I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

More than four hours later, the SUV left the highway.

The buildings outside the window became fewer and fewer, and the roadsides gradually turned into continuous mountain forests.

After entering the outskirts of Black Locust Ridge, the road conditions quickly deteriorated. The abandoned highway was cracked beyond recognition, with potholes everywhere, causing the vehicle to sway constantly.

Tang Zhi had just fallen asleep when her head hit the car window.

She woke up with her hand on her forehead.

"arrive?"

"Ten kilometers to go," Cheng Fang said.

"Was this road specifically built for interrogations?"

The driver chuckled.

"This used to be a forest farm, but construction has been halted for over a decade. Further in, there aren't even roads like this anymore; you have to walk."

Tang Zhi looked out the window.

In the distance, the mountains rise in layers, their trees growing very densely. Although it was still afternoon, it had already darkened deep within the forest.

Lin Ye leaned against the last row and glanced down at the monitor on his wrist.

From the moment he entered the vicinity of Black Locust Ridge, he could feel the spiritual energy around him becoming denser.

Without actively drawing in the spirit, those subtle coolnesses will slowly enter the body with each breath. It's just that the process is slow, and they haven't accumulated in the body yet.

He didn't consciously try to feel it and quickly brought his attention back.

Zhou Heng made it very clear before he set off.

In Black Locust Ridge, one can only move around normally and cannot actively summon spirits.

Lin Ye wouldn't go so far as to use himself as an experiment as soon as he entered the mountains.

At 4:30 p.m., the vehicle arrived at the temporary camp on the outskirts.

The campsite was set up on a clearing in an abandoned forest, surrounded by caution tape. Several tents formed a semi-circle, with two modified off-road vehicles and a medical vehicle parked in the center.

A drone is flying slowly overhead.

After Cheng got out of the car, a man in his forties came up to him.

The man had dark skin, an old scar on his left eyebrow, and wore a seven-section field combat uniform.

"Jiang Yue, the leader of the advance team."

"Group Two, Cheng Fang."

The two shook hands.

Jiang Yue glanced at the group of people following behind him.

"Was the journey smooth?"

Tang Zhi rubbed her lower back.

"A person is whole; it's hard to say whether any parts are loose."

"A trip into the mountains will get you moving."

Jiang Yue smiled and led everyone into the central tent.

A map of the surrounding area was spread out on the table.

Yellow markers indicate the location where animal bones were found, blue markers indicate the area where the missing person was last seen, and red markers indicate the recent activity range of large wild animals.

"Currently, we've only found out about the outer perimeter."

Jiang Yue pointed to the southeast side of the map.

"The backpack of the first missing person was found by the creek; nothing was missing, and the food was still there."

"The second person left behind a shoe, and there were drag marks nearby."

"The third person has not found any items yet."

Lin Ye asked, "Where's the body?"

"no."

Jiang Yue shook his head.

"However, after being missing in the mountains for so long, the situation can't be too good."

He then moved his hand towards the northwest.

"The other team's camp is here, about eight kilometers away from us."

"The camp has been evacuated, and the traces mainly extend towards the old firebreak."

Cheng Fang asked, "How far did they chase them?"

"Less than two kilometers."

Jiang Yue pulled up a photo from the scene.

There are two parallel trenches on the ground, both the same width, with many messy footprints in between.

"There were many traces of wolf activity along the way, as well as these drag marks."

Tang Zhi glanced at it.

"Like an iron cage."

"That's our assessment as well."

Jiang Yue said, "The other party may have captured a large animal, or they may have brought heavy equipment."

"We don't know how many people are still in the mountains or where they are. We didn't continue the pursuit."

Cheng Fang nodded.

"Where are the nearest animal bones?"

"One kilometer and eight hundred meters."

Jiang Yue glanced at the time.

"We can still make one trip before dark. If you're all in good condition, go now."

Group Two had just been traveling for several hours, so they weren't exactly tired.

Cheng Fang immediately agreed.

Jiang Yue, accompanied by a recorder, entered the woods with the second group.

There used to be forest roads around the perimeter of Black Locust Ridge.

After years of neglect, the road surface has long been covered by fallen leaves and weeds, and only the shallow pits left by tire tracks can be seen occasionally.

The light became noticeably dimmer less than a kilometer into the forest.

The trees were much thicker than those outside, their branches and leaves overlapping each other, almost blocking out the sky.

Xu Mian walked ahead.

Her shadow stretched out to both sides along the tree roots and grass, probing the nearby activity.

Tang Zhi suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"It has wolf fur."

A tuft of grayish-black hair hung on the bush.

Several claw marks remained in the soil below, their edges now obscured by fallen leaves.

Jiang Yue squatted down and took a look.

"It was left a few days ago."

"There's still blood nearby, but it's been mostly washed away after the rain."

Cheng Fang looked up and scanned the woods.

"Be careful, everyone."

The group slowed down.

After walking another two hundred meters or so, Xu Mian suddenly raised her hand.

"left."

The bushes on the slope suddenly swayed.

A gray wolf charged down.

