Chapter 263: Second Night: Deduction

The people here did leave calmly, but this calmness was not the usual kind; the circumstances of their departure must have been highly unusual.

I had actually noticed the suspicious point Poker-face mentioned, but I didn't pay much attention because it could be explained by some complicated reasons. When he brought it up, I nodded, but I said, "Maybe not all of them went. That place is so dangerous; maybe some stayed behind."

Poker-face shook his head: "If someone stayed behind, there would be no need to leave a message. This kind of note is only left on the assumption that everyone is leaving. And Wu Sansheng wouldn't tell his men he was prepared to die—that's a major taboo. He must have written it at the very end, when all his men had already left. Would those men have gone with him to die?"

But that still doesn't explain the state of the camp. Unless they found the entrance, got so excited they forgot to bring anything, and just walked in. But that's impossible.

Fatty grunted, obviously finding this very reasonable. He took a drink of water, frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "This is really weird, kind of messy. If we think from the beginning we'll never figure it out. We need to deduce backward from the end."

Fatty always had ideas, especially at times like this. I asked him how to deduce backward. He said, "We know a lot of results in this matter, but we don't know the process. So we have to start from the results. First, take the writing. According to Xiao Ge's reasoning, the message is here, meaning they all left, and no one could have stayed behind. So with so many backpacks here, that means there were fewer people than backpacks. This..."

Fatty got stuck halfway through his sentence, as if he had trouble saying what he'd deduced. But I already understood what he meant: fewer people than backpacks, and a lot fewer.

That meant many people had died.

And that death had occurred after they set up camp here.

There was a silence, then Fatty continued, "Something must have happened here or nearby, a huge sudden event. There's no sign of violence here, so the event must have taken place around the camp. Something must have made them leave the camp then never come back. But your Third Uncle survived, found the entrance with the remaining people, and left. That should be the process."

That enlightened me, but I also spotted a flaw. I shook my head and said, "No, under normal circumstances, survivors would definitely leave this place. They wouldn't be in the mood to look for the entrance, then come back and leave a mark."

"Then they must have found the entrance before the incident happened," Fatty amended.

I nodded, and Poker-face also nodded. He murmured, "Perhaps it was exactly that sudden event that made them discover the entrance."

"Possible, but there's no way to confirm that, and it doesn't matter," Fatty said. "Anyway, this shit of a theory works."

"So, what was the sudden event?" I asked, feeling a bit creeped out. "Could it be those snakes?"

Fatty looked around at the darkness and the rainforest that had sunk into the void, and said, "Don't worry. While you were asleep, Xiao Ge and I got some buckets of mud. Later we'll smear it on the tents. Whoever stands watch will also smear it on themselves, so we don't have to worry about those wild chicken necks. But this place is filled with evil energy. There might be other creepy things. And the incident must happen at night. We need to stay alert. And remember, no matter what happens, never leave camp."

I nodded and said, "Then I'll take the first watch."

Poker-face shook his head: "You two are not alert enough. If our judgment is correct, this sudden event will be extremely dangerous. I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it. I'll stand watch all night. You two get a good rest."