Sir Song, do you want to pledge yourself to me?

During lunch, they sorted out the information they had gathered and decided to spend the afternoon exploring the area near the Man-Eating Valley. The forested area was damp and humid, and they also planned to look for any traces of Lan Yinhua along the way.

As soon as they entered the forest, Ji Nuan quietly released the little white mink while no one was paying attention.

Ji Chuan suggested: "It will be too slow if we concentrate together to search, why don't we disperse and act separately?"

"It's dangerous here, Third Brother, let's split up into groups of two." Ji Nuan said, pulling out a handful of sachets and bamboo whistles from his bosom and distributing them to everyone one by one. "Everyone, hang the sachets on your body and don't lose them. In case of an emergency, blow the whistle to communicate."

Several people nodded and put their things away.

Out of concern for Ji Nuan, Song Jinbai solemnly warned everyone in advance: "If you reach the Man-Eating Valley, don't rush in. Observe the situation from a distance before making any plans."

"Little sister, I'll go with you." Ji Chuan had seen Ji Nuan's boldness and resourcefulness, and was worried she might get into trouble. After all, this was the Man-Eating Valley, and he had just heard a lot of horror stories about it at noon. So, he offered to join her group so he could keep a close eye on her.

Ji Nuan nodded in agreement.

"As for the eldest brother, he will be in a group with Song Jinbai; the second brother will be in a group with Song Huai. You will look for Lan Yinhua on the mountain, but don't go too far. Don't force yourself if you can't find it. In case of emergency, remember to blow the bamboo whistle to contact." Ji Nuan no longer cared about Song Huai's identity as Song Jinbai's personal guard. She insisted that each team must have military support.

Seeing her making such arrangements, Song Jinbai looked at her warily and asked, "Are you going to the vicinity of the Man-Eating Valley?"

Ji Nuan quickly assured her, "I'm just looking around and won't go into the valley."

After hearing this, Song Jinbai said, "Then I'll go with you."

"Brother doesn't know Kung Fu, so he can't go in without someone accompanying him. The situation in the valley is still unclear, so I won't go in easily."

After being rejected, Song Jinbai could only look at Ji Chuan and call out softly, "Third Brother Ji."

Ji Chuan: I’m not as old as you, so don’t call me brother so blatantly and with bad intentions, I can’t stand it!

Ji Chuan's expression was indifferent. "I will take good care of her."

Ji Nuan ignored their conversation and went ahead to say to everyone, "I'm leaving first."

As we walked further in, the trees grew taller and taller, their branches and leaves thicker, almost blocking out the sky and making it difficult for light to penetrate. Just as we reached the afternoon, a thin layer of mist filled the forest, mysterious, damp and cold.

"May is almost over, but there's still a chill in the mountains." Ji He rubbed his arms involuntarily, trying to dispel the chill.

"Perhaps it's because there's little sunlight here year-round, and the humidity is extremely high." Song Huai replied, gently using his scabbard to part the clusters of bright red flowers under the tree. "I wonder how things are going over there, young master."

Ji Shan continued walking forward. After a few steps, he found some red flowers blooming under some big trees. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why are there so many red flowers here?"

Song Huai looked up and around, frowning: "Do you feel that the fog seems to be getting thicker and thicker, and the road ahead is almost invisible."

Ji He heard this but didn't seem to care much: "Maybe we walked too far and reached a deeper place."

Ji Nuan and his sister, who had already arrived near the Man-Eating Valley, were also wondering.

"Little sister, it's only afternoon, why is the fog so thick already?"

Ji Chuan's eyes fell on a piece of rotten wood standing upright in the weeds, on which were crookedly engraved the three blurred words "Man-Eating Valley".

"This must be someone who, out of kindness, purposely stood here to warn those who come later of the danger ahead." Ji Chuan speculated, with a hint of solemnity in his tone.

"It's humid here. Looking down from above just now, there seems to be a shallow pool of water in the valley. Plus, it's surrounded by high mountains on both sides, so the valley receives very little sunlight. Although fog is not uncommon, this fog did come a little early." Ji Nuan analyzed, staring at the increasingly thick fog.

Ji Chuan nodded in agreement: "Then let's continue walking along the foot of the mountain and look at other places."

Not long after he walked forward, a faint and urgent whistle came into Ji Nuan's ears.

Ji Nuan's face changed and he cried out urgently, "Third brother, something happened on the mountain!"

Ji Chuan was shocked and said, "You go first, I will follow."

"No, the terrain here is complicated, we must go together." After saying that, Ji Nuan pulled Ji Chuan up without saying anything and ran with him quickly towards the direction where the whistle came from.

At the same time, Song Jinbai on the mountain could hear the sound more clearly because he was closer, so he quickly called Ji Shan to run towards the source of the sound.

The whistle sounded quick and tense, and the person blowing the whistle was Ji He.

He and Song Huai felt like they had entered a snake den, surrounded by long, colorful snakes of all sizes. Even Song Huai, a veteran of countless battles, felt his scalp tingle and his feet run cold when faced with this dense, writhing swarm of snakes.

Perhaps because of the special scent emitted by the sachets they wore, the snakes did not immediately attack. Instead, they circled around them, making a continuous "hissing" sound, as if warning, but also as a test. As time went on, the snakes seemed to gather more and more, even hanging long snakes from the trees, and the situation became increasingly critical.

"Second brother Ji, what should we do?" Song Huai gripped the long knife tightly, held it horizontally in front of him, and asked Ji He anxiously with his head tilted.

In between rapid whistles, Ji He frowned and replied, "I don't know either. The number of snakes is so huge that it dazzles me."

"Don't panic, keep blowing the whistle!" Song Huai urged. Now the whistle was their only signal for help.

When Song Jinbai and Ji Shan arrived, they were also helpless when they saw the current situation.

Ji Shan looked at the dense and frightening group of snakes. He had never seen such a terrifying thing in his entire life, and he couldn't help but feel at a loss.

"Did they accidentally enter the snake's nest?" Ji Shan's voice trembled a little.

Song Jinbai calmly analyzed: "They are wearing sachets, so they shouldn't be in danger for a while."

Ji Shan was extremely anxious: "We can't just watch them get trapped. We have to find a way to rescue them!"

Song Jinbai couldn't think of any good solution for a moment.

If you attack rashly, you will inevitably anger the snakes and provoke a counterattack.

The Ji brothers have no skills, and once a fight between humans and snakes breaks out, they will have no way to escape.