Lei Xiuyuan was right; there were very few monsters near this cave. They seemed to avoid this place, keeping their distance.
Speaking of which, Ji Tongzhou and the others could sense the monster aura, but Li Fei, despite her cultivation progress, still couldn’t tell what the monster aura felt like. The few monsters she had encountered, including the fake nine-tailed fox in the Second Selection Forest, had an overwhelming monster aura that felt like a mere breeze to her, without any “strange smell” or “oddness.”
Was it because of her constitution, or was her cultivation not advanced enough?
Li Fei searched the area for a while and found a small pond, but the water was a sickly green color and bubbling. She didn’t dare drink it. Due to the thick miasma, this forest had been infected unusually, and she couldn’t even name many of the trees and flowers she saw. She had never seen them before and couldn’t find any grass with clear water stored in its roots.
If this continued, they would die of thirst before the academy could send someone to rescue them.
Li Fei pushed aside the dense branches and continued forward, unwilling to give up. Suddenly, several strange cries sounded above her head, startling her. Several black shadows fell in front of her, just a few zhang away. She was shocked—they were all monsters! Each one looked bizarre, with ferocious horns and heads!
Li Fei retreated several steps, drawing her stone sword. She calculated the distance to the cave, which was quite far. She likely wouldn’t make it back in time. She held the sword across her chest, warily glaring at the monsters. Unexpectedly, they made a few strange cries, threw some leaves and fruits on the ground, and then quickly ran away.
Huh? She was stunned. What did throwing down leaves and fruits mean?
Before she could understand, several more monster howls sounded. This time, it was a few half-grown leopard monsters, each carrying a crude stone bowl in its mouth filled with clear water. They silently placed the stone bowls on the ground and ran off.
Were they… bringing her food and water? Li Fei was thoroughly confused. She carefully walked over and picked up one of the stone bowls, gently sniffing it—there was no strange smell. These weren’t even stone bowls, just naturally concave rocks. There were three or four “bowls” on the ground, and although there wasn’t much water, it was enough to ensure she wouldn’t die of thirst.
She then picked up the leaves and fruits. The leaves were shaped like she had never seen before, like small inflated boats. They were soft to the touch, and with a little pressure, the leaves broke, releasing a lot of clear water. Li Fei hurriedly set the leaves upright, not daring to try the water yet, so she set them aside for now.
Under the leaves were several fruits, dark purple and about the size of a fist, looking quite unappetizing. Li Fei carefully peeled off a bit of skin; the flesh inside was also dark purple but very juicy and smelled sweet.
Could she eat and drink these? Why would monsters bring her these things?
Li Fei hesitated for a long time, but she was thirsty. The dry rations she had eaten earlier seemed to be stuck in her throat, making her uncomfortable. She didn’t dare touch the water in the leaves, only lifting the stone bowl. She wanted to drink but was still afraid. Then she thought, firstly, her constitution seemed special, and secondly, if the monsters wanted to harm her, they could have easily torn her apart. Why go through the trouble of bringing poisoned fruits and water? These monsters didn’t seem to have much intelligence; such a cunning trick was probably beyond them.
With this in mind, she decided to take the risk. She took a small sip from the stone bowl. The water was ice-cold and not particularly sweet or tasty, but it was undoubtedly water. Li Fei’s spirits lifted, and she drank a whole bowl at once. She then squeezed the water-filled leaves in her hand and took a small taste—the water from the leaves had a slightly astringent taste, typical of water found in plant roots or leaves. She felt a bit more at ease.
Next were the fruits. By now, she had let her guard down halfway. Although the fruits didn’t look appealing, they smelled very sweet. Taking a bite, she found them indeed fragrant and full of juice. Li Fei couldn’t help but devour one, wolfing it down. After finishing, she wiped her mouth, stood up, and called out loudly, “Thank you!”
As soon as she spoke, several more of the same fruits fell from the treetops above, hitting her all over her head and face. Both surprised and curious, she quickly picked up the fruits and gathered them in her clothes. A rough count showed about a dozen fruits, enough for the three children to eat for a day.
