Back outside the forest, Zhuge Sanyuan told Wu Chengsi and the others what he saw.
Zhuge Nan said hurriedly: "Father, are you okay?"
Zhuge Sanyuan shook his head and said in a deep voice: "What a powerful forest. I was ten feet away and felt uncomfortable after being there for a while. If I entered the forest, I would probably fall into a coma like those people in the forest."
."
Han Cheng touched his chin and said, "Could it be that the leaves of that mangrove tree are poisonous?"
Zhuge Sanyuan said: "Although it cannot be confirmed yet, the possibility should be very high."
Zhugenan looked at Wu Chengsi and was surprised to see him smiling: "Your Highness, why are you smiling?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "We finally understand the secret of this forest, don't we? This is not a ghost forest, and those who disappeared were not eaten by ghosts, but someone was causing trouble."
Zhugenan frowned and said, "That's very strange. Who were the three people that my adoptive father saw later?"
"They must be the ones who planted this mangrove tree, and then used the tree's toxicity to commit heinous crimes!" Wu Chengsi's eyes turned cold.
Zhuge Sanyuan pondered and said: "Your Highness, do you suspect that this red forest was planted intentionally?"
Wu Chengsi nodded and said in a deep voice: "You can't be wrong. You just said that you followed the forest path to the red forest, right?"
"good."
"That's it. This forest is called the ghost forest by the locals. There must be very few people who dare to enter this forest. How can there be a road in the forest and it just leads to the red forest?"
Zhuge Sanyuan's eyes lit up and he said: "Yes, someone must have deliberately arranged such a road to guide others into the red forest."
"What is their purpose for doing this?" Han Cheng asked.
Wu Chengsi looked at the forest without answering, seeming to be thinking about something.
Zhuge Nan suddenly said: "It's still wrong."
"What's wrong?" Han Cheng asked.
"Didn't Zhou Shang say that she and her father passed through this forest? Why are they okay? Is she lying to us?"
Wu Chengsi's eyes flashed, and several things suddenly connected together in his mind. He took a deep breath and said, "This is exactly the problem."
Zhugenan knew Wu Chengsi very well. Seeing him showing such an expression, he must have been thinking of something and asked: "Your Highness, have you discovered anything?"
Wu Chengsi nodded and said: "I probably know who these people are, and I also understand their purpose of planting those trees in this forest."
Han Cheng and the other three were startled, and Zhuge Nan hurriedly asked: "Your Highness, who are those people?"
Wu Chengsi walked to a big stone and sat down, and said slowly: "If I guessed correctly, they should be the ones who placed the body in the hut."
"Isn't that what Wu Wei did?" Zhuge Nan said.
Wu Chengsi shook his head and said: "No, although I can't confirm who the person behind it is, at least it's not Wu Wei. The hut I mentioned is not Wu Wei's hut."
"This... Your Highness, can you explain it more clearly?" Zhugenan's eyes widened.
"I'm just guessing about this at the moment. I'd better explain it to you after I confirm it."
Zhuge Sanyuan asked, "Then why did they plant that kind of tree in this forest?"
"The first purpose is to prevent others from passing through this forest to reach the coast."
Zhuge Sanyuan was stunned for a moment, not understanding what the other party meant by doing this, and then asked: "Is there any other purpose?"
Wu Chengsi's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth and said, "If I'm not wrong, they want to use this kind of tree to get some living materials without anyone noticing."
"Living material?" Zhugenan said blankly.
"They are living people used to test medicines." Wu Chengsi said every word.
"How did you know?" Han Cheng asked in surprise.
"Just think about it, if someone goes missing, the relatives of those missing people will definitely look for it and will probably report it to the authorities. Then the authorities will also investigate, right?"
Zhuge Nan said: "That's right."
Wu Chengsi said slowly: "Then what will happen if the missing person is related to the ghost?"
Zhuge Sanyuan was the first to react and nodded: "I understand, if it is related to ghosts, neither the government nor ordinary people will investigate it in depth."
Wu Chengsi sighed: "Yes, not only will they not pursue the case, they may also try their best to cover it up. They are very cunning and take full advantage of the weaknesses of human nature."
