Three people appeared in the darkness, holding torches, and suddenly emerged from the distant darkness. Shen Feng and the other two hid to the side and watched quietly. Lu Xian took the opportunity to untie Qi Lingshan's ropes. If a fight broke out later, Qi Lingshan, the injured party, would need to fight alongside them.
When the three people in the distance were far away, Shen Feng could not see their faces clearly. Suddenly, these three people found a raft from the side and rowed towards Shen Feng. There were rafts on the shore in the distance, but the light in the cave was not good, so Shen Feng and his group did not see them.
The three people on the raft moved very skillfully. One person rowed the boat, another tilted the torch to illuminate, and the third person held an automatic rifle, slowly approaching the exit.
As the three people on the raft approached them, Shen Feng could clearly see their faces. They were all locals, with beards and burly figures, wearing military uniforms. They were likely local soldiers.
"Should we capture them?" Lu Xian asked quickly, wanting to understand the situation in the cave. They could capture them and interrogate them.
Shen Feng thought about it. He had killed a miner this morning. If he encountered soldiers now and they found out about it, wouldn't it lead to conflict? Since ancient times, it has been said that striking first gives you an advantage, while striking later puts you at a disadvantage. Therefore, it would be best to capture them and interrogate them directly.
"City Lord, as long as they haven't left the cave, they wouldn't know what's happening outside. If we attack them on sight, it doesn't seem like proper hospitality," Qi Lingshan quickly said to Shen Feng.
"We are the guests, aren't we!" Shen Feng couldn't help but say. After all, he was the one who had traveled from afar. The words about hospitality should be spoken by the host, not by him, the guest.
However, Shen Feng didn't want to cause conflict now. The person who betrayed Xu Xing was not these soldiers, and the ungrateful person had already been punished. He didn't need to implicate others. Thinking of this, Shen Feng walked out directly and said loudly, "You there, can you understand me?"
After Shen Feng finished speaking, the soldiers on the raft were clearly surprised that someone had appeared and immediately became vigilant. However, when they saw that Shen Feng and his group were only holding cold weapons, they immediately relaxed. These soldiers did not open fire directly.
Seeing that there was no threat from Shen Feng's side, the three soldiers quickly approached, speaking in Russian: "Where are you all from?"
The three soldiers were not stupid. They could tell whether the other party was one of their own. Shen Feng's group had typical East Asian faces and were definitely not locals. They could tell at a glance, so these people must have come from outside, and they were very vigilant.
Shen Feng could not understand their words, but as they approached, he reached behind him and took out a rope, intending to tie up the three people on Shen Feng's side.
"You scoundrels, do you think you can tie us up? If we don't fight back, do you really think we can be bullied so easily?" Lu Xian was furious when he saw this situation. If he were tied up with ropes, wouldn't he become a prisoner?
Seeing that they dared not cooperate, the three Russian soldiers immediately aimed their rifles at Lu Xian, which was a blatant threat.
Lu Xian was not to be outdone. He was also an ability user, not someone these bastards could humiliate at will. While he might not be very strong against other ability users, dealing with three of them was simple enough.
Then, Lu Xian dodged the rifle and snatched it away before the soldier holding it could even react. The soldiers were stunned. What should they do now that their weapons had been taken?
"Watch this!" Lu Xian prepared to show these audacious fellows what he could do. He then used both hands to bend the steel barrel of the rifle, rendering it unusable. Although his abilities were not suitable for combat, Lu Xian was still a fifth-level ability user and possessed strength and speed.
After completing this, Lu Xian looked at the soldiers opposite him with a cold smile and extended his hand, saying, "Come on, tie me up. I'd like to see if you have the guts."
The soldiers were very surprised by this turn of events. They were already evolved individuals, yet they could not easily bend the gun barrel without tools. The East Asian person in front of them had accomplished such a feat with ease, which was beyond their imagination.
The soldiers quickly began to explain. Intimidated by Lu Xian's strength, they no longer dared to use force and could only reason with him. However, they did not understand Chinese, so their words could not be understood at all.
"What are you babbling about? I can't understand you. Can't you speak Chinese?" Lu Xian questioned impatiently.
The three soldiers stood there awkwardly. As soldiers, being threatened like this was a great humiliation for them.
Just then, a woman's voice suddenly came from the depths of the cave: "Shen Feng, Lu Xian, you've arrived, and you're here to bully our people?"
Shen Feng and the others looked towards the depths of the cave, trying to see who was speaking. When the flashlight shone, they saw a woman on the shore in the distance, jumping on the water and heading towards them. As she jumped on the water, the water beneath her feet quickly froze, so she wouldn't fall in.
Seeing this agile figure approaching them, like a cheerful fawn, Shen Feng immediately recognized her. Wasn't this Zhang Zi? He had met her in Yanjing before. She was the strongest in combat in the icy and snowy environment because her ability was to control ice and snow.
