Chapter 56 Part 2

“Who are you calling unskilled?!” Zhang Jue was arrogant by nature and couldn’t stand being told he was inadequate. He immediately redirected his anger at Ouyang Yuyuan.

Ouyang Yuyuan wasn’t afraid of him. Pinching his nose, he gave him a sidelong glance. “Look at all that mud on you. You should find a place to wash up quick before it dries and becomes impossible to clean.”

Zhang Jue: “…”

His face flushed red. He noticed the others from the program sneaking laughs, so he gritted his teeth and turned to go wash up—he’d settle the score with them later!

Chu Yi warned, “Don’t go that way; there are crocodiles over there…”

Before he finished speaking, Zhang Jue was startled by a crocodile that suddenly poked its head out and tumbled into the mud pit. Only his legs flailed outside—this time, the mud was evenly smeared all over him, erasing that stark line at his neck.

Fu Chengmao was speechless too and had two team members pull Zhang Jue out like yanking a radish.

Zhang Jue was about to explode with rage. He wiped the mud from his face and hopped mad, demanding of Chu Yi, “Again with this? Why didn’t you say so earlier!!”

But before Chu Yi could respond, he yelped and sat on the ground. He took off his shoe to reveal a shard of stone embedded in the sole; his sock was punctured, and blood oozed steadily from the wound.

Chu Yi: “…”

Fu Chengmao had the doctor tend to his foot. Chu Yi frowned and leaned toward the stone shard Zhang Jue had angrily tossed aside, staring at it for a moment.

Ouyang Yuyuan sidled over quietly. “Yi Ge, what are you looking at?”

As soon as he approached, Fu Huaiyan imitated him. Both stared at Chu Yi with wide, curious eyes.

Chu Yi felt like he was babysitting two kids!

He picked it up. “Take a look—what does this resemble?”

Ouyang Yuyuan wasn’t really dumb. He eyed the sharp edge. “This is… a broken porcelain shard?”

“More precisely, it’s a kiln-fired Broken Tile.” Chu Yi tossed it into the mud pit to prevent others from stepping on it.

“How could something like this be in the swamp?”

Chu Yi curved his lips. “That’s a good question…”

No wonder Zhang Jue’s misfortune seemed abnormal. As a Maoshan Sect disciple, his physical abilities and spiritual awareness should surpass ordinary people, yet he was the most wretched among them.

The group rested for a while before continuing onward. As mentioned before, the swamp’s magnetic fields were abnormal. Though Fu Chengmao held a compass, he mostly relied on prior experience for judgment.

But as they walked, everyone sensed something wrong.

“Haven’t we passed this way before? Look at that dead tree—I thought it looked like a person earlier, with a little yellow flower on its ‘head’…”

“Oh no, are we lost again?”

“Why? Doesn’t that soldier have a compass?”

“The compass is useless here—nothing’s normal!”

Fu Chengmao also noticed the anomaly. He conferred with his subordinates and realized that a path they vaguely recognized had suddenly become like Ghost Hitting Wall—no one remembered it anymore.

The Shaman Woman and others pulled out their divination tools again, pointing in all directions, turning the team into a cacophony of arguments.

The Program Group Leader said awkwardly, “How about we listen to Daoist Zhang? Everyone’s seen his skills…”

Though Zhang Jue had been unreliable lately, he had been dependable before, accurately predicting several times with the Luopan Compass.

Fu Chengmao naturally wouldn’t heed him. He asked Chu Yi, “Master Chu, what do you think…”

Chu Yi smiled. “Sure, let’s hear what Zhang Jue says.”

Now they came begging! Zhang Jue felt smug. In his smugness, he even forgot to oppose Chu Yi and confidently pulled out the Luopan Compass. “The hexagram changed to Zhen; the Life Gate is to the east.”

Chu Yi cleared his throat lightly. “Then we’ll head west.”

With such a jinx around, he could save a lot of effort.

“What do you mean by that!” He said east, and Chu Yi pointed west—was this deliberate opposition?

Zhang Jue nearly jumped in fury again, but with his foot injured, he didn’t dare. He turned to Fu Chengmao. “Captain Fu, my master is a Maoshan Sect grandmaster, a Luopan Compass diviner. Who will you listen to?”

Fu Chengmao answered straightforwardly, “Of course, Master Chu.”

Ouyang Yuyuan suggested, “If Master Zhang is so confident, why don’t we split up?”

Zhang Jue glared. “Why should we? If we split, these soldiers come with me!”

Fu Chengmao didn’t want to entertain his nonsense and simply sent scouts ahead in both directions. The Program Group Leader saw this as fresh material and quickly signaled the two cameramen to follow and film.

Fu Chengmao’s scouting involved finding two high points ahead and deploying drones for reconnaissance.

He had expected a wait, but both teams returned after just over ten minutes.

The special forces soldier who checked the east reported with distress, “Our drone was shot down by an unknown creature shortly after takeoff. It sent back this footage before crashing.”

He displayed the control screen. The paused image showed a rocky depression below teeming with densely packed snakes, their patterns vividly colorful… They had nearly stumbled into a snake nest!

Chu Yi glanced at it. “Those are called Tree-dwelling Snakes where we’re from. They can fly; your drone must have been mistaken for prey.”

Everyone gasped upon hearing this. Flying snakes—if they had blundered in, would any survive?

Zhang Jue jumped in shock. “You’re joking—snakes can’t fly!”

The drone operator glanced at him. “We doubted it too, but there was a blurry shadow, like something gliding down from the trees.”

Zhang Jue: “…”

Why was everyone against him!