Han Cheng took a breath and said, "So, all the people who disappeared in this forest were actually used to test the medicine?"
Wu Chengsi nodded.
Zhuge Sanyuan suddenly said: "Your Highness, how did you know they were being tested for medicine?"
Wu Chengsi said: "The corpses Miss Zhou saw in that hut were probably the people who strayed into this forest. Those people were just like Xiaohua, and their bodies became deformed. What else could they be if they weren't testing medicine?"
Zhuge Sanyuan nodded.
Zhuge Nan asked: "Your Highness, what should we do next?"
Wu Chengsi looked up at the sky and said, "Wait until it gets dark before we enter the forest."
Zhuge Nan and Han Cheng both looked confused.
Only Zhuge Sanyuan remembered that Wu Chengsi once said that Zhou Shang and his daughter entered the forest at night.
Suddenly, Zhuge Sanyuan's ears twitched and he turned his head sharply, looking towards the official road.
At the end of the official road, a figure could be seen faintly, peeping this way.
Zhuge Sanyuan recognized at a glance that the person watching was the old man next to the Huangshan man.
When the skinny old man saw him looking over, he turned around and ran away.
The old man ran all the way, and soon, the figure of the yellow cedar man appeared on the road ahead.
"Butler Wu, how are you? Did Guard Qu and the others succeed?"
The skinny old man looked back and said, "Not yet. Those people have not entered the forest and are talking at the entrance of the forest."
The Huangshan man said angrily: "What do these guys want to do? They bought a dog and came to this forest but didn't go in. Are they mentally ill?"
The skinny old man hesitated for a moment and said, "Could it be that Guard Qu and the others were discovered?"
The Huangshan man was even more angry: "Yesterday you told them to go to the forest to ambush in advance. I left the whole matter to you. Now that something has gone wrong, you still ask me about it?"
"I don't dare." The old man quickly lowered his head.
The Huangshan man snorted and ordered: "You stay here and I'll go back to the inn to find Xu Wenqing. Let me know if anything happens."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
…
A few hours later, the sun rose overhead.
The skinny old man gradually felt that something was wrong.
He paid a farmer to help him explore the front several times, but the farmer said that the four people had been staying outside the red leaf forest.
This is really too abnormal. If those people had discovered Guard Qu and others in the forest, they would have retreated long ago. If they had not discovered them, they would have entered the forest long ago.
Advancing but not advancing, retreating but not retreating, just standing outside the entrance of the forest. What on earth do they want to do?
Moreover, Guard Qu and the others should have noticed something was wrong after waiting for so long. Why didn't they send someone out to inform them?
After a long time, the sun set in the west and dusk arrived.
When it was completely dark, the farmer he hired rushed over and said, "Master, they have all entered the ghost forest!"
The skinny old man took a deep breath, stood up, touched his numb butt, and strode towards the forest.
In the forest, Wu Chengsi and four others held torches and moved forward cautiously.
As Zhuge Nan walked, he turned his head like a wave, as if he was afraid of something jumping out of the darkness.
"Your Highness, why do we have to go into the forest at night? Isn't it safer during the day?" Zhugenan muttered.
He wasn't originally afraid of ghosts, but at this late night, entering this place called a ghost forest by others, he still felt a little scared.
Zhuge Sanyuan glanced at him sideways and said, "Thank you for listening to Miss Zhou talk about her experience, and you still can't understand it now?"
"What do you understand?" Zhugenan pouted.
"That Miss Zhou entered the forest at night. The fact that she was able to pass through this dense forest unharmed must have something to do with this!"
Zhugenan was stunned for a moment and said, "But is there any difference between day and night?"
Before Zhuge Sanyuan could answer, Wu Chengsi suddenly stopped.
"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Han Cheng asked.
Wu Chengsi looked to the left, then to the front, and smiled: "It should be right here."
"Is there anything wrong here?" Han Cheng looked around and found that this was a corner of the forest path.
Zhuge Sanyuan also glanced to the left, twisted his beard and said with a smile: "I understand, if it is daytime, people in the forest will naturally turn to the left and continue along the path. But if it is night, they will
It’s easy to lose sight of the road and head straight ahead.”