While listening, I kept glancing around the surrounding forest, desperately searching for the "person" she had mentioned. But since there was no moon outside, coupled with the heavy canopy of trees in the woods, it was terrifyingly dark.

Occasionally, dark shapes would zip past—nothing more than the bats that haunt the night. After who knows how long, I finally heard a peculiar sound: "Heh heh heh…" My heart constricted, and a cold sweat instantly beaded on my forehead.

This sound resembled human laughter too closely, and it was maddeningly regular, occurring in sets of three laughs every three minutes. I thought, this is too systematic; it's like a mechanical signal.

If a person was making this noise, they must be seriously unwell—either epileptic or suffering from Parkinson's. The thought of a deformed epileptic hiding in the woods at midnight, emitting such strange sounds at us, made my scalp crawl.

I quietly asked Liang Qian, "This… this couldn't possibly be some kind of animal sound, could it?" She shook her head and replied, "I'm often moving through these mountains; I know every animal here. This is absolutely a sound only a human can make.

Remember what Dongzi said about the person who squeezed out of the rock fissure? They laughed the same way." A chill ran through my entire body, and I whispered, "Are you saying that thing is still following us?" She nodded, glancing at the rope ladder beside us.

"Good thing we pulled the ladder up. Otherwise, that thing would have climbed up long ago.

It’s probably milling around below us now." Although the sound was truly unnerving, the fact that it couldn't climb up provided a small measure of relief. I said to her, "Should I fire a shot to scare it off?" Liang Qian quickly shook her head and warned me, "Don't provoke it.

You can’t afford to offend the ghosts and gods of these mountains. Let's just hope it knows when to retreat tonight." After saying this, I started to feel sleepy again.

Even though the thing in the woods was certainly no benevolent spirit, it posed no direct threat to us. So, I let out a rather sheepish yawn.

But when I looked up, I instantly froze, my entire scalp threatening to explode. I stammered in panic to Liang Qian, "Hey… it looks like that thing isn't in the woods anymore.

Y-you look over there!" She quickly followed the direction of my finger upwards and immediately sucked in a sharp breath. There were several "people" standing on the summit of the mountain opposite us!

That mountain was shorter than many others in the gorge, but our cave opening afforded a clear view of its peak. There, about a hundred meters above us, stood seven or eight dark silhouettes.

Even though the mountain was lower, its slope was incredibly steep; the cliff face towards us was almost vertical. I couldn't imagine how these "people" had climbed it.

But the strangest thing wasn't that; it was the way they stood—ramrod straight, perfectly still, as if they were carved stone statues. Yet, their eyes glowed with a greenish light, like a cat's eyes in the dark, fixed intensely on the cave where we were sheltered.

What was most chilling, however, was the unnatural shape of their necks. The necks were far longer than normal, extremely thin, like a grape balanced precariously on a toothpick, looking as though they could snap at any moment.

Though Liang Qian was an adventurer, seeing this display still terrified her: "What… what are these things? Why didn't I see anything like this the last time I was in Black Bamboo Valley…" "Heh heh heh…" Then the eerie, chilling laughter sounded again, and I clearly heard it emanating from the mountaintop opposite.

I was instantly scared witless. "Quick… wake everyone up," Liang Qian urged, her voice tight with panic.

I nodded, about to rouse the others, when a clear, melodious ringing suddenly drifted from outside. This was followed by a low, murmuring voice, like a monk chanting a sutra.

I looked up and saw that the "people" on the mountaintop seemed to stir, slowly turning their bodies before gradually melting back into the darkness. Though still shaken, we exchanged a puzzled glance, feeling utterly bewildered.

Liang Qian whispered, "Do you think they’re coming over here?" Hearing this, a cold sweat immediately slicked down my back. If they could scale that steep slope, climbing over to us would be child's play!

We panicked, frantically searching for anything to block the cave entrance. But the opening was nearly ten meters wide, and the cave contained nothing but mud and small pebbles—it was hopeless.

