It was hard to keep track of time, but Xin felt like it was still early morning when he woke up.
His spine was a bit numb, his muscles still sore, and the cave itself felt unpleasantly humid. Still, it wasn't too bad. And in times like these, "not too bad" meant great.
He tried pumping some qi through his meridians. Fully intact, already recovered. Good. He stood up and went to check on master Taowei.
The man was wrapped in bandages to soak his sweat and excretions, and laid to sleep inside of a sleeping bag, covered with a blanket on top. Wu Xiaoyun sacrificed her sleeping bag for master Taowei and slept on the floor again. Xin understood this gesture — she was trying to portray herself as willing to endure hardships despite her lack of ability. Respectable.
He approached her, asleep in a twisted pose. Her hair was messy and greasy, and there were no remnants of the authoritative aura she emanated when they first met. Her eyes twitched as if she was seeing bad dreams, and she snored a bit.
"Hey." He gently touched her shoulder.
"Huh?" She jumped a bit, then quickly recomposed herself. "Did something happen?"
"Sister Xiaoyun, we've got a lot of work to do. I had to check up on your meridians."
"My qi is half-restored, my meridians are... in a passable state. How about you?"
"Fully restored." Xin realised that his bloodline was probably stronger than hers. Or maybe it was his cultivation depth, hard to tell.
"That's nice." She sighed. "Who do you want me to heal?"
"Start with Lei's foot. I need him for scouting, he aggravated the swelling with his last trip. Then Yao Nang, she regenerates well, but I am afraid of pus building up in that thorn wound. Then you should probably invigorate master Taowei. Then everyone else."
"Hey." Rui Ming was also waking up. "Xin, have you heard any noise from outside?"
"No, not at all."
"Think he left? I checked up on the blockage at night, it was untouched."
"I think it's the opposite, he is either in ambush or gathering the supplies. Don't forget, he's injured and has a swarm to feed."
"We've thinned that swarm well, and broke his artefact. It might not be that bad."
"Right, brother, his swarm is much smaller now, but we mostly killed stage one grasshoppers. In return, we lost a rank two master. And now we are facing two rank two entities, one of which we have no means of damaging."
"Right. That's why we need to scout the tunnels further. Should we wake Lei up?"
"Yes. I'll get to work."
Xin shut off the outside world from his perception and tried to make a checklist. His head was certainly working better than yesterday.
First priority — clean water.
Second priority — identifying the materials they use to help in their situation. The caves might have some plants, mushrooms, crystals and metals that could be useful.
Xin took out his cauldron, then gathered everyone's bowlers and made an alchemy station. He used the chlorine and silver to clear the water, then added a bunch of reactive alchemical dust to collect all the other dirt. The water still seemed unclean.
He lit up the fire again and boiled the water for ten minutes or so. This should remove the chlorine. He ground the charcoal into dust and prepared to make a water filter out of a kettle. The kettle's nose would be used as a tap for the water to come out of. It's good that they saved this equipment.
Bottom layer of the filter — wool.
Next layer — ground charcoal.
Third layer — fabric.
Fourth layer — sand.
Fifth layer — a bunch of small, clean gravel.
Good. Now let's try and clean the water. He took another flask, and poured some water he cleaned up into the teapot. It entered the filter, and slowly, small drops started emerging at the bottom. He collected them with a wooden cup.
He looked around. All the men went scouting, and only Wu Xiaoyun and Yao Nang stayed, so it was just them and a sleeping master Taowei now. Xin got a bit anxious. He seldom stayed alone with women, especially two at once.
"Xin, that's a good trick. Who taught you this?" Yao Nang asked.
"That's basic stuff, frankly. Most people who survive in the wilderness know how to do this."
"It's so slow, though. Can this method truly get enough water for everyone?"
"Once the filter soaks through, it will flow a bit better. But its effectiveness will also reduce over time. We've got enough materials to make several such filters, but I might run out of firewood and chlorine soon. How's the food situation?"
"We've got some jerky and cabbages. It's... not the worst." Yao Nang sounded livelier today.
"Well, the main problem right now is the mantis, not the food. I am worried about this silence, I suspect it's recuperating. This rank two master's qi pool also trumps anything we have, it's quite dire."
