Xu Xing was very curious about where the water source for these twenty-odd people came from. Without food, the longest recorded survival time for humans without eating was over twenty days. Drinking water alone without food was possible, but if they didn't drink water, even the strongest person would only last four to five days. Those who could last more than a week were exceptionally rare, almost impossible to find. For ordinary people, death would come within three days without water.
However, at this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the cave. Xu Xing instinctively placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, as if ready to act at any moment.
But the miners quickly waved their hands, as if indicating that the approaching person was not an enemy.
The vines at the entrance of the stone chamber suddenly parted from both sides, and a man in military uniform walked in. In his hand, he held five or six water canteens. Seeing that there were other people in the stone chamber, he was immediately stunned and asked, "Who are you? I've never seen you before!"
When the man spoke, he spoke standard Chinese. Judging by his appearance, he assumed Xu Xing was Chinese. He also subtly reached behind his waist with one hand, appearing very wary of the person who had just appeared.
Seeing the man's demeanor, Xu Xing knew he was being cautious of her. She quickly explained, "Don't worry, I'm not a bad person. I'm here to save you. I'll take you back to Qiuming. You don't need to be so vigilant."
Fortunately, the man who had just returned with water understood Chinese. Upon hearing Xu Xing's words, he immediately relaxed, handed the water canteens to the others. Everyone was also very thirsty. After receiving the water canteens, they immediately began to rehydrate.
In the cave, even if they found fuel, they dared not light a fire casually. It wasn't that they feared attracting the attention of enemies after lighting a fire, but rather that the cave was underground, and the air quality was already poor. If they lit a fire, it would consume oxygen, and everyone would suffocate.
However, fortunately, it was underground, and the temperature was not particularly low. Even without a fire, they wouldn't freeze to death. The surrounding loess was the best insulating material. Even if the ground was frozen three feet deep, the underground temperature would not change much.
Xu Xing looked at the group of people here and quickly said, "Let me take you out of here. Staying underground won't lead to a better life anyway."
"Do you know the way out?" the man who had fetched water asked quickly.
Xu Xing nodded and said, "No problem, I do know a way that can lead directly out of the underground. Although Qiuming is now in ruins, the city is still safer."
Xu Xing saw that everyone present looked quite miserable. It wasn't a good choice to let them stay here any longer. Since she was here to find mutated plants and rescue people, rescuing them at this moment was also part of her mission.
The group was very happy to hear that they could leave the underground. They had been in the underground world for an unknown amount of time. They couldn't see the sun underground, so they couldn't distinguish between day and night. They dreamed of leaving the underground. As for what had happened in the outside world, they were completely unaware.
But at this moment, the man who fetched water quickly said, "I saw the treants moving just now. If we go out now, we will definitely be attacked. Why don't we wait a while, and go out when the treants return?"
Xu Xing also remembered that it was already dim when they descended into the underground. If they went out now, it might be night, and the treants were active at night.
Thinking of this, Xu Xing gave up the idea of leading people away immediately. She thought to herself, "I've only been away from the City Lord for one night, it should be fine, right?"
Xu Xing was also very uneasy and nervous at this moment. The City Lord had clearly ordered her to kill that detestable scumbag, but she had let someone escape. This was truly unacceptable. Moreover, delaying her return to the City Lord's side was not appropriate. However, Xu Xing also knew that the twenty-odd people in the cave needed protection and could not be easily left behind. Xu Xing had no choice but to stay.
Xu Xing had great faith in Shen Feng's combat strength. She believed that the three people on the City Lord's side would be fine, so she would rescue people for now.
"Perhaps, when I tell the City Lord about the passage to the underground, he will even praise me for it," Xu Xing thought to herself.
However, Xu Xing suddenly remembered something and quickly asked, "By the way, where did you find the water source? And how did you know the treants were moving? How did you get this information?"
The man who fetched water was named Zha Caifu. Upon hearing Xu Xing's question, he quickly replied, "During the time we were hiding underground, we've been investigating the underground situation, trying to find a way out, but we haven't found one yet. However, we have discovered a place with groundwater and the location of the enemy. There's a cave that leads to the enemy's lair."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xing was immediately overjoyed and quickly said, "Take me to see it! I want to see where the enemy's lair is!"
Shen Feng's purpose for coming this time was to find the mutated plants and burn them directly. However, they had only recently gotten close to the enemy's location, and they had no idea where the enemy was hiding. Now, Xu Xing was excited to hear about a cave leading to the enemy's lair. If they could directly find the enemy's lair, wouldn't that be a great achievement?
"City Lord, I won't disappoint you. I will definitely bring back useful information to your side," Xu Xing thought to herself.
Zha Caifu, however, showed a troubled expression. "But it's very far from here. It will take at least two hours for a round trip!"
"It's okay, it's okay. Two hours is two hours. Hurry up and take me to see it. I'll take you out tomorrow. Such important information must be told to me now," Xu Xing said stubbornly.
