Diао Zhuo remаinеd соmрosed, not lооking back аt Liu Ming and thе оthеrs. Нis mоvеments werе relaxed, as if he wеrе taking а leisurеlу strоll, аnd he lоwеrеd his vоiсe tо ask, "What do уоu meаn?"
"It's just a feeling..." Вayunуe cоuldn't quitе ехрlаin it еither. She tiltеd hеr heаd in thоught. "Тheу've bееn following us аll аlong. Сould they bе plainclоthеs оfficеrs?"
"We haven't brоkеn аny lаws аnd dоn't рlаn tо, so wе hаve nоthing to fеar from рlainсlоthеs offiсеrs." Diао Zhuo respоnded with a confident, dismissivе smile.
"Didn't they susрect I wаs going tо tiр somеone off and try to stop me from coming?"
"Which law says you can't come?"
Bayunye rubbed her neck uncomfortably. Her newly cut short hair still felt unfamiliar, and the prickling sensation on her neck was a bit itchy.
"Good girl, don't be afraid." Diao Zhuo suddenly hugged her. She was taken aback and instinctively pushed him away. "What are you doing? Who's afraid?"
At that moment, the sharp-eyed Xiang An excitedly pointed at a thick tree trunk ahead. "Look! Footprints..."
Everyone perked up and gathered around. Diao Zhuo arrived first, spreading his arms wide, and the others stopped in tacit understanding.Bayunye followed the direction he pointed and, with great effort, finally found it. She touched the bullet hole and said, "Judging by the caliber, it's from a handgun. The bullet marks are fresh, and the wood chips look like they fell not long ago—probably within the last few days... It seems the villagers weren’t hallucinating when they said they heard gunshots in the woods!"
Diao Zhuo instructed, "Keep searching other areas."
Liu Ming and a few others stood still, deliberately feigning ignorance and confusion, while the rest of the Rescue Team scattered, carefully examining tree trunks and protruding rocks. They too crouched down and joined the search, keeping an extremely low profile—exactly what they seemed to want.
Bayunye glanced at Diao Zhuo, who gave her a reassuring look that said, "Don’t get worked up," signaling her not to overthink things. She pursed her lips. Although the bullet hole appeared in the direction Brother Long had indicated for entering the mountains, whether it was related to him couldn’t be determined immediately, so she continued searching like everyone else.
Everyone watched their footing while wandering among the trees, discovering bullet holes on several nearby trunks and branches. Including the first one found, there were four in total. Fortunately, there was no bloodstains anywhere, suggesting that although someone had fired four shots, none had hit their target. Perhaps out of frustration, the shooter had vented their anger by hacking at vines.
"In dense forests like this, aiming is difficult. If the target consciously zigzags to escape, it’s futile without multiple guns assisting," Bayunye remarked, noticing scrapes on the moss covering some trees. She could imagine the peril of the situation. Under such danger, the ability to rationally dodge bullets made her increasingly suspect that the person being pursued was Brother Long.
Since bullet holes were found in this area, the team decided to call the police and set up camp on the spot. It was already evening, with the sun about to set. Diao Zhuo looked at everyone; their expressions held a hint of reluctance, as if they wanted to search a little longer.
"Everyone, split up and look for any other unusual traces or markings. Half an hour limit—you must return before dark," Diao Zhuo said, holding the walkie-talkie to remind everyone to call in if anything happened.
Bayunye, determined to find any marks left by Brother Long, hurried far ahead. She lost track of time until a burst of static came from the walkie-talkie, and Diao Zhuo’s voice called everyone to regroup. Sighing, she reluctantly turned back. Suddenly, she spotted a thin hemp rope beneath a layer of fallen leaves—something easily missed if not examined closely. She jogged over, noting the rope was also new, then grabbed one end and slowly pulled it up.
The moment she tugged, there was a sudden "snap," and before her eyes appeared an upside-down human face, its greenish hue and fear-twisted features utterly horrifying. Bayunye felt every hair on her body stand on end. Instinctively, she stumbled backward, tripped over a tree root, lost her balance, and fell onto the ground. Wide-eyed, she realized it wasn’t just a face but an entire corpse, its body a sickly green. The corpse swayed gently, thick, dark green fluid oozing from its mouth and dripping down its face and hair. The fluid stained its teeth and gums, stretching into mucus-like strands as it dripped onto the ground.She considered herself a person of broad experience and strong mental fortitude, but at the sight before her, she couldn't help letting out a startled cry of "Ah!" She quickly regained her composure, embarrassed by her reaction, and scrambled to her feet. Holding the branch she had been carrying in front of her, she mustered her courage and examined the scene up and down. The body was bound by the legs and hung upside down, its frame larger than that of an average person. Most importantly—it was a foreigner.
