After leaving the simple hut, Sha Yi led the way, retracing the route from the previous night.
However, this was a secluded path. The further they walked, the denser the forest became. It seemed they would have to circle around and cross the makeshift bridge formed by a fallen tree to enter another part of the forest before finally making their way out.
The storm had yet to begin, and the thick foliage overhead lessened the already slowing rain. Though the journey took some time, aside from the dim light and the occasional slippery patches of wet ground, everything else remained within normal and acceptable limits.
But when they reached the low-lying river, a real problem arose.
The massive tree they had crossed the night before was no longer spanning the water. In just one night, the water level had risen significantly. Where the tree had once lain, only broken vines remained, thrashing violently in the turbulent current.
After standing and staring for a while, Sha Yi finally sighed in resignation and gestured for her to turn back.
Nodding, Sha Yi obediently followed his lead, though a strange unease settled in her heart.
The thunderstorm and heavy rain from the previous night had indeed been more severe than the previous two days, but it shouldn’t have been enough to wash away such a massive tree. She had noticed the rising water level, but the tree was already somewhat decayed, covered in parasitic plants. It was unlikely that buoyancy alone could have carried it away.
Unable to resist, Sha Yi glanced back at the flowing river. In that brief look, she unexpectedly noticed that not only had the water level risen, but the dark, murky substance she had observed the night before had also become more distinct.
It didn’t seem like riverbed silt… Instead, it resembled a thick, viscous, paste-like liquid—denser than water, insoluble, and possibly airtight.
For a moment, Sha Yi thought of petroleum, but she dismissed the idea almost immediately.
What she saw was a black, paste-like substance settled at the riverbed. Normally, petroleum has a lower density than water and should float on the surface. Moreover, unextracted petroleum should be buried deep underground, not clinging to the visible surface. Unless caused by rare tectonic shifts—but the chances of that were slim, and if such a shift had occurred, they likely wouldn’t have survived at all!
So what was it?
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Sha Yi stole another glance. This time, she spotted bubbles of varying sizes separating from the black substance near the surface. These bubbles rose through the water and burst at the surface, leaving behind faint traces of an oily sheen.
Now Sha Yi was truly baffled. The oily residue left by the bubbles did indeed float on the water’s surface, suggesting that the substance had a lower density than water. Earlier, she had dismissed the possibility of it being petroleum, but now it seemed plausible.
As for petroleum, it shouldn’t naturally exist on the surface. But perhaps, due to tectonic movements long ago, underground petroleum had leaked and mixed with groundwater, causing it to rise.
As for why it now settled at the riverbed, it might have… adhered to something else?
Sha Yi wasn’t sure if her speculation was correct, but for now, it seemed reasonable.
Yet she couldn’t explain why the water level in this part of the river was higher than in other branches.
Walking with Sha Yi, she had noticed several pools of standing water. Given the low-lying, poorly drained nature of this forest and considering atmospheric pressure, it was theoretically impossible for connected bodies of water to have uneven surfaces under the same conditions.
What could be the reason?
Lost in thought, she suddenly collided with Sha Yi’s back when he abruptly stopped ahead.
She let out a small cry, stumbling a few steps before losing her balance. Just as she was about to fall, Sha Yi swiftly reached out and caught her by the waist, steadying her.
Sha Yi gestured for her to rest, and she didn’t hesitate, immediately leaning against the nearest small tree and sitting down.
The journey had been long, and the forest was undeniably difficult to traverse—uneven, unpredictable terrain, alternating between hard and soft patches, with strange slopes and slippery surfaces. Even Sha Yi, a man of this ancient era, found it exhausting, let alone her.
The torch was nearly extinguished, and Sha Yi busied himself searching for dry branches to revive the flame. But due to the dampness from the rain, finding dry wood wasn’t easy. Sha Yi, knowing she couldn’t help much, obediently sat and rested.
However, before she could even settle in, she felt something thick and sticky against her back.
Her entire body stiffened. The sensation was both disgusting and horrifying. After a long moment of no further movement, she mustered her courage and slowly turned around.
When she finally saw what had stuck to her, her face twisted in disbelief.
Perhaps the constant shocks and terrors of this ancient world had made her overly paranoid…
The horrifying substance clinging to her was nothing more than tree resin!
Freshly secreted, thick, and sticky—just resin! And here she was, nearly losing her mind over it!
Sha Yi couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. In frustration, she reached out and tugged at the sticky resin. But in that instant, an idea flashed through her mind, and her heart leaped with excitement. She immediately called out to Sha Yi.
This was a stroke of luck—what perfect, ready-made fuel! As the saying goes, everything in nature has its counterpart. Where there are things that kill and destroy, there are also things that save and sustain. How true!
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