Chapter 51 Chapter 51 "Pig...Pig Tianba..."
Jiang Qing held Zhu Tianba in his arms and followed the team closely.
"The structure of the mine tunnel here is very complicated." Hong Ling walked in front with a detector, and the light spots on the screen flickered randomly.
Hong Ling: "According to the previous map, we are currently in the middle level of the abandoned mine. The nearest vertical shaft exit is at least three kilometers away. There may be unexploded slag and unstable energy areas along the way. Everyone must be careful."
Zhao Peng's armored bull trotted across the slippery rocks with its heavy hooves, making a dull sound. "How did it fall so far?"
The three kilometers of straight downward journey through this maze-like abandoned mine tunnel, which requires constant winding and may even be blocked by landslides, would take at least several hours, or even longer, when converted into actual walking time and distance.
"I clearly didn't walk that far back then." Zhao Peng scratched his head, looking puzzled.
"The mine's structure is complex and different from typical natural caves." Meng Yanlang had unknowingly walked up to him and explained, "To maximize the ore veins, workers dig like ants gnawing at a bone, following the vein's direction, digging downwards and outwards to create grid-like, herringbone-like main tunnels, branch tunnels, mining faces, ventilation shafts, haulage routes, and so on."
"Over time, after abandonment, supporting structures may decay and collapse, flooding parts of the site. Add to that the potential for unauthorized excavation or geological activity, and the entire underground becomes like a hollowed-out log, interconnected yet fraught with dangers, making it easy to lose your sense of direction."
"The vertical shaft in the cave where we fell was probably just one of the countless small exploration wells or ventilation holes back then, directly connected to the edge of this middle-level operating area," said Meng Yanlang.
"Right," the student who had been surveying outside the mine said first. "This student has a very comprehensive understanding!"
Zhao Peng sneered.
Meng Yanlang just nodded slightly to the classmate's praise, his eyes still vigilantly scanning the deep and winding mine tunnel ahead, and he didn't care about Zhao Peng's attitude.
"Don't be careless." Huo Qiushan's voice came from the side. The Qingbao Spirit Snake slid down his arm and drilled into the cracks in the rocks to explore. "The aftermath of the space collapse just now is still there. The structure of the mine tunnel is no longer stable."
Jiang Qing looked down at Zhu Tianba in his arms and suddenly found that its ears moved.
She stopped and carefully inserted her mental power into the seal of the contract.
The originally violent energy flow there unexpectedly became docile, like a quiet stream, slowly nourishing Zhu Tianba's core.
"It's repairing itself." Lin Qingzhou walked up to her without her noticing, and the Flowing Light Phoenix nuzzled her shoulder affectionately. "This kind of spiritual pet that can actively refine violent energy is the first time I've seen one."
Jiang Qing was about to respond when Hong Ling suddenly shouted from the front: "Be careful! There's an energy reaction on the left front!"
Everyone was instantly on alert.
From the shadows of the fork in the road ahead, several slender gray rats scurried out. Their eyes glowed with a strange red light, and their teeth were stained with black slag. They were obviously mutant beasts contaminated by the beast core power.
"They're bone-eating rats, low-level but living in groups." Meng Yanlang quickly retrieved their data. "Their bite can corrode metal, so be careful with your equipment!"
Zhao Peng's armored bull roared and rushed forward, and its huge horns knocked away the first few bone-eating rats.
Hong Ling's crystal scorpion tail hook flashed with cold light and accurately pierced the two gray rats that tried to get around from behind, and the green venom melted them instantly.
Jiang Qing took a few steps back while holding Zhu Tianba, but his eyes were attracted by the rock wall behind the bone-eating rat.
The color of the rocks there is darker than elsewhere, and you can vaguely see a few scratches, as if left by some large creature.
"There's more than that." She suddenly spoke, her voice heavy, "There's something else behind it."
Before he finished speaking, heavy footsteps were heard from the shadows at the fork in the road, and the ground shook slightly.
A giant black bear as big as a calf walked out. Its fur was tangled and covered with slag. There was a wound on its chest so deep that the bone could be seen, and dark red blood was flowing from it. It was obviously a mutant contaminated by the source power.
"It's an armored black bear. Judging from its size... it should be a high-level mutation. Its defense and strength are extremely strong." Meng Yanlang said.
After being baptized by the mutated thousand worms, everyone now felt extremely familiar when seeing these normal strange beasts.
Among the guards present, except for Jiang Qing, the lowest ones were human-grade level nine beastmasters, and there were two earth-grade level five beastmasters, and all the spirit beasts were also immortal-grade.
As long as it's not a weird chimera like the Thousand Worms, it's fine.
The armored black bear roared and swung its huge paw, slapping the nearest armored bull.
With a loud "bang", Zhao Peng's spirit pet was knocked back two steps, leaving a clear claw mark on its thick shell.