She grabbed her walkie-talkie and shouted, "Get over here, quick! I've found something! Three o'clock direction from the campsite!"
Before long, footsteps approached from all directions, and Bayunye's heart, which had been pounding wildly from the shock, gradually calmed down.
After sunset, darkness fell swiftly, and with insufficient light, she switched on her flashlight, illuminating the corpse. After a glance at the knots on the body and the rope loop buried at the base of the tree trunk, her face suddenly lit up with excitement. She turned to Diao Zhuo, who had just reached her side, and exclaimed, "It's Brother Long!!"
At the mention of "Brother Long," everyone immediately misunderstood her meaning. Even Diao Zhuo wore an expression of shock. Several members of the Rescue Team pointed at the body in confusion:
"How could it be Brother Long?!"
"Only missing for a few days, and he's shrunk this much?!"
Liu Ming exchanged a glance with Fat Monkey. Fat Monkey looked at him questioningly, and Liu Ming shook his head, indicating it definitely wasn't.
"What I meant was..." Bayunye pointed at the rope, both amused and exasperated. "This is a trap set by Brother Long! I recognize the knot. It was laid beneath the layer of fallen leaves—anyone who accidentally stepped on it would be hoisted right up. Brother Long once bragged about it and demonstrated it to me, saying he'd used it to catch wild boars."
Diao Zhuo's heart, which had been in his throat, settled back down. He withdrew his gaze from the corpse, which emitted an eerie green glow, and thought to himself: Setting a trap means someone was chasing him, and he knew his pursuers meant him harm. In that case, those bullet holes...
Da Qin, with a hint of disgust, asked Bayunye, "Did Brother Long also make the corpse that color?"
Bayunye shook her head, recalling the moment the body had fallen, still feeling a chill run down her spine. "The trap only hoists the prey upside down; it doesn't kill it. When I first arrived, I didn't see anything hanging above, so I tugged on the rope exposed below, and that's when this person fell down."
Everyone looked at Kong Gan, who remained remarkably calm in the face of the green corpse, suggesting such things might not be uncommon here.
"Let's go up and take a look," Qi Zi said, pointing at the tree.
"Be careful!" Kong Gan warned loudly. "There are definitely snakes here!"
Qi Zi, who was about to climb the tree, paused. "How do you know?"
"Places where venomous snakes lurk have a particular smell, not a pleasant one..." Kong Gan pointed to his nose. "I can smell it. But it's fine, I have a way."
Kong Gan removed the large bamboo tube slung across his chest and expertly sprinkled a circle of Snake Repellent powder. Borrowing a Trekking Pole from Liu Ming and the others, he tapped and prodded around. Soon, faint hissing sounds came from all sides. When people turned to look, they could only catch glimpses of slender, colorful snake tails swiftly disappearing into the dense foliage.
After about ten minutes, Kong Gan said, "(The snakes) should all be gone, but you still need to be careful when you go up."Qi Zi, Da Qin, and Tan Lin climbed up the tree one after another, while Liu Ming and the others searched for something nearby with their heads down. Diao Zhuo contacted the police outside, informing them to send someone in to collect the body. Taking advantage of the break, he suppressed his disgust and approached to examine the corpse, noticing several small black holes on the arms and fingers. He pointed them out to Kong Gan, who confidently identified them as bites from a venomous snake called the "flower pepper snake." Though small in size, it was fierce and highly toxic, with a single bite being fatal.
"Bitten so many times, even a miracle doctor couldn’t save him..." Kong Gan sighed.
"Does being bitten by a flower pepper snake turn someone green?" Bayunye asked.
Kong Gan shook his head, looking utterly baffled. Bayunye shuddered again. "Oh my god... Is it because foreigners have different genes from us, or did they encounter something sinister?"
Xiang An, never one to miss a chance to stir up trouble, asked, "Could it be the legendary thousand-year-old zombie that escaped from an ancient Dian Kingdom tomb?"
"The humidity here is high, and microorganisms are abundant, which accelerates the decomposition of the body. Under such conditions, turning green isn’t impossible. The truth will come to light after an autopsy once it’s transported back," Diao Zhuo said, dismissing any supernatural explanations. Wearing gloves, he gently lifted the corpse’s hand. From the thick calluses on the thumb web and joints, he could tell this person frequently used firearms. He glanced at Bayunye, and after receiving her confirming look, he fell into deep thought.
Foreigner, bullet wounds, Brother Long. These three words lingered in the minds of Diao Zhuo and Bayunye. They both wondered simultaneously: Could it be that Brother Long fled into this perilous primeval forest to protect himself from being hunted down?
Was this foreigner seeking revenge for He Zhengren? Or was there another reason?
"What’s this?" Liu Ming held up a dark object not far away.
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