The cave is completely enclosed, with no view of the outside, so the interior is pitch black.
However, Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang have already eaten the red berries, and Silver King and Keke naturally have the ability to see in the dark, so they are not affected at all.
Inside the cave, it’s very quiet; the sound of their footsteps on the slippery ground is very clear, so much so that even the occasional dripping of water can be distinctly heard.
The cave has undergone decades to millions of years of erosion and deposition, making its terrain rugged and uneven, and extrely slippery. A careless step could lead to a fall, and, if one were to hit a sharp stalactite by chance, it could result in serious injury.
This is not like those processed tourist caves on Earth, so Xu Xin walks very carefully.
"Eek!" Keke jumped off Xu Xin’s shoulder and ran ahead on its own.
"Be careful, don’t run around!" Xu Xin sighed helplessly; this little guy always runs around every ti, although it always manages to discover sothing special, each ti makes him worried.
Silver King, on the other hand, is quite obedient, always following behind Xu Xin. Its large size is sowhat cumberso in such uneven terrain with protruding stone pillars here and there, but it is still more stable than a human walking on two legs.
"Eek!" Keke responded from ahead.
Its small figure makes it easier to navigate through the cave.
"Are we still within this circle of hills?" Ji Chaoyang asked Xu Xin while holding onto a sharp stone pillar that blocked his way.
"That’s right, we should still be in the hills." Xu Xin kept an eye on the map. They are currently within the hills, and the twisted direction of this cave is consistent with the direction of the hill connections, indicating this is one of the connected caves within the hills.
Of course, it could also be underground, as Xu Xin’s map only shows the planar position, not the vertical depth.
As they continue forward, both hear the faint sound of flowing water.
There should be running water ahead.
But neither of them is surprised since caves are ford by water erosion, and finding water inside is perfectly normal; it would be unusual not to find any.
Soon, as they walked another hundred ters forward, they arrived at a very clear stream.
The flow of the stream is not fast, even sowhat slow. This stream is flowing along the cave ahead, but does not enter the section of the cave they are currently in; instead, it makes a turn and flows into a side underground dark cave.
That’s not where they can go.
At this mont, Keke stands by the stream, and upon seeing Xu Xin arrive, it squeals and runs to his feet.
"This stream is quite substantial." Xu Xin estimated the depth of the water flow; it must be two ters deep.
Although caves are ford by river erosion, there are no rivers around and inside the hill preserve, only a large lake occupying a wide area in the center.
Could it be an underground river?
Ji Chaoyang crouchs by the river, carefully observing the creatures in the water.
"There are fish in the river, and they have eyes. Here it’s pitch black; if these species have always lived in such dark caves, the fish’s eyes shouldn’t be undeveloped." Ji Chaoyang remarked while observing a motionless black fish in the water.
"So, these fish have co from the outside?" Xu Xin’s eyes lit up, "If we follow the stream upstream, we should be able to get out."
Moreover, the upstream direction happens to be along this circle of hills towards the salt mine cave and the giant’s skull.
If there’s any secret, it must be near the giant’s skull.
"Hmm, let’s continue upstream."
The stream doesn’t occupy all the space inside the cave, so Xu Xin and the others continue to walk along its edge.
"Eek!" Keke ran ahead again.
The ground is getting even more slippery; although there is still a path, it has beco very narrow, forcing Xu Xin and the others to proceed more cautiously, which slows down their pace significantly.
"You can swim, correct?" Xu Xin asked Ji Chaoyang, who was also advancing cautiously.
Their progress is too slow, and there are only a few hours until dark outside. At this pace, they might not find the exit by tonight.
There are many things to do today; they need to bring Li Yajun to Li Wenxi’s treehouse and improve the decoration and the success rate of alchemy, aiming to produce the coordinates tomorrow to connect the four treehouses.
Although Ji Chaoyang ntioned that there might not be an ice snowstorm tomorrow, they still need to make ample preparations.
So they can’t waste too much ti here.
Moreover, if they haven’t gone out yet and cannot contact the outside, Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei’s situation wouldn’t be ideal; they don’t have mounts, so would they wait outside, or walk back?
"Of course I can swim. During the rainy season, I’ve even disrupted a tornado, although I’m one step slower than you." Ji Chaoyang dodged a sharp stalactite and turned to Xu Xin, "So, do you intend to swim upstream through the river?"
"I do plan to do exactly that." Xu Xin glanced at the slow-flowing river.
Currently, he’s wearing a purple-level Scale Armor set, making the water his arena too!
"...I don’t see any problem." Ji Chaoyang considered the suggestion worthwhile.
Though there might be danger underwater, considering how treacherous the path is, the level of danger is no less than below the water, and besides, the water here is very clear; both have night vision, so visibility isn’t an issue.
"However, can your Silver King swim?" Ji Chaoyang looked at Silver King, which had been following behind.
"Roar!" Silver King, upon hearing Ji Chaoyang’s doubt, raised its head and howled to indicate it had no problem.
Silver King’s howl reverberated in the cave, bringing Keke running back from ahead.
Keke stood beside them and tilted its head.
