Chapter 224
Before anyone could react, Wu Jin, standing behind Jiang Tianming, subtly tugged his sleeve. Everyone knew what this meant: the clan leader had lied.
But where was the lie? Was it “We don’t know their condition” or “They’ll treat them, no problem”?
With this doubt, the group trekked to the Plant Tribe. Entering the tribe’s stone corridor, they caught a faint grassy scent, refreshing amid the earthy smell.
Caige explained as they walked: “Most Plant Tribe members can make plants grow. Many vegetables we eat come from them. They have healing herbs and experienced doctors. We haven’t seen your illness, but they might know it at a glance.”
After she spoke, Wu Jin tugged Jiang Tianming’s sleeve again.
Another lie? Linking this to the clan leader’s lie, Su Bei realized where they’d lied. Combining the definitive statements, the overlap was “We haven’t seen your illness.”
Both emphasized not knowing Qiao Mu and Li Bowen’s condition, but Wu Jin’s reaction suggested they knew exactly what happened to those trying to return.
Either this issue only affected surface humans, or they’d avoided it without warning Qiao Mu and Li Bowen. Either way, it pointed to another fact: others had likely fallen here before.
How else would they know surface humans faced danger here?Entering the Plant Tribe’s hall, it differed starkly from the Mud Tribe’s. The floor was carpeted with soft grass, corners bloomed with exotic plants, and walls were covered in ivy-like vines, strikingly beautiful.
Notably, these weren’t surface plants. Green was rare; most were blue. The flowers, however, were vibrant and varied.
With comrades in danger, no one had the mood to admire the scenery, only wanting a doctor for Qiao Mu and Li Bowen.
The summoned doctor was an elderly local, his white beard and wrinkled skin showing his age. His experience shone; after a brief check, he knowingly asked: “Did these outsiders just try returning to the surface?”
“Yes, yes! Do you know what’s wrong?” Zuzong nodded eagerly, seeing hope.
The doctor’s answer was surprising: “They were exposed to divine energy, disrupting their body’s five elements, causing this.”
It was a tough choice. The gap between underground and surface humans was vast, akin to changing species. Once changed, returning to the surface would be hard. Underground bodies were light-sensitive, and even if modified humans weren’t, their alien appearance wouldn’t be accepted on the surface.
“How long?” Jiang Tianming suddenly asked, taking a deep breath. “I mean, how long can they last before it’s life-threatening?”
The doctor glanced at Clan Leader He Bin, then answered: “Three days. At most, their bodies will rot and die.”
Jiang Tianming nodded calmly: “Got it.”
He turned to the clan leader: “We need to discuss this first.”
“Of course,” the clan leader wasn’t surprised. “I’ll take you back. Do you want these two to stay here for the Plant Tribe to preserve their bodies with medicine, or take them with you?”
“Leave them here,” Jiang Tianming replied. Since the locals didn’t plan to let them return, Qiao Mu and Li Bowen were either dead or soon to be one of them in their eyes. They wouldn’t harm them, so it was safe to leave them.
“Wait a sec,” Caige suddenly called, pulling out earpiece-like devices with attached microphones.
Seeing such modern tech in this ancient setting shocked everyone, like breaking the fourth wall.
Caige distributed the earpieces, explaining: “Wear these, and you can understand others without my translation, and they’ll understand you.”
“Were these made for us?” Wu Mingbai, always good at boosting morale, asked with surprise and gratitude.
Caige nodded kindly: “I had free time. Use them, and let me know if there’s an issue. But in your spare time, learn our language—it’ll be more convenient.”
Admittedly, aside from hinting they should stay, Caige was genuinely nice. Sadly, they couldn’t stay, destined to part ways.
Back in the room, the mood was heavy. Zuzong suddenly looked at Su Bei: “When you said someone was in trouble, did you mean Bowen and Qiao Mu?”
Before Su Bei could answer, he pressed: “If you knew they were in danger, why didn’t you warn them? Why not stop them? If they hadn’t gone up, they wouldn’t have hit that divine energy and wouldn’t be in this mess!”
His eyes reddened. Though questioning Su Bei, his gaze held more self-reproach for not stopping his friends. Rationally, he knew blaming himself or Su Bei was illogical, but emotions often defied reason.
