At this very moment, Chen Xiaobei was unaware that Sun Jian and his men had once encountered a pack of wolves in this very spot. Cornered against a cliff, they had no choice but to charge forward, resulting in heavy casualties.
Soon enough, someone shouted loudly, "Great Chieftain, come quickly."
The group gathered and saw patches of dark red bloodstains, strikingly visible on the green stones.
"Great Chieftain, these are bloodstains," Yang Chun immediately identified.
Da Lao Hei crouched down to examine the bloodstains, then continued searching forward. There were many bloodstains scattered about, one after another.
At this point, Hou Liu spoke up, "Great Chieftain, perhaps some wild beasts were fighting here."
Da Lao Hei shook his head. "No, this is where humans encountered wild beasts, and in the end, humans won."
The crowd looked at Da Lao Hei with surprise.
Da Lao Hei smiled faintly and walked to a pile of rocks. He reached out and pulled out a short arrow, over four inches long.
The moment Chen Xiaobei saw this, his heart sank. This was identical to his own! This was an arrow specifically for a repeating crossbow!
In an instant, he thought of Sun Jian.
After Da Lao Hei displayed the object to the crowd, he slowly stated, "Someone must have encountered ferocious beasts here."
Xiong Fei clasped his fists and asked, "Then, Great Chieftain, why do you say humans surely won?"
Da Lao Hei laughed heartily. "If the beasts had won, there should be leftover bones here, and surely the humans wouldn't be without any personal belongings. Now, this place is cleaned up spotlessly, so only humans could have won and cleaned the battlefield."
Upon hearing Da Lao Hei's analysis, Chen Xiaobei's impression of him instantly changed 180 degrees.
He looked like a crude, unrefined fellow, but in reality, this kid was extremely meticulous.
With this thought, Chen Xiaobei also became immediately wary. In future dealings with Da Lao Hei, he would have to be careful not to be fooled by the man's rugged demeanor.
The others also looked enlightened and immediately began their flattery routine, "Great Chieftain is wise."
Even Yang Chun clasped his fists and fawned over Da Lao Hei, "Great Chieftain is mighty, to be able to deduce so much from just a short arrow. We are utterly impressed."
Enjoying the crowd's flattery, Da Lao Hei laughed heartily again.
"Alright, alright, this has little to do with us. Let's think about how to get to the other side."
Xiong Fei was the first to step forward. "Great Chieftain, you possess innate divine strength. We'll tie a rope to an arrow and you can shoot it to the other side. Then, let Hou Liu climb across the rope."
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei almost burst out laughing. Xiong Fei had planned it quite well, letting his leader shoot the arrow and Hou Liu climb across, leaving himself out of it, all while presenting a good idea.
Indeed, upon hearing this, Da Lao Hei laughed heartily. "Mm, that makes sense. Come, bring the bow and arrows."
It seemed these bandits were accustomed to doing such tasks. Their arrows were specially modified with a hook at the tail, to which a rope could be tied.
With everything prepared, Da Lao Hei drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at a crevice in the rock on the opposite side, shooting it with all his might.
Under everyone's gaze, the arrow, trailing the rope, sped towards the other side.
However, about ten to twelve feet from the other side, the arrow, as the saying goes, had exhausted its force.
As they watched the arrow fall into the valley, everyone let out a cry of surprise.
This cry was filled with the unexpected.
It was unexpected because it exceeded the bandits' expectations.
Perhaps, in their minds, Da Lao Hei was omnipotent, or perhaps they had done this before and succeeded.
But in reality, considering a distance of over ten feet, which translated to nearly forty to fifty meters in his previous life, with a rope as thick as a thumb trailing behind, how much strength would a person need to shoot it across, and accurately lodge it into a rock crevice?
After two consecutive attempts, both ended in failure, Da Lao Hei became disheartened and threw the heavy bow onto the ground.
"No, no, this method won't work. We need to find another way."
Hearing him say this, all the bandits fell silent.
After all, they could cheer and applaud, but when it came to suggesting ideas, especially when faced with natural conditions, no one could come up with anything.
The crowd exchanged glances, looking at each other.
At this moment, Yang Chun spoke, "Big Brother, it's getting late. Perhaps we should head back to the Mountain God Temple and return tomorrow."
Da Lao Hei did not reply directly but looked at Chen Xiaobei with a questioning gaze.
Chen Xiaobei knew that if he agreed now, Da Lao Hei would turn back without hesitation.
However, after a moment's thought, he decided that a short pain was better than prolonged suffering. It was still over six miles back to the Mountain God Temple. Since they were already at the temple, he would have to return to the village anyway. Coming back the next morning would mean traveling over twenty to thirty miles of mountain terrain.
Instead of that, it would be better to press forward and spend the night on the mountain.
Of course, spending the night on the mountain was contingent on finding a safe place, and this spot wouldn't do.
If humans and beasts could encounter each other here once, who could guarantee it wouldn't happen again?
Therefore, they had to press onward.
Chen Xiaobei looked around.
Finally, he found a savior. Not far ahead, there was a large tree.
The tree looked at least several decades old, with a tall, straight trunk, at least thirty feet high.
Chen Xiaobei pointed at the large tree and smiled, "Great Chieftain, I have an idea."
Yang Chun, glancing at the tree, was the first to speak. "This tree is only about thirty feet high, still far from the canyon. It can't be used as a bridge."
Chen Xiaobei smiled calmly. "I never said it was to be used as a bridge!"
"Then what do you mean?" Yang Chun asked, looking at him in surprise. Even Da Lao Hei looked confused.
Perhaps they couldn't imagine what else the tree could be used for if not as a bridge.
When Chen Xiaobei saw this canyon, countless ideas had already flashed through his mind. He recalled how people crossed canyons in many TV shows he had watched in his previous life.
There was one scene that left a deep impression: a person climbing to the treetop, with a rope tied around their waist.
The remaining people would forcefully pull the tree trunk back. This was similar to the principle of shooting an arrow; the tree trunk would act as a large bowstring, flinging the person across.
Of course, flinging a person that far would be difficult. Moreover, who would dare to go first? Hou Liu would probably be scared stiff.
While it looked effortless and enjoyable on television, one had to face reality.
Therefore, a more realistic method would be to tie a rope to a rock and fling it across. This was achievable.
If they were lucky, it would lodge into a rock crevice, and then a slender person could climb across to secure the rope again.