It was a size larger than an average adult wolf, with a shoulder height approaching a human's waist. When its front paws landed, dirt was kicked up everywhere.

Cheng Fang took a step forward.

A bluish-black color quickly covered his arms and shoulders.

The gray wolf didn't pounce directly, but instead suddenly turned sideways less than two meters away from him and swooped past Cheng Fang.

"It's a feint!"

As soon as Xu Mian finished speaking, two gray figures rushed out of the bushes on the right.

One of them lunged at the recorder at the back of the group.

They headed straight for the woods on the other side.

They didn't howl, nor did they swarm forward; their actions were unusually decisive.

Tang Zhi raised her hand and flicked out the silk threads.

A thin, transparent thread tangled around the hind leg of a gray wolf that lunged at the recorder, forcefully pulling it aside. The wolf tumbled into the bushes, and as soon as it landed, it turned and bit at the thread.

Lin Ye had already grasped the Spirit-Shocking Nail.

The other wolf charged quickly, entering the five-meter range in the blink of an eye.

This time, he did not hesitate.

Raise your hand.

Establish pathways.

The first ring of patterns on the Zhenling Nail lit up.

boom!

An invisible shockwave struck the gray wolf squarely in the chest.

It was thrown sideways and crashed into a tree, then struggled to get up after landing.

Lin Ye felt a slight numbness in his right arm, and the monitor on his wrist immediately displayed a usage record.

The wolf that charged out first has already turned back.

Cheng Fang turned around, grabbed its neck, and with a forceful push, slammed it heavily to the ground.

The gray wolf thrashed about, but instead of continuing its desperate struggle, it let out a short, low growl.

The other two wolves stopped almost simultaneously upon hearing the sound.

The gray wolf, entangled by Tang Zhi's silk threads, suddenly turned around and used the tree trunk to break free of the thin threads.

The other animal stopped attacking Lin Ye and turned to disappear into the woods.

Cheng relaxed his grip.

The gray wolf that he had pinned down immediately leaped up and retreated to the top of the slope.

It did not flee immediately.

Instead, he stood behind the bushes and stared at the group's position for two seconds.

He then turned and disappeared into the woods.

The whole process took less than half a minute.

"Don't chase after them."

Cheng Fang raised his hand to stop the crowd.

Xu Mian extended her shadow in the direction the wolf pack had retreated.

After a while, she shook her head.

"They've already gone far away."

"We didn't come back to the starting point."

Jiang Yue looked at the claw marks on the ground with a somewhat solemn expression.

"These wolves are different from the ones that attacked the camp before."

Lin Ye asked, "What was it like before?"

"More ferocious, and more chaotic."

Jiang Yue said, "Once they smell blood, they rush forward and you can't get rid of them."

"Those three were clearly testing us."

Tang Zhi retrieved the broken connecting thread.

"They also use feints and diversions."

"Wolves naturally cooperate in hunting," Cheng Fang said.

"It can't be concluded at this time."

He crouched down to examine the footprints on the ground.

The paw prints left by the three wolves were all about the same size, but the first one to appear was clearly larger.

"Write down the location."

"Increase perimeter security tonight."

The recorder immediately took a photo to pinpoint the location.

Lin Ye moved his right hand.

It was just a slight numbness, and it didn't get worse.

The flow-limiting device of the Spirit-Shocking Nail is functioning normally, and the consumption of free spiritual energy within the body is also within a safe range.

At least it didn't nearly drain the entire person like it did during the first test.

Cheng Fang glanced at his monitor.

"Can you still walk?"

"no problem."

"Do not use it again within fifteen minutes."

"Know."

The team did not stay in place for long.

The sky is getting dark.

If those wolves were just testing the waters, no one knows how many will come next time.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the location of the first animal bone.

It was an old locust tree with a blackened trunk.

A piece of grayish-white animal bone was nailed half a meter off the ground, its surface engraved with dense patterns.

The soil around the animal bones was noticeably smoother than elsewhere.

There are many animal footprints on it.

Wild boar, lynx, and several other claw marks that are not yet easily identifiable.

These footprints were not a jumbled mess.

Most of them stopped directly in front of the animal bones.

It looked like an animal had been lying there for a long time.

Jiang Yue gestured to the recorder to set up the equipment.

"This is it."

"We haven't touched it since we recorded the audio yesterday."

Cheng Fang checked the surroundings.

There were no fresh footprints, and no wild animals were lurking nearby.

"Lin Ye, listen from the outside first."

Lin Ye nodded, but did not approach the animal bones directly.

He stopped five meters away, closed his eyes, and slowly released his spiritual hearing.

The wind rustled through the leaves.

The chirping of insects was hidden deep in the grass.

Further away, the sound of birds flapping their wings could be heard.

Lin Ye gradually lowered these voices.

After a moment, a heavy panting came from the direction of the beast bones.

It was as if a wild beast had once lain under a tree, adjusting its breathing over and over again.

Besides the panting, there was an even more indistinct human voice.

You can't tell their age or their gender.

The voice paused for a long time before slowly uttering a single sentence.

"Lie down properly."

After a brief silence, it said again:

"Let's do it one more time."