He knew that they were still in the exposed area and that there was a high possibility of wild animal attacks at any moment.

Ye Chen carefully observed the surroundings, but it seemed as if the noise he had heard had suddenly disappeared once he listened intently.

Could it be that the other party was also like him, testing everything here?

Now, what they were competing with was probably a matter of patience, but Ye Chen didn't have time to continue this contest.

So Ye Chen suddenly stood up from the ground again, then glanced in that direction.

Ahead, there was lush greenery and a heap of straw, but then Ye Chen saw the brush quickly rustle, and soon, whatever it was disappeared.

Ye Chen shook his head helplessly. In this case, there was no need to continue the pursuit, and it was likely just a rabbit or some other wild animal.

Since it didn't actively attack him, Ye Chen saw no need to take any action against it. He then turned and headed back toward the tent.

Upon arriving, Ye Chen saw that the campfire had already been lit, and they had set up a grill using tree branches.

You could say it was quite decent; after putting the chicken on it, there should be no problem.

"What's up? It took you so long to come back. We've been preparing for half a day here."

"No, while washing just now, I wanted to clean it thoroughly, so it was more hygienic, which took some extra time."

Ye Chen didn't tell Anying about his encounter, as he thought it might cause unnecessary panic among them.

Since the thing hadn't harmed him, there was no reason to dwell on it.

"Fortunately, I prepared some seasonings before coming. Now I'll spread them evenly over the chicken so it'll taste better when we eat."

"Anying, let me help you with that."

Lin Yaru said as she walked over and squatted down.

She just felt that if she did nothing here, it would seem a bit abrupt.

After finishing the seasoning, the chicken was placed over the fire and began to roast slowly.

"Alright, we should wait around 20 to 30 minutes for it to cook, and then we can have a hearty meal."

Anying smiled as she spoke to them.

"By the way, you two keep roasting; I'll take a walk around the area and see what's happening."

"What's there to see? Didn't we already explore earlier? We just came from another part of the jungle this morning, now we're at this part, in the middle area."

"No, we still have half an hour to wait. I might as well take a walk; it might help me eat more later."

"Alright, just don't wander too far."

"Okay, I got it."

Ye Chen only nodded after hearing this, as he was always very curious about the environment here.

Especially the little stream; he was more eager to understand its origin.

So Ye Chen followed the direction of the stream and walked over there again.

Having been here before, he was more familiar this time, and it wasn't as difficult as before.

After squatting down, Ye Chen tested the water with his hand; it was still as icy as before.

Ye Chen followed along the stream, noting that the water flow seemed to slow down, and the stream began to narrow.

"Something's not right; if this is indeed a stream formed here, the flow should be faster and the width wider. Did I find the wrong direction?"

Ye Chen believed that the flow was indeed from this direction.

When Ye Chen reached the origin, he suddenly discovered that the stream ended, but water continually flowed from beneath a rock.

Could this be the source of the water?

Curious, Ye Chen squatted down and with effort pushed aside the large rock.

He saw an opening below from which water was bubbling up.

Earlier, Ye Chen had noticed the water, initially thinking it was seawater, but upon tasting it found it was fresh water.

Finding freshwater on this island was indeed astonishing.

He closely examined the opening, which wasn't very big, about 5 minutes in width.

Yet water kept continually gushing from it.

From this, he speculated there might be an underground river beneath the island, suggesting the island was perhaps much deeper.

To form an underground river or dark water, the depth must be at least between 50 meters and 80 meters.

If it were just 20 or 30 meters, leading directly to the sea, this situation wouldn't exist.

Ye Chen began to suspect the island was once part of the mainland, gradually surrounded by the sea over time.

The more he thought about it, the stranger the island seemed, not quite like he imagined.

After observing for a while, seeing nothing else noteworthy, he finally stood up and returned to the camp.

"Hurry up, we're waiting for you; it's almost ready."