61: Blood River

Dead silence.

The roar of the waterfall was still deafening, but to those present, it now sounded like a distant echo from the horizon. In everyone's ears, there was only the frantic drumming of their own hearts and the buzzing of blood rushing against their eardrums.

Wang Dalong's face was ashen, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word. The camera in his hand remained in recording mode, faithfully capturing the hellish scene that had just unfolded. But he himself was completely frozen, as if his soul had been dragged into the abyss by that giant python.

It wasn't just him; the remaining four support personnel were also terrified. They were natives who grew up on the edge of the Rainforest, having heard countless legends about river monsters, but to see a legend become reality, playing out vividly before their eyes, that double shock, visual and psychological, was enough to destroy anyone's will.

One of the younger ones even collapsed to the ground, his legs giving out, his eyes unfocused, muttering something in a dialect, as if praying or cursing.

Lin Feng was the first to recover from the shock.

His face was also pale, but his eyes were calmer than anyone else's. His enhanced eyes allowed him to clearly capture every detail of what just happened—the python's swift attack, its precise target, and its calm departure.

This was not a random hunt.

That anaconda was more like a guard, a Scavenger. Its appearance seemed to be specifically to prevent them from crossing the river.

Lin Feng's gaze swept to the opposite bank. Juan, Carlos, and the other two survivors were slowly recovering from their terror. They helped each other to their feet, counted their numbers, and then all looked at Lin Feng and his group on the other side of the river, their faces filled with helplessness and despair.

They were separated.

Even worse, most of their tools, food, and medicine had sunk to the bottom of the river with the first batch of rafts. What they had left on their side were only some personal backpacks and a small amount of emergency supplies. As for Juan and his group on the opposite bank, they had almost nothing except the machetes they carried.

"Brother Feng... Brother Feng..." Wang Dalong finally found his voice, but it was choked with sobs, "Dead... people are dead... What... what do we do now? We can't cross... We can't go back..."

His voice was on the verge of breaking. The thrill of exploration and the fantasy of treasure were shattered by the cruel reality. Now, the only thought in his mind was to escape this cursed place.

"Calm down!" Lin Feng barked in a low voice. It wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable penetrative force, like a bucket of cold water poured over Wang Dalong and the dazed support personnel.

Lin Feng walked over to the young man who was slumped on the ground, crouched down, and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Look at me." Lin Feng said, using the few Spanish words he knew, accompanied by gestures, "If you don't want to die, stand up."

The young man shivered, intimidated by the cold composure in Lin Feng's eyes. Though still terrified, he finally stopped his meaningless mumbling.

Lin Feng stood up and scanned the rest of the group.

"We haven't lost yet." His voice was deep, every word crystal clear. "Especially at a time like this, we must not panic. Listen, now we must do three things."

He held up his first finger: "First, immediately leave the riverbank. That snake could return at any time; it's not safe here. We'll retreat to the ridge behind us and find a safe place to spend the night."

He held up his second finger: "Second, count all our remaining supplies. Food, water, medicine, tools—don't miss anything. We need to know how long we can last."

He held up his third finger, his gaze sweeping towards Juan and the others on the opposite bank: "Third, find a way to rendezvous with them. We must cross this river. Divided, none of us will survive."

Lin Feng's words were like a shot of adrenaline. While they couldn't dispel the fear in everyone's hearts, they pointed them in a direction, making their chaotic minds start working again.

In the face of the threat of death, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else.

The remaining people, including Wang Dalong, began to move mechanically. They shouldered their backpacks, helped their still unsteady companion, and followed Lin Feng, quickly retreating from the bloody riverbank to the ridge they had previously crossed.

Juan on the opposite bank also seemed to understand Lin Feng's intention. He shouted something loudly, but his voice was completely drowned out by the waterfall. He could only gesture, indicating that they would also find a safe place on the opposite bank and wait for dawn.

Under a sheltered rock face on the ridge, everyone set up a temporary refuge.

The result of the inventory was despairing.

They only had three days' worth of food, a few bottles of drinking water, an almost empty first-aid kit, two machetes, and Wang Dalong's heavy photography equipment.

"We're screwed..." Wang Dalong looked at the pitifully small amount of supplies, his expression worse than crying. "With so little, let alone finding El Dorado, it's questionable if we can even make it out of this jungle alive."

Morale had plummeted to rock bottom.

Night fell, and the chill of the Rainforest seeped into their bones. No one spoke, only the crackling of the campfire and the distant howls of unknown beasts.

Lin Feng sat by the fire, expressionlessly whittling wood with a small knife. He seemed unusually calm, but only he knew that his brain was operating at an overloaded state.

He replayed the scene of the giant python's attack over and over in his mind.

The snake's size had far exceeded the known limits of anacondas. It was more like an ancient, living totem.

"Guardians..." Lin Feng silently uttered the word.

The notes mentioned the mysterious Indian tribe of Guardians around El Dorado. But the notes didn't say that Guardians also included such extraordinary giant beasts.

Was it natural evolution, or... some other reason?

He thought of the mutated creatures in the Qinling Grottoes, and the bizarre images from Captain William Kidd's memories. This world seemed far crazier than he had imagined.

"Brother Feng, are... aren't you scared?" Wang Dalong shuffled next to him and asked in a low voice.

Lin Feng's hand, whittling the wood, paused.

"Scared." He uttered a single word.

This was the first time he had so directly admitted his fear. Facing pirates in the Caribbean Sea, he felt the tension of life and death. But at this moment, facing such a colossal creature from ancient times, completely incomprehensible, he felt a deep, intrinsic tremor of awe towards an unknown power.

But he knew he couldn't show it. He was the only pillar of this broken team. If he fell, everyone would die here.

He glanced at Wang Dalong and continued, "But fear won't solve the problem. Our only way to survive now is to cross the river."

"But... but how do we cross? Rafts won't work, that snake is still in the water..."

"Then we'll find another way." Lin Feng's gaze fell on the sharpened piece of wood in his hand. "It must have a weakness. Or, we can find a time when it's not in the water."

He looked up at the opposite bank. Juan and his group also had a small bonfire lit, like a faint will-o'-the-wisp in the darkness.

Tomorrow would be the day that decided all their fates.

Meanwhile, in Osiris's command center, the atmosphere was equally heavy.

On the large screen, high-definition footage of the anaconda attacking the raft was playing repeatedly.

"Confirmed?" Osiris's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Confirmed, sir." The female assistant's face was pale. "Based on its size and scale analysis, this is not an ordinary green anaconda. Its estimated length exceeds fifteen meters, far surpassing any existing records. It's more like a descendant of an... extinct Titanoboa."

"Titanoboa..." Osiris looked at the ferocious snake head on the screen, a hint of fanaticism appearing in his eyes for the first time. "So the legends are true. El Dorado is indeed guarded by 'power.'"

"The Scorpion team is requesting instructions. They can use high explosives to clear this beast and pave the way for the target."

"No." Osiris flatly refused. "Such a perfect specimen; it would be a shame to kill it. Besides, it's not our time to make an appearance yet."

He looked at the two small campfires on opposite sides of the river on the screen, and that cold smile reappeared at the corner of his mouth.

"The real test is just beginning. Let me see how my 'key' will unlock this first lock. Will it choose to give up, or... surprise me?"

He waved his hand, signaling the assistant to leave.

"Order Scorpion to continue monitoring, no interference. Also, dispose of that 'Royal Snake' specimen that's still alive."