After a frantic search, we realized there seemed to be no further movement outside. We both returned to the mouth of the cave and stared down the mountain slope for a long time, then back up at the summit.

There was indeed no sign of anything unusual. Still, I felt no relaxation whatsoever.

I figured the ghoul probably needed to do some warm-up exercises—maybe some chest expansions or eye exercises—before it could snatch someone easily. We waited another two hours.

There was no sound from outside; the bizarre laughter hadn't returned, and even the insects had gone silent, leaving an eerie stillness. I started feeling drowsy, thinking that perhaps the monster was frail and needed a night or two just to complete its warm-up routine.

Half-asleep, I heard snoring and grinding teeth all around me, and I mentally cursed, These people truly don't know what's coming, especially Da Xiong, sleeping like a pig. The sun finally rose the next day.

Since we were sleeping near the entrance, I was the first to feel the scorching sunlight hit my face. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the entire cave bathed in sunlight.

Because the walls were composed of reddish mineral earth, the interior looked exactly like the alchemist's furnace of the Grand Supreme Elder, radiating heat. The men were one by one baked awake by the heat wave, but Da Xiong was still snoring thunderously, sound asleep.

I gave him a kick in the rear and snapped, "Get up!" The next day, we continued west along the riverbed. The mountain path was much harder than the day before, choked with impossibly dense vegetation.

If Liang Qian hadn't held a map, I suspect this whole group would have been lost in there. It suddenly dawned on me that the terror of Black Bamboo Valley wasn't the monsters, but the relentless, dense flora combined with the perpetual fog; even without fatal animal attacks, people would simply lose their way.

We traveled about thirty li, finally passing through a treacherous gorge called Luoshi Canyon, arriving before a "large" hill. It was called a "large" hill because although it was vast in volume, towering slightly above the surrounding mountains, it wasn't steep at all; instead, it boasted a smoothly rounded summit.

The hill was almost entirely devoid of trees, save for a few crooked ones clinging to its base. The entire body of the hill was a deep crimson color, covered with similarly red boulders, making the entire mass look like a "grave mound" over a hundred meters high.

I looked up and noticed a section halfway up the mound that had clearly slumped inwards. Though not a deep collapse, it was unmistakable.

Tracing that collapsed area, I saw a crooked path winding down the slope, leading straight to the base. At the bottom, on a patch of grassland, were about twenty black military tents, and a generator was roaring loudly, supplying power to each tent.

I recognized them as the archaeological team’s tents; they were now completely deserted. Old Huang ordered the team to rest briefly, then led everyone to the collapsed opening, taking up hoes and shovels to begin digging.

After about three hours of relentless digging, until everyone was utterly exhausted, they managed to carve out a small opening just large enough for one person to pass through. Everyone was spent and slumped on the ground, resting.

After a short breather, Da Xiong volunteered to go in first. I suspected he was trying to impress Liang Qian.

Both Old Huang and I tried to stop him, but Da Xiong had already snatched a hammer used for breaking stones and leaped inside. Then we heard a thud followed by the sound of water and Da Xiong’s curse: "Damn it!

This place is like a river inside!" Liang Qian had already scrambled to the edge of the hole and said, "Maybe the collapse let the water in?" Curious, I started to climb up, just as I heard Da Xiong suddenly exclaim, "Holy hell, there’s a person in here! Who’s there!?" From below, I saw Liang Qian’s face turn instantly pale.

She quickly pulled out the wolf-eye flashlight attached to her waist and shone it inside. At that moment, Da Xiong called out again, "Don't be afraid, we're here to save you!" After shining the light for a moment, Liang Qian said, "That person looks strange.

Don't go near them, wait for me to come in." Da Xiong ignored her and suddenly shouted, "Hey! Don't run, stop right there…" I heard a great splashing sound from inside the cave—presumably Da Xiong chasing after the person.

My heart pounded with anxiety, and I scrambled quickly upwards.

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