"Well, we'll do our best and whatever happens happens." Wu Xiaoyun stared at the wall.
"We'll fuck him up, don't worry. In terms of talent, our squad is stacked. We'll figure something out. That's a cup of water!" He showed them a cup of relatively clean water. It was still warm from being boiled some time ago.
"Xin, I don't know where we'd be without you." Wu Xiaoyun smiled and thanked him. "I already healed Lei and sister Nang a bit, I need to work on master Taowei now."
"Think we need to be a little bit greedy. You should overhydrate and convert the water qi into wood qi to restore faster." Xin said. Water element feeds wood element, after all. He handed her a water cup.
"Think we could afford it? I'll drink like three people, and Lei is already thirsty."
"This man is indeed very thirsty, if you know what I mean." Yao Nang laughed.
"No, I don't know, what do you mean?" Xin raised his eyebrow.
"Well, you know, people that are horny, we also call them thirsty. It's because he wants to get into everyone's pants. That's the joke."
Xin stared at her with a blank expression. She stared back at him, anxious. Did my joke flop? Did my explanation make it awkward and indecent? Is he stupid? Am I?
"Relax, I am fucking with you. It's a nice one." He chuckled lightly.
"Fuck you, Xin. Hehe. So, what now?"
"We wait for everyone to return. You should heal your wounds, you are still a heavy hitter, despite the lack of cultivation depth." Many people would take this as an insult, and Xin prepared for her to retort.
"It's true. It's sad that I lost my weapon..."
"You could use my glaive."
"Huh, seriously?"
"Yes, or you could use my pike, sister." Wu Xiaoyun also had an idea.
"Nah. I am a marksman, and I have a melee fighting method in Resonance Palms. If you give her your pike, we basically lose a fighter. What other attacking methods do you have?"
"I can reinforce my strikes with wooden qi, leaf style. But it's worse than what you or Lei do."
"Then stick with the pike. Yao Nang, can you use my glaive?"
"It's a fancy weapon, but sure. I'll play with it once I recover a bit more." Xin was a bit jealous. He had to spend several days recovering from an injury Lei gave him in hand-to-hand combat, Yao Nang gets hit by a rank one attack and needs "a bit more time" to recover. Physical cultivation certainly has its upsides.
Wu Lei, Murong Zhan, Rui Ming and Tu Qiang were exploring another tunnel.
"Should we really go here? Maybe we should let Xin take a look at that root room that you found first?" Tu Qiang asked.
"Listen, pal. He's busy, and..."
"Master Qiang." He interrupted Lei.
"Whatever, just listen. He's busy, and he'll be occupied with water and materials for quite some time, and what he is doing is essential. Let's explore further."
The group explored the tunnel system for another twenty minutes. In the darkness, they relied on a lamp and a torch, the latter of which wouldn't hold out for much longer.
"Once we run out of oil and firewood, all we'll have is some cloth torches. This sucks." Murong Zhan said.
"You'll still have me." Lei's eyes shone like little embers in the dark. They kept wandering through the little tunnels, finding nothing of value.
"It's one big tunnel, with little branches, but they are all connected to this one big 'intestine', it seems." Tu Qiang shared his observation.
"Well, let's reach the dead end, at least." Rui Ming was holding the lamp.
Lei looked around, and suddenly stopped near a wall.
"Shit, guys. Look under your feet, too! How could you miss this one?" He said.
"What?"
"Look." Lei raised an instrument into the air. "A fucking pickaxe!"
"Oh, it was probably behind that stone, I didn't notice."
"Whatever. Can we use it somehow?"
"Well... It can help us reinforce the blockage, and maybe we'll collect the materials without expending earth and metal qi" Murong Zhan said.
"Right." Lei nodded and kept walking, a pickaxe in his hand.
They wandered for another five minutes, until they finally reached a dead end.
"That's it?" Lei was upset.
"Seems so. What a weird tunnel." Tu Qiang said. "It looks natural and manmade at the same time. There were some little alcoves, and some remnants of the stones seemed like they were broken down for ore. Think some ancient miners mined here, realised this venue is not very profitable and mined deeper, where the main tunnel is now."
"Right." Lei nodded. Something's not right, though, his intuition told him. "Let's go back."