"Wow, that's powerful!" Zhao Peng became excited. "Armor, use 'Ground Pulse'!"
The armored bull mooed softly and stomped its limbs on the ground. The ochre energy spread along the rocks, and several cracks appeared on the ground in an instant.
The black bear's movements froze, and it was then blown away by a column of energy that broke out of the ground and slammed heavily into the rock wall.
At this moment, Zhu Tianba in Jiang Qing's arms suddenly grunted.
She looked down and saw that its eyes were still closed, but a faint white light was surrounding it.
The white light spread out and formed an invisible barrier in front of her.
A few bone-eating rats that had escaped the net crashed into it and were instantly bounced away. They fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and then became motionless.
"Is this... a weakened version of 'Town Domain'?" Jiang Qing raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Jiang Qing's heart moved, and just as he was about to concentrate on guiding it, the white light suddenly dissipated.
Zhu Tianba rubbed against her arms and seemed to have just turned over.
Jiang Qing: “…”
"Let's solve the current problem first!" Ma Chengying's voice drew her attention back.
I saw the armored black bear crawling out of the ruins, the wound on its chest glowing dark purple and healing rapidly.
Its eyes turned even redder, and it had clearly entered a frenzy.
"Huoqiu Mountain, contain its movements." Ma Chengying ordered, "Lin Qingzhou, prepare the purification potion. Jiang Qing, can your pet affect its energy flow?"
Jiang Qing hesitated for a moment.
Zhu Tianba is still sleeping, and forcibly waking him up might hurt him.
But seeing Zhao Peng and Iron Bull gradually losing their strength, she gritted her teeth and once again probed her mental power into the seal of the contract, gently conveying a thought: "Tianba, help me."
The seal of the contract was slightly hot.
Zhu Tianba curled up his body.
Then, a weaker energy than before came along the link, like a thin silk thread, wrapping around the armored black bear.
The black bear's movements froze noticeably, and the healed wound on its chest suddenly oozed more blood.
It roared angrily, but seemed to be entangled in an invisible net, and its movements became slow.
A gleam of light flashed in Ma Chengying's eyes, and the blade in his hand condensed into a dazzling light.
Several attacks landed on the armored black bear at the same time.
It let out a shrill wail, its huge body swayed, and it fell heavily. The dark purple wound on its chest gradually faded and turned into a pool of black pus.
After solving the current trouble, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Qing looked down at Zhu Tianba in his arms. His brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was having an uneasy dream.
"Thanks!" Zhao Peng wiped his sweat and shouted towards Jiang Qing, "When it wakes up, I'll treat it to the biggest sausage!"
Jiang Qing smiled and said, "Okay."
While the two were joking around, Huoqiu Mountain suddenly stood up, and the Qingbao Spirit Snake crawled out from the crevice of the rock, spitting out its tongue anxiously.
"The mine tunnel ahead has collapsed." His voice was solemn. "We may have to take a detour."
Ma Chengying walked over to the landslide and knocked against the rocks with his weapon. "The battle just now must have loosened the structure. Hong Ling, can the detector find another way out?"
Hong Ling fiddled with the instrument: "Yes, there is, but this road may be a little long."
"Let's go, there is no other way, otherwise we will be trapped here." Ma Chengying urged.
......
Following the navigation of the detector, everyone walked for about half an hour. Suddenly, the mine tunnel ahead opened up, forming a huge cave.
In the center of the cave, a black ore as tall as a person was suspended in the air, surrounded by countless tiny spots of light, like absorbed energy fragments.
"This is the location of the main mine. Those black spots of light are where the original black gold metal grew. This is what the miners used to dig. Black gold has a certain energy-absorbing effect and can store some energy, similar to a 'power bank'. It was once all the rage and was loved by many companies and blacksmiths. Black gold only grows in our fifth district, which allowed us to make a lot of money at the time. At the same time, it is also a non-renewable resource. Due to over-mining, black gold has now become a rare metal." One of the team introduced.
The cave fell into silence for a moment, with only the slight humming of instruments and the restless breathing of the spirit pets.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Zhao Peng shook his head and sighed, "How greedy! Such a large mine has been ruined like this."
As they talked, they walked forward along the black mineral area.
"The energy readings are off the charts and very unstable. The energy density in the core area is ridiculously high." The detector screen in Hong Ling's hand was suddenly almost occupied by the violent energy reaction, and the light spots were so dense that they formed a blurry spot.
Meng Yanlang carefully observed the rock walls and ground surrounding the ore and said in a deep voice, "Looking at these traces, this should be the core mining area where the ore vein was the richest back then. This ore core may be one of the cornerstones supporting the entire ore layer structure, or it may be some special associated ore body."
