Chapter 313: Strange Mine Cave

Hu Lilang himself went down the mine shaft multiple times; how could he not know the map he held was wrong? Unless he intentionally gave them the wrong one. What was this man thinking?

Liu Tiao whispered, "I heard that reporting the mine crisis to Panlong City was not Hu Lilang's idea at all. It was spread by two merchants, and Hu Lilang was eventually forced to report it, so he was quite displeased with their unauthorized actions."

A team member behind them suddenly spoke up, "Sister Liu Tiao is right; the air here isn't good, a bit fishy." Another person added, "It also feels a bit hot."

With no light penetrating, a place like this at the base of a mountain should get cooler the further down you go. Some caves have cool breezes year-round, and local residents go there to escape the summer heat, sometimes even needing to put on long coats after a while. Yet, this passage grew progressively hotter as they walked, and the air was stuffy. Liu Tiao's nose was slightly sweating, and the big men beside her also began to wipe their foreheads. Could there be geothermal heat below? That's impossible; if a mine dared to open on a volcano, wouldn't that be dragging everyone to their deaths? Panlong City couldn't possibly start mining without even surveying such conditions.

He Lingchuan suddenly raised the glowgrass and pressed it against the mountain wall, saying, "When did the tunnel walls become like this?" Everyone looked closely. The originally dark rock wall had, at some point, faded to grayish-white, covered with countless roots, making it look like blood vessels. When they touched it, they found the rock wall was no longer cold; instead, it was very warm, even slightly elastic.

Men Ban suddenly said, "We haven't seen any support beams for a long time." Mine shafts often have low safety ratings, so after miners excavate a passage, they frequently use wooden planks and frames to reinforce it. They had seen them periodically along their journey and hadn't thought much of it, but recently, they hadn't seen a single one.

"We've been walking for over a quarter of an hour, and there seems to be no end; it's just this one passage continuing forward," a team member behind them said. "Could it be a ghost wall?" "With elemental energy protecting us, magic can hardly harm us," Men Ban said gravely. "Let's keep going. Strange, if it's a maze, why are there no forks?"

He Lingchuan remained silent. The strangeness of this mine passage was undoubtedly related to the Jin Crossing Imps. While the two he had chased in Panlong City were tough to deal with, they couldn't create such an illusion. Could even their elemental energy not break through this illusion formation? Dong Rui was indeed right: "The later a Jin Crossing Imp is born, the greater its ability. Everyone, stay alert."

Ahead was an uphill slope. When they reached the top, they found a fissure in the ground, only three feet high, like a flattened mouth. To get through, they had to use their hands and feet, crawling along the ground. Liu Tiao, the most slender among them, lowered her voice and said, "I'll go first." With that, she braced herself with her hands and swiftly slipped through the fissure, as agile as a fish. If enemies had been lurking nearby, they might not have had the chance to catch her. After she passed through, she looked left and right, raising the glowgrass: "It's clear, come on."

Only then did the others crawl through. He Lingchuan deliberately stayed at the back. When it was his turn, it was already pitch black behind him, and no teammates were visible. Being prone meant this posture prevented drawing weapons for self-defense, so everyone had to pass through as quickly as possible.

As soon as He Lingchuan lay down, he felt a tightening around his calf; something grabbed him and yanked him backward! If someone else had their leg grabbed by a ghost, their first reaction would surely be to frantically crawl forward. But He Lingchuan did not. He pushed forward with his left hand, accelerating his body backward! The force pulling him was already strong, and with his added acceleration, it was truly a double slide backward. It was like a fisherman desperately reeling in, only for a large fish in the sea to leap out, hitting him squarely on the forehead. Anyone would be stunned. The black hand pulling him also didn't expect its prey to be so agile. Although surprised, it didn't forget to claw at him. It wasn't large, only three feet tall, making it well-suited for such low, narrow passages. However, its overgrown claws, nearly a foot long, could penetrate rock by three points, making it effortless to cut through flesh and blood. If He Lingchuan didn't turn around, it would attack his spine; if the prey turned, even better, it would deliver a "gut-ripping" gift. But it forgot a crucial point: short people have short arms. He Lingchuan was a dignified six-foot man, his legs longer than its entire height. His accelerated backward movement resulted in a powerful kick to its belly!

The monster's claws hadn't even reached his lower back when it was kicked back over seven feet, hitting the mountain wall.

He Lingchuan landed and spun, knife in hand, a faint, cold glint appearing in the dark chamber. It was sharp, yet silent. The creature, knowing its opponent's power, rolled and dodged, moving as agilely as a mouse chased by a cat. But it still felt a coldness and pain in its knee joint. Everything below the joint had been severed. It screamed, a sound like a baby crying, and the high-pitched shriek, amplified by the cave's echoes, made He Lingchuan's eardrums ache. But this didn't stop him from delivering a second strike. The first strike was fierce; the second was executed with complete power and focus. Keeping this thing alive was useless; he intended to kill it with one blow.

Unexpectedly, the creature seemed to realize the danger. Before it even finished screaming, it leaned back and vanished instantly. He Lingchuan's knife struck the mountain wall with a "thud," penetrating three feet into the rock.

