’The Furnace Fortress?’
’The na alone makes it sound like so grand, magnificent structure.’
’It must cover a huge area.’
’Ordinary buildings can’t be called fortresses, after all.’
After taking down the Card, Qin Ziwen took the flashlight and swept its beam across their surroundings.
The cave was shaped like a gourd: narrow at the entrance, then widening out, but tapering again in the depths to another small, narrow opening. The flashlight’s beam suggested that beyond this new opening lay another, hidden space.
Shallow puddles covered the ground, and the terrain sloped downward the deeper they went.
Reaching the small opening in the depths, Qin Ziwen realized that its "smallness" was only relative. It was smaller than the main cave entrance, but still four or five ters high and nearly ten ters wide.
"Sir, there are scrape marks here." Du Yu had noticed sothing. Along the edge of the opening, the rock wall bore fresh abrasions, and small, newly broken fragnts of stone littered the ground.
The opening looked as if it had been recently widened.
Recalling the size of the Giant Toad, it wasn’t hard to imagine that it had scraped against the walls on its way out, widening the passage.
A layer of water covered the ground, flowing down the sloping entrance into the space beyond. As the flashlight beam moved, it illuminated a shallow pool.
There were even fish in the pool. They seed unaccustod to the bright light.
With a flick of their tails, they quickly retreated into the deeper parts of the cavern.
The water had collected in this low-lying area over ti, forming the shallow pool.
To the right of the large cavern before them, the ground rose to form a higher platform.
Along the edge of the platform grew so stone-like mushrooms.
Behind the platform, a short, two-ter-tall tree grew from a fissure in the stone.
Though not tall, its trunk was thick enough for a person to wrap their arms around. The top was branchless; only at a height of about one and a half ters did a few stout boughs jut out at an angle, sparsely decorated with palm-sized leaves.
He first scanned the area carefully with the flashlight, confirming that there were no other living creatures besides the few fish in the water.
Qin Ziwen climbed onto the stone platform to the right.
The stone platform was clean. A large patch in the center was nearly free of dust, and its outline roughly matched the shape of its "owner."
’Looks like this is where the Stone Cave Ancient Giant Toad used to live.’
Though barren, the environnt t the habitat requirents of the Stone Cave Ancient Giant Toad.
Furthermore, the older they get, the more this species tends to hibernate. This particular Giant Toad probably spent most of the year in slumber.
Qin Ziwen went to the side of the platform and examined the grayish-brown mushrooms. They looked like they were carved from stone. "These must be the stone mushrooms."
According to the illustrated guide, stone mushrooms were plump and full, with a rubbery, inedible texture. They were difficult to chew and poisonous.
’Could this be why the Giant Toad grew so large?’
After a mont’s thought, Qin Ziwen took a nylon bag from his backpack, shook it out, and then, using the bag to protect his hands, collected a few of the stone mushrooms.
"Sir, there are bite marks here."
Qin Ziwen looked where Du Yu was pointing.
Behind a hidden branch on the tree growing from the crevice, there was a small fruit stem.
The end of the stem was bare; sothing had clearly been attached to it.
Judging by the break, the tear was fresh. It must have been ripped off recently.
Qin Ziwen said thoughtfully, "It must have been eaten by the toad. But I thought toads didn’t eat fruit."
Qin Ziwu clapped his hands. "A toad that doesn’t eat fruit ate sothing from this tree! That ans it was drawn to it! Big Brother, maybe it lived here just for this tree!"
He grew more excited as he spoke. "I bet this is the ’Treasures of Heaven and Earth’ it was guarding!"
The old Qin Ziwen would have scoffed at such a notion. But now that he had been transported to another world, a world with obviously mutated giant creatures, he found himself analyzing every word.
He circled the tree. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the more he looked, the more he felt there was sothing extraordinary about it.
’This bark... these leaves... these roots...’
Qin Ziwen said decisively, "Dig it up!"
"We didn’t bring a shovel."
Qin Ziwen didn’t hesitate. "Then chop it down. We’ll take it with us even if we have to sever the roots."
The Giant Toad could return at any mont. If they didn’t dig it up now, they might not get another chance.
Even if they couldn’t transplant it, the plant’s materials might be useful on their own.
Even dead ginseng still has dicinal properties.
The three of them set to work with great efficiency.
They pulled up the roots they could and chopped through the ones they couldn’t.
After a good half-hour of hard work, they finally managed to free the tree.
Its root system was incredibly extensive, a dense network that reached deep into the rock fissures.
Having hacked away much of the root system, the three of them worked together to carry the tree away.
Exiting the cave, Li Tieshan stared in shock as their leader and the others erged, carrying a tree.
’A tree? Dug out of a cave?’
’Still, it’s a rather nice-looking tree.’
Though not tall, its bark was a pale yellow and smooth to the touch, catching the sunlight and shimring as if sprinkled with a fine layer of gold dust.
Li Tieshan tapped the trunk lightly with a finger. The sound was a dull thud. ’The wood must be dense,’ he thought.
The four n carried the tree down the mountain.
They arrived outside the Gated Community shortly after four. The swarm of mayflies above the community was gone, but another swarm still danced in the air over the distant river.
Their dancing, mating rhythm would last for three days.
As they entered the Gated Community, the sight of four n carrying a tree, though unusual, didn’t attract much attention.
After all, news that the Gated Community was about to experience a second "crossover" had spread. Though no one knew where they would end up next, everyone’s desire to gather supplies had surged in recent days.
So were digging up soil, others were stockpiling water, and a few were even hauling all sorts of plants back to their hos.
As he entered the Gated Community, Qin Ziwen felt a little guilty. He had, for all intents and purposes, just plundered the lair of the Stone Cave Ancient Giant Toad.
The Giant Toad was by the river right now; if it spotted them, the consequences could be severe.
Fortunately, their journey back was uneventful, and they brought the tree ho safely.
Once ho, the first thing Qin Ziwen did was plant the uprooted tree in his farm plot.
He rembered that the tree had been growing in a rock fissure. ’Perhaps that’s the environnt it prefers.’
So, he went to the quarry and hauled back several large rocks. He arranged them around the tree to create sothing like a stony slope, tucking so of the tree’s remaining roots into the crevices between the stones.
He then watered the roots.
When he was done, Qin Ziwen dusted off his hands, placed them on his hips, and admired his handiwork with satisfaction.
Qian Muzhen heard that their leader had found the tree in the Giant Toad’s lair, so he ca over to see what the commotion was about. He leaned in and sniffed it. "It has a clean fragrance. This tree might be so kind of dicinal herb."
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