Tomb raider: You're going to extract my alien bloodline?

Chapter 61 The water flows swiftly and is unfathomably deep.

Everyone was exhausted and leaned against a tree to take a quick rest.

Just then, a waiter who was nearby relieving himself called out to the group, "Third Master, this place... seems to be seeping water really fast. The water just touches it and it's gone. It's like there's a hollow space underneath!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Sansheng immediately perked up, his fatigue vanishing: "Dig it open and see, but be careful!"

Several of the men who were not seriously injured quickly went over and dug for a few minutes. Sure enough, with a loud crash, a section of the hole collapsed, revealing a dark hole. A cool breeze, carrying a heavy moisture, blew up from below.

"There's a way!" Mop's eyes lit up.

Wu Sansheng shone his flashlight down into the hole. The entrance was small, barely enough for one person to pass through. Below seemed to be a fairly large space, but the flashlight beam couldn't reach the bottom or make out the specifics.

"Someone needs to go down and scout," Wu Sansheng said, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"I'll go," Xie Yuchen said, patting his coat and volunteering. Wu Sansheng glanced at him, nodded, and handed him a flashlight and a small walkie-talkie: "Be careful, call out immediately if anything happens."

Xie Yuchen responded, tied the rope around his waist, handed the other end to Hei Xiazi to pull, and then nimbly slid down the cave entrance, his figure quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Time ticked by, but there was still no movement below.

"Little Flower?" Wu Sansheng frowned and called out towards the cave entrance.

No response.

"Grandpa Flower?" Black Bear also approached the cave entrance, raising his voice slightly, "What's going on down there? Make a sound!"

It remained deathly silent.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The mop-wielding group began to whisper among themselves, their faces showing unease. Wu Sansheng's expression darkened further, and Hei Xiazi also dropped his playful grin, his eyes becoming serious.

Qin Yuan stood leaning against the rock wall. He should have been anxious about the situation, but he felt that the scene was somewhat familiar. Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and he couldn't quite remember the details of the plot, but it shouldn't be anything serious.

Before he could even recall the plot, a reaction occurred below.

First, the rope moved slightly, and then Xie Yuchen's voice came through the walkie-talkie: "It's okay, down there... the space is huge, there should be an underground river."

Everyone above breathed a sigh of relief.

Wu Sansheng quickly asked, "How is the situation? Can we leave?"

There was a few seconds of silence on the walkie-talkie: "The current is rapid and the depth is unfathomable."

The water is swift and its depth is unfathomable!

Qin Yuan slapped his forehead, and the blurry memory became clear! He looked around at the crowd who had tensed up because of those words and started checking the ropes in preparation for the swim. His expression became extremely strange, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

This... isn't this plot development a bit too faithful to the original?

"The current is swift and the depth is unfathomable?" Wu Sansheng repeated at the cave entrance, his expression even more serious. He turned and directed, "Everyone, check your equipment! Wrap up anything that isn't waterproof! Check the ropes again, tie double knots! When we go down, look out for each other, hold on tight to the ropes, and whatever you do, don't get swept away!"

Xie Yuchen was pulled up and nodded to Wu Sansheng: "The sound of the current is very loud down below, and we can't see the other side. The depth is probably not shallow, so everyone be careful."

His words made everyone's hearts tighten even more.

So, the group tied climbing ropes around their waists, securing themselves together to ensure no one would be swept away by the current, and descended the ropes one by one.

Thinking there was no need to say anything about such a thing, Qin Yuan, who was following behind and ready to watch the excitement, symbolically tied a rope around himself and went down with everyone.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, flashlights lit up, illuminating the surroundings.

Before us was indeed an underground river, not very narrow, with damp rock walls on both sides. The water flowed, making a gurgling sound in the silent underground, but the surface of the water was as calm as an artificial lake in a park, without even a ripple.

Wu Sansheng lowered his head and looked at the crystal-clear river water, which just reached his calves, where he was wearing high-top hiking boots.

Black Bear looked down, then lifted his leg and tentatively stepped into the water, barely splashing. He straightened up, turned to Xie Yuchen, who stood beside him with a somewhat stiff expression, and asked, "Master Hua, what did you mean by 'rapid current'?"

Wu Sansheng also silently turned his head and stared at Xie Yuchen expressionlessly.

Xie Yuchen: "..."

The tense atmosphere instantly vanished. Qin Yuan adjusted his sunglasses, hiding his desire to laugh.

Xie Yuchen's smile finally faltered, and his ears turned slightly red: "Ahem, anyway, it's safe down there, we can pass through, let's continue."

It was a false alarm. Everyone, both amused and exasperated, untied the extra ropes from their bodies and put them away. The water was very shallow; they could just wade across. They didn't even need to roll up their pants too high.

After walking along the waterway for about half an hour, the space suddenly opened up, leading into a larger underground space. It resembled a huge, naturally formed pool, with a central pool that was slightly deeper, reaching about waist-deep. On the surrounding rock walls, there were several waterway entrances of varying sizes and heights, all looking similar, and it was unclear where they led.

Wu Sansheng stopped, carefully shone his flashlight on the cave entrances, and observed the direction of the water flow. After a moment's thought, he pointed to one of them and said, "Go this way, everyone stay close, don't get separated."

This waterway was narrower and more winding than the previous one, but still relatively flat. After walking for a while, Wu Sansheng, seeing that everyone was exhausted, ordered them to rest on the spot.

Everyone felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and they all found some dry stones to sit on, drink water and eat dry food. Qin Yuan also found a slightly flat stone to sit on.

Just then, a faint sound suddenly came from the water collection pool where they had come from!

There were shouts, but I couldn't make out what they were saying; they sounded familiar. There was also a strange howling sound, kind of like a small animal's roar?

Black Bear, with his sharp ears, sat bolt upright: "What's that noise? It sounds like a child crying!"

Qin Yuan heard it clearly; that howling sound was all too familiar to him!

It's Qin Jiu!

He stood up abruptly and rushed back the way he came without saying a word.

Xie Yuchen reacted quickly. Although he didn't understand why, seeing Qin Yuan's urgency, he immediately got up and followed.

Qin Yuan ran very fast and quickly rushed back to the water collection pool.

In the center of the pool, a familiar figure stood disheveled in the water, soaking wet—it was Wu Xie. He was carrying someone on his back; judging by the size, it was Fatty, without a doubt. Fatty's eyes were closed, seemingly unconscious, and his arms hung limply at his sides.

In front of the two was a small child with silver-white hair. Because the little guy was too short, he was holding onto Wuxie's belt and floating on the water.

On the rock opposite them, a pheasant with a neck as thick as an adult's arm was coiled up, its comb larger and more vibrant in color than any they had encountered before. It held its head high, its scarlet forked tongue flicking, its cold, vertical pupils fixed on Wu Xie and his companions, poised to attack.

Qin Jiu's emerald green eyes widened, and he gripped his belt with one hand, howling at the snake.

Then, Xie Yuchen, who was anxious to save the person, saw that the pheasant neck, which had been so aggressive, suddenly froze.

Then, as if greatly frightened, the venomous snake began to frantically... thrashing its head up and down...

This is fucking kowtowing...

It wasn't a feint before an attack, nor was it a show of force; it was just a rapid, wide-ranging up-and-down tapping motion. Good heavens, it was slamming its head against the rock beneath it with tremendous force, the snake's head almost leaving afterimages as it thumped against the rock beneath it with soft, muffled thuds.

The snake's entire body trembled violently with each nod, and coupled with its ferocious appearance and bizarre behavior, the scene was simply indescribable.

Qin Yuan had lived two lives and had never seen a snake's head nod like that before...