"Zhang Zi, you weren't captured? As for why we came, do I need to say? Of course, it's to find you guys who have lost contact." Shen Feng said with a smile.
Zhang Zi finally appeared on the shore. Lu Xian shrugged and said nothing. If they were their own people, there was no need to continue interrogating. Zhang Zi, however, looked at the flushed Qi Lingshan on the side. Anyone who saw Qi Lingshan's appearance would likely think that Guan Yu had descended to earth, otherwise, why would he look like that?
"Shen Feng, your subordinate doesn't seem to be in good condition. I think if he doesn't get treatment, he'll definitely have problems. Has he contracted fire poison?" Zhang Zi asked.
Shen Feng nodded and said, "If you mean being stained by the blood of the salamander over there, then yes, that's true. Anyway, he's just feeling hot all over and needs to vent the heat."
Shen Feng's words made Zhang Zi understand. She turned to the three and said, "Follow me. I'll take you to our base to rest and treat this friend. May I ask your name?"
"Qi Lingshan, it's an honor to meet you, the legendary Ice Queen. Hearing about you is not as good as meeting you, and meeting you is even better than hearing about you," Qi Lingshan quickly introduced himself.
The three then boarded the raft, and the group left with Zhang Zi. Shen Feng specifically observed the raft under his feet. It was tied with wire, and the wood was mostly brought from outside. Zhang Zi then began to explain.
"Shen Feng, we've been trapped underground for over a month. We thought headquarters would send reinforcements sooner or later, but now you've come to support us. This is unexpected. I heard you had a falling out with headquarters, so it's really appreciated that you could come to our aid," Zhang Xi said with emotion.
Shen Feng was not polite and directly said, "If possible, I wouldn't want to come to Siberia. Not to mention the dangers, but also to be ambushed. If it weren't for my sister's constant pleading, I wouldn't bother with you."
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, Zhang Zi smiled and said, "It seems we have to thank Xiao Sheng. If he didn't have a good wife, you wouldn't be rescuing us now."
Shen Feng shrugged and didn't explain much. Instead, he asked, "I heard many of you were captured. How many are left now? I'm asking about the number of ability users."
Zhang Zi gave a wry smile, a hint of sadness on her face. "There were originally five ability users, but they were lured into a trap. Now there are only three left: me, Jin Ziju, and Xiao Sheng. The others have all been captured."
"Lured into a trap? What do you mean?" Shen Feng quickly asked.
Zhang Zi did not hide anything and said, "It doesn't mean anything special. It just means that the mutated plants tied up all the ability users to lure us into a trap. The mutated plants inside wanted to capture us all."
Shen Feng also remembered that the information he obtained from Chaytzev was that Xu Xing was captured, not killed. Now it seemed that Xu Xing had also been used as bait.
Soon, Zhang Zi led Shen Feng ashore. After hiding the raft, they headed towards several caves on the side. The underground was interconnected, with passages everywhere, especially the caves that were only one or two meters high. These caves were not suitable for large animals to live in.
After winding through many turns, they arrived at a huge cave. The three soldiers had heard the sounds outside, so they went out to investigate, and ran into Shen Feng.
In the large cave, there were more than fifty soldiers, and their morale did not seem to be high. Jin Ziju was roasting a marmot, while Xiao Sheng was nowhere to be seen.
When Jin Ziju saw Shen Feng, he let out a sigh. "Alas, I didn't expect to see the person I least wanted to see."
Shen Feng did not forget that Jin Ziju had rescued him before. Seeing Jin Ziju's attitude, he said indifferently, "I don't like to owe favors. You rescued me before, and I'm rescuing you this time. From now on, we're even, understand?"
Jin Ziju shrugged and said nothing.
Zhang Zi found a bottle of blue liquid from a box on the side, poured a capful of the liquid, and handed it to Qi Lingshan, saying, "Drink this. As long as you drink it, the fire poison in your body will be cleared. Otherwise, even if you want to survive, you'll have to endure it for a month, and you might even die."
Qi Lingshan took the cap and looked at the liquid inside. It was light blue and seemed fine. He then brought his nose closer to smell it and immediately detected a strong fishy odor, several times stronger than that of eggs.
"Good medicine tastes bitter, good medicine tastes bitter," Qi Lingshan comforted himself in his heart.
Then, Qi Lingshan tilted his head and drank the blue liquid in the cap.
After drinking it, Qi Lingshan indeed felt much cooler and the feeling of heat in his body lessened considerably. He felt much more comfortable all over.
"What kind of antidote is this? It seems to be very effective," Qi Lingshan couldn't help but ask.
Zhang Zi explained, "It's the antidote made from the blood of a transparent shrimp from the ice spring. If you drink it alone, you'll get cold poison, and then you'll need the blood of a fire salamander to detoxify it."
After Zhang Zi's explanation, Shen Feng found it interesting. To detoxify fire poison, he used the blood of a transparent shrimp, and to treat cold poison, he used a fire salamander. These two animals lived in different environments, yet they were mutually restraining.