The cave is completely enclosed and you can't see outside, so it's pitch black inside.
But Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang had already eaten the red berries, and Silver King and Coco could see in the dark, so they were not affected.
It was very quiet in the cave. The sound of their footsteps on the slippery ground was so clear that they could even hear the occasional sound of water dripping.
After tens or even millions of years of dissolution and sedimentation, the terrain inside the cave is rugged and very slippery. If you are not careful, you will easily trip and fall to the ground. If you happen to hit a sharp stone pillar, you will probably be seriously injured.
This is not one of those caves on Earth that have been processed for tourism, so Xu Xin walked very carefully.
"嘤!" Coco jumped down from Xu Xin's shoulder and ran to the front by herself.
"Be careful, don't run around!" Xu Xin was a little helpless. This little guy always ran around. Although he could find something special every time, it really made him scared every time he did this.
The Silver King was very obedient and followed behind Xu Xin. It was relatively large, and it was a little difficult for it to walk on such an uneven terrain with stone pillars protruding from time to time, but it was still much more stable than humans who walked on two feet.
"Hmm!" Coco responded from the front.
Its small size makes it easier for it to move through the cave.
"Are we still in this circle of hills now?" Ji Chaoyang asked Xu Xin, holding on to a sharp stone pillar in front of him.
"Yes, it should still be in the hills." Xu Xin had been paying attention to the map. Their current location was in the hills, and the direction of the cave's curvature was consistent with the direction of the hills. It should be a cave in the connected hills.
Of course, it is also possible that it is underground. After all, Xu Xin’s map can only show the flat position but not the vertical depth.
Continuing to walk forward, they both heard the faint sound of flowing water.
There should be running water flowing ahead.
However, they were not surprised. Caves were formed by water erosion. It was normal to have flowing water in the cave. It would be abnormal if there was no flowing water.
Soon, after walking forward for a few hundred meters, the two came to a very clear stream.
The water flow was not fast, it could even be said to be slow. This stream of water flowed along the hole in front, but it did not flow into the hole where Xu Xin was now. Instead, it made a bend and flowed into an underground cave on the side.
That's not a place they can go.
Coco was standing by the stream at this time. When she saw Xu Xin coming, she immediately let out a cry and ran to Xu Xin's feet.
"This water flow is quite big." Xu Xin estimated the depth of the water flow, it must be at least two meters.
Although the caves were formed by river erosion, there are no rivers around or inside the hilly reserve, only a relatively large lake in the middle.
Could it be an underground river
Ji Chaoyang squatted by the river and carefully observed the creatures in the water.
"There are fish in the river, and they have eyes. It's pitch black here. If it is a species that has been living in this dark hole, the fish's eyes should have degenerated." Ji Chaoyang looked at a motionless black fish track in the water.
"In other words, these fish came in from outside?" Xu Xin's eyes lit up. "Then as long as we go upstream along the river, we should be able to get out."
Moreover, the direction of the upstream river happens to be along this circle of hills towards the salt mine cave and the giant's head.
If there is any secret, it must be next to the giant's head.
"Well, let's continue going upstream."
The river did not occupy all the space in the cave. Xu Xin and his friends continued walking along the river.
"嘤!" Coco ran to the front again.
The ground became more slippery at this time, and although there was still a road, it was already very narrow, so Xu Xin and his team could only move forward more carefully. However, this slowed down their speed a lot.
"You should be able to swim, right?" Xu Xin said to Ji Chaoyang who was also moving forward cautiously beside him.
The speed we are moving now is really too slow. It will be dark outside in a few hours. If we continue at this speed, I am afraid we may not be able to find the exit tonight.
There are still many things to do today. We have to bring Li Yajun to Li Wenxi's tree house, improve the decoration and the success rate of alchemy, and try to make the coordinates before tomorrow to connect the tree houses of the four people here.
Although Ji Chaoyang also said that it is unlikely that snow will fall tomorrow, we still need to be adequately prepared.
So they can't spend too much time here.
Moreover, if they didn't go out and couldn't contact the outside world, Li Wenxi and Qi Xuefei would be in a bad situation. They didn't have mounts, so did they have to stay outside and wait, or walk back by themselves
"Of course I can swim. During the rainy season, I also eliminated tornadoes, although I was a step slower than you." Ji Chaoyang dodged a sharp stalactite column and turned to look at him. "Why, you want to swim upstream from the river?"
"That's indeed my plan." Xu Xin glanced at the river where the flow was relatively slow.
What he is wearing now is a purple-level scale armor set, and the water is also his home ground!
"... I have no problem with that." Ji Chaoyang thought this was a good suggestion.
Although it might be dangerous underwater, the road is so difficult to walk on that the risk factor is no less than underwater. Moreover, the water here is very clear, and both of them have night vision, so there is no obstruction to their vision.
"But, does your Silver King know how to swim?" Ji Chaoyang looked at the Silver King who had been following behind him.
"Ah!" When the Silver King heard Ji Chaoyang's doubt, he immediately raised his head and shouted, indicating that he had no problems.
The Silver King's cry echoed in the cave, calling back Coco who had run ahead.
Coco ran over to them and stood on the ground with her head tilted.
