Escape

Lu Heng crouched behind the bushes for half a minute without moving.

A mental scan swept towards the volcano; the heat from the scorched earth was still there, but the heavy footsteps were gone. The Goblin King hadn't chased after them.

He waited and waited until he was sure there was no movement behind him before slowly straightening up.

All around was wasteland. The ground was cracked, with fissures of varying widths, some wide enough to fit a hand, others bottomless. Low bushes were scattered here and there, their branches withered and stiff, their leaves gray, as if something had drained them of moisture. In the distance, one could see fractured rock layers, large chunks of which were stuck at an angle in the ground, as if this world had been broken apart and then not pieced back together.

The sky was grayish-white, cloudless and without sun. Light streamed down evenly from above, making it impossible to tell the time of day.

Lu Heng stretched his arms. The Blood Taisui had withdrawn, but the burning sensation left by the force still lingered under his skin, like a layer of residual heat that hadn't completely dissipated. He clenched his fist; the strength was still there, but not as steady as before. Catching several stones from the Goblin King in succession had taken a toll on him more than he had anticipated.

You can't just tough it out. Next time you encounter something this powerful, you'll have to find a different approach.

He glanced down at his Wristband, and with a thought, stored the Off-Road Motorcycle in his spatial storage. There were no trees on the wasteland, and leaving the motorcycle parked outside would be too conspicuous; if anything came from afar, it would be spotted immediately.

From now on, all I can do is walk.

Lu Heng surveyed the surrounding terrain. He was currently in a relatively flat area of gravel, which gradually sloped down as it extended forward. In the distance, he could see a depression, like a ravine formed by a ground collapse. There were broken rock walls on both sides of the ravine, which could provide cover.

He walked in that direction.

The ground beneath his feet was hard, cracking slightly with each step. Grayish-green moss grew between the cracks, clinging to the ground like a thin layer of skin. Lu Heng deliberately avoided the edges of the cracks—they looked solid, but the soil underneath might be hollow, and stepping on them could cause the ground to collapse.

After walking for about ten minutes, he leaned against a sloping rock wall, sheltered from the wind, with a view that covered most of the wilderness. This position was safe for the time being.

Lu Heng closed his eyes, and his mental energy expanded once more.

This time, he didn't just focus on the volcano; instead, he expanded his perception range, scanning along the ground. The wasteland was empty beneath, and faint sounds of airflow came from the depths of the fissures, indicating that these fissures were connected, like a net spread underground. Further away, the terrain did indeed descend, and the collapsed ravine was deeper than he had estimated, with signs of weathering on the rock walls, suggesting it had existed for a long time.

There are no signs of biological activity.

It's too quiet.

It wasn't the deathly stillness of a volcano—at least there was the smell of sulfur, the heat, and the sound of falling rocks. Here, there was nothing; even the wind was rare. Occasionally, a gust of wind would blow, and the branches of the bushes wouldn't move, as if they were so withered that even the wind couldn't bend them.

Lu Heng opened his eyes and glanced at his hands.

The dark red marks left by the Blood Taisui had completely faded, and there was no abnormality visible on his skin. But he could feel an emptiness in his body, not hunger, but something deeper that had been drained away. When the Blood Taisui released its power, it consumed more than just physical strength.

He made a mental note of that feeling. He'd have to calculate the cost next time he used it.

After resting for about twenty minutes, Lu Heng stood up and continued walking towards the ravine. There was no cover on the wasteland, and staying in one place for too long would be dangerous. There were rock walls on the other side of the ravine, which could provide cover and allow him to observe his surroundings.

The further he went, the more uneven the ground became. Cracks increased, and in some places, entire sections of the ground were raised up, as if something had pushed them from underneath. Lu Heng walked very slowly, testing the ground's stability with each step. He kept his mental focus on a range of about ten meters ahead, ready to deal with any potential collapses.

He stopped halfway there.

There is a mark on the ground ahead.

It wasn't a crack, nor a weathered line—it was a drag mark. It extended from behind a broken rock face, slanted across the gravel ground, and disappeared behind bushes on the other side. The drag mark was wide, about half a meter, with the gravel on both sides flattened, leaving a shallow groove in the middle.

Lu Heng squatted down and touched the gravel at the edge of the drag marks with his finger.

