The deeper they went, the more ominous the atmosphere around them became.
"Ninth younger brother, should we stop and observe the situation?" Sixth elder brother inexplicably felt a moment of panic. Even breathing the air around them gave him a suffocating feeling.
Mo Jiuye had the same feeling. Supposedly the air in this primal forest should be the freshest, but instead, he seemed to smell a stench of decay.
The two brothers exchanged a glance and then adeptly leapt upwards, landing atop the tallest and most robust nearby tree.
Looking down from this vantage point, there was still only lush, verdant forest as far as the eye could see, with even the forest floor obscured from view.
Fortunately, the tree they were standing on was quite tall. Climbing up a bit higher would allow them to see much farther.
Now, both brothers felt their vision open up.
About two li away, the dense undergrowth gave way to a stretch of flat grassland. In the middle of the grassland was a small lake, and the two brothers, with their sharp eyesight, could vaguely make out several people lying next to the lake shore.
Yes, there were definitely several human figures.
"Ninth younger brother, there seem to be people over there," Sixth elder brother said.
Because of the great distance, they couldn’t clearly make out what those people looked like. The two men could only discern the outlines of human shapes.
A sense of foreboding instantly rose within Mo Jiuye.
"Sixth elder brother, let's go over and take a look," he said.
Although anxious, Mo Jiuye had not lost his reason. As they continued forward, he kept the antidote pills his wife had made clasped tightly in his fist. He also gave one to Sixth elder brother.
"Sixth elder brother, these are antidote pills that can save your life if necessary," he said gravely.
Sixth elder brother solemnly nodded, gripping the pill in his hand.
The two brothers were unclear whether there were any poisons or toxins nearby, but if this truly was Mr. Si Meng's territory, their presence was a certainty.
Of course, they also knew one fact clearly - Mr. Si Meng had already shown good faith by revealing the location of the sixth hill. Asking him for more details risked him laying some sort of trap for the two brothers.
Rather than being tricked by him, it was safer for the brothers to search on their own.
As the two brothers cleared away obstacles in their path, Mo Jiuye carefully observed their surroundings. Based on his past experiences at Si Meng Mountain Villa, wherever Mr. Si Meng's domains extended, poisons and toxins were indispensable elements.
Just after Mo Jiuye finished chopping away an obstruction ahead, he felt the ground under his feet become uneven.
He threw out an arm to stop Sixth elder brother from continuing forward.
"Sixth elder brother, be careful!"
Sensing something amiss, the two men leapt backward several meters in the span of their words.
Taking a closer look ahead, sure enough, concealed amongst the undergrowth they had just cleared away was a deep trench spanning the width of their path.
The trench was shaped like an irrigation canal, situated just wide enough to block passage forward. Finding such an oddly configured trench naturally occurring in the mountains was quite rare - most were manmade.
"Ninth younger brother, there's something strange about this trench," Sixth elder brother warned.
Mo Jiuye nodded. "I suspect there may be toxins inside."
When it came to poisons, Sixth elder brother had no specialized knowledge. But he had not forgotten about the antidote pill Mo Jiuye had given him earlier.
"Ninth younger brother, should we take the antidote pills first?"
"Hold on. Let me go take a look first, then we'll decide," Mo Jiuye replied.
After speaking, he cautiously crept forward again.
"Be careful," Sixth elder brother reminded, maintaining a battle-ready posture. If his younger brother encountered any danger, he would immediately rush forwards to help.
Mo Jiuye slowly parted the still quite dense undergrowth in front of him and gingerly stepped towards the trench.
When he finally peered over the edge, even the widely experienced Mo Jiuye was shocked speechless by the sight.
The trench was filled with countless scorpions, their venomous tails raised menacingly high, sending chills down his spine at the very sight.
Moreover, the scorpions seemed to have already sensed an unfamiliar presence approaching, and were continuously scuttling towards the top of the trench walls.
Seeing Mo Jiuye standing stock still, Sixth elder brother anxiously called out, "Ninth younger brother, what's going on?"
Mo Jiuye raised a hand, signaling his brother not to speak. Then he quickly took out another packet of realgar powder and sprinkled it towards the mass of scorpions.
Unexpectedly, while realgar powder was quite effective against venomous snakes, it barely made these venomous scorpions flinch.
They only dodged briefly before resuming their climb upwards as if nothing had happened.
Mo Jiuye gasped. This was his first encounter with such venomous scorpions, and realgar powder had actually failed!
With no time to waste, he hurriedly grabbed a small bottle from his side and sprinkled its liquid contents towards the scorpions.
"Sixth elder brother, light it on fire!"
Hearing Mo Jiuye's order, Sixth elder brother rapidly lit a match and flung it into the trench.
Mo Jiuye pivoted and pulled his brother far away with him.
After several muffled booms from within the trench, flames instantly soared more than ten feet high.
Soon after came the sounds and smell of scorpions crackling and charring en masse.
Sixth elder brother watched the scene before him incredulously.
"Ninth younger brother, is this enough?"
Mo Jiuye also wasn't certain that all the scorpions had been burned to death. But he believed his wife would never have given him anti-venom supplies that didn't work.
The flames soon subsided, and the air filled with the smell of something burnt.
This time, Sixth elder brother stepped forward of his own initiative. "Let me take a look."
Although Sixth elder brother was checking, Mo Jiuye still didn't dare let his guard down. After all, all the life-saving items were currently in his own hands.
He closely followed his elder brother’s footsteps to assess the aftermath. The trench, just now teeming with scorpions, had been reduced to piles of ash.
Even so, Mo Jiuye’s wariness did not abate. The trench spanned quite a distance - if any areas hadn't been touched by the flames and still harbored surviving scorpions, they could still be lethal.
For now, at least he and Sixth elder brother were safe.
Time was of the essence. "Sixth elder brother, let's head over now," Mo Jiuye urged.
Sixth elder brother nodded, then leapt across the trench alongside Mo Jiuye.
Ahead, more obstructing brambles awaited, but having found their bearings, the two men no longer worried about wandering aimlessly.
After continuing some ways, Mo Jiuye, still walking in front, suddenly felt something soft depress under his foot. Glancing down, he saw that he had trodden directly onto the back of a rainbow frog!
At the same time, countless similar rainbow frogs began hopping towards the two men from all directions.
Even the normally unflappable Mo Jiuye broke out into a cold sweat at this sight. During their ordeal at the bottom of Si Meng Mountain Villa’s well, he and his wife had already encountered these rainbow frogs before. Their skin oozed toxins from every pore.
In other words, even though he had only stepped on one rainbow frog, the possibility that its toxins had already entered his system could not be discounted.
He immediately popped an antidote pill into his mouth, reminding Sixth elder brother to also ready one and take it at once if he made any skin contact with the rainbow frogs.
Concurrently, he scattered realgar powder around them.
Last time at Si Meng Mountain Villa, it had been Rice Ball who tamed these rainbow frogs, so Mo Jiuye was uncertain if the realgar powder would still be effective now.