This little guy doesn't need to go into the water, it can move easily on the ground.
"Keke, we are going to swim in the water. You just follow us on land." Xu Xin squatted down, touched Keke's little head and said, "By the way, help us see if there is any road above."
“嘤?” Coco took a moment to react before she understood what Xu Xin meant. She nodded her head and said, “嘤!”
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang tested the water with their hands and found it was very cold, almost at zero degrees Celsius. Ordinary people would never choose to jump into the water.
But the two of them were wearing high-end suits that could block some of the cold, and even if they got sick, they had Qi Xuefei's medicine to back them up, so basically nothing would happen.
The two looked at each other and both jumped into the river.
"Ah!" The Silver King also jumped into the water with them.
"Oh, it's a bit cold!" Xu Xin shuddered. Although the air temperature was also low, it was completely different from the feeling of being immersed in water.
“… Move quickly, otherwise your hands and feet will freeze.” After saying that, Ji Chaoyang dived into the water and began to swim forward.
Xu Xin glanced at the Silver King and found that there was no problem at all for it to survive in the water, so he also dived into the water and followed.
"Ying!" Coco also followed on the shore.
This underground river is more than two meters deep and three or four meters wide, which is enough for them to move around in the water.
Once the identification ability is activated, everything underwater can be seen at a glance.
The bottom is covered with green-level stones, and some unknown plants, all of which are white and green, without even a bit of blue-level water plants.
They continued swimming forward for a long time, but there was nothing noteworthy. Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang both came up to take a breath.
He looked at the Silver King, who was following closely behind them. His swimming speed was not slow and he was able to keep up with the two of them.
Coco was also on the shore. When she saw him come out, she let out a "ying" sound.
"Where...is this place?" Ji Chaoyang was a little out of breath. Fortunately, he had eaten some apricots that could continuously restore his strength when he came in, so he was not in any serious trouble.
"… This river flows through this circle of hills. Now we have already swam around half of the hills." Xu Xin has also been paying attention to the map.
The two of them swam very fast, faster than normal running.
In fact, he could have gone even faster, but he was afraid that Ji Chaoyang could not keep up, so he slowed down. However, this gave him enough time to observe the surroundings underwater and above the water.
"Let's keep going." Xu Xin dived into the water again.
The two continued to swim forward.
After swimming for a long time, Xu Xin discovered that this underground river seemed to be getting wider and deeper.
Previously, the width was only three or four meters, and the depth was only about two meters. Now, the depth has reached three or four meters, and the width has directly reached five or six meters. Even the surrounding caves are much wider than before.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Coco suddenly cried out on the shore.
Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang emerged from the water one after another.
"Oh! Oh!" Coco quickly gestured with her little paws at the two of them.
Xu Xin understood what it meant, and his heart tightened. He immediately said to Ji Chaoyang: "Let's go up, Keke said that if we go any further, there will be danger in the river!"
Ji Chaoyang said without further ado: "Okay!"
The Silver King had already stepped onto the shore in two steps and shook off the water on his body.
Xu Xin swam to the shore, but instead of going up first, he put his head into the water again and looked deeper ahead.
The water was dark, but his armor set combined with the red berries allowed him to see clearly. He might be able to see something ahead.
The view ahead is very clear, but because the river is curved, you can't see very far.
Um?!
Xu Xin suddenly discovered two spots of red light in the river.
Afterwards, the red dots suddenly became numerous and densely packed, all rapidly approaching this side!
…Is that the eye of a mutant creature? !
"Oh, oh, oh!" Coco started shouting anxiously again on the shore.
Xu Xin suddenly emerged from the water, pushed himself up with his hands, rolled directly to the shore, and then stood up quickly!
Ji Chaoyang was already on the shore at this time. He was squeezing the water off his leather armor. Seeing Xu Xin so nervous, his expression also tensed up: "What's wrong? What did you see underwater?"
The cave was already very wide at this time, at least ten meters wide, so the shore was also several meters wide. He picked up Coco and put her on his shoulders, pulled Ji Chaoyang and Yin Wang away from the river, leaned against the cave wall, and looked at the river a few meters away.
On the map, many red dots formed the shape of a river at the location of the hills and were moving rapidly towards their location!
Ji Chaoyang did not ask any more questions, but looked at the river and took out a crossbow.
Both of them could already hear the sound of something swimming in a large area underwater!
"Bing!"
"Here they come!" Xu Xin also took out a crossbow and aimed it at the stream.
“Crash!”
Along with a loud sound of water, a one-meter-long fish with a blood-red body emerged from the water!
Xu Xintong's eyes shrank, and he and Ji Chaoyang both pulled the trigger.
"Boom boom!" Two overlapping explosions were heard, and the fierce flames made both of them temporarily blinded for a moment.
The big blood-red fish was blown directly into the water by the explosion.
But things are not getting better!
At the same time, three blood-red fish nearly one meter long jumped out of the river and rushed straight towards Xu Xin and the others!
That mouth full of sharp and irregular fangs makes people feel numb all over just looking at it!
This is a piranha!
Large piranhas that are much larger than the ones in Xu Xin’s lake before!