Now wasn’t the time to argue, and Su Bei had no interest in it. Honestly, he’d prefer using Zuzong’s outburst to ditch the protagonist group and act alone.
But with no clear way out, leaving would mean missing clues. Plus, unlike previous places, there was no private spot to slack off here.
So Su Bei ignored Zuzong’s question, not even glancing at him, and addressed the others: “Other humans have been here before.”
Hearing this, Si Zhaohua quickly nodded: “You caught it too. From Wu Jin’s lie detection, they clearly knew we’d face danger in the cave. They must’ve learned from humans who fell before.”
He feared if he didn’t shift the topic, Zuzong would keep picking on Su Bei, and if Su Bei got fed up, it’d be trouble.
Seeing Su Bei didn’t ditch them over Zuzong’s words, Jiang Tianming sighed inwardly, quickly adding: “Let’s gather related info. If those people are alive, we can get useful info from them. If they’re dead, their traces can help us avoid risks here and prevent this again.”
“But we can’t reveal we know this, right?” Wu Mingbai looked troubled. “How do we dig for info in this situation?”
“Through Wu Jin,” Jiang Tianming had a plan. “We can use his truth-detection to deduce correct answers from wrong ones.”
Wu Mingbai got it, flashing an “OK” gesture: “Got it. Let’s move out.” With Qiao Mu and Li Bowen in critical condition, only three days left, they couldn’t waste a second. They had to find a way back in three days, or they’d have to stay to survive.
“…Originally, the three of us were going to Caige’s place for clues. Now that they’re like this, anyone want to join me?” Lan Subing raised her hand. She hadn’t expected their trio to shrink to one before starting.
But she couldn’t go alone—she could search, but chatting with Caige would be torture.
“I’ll go with you,” Wu Mingbai gave a bright, fake smile. “I’m decent at this.”
The others quickly grouped up. Jiang Tianming, Si Zhaohua, and Wu Jin would seek info on previous humans. Lan Subing and Wu Mingbai would probe Caige. Huangfu Mingzhe and Zuzong would keep looking for an exit.
“What about you, Su Bei? Joining a group?” Jiang Tianming eyed Su Bei, who’d been silent during the planning, worried he’d bail.
Su Bei blinked: “I’m going to find Cyril and Li Xiang.”
Right! Where were Cyril and Li Xiang?
His words reminded them—after leaving the cave, those two had vanished. Their presence had been low today, which was why they’d forgotten.
“Why do you want to find them?” Jiang Tianming, sharp as ever, asked. He was starting to suspect Cyril and Li Xiang were up to something sneaky.
As the saying goes, a quiet kid is up to mischief. With Cyril’s personality, a low presence was unnatural. Making others overlook him was likely deliberate.
Su Bei answered earnestly: “Curiosity.”
Everyone: “…”
They couldn’t control him, and since he was doing something useful, they didn’t bother arguing. Jiang Tianming stood up, clapping: “Alright, since it’s settled, let’s move. Be back in time for lunch. Hope we all have results by then.”
He led the way out.
The others followed, but before they left, Zuzong suddenly called: “Su Bei!”
Everyone tensed, fearing he’d say something to ruin the mood. Su Bei raised an eyebrow, turning. He didn’t want trouble, but he wasn’t patient. If Zuzong kept pushing, he wouldn’t hold back.
To everyone’s surprise, Zuzong pursed his lips and apologized: “Sorry.”
This stunned them, but they soon relaxed. Zuzong continued: “I lashed out because of my emotions. You’re the bigger person, so don’t hold it against me. You know my brain’s not the best.”
Apologizing like this, Su Bei genuinely wasn’t mad. He looked at the Green-Haired Boy, amused: “You change tunes pretty fast.”
Zuzong caught his tone, fawning like a lackey: “I’m quick to own my mistakes, alright! You’re not mad, right? A smile means you’re not mad!”
“Not mad,” Su Bei shook his head. He knew Zuzong had been emotional, so he wouldn’t hold a grudge over one jab. But a second time would be different.
“One more thing,” Zuzong said cautiously, fearing Su Bei might think his apology had motives, adding: “You don’t have to answer. I’m just asking.”
