Lu Liran could hardly imagine what on earth would leave such a mark.
“No matter what it is, something that can leave such traces must be a dangerous creature that is large in size and actively aggressive.” Lu Liran said, “The bigger it is, the wider its range of activities and the stronger its territorial awareness.”
“We have to get out of here as soon as possible.”
[No more words, run away!]
[A strong sense of territory? But obviously there are so many crocodiles at night, doesn’t that count as dividing the territory?]
[emmmmm, does that make sense?]
Lu Liran climbed up to the height of the Luoshui tree to determine the direction to go next, and replied: “A strong sense of territory does not mean that other creatures are not allowed to appear in its territory.”
“If a piece of natural land does not have a complete ecological chain, then this place will soon become a dead land, and even the territorial lord will no longer be able to survive in such a place.”
“So even though this is its range, it’s not alone.”
“What’s more, usually, the larger the creature, the less frequently it eats. If it is a creature like Titanoboa, it will only eat once every few months. Although each time is a bloody baptism, after one time, it can be calm for a long time, and this period of time is the cultivation and transition period of the creatures in this territory.”
[Hiss, so we met Titanoboa this time?! I thought it was all in legends!]
[Brother Lu can take it out and brag about it, but he is a man who survived the mouth of a giant python]
[Can’t the giant python be taken out and brag? The creature that survived Brother Lu’s mouth (dog head)]
[Laugh to death, the thief is immoral]
Lu Liran quickly climbed down from the tree, while carefully dripping water, he said: “What we just encountered is definitely not Titanoboa. If it were it, it would not be so peaceful last night.”
“But what it is, it’s hard to say. I just hope I won’t encounter it again in the future.” Lu Liran said.
“We are still moving towards the goal we set yesterday, the abandoned ancient road.”
The ancient road was still nearly a kilometer away from them. Once they crossed the swamp, there was a piece of land like a small island in the center. It was very small and could only be used for a short rest. After crossing the small island, they were separated by a large swamp about a hundred meters wide, which was larger than the one they encountered before. They could not avoid it and had to cross it.
And across the 100-meter-wide swamp is the ancient road.
After knowing that such a behemoth was still active here, Lu Liran’s mood was completely different when he went into the swamp.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“To be honest, this place gives me the creeps.” He told the broadcast room.
“You can feel that there are creatures under the water, and they are even very active. In such a large swamp, the underwater biological system must be extremely rich.” He spoke, “But you have no way of knowing what those things are scratching your legs, so you can only make as much noise as possible in the hope of scaring them away.”
[QAQ Brother Lu said this…]
[Feeling extremely weak]
[As long as it’s not something scary—— PlayerKingGoesOnline gifted the anchor 1x Sukiyaki Pot]
Lu Liran and Ke Ji smoothly passed through the swamp and quickly reached the central island.
The feeling of stepping on the ground was incredible. This was the first time since they entered the swamp for a day and night that their feet had stepped on solid soil without being completely soaked in water.
It is said to be a small island, but in fact it is more like a piece of sand. It is only about a hundred square meters in area. It is estimated that it will be submerged when it rains.
But even so, for Lu Liran and Ke Ji, this is a rare resting place.
Lu Liran took out the crocodile meat that he had not eaten last night, and the two of them finished the remaining barbecue to replenish their energy.
“This crocodile meat can at least sustain us for a whole day.” Lu Liran said, “You can take a brief rest here, because in a moment, we will cross the most dangerous and troublesome area, the Ghost Forest Swamp.”
He walked to the edge of the sandbar, with a tree stick in his hand, about one meter sixty-seven meters long, was thrust into the water until it was almost submerged before it reached the river bed.
Lu Liran’s face was a little solemn, and he said to Ke Ji: “The water here is so deep that it can cover your chest.”
The depth of the water means that the guy from last night is more likely to appear here than in other places.
The reason why they chose to set up camp in the center of the aquatic forest last night was because the water there was no deeper than the waist. Normally, it was only knee deep, and the highest point was only above the thighs and below the waist.
Generally speaking, it is unlikely that a big guy like the one who attacked them last night would launch an attack in that kind of environment.
Of course there are exceptions to everything.
It wasn’t impossible for two creatures with unfamiliar male scents to intrude into the territory and draw a test attack from the lord.
But Lu Liran was not sure whether the attack that stopped midway last night was the end of the story, or whether it was still to be continued.
“Tie a rope knot and wait for it to pass downstream.”
Lu Liran also had this idea. He nodded and said: “I took a look and found that this is the narrowest part of the waterway. The view is wide and there is no obstruction.”
“Good.”
“Observe for a while and recover our strength here.” Lu Liran stayed away from the water and found a piece of dry land to sit on.
As he said before, swamp animals can hold their breath in the water for a long time, and the longest ones can even hold their breath for as long as forty-five minutes. And the water here is so wide that it is impossible for him to test whether there is anything hidden in it, he can only wait longer to observe.
