Since the war ended, Zhou Fan didn't plan to go back to the surface. He had no interest in the upper world as of now. Essentially, he had faked his death.
Of course, he had remembered to bring Yipeng along. Right now, he was in the cabin eating. On his way down, Zhou Fan remembered to bring some food so that they wouldn't have to go back up.
Standing up, Zhou Fan walked into the house and spotted Yipeng.
"Hey. Me and the beasts are going to explore the tunnels tomorrow. Do you want to come?" Zhou Fan asked.
"I would like to." Responded Yipeng.
Hearing his answer, Zhou Fan nodded before heading into his room and going to sleep. Although he could now go longer and longer without sleeping, Zhou Fan hadn't slept in almost a month.
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The next morning, Zhou Fan, Yipeng, and the beasts made their way to another tunnel. The last time, they chose to go through the tunnel directly across from the exit tunnel, while this time, they chose to go through the tunnel left to the exit tunnel.
When they made it to the entrance, Zhou Fan sent Xiaolong in first in order to clear a path. He, Yipeng, and the rest of the beasts followed behind.
After what seemed to be an hour of walking, a light shone from the distance. The group picked up their pace and made it to the light in 2 minutes.
When they finally exited the tunnel, Zhou Fan saw a familiar, yet unfamiliar scene. In the middle of the sky, a giant crystal once again hung. However, unlike the previous crystals he had seen, this one didn't make the cave seem like day.
Instead, the crystal gave off a black light that emulated the night. There were also small white crystals that were embedded into the ceiling, looking like stars.
Looking around, Zhou Fan saw a lamp post standing next to them. Clearly, it had given off the deceiving light from earlier.
In fact, there was a path of lamp posts that seemed to create a trail. If not for these, Yipeng and the beasts wouldn't be able to see anything. Although the beasts can be lightly considered cultivators, they were only in the first stage of Qi gathering. The improvement to their eyesight was minimal.
As for Yipeng, he couldn't see anything past the light the lamps gave off.
Looking into the darkness, Zhou Fan spoke.
"Do you think that another race like the elves lives here?" He said towards Yipeng.
"It would seem so due to the existence of the lamp posts. However, I can only think of one race that could live in such darkness."
"Dark elves." Zhou Fan interrupted.
"Indeed", said Yipeng, wearing a slight grimace on his face.
Recalling the elves' library, Zhou Fan knew that the elves and dark elves were mortal enemies. If the hatred of humans could be said to have disappeared from the elf population, the hatred of dark elves were the exact opposite.
It was as if their sole purpose was to hate each other. Throughout the elves' history, there had been no less than 20 wars with the dark elves. However, they had always been similar in strength and been unable to kill the other race off.
Zhou Fan didn't admire the big black crystal in the center of the cave for long before he and the rest started to follow the torch path. Although dark elves had near perfect night vision, they could still see more details with light.
The group followed the torches for about 30 minutes before they came upon a gate. The gate was made out of wood and was wide open.
'I guess they aren't expecting intruders.' Zhou Fan thought.
To Zhou Fan, the entire area was as clear as day, but to Yipeng and the beasts, the torches were about as far as they could see. Since he didn't know if there were any traps, Zhou Fan had Yipeng ride on Xuanwu's back. After all, there was no way the dark elves would see the beasts and still have the courage to attack.
After another 10 minutes of walking, Zhou Fan saw some movement up ahead. Ordering the beasts to stay, Zhou Fan and Yipeng traveled 3 minutes before he found the source.
On the ground not far away, stood around 50 houses. Outside of these houses, something similar to elves were walking around. The only difference between them and the elves that Zhou Fan had known is their skin color. Unlike elves, these elves had dark skin. Clearly, they were dark elves.
Like Zhou Fan, they saw through the darkness as if it was day. Zhou Fan didn't observe for too long before he walked into the village, followed by Yipeng.
It wasn't long before the dark elves spotted Zhou Fan and Yipeng. When they looked at Zhou Fan, they felt surprised. However, when their gazes fell upon Yipeng, an immense hatred burst out of their eyes.
As for Yipeng, although he couldn't see too well, he could see the dark elves outline and infer who they were. An equally immense hatred burst out of his eyes. If he had Zhou Fan's power, he would have already destroyed the entire cave.
It was then that Zhou Fan spoke up.
"Hello. We come in peace." Zhou Fan tried to say.
However, he didn't even have time to talk before the dark elves started to pull out their weapons.
The most common weapon was a bow while a few carried a sword or a spear.
"Okay, that seems unnec–." Zhou Fan attempted to say.
Before he could finish, 30 arrows came flying at his face. Using a small amount of Qi, Zhou Fan created a shield that blocked all the arrows.
Assuming that the magical display would bring the elves to a halt, Zhou Fan tried to talk again. However, he was interrupted by another bunch of arrows shooting at him and Yipeng.
Looking at them with surprise, Zhou Fan could see such violent hatred in their eyes that they were able to ignore the magical occurrence that just happened.