Of course, when Sha Yi belatedly realized she had repeated the same mistake in that terrifying forest, she was speechless yet again, but there was nothing she could do.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t find the bamboo grove she had visited before—the real issue was that she didn’t know where Xi Yi had hung the ochre-colored vines or where the lightning had struck.
Especially since she was alone now.
The sudden incident from earlier that morning still sent chills down her spine just thinking about it.
As for the Pasa tree cluster, she only knew the name and not what they looked like, making the search even more troublesome. Seeing the dark clouds overhead pressing down again, Sha Yi grew anxious but could only wander aimlessly.
After circling several times between the strangely shaped trees and the bamboo grove, she finally spotted a trail of chaotic footprints.
They led far around the bamboo grove, turning behind an inconspicuous, oddly shaped sapling into a deep, secluded area.
Logically, this place was almost adjacent to what she believed was the metal mining area, with little distance between them. Yet, these so-called Pasa trees showed no signs of heavy metal ion contamination. Instead, they towered several meters high in an astonishing manner. Though not as tall as those in the original settlement, the tallest among them had to be at least twenty to thirty meters.
Moreover, their smooth, glossy trunks were eye-catching—utterly uniform without even a single small branch, which was rare.
If such massive trees were indeed felled, making rafts would be relatively easier. Additionally, the bamboo grove was nearby, making it much more convenient to harvest its resin.
Despite her excitement, Sha Yi didn’t forget her original purpose of finding Xi Yi.
The nearby areas were all intact, so she figured Xi Yi and the others must have gone to the actual site of the thunderstorm’s destruction.
With that in mind, she didn’t linger and quickly followed the footprints.
When she finally saw the scene of broken branches strewn everywhere and utter devastation in the distance, Sha Yi was still taken aback.
The extent of the damage was probably no less than that of the settlement nearly wiped out by the thunderstorm in the terrifying forest.
A large number of giant trees had been split in half, while others, barely standing, had crashed down and smashed everything in their path. Some of the shorter Pasa trees had even had their crowns struck, their large leaves scattered messily on the ground. Mixed with mud and moisture and piled with dozens of thick trunks, the scene looked utterly chaotic.
Still, despite the destruction, the Pasa tree cluster was vast and expansive. This single area of damage likely wouldn’t have much impact. Given the density of the trees, as long as the next logging site wasn’t set here, soil erosion probably wouldn’t be an issue.
Sha Yi felt slightly relieved.
Meanwhile, Xi Yi immediately spotted her and rushed over in a panic. After pulling her aside and confirming she was unharmed, he finally relaxed and led her toward the jumbled mess of fallen trunks. “Look here,” he gestured.
Following his direction, she saw the faintly glowing ochre vines hanging from the broken trees. The previously withered vines now appeared exceptionally vibrant, their entire bodies smooth and glossy—likely due to the lightning strike. A slight shift in her gaze revealed their dense roots had already embedded themselves into the Pasa trunks.
But Xi Yi didn’t seem to want her to focus on the vines. Seeing her staring at them, he grew impatient and pulled her forward a few more steps. “Sha Yi, look at these trunks.”
From the initial angle, due to her height, she could only see the vines. But after moving forward and changing positions, Sha Yi caught sight of what lay beneath the massive trees at once, her heart skipping a beat.
No wonder there had been no sign of predators after the incident with the new horse—they had met their end here!
Under several giant trunks, the ground was drenched in blood, a thick, overwhelming crimson soaking the earth. Crushed beneath the weight were a massive snake and an unknown, enormous beast.
The blood seemed to belong to the beast, but its head was already inside the snake’s mouth, making it impossible to identify. Judging by their positions, Sha Yi guessed the beast had been ensnared by the snake, fought back fiercely, and though the snake was overpowered, the beast had worse luck—likely struck by lightning while near a Pasa tree, dying on the spot.
Then the snake, thinking it could take advantage, was crushed by falling trees in its attempt to feast. Thus, both perished.
The deafening thunderclap must have been the lightning strike here, followed by the tremendous crash of the Pasa trees collapsing.
Either way, they were lucky.
Neither the beast nor the snake would have been easy to deal with. Take the snake, for example.
She had encountered snakes twice before—the second one was absurdly large and best left unmentioned, while the first was around four to five meters long. This one was somewhere in between. Even half-coiled, it had to be at least seven or eight meters.
If it was this formidable while hungry, swallowing the beast would have expanded its size several times over. Had it not been crushed by the falling trees, they would have been in grave danger.
Since ancient times, snakes have been trickier to handle than beasts, let alone a giant snake with bony plates. She couldn’t help but feel deeply relieved.
Yet, witnessing such a bloody and horrifying scene reignited her fears.
Truth be told, she hadn’t encountered snakes in a while. The old settlement had never had any, but this place not only had fierce beasts but also giant snakes. Even with a group of rongmo for protection, the sight would always unsettle her.
She desperately wanted to find a snake-free haven—even if it meant dealing with other predators, she’d accept it. Her fear of snakes was extreme, and in this world, their size was beyond imagination.
With everything piling up—especially during the rainy season when snakes could traverse both land and water—she even entertained the wild idea of hanging a row of rongmo around the raft once it was built.
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