I was too slow. It didn't block, and I took a solid hit on the head with a stick.Something sticky was on my head. I reached up to touch it, and then a stick smashed into my head, making me bleed.I onl..."I... I can't do it anymore, I can't hold on," Dr. An said with a pale face. As soon as she finished speaking, her body began to sink at an alarming rate.

My heart was pounding with anxiety, but I couldn't move. I yelled with red eyes, but all I could do was watch Dr. An sink little by little.

Just at this critical moment.

"Slap... A piece of rotten wood was thrown in front of us."

I looked toward the shore and saw a slender figure standing not far from us. It wasn't clear if it was a man or a woman, and they looked a bit like a child. They wore a hat woven from straw and tattered clothes. They were pacing anxiously in place as they watched us.

This rotten piece of wood is what he threw over.

My life depended on it. I didn't have time to think. I grabbed the piece of wood and threw myself onto it, my upper body lying flat on top.

Red Sister also, like me, immediately hugged the piece of wood.

"Hand! Quickly! Give me your hand!" Dr. An was sinking down, and at this moment, seeing a glimmer of hope, she burst with a powerful will to survive.

The research fellow yelled and pulled her hands out. Red Sister and I seized the opportunity, grabbing her wrists from left and right.

"Get up!"

"Hong Jie....use all your strength!" I used every ounce of my energy.

Fortunately, Dr. An was thin and light. With Red Sister and me supporting her with pieces of driftwood, we managed to pull her up with all our strength.

This tugging caused intense pain in my left arm. I had always thought the previous injury to my left arm was a fracture, but after a few days, the pain subsided and it felt better. I think there might have been a misdiagnosis before. It could have been a torn ligament or a small hairline fracture instead.

In the distance, that short fellow with a bark-covered straw hat saw us being rescued. He immediately waved his hands and jumped up and down, gesturing to us excitedly.

Hong Jie was sweating profusely and panting, "Grab the wood tightly, all three of us together! I'll count to three and then we start pulling!"

"One, two, three!"

"Come on! Move forward!"

Hard work pays off. With this piece of wood for support, the three of us finally made it to safety. It was this wood that saved us, or perhaps, the person who just helped us.

Exhausted, I bent over, my hands resting on my knees as I gasped for breath. At the same time, I looked in that direction.

"Where...where is everyone" I looked around and realized that the person wearing the straw hat was gone.

Now that place is deserted, with no one in sight. There are only footprints left on the ground.

Several of us had mud all over our lower bodies. As I walked past, looking at the footprints left on the ground, I frowned and noticed something was amiss.

The footprints in the mud clearly show that they were made barefoot. However, what's strange is this...

Most people have five toes, but the footprints left behind clearly show only four toes. It's very obvious.

I suddenly recalled the slender figure of that man just now, resembling a child. Red Sister and I exchanged glances, our faces paling with alarm!

Both Red Sister and I blurted out almost at the same time.

"Mountain demon!"

These footprints, and that height, who could this be! Where is this child wearing a straw hat! It's clearly the mountain devil we saw before!

I stared at Hong Jie, my expression incredulous. "Hong...Hong Jie, was it that thing that saved us How is that possible..."

Hongjie looked at the row of footprints stretching into the distance and said in a low voice, "Yunfeng, have you noticed That thing was wearing a straw hat woven from bark, and it was also wearing ragged clothes that seemed to be picked up somewhere. Its whole body was tattered and torn. If it were really a mountain goblin, it shouldn't belong to the same tribe as the previous group of goblins with black hats.

">

This line of footprints extends all the way to the darkness ahead. Hongjie pointed to the ground and said, “Since this thing saved us, it at least shows that it's not hostile towards us.”

">

Let's follow these footprints and see where they lead.

"

" Let me know if you have other text you'd like translated!e, use your leg strength, don't cling to it so tightly with your bare hands."">We three continued walking forward.There's a large space down here, with clear signs of human excavation on the walls. Th...