The gravel was loose, indicating that the trail hadn't been there long. He looked along the drag marks, but he couldn't see what was behind the bushes. However, the drag marks were pointing directly towards the ditch he was heading towards.

He stood up but did not immediately follow.

His mental energy probed forward, past the bushes, and swept towards the edge of the ravine. There were some indentations in the rock face, through which the wind whistled. The drag marks disappeared at the edge of the ravine, as if something had fallen down there, or... climbed down.

Lu Heng stood still and waited for a while.

There was no sound, no movement.

He avoided the drag marks and walked towards the ditch from the side. When he reached the edge of the ditch, he lay down and slowly peered down.

The ravine was very deep, at least ten meters deep. The rock walls on both sides were full of cracks, and in some places they had been weathered beyond recognition; a stone might fall down if you touched it. The bottom was piled with rubble and broken rocks, and it was pitch black because no light could penetrate it.

The drag mark broke off at the edge.

Lu Heng stared at the bottom for a while but couldn't see anything. He looked away and continued walking along the edge of the ravine, trying to find a place to go down. After walking about fifty meters, a gentle slope appeared on the rock face, with piles of rubble forming a ramp. Although steep, it was walkable.

He slowly slid down, the loose stones beneath his feet tumbling and clattering. In the ravine, the sound was amplified several times by the reflections of the rock walls.

Lu Heng stopped, held his breath, and listened.

There was no movement from above.

He continued down, and when he reached the bottom, the light dimmed considerably. The surrounding rock walls blocked out the sky, leaving only a grayish-white slit overhead. The air carried a damp, earthy smell, completely different from the dry wasteland outside.

Lu Heng walked close to the rock wall, scanning both sides with his mental energy. The bottom of the ravine was even more dilapidated than the top—the rock wall was full of cracks, some of which seeped black water that dripped onto the ground with a soft pattering sound. Scattered on the ground were some pebbles and Withered Branch, as well as some indescribable things, like fragments of some kind of creature's shell, weathered and turned white.

He kicked away a piece of shard without looking at it further.

After walking for about ten minutes, the ravine began to narrow. The rock walls on both sides were getting closer and closer, and at the narrowest point they were only two meters wide. Lu Heng squeezed through sideways, and loose stones from the rock wall brushed against his shoulder and fell down.

After squeezing through the narrowest part, the space suddenly opened up ahead.

The ravine forks here. One goes left, the other right.

Lu Heng stopped and simultaneously probed the two forks in the road with his mental energy. The left fork was blocked off not far away, with the rock wall collapsing and piling up into a pile of rubble. The right fork was deeper, with some traces of artificial chiseling on the rock wall—not neat cuts, but rough chisel marks, as if it had been forcibly smashed out by something.

There were some black stains next to the chisel marks.

Lu Heng walked closer to take a look. The stain had dried and seeped into the rock wall, its color dark. He reached out and touched it with his finger, feeling a rough texture on his fingertip. It wasn't rust, nor was it dirt.

He withdrew his hand without saying a word.

There's wind in the fork in the road on the right, which means it's open. There's no wind in the dead end on the left; the air is still.

Lu Heng chose the right side.

He walked close to the rock face, each step firmly planted on solid ground. The chisel marks became more numerous and closer together, as if someone had spent a considerable amount of time carving this path. But the path was narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time, and the cracks in the rock face could collapse at any moment.

After walking for about five minutes, a glimmer of light appeared ahead.

It wasn't the grayish-white light of the sky, but a faint, bluish light that shone through from the end of the fork in the road.

Lu Heng stopped and probed with his mental energy first.

The light came from a cave. The cave wasn't large, only about ten square meters, with some luminous crystals, about the size of a fingernail, embedded in the rock walls, emitting a faint blue light. In the center of the cave was a pile of cold ashes. Scattered beside the ashes were a few items—a tattered backpack, a broken dagger, and a Wristband.

The Wristband lay on the ground, its surface cracked, and it shone no light.

Lu Heng stood at the cave entrance, not going in immediately.

He scanned the cave but found no creatures or traps. But the pile of ashes was too fresh—it wasn't from days ago, but probably left within the last day or two.

Someone has been here. And more than one person—the size of the ash heap cannot be created by a small fire.