On the way back, Lei stopped near one of the stalagmite pillars. He went closer and touched it.
"What?" Rui Ming inquired.
"There are two scratches here, making a cross. Let me see." Lei leaned the end of the pickaxe to the scratch. "Think they could have been carved with a pickaxe."
"But why?"
"You know, it looks like thief markings in Clay Nest."
"Or they could just be marking something for mining purposes, like 'cut this stalagmite down' or 'this is where we should expand the tunnel'. Or he could just scratch it to check the pickaxe's sharpness."
Lei pressed his lips together.
"This tunnel is safe. Go back to the hub, we need to preserve the fuel, I'll explore some more."
"Are you sure, disciple Lei?" Tu Qiang asked.
"Yes. Hurry."
Lei went around the cave, deep in his thoughts. The scratches were weird, he wasn't satisfied with Murong Zhan's explanation at all.
After wandering through the tunnels for fifteen more minutes, Lei noticed another scratch on the wall. His eyes were already tired from using his night vision technique, but he didn't care. This scratch was also a small cross, made with a pickaxe.
Weird, is it just a marking for a future work that was eventually left unfinished, or is there a pattern? This wall is closer to the entrance, and it's surrounded by unremarkable stones. Lei touched the walls again, nothing special about them.
Strange. He sat down and squatted, then started thinking. Am I grasping for straws? Is this a false lead? Hmmm.
So, this cave's entrance is a hole, and a mining cart won't fit through it. Means that either it's only one of the entrances, or that someone made this entrance for a particular reason. This cave is right near the entrance, yet Master Taowei, who had intel about this tunnel, didn't know about it.
This tunnel used to be a big mining complex, then it became a trade route, then it withered down when the steppe was stabilised. It was more profitable to go directly to Zadana, after all, and only rare supply caravans went through it now. Could this be used by smugglers? A good hideout, right near a trade route, away from the patrols. He tried to cook up a plausible version, but he found his thoughts drifting amid the humid air.
Whatever, don't overthink. The smugglers go in, leave markings, hide their goods? How do they hide their goods?
Wait. Both questions could have the same answer. How did they hide the cave? How did they hide the goods? Obscured them with a method. An earth path method, perhaps? It was a reach, but it was also the best explanation. So, what if they had a user who could mend stones? Some higher ranked earth path masters could even walk through stone, so it seemed plausible.
He remembered Murong Zhan's words. Manmade and natural. Can I distinguish these? Need to make another run. The pain in his eyes was becoming annoying, but he reinforced his technique again.
He walked around the tunnel for what felt like eternity, touching every nook and cranny, until he finally heard someone call him from behind.
"Lei, is everything alright?" Tu Qiang.
"Yeah, I am still searching!"
"Searching for what?"
"Think this cave is a smuggling hideout. Except there are no signs of anyone ever camping here, just this pickaxe."
"What are you implying?"
"Whoever stopped here, probably didn't stop for long. These markings don't follow the way these tunnels are spreading in any way, so I don't think they are mining markers. Look, you are an earth path master, could you help me find a manmade wall? Or maybe some stone that could be lifted to reveal something underneath it? Or some natural alcove we might have missed? Might be somewhere where we'd have to climb."
"Look, Xin is making some reinforcement potions so that everyone can recover their meridians. He'll soon free up and need you to show him that root room. How about we go back?"
"Just listen to me, please. You think I spent my life walking around, protecting the traders? What exactly do you think my occupation was in Clay Nest? Something is fishy, I can recognize the pattern where none of you can."
"Alright." He sighed. "What do you need me to do?"
"Walk around this tunnel again, look for the stuff I've asked you to identify, try and find something man made, where an earth path method was used, preferably. We'll start with the area between these two markings."
"Whatever. Let's do this." Tu Qiang gave up.
He entered his earth path stance, and was much more attuned to qi deviations now, he could feel inside the stones with his touch.
They went around for just about two minutes, when Tu Qiang said:
"Look, Lei, I think it's a... Wait."
"What?"
"This stone is so smooth outside. And inside, it feels like it was glued together. Or, I don't know, pressed?" Tu Qiang was confused, he then looked at Lei.
"That's it! That's the loot!" The flames in his eyes flared up even more when he shouted.