Join the management group, I've stockpiled millions of supplies for survival at sea.

The bearded man dragged his injured leg for about two hundred meters before he couldn't go on.

He leaned against a tree trunk, his face pale, the strips of cloth tied around his calves soaked with blood.

A tall, thin man stood to the side, still clutching the wooden stick in his hand, occasionally glancing back at the way they had come.

"She didn't chase after us," the tall, thin man said.

"Shut up." The bearded man gritted his teeth as he unwrapped the bandage to examine the wound.

The trap had deep teeth marks, with two places where it bit through the muscle, exposing the white tendons.

He tightened the cloth strips again, sweating profusely from the pain.

"We need to find a place to rest. We'll go back after dark; I don't believe she'll be awake all night—"

He stopped talking.

It didn't stop on its own; it was interrupted by something.

A crossbow bolt pierced his left eye socket and came out through the back of his head.

The bearded man slid down the tree trunk and sat on the tree root, his eyes still open and his mouth slightly agape.

The tall, thin man paused for a second, then turned and ran.

Before he could take the second step, a hand grabbed the back of his neck from behind, the force so great that he was lifted up.

His feet left the ground, his hands flailing wildly, and the wooden stick fell to the ground. Then he heard a cracking sound from his cervical spine.

The hand loosened its grip, and he fell to the ground, face down, and remained motionless.

A man emerged from behind the tree.

He was a little over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a dark tactical vest and military boots.

He was holding a crossbow in his hand, a dagger at his waist, and a short-handled axe on his back.

He walked up to the bearded man, pulled out a crossbow bolt, wiped the blood off the bearded man's clothes, and put it back in the quiver.

He glanced at the wound on the bearded man's calf.

The bite marks on the animal trap were fresh; the wounds hadn't even scabbed over yet. The trap didn't spring on its own; someone had deliberately set it up.

He squatted down and looked at the ground.

Blood dripped down from the mountainside, and the bearded man's footprints were of varying depths, with his left foot dragging along.

He looked up in the direction of the bloodstains and found another set of footprints.

The footprints were smaller than the bearded man's, with even strides, indicating normal walking, not running. This person wasn't chased and escaped; he injured the bearded man and then let him walk on his own.

The special forces soldier stood up and followed the smaller footprints up the mountain.

Yin Leyao heard the sound inside the cave.

It wasn't the sound of a branch breaking; it was something much subtler—pebbles being crushed by the sole of a shoe, just once, and then it stopped.

There's someone outside, and they know how to walk without making a sound.

She wasn't sure if that last movement was intentional or a mistake.

Moltres sensed it too.

It stood up, the feathers on its neck slightly unfurled, and a low, rumbling sound began to rise in its throat.

Yin Leyao pressed its head down and shook her head.

The flamingo quieted down, but didn't pluck its feathers.

She picked up her bow, nocked an arrow, and retreated to the deepest part of the cave. The firelight cast her shadow on the cave wall; from this vantage point, one could only see her shadow, not her face.

The coconut leaves at the entrance of the hole did not move.

No one outside approached the cave entrance.

He stopped outside the trigger range of the bear trap.

Yin Leyao waited for thirty seconds.

There was no sound outside.

This silence is more unsettling than any sound.

If a person arrives at the entrance of a stranger's cave but doesn't enter, it's either because they don't want to go in, or they are waiting.

Let the people inside move first.

She chose not to move.

About two minutes later, the footsteps started again.

This time, there was no attempt to conceal it; they walked at a normal pace down the mountain.

Yin Leyao did not go out immediately.

She waited another five minutes, making sure there was no sound outside, before lifting the coconut leaf and peeking out.

A line of footprints appeared on the ground.

The military boots had a larger stride than hers. They came down the mountain, stopped for a while at the cave entrance, and then continued down the mountain.

This set of footprints partially overlapped with the footprints of the bearded man from before.

She watched the footprints extend downhill, then noticed another trail.

There was a third footprint, also in the pattern of a military boot, coming up from the foot of the mountain and stopping behind the bushes to the left of the cave entrance.

That location is less than ten meters from the cave entrance, and the entrance can be clearly seen from behind the bushes.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there.

The person who came hasn't left.

He came, observed, then left a fake trail of footprints down the mountain before hiding elsewhere.

Yin Leyao retreated back into the cave.

