Guo Yong pursed his lips but did not say a word, he faced the tree branch straight into the water, and forcefully poked it a few times.
It was as expected, the shattered rocks were not the true bottom of the pit, but were instead blocked at the entrance of a cross point within the pit. Now that Guo Yong had pierced through it, all the shattered rocks flowed into the cross point, and the speed of the water flow also increased drastically.
Guo Yong was both surprised and happy. Using the branches to probe, he discovered that the entrance to the cave could be entered. Furthermore, judging from the flow of the water, the cave should be very deep. If this point led to the outside of the mountain, he should be able to swim to the outer lake near the island by following the flow of the water.
However, when Guo Yong took out the withering branch and looked at it, he realized that it was not as simple as he thought it to be. Even if it was as he had guessed, the Hengjin Cavern was still a underground water that led directly to the outer lake, but this was still a toxic water! Initially, he didn't even dare to touch it, let alone dive inside. Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
Guo Yong's knowledge on chemistry was scarce, he did not know to what extent toxic water could be corroded.
"There's a hole in there." Guo Yong pointed.
"Can you swim out?" Guo Yi immediately became spirited.
"The pit is filled with living water, and we aren't too far away from the foot of the mountain. There should be a chance for us. I'm guessing if this water is headed towards the outer lake."
"Is that so? "But this water …" Guo Yi also thought about the difficulties they would face.
"Yes, this water is poisonous, I'm sure of it." Guo Yong sighed.
Guo Yong and Guo Yi were both good at swimming, and had even researched diving to a certain degree. Originally, if it was a normal underground river, they would have had a good chance of leaving this crack.
But the problem lay squarely in front of them. This water is poisonous, do you dare to take the risk?
Guo Yong suddenly felt that the heavens were playing a joke on them. First it was to give them hope, and then it cruelly took it away.
But then again, if they let go of this opportunity, it would be hard for them to hold on for too long. They could only wait quietly for death in the crevice.
Guo Yong thought that, rather than dying, it would be better to just fight for it. At least there would be a chance, it would be better than staying here and doing nothing.
Guo Yong looked at his son who was by his side, who was staring at the stone pit with a pitiful expression. Suddenly, a thought surfaced in his mind.
"Xiaoyi, come over here. Dad will tell you." Guo Yong waved his hand towards Guo Yi, telling him to stay as far away from the toxic water as possible.
Guo Yi moved closer to Guo Yong and sat on the ground.
"Wait a minute, I'm going to explore this underwater cave. If there really is an exit, send me outside, I'll immediately call someone to save you. What do you think? Can you hold on?"
Guo Yi's mind was in a mess, after staring blankly for a long time, he finally understood the meaning of Guo Yong's words. Guo Yong obviously wanted to take over the risk alone and give him a chance for survival.
"That won't do! Dad, what are you doing? This is the toxic water, do you want to die? " Guo Yi shouted.
"If we continue to stay here, we'll die as well." Guo Yong said.
"Then I'll go with you!"
"What are you talking about?" Guo Yong's tone became stern, "Are you the same as me? I'm fifty-one years old. How old are you? If we all die, who will take care of your mother in the future? Could she accept such a thing? You think about it. Besides, how did you know something would happen to me? If something did happen to me in the cave, it would be the same for us, father and son. "
In fact, Guo Yong's thoughts were very simple. He knew that the consequences of covering his entire body with toxic water s would be severe, but he was not sure how severe it would be, or whether he would die. Under the condition that this point could lead to the outer lake, if the toxic water only corroded his body and managed to preserve his life, he could immediately notify the rescue team. In other words, even if he died due to being infected by the toxic water, as long as he managed to gain a certain amount of time and didn't die immediately, he would still be able to notify the rescue team to save Guo Yi.
Therefore, doing this was the safest and most likely chance for Guo Yi to be safe and sound.
"But if you were to be bathed in this water, even if you didn't die, it would still be enough." Guo Yi shouted.
"Don't worry about that so much, just stay here and be honest. I'll inform someone to save you immediately after I go out. I remember the location of the hole on the mountain, it won't be hard to find it. As long as you have the tools, it'll be very easy to save you."
Guo Yong's words were like an order, they were unquestionable. Guo Yi wanted to cry, but no tears came out.
Guo Yong immediately returned to the edge of the pit and touched the toxic water in the pit with his finger.