This little fellow doesn’t need to enter the water; it can easily move on the ground.
"Keke, we’re going to swim; you just follow us on land." Xu Xin squatted down, petted Keke’s small head, and said, "And help us check if there’s a path above."
"Eek?" Keke took a mont to understand Xu Xin’s aning, then nodded its small head, "Eek!"
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang tested the water with their hands; it was extrely cold, almost freezing, but if they were ordinary people, they wouldn’t choose to jump in.
But both wore high-level armor that could resist so of the cold, and even if they caught a cold because of it, Qi Xuefei’s dicine would cover them, ensuring no incidents occurred.
The two of them exchanged a glance and both jumped into the river.
"Ow!" The Silver King followed them into the water.
"Oh, it’s really a bit chilly!" Xu Xin shivered. Even though the air temperature was quite low, being subrged in the water felt completely different.
"...Let’s get moving quickly, or our hands and feet will freeze." With that, Ji Chaoyang dove into the water and started swimming forward.
Xu Xin glanced at the Silver King, seeing that it had no problem in the water, he also plunged in and followed.
"Ying!" Keke, who was on the shore, also followed along.
The dark river was over two ters deep and three to four ters wide, more than enough space for them to move about in the water.
With the identification ability activated, everything underwater was visible at a glance.
The bottom was covered with green-grade stones and so unknown plants, which were also white-grade or green-grade, with not even a hint of blue-grade aquatic plants.
They continued swimming for a long stretch without encountering anything noteworthy, and Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang surfaced for a breath.
He looked towards the Silver King, who was following closely behind them, swimming at a pace that kept up with the two of them.
Keke was also on the riverbank, and upon seeing him surface, it let out a "Ying" sound.
"Where...are we?" Ji Chaoyang panted slightly, but fortunately, he had eaten an apricot that could restore energy continuously upon entering, so he was fine.
"...This river flows around this ring of hills. We’ve swum about halfway around the hills now." Xu Xin had been keeping an eye on the map.
Their swimming speed was fast, faster than a regular run.
In fact, he could swim even faster, but he slowed down to let Ji Chaoyang keep up, which allowed him ample ti to observe around and below the water.
"Let’s keep going." Xu Xin dove back into the water.
The two continued swimming forward.
After swimming for a long while, Xu Xin noticed the dark river seed to be getting wider and deeper.
Previously, it was only three to four ters wide and about two ters deep. Now, the depth reached three to four ters, and the width stretched directly to five to six ters. Even the surrounding caverns were much wider than before.
"Ying! Ying ying!" Keke suddenly began to call out from the shore.
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang erged from the water.
"Ying! Ying ying!" Keke gestured rapidly with its small claws at them.
Xu Xin understood its ssage, his heart tensed up, and he imdiately told Ji Chaoyang, "Let’s get out of the water, Keke says there’s danger ahead in the river!"
Ji Chaoyang responded without hesitation, "Okay!"
The Silver King was already out of the water, shaking off the droplets from its body.
Xu Xin swam to the shore but didn’t climb out right away. Instead, he dove back underwater to look ahead into the deeper section.
The water was very dark, but his Scale Armor combined with the red berries allowed him to see everything clearly. He might be able to spot sothing ahead.
The view ahead was clear, but because of the river’s curvature, visibility was limited.
Hmm?!
Xu Xin suddenly noticed two glowing red dots in the river.
Soon, the red dots multiplied rapidly, forming a dense cluster, all swiftly approaching this direction!
...Could those be the eyes of mutant creatures?!
"Ying ying ying!" Keke urgently cried from the shore.
Xu Xin burst out from the water, propped himself on the shore with his hands, and rolled up onto the bank, quickly getting to his feet!
Ji Chaoyang was already on the shore, wringing the water out of his leather armor. Seeing Xu Xin’s intense expression, he tensed up too, "What did you see underwater?"
The cavern was now very wide, at least over ten ters in width, providing several ters of space on the bank. He picked Keke up and placed it on his shoulder, pulling Ji Chaoyang and the Silver King away from the river, leaning against the cave wall and looking at the river a few ters away.
On the map, nurous red dots ford a river-like pattern over the hill, rapidly moving towards their location!
Ji Chaoyang didn’t question further and focused on the river, pulling out a crossbow.
They could both hear the sound of sothing massive moving underwater!
"Ying!"
"They’re coming!" Xu Xin also pulled out a crossbow, aiming at the river.
"Splash!"
With a huge splash, a blood-red fish, a ter long, leapt out from the water!
Xu Xin’s pupils contracted, and simultaneously with Ji Chaoyang, they pulled the trigger.
"Boom! Boom!" Two overlapping explosions rang out, and the intense flas temporarily blinded them both.
The blood-red giant fish was blasted back into the water by the wave of explosions.
But the situation did not improve!
At that mont, three nearly ter-long blood-red fishes leaped from the river, charging straight at Xu Xin and the others!
Their mouths were full of sharp, irregularly shaped teeth that sent chills down one’s spine just by looking!
These were piranhas!
Much larger piranhas than those Xu Xin had encountered in the lake before!
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