The passage narrowed as you walked, until finally only one person could pass sideways.
Lin En led the way with his headlamp, the oil in the lamp almost burned out, the flame flickering and the light shrinking.
Ronava followed behind him, her spear held horizontally in front of her, its tip shrouded in black energy, wary of her surroundings.
"This light won't last much longer."
Lin En tapped the lampshade; the flame flickered twice before finally stabilizing.
"Save it first."
Ronava's voice came from behind.
"Take your time when you can't see the road."
They turned off the lights and walked in the dark for a while, turning seven or eight corners, when Lin En suddenly saw a sliver of light ahead, shining through a crack in the rock wall. It was a pale blue light, unlike sunlight.
There's something ahead.
He lowered his voice and groped his way forward, close to the rock face.
At the end of the passage is a naturally formed crystal cave.
Dense clusters of crystals hung from the dome, each as thick as an arm, completely transparent, and shimmering with a faint blue light, making the entire cave seem as if it were submerged underwater.
In the very center of the cave, there is a well platform made of stone bricks. The well opening is not large, with a blue stone railing about half a person's height. The well water is very calm, and the water surface is only about a foot deep from the well opening, reflecting the crystal light of the dome.
There's a well here!
Lin En took two steps closer and looked at it.
"It doesn't look particularly special."
He was about to take a sip of well water Ronava stopped him.
She stood beside the well, her golden eyes fixed on it, her brows furrowed.
"Wrong."
What's wrong?
"This well wasn't dug out."
Ronava her finger, and a fine layer of dust settled on her fingertip.
"The well is surrounded by runes, yet the water surface remains completely still."
Lin En took a closer look, and indeed, the bricks were carved with runes of all sizes, which he couldn't understand at all. The well water was also too still, without even a ripple, as if it had solidified.
He tried to touch the well, but was interrupted by Ronava.
"Don't touch it."
Something is sealed inside, and the sealing technique is still in effect. It's best not to touch it.
Lin En withdrew his hand and took a step back; he trusted Ronava's judgment.
"Then let's take a detour..."
Before the words were even finished, the crystal clusters on the walls of the mine suddenly began to glow red.
The original pale blue light spread upwards from the roots, turning into a dark red pulsation that flickered on and off, with the frequency increasing.
A faint red gas began to seep from the cracks in the rock wall, but it spread extremely quickly, as if someone had turned on a valve.
"Just like when those monsters appeared before!"
Lin En threw his miner's lamp at the entrance of the tunnel and grabbed Ronava, running back.
"We have to run!"
Red energy surged from the base of the crystal cluster, more than twice as fast as before, spreading forward along the ground and rock walls as if it were alive, branching out at forks in the road and turning at corners.
Lin En glanced back and saw that the red aura had already spread beyond the crystal mine and was pouring into the passage they had come from.
The two ran for their lives, their shoulders slamming into the rock wall as they turned a corner, but they didn't care about the pain.
The red aura was very strong, Lin En could feel the coolness on his heels, as if someone had splashed ice water on his ankles.
After running for an unknown amount of time and making countless turns, Lin En had completely lost his bearings.
The passage was pitch black, so he could only feel his way forward by touching the rock walls. Ronava followed behind him, occasionally giving him a push or pointing him in the right direction.
When the red aura reached a fork in the road, it suddenly slowed down, as if it had reached a boundary. It churned at the fork for a while and then slowly retreated.
The dark red light retreated along the passage, receding further and further away until it disappeared completely.
Lin En bent over, leaning against the rock wall. Every breath he took was burning painful. He coughed twice, and his mouth tasted metallic.
"I almost died inside."
He said, panting.
Ronava leaned against the rock wall next to him. Although she wasn't sweating, her chest was heaving faster than usual.
"The red aura didn't follow, which means the seal on that well has a limited range. We've escaped its area of influence."
Is the Tsaritsa still outside?
"Have no idea."
Ronava glanced into the depths of the passage.
"But she didn't chase after us, which means she was either attracted by something or lying in wait. Either way, we're safe for now."
Lin En regained her composure and stood up straight.
As you go deeper into the passage, the terrain begins to sink, the gravel under your feet turns into slippery mud, and the rock formations overhead press down lower and lower, clearly indicating a dead end.
"There seems to be no way forward."
Ronava walked over, reached out and pressed her hand on the rock wall at the end of the passage, and black energy seeped in and sensed it for a few breaths.
"It's blocked off. There's a solid layer of granite in front of us; there's no road."
Lin En was silent for a few seconds.
"Then we'll have to turn back."
"The way back might be blocked by the Tsaritsa."
"Maybe not."
Lin En turned around, preparing to walk back.
"She's been inside for so long, she should leave now."
Ronava looked at him and remained silent for a few moments.
"You want to gamble?"
"If you don't gamble, you'll be trapped here to die."
He dusted himself off.
"The lamps are out, we have a little food left, and half a water flask. We won't last much longer. Rather than waiting here to starve to death, we might as well go back and check on things before the Tsaritsa has a chance to do so."
Ronava nodded; they really couldn't stay here for too long.
The two retraced their steps back. Lin En held onto the rock wall with one hand and held onto Ronava's wrist with the other, afraid of getting separated.
The passage was dark; without the oil lamp, they couldn't see very far.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, a faint light appeared ahead, pointing towards the crystal mine they had just visited.
Lin En slowed his pace, walking slowly along the rock wall. The mine was very quiet; the red aura had dissipated, the crystal clusters had regained their pale blue light, the well platform was still the same, and the water surface remained as calm as a piece of glass.
But at the entrance on the other side of the mine, there were many more footprints.
"They must be pursuers sent by the Queen. It seems they weren't guarding the cave entrance."
Lin En crouched down and examined the footprints. They were very neat, clearly indicating training; they were undoubtedly pursuers.
Ronava looked in the direction of the footprints.
The footprints entered from the other side of the mine, circled the well platform, converged at the exit of the crystal mine, and then walked back along the passage.
"They just came in, looked around, didn't touch the well, and then left."
Ronava withdrew her gaze.
"They probably received orders from the Tsaritsa to withdraw."
Lin En stood up and dusted off his hands.
"So you mean there might still be people blocking the way outside?"
"Possible."
Ronava put away her spear.
"But it's also possible that only one or two people were left to keep an eye on the teleportation array."
"We still have to go."