The black swarm of worms squirming on the riverbank made Qin Yu's scalp tingle, and he resisted the urge to vomit, throwing his ignited jacket towards the ladder.
As the fire lit up, countless centipedes fell into the river, emitting a foul and pungent burnt odor. Qin Yu felt dizzy as the centipedes contained poisonous gas that was released when they were disturbed. While the poison from a single centipede was not too dangerous, what was terrifying was the gas emitted by the thousands of centipedes gathered together. If he hadn't held his breath in advance, he would have probably collapsed long ago.
With one hand covering his mouth and nose, and the other waving the jacket, Qin Yu stepped onto the ladder. After traversing approximately four ladders, the jacket was almost burnt out, and there were still half of the ladders left untouched.
"We have to take the risk!"
Qin Yu discarded the jacket and stepped onto the next ladder, feeling as if he were stepping on cotton, with greenish-black insect juice splashing beneath his feet. He had no idea how many centipedes he had crushed with that step.
Taking several consecutive strides, Qin Yu directly crossed over the ladder and reached the opposite side of the river. During this time, his shoes were already covered with crawling centipedes. Fortunately, he was wearing high boots, and the insects couldn't enter his shoes. Ignoring the insects on his shoes, Qin Yu hurriedly ran towards the rock wall where Mo Yongxing had previously triggered the mechanism.
"Hurry up and come over, Miss Mo. Why are you following me? Go towards the entrance!"
Having found the hidden groove for the mechanism, Qin Yu turned around and noticed Mo Yongxin standing right behind him. Amidst the shattered hope and the terrifying number of centipedes, it seemed that the young lady from the Mo family had lost her usual shrewdness.
"Come on, hurry!"
On the other side of the river, countless centipedes surged like a tide, while centipedes also started crawling up from the river on this side. Out of the ten people who came down, seven had made it across, but one bodyguard had already been buried by the swarm of insects. Now only two were left on the other side of the river.
"Be careful!" Mo Yongxing exclaimed.
Just as the last bodyguard stepped onto the ladder, whether due to nervousness or some other reason, he unexpectedly missed a step and ended up sitting on the ladder. Before he could climb back up, the centipedes on the ladder swarmed him like flies smelling blood. They crawled all over his body, and all the others heard was a scream of agony as the person fell directly into the river.
"Quick, lower the ladder on one end so he can grab onto it!"
The several bodyguards who had crossed the river quickly retracted the ladder. One of them was responsible for clearing the climbing centipedes, while the other two placed the ladder into the river, attempting to allow their comrade to catch hold of it. However, they soon realized it was impossible. The bodyguard who fell into the river had already been completely submerged, and there was no trace of him to be seen.
"Damn it, just die!" Qin Yu's face contorted in a grimace. With a roar, he plunged his hand deep into the groove and started turning.
"Squeak!"
The stone door on the wall slowly ascended once again, and a black inky liquid flowed out. Before Qin Yu could even catch his breath, a violent earthquake-like vibration suddenly struck, and he felt a sense of emptiness under his feet as he began to plummet.
In his haste, Qin Yu swung his hand around haphazardly and managed to grab onto something. He heard a soft cry, and a fragrant breeze brushed past him as a figure crashed into his arms, and they both descended together.
"Sister, Qin Yu!" Mo Yongxing, who was watching from afar, saw the situation, but it was already too late. By the time he arrived, the sudden cavity had closed, and the ground had returned to normal. His sister and Qin Yu had disappeared.
Splash!
Two splashing sounds echoed as Qin Yu and Mo Yongxin both fell into a river. Sensing the fragrant breeze, Qin Yu knew that he had inadvertently pulled Mo Yongxin down with him. Otherwise, based on Mo Yongxin's position, she wouldn't have fallen.
"Cough, cough!"
Mo Yongxin coughed a few times beside him, apparently choking on the river water. Qin Yu quickly held Mo Yongxin from behind, allowing her head to emerge above the water surface.
The depth of the water here only reached up to Qin Yu's shoulders. However, it seemed that Mo Yongxin couldn't swim, and after falling from a height, she couldn't possibly stand up. Qin Yu didn't have time to consider anything else and tightly embraced her slender waist, slightly lifting her upward.
"Miss Mo, are you alright? It's my carelessness that caused you to be pulled down," Qin Yu apologized.
"I... cough, cough, I'm fine. It's not your fault. No one could have known there would suddenly be a hole beneath our feet."
Mo Yongxin calmed her breathing for a moment and then realized that she was being held tightly by Qin Yu. A blush rose on her face, spreading all the way to her ears. Unfortunately, there was no light in this place, otherwise Qin Yu would have been able to appreciate a scene of a bashful beauty.
As Qin Yu held Mo Yongxin from behind, his lips were almost touching the back of her neck. Especially with the warm breath he exhaled, Mo Yongxin's whole body turned weak, and she almost leaned completely against Qin Yu.
Qin Yu noticed Mo Yongxin's reaction, but he assumed that it was because her body had gotten cold in the water. He quickly asked, "Miss Mo, staying in the river isn't a solution. Shall we leave the river first and then figure out how to get out?"