After making up his mind, he turned around and reminded Guo Yi, "Remember this, no matter how thirsty you are, you can't drink the water here.
Guo Yi nodded stiffly.
Guo Yong looked up and realized that the sky was about to brighten. Guo Yi should not be in any danger for now, so he decided to take the chance and leave.
He supported himself on the ground with his hands and assumed a posture. Finally, he looked at Guo Yi and said, "Then Dad will be leaving first."
In the next moment, Guo Yong took a deep breath, aimed at the Sky Crossing Acupuncture Point and threw himself into the water. When he neared the entrance of the Sky Crossing Acupuncture Point, he suddenly felt a suction force from the hole, allowing him to enter effortlessly.
After digging his acupoint, Guo Yong immediately discovered that the water was flowing extremely fast, and it seemed to be flowing downwards. All of this was in accordance with his expectations, because if the water in the cave was going down, then it meant that the cave was sloping downwards, most likely leading to the outer lake. Furthermore, he could move along the current, which would save a lot of effort.
However, the cave was pitch black, he could not see anything. There were several times when Guo Yong bumped into rocks, causing him to feel pain.
He wasn't sure if he could swim outside, or if he didn't find an exit, or if the exit was blocked, or if he couldn't hold his breath, he would die miserably in this cave.
Thus, rather than taking risks, it would be more accurate to say that they were resigned to fate.
Unexpectedly, after swimming for a short while, Guo Yong's body felt heavy, and he found it harder and harder to endure. He did not know if it was because he had not eaten for too long or because of the toxic water's problem, but in short, his diving state was much worse than before.
Just as he was about to give up and get dejected, a light flashed in the deep darkness.
Exit!
Guo Yong shouted crazily from the bottom of his heart.
Therefore, he kicked with all his might, not caring about the pain at all. He used his hands to grab at the walls of the cave, hoping to swim out faster.
Finally, a miracle happened. Following a two to three meter tall waterfall, Guo Yong fell into the water from the cave entrance. He used all his might to step on the water and stuck his head out of the water.
The moment he breathed in the oxygen and saw the vast mountain forest, he felt as if he had been reborn. The joy, the surprise, they were all unprecedented.
At this moment, he hated the fact that he had managed to escape from the crevice in the lake near the island. It was unbelievable that he had made the right gamble. The transverse cavity was indeed connected to the outer lake.
But when Guo Yong looked at the mountain range above him, he gradually calmed down, thinking to himself, now was not the time to relax, his son was still trapped in the mountain, he had to arrange for help as soon as possible.
Then, he dove back into the water, swimming towards the shore as if he were fighting for every second. At that moment, he felt something at the bottom of the water.
Curious, Guo Yong dove into the water. In the end, amidst a field of messy aquatic plants, he saw an incomparably large female corpse. The female corpse's face was swollen like a balloon, her long hair was as light as seaweed, and she wore a tattered set of clothes. Most importantly, the skin of the female corpse's entire body had already become seriously necrotic, and was still emitting a kind of green gas.
Guo Yong was so scared that his legs became weak. He choked on a lot of saliva, and without looking back, he swam towards the water, afraid that the female corpse would suddenly stretch her hands out and grab his legs.
However, he finally understood why toxic water would appear in the mountains and why the water was green. It turned out that the source of everything was this gigantic female corpse that laid at the bottom of the water!
After unleashing his full strength, Guo Yong quickly swam to the shore. When he reached the shore, he felt exhausted, and thinking back to what happened just now, he felt like a nightmare.
He laid down on the grass to rest for a while, then immediately stood up. At this time, he felt all his skin itch, he knew that it was definitely because he was infected by the toxic water.
Guo Yong thought that he had no time to care about all this right now, so he sprinted forward and stopped in the direction of the car, leaving his phone on top of the cart.
He felt in his pocket again. Fortunately, the car keys were still in place, so he should be able to call for help in time.
Although he was hungry, tired, and exhausted, Guo Yong still ran out of the forest at an extremely fast speed. But in the process, he felt that his body was getting more and more out of control.
Subconsciously, he looked at his two arms. He noticed that the muscles on his arms were acting strangely, and there were even some green spots on them.
Even so, he did not panic too much. From the moment he entered the toxic water, he was already prepared to sacrifice his son's life, and in fact, the result was much better than he had expected. It was just that something was wrong with his skin, and his internal organs were all normal.