Lu Heng entered the cave and picked up the Wristband first. The Wristband was black, made of a different material than the one on his wrist, and had a deep crack on its surface, as if it had been smashed by something. He tried to touch it with his mental power, but there was no response.

He died.

He Wristband and squatted down to look at the pile of ashes. There were some unburnt things in the ashes—pieces of cloth, metal buckles, and a small piece of charred bone.

Lu Heng stared at the bone for a while, then stood up.

He walked to the rock face and reached out to touch the glowing crystals. The crystals were embedded in the rock, and their temperature was slightly lower than the surrounding stones. Touching them caused a slight stinging sensation, like static electricity. He withdrew his hand; the crystals did not fall off.

These things are not natural.

Lu Heng exited the cave, stood at the fork in the road, glanced at the way he had come, and then looked in the direction of the cave.

Some people stayed here, and then left. Or perhaps they didn't leave.

He couldn't stay here any longer. The cave, though lit, was too conspicuous, and the ashes indicated that people had been there recently; what if they returned?

Lu Heng didn't think further. He continued along the fork in the road on the right and left the cave.

The path continued for about ten minutes, and then an upward slope appeared ahead. The chisel marks on the rock face disappeared, replaced by natural cracks and signs of weathering. The path became increasingly steep, and Lu Heng climbed up using both his hands and feet, with loose rocks constantly rolling down from beneath his feet.

He climbed to the top and peered out.

Outside was still wasteland, but it was different from the one he had walked through before. The ground here was flatter, with far fewer cracks, and in the distance, he could see the remains of some collapsed buildings—not complete houses, but broken walls, pillars, and metal frames half-buried in the ground.

There are traces of human activity.

Lu Heng climbed out of the ravine and stood on the wasteland, glancing at the remains. The direction of the remains was exactly opposite to the volcano he had left, indicating that he had deviated from his original route after crossing the ravine.

He glanced back at the entrance to the ravine, then at the wreckage in the distance.

Without hesitation, he walked toward the wreckage.

The wind on the wasteland was a little stronger than before, causing the hem of his coat to sway slightly. The ground was still cracked, but the cracks were much shallower, making it easier to walk on. Lu Heng remained vigilant, keeping his mental focus on the front, ready to deal with any unexpected situations.

After walking for about twenty minutes, he approached the first piece of wreckage.

It was a broken wall, about three meters high, made of concrete, its surface covered with cracks and signs of weathering. At the base of the wall grew some grayish-green moss, just like elsewhere in the wasteland. Lu Heng went around to the back of the wall and found a recessed space on the other side, like the ruins of a house.

There was nothing inside, only rubble scattered all over the ground.

He continued walking forward, and the second piece of debris was a pillar, standing alone on the ground, its top broken off. Next to the pillar was a metal box half-buried in the ground, badly rusted, with its lid missing. Lu Heng went over to take a look; the box was empty, and a layer of dust had accumulated at the bottom.

Further on, the debris increased. Broken walls, pillars, metal frames, and other things whose original purpose was unrecognizable were all half-buried in the soil, as if this wasteland had once swallowed a city and was now slowly spitting it out.

Lu Heng stopped behind a broken wall, squatted down, and examined the ground.

There were some marks on the ground—not drag marks, but footprints.

The footprints were shallow, almost worn away by the wind and sand, but still visible. They were small, like those of adults, pointing towards the depths of the wreckage. There were more than one, at least two or three footprints, intertwined.

The footprints were very fresh.

Lu Heng stood up and glanced at the direction the footprints led. Deep within the wreckage, some collapsed metal frames were piled together, forming a shadow. The footprints disappeared in front of the shadow.

He didn't follow immediately.

Lu Heng retreated behind the broken wall, leaned against it, and closed his eyes. He used his mental energy to probe along the direction of the footprints, past the collapsed metal frame, and into the depths of the shadows.

There's something in the shadows.

Not human.

It wasn't large, lying on the ground, breathing very lightly, almost imperceptibly. But it possessed an aura—different from the Blood Taisui, colder, heavier, like a stone immersed in water.

Lu Heng opened his eyes and slowly pulled a dagger from his waist.

He neither rushed forward nor retreated. He crouched behind the broken wall and waited.

The wind blew across the wasteland, whistling low through the gaps between the wreckage. In the distance, the sky remained gray, making it impossible to discern the time.

The thing in the shadows didn't move either.