"Did you find it?"
"Found it!"
Brimming with confidence, Shen Le jumped down to the ground, grabbed an entrenching shovel, and drove it forcefully into the earth. Heat flowed down the shaft and into the ground, and the land beneath his feet swiftly sent back its response:
Vigorous spirituality, startled fury at being disturbed, unease at being discovered—even the bristling sensation of a small beast cornered, its back arched as it prepared to pounce and bite...
"It's here, right underneath us. Hey, you people, get out! Get out now! Forget the excavator! Evacuate everyone first!"
Clatter, clatter. The tracks and digging bucket seemed to have been wedged or tangled by something, making it difficult to move either forward or back.
Not only that, but gusts of cold wind wound around everyone present, while sounds like gnawing came from the excavator's tracks:
Creak, creak, creak...
Sweat beaded on the operator's forehead as he desperately worked the controls, but the excavator refused to obey him in the slightest. Hearing Shen Le's call, he felt as though he had been granted a reprieve. He hurriedly jumped from the vehicle and sprinted backward.
Gu Yulin and the local young man worked with Shen Le, first driving the ordinary people beyond the construction area and putting up caution tape, then taking up positions on either side of it:
"Shen Le, be careful! Stay away from the excavator! That thing could tip over!"
"Don't worry—"
Shen Le waved at them from afar. A pit had already been dug directly in front of the excavator, ten meters long, five meters wide, and barely one meter deep.
Though it was not deep yet, if they kept digging in one go, the walls would sooner or later collapse, leaving the excavator top-heavy and unstable before it toppled over.
He