Ваyunyе shоnе hеr flаshlight in that directiоn. "Мagazinе. Give it to mе."
Liu Мing rаn оvеr hоlding the magаzine. Bayunye tооk it and lоokеd. "Еmрtу."
At thаt mоmеnt, Diао Zhuo сarefully rеtriеved а tacticаl knife and а fully loаdеd mаgаzinе frоm thе corрsе's vest росket. Вaуunуe eхрertlу ejectеd a bullet, weighеd it in hеr hаnd, and еxamined it. "Нuh, fоrеign-madе."
Diао Zhuо рullеd out thе tаctiсal knifе. The blаde wаs stаinеd with somе driеd sар and plant frаgments, but no blood. Hе glanced аt the cоrpsе, thinking thаt this was рrobably the person who, frustrated after failing to shoot Brother Long, vented by hacking at the vines.
"Found the pistol?" Bayunye asked.
Everyone shook their heads. Bayunye thought that perhaps the gun had been taken by Brother Long for self-defense, which gave her some comfort.
Xiang An exclaimed in surprise, "Who on earth did Brother Long offend? They're going to such extremes! Did he accidentally witness a drug lord's deal in the Golden Triangle?!"
This statement struck a chord with Diao Zhuo and Bayunye. Being pursued by someone with a gun meant Brother Long must have seen or obtained something as maddening and vicious as drugs. Had he... discovered some secret of He Zhengren's, or witnessed some transaction, and now, like He Zhengren, was being silenced?
Brother Long was still missing, suggesting his pursuers weren't limited to this one man. He had been lucky enough to deal with this one, but what about the others? Could he safely evade them?
"It seems the key to proving Brother Long didn't kill He Zhengren is finding him in person," Bayunye clenched her fist. "As long as we find him, the truth will come out."
"Right now, it's not just us looking for him. The police, and these unidentified killers, are all after him. And the killers are one step ahead of us." Diao Zhuo pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a growing sense of urgency.
"Diao Zhuo! Come up here!" Da Qin called from above.
Without a word, Diao Zhuo took off his jacket, draped it over Bayunye's shoulders, and swiftly climbed the tree. Bayunye chuckled. "Watching you climb, I can tell you were a little troublemaker as a kid too."
Diao Zhuo glanced down at her from his perch, estimating that scaling walls and climbing trees were probably no challenge for her either. "Birds of a feather."
Seeing the Rescue Team's attention focused on the tree, Liu Ming and the others quietly approached the hanging Green Corpse. It was indeed horrifying—the entire body was limp and slightly swollen. If discovered a day or two later, it would likely have developed Giant's Appearance, making it untouchable by then.
The overall green hue was truly puzzling.
Liu Ming picked up the magazine Diao Zhuo had placed beneath the corpse, expertly ejected a bullet, and quickly hid it in his pocket.
"Hey, up in the tree! Be careful, all of you!" Bayunye shouted a reminder. "No snakes doesn't mean no beehives!"
After examining the tree for a long time, Diao Zhuo roughly understood the trap's mechanism—it utilized the tension of a large branch to trigger the device. Looking at the abrasions and scratch marks on the branch, he could basically conclude that after being hung upside down, the foreigner, unwilling to accept his fate, had swung and grabbed onto the branch, trying to steady himself and free his feet. But he hadn't expected to encounter a Flower Pepper Viper coiled on the tree, which killed him, leaving his body half-hanging. When Bayunye touched the bottom of the knot, she triggered the trap again, and under the branch's tension, the corpse hung upside down once more.One by one, they landed and explained the situation in the tree. Bayunye, both relieved and worried, said, "Brother Long was able to set up such a trap, which means he was still composed when he escaped here. But with so many venomous snakes around, I wonder how he's doing now..."
"Should we... take the body down?" Da Qin asked hesitantly. "It’s hanging there, all green and eerie."
"Ugh, who would dare touch it? I think we shouldn’t. When the police arrive later, it wouldn’t be good if they accuse us of tampering with evidence," Liu Ming said, stepping back a few paces. Besides avoiding it, he seemed to be hinting at something.
"Leave this to the police. We’d better not alter the scene casually," Diao Zhuo waved his hand, signaling everyone to stay away from the body.
The sky had completely darkened. If they didn’t set up camp soon, the unknown dangers from wildlife would only increase.
"There’s a spot ahead that was struck by lightning once and caught fire. There aren’t many trees there, so it should work," Kong Gan said.
"Caught fire? Wouldn’t that have burned everything?" Xiang An asked curiously.
"It’s too damp. The fire couldn’t spread," Kong Gan chuckled, leading everyone in that direction.
They thought it made sense and marked the location before sending it to the police.
"When will the police arrive?" Bayunye asked anxiously.
"It’s dark now, and the road is difficult. Even if they set out immediately, they won’t get here until early tomorrow morning," Kong Gan replied.
"Alright, then we’ll wake up early tomorrow," Bayunye said, still reluctant to be stopped by the police. But knowing that once they learned this was Brother Long’s escape route, they would send more people to join the search, she couldn’t help feeling a bit frustrated at the thought of having to face them.
Before leaving, someone’s flashlight beam swept across the body. Out of the corner of her eye, Bayunye noticed that the corpse’s swollen face seemed different from when they first discovered it. Upon closer inspection, a chill ran down her spine, and she exclaimed, "It... its eyes are open!"
Instantly, the Rescue Team members were on edge—
"Damn! Master Ba, don’t scare us like that!"
"Diao Zhuo, do something about it!"
Diao Zhuo shone his flashlight and was also taken aback.