"Yes," Mo Yongxin softly agreed.
"Can you stand steadily?"
Qin Yu let go of Mo Yongxin and she attempted to take a step forward. However, the water was already above her shoulders, making it impossible for her to walk. Qin Yu had no choice but to hold her hand, and the two of them slowly made their way through the water.
Qin Yu led the way, with Mo Yongxin following closely behind. They had been walking for about fifteen minutes when Qin Yu suddenly stopped in his tracks. With a puzzled expression on Mo Yongxin's face, Qin Yu perked up his ears and listened for a moment. A smile appeared on his face, and he turned back to say:
"There should be a riverbank ahead. Listen carefully, can you hear the sound of water crashing against the rocks?"
"No, I can't hear anything," replied Mo Yongxin, straining her ears to listen but hearing no sound at all.
"You can't hear it? That's impossible. The sound isn't faint; it should be audible, and we're only about thirty meters away."
Mo Yongxin rolled her eyes at Qin Yu's remark. How could she hear the sound when she was more than thirty meters away and in the water? However, she was surprised by Qin Yu's exceptional hearing ability. He could hear the faint sound of the river's splashing from such a distance.
"I'm not a watchdog with super hearing. I don't have ears like the wind. How could I hear from that far?" mumbled Mo Yongxin.
"Well, are you insulting me?" Qin Yu pretended to be angry. But then he became puzzled and wondered when his hearing had become so sharp. Just a few days ago, he couldn't even hear his mother calling him downstairs for dinner. Could it be...
A sudden realization dawned on Qin Yu as he recalled the influence of the dragon's energy he had encountered earlier. Only this explanation could account for his sudden improvement in hearing. It seemed that the benefits brought by the dragon's energy went far beyond what was initially apparent.
However, now was not the time to contemplate these matters. They had spent quite some time in the water, and being inside the cave, anyone who had experienced the water inside a cave knew that it was extremely cold and chilling to the bone. Qin Yu could sense Mo Yongxin's body trembling slightly in the water.
"It is indeed the riverbank."
They continued their journey, and Mo Yongxin also began to hear the sound of water splashing. As they proceeded, the river became shallower, and before long, they emerged from the water, standing on dry rocks.
"It's so cold!"
While they were in the water, they didn't feel the cold much, but as they came out of the water, a cold breeze hit them. Qin Yu couldn't help but shiver uncontrollably. His outerwear had been burned earlier, leaving him with just a T-shirt on his upper body. It was soaked now, and it would be strange if he didn't feel cold.
Mo Yongxin was in no better condition. Her delicate face turned pale due to the cold, and her slender fingers appeared almost translucent. Her clothes were dripping wet and continuously dripping water.
"If we keep going like this without finding an exit, we'll freeze to death here," murmured Qin Yu. He then took out a stack of talismans from his pocket, but unfortunately, they had all become wet from the water.
Mo Yongxin couldn't see Qin Yu reaching for something, but she heard his muttering. Suddenly, there was a "click" sound, and a bright light appeared in Mo Yongxin's hand—it was a Zippo lighter.
"Miss Mo, do you carry a lighter with you?" Qin Yu was puzzled. It's not common for girls to carry lighters unless they also smoke. Qin Yu's lighter was just an inexpensive one from the market and hadn't been used in a long time.
Mo Yongxin explained, "It belongs to my younger brother. I borrowed it from him yesterday and forgot to return it."
"That's great! With this lighter, we can move forward."
With the dim light from the flame, Qin Yu could see that there was a passage ahead. Although they didn't know where it led, it was still better than staying in the cold.
As they entered the passage, Qin Yu's excitement grew. At the end of the passage was a circular stone chamber, and there was even a pile of logs inside.
"Miss Mo, there is wood here. Let's start a fire and dry our clothes first, then we can figure out how to leave."
"Okay, that sounds good."
Mo Yongxin nodded. It was indeed uncomfortable with her wet clothes clinging to her skin, so she naturally didn't refuse Qin Yu's suggestion.
The logs were roughly the thickness of an arm. Qin Yu inspected them and recognized them as common mountain wood found in Copper Bell Mountain, the type that was easy to ignite. There were over a hundred logs in the pile, and Qin Yu selected a few thicker ones to arrange them into a cone shape.
He then picked out one or two thinner logs, lit them with the lighter, and placed them among the arranged logs. Soon, flames leaped up, bringing warmth to the surroundings.
"Miss Mo, sit here by the fire. Otherwise, you might catch a cold!" After successfully starting the fire, Qin Yu said to Mo Yongxin, who was standing nearby. She followed Qin Yu's lead, found a log, and sat by the fire.
The flames grew higher, and a wispy white vapor began to rise from Qin Yu and Mo Yongxin's clothes as the water evaporated. Qin Yu glanced at Mo Yongxin, who had let down her long hair that cascaded around her face, partly covering her cheeks. Only her delicate features were visible, illuminated by the firelight, resembling a porcelain doll that one couldn't help but want to hold and protect.