On the 50th day of the heatwave and the 34th day of entering the underground world, a violent tremor came from the wide and deep passage leading from the central area to the north in the underground world.
The tremor caused the wealthy and beautiful woman, who was about to go back to find Xie Tianlang and the others, to stop in her tracks.
He looked at the tunnel on his left with a puzzled expression, wondering whether he should go and take a look.
Meanwhile, everyone in Zone Two, who were farming, raising fish, and hatching eggs, also felt the obvious tremors beneath their feet.
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked around warily, fearing that some unforeseen disaster might occur.
The tremor lasted for about ten minutes before it disappeared. It did not spread to the second open area where they were located, nor did it cause any landslides, earthquakes, or cave collapses.
It was as if it were just a minor earthquake, something that would pass and be forgotten.
"What happened? Was that an earthquake? Can earthquakes happen in our Zhongyuan District?"
"The Central Plains District is not an earthquake zone, nor does it have any volcanic craters. It is a place with relatively few geological disasters. I think it's more likely that a cave collapsed somewhere than an earthquake?"
"It's also possible that some underground natural pipe exploded and the sound traveled here?"
The group gathered together, discussing with some concern, before turning to look at Xie Tianlang and Song Sanchuan.
Over time, everyone learned that Brother Fugui always appeared out of nowhere, doing mysterious but always useful things. And if they encountered difficulties, the most reliable person was Xie Tianlang, an elite soldier who was said to be a former special forces soldier.
Xie Tianlang frowned. The tremor resembled an earthquake, but as the bespectacled girl had just said, earthquakes were extremely rare in the Central Plains region.
With temperatures reaching 80 degrees Celsius on the surface, an earthquake in the Central Plains region doesn't seem so bizarre or unacceptable.
He glanced at the sturdiness of the surrounding cave walls and nodded to the group of people looking at him: "Don't worry too much, everyone. I'll go check the situation over there. Here, Dahei and Dahuang will lead the animals to keep watch. If there's any danger, Sanchuan will contact me immediately. Everyone, be sure to have your weapons ready for battle."
During this month, in addition to planting and raising livestock, Xie Tianlang asked everyone to spend two hours each morning and evening exercising and learning some simple fighting skills.
Although this place seems safe for the time being, the two underground passages leading to the east and north have almost no end in sight. Who knows what lies at the end of the passages?
Therefore, it's essential to know the most basic self-defense techniques.
Wang Daqiang is the strongest fighter and is also the security captain of their small group.
Seeing that Xie Tianlang was going to the central area to find someone and investigate the situation there, he stood up and patted his chest, saying, "Captain Xie, you can go ahead. Lao Pang and Xiao Yun are here with us. None of us are pushovers, so don't worry."
"Moreover, our animal army is also very powerful."
Xie Tianlang looked at the strong and sturdy Wang Daqiang, then at the clearly wary Xuanmao Dahei and the still brave wolfhound Dahuang, who had a limp front leg, nodded, and turned to head towards the central area.
When he arrived there, he saw his own Yuanyuan transformed into a sand dune cat the size of two palms, its pointed ears and long tail making it excessively cute with every movement.
Sand Dune Cat Fugui had excellent hearing; he knew Xie Tianlang was coming even without turning around.
"I need to go check out the situation up ahead, want to come along?"
Xie Tianlang walked over, reached out and picked up his beloved cat Fugui, and nodded: "Of course."
Sand Dune Cat Fugui flicked its tail and raised the corners of its mouth.
"Then let's go!"
If they are underground monsters, then wipe them all out!
At this moment, Hou Dalong and others, who had been swept underground from the central area's underground shelter due to a sudden earthquake, were still in a state of extreme shock.
Looking up at the lush, glowing shrubs growing in this underground space, the colorful little mushrooms on the stone walls above, and the stalactites dripping water, they felt a strange sense of wonder, as if they had suddenly entered a fairyland.
"Brother Long! What...where is this place? It looks so magical!"
The tall, imposing man who was being questioned glanced around at his surroundings with a deep, thoughtful look, then spat and laughed.
"How would I know what kind of place this is? But I do know it's a good place! At least there are plants, the temperature is low, and there's water. With plants, I don't believe there aren't animals to eat here."
