The leaves rustled again, and a hideous, thorny green face peered out.

My heart nearly stopped. I heard a sharp crack—someone had fired, blasting the grotesque head back into concealment.

Then we heard a heavy thud followed by a high-pitched screech, suggesting the thing had fallen from the branch.

“What was that? This doesn’t feel like the fungus-possessed creatures from before. Is there another kind of monster here?” I turned to ask *.

shook his head. “I don’t know. This green-thorned creature carries a much more savage aura. We need to be careful.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a rustling erupted from the surrounding canopy. In the glare of the flashlight, several pairs of blue, luminous eyes appeared amidst the foliage.

pulled me back while preparing to fire two more shots toward the rift, when a massive, thorn-covered hand suddenly snaked in from beyond the wire mesh, clamping directly around *’s neck.

gasped in pain, dropping his weapon. He frantically pulled the military knife from his belt and savagely stabbed the arm.

But the green-thorned monstrosity seemed immune to pain. The arm held fast around *’s throat, its head relentlessly squeezing through the wire, its blackened teeth grinding together with a clack-clack sound.

Seeing * in mortal danger, I quickly bent down to retrieve the pistol lying on the ground. But the moment I crouched, the gun slipped through a gap in the wire mesh beneath the lift and fell away.

Annoyed, I slapped my thigh, intending to stand, but a thorny green hand shot through the opening, grabbed my ankle, and held me fast.

Simultaneously, several hideous heads poked through the gap where the branches had been intruding.

“Fire… use fire…” At the moment of crisis, a weak voice sounded.

I turned to see Little Wang, slung on my back, half-opening his eyes and speaking to me.

“Fire?” I murmured, then muttered to myself, “Where am I supposed to find fire now?”

“Right!” A spark of realization hit me. I remembered the matchbox I’d found in the data cabinet and quickly fumbled for it.

I took out a matchstick and struck it against the box several times before a faint flame finally bloomed in the darkness.

A wave of satisfaction washed over me. I had expected the green-thorned monsters to retreat like a tide once the fire was lit, but instead, they howled at me in fury, their expressions viciously aggressive.

I thought, This is bad. Maybe that was just a delirious utterance from Little Wang. Now I’m like the Monkey King fanning the Mountain of Flames—I’m going to burn myself alive!

As I thought this, the several green-thorned creatures squeezed through the gap together, but they quickly became jammed due to mutual obstruction.

However, the creatures possessed considerable strength. One of them twisted its body, warping the surrounding wire mesh, and then sprang up, lunging straight for the small flame in my hand.

I shielded the flame with one hand and sidestepped, while the others managed to wriggle through one by one.

A wave of despair washed over me as I stared at the faint flicker in my hand; a profound sense of helplessness consumed my entire being.

“What do I do… what do I do…” Cold sweat poured down my forehead like rain; the situation had reached a critical extreme.

The green-thorned monsters surrounded me, their eyes fixed intently on the flame in my hand, emitting angry, low growls, poised to tear me apart.

The space in the lift cage was cramped, and my leg was still firmly held; there was no room to maneuver. The situation was life or death.

Just then, the tree beneath my feet suddenly trembled faintly, and a strange poof-poof sound began to resonate.

The green-thorned monsters immediately fell silent, their stances becoming tense and alert as they peered cautiously around.

Then, one by one, they retreated, finally withdrawing from the opening at the bottom of the lift and vanishing into the canopy.

also managed to free himself from the green-thorned creature’s grip. He coughed a couple of times and cursed, “Damn it, what the hell were those things!”

Before either of us could process what had happened, a series of violent poof-poof sounds echoed from the canopy, like the rapid flapping of a rooster’s wings, intermingled with a toad-like gurgle.

By this time, the match in my hand had burned down to the end. I tossed it away and relit my flashlight.

We both knew this cage-like lift was no permanent shelter. If those green-thorned monsters returned, we would surely perish here.

So, I secured Little Wang more tightly on my back and began climbing down the rope.

Carrying a person made the descent grueling, but after descending barely more than a meter, my feet found purchase on a thick branch.

After a brief rest, I gripped the rope, used the layered branches for footholds, and climbed down perhaps ten meters before finally emerging from the canopy. Then I released the rope and dropped to the ground.

Two seconds later, * jumped down after me.

I swept the flashlight beam around and found nothing unusual. Ahead lay a dense tapestry of towering trees intertwined with thick vines. These vines were covered in backward-pointing barbs and bore palmate leaves the size of a hand, with faint dark-red striations on their stems—flora I had never encountered.

The entire grove was enveloped in a faint, eerie mist, imbued with a mysterious and bizarre atmosphere.

searched the ground with his flashlight for a moment, then located the pistol he had dropped earlier. He wiped it clean and re-holstered it at his waist.

He then used his light to scan the canopy above, but after searching for a long time, he seemed to find nothing.

I asked him, “Should we climb up and take a look?”

waved his hand. “No need. Whatever scared off those green-thorned monsters probably isn’t benevolent either. Let’s not invite trouble.”

I nodded, gazing at the dense forest ahead, and said to *, “This forest is too quiet. It makes me uneasy.”

clearly felt the same, telling me, “Be extra careful when we move.”

casually picked up a fallen branch from the ground. He used it to push aside the thorny vines blocking our path, and when the branch couldn’t clear them, he used his knife to cut them away. Consequently, our progress was extremely slow, and our clothes were quickly snagged and torn in several places.

However, it was fortunate that the trees here seemed to be evergreens; there wasn't much leaf litter on the ground to create deep pitfalls like in other primeval forests, so we didn't have to worry about leeches or similar insects.

After walking perhaps fifty meters, the surroundings remained terrifyingly silent. There was no sound of wind rustling leaves, no bird calls, not even the faint chirp of insects. Yet the trees were overwhelmingly lush and strangely imposing, as if they were not trees at all, but distorted tombstones rising from the underworld.

The reach of our flashlights was very limited. It was manageable in the open cavern, illuminating perhaps seven or eight meters ahead, but here in this subterranean forest filled with trees, the beams mostly pointed at rough bark or twisted vines, creating a profoundly oppressive sensation.

Fortunately, our wait was short before we made a new discovery, as *’s flashlight accidentally illuminated some markings on a tree trunk.

They were scars left by an axe. Since they were ancient, the cuts were already blackened and peeling, likely left by the Russians long ago.

and I pressed on. The trees and vines ahead began to thin out, and occasional wooden stumps, evidence of previous logging, appeared in the woods.

Moving further, a faint, dim light suddenly filtered through a gap between the trees.

I became instantly excited, thinking Wu Boss and his crew might be ahead. Having gone so long without seeing another living soul, we were finally about to find companions.

We called out as we threaded our way through the forest, arriving at the source of the light.

We found a dead, hollowed-out tree upon which an old-fashioned electric lamp was hanging. Not far from the dead tree stood two military-green canvas tents.

This area had clearly been cleared by previous occupants; there were no trees or vines within a radius of about ten meters—a temporary encampment.

Seeing how dilapidated the two tents looked, I was certain no one was currently staying inside, and the excitement that had momentarily surged through me began to fade into disappointment.

patted my shoulder, offering comfort. “Let’s go take a look for clues.”

and I approached the nearest tent. He pulled out his gun first, then handed me the branch, telling me to use it to pry the tent flap open.