Since Xu Xing had said so much, Zha Caifu found it difficult to refuse, especially since they still needed Xu Xing to lead them out of the underground. He couldn't afford to offend her, otherwise, if she went back on her word, they would have missed the opportunity to leave the underground.
Afterward, Zha Caifu led Xu Xing away from their hiding place, carrying five or six empty water canteens. The water they had brought back had already been drunk by the twenty-odd people, and the group had no other water-fetching equipment, so they could only bring back six water canteens each time. Fetching water was done in rotation.
The cave was dug by mutated marmots, but it was not tall enough. As Xu Xing walked in the cave, she could not stand up straight. As a result, after walking a certain distance, her waist would become sore and weak. In fact, the best way to walk in such a cave was to crawl on her knees, as this was the most energy-efficient way to move. However, human dignity would not allow Xu Xing to do so.
No one would say anything if a child crawled on the ground, because everyone knew that children couldn't walk yet, and crawling was their only way to move.
But if an adult crawled on the ground on their knees, they would be as lowly as an animal and would be looked down upon by others.
Thinking of this, Xu Xing could only silently endure the soreness in her waist and continue forward.
After walking for more than an hour, passing through many forks in the road, Xu Xing would drop something at each fork as a marker to ensure she didn't take the wrong path. Finally, following behind Zha Caifu, Xu Xing found a cave entrance with light.
Before even getting close, Xu Xing could hear a "rumbling" sound. As she approached, her eyes widened in shock.
Outside the cave entrance where Xu Xing was located, there was a huge space. Although it was still underground, she could see a massive waterfall flowing out of the cave entrance and then cascading downwards. The waterfall was about thirty meters high. The rumbling sound she had heard earlier was the sound of the waterfall falling into a pool.
It was hard to imagine such a landscape underground. A waterfall poured down from the sky, making a loud noise. It was a vast space, as if the ground had directly torn open. Directly below the torn earth was a pool of water, and in the pool, there was an island. A giant tree grew from here, reaching a height of fifty meters. This tree bore colorful fruits that were emitting a fluorescent glow. The light seen in the cave was from these fruits. Although a single fruit was not much and its illumination range was limited, when tens of thousands of fruits were glowing, the cave was as bright as daylight.
"This must be the mutated plant. It's so enormous! Such a tall tree, growing underground, it's hard to imagine," Xu Xing thought to herself, almost unable to believe what she was seeing. In the underground world, there was such a space and such large trees.
Xu Xing couldn't tell what kind of tree this was that had mutated. She could only see its massive canopy, which filled almost the entire underground space. Many strips hung down from the canopy, and at the end of these strips hung small cages. Although they looked small, it was relative, because Xu Xing saw many animals in these semi-transparent cages, including fierce individuals like Siberian tigers.
As Xu Xing was carefully observing this underground space, Zha Caifu reached out from the cave entrance and placed his water canteen against the nearby rock wall. As the waterfall fell, water also flowed down the rock wall, so as long as he held the canteen there, it would be quickly filled.
Xu Xing continued to observe, trying to find the treants, but she only saw a dozen or so scattered treants wandering around below. Each treant had a glowing fruit growing on its head, making them look like they were carrying lanterns from a distance. Seeing this, Xu Xing understood.
The scumbag she had encountered earlier had said that the treants had one eye. Shen Feng hadn't believed it at the time, but now it seemed that on the treants' heads, there was just a glowing fruit.
"If that's about it, let's prepare to go back. Since we've found the enemy's lair, the problem is simple. Next time, I'll bring people to directly sweep through their stronghold, and I don't believe we can't defeat the mutated plants," Xu Xing felt quite relieved, having obtained enough information. No matter how much the City Lord blamed her, as long as she could convey such important news to the City Lord, the City Lord would definitely not punish her.
As Xu Xing was secretly rejoicing, Zha Caifu was quickly drinking water. Since he had come out, he naturally wanted to quench his thirst.
Next, Zha Caifu was about to reach out to fill his water canteen again, but at that moment, a vine suddenly flew out and, with lightning speed, grabbed Zha Caifu's arm. Then, with a strong pull, it dragged the burly man out.
Zha Caifu was caught completely off guard. He had been filling his water canteen at this cave entrance for a long time, and during that time, no accidents had occurred, and no treants had discovered him. But now, he was dragged out of the cave entrance and plummeted towards the pool below. Zha Caifu let out a scream.
"Ah... Save me..." Zha Caifu's loud cry echoed through the air, sounding very tragic. Finally, he fell heavily into the pool.
This incident happened unexpectedly. Xu Xing wanted to reach out and help, but it was too late for her to even lend a hand. Zha Caifu had already been captured, which filled Xu Xing with a sense of fear and unease.
Immediately after, more than a dozen vines emerged from the canopy and pursued towards the cave entrance. It was clear that Xu Xing had also been exposed.