He wrinkled his nose, took off his headphones, and his expression turned somewhat Strange: "Wait, I smell a very strong scent of decay. It's not the musty smell of rotting plants, but the smell of protein, of highly decomposed meat."
"Strange, be serious, don't scare us." Curly-haired Banner thought he was playing a prank.
"He's not joking."
Alice, who had been walking in the very front, suddenly stopped, her body pressing tightly against a large tree, her voice very low.
She pointed to a patch of grass about half a person's height to the front right: "Look there."
Everyone looked in the direction she was pointing.
They saw that the patch of grass was not only lusher than the surrounding area but also appeared a Strange, deep brown, as if it had been soaked in something.
More importantly, a mass of greenish mist hovered above that patch of grass.
"There is a corpse there," Alice said with certainty.
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, staring blankly, a chill rising in their hearts.
"I'll go take a look."
Blonde Hughes felt this was a perfect opportunity to show his courage.
He took the lead, nocked an arrow, strode forward, and pushed aside the grass with the bow arm in his hand.
"Buzz—"
The moment the grass was pushed aside, the green mist seemed to be startled; it suddenly exploded, emitting a hair-raising buzzing sound, and surged out like a green cloud, rushing towards Hughes, covering his head and face.
"What the hell is that?"
No sooner said than done; although Hughes was a bit arrogant, his reaction speed as an Olympic champion was certainly no joke.
He stepped back in panic, the bowstring in his hand vibrating repeatedly.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Arrows flew like rain.
Although a bit flustered, he rapid-fired six arrows in one breath at such a short distance.
With a few muffled thuds, several black dots in the oncoming green cloud were pierced by the sharp arrows and pinned fiercely onto the trunk of a tree behind.
Green liquid splattered.
The crisis was averted; the green cloud dissipated and flew back into the grass.
Everyone, still shaken, walked over and approached the tree, wanting to see clearly what kind of monster was pinned to it.
At this sight, everyone gasped, all of them extremely astonished.
"Are these flies?"
Banner leaned against the tree trunk, his eyes wide as copper bells.
The things pierced by the arrows and still twitching slightly were, surprisingly, several green-headed flies.
But the problem was, the size of these flies was truly extraordinary.
They were as big as an adult man's fist.
That pair of compound eyes flickered with a disgusting red light, the mouthparts were like a sharp straw, and the hairy legs were still kicking in the air.
This was practically a mutant creature from a horror movie.
"My God, if this thing bites you, it could probably drain a person dry." Donald was scared pale and hugged his luggage bag tighter.
"All the creatures here are abnormally large. I've seen dragonflies as big as eagles, and millipedes as thick as sausages," Alice explained calmly.
"Hell, I'm starting to miss the air in New York, which is full of exhaust fumes but at least the flies are only the size of a fingernail," Strange said, stepping back in disgust.
"Hmph, no matter how big they are, as long as they're alive, I can shoot them down."
Blonde Hughes, who had shot down the giant flies buzzing everywhere, had been startled just a moment ago, but seeing the results now, that smug sense of satisfaction returned.
He turned to look at Alice, a boastful smile on his face: "How about that, Alice? Now you should believe that my archery can protect you, right?"
Alice looked at the dead flies, nodded, and replied: "Hmm, it is indeed very accurate."
But in her heart, she didn't feel much security.
Because so far, this team's luck had been too good, good to the point of being unreal.
You have to know that when she was walking alone yesterday, she encountered wild boars, leopards, and jackals one after another.
But today, walking all this way, aside from these few flies, she hadn't even seen a rabbit.
This is not normal.
In the law of the jungle, if you don't see any small animals active in a certain area, there is usually only one reason.
This is the territory of some apex predator, or a precursor to some huge danger about to arrive.
I hope that when we truly encounter that level of danger, this Olympic champion's hand will still be this steady.
Alice prayed silently in her heart.
Over there, having driven away the fist-sized carrion flies, the truth hidden in the grass was finally presented before everyone.
It was an animal carcass.
To be exact, a highly decomposed goat carcass.
Its abdomen had been hollowed out, the internal organs long gone, leaving only a huge skeleton and remaining fur.
"Looks like our lunch is sorted—oh wait, I misread that."
Strange walked over, covering his nose, took one look, and then bounced back quickly as if scalded by something.
"It's a dead wild goat, unfortunately, it's completely rotten and has become a paradise for maggots. This smell is even more intense than the formalin-soaked corpses I've smelled in the dissecting room."
The only person who could say such things without changing his expression or missing a beat was this Doctor.
Alice turned her head away immediately.
The unbearable stench of the rotting corpse, mixed with the buzzing of flies, made that feeling of nausea immediately well up.
She swore that even if she starved to death over the next few days, she probably wouldn't be able to eat any meat.
"Let's go, stop looking. This isn't a good sign," Alice waved her hand. "This goat died a miserable death; it looks like it was dropped from the sky by some bird of prey or was leftovers."
Encountering a rotting corpse on the road was just an uncomfortable little interlude during their journey.
For the sake of safety, Alice led everyone around the area shrouded in the scent of death.
She looked up at the position of the Sun and judged the direction.
There was still a long way to go to that cloud-shrouded valley.
Deep in the jungle, the trees became taller and taller, and the light grew dimmer.
The destination was still not in sight, and danger seemed to be lurking around like a viper, watching this group of uninvited guests in the dark.