Bayunye was right—the corpse’s eyes were indeed open. Its dilated pupils were pitch black, standing out eerily against the sickly green, swollen face. They looked like two deep, unfocused pools, as if staring at someone.
Several flashlights illuminated the body’s face, making it appear even more terrifying. Not only were its eyes open, but they also noticed something even more horrifying—
"It’s! G-G-G-Growing! G-Green! H-Hair!" Xiang An stammered, almost shouting word by word.
Sure enough, fine green fuzz had sprouted on the corpse’s eyebrows and forehead, seemingly swaying slightly under the light.
This situation left even Kong Gan dumbfounded. He quickly knelt down, muttering something under his breath.
Bayunye swallowed hard, her tongue stiffening. She wasn’t afraid of facing another armed person, but this bizarre green corpse... Memories of stories like Ghost Blows Out the Lamp and The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles flashed through her mind, and she blurted out—
"Could it be about to undergo Corpse Transformation?"
"It’s fine... there are a lot of us," Xiang An said, though he couldn’t help bending down to pick up a random stone, holding it near his ear, ready to throw it at any moment.
Liu Ming and the others exchanged glances. While they didn’t necessarily believe in Corpse Transformation, they didn’t dare act recklessly either.Diao Zhuo lifted his leg, about to walk toward the corpse, when Bayunye grabbed him. "Hey! Don't go over there! What if it jumps up and bites you? You'll turn into a zombie!"
"Besides you, no one's ever bitten me," he snorted lightly, patting the back of her head to signal her to let go.
Hearing this, the others couldn't help but crack a smile. The tense, eerie atmosphere that had just begun to spread gradually dissipated with that ambiguous remark. Da Qin stepped forward. "I'll go with you."
Bayunye steeled herself. "Fine, I'm going too!"
Upon hearing this, the rest of the rescue team volunteered as well. Diao Zhuo waved them off. "The three of us will take the lead." With that, the three slowly approached the corpse.
Honestly, the closer they got, the clearer the green hair on the corpse's eyebrows and forehead became. Even its eyelashes were covered in a layer of green fuzz. Combined with its bulging, pupil-dilated eyes devoid of whites, it gave off the vibe of an alien creature.
Da Qin gently poked the corpse with his trekking pole. It swayed a couple of times but didn't spring to life. Only then did Bayunye's goosebumps begin to fade. Diao Zhuo put on gloves, pinched a few strands of green fuzz, and effortlessly plucked them out. He rubbed them between his fingers, and the fuzz disappeared, leaving a green stain on his glove like paint.
He thought for a moment and reached out again, but Bayunye finally couldn't hold back and grabbed his arm. "Alright, since it didn't jump up and bite us, that's enough. Don't... don't touch it anymore! Let's go!"
Diao Zhuo took off his gloves and stopped touching the corpse. "As you say."
Xiang An relaxed, his tense shoulders slumping. "The legendary Green-haired Jiangshi must be this thing. Ah, Brother Tan, I suddenly remembered your Anhui hairy tofu..."
Tan Lin flicked his forehead with a knuckle. "Aren't you clever! You were hiding faster than anyone just now!"
Bayunye wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "What's wrong with its eyes?"
Da Qin, having seen the corpse up close, speculated, "Probably related to decomposition. I've heard about similar cases in the news before. Sigh! This greenish corpse is indeed terrifying. As for whether it's caused by decay... only a forensic examiner would know. Anyway... we should still trust science. It was just a false alarm for everyone."
The corner of Diao Zhuo's lips curled slightly upward. "No, only one person had a false alarm."
Bayunye shot him a glare and deliberately turned her head away. It was precisely this glance that made her notice a crooked "一" carved into the middle of the tree trunk used as a trap, with a small hook above it like an arrow. She froze, frowning as she examined it carefully. Under the tree, she found a bead from Brother Long's bracelet. As if receiving a hint, she smiled faintly.
10 o'clock direction.
She told Diao Zhuo about this. He fell silent for a moment, then said softly, "The opposite direction of 10 o'clock is 4 o'clock."
Bayunye was stunned, then suddenly understood. Brother Long's mark could easily be discovered by those with ill intentions, so like the initial "Subduing Dragon" he left, he was hinting to go in the opposite direction of the mark.
Only then did Kong Gan get up from the ground, saying they should stick to the original plan and lead everyone to set up camp.
Diao Zhuo suddenly asked Bayunye, "Can you still walk?"
"Are you kidding? I'm the kind of person who dares to ride a bike around Chongqing for fun~"
He smiled. "After we find Brother Long, let's go to Chongqing together."
She was puzzled. "Why?"
"To watch you ride a bike."
She snorted.
Diao Zhuo walked up to Kong Gan. "Can we travel at night?"Kong Gan was somewhat surprised; even he himself rarely ventured through the jungle at night. Holding the bamboo basket, he hesitated on the spot for a long time. While he hadn't yet expressed his stance, everyone waited quietly, and no one raised any objections to Diao Zhuo's request.
All around was pitch black, with a sky full of stars. Whether it was an owl or some other bird, its eyes flickered on and off, and from time to time, the flapping of wings and strange howls could be heard, making the surroundings feel even more serene.
Bayunye waited quietly for a while, and suddenly, a memory surfaced in her mind—before she enlisted in the military, Brother Long had said to her during the farewell: "No matter how much hardship you face, swallow it all down. Don’t fucking rely on anyone else. You have to learn to drive a vehicle; you have to learn to fire a gun. No matter how many people come at you, knock them all down. When you’re discharged, you can work with Brother Long, but I don’t keep useless people around. You have to be useful!" His words were harsh, but every time she returned from training, she would find extra ointments and such in her dormitory. As soon as she opened them, she knew he had sent them in through someone.
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