"As expected, I'm still lucky! The explosion and earthquake didn't kill me, but instead brought me to this place! Doesn't this tell us that if you can't survive on the ground, you can survive underground?!"
"Hehe, Brother Long is right! We are a group of people who are really lucky! We are bound to be blessed after surviving such a disaster, Brother Long. It's a pity that only a few dozen of us survived."
Hou Dalong smiled and said, "Even if there are only a few dozen people left, I will live as long as I can survive!"
"And there's no way we'd be left with only a few dozen people."
Hou Dalong's face showed a mixture of envy and jealousy: "The capital is already digging underground cities at top speed. At least several hundred thousand people can live there."
"I believe that the people over there will continue to dig tunnels in all directions. As long as we survive in this area long enough, we will definitely be able to catch up with those people from the capital region."
"As long as we live to that time, we will all be alive."
The dozens of men following Hou Dalong nodded repeatedly. They were desperate criminals, and living well was their most important goal. Now that heaven had led them to this place, it meant that they were chosen ones and would survive to the end!
"Tsk, but Brother Long, we were swept down by the earthquake and explosion and all we have left are these weapons. We have no food at all. What are we going to do now? This looks like an underground cave. There are paths leading to it in both the front and back, right?"
Hou Dalong was also pondering this question. He carefully looked at the low but slightly glowing shrubs around him, and observed the number and condition of the small mushrooms on his head. Finally, he decided to move forward to the central area.
Just as he reached out to point in that direction, a person behind him exclaimed, "Brother Long! I saw a glowing rabbit run away behind us!!"
Hou Dalong paused, then turned to the person who had spoken and asked, "Did you really see a rabbit?"
"Yeah, I saw a rabbit! Its fur was even slightly shiny! It looked really fat! It must taste delicious!"
Hou Dalong narrowed his eyes, which made the scar on his forehead look even more ferocious.
They were washed ashore here and knew nothing about this place. Their most important survival strategy was to solve the food problem first.
There is a stalactite dripping water in this place, and below the stalactite is a pool of water two meters in diameter, which solves the water problem. But the most important problem, food, remains unsolved.
Therefore, food must come first in everything now.
"Then let's walk back. Catch that rabbit and see if we can eat it!"
"Let's check everyone's situation first. How many brothers are left? Are there any seriously injured ones? Those who are injured can rest here and wait. With so many of us, a third of us can move out."
Then the dozens of fierce-looking men there counted their numbers and reported the situation to Hou Dalong.
"Brother Long, there are still forty-six of us brothers left. That's why we're all destined for great wealth and honor. Apart from Xiaobing and Laofei, who sprained their ankles quite badly, the rest of us only had minor scrapes and bumps."
Hou Dalong was also very satisfied with the result.
"Then let Xiaobing and Laofei stay and rest, and Dahu, you take ten brothers and stay to guard the place. Let's go to the back and check on that rabbit."
After finishing the assignment, Hou Dalong led the other thirty-three brothers to the back of the passage to chase after the glowing rabbit.
Hou Dalong had initially thought they might have a long time to find the glowing rabbit, but as expected, the brothers were incredibly lucky. After only twenty minutes walking along the path overgrown with strange shrubs and moss, they found themselves in a much wider area—
Here, many glowing shrubs gather together, almost like a small underground forest.
In the middle of this small underground forest of shrubs, they saw more than one glowing rabbit.
Besides the glowing rabbits, there were also glowing birds, glowing flowers, and glowing butterflies. It seemed that everything in this underground world was glowing, looking beautiful yet fragile.
"...My God."
A burly, strong man couldn't help but mutter something.
Even these grown men, who basically don't know how to appreciate beauty, were still shocked by such a sight.
However, the awe they felt at this beauty lasted only a few seconds before they burst into laughter.
"What did I tell you? We've all survived a great calamity, and good fortune is sure to follow!"
"With so many rabbits and birds here, there's more than enough for us to eat our fill!"
"Don't get too excited yet. Let's kill a rabbit first and see if we can eat it. If we can, hehe, we'll just stay here!"
