Before the house is confiscated, the enemy's warehouse is emptied and exiled

Not long after Wu Sheng plunged into the woods, his somewhat boastful shouting could be heard from the forest:

"Sir, please come in quickly! Although the light in the forest is dim, it's very cool, not as hot as outside! And there's a different world inside, it's quite spacious!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Si and the others' originally tense faces relaxed a lot.

Two of the anxious officers could not contain themselves and were about to step in, but were stopped by the quick-eyed and quick-handed Ma Si.

Then, Ma Si continued to shout into the woods at the top of his lungs, "Hey! Do you smell any strange smell in there?"

A long time passed without any response. Everyone began to worry that Wu Sheng might have encountered some accident in the forest, and they stretched their necks to look into the forest.

At this moment, Wu Sheng's voice finally came from the woods:

"Sir, there's really no strange smell in there. It's just a faint scent of grass and trees. I just walked around inside and didn't find anything strange!"

After hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ma Si was still very alert. He let the convicts walk in front, and he walked behind with four officers.

The group walked into the lush forest and followed a path lined with weeds.

The trees in the forest are very old, standing tall, with dense branches and leaves like a canopy, forming a large open area while blocking out the sun. The deeper you go into the forest, the darker it becomes, exuding a gloomy atmosphere.

There were slight traces of coolness floating in the air, seeping into the skin. A faint mist was drifting in the forest. In addition to the fragrance of grass and trees, the air was also mixed with the rotten smell of dead branches and leaves. It smelled a bit strange.

Shen Qingge tore off a corner of her sleeve and tied it around her face as a face towel. This way, the strange smell in the forest became much lighter.

Among them was Liu Lin, the head of the Liu family. Ever since Shen Qingge saved his youngest son, he hadn't spoken ill of the Shen family again, and he trusted Shen Qingge completely. Seeing her act like this, he followed suit and donned his veil.

Seeing this, Shen Qingge secretly gave him a thumbs up.

Wu Sheng and Zhao Ping turned their heads, their faces filled with disdain. Zhao Ping even said viciously, "You have no real talent. You're just playing tricks all day long. Who are you trying to scare? It's really unlucky!"

Zhao Ping made no secret of his dislike and even resentment towards Shen Qingge.

Ma Si was unusually silent, and gave the officers a wink, and then the officers all tied their face scarves on obediently.

Among the group, only Wu Sheng and Zhao Ping were left who stubbornly refused to wear veils.

The further they walked, the quieter it became. Just now, they could hear the occasional crisp chirping of birds in the distance, echoing with the humming of insects in the grass, their rhythmic rhythmic echoes, easing their slightly tense and guilty consciences. Now, the silence was eerie, with only the increasingly dense fog surrounding them.

After walking for about half an hour, they only saw some colorful flowers and fungi in the dense forest, but did not find any water source. The more they walked, the more humid the surrounding environment felt.

"It seems that the water source is near!" Ma Si whispered.

After hearing what the deputy captain said, everyone was delighted and worked even harder.

They passed through a ruin covered with rocks. There was a small path passing through the ruins. To the right was a gentle slope leading to a higher place. As they went up the slope, the slope became steeper and steeper. The ridge was covered with green grass. Under the cover of the grass, the rocks were half exposed. The ground under their feet was uneven, and the further they went, the more difficult it became.

However, everyone was in high spirits and continued to climb upwards, unwilling to stop at all.

They used their hands and feet to push aside the tender green grass that was only half an inch high. When their fingertips touched the crystal clear dewdrops, they couldn't help but feel ecstasy in their hearts.

After climbing for about half an hour, the group finally reached the top of the slope.

However, the scene before them disappointed them greatly - except for the grass that was even denser than before, there was only a steep and dangerous cliff. There was no waterfall or gurgling water.

Zhao Ping, unwilling to give up, quickly crouched on the edge of the cliff and looked down. However, the cliff was shrouded in thick fog, completely obscuring everything and making it impossible to see anything.

Wu Sheng also came forward curiously, stared for a moment, and then shouted happily: "Did you smell it? The mist here actually has a hint of sweetness? And the fragrance is so fragrant, it smells so good!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yong and Jia Da, two young officials, hurried over, impatiently pulled off their kerchiefs, took two deep breaths of mist, and then turned around excitedly and said:

"Fourth brother, seriously, it smells really good! Is there something good down there?"

Shen Qingge, standing nearby, sneered and said sarcastically, "My dear officials, you have traveled extensively and seen a lot, but have you never heard of 'miasma'?"

Her words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the fire of joy that had just ignited in everyone's hearts.

Wu Sheng was just a scholar, and he immediately refuted indignantly:

"Miasma usually appears in the hot and humid mountain forests of the south, where all kinds of ferocious beasts, poisonous snakes, and mosquitoes roam rampant.

After these animals die, the poisonous gas emitted by their rotting corpses can be called "miasma". And we are now in the Central Plains, not the South! "

Zhao Ping felt that what he said made sense and echoed him.

"Besides, the formation of miasma requires the corpses of many animals. Have we seen any along the way? Have we seen any?"

The more Wu Sheng spoke, the more excited he became. Today, he wanted to dampen this woman's edge:

"Besides, how can miasma be sweet? Could it be that the dead animals have also become fragrant?"

When everyone heard this, they all felt that what he said made sense. Even Ma Si, who had always been cautious, began to relax his vigilance.

He wondered if the map was wrong, and whether the person who drew the map was confused by the fog in the mountains and forests.

So he decided to send a few people to the bottom of the cliff to find out what was going on.

Seeing that Ma Sidu had relaxed his vigilance, the other officers also relaxed and were eager to give it a try.

Ma Si glared at Shen Qingge and then said, "Hey, Shen family, aren't you good at martial arts? Then you, Wu Yong and Jia Da will go down and check out the situation!"

Seeing this, Wu Sheng, who was standing by, was afraid that the limelight would be stolen, so he volunteered to go down and take a look.

Shen Qingge chuckled and quickly went with the flow, giving him this "excellent" opportunity and asking him to perform well.

Just like that, the three of them followed the rope and disappeared into the vast fog.