Chapter 259: Finding Another Exit

The monster paused for just a moment, and Yun Huizhou turned back to strike again, his blade hacking into the head of the creature that resembled a giant python.

When the blade collided with the monster’s head, it sounded as if it were striking solid rock, letting out a sharp “Clang!”

But a blade was a blade, and Yun Huizhou’s was a masterwork. Despite the hardness of the monster’s head, Yun Huizhou managed to carve a long, deep wound into it.

The monster let out a shrill shriek and immediately retreated back into the water.

It seemed to understand that once it left the water, it was no match for the two of them.

The two landed on the shore once more. Lian Li immediately checked Yun Huizhou from head to toe. Finding that he was uninjured, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“The moment I reached the shore, I was about to call out to you when I saw that dark shadow. Then the water was stained with blood. It scared me to death; I thought something had happened to you.” Lian Li squatted on the ground, looking up at Yun Huizhou.

His lips were slightly pursed, making him look quite pitiful.

Yun Huizhou squatted down as well and said, “It’s alright, it’s alright. I was on guard against that fellow. That blood was its, not mine.”

Lian Li chided him, “You didn’t mention there was a monster in here before.”

Yun Huizhou’s expression stiffened. “I originally intended to, but then the matter with the bandits happened as soon as I went out, and I forgot. By the time I remembered to tell you, we were already in the tunnel.”

His voice was small, carrying the tone of someone who had made a mistake, sounding somewhat pathetic.

Lian Li leaned over and rubbed against Yun Huizhou. When he had seen the water turn red earlier, he had been truly terrified.

Yun Huizhou pulled him into an embrace, gently patting his back, and then said, “As long as you hold the lotus, that monster won’t dare get close to you.”

Lian Li immediately looked up. “So that’s why you made me hold the lotus?”

Yun Huizhou nodded.

Lian Li added, “You had me hold the lotus, and you let me surface first?”

Shouldn’t the person without the lotus have surfaced first, while the person with the lotus stayed in the water to stand guard?

Yun Huizhou’s voice grew even smaller. “I was afraid it would ambush you while you were surfacing.”

Lian Li: “…”

This time he was truly a little bit angry—just a little bit—and he also didn’t want to talk to this man for a little bit.

After a long while, he finally spoke, and his first words made the monster in the water the scapegoat.

“It’s all that monster’s fault.”

Seeing Lian Li think it over only to eventually push the blame onto the monster, Yun Huizhou felt his heart melting.

Just as he was about to give Lian Li a hug, he saw Lian Li stand up and open the bag he had brought in to check if the contents had been soaked.

Fortunately, the two of them traveled often, so the bags they carried were mostly waterproof leather pouches. Although the inside was a little damp now, it wasn’t completely soaked through.

Yun Huizhou had already circulated his internal energy to dry his clothes, and he took the opportunity to dry Lian Li from head to toe as well.

Lian Li felt warm all over, so he decided not to be angry with Yun Huizhou anymore.

The first thing the two did was take out their fire starters. After confirming that the fire starters were not soaked and could still be used normally, they realized another problem.

They had no fuel.

Realizing this, the two looked at each other. Finally, Lian Li spoke up, “Then when night comes, will we have to rely on shivering to stay warm?”

Yun Huizhou was very generous; he pulled his robes open and pulled Lian Li into his arms, saying, “Don’t worry, you definitely won’t be cold.”

Lian Li: “…”

For some reason, a scene suddenly flashed through Lian Li’s mind: a shirtless man approaching another person who was shivering with cold, saying in a very greasy and deliberately forced, gravelly “bubble voice”:

“Do you like your big brother’s hot chest? Hmm? Speak up.”

Thinking of this, Lian Li truly couldn’t help but shudder.

It was simply too terrifying. Fortunately, although Yun Huizhou had done something very similar, he hadn’t used that kind of tone or said those kinds of words.

Otherwise, it would have been hard for Lian Li not to push him away with a palm strike.

Although Yun Huizhou’s behavior was sometimes very “straight-laced,” and his way of speaking was also quite blunt, he seemed to never step on those cringeworthy minefields that were hard to endure.

After hugging for a while, Yun Huizhou let go of Lian Li and then rummaged through the bag for some dry rations to munch on.

Swimming was an extremely physically demanding activity, and Yun Huizhou had gone into the water three times today, each time for a significant duration. Naturally, his exhaustion was great.

While Yun Huizhou was “recharging” himself, Lian Li took a fire starter and the transparent lotus to scout around this underground space, though he didn’t enter any other tunnels yet.

He simply observed this large underground cavern.

Soon, Yun Huizhou had eaten his fill. He came to Lian Li’s side and asked, “Did you find anything?”

Lian Li glanced at him and asked, “Did you find anything here before?”

Yun Huizhou shook his head. “Aside from these strange glowing plants and those large leaves in the middle of the lake, I didn’t find anything else.”

He pointed toward a tunnel on the shore where they were standing and continued, “I haven’t explored those tunnels yet. But I felt a breeze earlier; there might be another exit.”

Lian Li walked to the mouth of the tunnel Yun Huizhou was pointing at. The tunnel was about three meters high and two meters wide, enough for the two of them to walk in side-by-side.

Those glowing plants grew inside as well, so it wasn’t pitch black.

Lian Li stood at the tunnel entrance for a moment and then said, “Should we go take a look? If it really is another exit, we’ll be much safer.”

Yun Huizhou nodded. “I was planning to investigate it earlier, but I was afraid you’d be anxious waiting outside, so I went out to tell you before coming back in.”

Since they both had the intention of going in, they didn’t hesitate any longer.

Although that monster had stayed in the water, neither of them was certain if it could come onto land.

Even if its combat strength might be greatly reduced on land, it would still be easy for it to deal with the bags they left on the ground.

Out of this consideration, they put their bags back on their shoulders and entered the tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, neither dared to let down their guard. Yun Huizhou watched the path ahead, while Lian Li focused on the ground beneath their feet.

“Yun Huizhou, look, what is this on the ground?” After walking for a good while, Lian Li suddenly spoke up.

Yun Huizhou stopped and looked down.

Under the faint light of the plants on the stone walls, Yun Huizhou saw several scattered objects on the ground reflecting the light.

He reached out toward one of the reflecting objects on the ground and gave a light tug; the object came to rest in his palm.

Lian Li was just about to warn him not to touch it directly when he saw the object floating an inch above Yun Huizhou’s hand.

At this moment, the two finally saw clearly what the object was.

It was a scale the size of an egg.

Because he wasn’t touching it directly, Yun Huizhou couldn’t judge its texture, but it appeared to be extremely sharp.

“A fish scale?” Lian Li was confused for a second, then immediately dismissed his own theory. “We haven’t seen any fish here, and fish can’t come onto land. Besides, scales aren’t usually this large.”