Xu Xing mysteriously disappeared, leaving only one explanation: she had pursued her enemies into a bottomless cave to punish evil and promote good. But had she considered that there might be enemy traps below? Shen Feng, however, trusted Xu Xing's strength. He was sure that once Xu Xing had dealt with her targets, she could return the same way, so leaving a note would suffice.
Lu Xian took out his notebook and wrote: "I am Lu Xian. Xu Xing, if you see this note, please stay put and wait for us to rendezvous. Don't wander off."
After finishing the message, Lu Xian grabbed the paper and tore it with a "ripping" sound. He then used a stone to press the torn piece of paper onto the edge of the cave.
Qi Lingshan looked at the cave leading underground and felt puzzled. He couldn't help but ask, "Who do you think dug this cave here? If it was Skylaniv, he wouldn't have had the ability. And if it was the Treants, it's also unlikely."
The opening of the cave on the surface was only as thick as a bucket. With the Treants' massive bodies, it was impossible for them to move through the cave. Therefore, Qi Lingshan found it strange. Such a regular cave couldn't possibly have been excavated by humans. But if not by humans, then who could have dug it?
Shen Feng couldn't figure this out either. Such a small cave could only accommodate one person crawling underground. There was no reason to use a narrow cave, so this definitely wasn't the work of mutated plants.
"Alright, while we have the chance, let's go into the Treants' cave to investigate," Shen Feng said, wanting to move past this point. He then proposed exploring the cave.
Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan had no objections. They followed Shen Feng, walking along the Treants' footprints. They encountered no danger along the way. Shen Feng had expected to see a few Treants in the mist, but as they walked, he didn't even see a few vines, let alone Treants.
Soon, the three saw a high mountain ahead. Even in the mist, it was a dark silhouette. There were bullet casings on the ground around them.
Lu Xian picked up a bullet casing. Although it was covered in dirt, it wasn't rusted, which clearly indicated that it was a casing left behind not long ago.
"City Lord, there was a battle here. Look at all these bullet casings on the ground. The fight must have been fierce," Lu Xian analyzed directly.
Shen Feng then recalled the battle Skylaniv had mentioned earlier. The soldiers had all been killed by the Treants. It seemed the location of these events was here. He wondered how Skylaniv had managed to escape.
"Let's keep going forward to see!" Shen Feng continued.
At the foot of the mountain was a huge cave. More things were visible on the ground: guns, clothing, and even some hair, all scattered on the ground. At the entrance of the cave, there were also many scorched marks.
"Let's go down and take a look. One flashlight will be enough," Shen Feng then said to Lu Xian and Qi Lingshan.
Shen Feng was confident he could lead the two out of the cave safely.
...
Just as Xu Xing was about to catch up to the scruffy man in front of her, she found that the man had suddenly disappeared. The surroundings were filled with mist, so it was possible he had escaped. However, the man's disappearance was too abrupt, as if he had vanished into thin air. Seeing this, Xu Xing immediately began searching the ground around her and indeed found a cave.
"What a cunning creature, trying to run? Impossible!" Xu Xing sneered as she saw the bottomless cave and immediately jumped down.
However, as she jumped down, Xu Xing encountered an awkward situation. Her backpack was still filled with clothes and equipment. Jumping down was easy, but the cave below gradually became narrower. Xu Xing was caught by surprise and got stuck.
Xu Xing felt a sharp pain in her chest, squeezed uncomfortably by the rocks in the narrow passage. She had to lift her backpack high to pass through the narrow section.
But as Xu Xing landed, she was stunned for a moment because she discovered that there was a light source underground. The walls and floor of the cave were covered with tree roots and vines. Some vines bore fruit, both blue and green, emitting a faint glow that looked beautiful.
Xu Xing's first reaction wasn't to marvel at the scene below the cave, but to draw her sword and look around. The scoundrel had already fallen down, and he still had a gun. If she were ambushed, it would be disastrous. Therefore, her immediate priority was to find that vile scoundrel and kill him directly.
However, as Xu Xing observed her surroundings, she found that the enemy had already disappeared, and she was alone in the passage.
Xu Xing looked up at the cave opening she had fallen through. It was certainly possible to climb back up now, but since she had already come down, Xu Xing didn't want to return empty-handed.
"Since I'm here, I definitely need to take a good look at the environment below. Maybe I can even make a contribution!" Xu Xing said to herself.
Xu Xing knew the City Lord's objectives. One of the most important objectives was to find mutated plants. If mutated plants were found, they had to be killed as quickly as possible. Yuzhou already had one mutated plant, and it didn't need a second one. She didn't need it, but she couldn't let others get it.
Another objective was to find Xiao Sheng. Xiao Sheng was the man Shen Yu liked, and Shen Yu was Shen Feng's sister. With this connection, finding Xiao Sheng would be a great achievement.
