Reunion

The fire began spreading at a speed beyond ordinary human comprehension. The entire Underground Cavity was illuminated by the flames as brightly as day. But the most terrifying part was not the raging fire itself. Those spherical fungi contained large amounts of flammable gas. Once ignited and burned through, the gas would spray out and, at most, catch fire. However, the fungi farther away were not touched by the flames but were still subjected to the intense heat. The flammable gas inside them rapidly expanded under the high temperature, bursting the fungi open. Large amounts of gas sprayed in all directions, and when it came into contact with the fire, it formed enormous fireballs. Some of the fungi exploded outright, and their power was truly terrifying.

Mo Li had no time to worry about what was happening behind him. He could only feel the air growing hotter by the second as explosions rang out one after another. Wave after wave of force slammed into his body, making him stagger as he ran at full speed. Fortunately, Mo Li managed to steady himself each time, preventing himself from falling and being swallowed by the flames.

As he reached the edge of the Underground Lake, a huge spherical fungus suddenly exploded not far behind him. It was less than ten meters away. The terrifying blast sent Mo Li, who was carrying Zhong Lichun, flying through the air, and both he and Zhong Lichun fell into the lake.

The icy Lake Water eased the scorching heat in the air. Although Mo Li had been left dizzy and disoriented by the earlier explosion, he had not lost consciousness. The moment he touched the water, his mind cleared. After paddling with his hands and feet to keep himself balanced, Mo Li looked around. The lake should have been pitch-black, but with the flames blazing above, it was surprisingly bright.

Mo Li soon spotted Zhong Lichun. She had not passed out either and, like Mo Li, was paddling to keep herself balanced. Mo Li swam over to her, then pointed upward. His meaning was obvious: he wanted to go up and see what was happening.

Zhong Lichun nodded at Mo Li to show that she understood. Mo Li then swam toward the surface. As he drew closer, the water temperature continued to rise. Mo Li saw that there were other creatures living in the lake. Most of them were strange-looking white fish without scales. They were not very large—the biggest was only about the size of an adult's palm—but there were many of them. Perhaps because the water near the surface was growing hotter, all the fish were swimming toward the depths.

Of course, a lake as large as this could not contain only fish. Mo Li also saw several bizarre creatures. One looked like a water snake but had four short limbs. There were also some creatures resembling scale shrimp. What astonished Mo Li most was seeing tadpoles. They looked little different from ordinary tadpoles, but their size was absurd. The smallest were as large as an adult's head, while the biggest had diameters of more than a meter. Judging from their size, Mo Li concluded that these tadpoles might be the offspring of the Giant Frog.

When Mo Li surfaced, his first sensation was an unbearable wave of terrifying heat rushing into his face. Enduring it, he looked around. At this point, every part of the Underground Cavity outside the Underground Lake had been engulfed by the fire. Some of the spherical fungi in the distance continued bursting apart, and the thunderous explosions rang without end. With each blast, the entire Underground Cavity trembled violently, sending chunks of rock falling from the ceiling. One piece even fell right past Mo Li's head.

Afraid of being struck by the rocks, Mo Li dove underwater again. By then, Zhong Lichun had followed him up. Mo Li did not let her surface. Instead, he pointed in one direction and swam ahead.

After swimming for more than twenty meters, they reached the edge of the opposite side of the Underground Lake. This side was directly beside the wall of the Underground Cavity. When Mo Li had surfaced earlier, he had carefully examined the surroundings. The wall here sloped inward, so even if rocks fell from the ceiling, this place should be relatively safe.

Zhong Lichun had reached the limit of how long she could hold her breath. The moment she neared the wall, she eagerly surfaced and began gasping for air. When she saw the state of the Underground Cavity, her face filled with horror. If she had not witnessed it herself, she would never have believed that the entire Underground Cavity had been completely swallowed by fire.

"Hey, hey! What exactly did you two do? How did the entire Underground Cavity catch fire?" Just as Mo Li surfaced right behind Zhong Lichun, Wei Dengke's voice came from nearby on their right.

Hearing the voice, Mo Li and Zhong Lichun both turned toward it. Their faces immediately lit up with delight, because they saw Wei Dengke on a small protrusion in the wall not far away. The protrusion was not large, but it should have been able to accommodate three people.

After discovering Wei Dengke, Zhong Lichun and Mo Li hurriedly swam over and climbed onto the protrusion. As soon as she got up, Zhong Lichun removed her soaked jacket and lay down on the ground in exhaustion. Mo Li, meanwhile, looked toward Wei Dengke.

Wei Dengke appeared to be in decent condition, though his appearance was rather miserable. He had originally been quite fair, but after being corroded by the Giant Frog's stomach acid, the skin all over his body had turned dark red. Some areas had even begun to ulcerate slightly. Fortunately, the damage was only to the surface, so it should not have been life-threatening.

Wei Dengke naturally knew what Mo Li was looking at. After giving a helpless, bitter smile, he suddenly said to Mo Li with a serious expression, "Thank you for earlier. If you hadn't thrown me into the water, I would've been corroded by the stomach acid even if I managed to get out. Back then, I really didn't have the strength to make it to the lake by myself."

"...How did that big fellow spit you out? I assume it wasn't because you tasted so bad that the Giant Frog got sick?" Mo Li asked, staring at Wei Dengke with a strange expression. He had already wondered about this when Wei Dengke was spat out, but he had never had the chance to ask.

Wei Dengke gave a bitter smile, then picked up the pen-like object and waved it before saying, "This is a disposable high-voltage electric baton. As the name suggests, because it's so small, it can only store enough power for a single attack. Its advantage is that it's easy to carry, and its voltage reaches one hundred thousand volts. It's my lifesaving treasure."

"You weren't swallowed and then used this thing to shock the Giant Frog in its stomach, were you?" Mo Li seemed to understand, but he still pressed for an answer.

"What else could I have done? Fortunately, the powerful Electric Current made the Giant Frog's stomach convulse violently and spit me out. Otherwise, I would've turned into that frog's shit." Wei Dengke answered with a strange expression.

"You can still joke around, so you should be fine. But this place is now completely covered by fire. We won't be able to leave anytime soon." Zhong Lichun seemed to have recovered somewhat, but she did not sit up. Instead, she remained lying flat and turned her head toward Wei Dengke.

Mo Li and Wei Dengke both turned to look at Zhong Lichun. Then, almost simultaneously, they swallowed unconsciously. Zhong Lichun had an excellent figure from years of training, and now she was lying on the ground wearing only close-fitting clothes. To ordinary men, the scene was undeniably alluring.

Mo Li awkwardly scratched his head and subconsciously turned away, while Wei Dengke curled his lips and said, "Hey, Tomboy, could you show a little consideration? It doesn't matter if you don't think of yourself as a woman, but we're two virile men in our prime. The way you're dressed right now makes it very easy for us to commit a crime."