The Strange Underground Cavity

Fearing he would be smashed to death at any moment, Mo Li closed his eyes in despair. To his surprise, after falling for a while, he didn't feel himself hitting hard ground. Instead, he landed on something soft.

The substance felt like a large piece of sponge. It wasn't very elastic, but it cushioned his fall effectively. Mo Li opened his eyes in confusion and then saw a shocking sight. They were in a massive underground cavern, its boundaries invisible to his sight. The entire cavern emitted a soft, pale white light. Though not as bright as sunlight, it was enough for Mo Li to see about a hundred meters around him.

Wei Dengke lay beside him, also opening his eyes in confusion and looking around with the same bewildered expression. They were sitting on a huge, pale yellow, circular object. Its surface had fine fuzz but felt very soft. However, the object was so large that Mo Li and Wei Dengke couldn't see what it was from their current position.

They exchanged a glance and then stood up. The ground beneath them was so soft that their feet sank into it, nearly causing them to fall again. Fortunately, they reacted quickly, supporting each other and preventing another tumble.

Walking slowly, one step at a time, they reached the edge of the object. A giant, curved ramp appeared before them. They sat down again and slid down the slope.

Once their feet touched solid ground again, they both gave a wry smile. The feeling of that soft substance was too unpleasant; it was hard to get any leverage. If they hadn't helped each other, they probably would have had to crawl to the ramp.

From their previous higher position, they had only seen a limited view. Now that they had descended, they could finally see the appearance of the underground cavern. It was filled with strange, spherical objects. Some were yellowish-brown, some dark green, and some pale red. From their appearance, it was impossible to determine what they were. If they were plants, they had never seen such plants before. If they weren't plants, they were growing from the ground, and they saw things spreading out like roots.

Subconsciously, they looked back at the object they had slid down. Although they could only see a part of it due to its immense size, its general outline suggested it was the same type of thing as the strange objects around them.

"What on earth is this?" Mo Li frowned and touched the giant object again. It felt very soft, like stroking a ball of fermented dough.

Wei Dengke walked up to a smaller, strange object and crouched down, picking it up. The root-like structures didn't grip the ground strongly; Wei Dengke barely used any force.

Holding the strange object, Wei Dengke began to examine it, seemingly having forgotten Zhong Lichun's earlier shriek. Mo Li, lacking the ability to identify such things, walked over to Wei Dengke and asked, "What is this thing?"

"Based on my analysis, this should be a type of fungus," Wei Dengke replied.

"Fungus? Like mushrooms? And mushrooms grow like this?" Mo Li only had a junior high education, so he didn't quite understand Wei Dengke's words.

"Aren't monkey head mushrooms round? The growth shape of fungi is related to their own characteristics. Don't be surprised if you see star-shaped ones, let alone round ones," Wei Dengke said with a pout.

"...I never studied properly anyway, unlike you knowledgeable people," Mo Li clearly heard the hint of mockery in Wei Dengke's words, but he wasn't angry. He just smiled wryly, well aware of his own limitations and not bothered by such things.

Wei Dengke ignored Mo Li and fumbled around on his person for a long time before producing a fine needle from somewhere. He then placed the object he was holding on the ground and carefully inserted the needle into it.

"What are you doing?" Seeing Wei Dengke's actions, Mo Li immediately became nervous. Despite his lack of education, he knew that unknown objects often carried high risks. Seeing Wei Dengke poke the thing with a needle made him panic.

"Don't be nervous. If this thing were truly dangerous, we would have already had trouble when we touched it. I can feel that it's hollow inside, so I'm curious about what's in there. Step back a few meters," Wei Dengke's eyes were actually glowing, like a child seeing a new toy.

Seeing Wei Dengke's demeanor, Mo Li realized that trying to dissuade him would be futile. He slowly began to back away. When Mo Li was about four or five meters away from Wei Dengke, Wei Dengke finally made his move. He carefully grabbed the end of the needle and pulled it out.

The moment the needle was pulled out, the hole in the sphere sprayed out a puff of gas. The gas sprayed out so quickly that Wei Dengke couldn't dodge it, and it hit him directly in the face.

"Cough, cough, cough! Damn it! What's that smell?" Wei Dengke sat down abruptly and frantically waved his hands in front of his face.

Seeing Wei Dengke fall to the ground, Mo Li rushed back and helped him up, asking with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Cough, cough! The smell is too strong, I almost suffocated!" Wei Dengke continued to wave his hands in front of his face, rolling his eyes.

The smell hadn't completely dissipated yet, and Mo Li also caught a whiff of it. It was a highly pungent and strong smell, smelling like... farts.

Instinctively, Mo Li covered his nose with his hand and said irritably, "I told you not to mess with it, but you insisted on taking the risk."

"At least I tested that there's gas inside, and it's a mixed gas. The composition can't be detected. It looks like I'll have to take it back for research," Wei Dengke chuckled, then grabbed another fist-sized spherical fungus from the ground and stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

Mo Li didn't pay him any mind. After letting go of Wei Dengke, Mo Li turned and looked around, then frowned and said, "Zhong Lichun must still be here. We should find her first."

"This place isn't small. Finding one person won't be easy. Tomboy! Where are you? We're coming to find you!" Hearing Mo Li's words, Wei Dengke also looked around. After muttering to himself, he shouted at the top of his lungs.