frightfiction Chapter 411 Adventure
Chapter 411 Adventure
Xiao Zi curled up in Gu Yang's arms. The wounds on her body gradually healed under the effect of the medicine, and her scales once again showed a faint purple-gold luster.
Gu Yang gently stroked its back, and its tense nerves finally relaxed a little.
However, the hail outside was getting bigger and bigger. Fist-sized ice balls hit the hail fragments near the cave entrance, making a dull "bang bang" sound, and the whole cave shook.
Hu Qing frowned, squatted down, put his palms on the ground, and felt the slight vibration.
"Something's not right..." he whispered. "How come the impact of this hail makes the ground shake?"
Gu Yang was just about to ask about the next plan when suddenly, a rustling sound came from deep in the cave, as if something was digging the soil quickly.
Hu Qing suddenly raised his head, looking sharply into the depths of the darkness, and summoned several sword energies with his hands, surrounding him.
"Something's moving." He lowered his voice.
Gu Yang quickly took out a spirit stone lamp from his storage ring, tapped it with his fingertips, and the wick lit up instantly. The soft yet bright light dispelled the darkness in the cave.
Only then did the two realize that the ratman who had been curled up in the corner had disappeared without a trace, leaving only a dark tunnel with fresh claw marks on the edge of the entrance.
And the strange digging sound came from deep in the tunnel.
"Where's the rat man? Didn't he come in?" Gu Yang frowned and shouted into the tunnel, "Rat! Are you in there?"
The sound echoed in the narrow passage, but there was no response.
Only the rustling sound continued, even more rapid than before, as if something was desperately digging to escape—
Or get close to them.
Gu Yang reached out and rubbed Xiao Zi's head, and felt the smooth and slightly cool scales on his palm.
The little guy let out a dissatisfied gurgling sound from his throat, his golden eyes staring straight into the deep tunnel, his tail slapping the ground anxiously.
"This rat man...could he take the opportunity to slip away?" Gu Yang muttered.
Hu Qing shook his head, his fingertips rubbing the fresh claw marks on the edge of the tunnel:
"If he wanted to escape, he could have slipped away unnoticed at night. Why wait until now?"
Gu Yang nodded thoughtfully. Although the rat man was as timid as a rat—
In fact, it is indeed a rat——
But he has always valued his life very much and would never rashly enter an unknown cave.
unless……
He squatted down and scraped the dirt on the cave wall with his fingertips.
The soft brown soil fell down, mixed with a few clear claw marks and a few gray-brown hairs on the edges.
"It's definitely the traces of the ratmen." Gu Yang picked up the dirt and said, "But what exactly is it digging for?"
Hu Qing closed his eyes and concentrated, and a wisp of spiritual consciousness penetrated into the tunnel like a gossamer.
However, as soon as his consciousness touched the cave wall, it was bounced back by some sticky force, as if it had hit a ball of damp, cold cotton. He suddenly opened his eyes, his brow furrowed.
"Something was added to this soil, it can actually block spiritual consciousness!"
"Oh, now I remember, the treasure-hunting rat's talent?" Gu Yang's eyes lit up. "Could it be that it really has sniffed out some treasure?"
"squeak!"
Xiao Zi suddenly stood up and slapped the ground angrily with his front paws, splashing up a cloud of dust.
It had given some of its precious ice dew flowers to the rat man, but this heartless man actually ate them all for himself!
The purple-gold tail swung fiercely, and the little guy was about to go into the tunnel, but Gu Yang grabbed the back of the neck and pulled it back.
"Don't worry."
Gu Yang smiled and flicked Xiao Long's nose. "If it's really a treasure, you'll definitely get your share."
As he spoke, he took out a bright white night pearl from his storage ring, and a soft halo of light immediately filled the tunnel.
The tunnel was narrow and cramped, and the soil around it was damp and soft, emitting a musty smell.
Gu Yang tried to crawl forward two steps, and his shoulder immediately rubbed against the wall of the cave, and small pieces of soil fell down.
He tutted his words and cursed, "Damn rat! Why didn't they dig a wider hole?"
Hu Qing squatted at the entrance of the cave, gathered a wisp of spiritual power on his fingertips, and gently tapped on the wall of the cave.
The white spiritual light spread like a spider web, temporarily stabilizing the loose soil.
"This hole must have been dug by the rat-man after he revealed his true form."
He said in a deep voice, "We are too big, so we can only barely squeeze in."
"Ow!"
