Chapter 79

That night, Cloudy actually didn't get much sleep. Most of the time, she kept her eyes closed and listened to the sounds around her with her ears. Fortunately, no large wild beasts passed by her small tent that night, but unfortunately, countless insects crawled onto her.

For Cloudy, this was already a common occurrence. Insects... one must learn to live with them, just as she had to get used to Titus's appearance.

Resting poorly at night, Cloudy was still full of energy. As soon as day broke, she started making a camouflage suit from tree leaves, arming herself from head to toe before hastily setting off. This group of wild people hunted like water droplets merging into a lake, making it impossible to track them. But now the situation was different - Titus's kidnapping was sudden, the enemies originally came to track their prey...

Tracking the prey, conflicts with settlements, the prey escaping, and then planning to seize the settlement's resources, only to be intercepted in the resource struggle and ultimately kidnapping Titus. Nothing was going according to the enemies' plan. Moreover, considering Titus's size, his struggle must have been terrifying. Therefore, Cloudy believed that there would definitely be many traces along the way, as long as she observed carefully enough, she would be able to find them.

While searching for traces, Cloudy also collected food along the way. Unfortunately, most edible things in the surrounding forest had been scavenged by the settlement, so Cloudy could only pick some edible grass from the ground. When she came across tree hollows, she would stop and poke inside with a stick to see if there were any larvae to supplement her protein intake.

After advancing in a zigzag shape for about 5 kilometers, Cloudy found the first trace - many chaotic footprints on the mud between the bushes. Thanks to the abundance of animal feces in that area, the footprints were very clear.

The feces were relatively fresh, estimated to have been left yesterday morning or at night, the work of a large animal. Cloudy squatted down, held her breath, and prodded the nearest feces with a stick, confirming its hardness and moisture... After careful examination, Cloudy determined that the feces were left the night before, and the footprints were made after that.

The group had not left long ago. She stood up and changed her angle to observe the direction of the footprints. These were not left by people chased out from the settlement. If they were, the footprints should have been straight ahead rather than a mess. Unless they had discovered something here or encountered something to struggle with.

Cloudy expanded her search area. Just the messy footprints couldn't lead to any specific conclusions. She searched every patch of grass and tree within 10 meters of the footprints' center. Eventually, to the east of the footprints, she found another set of footprints, this time more blurry, imprinted on moss and mud. Cloudy couldn't discern how many people had left them, but knowing their direction was enough.

She quickened her pace forward. The locals moved many times faster than her, given her current.
Before Cloudy's eyes lay a jungle so dense it resembled a brush, with branches hanging down from trees and sprouting from the earth, intertwining to ensnare anyone completely. Cloudy, trapped in the vegetation like a humble reptile, used a tree branch in her hand to push aside the tangle of leaves obstructing her path. Her hands were sore, her legs growing weary, yet she couldn't stop. As she moved forward quickly, she kept an eye out for any traces left by others.

Every fifty steps, Cloudy paused to mark the nearest plant. If it was a tree trunk, she would carve a triangle missing its top with a stone; if it was a broadleaf, she would tear out a square-shaped hollow with her hands.

These markings served not only to ensure she didn't get lost but also to confirm she was still walking in a straight line. The further she advanced, the larger the plants grew, making Cloudy realize she might be nearing the edge of the rainforest's central zone. She recalled Titus mentioning that their settlement was situated at the very edge of the rainforest, and the true heart of the rainforest was entirely different.

"...," Cloudy completely understood Titus's meaning. Just then, as she thought about it, she passed by a half-human-height "mushroom." Moss had also grown larger, with everything except the stones increasing in size exponentially. Cloudy had to halt, gazing at the enormous plants before her, starting to feel afraid.

As the plants grew so large, it meant... just as she pondered this, she noticed the vine that was originally hanging motionless on a nearby tree trunk wriggle twice and then move a few centimeters to the left.

Was it a massive mimic insect or a mimic wild beast? Cloudy's face turned pale as she slowly crouched down, hiding herself in the bushes. Should she continue forward? The changes in the rainforest were too immense, causing her to feel disoriented for a moment. Since she had discovered footprints, she had already covered about 10 kilometers. Along the way, Cloudy had come across suspicious bloodstains and some obvious fur.

The direction was correct... Cloudy stared at the nearest massive tree, swallowing hard. The tree was covered with many droplet-shaped tan granules, resembling diseased bark or eggs laid by insects on the trunk. Each one was as big as her head.