Liu Tiao and Shou Zi heard the commotion and quickly scurried back, leaving Men Ban and the other guards to stand watch at the other end. "It appeared?" "I severed one of its legs," He Lingchuan said, taking out a bundle of glowgrass and approaching the rock wall. "It escaped from here." "Here?" There wasn't even a crack in the rock wall. Even if there were, it would only be the mark He Lingchuan had just made with his knife. "It retreated into the rock wall as if jumping into water." He Lingchuan used his knife tip to pick up a severed root, and dark red liquid oozed from it. All three of them smelled a strong, bloody scent.

Liu Tiao was greatly surprised: "The mountain wall is bleeding?" Shou Zi pointed at the severed root and said, "This looks like a blood vessel." The three fell silent for a few breaths, then simultaneously spoke: "This is real blood, not an illusion!" "This is definitely not a mine shaft!" "Let's go back!"

He Lingchuan immediately rejected Shou Zi's suggestion to "go back": "They've set a trap for us; there's probably no way back, and it would just waste our energy. The only way out is forward." Not to mention this strange maze, if one encounters a "ghost wall" in the wilderness, the last thing you should do is turn back. Most dangers lie behind you, waiting for you to turn around. He then asked Liu Tiao, "Is the liquid flowing from the vine human blood?" Liu Tiao sniffed carefully, even dipped a finger in to taste it, and after a moment of consideration, said, "It's somewhat similar, but not entirely." "What's different?" "The iron taste is too strong. Although blood naturally has a rusty smell." "Let's go through," He Lingchuan said, pointing at the fissure. "I'll still take the rear."

This time, everyone passed through the fissure safely. "At least we can confirm that the monsters here are Jin Crossing Imps," He Lingchuan said. He had seen its face clearly in their brief encounter. Moreover, he had previously fought its brethren and knew these monsters only had three fingers on their hands. "Duan Dao, aren't you being too overconfident? What if that monster extracts your heart from behind?" Shou Zi complained. "If you unfortunately sacrifice yourself, wouldn't I be forced to reluctantly become captain?" He Lingchuan glanced at him: "You don't want to?" "Uh..." Would saying no seem too unambitious?

He Lingchuan pulled a broken shovel from behind his back and waved it in front of him: "Didn't I tell you to bring this?" The low houses outside the cave were miners' dwellings, devoid of much else but full of production tools. He had dealt with Jin Crossing Imps more than once and understood that these creatures liked to attack vital points like the eyes, throat, and torso. Therefore, he had instructed his teammates to bend a shovel before entering the cave, to discard it if unnecessary or use it as a makeshift chest plate for protection if needed. Liu Tiao dismissed this, as she already wore a small, high-quality chest mirror, acquired through merit points. He Lingchuan also decided that upon their return, he would seek out the Pengcheng Bureau to exchange for a set of high-defense armor.

Men Ban couldn't help but exclaim, "Where exactly are we?!" "This isn't an illusion; it should be the lair created by the Jin Crossing Imps, where they are most accustomed to fighting, even able to move freely and disappear at will," He Lingchuan added. "Just now, when I chopped the rock wall with my knife, I actually felt it suddenly contract, as if in pain."

As soon as he finished speaking, strange expressions appeared on everyone's faces. Shou Zi cried out in alarm, "You're not thinking what I'm thinking, are you?" Liu Tiao retorted impatiently, "These are just newborn imps; where else would their most familiar lair be?!" "In their mother's womb, of course!" "Which means..."

Men Ban's hand tightened on his large axe. He turned and walked forward: "Let's quickly chop those little monsters; we really can't stay here." A team member behind him suggested, "If this place was created by the Jin Crossing Imps... that place, if we cause widespread destruction here, will they appear?" Men Ban nodded: "Good idea!" He raised his hand and struck the mountain wall four or five times with his axe.

Liu Tiao watched his actions, wanting to speak but holding back. Blood flowed profusely from inside the rock, and he also experienced what He Lingchuan had described: the sensation of the rock wall contracting as if in pain. Immediately after, the entire passage began to shake, as if the mine shaft was about to collapse. "Alright, let's go!" Liu Tiao pushed Men Ban. "Don't get crushed to death here!"

The passage began to contract and roll, which was worse than collapsing — standing in the wrong place could lead to being crushed. Everyone sprinted frantically. Several times, the passage narrowed, and Men Ban, the tallest and strongest, was almost trapped. He Lingchuan and other teammates desperately dragged him out. Otherwise, he would likely have been squeezed into a pulp.

Liu Tiao glared at him angrily: "Good idea, huh?" Couldn't this guy think a bit more before acting, instead of just following others' suggestions? Men Ban, feeling in the wrong, rubbed his nose and dared not speak.

It was unclear if that Jin Crossing Imp had been terrified by He Lingchuan's strike; otherwise, it should have appeared amidst the chaos to assert its presence and add to their troubles. Fortunately, the exit was ahead. As soon as He Lingchuan rushed to the opening, he felt his feet lose ground and his body plunge downward. Damn it, there was suddenly an empty void below. Luckily, he was prepared. He engaged his core and leg muscles, forcibly stopping his forward momentum. He extended the glowgrass bundle downwards, revealing a surprisingly vast space ahead. At least within the illuminated area, there was no end in sight.