Xiao Zi scratched the ground impatiently with his claws, and his purple-gold scales gleamed in the dim light.
It puffed out its chest, clapped its front paws, and its golden eyes were full of eagerness.
Hu Qing looked at Xiaolong's body and said thoughtfully:
"Letting Xiao Zi take the lead is an idea."
Gu Yang raised his eyebrows: "Will it work?"
Before he finished speaking, a layer of light purple light suddenly appeared around Xiao Zi.
Under the two people's surprised gaze, its body began to shrink, its scales tightly fitted together, and in the blink of an eye it became as thick as a bamboo pole.
It swung its tail proudly, plunged into the tunnel, and its nimble body quickly disappeared into the depths of darkness.
"This little guy..." Gu Yang shook his head and laughed, then restrained his expression, "Let's follow him too."
The two of them entered the tunnel one after the other.
Hu Qing held a night-shining pearl in his palm, and the faint light barely illuminated the front.
With every inch forward, the wet mud would get all over the clothes, and the air would be filled with the smell of earth.
Gu Yang continued to release spiritual power in the back to reinforce the soil layer above his head to prevent sudden collapse.
"This damn place..."
Gu Yang gritted his teeth as he crawled forward. His elbow rubbed against a protruding rock, causing him to gasp in pain. "When I find that stinky rat, I'm going to make him pay."
After climbing for an unknown amount of time, suddenly, a scorching hot air blew in his face. The hair on Hu Qing's forehead was soaked with sweat and stuck to his skin.
He swallowed hard, his throat as dry as if it were filled with sand.
"How long have we been climbing?" Hu Qing's voice was hoarse in the heat. "Could this damn rat have dug its way to the center of the earth?"
Gu Yang followed behind, beads of sweat condensing on his eyelashes and dripping down.
He wiped his face and his palms were immediately wet.
"Something's wrong," he gasped. "The temperature is rising so fast, it's like being near a volcano."
The soil on the walls of the tunnel began to heat up, and Hu Qing reflexively pulled his hand back as soon as he put his hand on it.
Just as he was hesitating whether to move forward, his nose suddenly caught a familiar scent -
It was the unique smell of sulfur from the little purple dragon's breath, mixed with the burning sensation of thunder and lightning.
"Xiao Zi? Is that you?" Hu Qing called out tentatively.
The air ahead suddenly twisted, and a heat wave surged like a tide.
The soil on the tunnel wall began to melt, and dark red magma flowed slowly.
Hu Qing subconsciously closed his eyes, but heard a muffled "bang" sound -
A dazzling purple-gold light exploded, and the narrow tunnel was widened in an instant.
Xiao Zi poked his head out, with sparks of dragon's breath still lingering at the corners of his mouth.
It used its claws to scratch the melted rock wall and pulled Hu Qing out of the narrow passage.
Gu Yang followed closely behind, rolled out of the tunnel, and lay on the ground in a mess, gasping for breath.
The three of them were now in a spherical space that was forcibly melted by dragon breath.
The surrounding rock walls have a glass-like luster, and cooled black obsidian blocks are scattered on the ground.
The air was still scorching, but at least I could stand up straight.
"Well done, little guy." Gu Yang rubbed his burned elbow and looked around, "But where is the mouse?"
Xiao Zi suddenly pricked up his ears and his scales flared up slightly.
It pawed the ground anxiously and growled in warning.
Hu Qing keenly noticed that beneath the glazed rock wall, several fresh claw marks were faintly visible.
The traces twisted and turned into the darkness deeper underground, and finally disappeared into a narrow crack.
Xiao Zi led them into the crack, and as they went deeper, the temperature around them gradually dropped.
"Where on earth did that dead rat get into?"
Gu Yang's teeth chattered uncontrollably, and his voice became intermittent in the extreme cold.
The white air he exhaled instantly condensed into tiny ice crystals and fell to the ground.
Xiao Zi bit his sleeve and pulled him forward. There was a thin layer of frost on the purple-gold scales, but it was not affected at all.
Hu Qing followed behind, and with every step he took, the soles of his boots made a "crackling" sound of ice cracking.
He looked down and found that the ice crystals on the hem of his clothes were thickening at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Something's wrong..."
Hu Qing used his spiritual power to shatter the ice. "We ate the Ice Dew Flower, so we should be able to survive in the polar regions. But now..."
Before he could finish his words, he was hit by another biting chill, and his eyelashes were instantly covered with ice beads.