Night Fire stared at the thing in the pool for a while, then breathed a sigh of relief and shouted, "It's okay, there's a corpse in the water. I thought it was infected, but it seems to be almost rotted and eaten by fish."

After saying that, Night Fire untied the rope and jumped into the water.

The pool was very deep, and Night Fire called out to the others to come down.

Everyone plunged into the water one after another.

Yang Chen enthusiastically jumped down, helping Left Envoy Yang to the shore.

Once ashore, Yang Chen immediately took out a blanket from the water pack and wrapped it around Left Envoy Yang's body, covering that exquisite figure.

Her clothes, soaked and sticking to her body, outlined her shape almost perfectly.

If it were just the two of them, Yang Chen would surely pretend not to notice and admire quietly.

But with so many people around, Yang Chen feared even a glance from someone else.

Beside them, Meng Po gave Yang Chen a resentful look, pulling out a blanket from her own backpack to cover herself.

Her situation was much the same as Left Envoy Yang's, with wet clothes clinging to her body, uncomfortable and embarrassing.

Helplessly, Yang Chen's mind wasn't on her at all, so she had to take care of herself.

Night Fire pulled Zhang Shaoting to the shore and said, "There was a corpse in the water earlier, I thought... Ah! Something bit me!"

Immediately, Night Fire leaped up onto the shore.

Bang!

The thing on Night Fire's leg was ripped out of the water, startling everyone in sight.

It was a fish, but not exactly a fish.

This creature had the appearance of a fish, but without eyes and a mouth. Where a mouth should be, there were vine-like tentacles, all pierced into Night Fire's leg!

"Grab it!" Yang Chen shouted angrily, rushing over, ready to grab the creature.

"Don't move!" Night Fire stopped Yang Chen.

Yang Cao hurried over to hold Yang Chen back, shouting to everyone, "Everyone, step back!"

Yang Cao immediately realized that this fish was certainly influenced by parasites and had mutated. If Yang Chen recklessly grabbed the creature with his hands, he would surely get hurt and might even be infected!

They absolutely could not let that happen.

Purple Cultivator went up to hold back Yang Chen.

Yang Chen's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Night Fire and said, "Hurry! Tie off the leg!"

Night Fire gritted his teeth and yanked off his belt, tying it tightly around his upper thigh!

This could block the blood flow, preventing any parasites from entering the bloodstream. However, they didn't know if these parasites spread through the blood.

Yang Cao quickly put on rubber gloves, wrapped two towels around his hands, and reached out to grab the roughly sixty-centimeter-long creature!

As Yang Cao grabbed the creature, he was violently tugged forward, nearly falling to the ground!

It was evident how strong this thing was!

Yang Cao steadied himself and pulled hard on the creature.

Pain flashed across Night Fire's face.

Yang Chen couldn't help but clench his fists, breathing heavily, his eyes bloodshot as if he could feel Night Fire's pain himself.

"Night Fire!" Yang Chen gritted his teeth and shouted, "Hold on even if it hurts! I brought you in here today; I'll get you out! If you dare die here, don't think I'll bury you. If you dare lay here, I'll drag you out and whip you!"

Night Fire gave a grim smile, clenching his teeth, "Boss, don't worry, I won't give you that chance!"

Eighteen tentacles, each over twenty centimeters long, were harshly pulled out, barbs dragging along flesh and blood; the pain Night Fire endured was evident.

The monster struggled, its eighteen tendrils waving, trying to attack Yang Cao.

Yang Cao flung it to the ground, sprinkled some powder over it, then covered it with a towel, sealing it in a bag, and vacuum-sealed it to preserve it.

He glanced at Night Fire and said, "We'll take this thing out when we leave and examine it to find out what it is!"

Night Fire nodded slightly, his face ashen.

Yang Chen approached Night Fire and asked Yang Cao, "Is this thing infected by those parasites too?"

"Not certain yet!" Yang Cao sprinkled some hemostatic powder on Night Fire's leg and stood up, heading to the edge of the pool.

The light shone on the pool, revealing some corpses floating on the surface.

These corpses wore ancient guard armor but unlike those above, they didn't seem controlled by parasites.

Yang Cao used a hiking stick to fish out a corpse.

The corpse had been gnawed almost beyond recognition, but hadn't yet rotted from being submerged.

Yang Cao inspected it, determining that this body had been infected too, but had fallen in.

However, Yang Cao didn't understand why the body had lost its self-repair capability.

"For now, it's uncertain, but this creature was definitely infected," Yang Cao observed Night Fire's wound and added, "However, Night Fire hasn't shown any signs of infection."

Yang Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief at that.

Just then, the fished-out corpse suddenly twitched.

Yang Cao noticed and hurried over to inspect.

Incredibly, the areas bitten began to squirm and heal again.

Was it recovering?

Yang Cao was amazed.

But the rest of the body showed no such signs.

A hypothesis forming in his mind, Yang Cao quickly filled a bottle with water and poured it over the corpse.

Instantly, the regeneration stopped!

"It's the water!" Yang Cao exclaimed, "The water can suppress the parasite's activity, putting them into a dormant state!"

Yang Chen urgently asked, "Then is Night Fire infected?"

Yang Cao shook his head, "It's still uncertain; Night Fire shows no signs of infection, but..."

Yang Cao didn't finish, packing a few bottles of water for future experiments.

Simultaneously, he pushed the corpse back into the water.

After treating Night Fire's wound, Yang Cao said, "We can't say anything for sure right now. We'll have to wait until we get back for a thorough examination!"

Yang Chen's face grew somber.

He didn't want to lose another brother!

Night Fire gave a grim smile, "Boss, don't worry, I've got a strong constitution; I won't get infected!"

Watching Night Fire, a complex expression crossed Yang Chen's face.

"Brother Chen… I…" Zhang Shaoting felt very guilty; if he hadn't insisted on coming down, none of this would have happened.

Yang Chen glanced at him, and said to Night Fire, "Rest here for now; once we're done, we'll get you out."

Night Fire nodded; his current condition wasn't suited for continuing the mission.

Yang Chen stood up, looking towards the rope; the Xiang family members had already descended.

Purple Cultivator cautioned, "Don't go into the water! There's something in it!"

But it was too late; Xiang Xingyu, in a rush, had already jumped into the water.

The others followed him down.

Everyone tensed up, watching the water for any signs.

Xiang Xingyu climbed ashore smoothly, and the others emerged unscathed as well.

The rest also jumped into the water...