Several people spoke with great excitement, while a tall, thin young man with a sinister face standing next to Hou Dalong twirled the throwing knife in his hand and, without warning, with lightning speed, stabbed to death a glowing rabbit that had jumped twice in their direction out of curiosity and was the closest to them.
The moment the rabbit squeaked and collapsed, all the other rabbits in the bushes, who had been dazed, eating grass, munching on leaves, and hopping around, suddenly stopped what they were doing.
Even the birds in the air and the butterflies fluttering their wings seemed to suspend themselves in mid-air and stop for that instant.
The sudden pause in the scene made Hou Dalong and the others feel uneasy for a moment, and some even subconsciously took a half step back.
However, it only lasted for a few seconds.
When that moment, which seemed to stand still, passed, the glowing animals in the ground seemed to finally understand the terror of death.
The rabbits screech and darted into their burrows beneath the bushes; the birds fluttered away, hanging upside down on the stone wall; even the butterflies fluttered away from these invading killers.
"Haha, I knew it! How could these things not be afraid of death! They really startled me just now. It turns out they didn't react for a long time."
"What's so strange about that? I bet the animals in these underground caves have never seen us humans before, so of course they don't know how amazing we humans are, hahaha!"
“This used to be the territory of these animals, but from now on, both the territory and the animals themselves belong to us!”
"Little Knife, your throwing knives are still as good as ever! They're almost as good as bullets! Come on, take your knife back. Let's take this rabbit back and see if we can eat it."
A man with pockmarked face picked up the rabbit ears of what looked like an ordinary gray-white rabbit whose fur had lost its shine after death, and returned the throwing knife stuck in the rabbit's head to the tall, thin, and sinister young man.
The young man retrieved his throwing knife, glanced at the trace of blood—a mixture of pink and yellow—on the blade, and flicked the knife to remove the blood.
But then Hou Dalong grinned and said, "Since we're already here, let's catch a few more. There are forty-five of us in total, we should at least eat ten or so rabbits, right?"
"Yes, yes, this rabbit is quite heavy, weighing about ten pounds. One rabbit is enough for about three people. There are forty-six of us, so we need to catch at least fifteen rabbits."
"I just don't know if this rabbit is easy to catch?"
As the man was speaking, another young man holding a crowbar burst into laughter under a bush: "Hahaha, I've never seen such an easy rabbit to catch! Good heavens, it was just hiding under that bush, completely still, wasn't it just waiting for me to smash it to death with this crowbar?!"
"Isn't this just like that 'waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump' story from the textbook? Hahahaha!"
Hou Dalong and the others looked at the young man as he caught a rabbit so easily, their expressions strange and somewhat incredulous.
However, once the others had also easily caught or killed their own rabbits, they all felt relieved.
"As expected of a stupid rabbit that has never seen anything underground, it just hid under the bushes and didn't even try to run away."
"They're so easy to catch, we've caught almost twenty already, haven't we?"
"Brother Long, is this enough rabbit for us? Shall we eat it when we get back?"
"Let's go, and while we're at it, let's cut down a few more of these bushes to use as firewood," Hou Dalong said. His men then began to use crowbars, machetes, and other weapons to cut down several bushes and drag them back to use as firewood.
As they laughed and felt they had a full load, the glowing rabbits that had been hiding in the rabbit hole, the birds hanging upside down on the stone wall, and the butterflies hidden in the flowers all popped their heads out of the hole, the stone wall, and the flowers again.
Especially the rabbits' red eyes, which stared intently at the departing humans from beneath the bushes.
"Brother Long, I wonder if these rabbits are enough for us to eat? Are there any other animals here?"
"There are at least several hundred rabbits here, which should be enough for the time being. And it's said that rabbits reproduce very quickly. If the number of rabbits decreases, we can eat less and raise more. There are birds and butterflies here, so there must be other animals as well, which we can all eat."
"Let's go explore the other parts of the passage later; maybe there will be even bigger surprises waiting for us."
When Hou Dalong and the others returned, they began skinning the rabbits in the small pond and using bushes to start a fire to roast them.
The rabbits' once beautiful and luxurious fur was peeled off piece by piece, and the blood splattered in the pool before sinking, causing the enormous creature at the bottom of the pool to slowly open its deep yellow vertical pupils.
