Gu Youyou had been leading them through the mountains for five days now, and luckily, she had a good knowledge of plants. Plus, the season was such that many fruits could be found, so they hadn’t gone hungry.
But now, they had wandered into a primeval forest and seemed to have lost their way, turning twice only to end up back where they started.
Gui Yunxi was getting anxious and said, "We can’t even tell directions in this forest. Where should we go? It seems we just passed here not long ago."
Gu Youyou also recognized the problem. Escaping was important, but as most of the group were women with limited physical strength, they could not afford to waste their energy .
The trees here were dense and tall, and during this season, when the branches and leaves were lush, it was difficult for sunlight to penetrate.
After looking around for a while, Youyou pointed in a direction and said, "Let’s go this way."
Searcy reminded her, "We just came from that direction."
"I know, just follow me," Youyou replied. After running for several days, everyone was in a poor mood.
The group of drugged women ranged from teenage girls to women in their mid-thirties, with one thing in common: even those in their mid-thirties had never been married and were virgins.
If one thought Gu Youyou was unfortunate, then what about these women?
Three of them had been sold by their families due to poverty at a young age and were bought by Yu Jizi to be raised separately.
One was sacrificed by her own family hoping to secure a future for their son.
Another was kidnapped on her wedding day, a decision that affected her for a lifetime.
For years they had been taking mysterious drugs, leaving them especially fragile in spirit, and Youyou had to encourage them to keep going.
Searcy pursed her lips and directed her irritation at Gui Yunxi, "Be more proactive when we pick fruits later. You climb the trees."
After walking for a while longer, they finally found a big tree that had been strangled by parasitic vines, and above that tree, the sun was shining down triumphantly.
Youyou took out her dagger and stabbed it straight into the ground, marking its shadow.
She told everyone, "We’re all tired. Let’s rest for a while."
Half an hour later, Youyou found the correct direction.
"Everyone who’s rested, get up," she said. "This time we’ll definitely find our way out."
But the forest seemed anything but peaceful. The drugged women, with their sensitive ears, heard something approaching through the trees, and immediately they became agitated like startled birds.
"Doctor Gu, there’s something over there."
"Could it be they’ve come after us?"
"It’s not them," Youyou said. "Listen to that sound; it must be an animal."
Soon enough, a leopard appeared in their field of vision.
The leopard wasn’t big, but to a group like theirs, even a not-so-large leopard was a significant threat.
It seemed that the leopard had seen the large number of people and didn’t immediately pounce, but was sizing them up from a distance.
It must be said, the leopard was quite bold. Normally, in the face of so many people, a leopard of its size would not dare to consider them as prey.
Youyou whispered to Searcy, "Get the needles I gave you ready. With animals, if you can’t find the right spot, just pierce them with a few more."
All of them were frail women, and the only man, Gui Yunxi, was almost like a woman himself, so he could also be counted as a woman.
It was obviously irrational for a group of women to fight against a fierce beast like a leopard. Not to mention being killed, even a bite would be a heavy blow to them since they still had a long way to go.