However, when he left the forest and smoothly searched for the car parked by the lake, he felt an even more intense pain on his skin. What was different was that the pain had already invaded his body. He knew that the consequences of being infected with toxic water were more serious than he had imagined, so he was lucky to be able to immediately call for help.
Guo Yong smoothly opened the car door with his key and flipped to his phone. When he saw that his phone had both electricity and signal, he couldn't help but feel relieved. But just as he was about to dial a number, he saw his own face in the rearview mirror.
It was a green, monstrous face. The flesh on his face had all decayed and toxic water were seeping out of it.
Following that, there was a burst of heart-wrenching pain that caused Guo Yong to immediately jump out of the car and roll onto the ground.
He quickly took off his shirt and climbed to the edge of the lake. In the reflection of the lake water, he saw a green and rotten monster. Every part of its body was completely deformed.
Guo Yong screamed miserably, almost fainting.
It was unknown how much time had passed before Guo Yong finally regained his composure. No matter how much pain he suffered, as long as he was alive, he had to save his son. His son was still deep in the mountains. Therefore, he used his last bit of strength to make a call …
"..."
Four days later, Guo Yong's funeral was held at the funeral parlor.
The funeral was very peaceful, and not many people came. Other than Guo Yong and Chen Hui's family, only a group of core members of the Qin Mu Adventure Club, who belonged to Guo Yong, came to offer their condolences.
Chen Hui seemed calmer, as if he already had a premonition of this day.
But during the entire funeral, Guo Yi, as the son, did not appear.
On the day that Guo Yong escaped from the crevice and unfortunately died, the rescue team managed to rescue Guo Yi from the crevice according to the position that Guo Yong provided. However, when Guo Yi returned home, he did not appear in front of the public anymore. The news media that went to interview him were also rejected by Chen Hui.
On the way out of the funeral home, Jomu's mood was heavy.
He walked slowly, thinking about something.
Ever since he and his master, Old Qin, had founded the Qin Mu club together, although they had experienced many hardships, the death of their members had never happened. Furthermore, the one sacrificed was the core elder of the club, which was a huge loss to the club.
Old Qin was now in a state of retirement. As the president of the Qin Mu Club, all the burdens were placed on him.
At this moment, a Honda SUV pulled up to the side of the road and stuck its head out of the window.
"No car?" the man in the car asked.
His name was Zhou Yang, and he was the vice president of Qin Mu Club. He had just attended Guo Yong's funeral together with Qiao Mu. Zhou Yang looked gentle and refined, his skin was slightly dark, and he looked a lot younger and more cheerful than the mature and mature, forty-one year old Qiao Mu.
"The car was driven away by my wife today. I took a taxi here." Qiao Mu replied.
"Come, get in the car. I'll walk you out."
Qiao Mu did not hold back and directly sat in Zhou Yang's car.
"You look a little down." Zhou Yang stepped on the accelerator and the car started to move.
"Will my mood be good when the Mr.Guo dies?" Qiao Mu smiled bitterly.
"Yeah, the two girls from our club were crying. To tell you the truth, I'm upset too, but I don't want to show it. "
What Zhou Yang said was the truth, and the entire club knew that his relationship with Qiao Mu and Guo Yong was the deepest, and also the Golden Triangle of his early exploration.
"I never thought that something would happen to one of you." Qiao Mu sighed.
"It's not as good as being in the heavens. Ah, right, did you see Mr.Guo's corpse? I heard it was ruined, what was the cause of death? Were you really poisoned by the toxic water inside the mountain? "
"The hospital's analysis shows that the cause of death was indeed caused by the organs within Mr.Guo's body rotting. As for the corpse … "I met Chen Hui yesterday. I can only say that it's too horrible!"
"To what extent?"
"The flesh on its body is all rotten, and it is even emitting green colored toxic water, it is even worse than being splashed with sulfuric acid. "Just a glance and my whole body will be shaking. Chen Hui fainted on the spot."
"I really don't understand, how could there be such a toxic water in the mountains. Oh, that's right, there's still Xiaoyi. Why haven't I seen him today, could it be that he is also infected with toxic water? "
It was not only Zhou Yang, but all of the members of the Qin Mu Club who were present were also surprised that Guo Yi did not appear.
"Xiaoyi shouldn't have gotten infected with the toxic water. Mr.Guo risked his life to run out and ask for help just to protect him. But it's really strange that he didn't show up today. He might still be feeling unwell. I'll go see him another day. "
"Mm, that's fine too." Zhou Yang nodded.
