Wilderness Survival with Druid System-Chapter 472 - 21: The Cave

Outside, Chen Wen’s disappearance caused a minor stir, but Xu Yong soon calmed everyone down.

"It seems he’s entered a region of geomagnetic anomalies; there shouldn’t be danger, but to get in contact again will rely on luck,"

Xu Yong said, instructing someone to notify Team One: "Tell them to proceed cautiously; it’s best to wait for Chen Wen’s return before going further."

Team One received the message and decided to stay put for the time being.

Waiting for news from Chen Wen.

...

A cave beside the lake area.

"A karst topography erosion cave."

Outside the cave, Chen Wen saw clearly how it was formed.

Then, wielding a stick he found, Chen Wen slowly approached, tapping the shrubs along the way.

He entered the cave.

Chen Wen immediately noticed the pile of human garbage at the cave’s edge.

This is way too much!

"There’s no way three people could produce this much garbage in a few days, there must be at least ten or more involved!"

Chen Wen said as he sifted through the trash heap.

They were all portable food packages.

Judging by appearance and dates, this trash was left recently.

No longer than a week old.

"Could they have found the four missing tourists and stayed here with them?"

Chen Wen tried to reconstruct the situation but soon gave up.

The trash gave no further clues, so he decided to look for other traces.

Chen Wen, accompanied by a bobcat and a yellow-throated marten, searched for signs of human waste nearby.

As expected, he found a pile of waste on a relatively flat surface outside the cave.

Suppressing his disgust, Chen Wen examined it carefully, deepening his suspicions.

There were definitely more than ten people in this cave!

The timing wasn’t uniform, with a clear sequence of events.

Could there be more lost tourists?

Or perhaps someone residing inside the mountain?

With numerous questions in mind, Chen Wen abandoned further search efforts.

He noted the cave’s location and, as night fully enveloped, resolutely took off.

He headed back with the three animals.

Feeling close to the lake’s edge, Chen Wen landed in a spot he previously passed.

He switched to walking.

He instructed the still-excited bobcat and yellow-throated marten to search for traces of Team One.

Their keen sense of smell didn’t disappoint.

They quickly led Chen Wen back near Team One’s temporary camp.

Hearing footsteps outside the camp, Team One members raised their guard.

"It’s me, Team Two."

Chen Wen spoke in time, dispelling everyone’s alertness.

Seeing Chen Wen return so late, Team Leader 01 sensed that Chen Wen might have discovered something.

He immediately contacted Xu Yong and opened the communications device.

Xu Yong hurriedly climbed out of bed and came to the communications equipment, listening to Chen Wen’s report.

"I found a cave, inside..."

Chen Wen quickly relayed the cave situation.

Upon hearing there might be more people, everyone was stunned.

Xu Yong checked recent information and said, "Currently, there are only eight known missing persons reported in Ailao Mountain: four tourists and four guides. Zhou Zhijian has been rescued, so that’s seven people. Could you have mistaken? No, that shouldn’t be possible."

Xu Yong quickly dismissed his own guess.

"That implies there are unknown individuals in Ailao Mountain and they’ve possibly interacted with the seven missing persons."

Team Leader 01 suggested, "Given this, tomorrow morning we’ll split into two teams: one will stay here, and the other will join Chen Wen to check the cave’s situation."

"Considering the geomagnetic anomalies, we’ll return after exploring before continuing the rescue efforts."

With no other solutions, 01’s plan received unanimous approval from everyone present.

...

The next morning, the team divided again, with Team Leader 01, members 04, 06, 09, and Chen Wen, along with the military dog Black Tiger and three other beasts, advancing further.

The rest stayed at camp.

Having traveled this road yesterday, Chen Wen was quite familiar with the terrain.

Combined with everyone’s good physical fitness,

They reached the vicinity of the cave by noon.

"Indeed, the geomagnetic anomaly here disables electronic devices,"

Looking at the communication device flashing red, 09 shrugged: "Also, we don’t know the extent of the anomaly. Communicating will be troublesome."

"Let’s put that aside for now."

04, after checking the traces, came to the same conclusion as Chen Wen.

Moreover, he found some footprints around the cave.

He divided them into two groups: one leading deeper into the cave, the other moving toward the lake’s edge.

seemed adept in matters of footprints.

By comparing shapes of earlier footprints, he confirmed those heading to the lake edge were left by the missing persons.

As for those deeper within,

said, "They’re not from any missing individuals; the person should be an adult male, quite strong."

"What should we do now?"

said, feeling a bit thirsty.

He retrieved a canteen and took a few gulps of water.

Having run in mosquito-proof clothing, he looked as if he’d just taken a shower.

Team Leader 01 remarked, "According to the original plan, we should head back, but... Chen Wen, it seems like you have something to say?"

Chen Wen nodded, saying, "Going back would be too time-consuming. You all should return; I’ll continue deeper."

"I’m confident of my safety, and I’ll keep trying to communicate with the outside world. As soon as I’m out of the anomaly’s range, we’ll make contact."

Team Leader 01 and member 06 discussed briefly and decided to support Chen Wen’s idea.

"Do you need 04 and 09 with you? One’s good at tracking footprints, and the other’s skilled in tracking scents with the military dog."

Team Leader 01 asked.

Chen Wen chuckled, pointing to his yellow-throated marten and bobcat: "Desert is adept at tracking footprints, while Huang Feng has an extremely keen sense of smell; it was the one that led me to the camp last night."

"Alright then, stay safe."

...

After bidding farewell to Team One, Chen Wen had the yellow-throated marten and bobcat lead the way, continuing his search deeper into the mountain.

Team Leader 01 watched as Chen Wen’s figure gradually vanished into the mountain terrain, then turned to his team.

"Can the camera still function?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"Yes."

answered.

"Then take photos of the footprints and surrounding traces; we’ll head back soon. 04, take a break, you’ve worked hard."

Team Leader 01 remarked, seeing 04 soaked as if he’d just been pulled from a river.

nodded.

He certainly needed to rest.

drank another two gulps before finding his canteen empty.

He tolerated his parched throat and glanced around.

Last night’s rain was brief, and his teammates didn’t have much water either.

Team Leader 01 noticed a stream of spring water trickling down from above at the cave entrance, hesitating briefly.

Generally, flowing water is much cleaner than stagnant water.

Considering this, he decided to fill some canteens.

In past wilderness training, he’d done similar with no issues of diarrhea.

With a filled canteen, 04 took large gulps of cool, refreshing mountain spring water, feeling deeply content.

...

With the information relayed,

Xu Yong was a bit bewildered.

There really are extra people!

"But just footprints don’t reveal much,"

Xu Yong lamented, instructing someone to visit nearby villages to inquire if any locals haven’t been seen recently.

But right after Xu Yong’s message went out,

Among the crowd, a local youth seemed uneasy.

Once back at his place, he quickly dialed a number on his phone.

However, the phone only repeated a mechanical voice: The user you are trying to reach has powered off, please try again later!

Oh no!

Where have they gone?

Why can’t I reach them!

The young man paced back and forth in agitation, this scene witnessed by another who had come looking for him.

This observer was Wang Hu, a local youth who once crossed paths with Chen Wen.

Wang Hu, noticing his friend’s unusual behavior, felt a growing sense of mystery.