Long Xiao and Klay drove their off-road vehicle at the front, with other cars following behind. They drove leisurely until nightfall, but still found no trace of a second laboratory.
Camping in the forest at night was extremely dangerous. Everyone ate a hasty meal and then got into their vehicles.
Long Xiao spread out his spiritual energy to survey the surroundings of the vehicles, and only when he detected no danger did he begin to rest.
Just after midnight, Long Xiao heard a rustling sound outside the car, as if something was brushing against the grass. He opened his eyes and looked around. It was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything outside the car window.
Spreading out his spiritual energy, Long Xiao soon spotted a monkey with a human head and a dog with a human head, circling the vehicles.
Seeing these two creatures, Long Xiao was reminded of the organ splicing experiments mentioned by the old wizard.
These were clearly creatures created by splicing human heads onto animals. He didn't know what abilities these mutated monsters possessed, so he didn't act rashly.
A few minutes later, the monkey-man approached the off-road vehicle Long Xiao was in and tugged at the door with its paw.
The car door was locked from the inside, so it couldn't be opened. It then moved to the other side door and tugged at it.
Neither door opened, and the monkey-man seemed to become anxious. It then went to try and open the door of the second off-road vehicle.
The dog-man kept circling the surroundings and showed no intention of trying to open any doors.
Long Xiao opened his car door and got out. The sound of the door opening alerted the dog-man, who ran over.
Since these spliced creatures were no longer considered human, Long Xiao felt no hesitation in killing them.
His spiritual energy surged, and over a dozen dry branches on the ground levitated, encircling the dog-man.
Sensing danger, the dog-man turned to flee. The dry branches whistled through the air, striking its vital points.
Without even a yelp, the dog-man collapsed and lay still.
The monkey-man heard the commotion and turned to look at Long Xiao. It casually picked up a stick from the ground and lunged at Long Xiao with incredible speed.
Before the monkey-man could reach Long Xiao, the door of the third off-road vehicle opened. Xiao Ming's cleaver flew out, striking the monkey-man's neck.
Blood splattered as its head was severed. The monkey's body twitched on the ground.
"Brother Long, what is this thing?" Xiao Ming jumped out of the car and asked, looking at the monkey's body.
"It's likely an experimental subject from a nearby laboratory. We don't know how many there are, so we need to be careful."
"Don't worry, Brother Long. With this kind of combat power, I can handle it myself."
Long Xiao once again spread out his spiritual energy to survey the area. He found only a few brightly colored snakes and no other strange animals, which put him at ease.
Xiao Ming turned back into his car to rest. As Long Xiao opened his car door to get in, he heard a faint sound behind him. He dodged to the side, and a small, colorful snake whizzed past his cheek, over the car roof, and disappeared into the grass.
He spread out his spiritual energy again to observe. A few colorful snakes had climbed into the trees and were staring intently at the vehicles.
Long Xiao found these small snakes to be quite peculiar. Although they looked like snakes on the outside, they seemed to possess human-like thought processes. Could thoughts also be transplanted?
As Long Xiao was momentarily stunned, several small snakes lunged at him from different directions.
He knew he couldn't dodge by simply moving his body, so Long Xiao used the 'Chi Mei Xiao Yao Bu' (Mystic Ghost Free-Roaming Steps) to quickly evade the snakes' attacks.
The colorful snakes, having failed in their initial attack, immediately burrowed into the grass and disappeared. They did not launch a second attack.
Long Xiao felt that these small snakes were extremely dangerous. He quickly spread out his spiritual energy, searching for them around the vehicles.
The colorful snakes seemed highly sensitive to spiritual energy. As soon as Long Xiao's energy touched them, they would quickly flee.
In order to capture them, Long Xiao began to run wildly through the dark forest, using his spiritual energy to track the snakes while moving at his fastest pace.
After ten minutes of pursuit, Long Xiao finally managed to catch one colorful snake. He held it between his fingers and began to examine it.
On the surface, this small snake appeared no different from any other. However, Long Xiao felt something unusual about its eyes.
As Long Xiao looked at the small snake, it gazed back with a pair of red eyes, its pupils darting around as if it were terrified.
The snake's eyes were unlike those of ordinary snakes; they were more akin to human eyes.
"Do you have consciousness? If so, move your eyes," Long Xiao asked.
The small snake indeed moved its eyes. Long Xiao looked at it curiously and asked again, "Did you escape from a laboratory? Is that right?"
The small snake didn't respond. Long Xiao continued, "If you escaped from a laboratory, blink twice."
To his surprise, the small snake blinked twice. It seemed this little snake truly possessed intelligence.
"Is the laboratory far from here?" The small snake shook its head.
Long Xiao then asked, "In which direction is the laboratory?"
The small snake looked at Long Xiao without moving. Long Xiao placed the snake on the ground and said, "Point your head in the direction of the laboratory."
The small snake wriggled its body and turned its head towards the southwest.
By the time everyone had emerged from their vehicles, Long Xiao had already learned that the laboratory was located to the southwest.
The people who had gathered around looked at Long Xiao strangely. Lin Xuan asked, "Long Xiao, who were you talking to?"
Long Xiao pointed to the ground and said, "I was talking to this snake."
Everyone shone their flashlights on the ground, but there was no snake there. The colorful snake had already escaped.
Long Xiao recounted what had just happened. Xiao Ming reached out and touched Long Xiao's forehead, saying, "Brother Long, do you have a fever?"
Long Xiao brushed away Xiao Ming's hand. "You're the one with a fever. I'm wide awake. There were indeed several intelligent snakes just now."
Snakes with intelligence, monkeys and dogs with human heads – this forest was far too bizarre.
"Long Xiao, there are monsters everywhere here. We'll have to be careful from now on," said Ye Xiao.
Long Xiao nodded. "We certainly need to be careful. Otherwise, if we capsize in a ditch, it would be a huge embarrassment."
Everyone got back into their vehicles to rest. This time, Long Xiao and Lin Xuan shared a car. He was worried about Lin Xuan's safety, as others might not be able to protect her.
As they settled into the car, Lin Xuan asked, "Long Xiao, this forest is so strange. How can such a place exist?"
Long Xiao sighed. "Every country has its share of curious and mad scientists. Because of legal restrictions in their own countries, they all converge here through various channels to conduct their experiments."
"Attaching human heads to animals... are they even scientists? They're simply lunatics," Lin Xuan said, casting an displeased glance out the car window into the darkness.
Long Xiao nodded. "You're right. To ordinary people, geniuses and madmen are indistinguishable. These scientists only care about science, not ethics or morality."
"It's like some economists in certain countries who only study how to make money, disregarding morality. They make money, but they ruin society in the process."
"You're absolutely right. Humans are selfish, but most people's selfishness is suppressed by ethics and morality. A very small number of people lack these restraints, and their selfishness becomes apparent."
The two of them, having lost all sense of sleepiness, became increasingly engrossed in their conversation. They talked until dawn and only managed to rest for half an hour.