Xu Xing thought for a moment, took out a mirror, and smashed it. She placed a shard of the mirror on the ground as a marker. If she returned the same way, she could find her path by seeing the reflection of the mirror on the ground.
Xu Xing had originally thought it would be very dark underground, but after falling down, she was surprised to find that there was a light source underground as well. The cave was filled with many bioluminescent plants that were constantly emitting light.
Xu Xing became interested. She picked a fruit and squeezed out its juice. This juice also emitted a faint glow.
"I don't know if eating it will make me glow, but it's not good if it's poisonous," Xu Xing said to herself.
Next, Xu Xing continued forward but discovered many岔路口 (forks in the road) in the narrow cave. If she wasn't careful, she would get lost. There was one fork after another below. As for animals, she saw none.
Xu Xing had no choice but to make markings at the cave entrances she passed to avoid getting lost. The cave passages were about a person's height, but there were often protruding rocks, so Xu Xing had to walk with her body bent. If she stood up straight, she would bump her head many times in a short period.
After walking for a while, Xu Xing couldn't stand it anymore. Walking underground was too stifling. She couldn't stand up, and she felt it was too humiliating to crawl on her knees. In this situation, with no useful information in sight, Xu Xing was considering returning the way she came.
However, at this moment, Xu Xing saw scratch marks on the wall: "SOS."
SOS is an international distress signal. Seeing this symbol indicated that someone was calling for help.
"Could it be that someone came here before, encountered danger, and is calling for help?" Xu Xing said to herself.
However, Xu Xing wasn't sure if it was left by the scoundrel who had come down earlier. She couldn't tell how long ago the marks were made just by looking at them. After thinking it over, Xu Xing decided to keep moving forward.
There was also an arrow on the rock wall, seemingly pointing Xu Xing forward.
Xu Xing followed the direction of the arrows and found more arrows. This immediately invigorated Xu Xing. Perhaps she could find some useful clues. As long as she could find useful information, she would definitely receive praise from the City Lord.
"Brother Shen Feng, just watch. I will definitely bring back useful information to you," Xu Xing said to herself.
Xu Xing navigated through the winding passages, following the direction of the arrows, and finally reached her destination. It was a huge stone chamber. Many vines hung down from the entrance. Xu Xing pushed aside the vines and walked in. She immediately discovered more than twenty people in the stone chamber. These twenty-odd people were all dressed as miners, with weary expressions on their faces.
"Who are you?" Upon meeting, both parties were stunned and quickly asked each other questions. However, they couldn't understand each other's language. One side spoke Chinese, and the other spoke Russian. Communication was difficult, and there was no one proficient in both languages, making it almost impossible to translate each other's meanings.
Xu Xing had a flash of inspiration and asked, "Do you know Xiao Sheng? Xiao Sheng!"
When this name was mentioned, everyone immediately reacted. After all, the name was too familiar. They had fought side by side before, so they couldn't have forgotten it so quickly.
Afterward, both sides began to communicate using sign language. Xu Xing also took out paper and a pen from her backpack. It didn't matter if their languages were different; drawing pictures could always be understood.
Xu Xing gestured animatedly and drew pictures, finally making it clear that she came from the distant East to find Xiao Sheng.
The miners were also very happy. They hadn't seen any living people for a long time, especially people from the outside. They had been waiting for rescue, but the rescue was delayed, and they were almost despairing. Now that someone from the outside had finally appeared, it made them excited.
Next, the miners also gestured animatedly, explaining their current situation. It turned out that they had been separated from Xiao Sheng and his group, and the soldiers had suffered heavy casualties. Many soldiers had been driven out, and the miners could only hide underground, drilling into any cave they found. Unknowingly, they had drilled to this place.
"It seems that Xiao Sheng and the others might not be dead, but perhaps just trapped below," Xu Xing thought to herself.
"By the way, what have you been eating?" Xu Xing continued to ask, wanting to understand how these people had survived underground for a month.
The miners were helpless. They found many yellowish-black furs from the ground and showed them to Xu Xing. They also wrote and drew in their notebooks, explaining the food they had eaten during those days. It turned out they had been eating marmots.
With the miners' explanation, Xu Xing understood how the cave here came to be. It turned out that the marmots had dug these caves to survive underground. Marmots were naturally animals that loved to dig, and many animals would inhabit these caves. After the marmots mutated, their digging ability was further enhanced, and they dug out a large space underground in one go.
"So, whether it was a shelter or food, they relied on the marmots to survive. Poor marmots, even hiding underground, couldn't escape death," Xu Xing couldn't help but sigh in her heart. These marmots had been used to their fullest. They provided living space for humans by digging holes and left their flesh and blood to continue nourishing humans.
But another question arose. Xu Xing continued to ask, "Then where did you get your water source?"
Xu Xing had heard that in extreme environments, drinking urine could also replenish water. However, it could only sustain for a day or two. Relying on drinking urine for a whole month would be too unbelievable.