Su Bei understood—he likely wanted to know if Li Bowen and Qiao Mu could return on time. Others guessed too, their eyes shifting from Zuzong to Su Bei.
His Destiny Ability was often seen like Feng Lan’s Prophecy Ability, used for future predictions. But they differed: Feng Lan’s focus was “seeing,” while his was “changing,” so he was weaker at seeing.
Not giving Zuzong a chance to ask, Su Bei shook his head, refusing bluntly: “I don’t know.”
Zuzong’s head drooped, disappointed. He wasn’t sure if Su Bei’s “don’t know” was true, but he clearly wouldn’t answer. He worried for his friends, hoping Su Bei’s Ability could offer assurance. Since it couldn’t, he’d just work harder.
“Fine, let’s get moving,” Zuzong forced a smile, rallying his spirits.
With the team reconciled, everyone sighed in relief and began their tasks as planned.
Su Bei didn’t know where Cyril and Li Xiang were, so he couldn’t pinpoint them. But that was fine—he was half-slacking anyway. Finding them would be a bonus; not finding them was no loss.
With Caige’s earpieces, Su Bei could finally communicate freely with locals. But he knew even if Caige was friendly, she wouldn’t fully trust them.
When they relied on her translations, she knew everything they said. Now, with earpieces, they wouldn’t need her, making their words harder to control.
Like with Xiao Fan, when he asked something she didn’t want shared, she didn’t translate, blocking the exchange.
Su Bei didn’t believe she’d overlook this, so the earpieces likely had other functions, like monitoring. This was why he chose to find Cyril and Li Xiang. Searching for missing comrades was normal, requiring no scheming through the earpiece—just honesty.
He asked every local he met if they’d seen Cyril and Li Xiang. They might blend in with Su Bei’s group, but not with locals. Their distinct appearance was eye-catching, like a monkey on a busy street—hard to miss, no matter how low-key.
Especially since this place restricted Abilities and most Ability items. Su Bei wasn’t sure if his revival item worked, but his Invisibility Charm didn’t. If his active items were unusable, Cyril and Li Xiang couldn’t use presence-lowering items either. Asking passersby would easily reveal their trail.
After a few inquiries, Su Bei traced their path to the Spirit Tribe clan leader’s home.
On the surface, the Mud Tribe, where they stayed, seemed the strongest, faintly leading the six tribes. The Spirit Tribe was the weakest. On his way, Su Bei asked locals their tribes while seeking Cyril and Li Xiang. He met many from other tribes but none from the Spirit Tribe.
When mentioned, locals didn’t show extra respect for their abilities, even hinting at disdain, possibly why they rarely appeared.
It made sense. In a resource-scarce underground world, practical Abilities trumped others. [Soul Communication], mainly for communication, was valued on the surface but nearly useless here.
But Su Bei felt the Spirit Tribe might be the strongest. Their strength lay in communicating with everything, knowing past and present. They likely knew much, except the future.
And now Black Flash members were visiting them. Su Bei raised an eyebrow, hurrying to the Spirit Tribe.
Each tribe’s hall had its character. The Spirit Tribe’s was minimalist—plain stone walls, no decorations. Unlike the crowded other tribes, it was nearly empty.
The only notable feature was the animals. In a blink, three rats scurried past Su Bei.
Good thing Ai Baozhu wasn’t here, Su Bei thought, recalling her piercing scream when a rat appeared in class. Afterward, she’d worn a full-body hazmat suit and disinfected the classroom.
Asking a rare local for the clan leader’s room, Su Bei headed there.
He didn’t knock, instead using Mental Energy to probe from a distance. If possible, he’d rather eavesdrop than join in.
But these two weren’t ordinary. As his Mental Energy touched them, Cyril’s teasing voice came: “Looks like a little tail followed. Not coming in?”
So, he was a high-level Mental Energy user, he's just never shown it before. But it made sense—a Black Flash bigshot having high Mental Energy was normal.
Caught, Su Bei wasn’t embarrassed. He removed the earpiece, holding it, then knocked calmly: “Can I come in?”
“Come in,” answered not Cyril but an aged voice, likely the Spirit Tribe clan leader.
With permission, Su Bei entered, immediately spotting the elder in the main seat. He froze, eyes wide with shock.
This elder had an eye.