When the big ears of the wealthy cat heard the sounds of Hou Dalong and his group eating, drinking, laughing, and joking, and smelled the stench of blood and roasted meat, it was already two hours after they had set off from the central area.
The moment it heard human voices, the rich cat suddenly sat up straight and slapped Xie Tianlang's face with its paw.
More than being surprised that anyone could reach this underground world, Rich Cat instinctively felt something was wrong with these people's conversations and behavior.
"Haha, this rabbit meat is so delicious! It's so tender, fatty, and fragrant! It's the best rabbit meat I've ever eaten!"
"Great! From now on, those rabbits will be our food reserves! We can use their pelts as bedding!"
"I wonder what those little birds taste like? It's a pity I don't have a slingshot."
"Hey, there aren't any tools here, so don't even think about eating birds. If you ask me, we should go take a look around; maybe there's something else edible underground?"
"Of course! Didn't we all say we're incredibly lucky? It's all thanks to Brother Long who led us to take down those corrupt administrators in the central district!"
Look at this, if it weren't for Brother Long leading us to occupy the central area and giving us enough food, we wouldn't have lasted this long. If Brother Long hadn't decisively ordered us to drive out all those useless guys, our refrigeration and air conditioning wouldn't have lasted until today!
Hehe, that's why Brother Long is awesome! We're all destined for greatness!
Xie Tianlang's hearing wasn't as good as his wealthy cat's; he could only vaguely hear loud laughter coming from ahead.
Encountering fellow survivors underground would normally be a lucky thing, but clearly, the wealthy cat didn't think so at this moment.
"What's wrong? What did you hear?"
The wealthy cat was so angry that its tiny claws revealed sharp nails, which pierced Xie Tianlang's clothes.
"Those ahead are the people who have occupied the underground passage of the safe zone. The group of fierce-looking thugs that Xu Lei mentioned, who may have even been in prison before."
"...No, you can't call them bullies. Based on their actions, each of them is a murderer with dozens of lives on their hands."
Xie Tianlang stopped in his tracks upon hearing Fugui Maomao's words.
After standing there in silence for almost a minute, he asked in a gentle and natural tone, "Then let's kill them all?"
It's like asking whether or not to kill the flock of chickens.
The sand dune cat, Fugui, suddenly raised its head, its sharp claws almost scratching Xie Tianlang's neck.
The expression on his cat-like face was hard to describe. Although he felt that those people had indeed committed crimes and deserved to die, it was strange for this werewolf to say he would kill them all in this tone!
Xie Tianlang, however, seemed completely oblivious to the problem with his suggestion.
"They've all taken lives, so sending them to their deaths is considered acting on behalf of Heaven?"
The wealthy cat sighed and slapped Xie Langren's face hard with its paw: "What if there are good people among them? Besides... instead of killing people randomly, it's better to tie them all up and use them as laborers."
“My grandma and grandpa Zhang want to open two more fields to grow glowing potatoes. I also want to try to see if I can transplant the underground flowers and those glowing shrubs.”
“There’s a shortage of manpower and laborers everywhere, so please be merciful and let them live to atone for their sins.”
Xie Langren nodded readily: "I'll listen to you. I'm just that kind of henpecked person."
So the werewolf got another cat paw print on his face, this time a bit more pronounced.
Xie Tianlang and Fugui Maomao made their decision; the next step was to figure out how to capture the person.
Although Xie Langren clearly stated that he could take them all down by himself, Fugui Meiren still chose to activate the Groundhog's bloodline bonus.
In terms of fighting ability, both Sand Dune Cat Fugui and Mantis Shrimp Fugui are much stronger than Groundhog Fugui, and Honey Badger Fugui can also be used if necessary.
However, the sand cat, rainbow mantis shrimp, and honey badger are all adorable oddities with extremely strong individual combat abilities, while the groundhog Fugui has a crowd control skill.
The wealthy and beautiful woman once thought that his crowd control skill would hardly be used, but now, isn't this the best time to use it?
So, after transforming, the slightly timid humanoid groundhog Fugui took out a pair of earplugs from his storage pocket and gave them to Xie Tianlang.
"Putting this in your ear should help block some of the screaming attacks, haha."
"I might call out from time to time, so be prepared."