Could she really continue forward? Cloudy wrapped herself completely in a cloak of leaves, resembling a stone sprouting foliage, as she lay on the ground pondering carefully. She could kill a one-meter-high insect with a branch and a stone, but what about a three-meter one? Or even more? What if it wasn't an insect but a dinosaur with teeth?

Feeling that continuing this line of thought might as well lead her to dig a grave and bury herself on the spot, Cloudy raised her head and forcefully tapped the ground a few times, trying to clear her mind. There were clues along the way; it would be a shame to give up now. She could always proceed slower, lighter, following the traces, and she would find a way forward.

And the way forward, slower and lighter...
Crawling slowly forward on all fours, Cloudy continued her exploration in a zigzag pattern close to the ground, benefiting from the proximity to spot footprints and adjust her direction promptly. However, after crawling for a few hundred meters, Cloudy had a close encounter with a pile of wild human limbs on the ground.

Unable to scream or make any sudden movements, she buried her face in the soil at the thought of screaming, the unique stench making her even more uncomfortable. After calming down for a few minutes, she slowly raised her head to gaze at the exposed muscles and bones of the limbs.

From the joints and details, it seemed to be a thigh, with a not-too-strong odor of decay, only a hint of blood. Many insects attracted by the smell of blood crawled around the severed limbs, gnawing on the flesh.

Cloudy had to stand up and search the area cautiously. As it was a fresh corpse, she needed to investigate quickly, as the smell of blood could attract larger animals soon. Scattered a few meters ahead were the more pungent internal organs, with the head lying near them, half of its face already gnawed off. Cloudy, suppressing her fear, carefully examined the face.

Completely unrecognizable, it must have been an enemy... She stood up, holding back nausea, and looked around the plants...

"...?"

Cloudy widened her eyes in disbelief, ignoring the urgency of her footsteps as she hurried forward, examining a thick vine hanging in mid-air, which indeed bore a triangle without a tip.

She hadn't marked this spot before, and only Titus, who had tracked her before, would know about this marking!

The wreckage in the bushes must have been caused by Titus's resistance, but why leave a mark here after successfully killing the enemy? Wouldn't Titus be able to return to the settlement on his own?

Cloudy couldn't resist reaching out to touch the mark Titus had left. It was drawn very large, while her marks were usually the size of a fingernail to avoid being seen. Titus's mark was as big as a fist... Finding Titus's mark was a good thing, but it also left Cloudy feeling puzzled. She didn't think Titus would assume "Cloudy will come to rescue me," so why leave this mark?

"Cloudy...?"

A sound from behind made Cloudy turn around and see a somewhat familiar figure, a hunter from the settlement. His name seemed to be Kama, the first hunter to leave the settlement to bring back Titus.

Kama was one of the older hunters in the settlement, with extensive tracking experience. "You're Cloudy, right?" he walked over briskly, removing the leaves from Cloudy's head, and upon confirming those dreadful eyes, he appeared even more puzzled: "Why are you here? This place is near the center of the rainforest, not where the mothers come; you'll die here."

"I came to find Titus."
After Cloudy relaxed a bit, she pointed to the mark on the vine and said, "Did you see this just now? This was left by Titus."

"Titus? Why? This isn't a mark from the settlement." Carma had not paid attention when checking the corpses; he thought it was a symbol from the enemy settlement.

Cloudy briefly explained and told Carma that after he left the settlement, two others came out to find Titus. "Why aren't they here?"

"I didn't encounter them; they probably took a different route to find Titus. Those are people from the settlement, we know how to get there. But I found these bodies, I need to know what happened." Carma pointed to the limbs still emitting a fresh scent in the bushes. "If Titus was killed halfway, we'd be in danger chasing after him."

Cloudy didn't like Carma's statement, but she didn't dare argue with him. "Titus isn't dead, he won't die. Titus is very skilled."

"I know Titus is skilled, but before he was captured, he smelled a flower." Carma made a sniffing motion. "Titus doesn't use it often; he*..."

The flower... smelling the flower, Cloudy instantly recalled the blue thing that the Matriarch gave her when she first arrived at the settlement. Smelling it would induce a pleasant dizziness. Titus had mentioned that he didn't like using that flower.

Cloudy felt a chill down her spine. If Titus smelled that flower and lost his fighting ability, not just anyone could kill him.

"We need to leave quickly." Cloudy bravely grabbed Carma's arm. "Titus definitely isn't dead, trust me."