“Thanks… uh, thanks again,” Li Fei said gratefully, still bewildered. Unfortunately, the monsters here seemed to have not yet awakened their spiritual consciousness and couldn’t speak like Ri Yan. Moreover, they seemed very afraid of her, hiding far away, peeking at her from behind grass or trees.
Li Fei stood dazed for a while, then started pouring the water from the stone bowls and leaves into her water skin. The deflated water skin was soon filled, enough for the three of them for a day. It was strange to have mysteriously collected food and drink, and from monsters no less. This was something she couldn’t have imagined before. Was it because of her constitution? Or were monsters more sensitive than immortals, sensing Ri Yan’s presence on her?
Never mind, standing here wouldn’t solve anything. She’d ask Ri Yan when he woke up.
Li Fei gathered everything and was about to leave when she suddenly heard a boy calling, “Jiang Li Fei, come back quickly! There’s a situation in the cave!”
She was slightly startled and saw Lei Xiuyuan pushing aside branches and walking briskly toward her. His expression was somewhat grave as he grabbed her sleeve and hurried back, saying, “Ji Tongzhou fell into a hole!”
Fell into a hole? Li Fei was puzzled. Was there another hole inside the cave?
“Earlier, when helping him relieve himself, we walked further into the cave and discovered a stone door on the cave wall.”
It turned out that Ji Tongzhou wanted to find a secluded spot deeper in the cave to relieve himself. Who knew that after walking a bit further in, the two boys suddenly saw a faint stone door on the cave wall. It’s worth noting that this cave was full of strange rocks, clearly naturally formed, but the stone door on the wall, although old and dusty, was man-made.
Seeing this strange sight, both children were somewhat surprised. Ji Tongzhou tried pushing the stone door, but it seemed to be locked by some mechanism and didn’t budge. He wondered aloud, “A door appearing here, could there be some monster locked inside?”
Lei Xiuyuan also gently pushed the door, feeling it covered in dust, but the area around the door ring had less dust. He pondered, “This is a restricted area of the academy. The thing inside is likely a monster sealed by several generations of founders. The door ring has less dust, suggesting someone has entered or exited in the past few months. The possibility of a sealed monster inside is high. We should be cautious and not enter for now.”
Ji Tongzhou, still childish at heart, couldn’t resist wanting to explore when seeing something new and curious. However, with his current leg injury, he had to give up the idea. The two found a corner, and Ji Tongzhou, seeing it pitch black and unable to see his hand in front of his face, felt a bit panicky. He said in a low voice, “I’m going, don’t… don’t go far!”
Lei Xiuyuan didn’t speak, only letting out a snort from his nose, sounding quite disdainful, as if mocking him for being a coward. The proud young prince couldn’t stand this kind of provocation and immediately used his stone sword as a crutch to slowly inch into the darkness to relieve himself.
Just as he was smoothing out his clothes, he suddenly heard several cracking sounds from the ground, followed by violent shaking beneath his feet. Ji Tongzhou, already unsteady, immediately fell to the ground. He felt the soil under his feet forming a sort of vortex, and his whole body was sinking downwards. He screamed in fright.
Lei Xiuyuan reached out to pull him, but it was pitch black inside, and Ji Tongzhou was sinking too quickly. He couldn’t grab him. Amid the panic, he only heard the sound of Ji Tongzhou hitting the ground below. The next instant, something on the cave wall seemed to trigger a mechanism, making a series of clicking sounds, and the previously tightly closed stone door opened silently.
As the stone door opened, Lei Xiuyuan felt a wave of overwhelmingly powerful monster aura hit him in the face. Combined with the thick miasma, the two intertwined, making him feel as if a giant hand had slammed him to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
“Hey!” he urgently called down to Ji Tongzhou, “Are you alright?!”
Ji Tongzhou’s weak voice came from below after a long while: “Such strong monster aura! I’m… fine for now!”
His voice was very weak. With his unhealed broken leg and now falling into a hole, it would be strange if he was truly fine. Lei Xiuyuan gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet, feeling along the cave wall for a while until he finally found a bronze lamp—as he expected, with mechanisms here, there must be lighting devices.
