Li Zhiyuan was about to shout a reminder, but just as the sound reached his throat and before he could yell out, a surveyor suddenly shot up into the air.
Everyone was shocked and looked up, shining multiple flashlight beams upwards, only to see a thick figure rising and swinging violently in the chaos.
This scene caused the situation to completely fall apart.
The lifted body fell rapidly, and its lantern-like eyes traced two red streaks across the night sky before charging straight towards the cave.
Everything happened too fast and too urgently. So of the surveyors outside were frozen in shock, while others who tried to scramble up couldn’t, their knees giving out, all amid primal screams and shouts.
Under normal circumstances, these surveyors who work outdoors all year round and have so organizational skills wouldn’t be so panicked, but the problem was that facing such a creature suddenly erging from the darkness of the night, being petrified was a normal human reaction.
Comparatively, Li Zhiyuan and his three companions, who had experienced nurous eerie events, had stronger endurance. While others were still lost and clueless, Run Sheng reached out to grab Li Zhiyuan’s arm, ready to carry the boy on his back, while Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin supported each other to their feet.
Logically, they should have a better chance to dodge and move than the others, but paradoxically, those "two big lanterns" ignored everyone else on the riverbank and charged straight at them.
This was its cave, and now it wanted to co ho.
The four inside the cave suddenly had no way out. To keep standing there would an either being devoured by the creature or crushed inside the mountain cave.
Run Sheng carried Li Zhiyuan and turned to run inside the cave, followed closely by Tan Wenbin and Xue Liangliang. Reaching the cavern inside the cave, they leaped down without hesitation.
As they jumped, Run Sheng pulled Li Zhiyuan in front of himself, wrapping his arms around him to protect him with his own body as a cushion.
Perhaps because the creature often passed through here, the tunnel walls were very smooth, almost polished, so after the four jumped, they slid down diagonally at high speed like a slide.
Behind them, there ca a continuous, grating noise like a truck tire skidding on a smooth surface, accompanied by a violent shaking of the tunnel.
Li Zhiyuan was shielded by Run Sheng and could look back to see the pair of huge red lanterns following closely behind. He could vaguely make out two legs shaking beneath the red lanterns—it was the surveyor who had been bitten first.
Then, in Li Zhiyuan’s ears ca the sound of a massive gust of wind from below.
This ant that the tunnel was coming to an end; there was likely to be a void below, and the four of them would probably fall to their deaths!
But at that mont, firstly, there were no other viable actions to take—even if they could, trying to stabilize and slow down would an being devoured by the creature following them.
Secondly, if one were to choose their own end, it seed better to die from a fall than be eaten by that creature.
Soon, the feeling of weightlessness ca, and the four slid out of the tunnel, then fell rapidly.
Even while falling, Li Zhiyuan still looked up at the place they had slid from. The red lanterns stopped at the exit and did not follow them down.
And so, before his eyes, the red lanterns grew smaller and more blurred.
"Splash! Splash! Splash!"
A series of sounds as they hit the water.
Li Zhiyuan felt the sting on his back as it slapped the water surface, but at the sa ti, he sighed in relief, knowing that for the ti being, their lives were saved, as two in their party were excellent swimrs.
Without struggling, just cooperating, Run Sheng quickly grabbed him and swam towards the side. The subterranean river was deep, but not wide, and soon enough, they made it ashore.
"Xiao Yuan, are you okay?"
"I’m fine, Brother Runsheng. How about you?"
"I’m made of tough stuff."
Li Zhiyuan took out his own flashlight, tapped it, and turned it back on.
The survey team mbers each had one of these waterproof flashlights tied to their person, which would not be lost unless under special circumstances. The only issue was that the flashlight was quite bulky and often had bad contacts, but the way to fix it was simple—find a rock and give it a tap.
"Click! Click! Click!"
Li Zhiyuan kept toggling his flashlight on and off.
After a while, a similar response ca from the opposite side.
The subterranean river was turbulent, creating significant echoes, making it impossible for shouts to carry over long distances.
The boy pressed the light twice at long intervals, indicating that there were two people on his side; soon the other side responded in the sa way, indicating Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin had reached the shore there.
Li Zhiyuan held his flashlight and waved the beam to signal to wait before regrouping and to check both banks to see which was more suitable.
Xue Liangliang on the other side also shook his flashlight beam, indicating his understanding.
This wasn’t morse code; communication was based on both parties’ ability to comprehend.
Next, Li Zhiyuan began to use his flashlight to inspect his surroundings; to save power, Run Sheng’s flashlight was temporarily off, and it was the sa on the other bank—just one light.
Their side of the bank was not only not narrow but also quite spacious. There was an average of more than ten ters between the cavern wall and the dark stream.
The problem, however, was that the rock wall was too smooth, like one huge mirror. Run Sheng tried to climb barehanded but eventually had to give up; it was simply impossible to scale.
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