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墨書 Inktalez
The red boundary line was not very far from me. If it were daytime, I could see it clearly; it didn't even extend beyond the range of the One-Eyed Beast's illumination, which was about fifty to sixty meters. But now, that wasn't the case. Although the light from the One-Eyed Beast was bright, the dense aquatic plants blocked most of the light and my line of sight. To see more clearly, I needed to gain some height to escape the obstruction caused by the vegetation.
I took a deep breath, quickly stood up straight, and rose onto my toes, raising the One-Eyed Beast as high as I could. In that moment, the red line became somewhat clearer.
It wasn't just a line; it was a wide Red Waterway, as if the water in the swamp had turned red from that point onward. Due to the fog, I couldn't determine the width of this Red Waterway; I could only see its boundary on this side of the shore. The part submerged in fog was a mystery—I could only guess whether it was a narrow Red Waterway or a broad one.
Soon, I was choked by Thick Smoke and had to crouch down, tears streaming from my eyes, making it painful to keep them open. In Thick Smoke, simply holding my breath wasn't enough; the irritation to my eyes was severe as well. I let the tears wash over my eyes to alleviate some of the damage caused by Thick Smoke. Crouching back to the campfire, I opened my backpack and pulled out a bottle of clean water to rinse my eyes, which felt much better afterward. Then I continued rummaging through my bag. I needed to find something—my binoculars.
Since seeing that Red Waterway, I had an unsettling suspicion. Though it was immature and not very credible, if this suspicion were true, it would be terrifying. I carefully searched through my backpack and, as expected, found no binoculars inside. When we distributed our gear, Jack and I had first categorized items that required multiple copies and then packed them into different bags rather than preparing our own individual supplies. Some items couldn't be divided too finely; for instance, we brought dozens of batteries at once since they were heavy and could only be divided based on our abilities. I pulled out two portable Walkie-Talkies from my bag and cursed under my breath as I shoved them back in. I knew all the Walkie-Talkies were in my backpack; otherwise, I would have contacted Jack by now.
I remembered that Jack's backpack contained the binoculars; returning for them felt like a futile endeavor.
Not having binoculars here didn't mean that Lao People's bags lacked them. Their backpacks were provided by Vietnamese sources, and I had no idea what they contained; all I could do was hope there might be a pair inside.
I quickly opened both Lao People's backpacks and dumped their contents onto the ground. Unfortunately, there was nothing I needed. Frustrated, I cursed the Vietnamese for stuffing their bags with numerous batteries and drinking water along with some canned food. It seemed they had packed all the heaviest items into Lao People's bags—except for guns and ammunition. The current issue was that our personnel were scattered while supplies were unevenly distributed among several groups. Our group had nearly all the batteries—heavy items that far exceeded our needs given that most of our equipment had been lost since these batteries were primarily for detection devices.
The two Lao People were still sound asleep when I went over to shake them awake. Once they woke up, they realized how suffocating it was and covered their noses while coughing for a while. Seeing the Thick Smoke rising from the campfire, they hurriedly fanned it to make the flames stronger.
I signaled Buasong to follow me to the water's edge and gestured for him to crouch down slightly while indicating what I wanted to do. Buasong confidently took a horse stance while I stepped onto his knee and then onto his shoulder. Balancing on top of each other required good coordination; maintaining strength below was crucial for stability. Buasong stood firm.
I was almost enveloped in Thick Smoke again as my eyes began to hurt once more. Knowing that I couldn't endure much longer in this smoke, I immediately turned up the brightness on the One-Eyed Beast and adjusted its flashlight beam towards the distant Red Waterway.
At this height, I'd completely escaped the obstruction caused by aquatic plants on my line of sight; although visibility remained limited due to thick fog, clarity improved significantly. Once adjusted within a certain range, the brightness reached its maximum value within a one-meter diameter spot where I saw movement in the water—a mass of red resembling writhing worms. Countless red worms twisted together into clusters rolling in shallow water. That clearly defined red boundary resembled a tangible glass barrier keeping those red worms at bay.
I nearly fell down. The thick smoke choked me, causing tears to stream from my eyes, but this little pain couldn't possibly affect me much, especially not in my heart, where the impact was almost negligible. However, those clusters of red, worm-like creatures and the barrier that seemed like a wall were driving me nearly insane.
What I could confirm first was that those red, worm-like creatures must be the Crimson Snakes attacking me. At this distance, I certainly couldn't see clearly, but the faint shadows allowed me to discern the characteristics of these Crimson Snakes—specifically, a bright red line along their backs.
We were surrounded by a group of snakes. I didn't need to observe from another bank to have this suspicion, but to confirm it, I ran to another bank for a look. The Red Waterway had completely closed off, forming a circle about fifty or sixty meters away from the dry land we stood on.
Buasong followed me as I ran along several banks and naturally saw the Red Waterway as well. However, due to his height, he couldn't see what it was clearly; nonetheless, he had his own explanation: Guman Tong.
At that moment, Buasong began to mutter this term that filled me with confusion and fear.
I had no way of understanding what Guman Tong meant, but judging by Ah Xiang's fearful expression towards it, I deduced that it was likely some form of Southeast Asian witchcraft akin to voodoo. My attitude towards such mystical and esoteric things was one of disbelief and lack of fear. It was like the saying we often use when revering deities: "Belief brings power." Therefore, conversely, disbelief renders it harmless. Perhaps this had something to do with my carefree nature.
Yet in reality, just fifty or sixty meters away was a living group of venomous snakes that was enough to send chills down my spine.
What I needed to figure out now was why this group of snakes surrounded this patch of dry land without attacking us. What were they afraid of?
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