He didn’t have a flint with him and was getting anxious when his finger accidentally touched something on the bronze lamp base. There was another light “click,” suggesting the bronze lamp was also a mechanism. Several dim points of light suddenly flashed, illuminating this small corner. Only then did Lei Xiuyuan realize that due to the darkness in the cave, the two had walked into a side passage, and where Ji Tongzhou had gone wasn’t a corner but the end of the side passage.
The end had now collapsed, with a hole several chis in diameter on the ground. He hurriedly approached and looked down, fortunately, this hole wasn’t very deep. In the dim lamplight, he could barely make out Ji Tongzhou’s red and white disciple robe. He lay at the bottom of the hole, looking extremely disheveled.
“Wait here for now.” Lei Xiuyuan struggled to his feet, fighting against the pervasive monster aura and miasma, and walked quickly toward the cave entrance.
When Li Fei reached the depths of the side passage, the lamps had already gone out. It seemed they hadn’t been used for a long time, and the oil in the lamps had dried up. She called out, “Ji Tongzhou! How are you now?”
Ji Tongzhou’s voice, seemingly suppressing pain, came from inside the hole: “I won’t die! Don’t worry about me! Whether you light a fire or make some noise, do something to help Mo Yanfan and the others find us sooner!”
“I don’t have a flint,” she said, turning to Lei Xiuyuan, who also shook his head.
“Don’t worry, I have some food here. Eat something first.”
Li Fei threw a few fruits into the hole. Ji Tongzhou, both thirsty and hungry, didn’t care much about what she had thrown down. It was hard and slippery, but he took a big bite. The fruit was sweet and juicy, immediately reviving his spirits. It seemed even the severe pain in his broken leg had lessened.
Li Fei walked to the opened stone door and looked inside. It was pitch black, and she couldn’t see or hear anything except for the whimpering of the wind, suggesting it was a very spacious place.
“The monster aura inside is very strong. We shouldn’t rashly enter,” Lei Xiuyuan said, trying to push the stone door closed, but it still wouldn’t budge. “Let’s figure out how to get him out first.”
He took off his outer robe, tore it into two strips, and tied them together with a firm knot. Li Fei immediately understood and quickly took off her outer robe and tore it open as well. The two robes were tied into a long rope and thrown into the hole. She called out again, “Ji Tongzhou, grab hold quickly! Hold on tight, don’t let go!”
The rope in their hands was pulled three times, and the two outside immediately began to pull with all their might. It was unclear who had said that the disciple robes were made of extremely precious fabric, sturdy and resistant to water and fire. It was nonsense, as the fabric not only tore easily but also seemed about to break after being rubbed on the ground for a while.
Fortunately, Ji Tongzhou was soon pulled to the hole’s entrance. Lei Xiuyuan grabbed his collar and forcefully pulled him out, probably tugging his hair in the process. Ji Tongzhou cried out in pain repeatedly: “Can’t you be gentler?!”
As he spoke, he was already outside the hole. As soon as he landed, he staggered a few steps, and all three children were stunned.
“Huh? My leg?” Ji Tongzhou was dumbfounded, staring blankly at his right leg which should have been broken. He kicked it, then stomped it—it seemed completely uninjured, neither painful nor impeding his movement.
Lei Xiuyuan reacted the fastest, immediately saying, “Let me see the fruit you were just holding.”
Li Fei handed the fruit to him. Lei Xiuyuan held it up to his nose and sniffed, then peeled it and took a small taste. After a moment, he rolled up his sleeve. The wound from the tiger monster’s earlier attack had completely healed, without even leaving a scar.
This fruit?! Li Fei was stunned. Ji Tongzhou had already untied the splint and was excitedly jumping around. Lei Xiuyuan asked, “Where did you get these fruits?”
Li Fei hesitated for a while. She couldn’t possibly say the monsters had given them to her, could she? But she also couldn’t say she picked them from a tree. If they asked her to take them to where she found the fruits, wouldn’t they immediately discover she was lying?
Just as she was in a dilemma, they suddenly heard what sounded like an argument from outside the cave. A woman’s voice angrily said, “If you want to kill, then kill! Get it over with! Do you think I’m afraid? Mo Yanfan, I was blind! I misjudged you as a person!”
Mo Yanfan? The three children exchanged excited glances. They had finally encountered an academy teacher! But who was the woman speaking?