"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Qiao Mu suddenly recalled that Zhou Yang and a few other members of the club were going to have an adventure that they had planned for a long time.
"Yeah."
"Why are you leaving tomorrow? Mr.Guo just passed away. "
"We have prepared almost a month for this expedition. We set a date early in the morning. I know you are worried that something might happen to us like Mr.Guo, but don't worry, Mr.Guo didn't bring any equipment to investigate, we are different. " Zhou Yang said.
"Yes, you must not make the mistake that Mr.Guo did. You must be careful."
"It seems that at this age, there is still some influence on people. Even the former captain of our death squadron has become timid now." Zhou Yang patted Qiao Mu's shoulder and joked. Actually, he also knew that Guo Yong's death had too much impact on Qiao Mu.
"Stop bullshitting, hurry up and tell me what kind of village your expedition destination is?"
"Flower Snake Village."
"Oh, I remember now. That place has been pretty popular recently. Some news websites even mentioned that all the villagers disappeared overnight. The number one ghost village, that one, right?"
"It's that." But I do not believe in ghosts or gods, so we are prepared to eliminate the feudal superstition this time, and find the reason for the disappearance of the case. At the same time, we are also planning to tell the world that Flower Snake Village is not that strange, and that it could be considered an adventure for the public. "
"I remember the police were involved in that case. There was no clue."
"Let me tell you, when the police are dealing with a case, they tend to be careless and can't solve the problem. We're not the same. This time we're going to stay there for at least two or three days and rummage through the village. I don't believe we can't find any clues. We've also been advertising online recently and many people are waiting for our results. If we can still be considered as successful, it would be a huge boost to our club's reputation. "
"Mm, I've always been at ease with you doing things. However, the ones we used to explore are all those desolate mountains and mountains. Going to such a strange and mysterious place wouldn't give us much experience after all. "
"Take it slowly. We have to try." Zhou Yang laughed.
"That's true. A new domain, a new vitality." Qiao Mu also revealed a smile.
"Speaking of Flower Snake Village, do you know that the island that Mr.Guo and Xiao Yi went to this time is not far from the Flower Snake Village? According to our knowledge, that island was not called Everlasting Island before, and it has another name."
"What name?" He sat up straight.
"It's like this, what about near the Flower Snake Village? There is a Small Snake Island, and then there is a large snake island some distance away. We've searched for information about it, that Long Hate Island was previously called the Great Snake Island!"
"Oh?" Qiao Mu frowned. He didn't know why, but when he heard the news, his heart sank.
"What a coincidence!" Zhou Yang asked with a smile.
"That's right, how could there be such a coincidence?" he said thoughtfully.
A lot of thoughts suddenly appeared in his mind, but he was unable to link the two things together. However, he had a faint feeling that it was not a simple coincidence.
After pausing for a moment, Qiao Mu said to Zhou Yang: "In short, all of you must be careful."
Early the next morning, Zhou Yang led a group of six people to explore the Sacred Grounds as he majestically drove towards the Flower Snake Village. Before he left, Qiao Mu repeatedly reminded him to immediately contact if anything happened.
Watching Zhou Yang and the others leave, Qiao Mu suddenly had a feeling that these people would never come back.
On the other hand, Guo Yi stayed at home every day, locking his door.
Chen Hui had always thought that Guo Yi had escaped from death, adding that Guo Yong had died, his heart was filled with grief and depression, and did not want to see anyone. Actually, it wasn't that Guo Yi didn't want to see it, it was that he couldn't.
This was because from the night he left the crack in the rock, cracks had gradually appeared on his body and face, while toxic water began to seep out of them.
At this time, Guo Yi sat in front of the mirror and said dejectedly:
"Dad, I'm sorry. After you left, I really couldn't hold back and drank the toxic water in the pit."
In the mirror, Guo Yi's face was completely disfigured. Like a pomegranate, the meat was sliced into many pieces.
Guo Yi tried to fiddle around with it, and unexpectedly, he managed to peel off a piece of carrion from his face.
Guo Yi was filled with grief and indignation, and suddenly smashed apart the mirror.
That day, while Chen Hui was not at home, Guo Yi took the chance to leave a note and immediately left. The slip of paper read:
Mom, I'm out for a few days, take care!