The group spent some time clearing out the monsters, but the Abyss Herald behind them ran faster than rabbits, opening a portal and disappearing.
The dark red mist vanished instantly, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The remaining monsters, left unattended, were dealt with one by one by Chongyun's talismans and Ronava's spear.
Lin En finished off the last monster with a single strike, watching it crumble into dust on the ground. He bent down, picked up his miner's lamp, and dusted it off.
They got away.
Ronava sheathed her spear, a small amount of dark red residue still clinging to the tip.
"The apostles ran away, as long as the exploration team members are alright."
Chongyun carefully put away the remaining talismans and glanced towards the escape route.
"They should be at the teleportation array by now."
The three cleared away the rubble in the mine and headed back the way they came.
Lin En remained silent the entire way, frowning as he pondered. When he reached the teleportation array, he suddenly stopped.
Don't you find this strange?
Chongyun was puzzled by his words.
"What's strange?"
"Seven people went down into the mine and encountered a leak in the Abyss, but none of them died."
Lin En carefully recalled the scenes when he met the people; they didn't seem like they had been underground for a long time at all.
"Two of them ran away and hid, while the five were trapped underneath but were completely unharmed, not even a single one suffered a fracture."
"Those monsters' claws can shave through half a foot of rock in one go, and they tear people apart like paper. How come they're unharmed?"
Chongyun paused for a moment, recalling the scene from just now.
Now that you mention it... something does seem a bit off.
Ronava leaned against the stone wall next to the teleportation array, her arms crossed over her chest, speaking in a calm and unhurried tone.
"When we encountered those two people on the upper level of the Chasm, their expressions were rather unnatural."
"One of them said his leg was cut by a stone, but the bandages on his leg were neatly wrapped, and there wasn't a trace of blood. It was as if he was putting on an act for us."
You mean they have a problem?
Chongyun's expression turned serious. But why go to so much trouble to lure them here?
"There is indeed a problem, but we're unsure what it is."
Ronava said.
"It might just be that they're hiding some details, or it might be a deliberate attempt to lure us down."
Lin En raised his headlamp and shone it on the rock wall above him. Some cracks were still oozing dark red mist, but the rate was much slower than before.
"The commission still needs to be done."
He said that if he didn't complete the commission, he wouldn't be able to deliver, and a 30% penalty, which is 150,000 Mora, would be deducted—that would be the death of him.
"Whatever their ulterior motives, we have to bring the ore back. And if they really lured us down here on purpose, then there's definitely something else waiting down there."
Ronava straightened up from the stone wall and said, "I also want to know who set a trap to lure us."
Chongyun nodded, summoned his greatsword and held it in his hand, and the three of them returned to the bottom level.
This time, the three of them walked more slowly, using their headlamps to illuminate the path beneath their feet. Every so often, Lin En would stop to check his surroundings.
The deeper you go, the more water seeps from the rock walls. The watermarks on the ground change from thin lines to small streams of seepage, and the color of the rock walls changes from dark gray to a wet, dark brown.
"This rock face..."
Lin En reached out and touched a protruding rock. The moment his fingers touched it, the rock shattered, and shards of rock clattered all over the ground.
He withdrew his hand, twirling the crumbs between his fingers; they were wet and soft, like clods of earth that had been soaking for a long time.
"The rock strata have been severely eroded by groundwater."
Chongyun tapped the rock wall beside him; the sound was dull and muffled, clearly indicating that it wasn't solid.
"You absolutely cannot exert any force in this kind of place; if it collapses, the entire passageway will be buried."
The three of them shuffled down and carefully made their way inside.
The passage narrowed, and after walking about two hundred steps, it suddenly widened ahead, revealing a naturally formed cave. Water seeping from the ceiling formed a shallow ditch on the ground.
There were more than a dozen wooden boxes piled up against the wall at the back of the cave, each about half a person's height, covered with a thick layer of thatch, and several stones were placed on top of the thatch.
"This should be the camp."
Chongyun lifted a corner of the thatched roof and peeked inside. There were some pickaxes, water, food and other supplies.
"It belongs to the exploration team."
"Look for a mineral sample box."
Lin En walked over, put his headlamp on the ground, and bent down to lift the thatched lid of the first wooden crate.
Beneath the thatch was a row of neatly stacked cylindrical objects, wrapped in oiled paper, tied at both ends, and coated with a layer of waterproof wax.
Lin En picked one up and looked at it. He felt that the shape and way it was wrapped looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
He tore a corner of the oil paper, revealing what was inside: a dark brown powder with a pungent smell of saltpeter and sulfur.
Lin En's hand froze.
He tore it open a little more, peeling the entire cylinder out. It was cylindrical, solid, with a tightly pressed surface and fuse holes at both ends.
"What's wrong?"
Chongyun leaned closer.
Lin En held the object up to his headlamp, his expression complex.
"This box is full of explosives."
"What?"
Before Lin En could finish speaking, the cylinder in his hand suddenly became hot.
The fuse had been ignited at some point, and sparks were hissing out as it burned extremely quickly.
Lin En's pupils contracted, he threw the cylinder to the ground, grabbed Chongyun by the back of his collar, and dragged him backward.
"Run!"
Chongyun reacted quickly, staggered a step after being pulled, and followed Lin En's footing as they rushed into the passage.
Ronava heard the word "explosives," she became alert. She stretched out a hand, and a barrier of black energy appeared behind the two of them to shield them.
But it exploded too quickly.
When the first box exploded, the entire cavern shook, and rubble rained down from the dome.
Then came the second box, the third box, and a dozen boxes of TNT in a chain reaction, the explosions echoing one after another. Shockwaves carrying rubble and fragments of wooden crates spewed out of the hole, slamming into Lin En and Chongyun's backs like a wall.
Lin En felt as if he had been hit in the back by a truck, and he was sent flying, crashing heavily into the rock wall at the corner of the passage.
He coughed up blood, looked down at himself, and found himself covered in rubble and wood chips.
"Hiss!"
He turned his head and saw Chongyun lying two steps away from him, his head tilted to the side, a bloodstain running down his cheek from his forehead, and he was unconscious.
Lin En checked his breath with her finger; thankfully, he was breathing.
"How about it?"
Ronava rushed over and knelt down to hug Lin En.
"They're not going to die anytime soon, so who is this insidious person?!"
Lin En got up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Fortunately, the injury wasn't too serious.
He helped Chongyun up from the ground, made him sit against the wall, and patted his face.
" Chongyun, Chongyun! Wake up!"
Chongyun's eyelids twitched twice, and he groggily hummed, but didn't open them. It seemed he wasn't seriously injured.
Lin En condensed Hydro in his palm and pressed it against the wound on Chongyun's forehead. The coolness seeped in and healed some of the injury. Chongyun's eyelids twitched again.