Tomb raiders: You stole my little Qilin?

Wu Wei woke up just as the sun was rising slightly.

He glanced at the watch on Wu Xie's wrist; it was not yet 5:30.

Wu Wei patted his forehead, truly impressed with himself.

Back in the courtyard, Zhang Qiling and Hei Xiazi took turns trying to wake him, but to no avail. Now, in the desolate wilderness, he opened his eyes on his own without anyone having to call him.

I instinctively reached for my phone and waved it around, hoping to find a place with a signal, but I was surprised to find an unread file on the screen.

This is information about Jie Ziyang.

Sometime last night, the signal drifted across the valley and delivered this document.

He tried calling Wu Erbai back, but there was only silence on the other end; the signal had dropped again.

Wu Wei opened the document, flipped through it, and then frowned and remained silent for a moment.

Then he put his phone back in his pocket, got up, and woke Wu Xie up.

He then picked up a stone and threw it at Lao Yang, who was huddled beside a large rock some distance away.

Lao Yang cried out in pain and sat up abruptly, about to curse.

But when he saw Wu Wei's hand, which he hadn't had time to put down, he swallowed back the swear words that were rising in his throat.

Wu Wei ignored his pragmatism and simply uttered two words: "Let's go."

Lao Yang walked at the front, both leading the way and exploring the path.

Several large mountains completely surround this valley, and the ground is not flat, with cracks and loose stones everywhere.

It appears to have experienced more than one geological disaster, with mudslides and earthquakes leaving their mark here.

After walking for more than two hours, a clear stream flowed out from the mountains, meandering down along the cracks in the ground.

Lao Yang was both thirsty and hungry, so he lay down and scooped up water to drink.

Wu Wei waited for a while, and seeing that he was not in any abnormality, he went forward to fetch some water, drank a few sips himself, and then fed some to Wu Xie.

Lao Yang looked ahead: "Follow this stream to the woods, and you'll arrive once you cross the woods."

Wu Wei looked ahead and saw a dark forest in the distance, which was further obscured by the valley and he could not see anything clearly.

As we continued forward, some small animals began to appear on the outskirts of the forest.

The wind rustled through the leaves, and occasionally a few wild fruit trees could be seen dotting the landscape.

Wu Wei originally wanted to hunt a few rabbits and roast them, but then he thought that the smell of blood might attract unwanted things, so he gave up and tore open two packs of compressed biscuits to share with Wu Xie.

Lao Yang knew that Wu Wei didn't like him, so he didn't dare to ask for anything. He squatted down and picked a few common wild fruits to eat.

Wu Wei glanced at him and threw a compressed biscuit at his feet.

Lao Yang was flattered and picked it up, stammering, "Th...thank you."

Wu Wei did not reply, not knowing how far the road ahead was, and the person leading the way could not fall.

After passing through a canyon, a green ocean suddenly unfolds before your eyes.

Not only are the tree crowns green, but even the fallen leaves under the trees are green.

The layers of green stretched as far as the eye could see, so thick it was almost unreal.

It was accompanied by a rustling sound, not like the wind blowing, but like the sound of insects crawling.

Wu Wei became wary. Normal trees shed withered and yellow leaves; it's impossible for them to shed so many green leaves.

Lao Yang took out some wild fruit he had picked along the way, ate a few bites, and casually tossed the pits into the fallen leaves.

The pit rolled down the leaf, and the rustling sound suddenly became louder.

Wu Wei immediately drew his short sword and tightened his grip on Wu Xie with his other hand.

Suddenly, the green "fallen leaves" covering the ground split open and fluttered towards them.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was a creature with a body like a miniature bat, but with two large, irregular green wings. When the two wings were folded together, it formed a complete leaf.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wu Wei grabbed Wu Xie and ran.

Lao Yang also realized what was happening, his eyes widened, and he took off running.

Wu Wei was very fast, but Wu Xie, who was being controlled, was like someone running in slow motion, running forward with the pull, and was quickly overtaken by Lao Yang.

The green-winged bats caught up from behind.

Wu Wei stopped and stood in front of Wu Xie, preparing to cut his finger to try to bleed him away.

The green-winged bats seemed not to see them and chased straight after Lao Yang.

Lao Yang was terrified and ran even faster, but he was still caught up.

Wu Wei did not put down the short sword in his hand, but carefully observed Lao Yang, who was being caught up.

These creatures seem to be non-toxic; if they bite you, at most you'll break the skin and feel a little pain.

Despite the stinging pain all over his body, Lao Yang turned around and saw that Wu Wei and Wu Xie were unharmed. He hurriedly cried out for help, "Help me!"

He actually wanted to call out Wu Xie's name, but when he caught a glimpse of the short sword in Wu Wei's hand, he swallowed the name back.

Wu Wei pondered in his mind that he possessed Qilin blood, and Wu Xie had consumed Qilin blood essence, so he should have some effect from Qilin blood.

It's probably because of these green-winged bats that they didn't bite us.

But he couldn't share any of this with Lao Yang; he wasn't kind enough to bleed to save someone who had hurt Wu Xie.

But Lao Yang couldn't die right now. Wu Wei looked around and found that there were no traces of green leaves on the stream that extended into the woods.

So Wu Wei shouted to Lao Yang, "Go into the water! Soak in it!"

Lao Yang immediately ran towards the stream.

The stream converged into a small pool in a low-lying area of ​​the woods, on which floated some real withered yellow leaves and duckweed.

Lao Yang jumped down and submerged himself in the pool.

Green-winged bats circled above the pool, not daring to approach the water's surface.

But as soon as Lao Yang peeked out to breathe, they pounced on him and bit his face.

After taking a few breaths, more than a dozen cuts appeared on his face.

Wu Wei reached out and folded a thin branch, trimmed both ends with his short sword, and twisted it hard, tearing off the entire strip of bark.

Throw that piece of hollow tree bark to Lao Yang.

Old Yang relied on this simple tube to breathe underwater, and managed to hold on for about ten minutes before the green-winged bats finally dispersed.

After confirming through the water that the things above were gone, Lao Yang dared to surface, his teeth chattering as he climbed out of the pool and asked, "What was that?"

Looking at Lao Yang, whose face and body were covered in wounds, Wu Wei simply said, "Who knows? How much longer?"

Lao Yang wrung out the water from his clothes: "It's not far now, we'll be there soon."

He dared not rest for too long, fearing those things might come back. Still soaked, he led the two men onward.

After passing through that eerie green forest, the vegetation ahead began to thin out.

The trees gradually disappeared, replaced by a wide, open, rocky beach.

The pebbles on the ground ranged in size from the size of a fist to the size of a millstone, and when you stepped on them, they slid down with a whooshing sound.

Lao Yang walked ahead, his steps uneven, while Wu Wei pulled Wu Xie along behind.

Wu Xie remained expressionless. After running just now, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and trickled down his cheeks.

But his expression remained blank.

Wu Wei took out the meteorite from his pocket and tried it again, sticking it to Wu Xie's forehead, but there was still no reaction.

Wu Wei put the meteorite back into his pocket, grabbed Wu Xie's wrist, and continued walking forward.