The mollusk looked up at her, and a gurgling sound came from its throat again.

Yin Leyao made a shushing gesture to it.

She quickly gathered the dried meat, berries, and flashlight into the bucket and covered it with the tattered canvas.

He carried the bow and arrows on his back and tucked the dagger into his waistband.

Then she extinguished the fire.

The cave was plunged into darkness. The only sound was the dripping of water from the cracks in the rocks, drop by drop.

Yin Leyao sat in the darkness, listening to the sounds outside.

The rustling of the wind through the treetops, the muffled sound of waves crashing against the reefs in the distance.

A sliver of sunlight peeked through the gaps in the coconut leaves at the cave entrance.

That ray of light was blocked by something for a moment.

It was only for a moment, but Yin Leyao saw it.

A shadow passed by outside the cave entrance, so lightly that it would have been unnoticed if the light hadn't been blocked.

He was going in circles.

Yin Leyao stood up. She couldn't wait any longer.

The cave is only three square meters in size; once the enemy rushes in, there is no room to dodge.

She has to go out.

She lifted the coconut leaves and crawled out.

There was no one outside.

She leaned against the mountain wall, scanning the surrounding bushes.

The bushes about ten meters to the left swayed slightly, but not by the wind.

To the right is a scree slope, below which lies a dense forest. Directly ahead is the direction downhill.

She walked to the right.

The scree slope was difficult to walk on, and her footsteps made noise. She deliberately broke a few stones to make the sound carry.

When she reached the edge of the scree slope, she stopped and leaned against a pine tree.

Raise the bow, pointing it toward the path they came from.

I waited for ten seconds.

There was no movement.

She waited another ten seconds.

Still no one.

The other person didn't chase after him. He knew she was leading him astray.

Yin Leyao put down the bow.

This person is different.

Someone with a full beard would step right into a bear trap, but this guy won't.

He didn't chase after them because he knew there might be a trap ahead.

She turned her gaze to the dense forest below the mountain.

To the east of the dense forest is a mangrove swamp. As mentioned in the management group yesterday, once you step into the mud under the mangroves, you won't be able to get out.

She hadn't seen the swamp before, but she remembered its approximate location. Heading east from the foot of the mountain, past the mixed forest, and towards the sea, the mangrove forest should be quite extensive.

She started walking down the mountain.

This time she didn't try to hide her footsteps.

He walked normally, neither fast nor slow, like an ordinary player out looking for supplies.

After walking for about five minutes, she heard a sound behind her. Very light footsteps, about twenty meters away, maintaining a fixed distance.

She didn't turn back and kept walking.

As she passed through the mixed woodland, she detoured to the clearing where she had piled up her logs.

The twelve logs are still there, bound together with vines and leaning against the rock wall.

She didn't stop and continued walking east.

The ground began to soften.

The soil beneath our feet changed from dry and hard to wet, and then to muddy.

The trees also began to change. Pine trees became fewer and fewer, and some trees with aerial roots appeared, their roots emerging from the mud like grayish-white fingers.

Mangroves.

Yin Leyao slowed her pace.

The mud underfoot was getting softer and softer, and with each step, I would sink in a centimeter or two.

She carried the hard soil between the tree roots, sometimes having to jump over it.

The footsteps behind me slowed down.

That person also noticed that something was wrong with the ground.

Yin Leyao stopped in front of a thick mangrove tree and turned around.

He finally showed up.

The special forces soldier stood behind a tree fifteen meters away, with only half of his body visible.

The crossbow was already in his hand, but he didn't raise it to point at her. The short-handled axe was tucked behind his back.

His eyes weren't on Yin Leyao; they were on the ground.

He was assessing the extent and depth of the swamp.

"You came here on purpose," he said. His voice was low and not aggressive.

Yin Leyao didn't speak, she just looked at him.

The special forces soldier took a step forward, his foot landing on a patch of what appeared to be dry mud.

He sank a little into the mud, and immediately pulled his foot back.

“This swamp is indeed dangerous,” he said, “but you’re in the swamp too. You’re standing in front of that tree, with hard soil three meters around the roots and mud three meters beyond. If you don’t come out, I can’t get through; if I don’t go in, you can’t come out.”

His analysis was very accurate.

"You can leave," Yin Leyao said.

"You want to leave and then sneak over in the middle of the night?" The special forces soldier shook his head. "I can't sleep until this is resolved."