"Brother Liang, come take a look."
Zhao Kai approached the small puddle where the poisonous toad used to dwell. His face changed instantly, and he quickly called for Liang Yuan.
Liang Yuan was dissecting the poisonous toad’s corpse with Ding Yan. Hearing Zhao Kai’s shout, he asked, "What’s wrong?"
He turned and walked over, only to see several human remains lying in the puddle.
These remains had turned into white bones, and in the puddle, there were fist-sized, dense, black tadpole-like creatures.
These tadpoles were entirely black, without ears or noses, but with sharp teeth and large mouths.
"Damn it, are these the offspring of that poisonous toad?" Zhao Kai couldn’t help but curse.
Liang Yuan nodded, "Probably. The poisonous toad hunted passing creatures to feed these tadpoles."
"These poor people were probably caught by it while passing by."
Zhao Kai couldn’t help but say, "It’s strange. These people couldn’t have escaped from the mining area, right? If they ran away, they should have run in another direction. The west is a notorious restricted area; why come here?"
Liang Yuan shook his head, "They may not be from the mining area; maybe they came from outside, or from the opposite side of Meishan."
Zhao Kai was stunned, "From Meishan? Why would people from Meishan come here?"
Liang Yuan shook his head slightly, "This is just our speculation. It’s hard to say the specifics. Let’s first get rid of these tadpoles. They’re born in batches, and if they grow up, they’d be quite harmful."
Zhao Kai nodded, "I wonder if these tadpoles are edible. Do they have any nutritional value?"
Liang Yuan said, "These have eaten human flesh. Even if they are edible, we shouldn’t eat them."
Zhao Kai nodded quickly, "I meant the tadpoles that haven’t eaten human flesh. I wonder if they’re edible."
"That, I don’t know."
Liang Yuan set the puddle ablaze, burning all the tadpoles to death.
A burnt smell came from the puddle.
Oddly enough, the smell was quite enticing. Zhao Kai smacked his lips, but seeing the exhumed skeletons made him gag again.
At this time, Ding Yan had finished dissecting the poisonous toad’s body and then shouted, "No rune bones found."
Liang Yuan stood up, "Let’s go. The river shouldn’t be far from here; otherwise, we wouldn’t have encountered this poisonous toad."
"Wait, Brother Liang, there’s a backpack here."
Suddenly, Zhao Kai called out, finding a mud-covered backpack in the nearby grass.
Liang Yuan walked over, "It should belong to these skeletons."
Zhao Kai opened the backpack and searched inside, finding some water, snacks, lighters, and such.
He put them all away and then found a notebook at the bottom.
He took out the notebook, "Wow, someone kept a diary."
The notebook wasn’t very damp, probably because the backpack was somewhat waterproof.
Opening the notebook, a pink cartoon-patterned pen fell out.
Zhao Kai immediately realized this was probably a girl’s notebook.
He opened the notebook, and the writing inside was neat, with a clean, orderly style.
"June 31, heavy rain."
"Brother Xiangyang, my parents and I escaped, but how are you? We’ve reached Meishan. The big flood is about to submerge our home. We have no choice but to flee to the mountain."
"July 1, heavy rain. I don’t know when this rain will stop. We found a cave, but someone was already inside. Dad knew the man; he called himself Yang Tongshan. Dad was very cautious of him. He asked me to call him Uncle Shan. I hate how he looks at me."
"July 4, heavy rain. Brother Xiangyang, where are you? You said you would come to Meishan to find me. I miss you so much. Uncle Shan and Dad went out to find food. For some reason, he came back early today and generously gave me some food."
"July 8, heavy rain. I guess there’s nothing left in this world worth staying for, except you."
"July 21, I killed him, that beast. But Dad... he won’t come back anymore."
"August 3, heavy rain. Brother Xiangyang, I’m so tired. I don’t want to live like this anymore, being sold here and there. Mom said she knows a way to awaken superpowers. Maybe... if I awaken a superpower, I can come find you."
"August 10, heavy rain. Brother Xiangyang, I awakened my superpower. I awakened my water superpower; I can do Water Escape now. The flood can never trap me again. But... but Mom... Mom is dead. I don’t have a mother anymore."
"September 12, heavy rain. Brother Xiangyang, I’m planning to leave this prison called Meishan. I’m coming to find you. Wait for me."
"October 2, heavy rain. Brother Xiangyang, I escaped. I shook off those people. Wait for me a bit longer."
...
The diary ended abruptly here, with half the notebook still blank.
Zhao Kai felt a bit choked as he handed the notebook to Liang Yuan, "Brother Liang, Meishan seems not as good as we thought."
Liang Yuan took the notebook, read through it, and fell into a brief silence.
This was the journey of a girl transforming from an ordinary person into a superpower user.
Driving her through all this was a man named Brother Xiangyang.
In the entire diary, she didn’t even leave her own name.
Liang Yuan could tell from the notebook that she enjoyed recording her life.
At first, the extensive descriptions showed she used to be a cheerful person.
But as time went on, her words became less warm and more concise and direct.