Underneath the narrow bridge, snakes densely crawled along both sides, varying in thickness and length.

The thickest ones were as thick as an arm; the longest nearly reached three meters, their numbers astonishing, a conservative estimate at least in the thousands.

This sight sent a shiver down everyone's spine, goosebumps covering their arms.

With such a scene, it's not just that no one fell down; even if they did, they would likely have been devoured completely.

"Hiss…"

The sound of thousands of snakes flicking their tongues echoed.

Everyone hastily glanced around, both downwards and sideways, fearing that among such a vast number, one or two might climb up. No one wanted to be bitten.

"Something's not right," Xiao Feng frowned, "With so many snakes, what are they eating? Moreover, why don't we see any climbing up on the ground?"

Zhao Guo'an added, "Also, snakes usually hibernate in winter, but look at these ones below; they're unusually active, showing no signs of hibernation."

The group fell silent, clearly unable to provide an answer.

Just then, there was a "whirring" sound, like some animal taking flight.

Everyone followed the source of the sound, only to see a snake climbing upwards suddenly get grabbed by a sharp-beaked creature diving from the air, which quickly swallowed it down.

"Is this... an eagle?" Fujiwara Keiaki asked uncertainly.

Xiao Feng shook his head, denying, "Eagles don't look like this."

"Could we have discovered some unknown creature?" the little girl said excitedly.

Xiao Feng knocked the little girl's head lightly, "Don't talk nonsense; just because we don't recognize it doesn't mean it's new."

After a moment of silence, Lin Zhiyan provided an answer, "It seems to be a hornbill, one of the natural predators of snakes. Do you remember the features of that bird just now?"

Lu Yao recalled, saying, "The upper half is black, the tail is white, and its beak is sharp and curved. Plus, it has an orange-red protrusion on its head, looking like it's wearing a 'steel helmet'."

Lin Jiaxuan supplemented, "I remember the lower beak of the bird was creamy white, different from the upper beak's color."

Lin Zhiyan nodded, confirming, "It's a double-crested hornbill, a large bird and a protected species."

At this point, Su Yuzhuo suddenly spoke, "Do you think it's possible that…"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at her, waiting for her to express her idea.

Su Yuzhuo frowned slightly and said, "These snakes, they should be placed here artificially; the double-crested hornbill likely as well.

In the absence of food, snakes can survive by cannibalizing. Although hornbills are natural enemies of snakes, even ants, when numerous enough, can bite an elephant to death.

Faced with so many snakes, the hornbill wouldn't dare rush down recklessly."

Lin Zhiyan interjected, "So, you're suggesting that this is a man-made food chain, where snakes eat snakes and occasionally those that stray get eaten by hornbills?

They won't be full but neither will they starve?"

One has to admit, this is quite an imaginative conjecture.

Big enough to make one feel it's whimsical or unrealistic.

"Isn't it wrong?" the little girl questioned, "Animals aren't like humans. If so many snakes climbed up together, even if the hornbill is powerful, it couldn't catch them all at once, right?

Moreover, even if this cycle chain exists, it's extremely unstable with many uncertain factors that could break the balance anytime."

Lu Yao nodded in agreement, "Exactly. For instance, reproduction speed—once one side outpaces the other significantly, collapse isn't far off."

"I'm merely proposing a hypothesis, no one can be sure of the specifics." Su Yuzhuo said expressionlessly, "However, what can be certain.

Is at least half of these snakes are artificially created, like the passage we walked through before."

Xiao Feng chimed in, "No matter what it is, considering the current situation, the snakes below probably can't climb up. The only question is, do hornbills attack humans?"

His gaze turned to Lin Zhiyan.

Lin Zhiyan shrugged her hands, "Don't look at me; I only remember from watching Animal World that it's a hornbill. I don't know anything else."

"Why would you watch Animal World?" Xiao Feng asked suspiciously.

"..." Lin Zhiyan.

This guy's focus is always so peculiar.

Zhao Guo'an changed the topic, "Since we're unsure if hornbills attack humans, let's plan for the worst. After all, this narrow bridge is fifty meters long; what if we're attacked halfway across, it's no joke."

Everyone nodded in agreement; this is indeed a concern.

"Shouldn't we try to deal with the hornbills first?" Jiugong suggested tentatively.

Xiao Feng immediately retorted, "Without the natural enemy, what if the snakes below climb up?"

Everyone felt a bit troubled, but they roughly understood that the balance between snakes and hornbills couldn't be broken, or they themselves might suffer.

Momentarily, the problem seemed stuck in a loop, like a domino effect, tipping one piece would trigger a chain reaction.

Xiao Feng looked up to see if there was anything that could serve as an anchor point.

If there was, perhaps they could grasp a rope and swing across like on a swing.

However, the sinister designers of this pitfall clearly didn't intend to leave loopholes for intruders; the ceiling wasn't far from the ground but was very smooth, with nothing to fasten onto.

Lu Yao, lost in thought, suggested, "We might think from a different angle, like software programming. No matter how proficient the designer, they can't guarantee a program to be bug-free; and so, the designer of this pitfall surely couldn't achieve perfection either."

"The theory is correct, but the analogy is not appropriate," Xiao Feng smiled, "It's like playing a game—why would bugs happen? Because game designers have to ensure that players have a chance to pass the game."

"Brother Yan's meaning is, if game designers initially aim to prevent anyone from clearing the game, then there wouldn't be any bugs?" Lu Yao questioned, frowning.

Xiao Feng shook his head, "Not really. At least the designers of the pitfall need to allow necessary passage, though finding the way across won't be easy."

Su Yuzhuo smiled bitterly, "The key is, a game can save progress—in reality, if you die, it's truly over. We can't risk our lives to test the margin of error."

"Analyzing further isn't as useful as trying it ourselves," Xiao Feng said seriously, "I'll go across first, and we'll see."

"That's too risky!" the little girl quickly objected, "I don't agree!"

Before Lu Yao and others could express their stance, Xiao Feng jumped in, "Staying here and scaring ourselves won't work. When I walk the narrow bridge, pull me back with a rope if things go wrong."

"But…"

Xiao Feng resolutely replied, "There's no buts; avoiding risk is impossible. At least my chance of surviving a misstep is higher than everyone else's."

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