Xie Tianlang glanced at the earplugs and twitched his lips, then said with utmost sincerity, "Yuanyuan, I really can take them all down by myself. They don't even have guns."
But Yuan Yuan, the humanoid groundhog, shook her head frantically: "No, no, no! I can't let you face all of them alone! I have to help!"
As he spoke, he firmly plugged Xie Tianlang's earplugs in, then said very seriously, "You're not fighting alone!"
Xie Tianlang: "..."
What else could he do but smile?
He wasn't fighting alone; he also had to add a wife who attacked indiscriminately.
However, brave Wolf is not afraid of difficulties! So what if it's his wife screaming? He can handle it!
So, as a group of burly men, having eaten and drunk their fill, lay comfortably on the ground picking their toes and contemplating the future, they saw two people emerge from a tunnel emitting a faint light ahead.
It wasn't two rabbits or two birds, but two people!
Immediately, someone stood up in shock and shouted, "Who are you?! Where did you come from?!"
Xie Tianlang didn't bother talking to these people at all, and told his Yuanyuan to stand in the corner. He walked towards them step by step.
As he approached, all forty-six people who had been lying or sitting stood up and picked up their long knives, daggers, crowbars, and other weapons.
"Damn it, I'm asking you a question, kid! Who are you? What?!"
Before he could finish speaking, the young man next to Hou Dalong, who was throwing knives, threw his knife directly.
The throwing knife that had previously never missed was like a child's toy to Xie Tianlang; he simply tilted his head slightly and dodged the sharp knife.
"Here comes the one who will make you lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot."
Hou Dalong's eyes sharpened instantly, and a man with a pointed face and monkey-like features in his group suddenly pointed at Xie Tianlang's face and shouted:
"Damn it! Aren't you Xie Tianlang?! What are you doing here?! Weren't you being kept by some rich gigolo?!"
Xie Tianlang paused for a moment, which was unusual for him.
Oh, so there's that thug henchman of Brother Long in here who wanted to take over his house?
Xie Langren sneered as he looked at the group of people charging towards him with knives and clubs. "That's perfect, let's settle the score for my house as well."
The weasel-faced thug leader was so angry he almost laughed: "Don't you even know how many men you're up against! You idiot, you're dead in less than three minutes!!"
Forty-six men against one man, none of these thugs thought they would lose.
Even a wheel could easily kill this man who looks to be in decent shape. Who gave him the audacity to oppose them?!
Xie Tianlang dodged a long knife that came from behind with precision, and then kicked a burly man holding a crowbar away.
Just as another six or seven knives and clubs were about to smash into his head and body, the thugs who were attacking him sneered: "Kid, unless you can fly! Let's see how you dodge this!!"
In fact, Xie Tianlang didn't dodge at all.
Just before those knives and sticks were about to strike his head, Fugui, the human-shaped groundhog standing in the corner, had already clenched his left hand and taken a deep breath.
He hopped on his feet, then suddenly pulled a megaphone from behind him with his right hand. He turned it on and screamed at the dozen or so people rushing towards him and the forty-six people surrounding Xie Tianlang, including Xie Tianlang himself.
"Aaaaaaaahh ...
A scream, amplified many times over by loudspeakers and almost distorted, suddenly rang out in the underground tunnel.
It was like a terrifying sonic dagger that could confuse people's minds, stabbing fiercely into the ears of everyone present!
Thus, the special negative effect of the groundhog's rich screaming king was triggered:
Apart from Xie Tianlang, who was wearing earplugs, everyone else who heard the sound froze instantly, completely stunned and unable to move.
Then, Xie Langren, who was still somewhat dazed but could still move, quickly shook his head and kicked a dazed man, taking care of half of the people who were attacking him.
Just as the other half of the group finally came to their senses from the terrifying screams, before they could even raise their weapons again, Groundhog Fugui, who had already refilled his water bottle and cleared his throat, raised his megaphone once more.
Indiscriminate, seamless screams again.
The villains, once again stunned by that terrifying scream, were speechless.
Holy crap!! How can you guys be so uncivilized?! If you're so tough, stop using screaming magic and fight us head-on!!
The little golden horn that had just emerged from the nearby pool, but paused twice due to its scream: ...?
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