Luo Liu thought about it and agreed. Seeing that everyone's baskets were indeed filled with Ant-red Flowers, he did not insist further.
After all, he was just a student; no matter how important the village rituals were, they were not as important as his classmates' health.
"Let's go, let's go! Everyone gather up!"
Luo Liu shouted, and the other scavengers who were observing the situation immediately ran over with their baskets.
After a while, the group gathered. Seeing the bloody bandage on Shang Xi's arm, Luo Liu was in a hurry to head back.
"Wait, is everyone here?"
Nan Yue glanced at the crowd. They had been in the mission for less than twenty-four hours, and she had not yet memorized everyone's faces, so she did not want anyone left behind.
"We should all be here."
Luo Liu was a bit dazed and could not be sure even after checking several times.
"Um, Xie Roufen from our room does not seem to be here."
Song Sisi raised her hand. Everyone looked at each other and realized that only three of the four people from Song Sisi's room had arrived.
Aside from Song Sisi and Zhao Ke'er, who were paired up, Li Jiao and Xie Roufen were both acting alone, so their absence was not noticed immediately.
"Could she have gone to the back? Let's split up and look for her."
Luo Liu also panicked and rushed toward the ant nest.
Before leaving, Nan Yue asked Wen Xiang Yuan to stay with Shang Xi and guard the flowers everyone had picked, lest they disappear and force them to pick more.
In the end, they searched the entire ant nest and found no one. It was Li Jiao who, with her sharp eyes, spotted a basket at a hole above, with Ant-red Flowers scattered next to it.
Because it became harder to find footing the higher one went, not everyone dared to climb up. Only Nan Yue and Zhu Xi Ning went to investigate.
There was also viscous liquid at the entrance, but there were also signs of someone slipping on the soft soil.
However, the slope of this hole was not very steep; if someone had accidentally slipped, they should have been able to crawl out.
The two exchanged a look. Xie Roufen must have fallen in.
Zhu Xi Ning tried calling her name, but the cave was silent, with no sound coming from within.
Nan Yue fell silent for a moment before turning to Zhu Xi Ning. "Earlier, when I was at the summit, I saw a massive hole. I had hallucinations there and almost fell in."
Zhu Xi Ning pursed her lips. "I already had a bad feeling about these holes, especially the higher up we went. That sense of unease grew heavier."
"Just now, while I was picking flowers, I suddenly had a strong premonition. I saw Wenwen staring blankly at the hole, and then she jumped in."
Zhu Xi Ning said with lingering fear, "When I turned around, I saw Wenwen's eyes were glazed over, so I quickly pulled her down."
Since it was not an isolated incident for her and Shang Xi, it meant these holes exerted some degree of mental influence on people, which grew stronger the higher one climbed.
The two did not linger. After descending, they found Luo Liu and told him that Xie Roufen had fallen into the ant nest.
Luo Liu scratched his head in agitation.
"Quick! Go back and find Suo Da! It is not easy to find someone once they fall into the ant nest."
Watching Luo Liu hurry back, the others said nothing. They all knew that Xie Roufen was likely dead.
...
Ten minutes ago, Xie Roufen was picking flowers by herself with her basket. Other people were within her line of sight, so she was not very worried.
She had picked enough flowers, but when she looked up, she noticed some traces at a hole above her head.
After a moment of hesitation, she slowly climbed the slope and saw the strange mucus.
Xie Roufen instinctively felt a chill. Despite the humid and hot weather, a cold wind seemed to blow out of the hole.
She was about to turn and leave when she suddenly heard a sound.
Rustle.
Rustle.
Was it her imagination? She leaned in closer, not knowing why she cared so much about that sound.
It was only when she was almost pressed against the hole that she heard the sound again.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
Eh? It seemed there was more than just a rustling sound this time.
Xie Roufen heard a clicking sound, like something hard clashing together.
What was it?
She entered the hole. She slid in, the entire passage being about the same size as her body. A normal person would have felt suffocated.
But Xie Roufen did not. Her mind was entirely focused on that strange sound.
What was making that noise?
She did not know how long she slid through the tunnel before she landed on level ground. There was still only one path ahead, but it was flat and straight.
However, it was not very high, requiring her to kneel and crawl forward.
Xie Roufen's palms and knees were rubbed bloody, but she was completely oblivious, the sounds in her ears growing louder and louder.
Rustle.
Click, clack.
These two sounds rang out together. It sounded like the subtle friction of an insect crawling against the soil.
The insect's shell must be very hard to make such a clicking sound when it twisted.
Xie Roufen was covered in dirt and fishy, smelly mucus. The further she went, the more mucus there was in the tunnel.
Squelch, slop.
She did not know if it was the mucus on her own body being squeezed or if the thing making the strange noise also had mucus on it.
Xie Roufen heard that slimy sound.
After crawling for a long, long time, a massive space suddenly appeared before her eyes.
Xie Roufen did not stand up because she was covered in mucus, which was sticky and hampered her movements.
She was somewhat excited, staring at the scene before her as if entranced.
She finally knew what the thing making those sounds was.
...
On the way back, the group avoided Luo Liu and shared the events and clues they had gathered.
"I heard it too!" Song Sisi whispered. "I felt something was wrong when I heard it, so I did not dare listen for long and immediately came to find you."
Li Jiao, on the other hand, had not heard anything. The noise was not constant, and she had not walked up the hill at all.
"If one is cautious enough or has higher mental stability, it should be easier to avoid being affected," Zhao Ke'er concluded.
At this point, she looked at Wen Xiang Yuan with a strange expression.
"Xie Roufen must have fallen in because of that. But what I find strange is that where you were was not actually that high. Although it might be uncomfortable, with the mental training scavengers do year-round, that level of influence should have been manageable."
"How did you fall for it at such a low hole?"
Wen Xiang Yuan did not know how to answer. When they were organizing the clues, everyone naturally shared their experiences.
Wen Xiang Yuan indeed had a hallucination at the time. If Zhu Xi Ning had not pulled her, she might have met with an accident as well.
However, Zhao Ke'er's suspicion was not without reason. Wen Xiang Yuan was following Nan Yue and the others, so she seemed like one of the high-level players. Besides, they were all trained the same way, so she should have had the basic abilities.
Of course, a scavenger's mental stability was very much a consumable resource, especially in lower city states where there was no psychological counseling. One day, they would eventually suffer a mental breakdown and die in a mission.
Rate on N.U.
