mind, and once again looked around carefully.

This time, he did not look around randomly, but instead stared at some places that seemed wrong and examined them from all angles.

"There's something wrong with this bush..."

An ordinary shrub, which looks exactly like the other shrubs around it, grows in the damp jungle soil, with rotten fallen leaves covering its roots. These inconspicuous fallen leaves can provide it with rich nutrients. The shrub is about one meter tall, with a gray-brown and slightly rough skin. The trunk is short and twisted, and the branches are densely intertwined, like countless outstretched arms...

"Wait, these branches?"

Mo Ling's sight extended along the lines of the branches, and he kept adjusting the "angle" of observation in the air, and finally stopped at a position looking "from the bottom up".

"Is this a pattern? These branches form a pattern?"

In Mo Ling's vision, these seemingly messy branches happened to form a centrally symmetrical figure in this observation direction, as if someone had deliberately used these branches to paint, and deliberately created this unnatural pattern.

"This is definitely not a coincidence!"

Mo Ling could vaguely feel that this pattern "did not belong" to this shrub. It was abrupt and abnormal. Part of the uneasiness that always lingered in Mo Ling's heart came from this pattern.

He had actually "seen" this pattern a long time ago, but had not noticed it before. His attention was on the overall picture, and he did not specifically separate these branches.

“This is just one of them. There are other places…”

Mo Ling's vision moved rapidly again, converging on the crown of a tree.

“This leaf is wrong too!”

The patterns on this leaf are completely different from those on other leaves. Although all leaves have different patterns, the patterns on this leaf have deviated from the "normal" range, as if someone had engraved them with a seal.

This pattern does not follow the normal growth pattern at all. Strange bends and curls appear in some places. It is obvious that it grows in this way to complete the pattern. This deviates from the nature of the plant, making growth secondary and completing the pattern the main purpose.

"And, and..."

Mo Ling's vision continued to wander. "The cracks on the bark of this tree are also wrong."

“The indentation in this stone is wrong, too.”

“The sands don’t have the right porosity either.”

“The bend of this vine is wrong, too.”

"..."

Mo Ling found many places that were not right. These places all had one thing in common: they had some "traces" that were contrary to natural development. These traces were deliberately expressing a certain pattern, or in other words -

"Totem! This is a totem!"

Mo Ling suddenly had an idea and thought of this expression.

This kind of expression, which is completely integrated with nature and yet transcends nature and carries some special meaning, is obviously a kind of "totem".

But this kind of totem is different from the totem in the normal concept. It is not engraved on a specific carrier, but "grows" in nature. Although it seems so abrupt, this kind of "growth engraving" is definitely not something that can be done easily.

"The people who carved these totems were definitely not humans! They must be some other civilization!"

Mo Ling made an inference in his mind, and his nerves became increasingly tense.

"Have we mistakenly entered the territory of another civilization? An abyssal civilization? Or is this just some kind of mark they left behind?"

That prying gaze was still there. Mo Ling didn't know where that gaze came from, whether it came from this unknown civilization.

Just as he was wondering, the organizer who was clearing the way suddenly stopped and stood there in surprise.

"What's wrong?" asked the explorer behind him.

"Look ahead, there..." He pointed to a light mist not far ahead, his voice trembling slightly.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and were stunned.

It was a sign of land reclamation, with branches and broken leaves falling on the ground, as if someone had just walked by...

“Isn’t that the path we took?”

“Is it possible that someone else walked by?”

"Impossible! I remember it! We walked past there, and I was the one who cut that branch! I remember it very clearly!"

"Maybe they just look similar. I've been staring at the compass. We're heading in the right direction. We're heading south. How could we go back?"

"This is the abyss. Anything can happen. Let's be alert. This place is definitely not as peaceful as it looks. Maybe we have fallen into some kind of phenomenon..."

Listening to the conversation in front, Mo Ling decided not to hide his discovery anymore.

"Well...I have a discovery!" he shouted.

Everyone looked over there, and Mo Ling quickly walked to the side and picked up a few stones engraved with strange totems.

"Look at these stones first..."

(End of this chapter)