“Whether you’re on land or not, stay away from the water.” Lu Liran took a sip of water, handed the bottle to Ke Ji’s mouth, motioned for him to drink some water, and said at the same time, “This season is close to mating season, and male animals will be much more aggressive than at any other time.”
“Last year, there were four accidental incidents of crocodiles attacking humans in just one week. Three of the victims were located on the shore and were dragged into the water by crocodiles.”
[Brother Lu’s daily negative cases +1]
[I am afraid of the water that cannot be seen below, and I would not walk next to it even if I were killed!]
[+1 Never leave without guardrails]
Lu Liran stood up again after sitting for a short time. He walked from one end of the sandbar to the other, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and soon discovered something, and quickly summoned the drone.
He lowered his voice and said hurriedly: “Did you see that side? It’s on the other side of the swamp! There’s a curve-billed monitor lizard basking in the sun there!”
The drone lens immediately adjusted its focus, and sure enough, a gray monitor lizard was hiding among the rocks and bushes, almost blending into the surrounding environment, and you can’t even see it unless you look carefully.
The monitor lizard looks somewhat similar to a crocodile, except that its body does not have those convex scales, but is covered with cold, smooth and fine scales.
Monitor lizards are cold-blooded animals, so they like to stay in open areas like this and maintain their body temperature through sunlight.
Lu Liran whispered: “The curved-billed monitor lizard’s bite force is as strong as that of the spiny crocodile. What’s even more troublesome is that its saliva contains the most types of bacteria. Within four hours of being bitten by it, the symptoms of visual snow will appear, and if you don’t get prompt medical aid, you will die of sepsis in less than twenty-four hours.”
“Even though the curve-bile monitor lizard is not venomous, the human mortality rate due to the bacteria contained in its saliva has always been comparable to that of the scarlet-ringed black rattlesnake.” Lu Liran said, “It is also incredibly fast in the water, and can reach speeds of forty kilometers per hour in short bursts.”
Lu Liran quietly retreated: “I hope I didn’t disturb it. But since there is a curved-bile monitor lizard here, there are most likely more nearby, so we can’t take any chances.”
“The monitor lizard and the crocodile are basically not in the same territory. They are mortal enemies of each other’s food, so this is good news.” Lu Liran said, and quickly returned to Ke Ji, picking up his backpack and putting it on his back.
Crocodiles are unlikely to appear in the water, which is undoubtedly great news.
He drew out knots of rope and tied them quickly to himself and Ke Ji, so that the two would not be washed apart by any accident in the water.
The water flow in the swamp is not too fast, and there are no undercurrents. The only thing you need to worry about is the creatures in the water.
He looked at Ke Ji and spoke very quickly: “I don’t know how many other giant lizards are scattered around here besides the bent-biled monitor lizard. They are very sensitive to the movements in the water, so we must go in and out of the water, ASAP.”
“In addition, whether it is a crocodile or a monitor lizard, the reason why they attack humans is because when swimming, humans will rise up and down to take a breath. In most cases, humans are regarded as turtles on the water or parked water birds.”
“So it’s best for us to dive into the water and swim to the other side at once, but our vision in the turbid water is almost zero, and it’s difficult to tell the direction.” He looked at Ke Ji, pulled the knot twice hard to make sure it was firm, and said, “Follow me closely after you enter the water.”
Ke Ji responded: “Okay.”
Lu Liran took a deep breath and looked at the almost motionless swamp water in front of him again.
With one leap, he jumped decisively into the water, followed closely by Ke Ji.
The vision in the water was indeed very poor. Lu Liran looked forward and felt a slight tightening in his waist. He knew that Ke Ji was following behind him and felt slightly reassured.
Debris in the water flow collided with him head-on from time to time, and the audience in the live broadcast room subconsciously held their breath, as if they themselves had fallen into such a water flow.
Lu Liran plunged into the water and never came out for air. He just felt a sudden drop on his waist. He immediately went to pull the rope behind him, but felt a pulling force.
After pulling each other three times in a row, Lu Liran immediately understood that this was Ke Ji’s instruction, which meant there was no problem.
He retracted his mind and concentrated on swimming forward.
The riverbed under his feet gradually rose. Not long after Lu Liran swam forward, a white skull suddenly bumped into his eyes. The white eye socket bones were surrounded by green water plants.
A string of bubbles came out of Lu Liran’s mouth, and he suddenly came out of the water to gasp for air. His heart was beating very fast. He quickly climbed ashore on his hands and feet and turned back to look for Ke Ji.
Ke Ji was following behind him. He looked a little embarrassed. The only thing left of the backpack behind him was the two straps fastened around his waist.
😭 omg that skull fr scared me mentally too! The visual image in my head
Loving the nod to monitor lizards. We have Race Tail Goanna’s here and it’s all completely true about their bite but their nails are just as bad.
There’s some serious lake placid vibes here and I love it!
💖💗💖💗
Scary
I gasped when he saw the skull as well lol, the immersion is great 😅
Uh oh, the backpack is gone!
All the loot 😱
goodnight guys that skull just took my soul ⚰️🕊️