"Its levitation is likely due to the anti-gravity effect created by the abnormal energy field below. Forcibly moving or destroying it would have unpredictable consequences," he analyzed solemnly. "The mining disaster back then might have been related to over-exploitation of this core mineral point, which disrupted the energy balance of the earth veins."
The Qingbao Spirit Snake from Huoqiu Mountain coiled around his arm and hissed in the direction of the ore, appearing extremely anxious. "It senses intense energy pressure and disturbed earth veins."
"It's not advisable to stay here for long." Huo Qiushan looked up at everyone and said concisely.
Lin Qingzhou's Flowing Phoenix also retracted its brilliance and looked at the ore vigilantly.
Wen Zhuxi's face was pale. After using his talent many times in a row, his body could only be kept alive by Lin Qingzhou's healing magic.
Zhu Tianba in Jiang Qing's arms seemed to have a faint sense of the ore. He twisted uneasily in her arms, and the extremely faint white light around him was looming.
Jiang Qing could feel a vague sense of "rejection" coming from the Seal of Contract. It was not fear, but more like disgust at facing a huge and uncoordinated foreign object.
"Are you done?" Ma Chengying's voice interrupted everyone's thoughts. Her eyes swept across everyone's face. "First, find a way out. Don't worry about anything else. We need to restock our supplies as soon as possible before coming down."
I was caught off guard when I came in, and many things were lost when I fell, such as medicines.
Hong Ling took a deep breath and quickly operated the detector with her fingers. She pointed to the rock wall on the other side of the cave, opposite the core of the mine. "There's a weak airflow signal in that direction!"
Everyone was cheered up and immediately moved forward in the direction pointed by Hong Ling.
The light outside the cave became brighter and brighter, and the long-lost fresh air rushed into my lungs, carrying with it the fragrance of grass and trees and the moisture of the soil.
Before them was an open valley, completely different from the cold and silent depths of the mine, and it was not the place they had come from.
In the distance are rolling green hills with lush vegetation, and nearby is a small town built on the mountain. The houses in the town are mostly built with gray-black rocks, and the roofs are covered with thick black tarpaulin, which looks rough and sturdy.
Several winding dirt roads connected the houses and led all the way to the entrance of the mine where they were.
"Luoxia Town." The student in charge of the survey pointed at the town, his voice filled with the joy of having survived a disaster, "This is the living area outside the mine!"
"Everyone, check yourselves and your spirit pets' conditions, and count the remaining supplies. Hong Ling, contact the nearest supply point and medical support, report the location and situation, and focus on Wen Zhuxi's condition and Zhu Tianba's abnormal energy reaction. Zhao Peng, Huoqiu Mountain, guard the perimeter." Ma Chengying's voice was also hoarse and tired, but as the team leader, she forced herself to stay alert.
"receive!"
"clear!"
The instructions were executed quickly.
Hong Ling immediately took out the communicator and started operating it.
Zhao Peng and Huo Qiushan each brought their spirit pets, and spread out to the left and right, vigilantly observing the movements around the valley.
Jiang Qingze carefully adjusted the way he held Zhu Tianba so that it could curl up more comfortably.
In fact, she should have put Zhu Tianba into the Seal of Contract and nurtured him well, but ever since they came out of that space, the Seal of Contract has been like a flaming mountain, with a hot breath always lingering inside.
She didn't dare to take the risk and put Zhu Tianba in.
Fortunately, Zhu Tianba's condition seems to be good.
Jiang Qing followed the team and settled down in Luoxia Town.
In the evening, Lin Qingzhou came to her room to check on Zhu Tianba. Everything seemed normal. That night, Jiang Qing placed it on the carpet beside the bed.
Late at night, Jiang Qing was awakened by the sound of plastic rustling.
While she was dazed, she saw a half-human-tall pig silhouette lying on the sofa, its claws constantly pulling at her clothes.
"Zhu Tianba?" Jiang Qing called it.
"Did you wake Jiang Qing up?" Zhu Tianba turned his head, his face showing an embarrassed look of being caught.
"?" Jiang Qing's body suddenly shook, and he woke up completely.
Who is speaking?
"Zhu Tianba?" Jiang Qing spoke again tentatively.
"Why did Jiang Qing call me again?" Zhu Tianba tilted his head in confusion.
"!" Jiang Qing sucked in a breath of cold air and quickly pinched his flesh.
Pig...Zhu Tianba actually spoke! ?
No signs at all... well... maybe a little.
Zhu Tianba was still tugging at his clothes, his short legs dangling over the edge of the sofa. Hearing Jiang Qing's gasp, he slowly turned his head, his round eyes full of innocence. "What's wrong with Jiang Qing? Did you have a nightmare?"
This time, the clear, childish boy's voice once again entered his ears, and Jiang Qing could even hear the confusion in his tone.
Jiang Qing maintained the same posture, his eyes stiff as he looked Zhu Tianba up and down.
Zhu Tianba next to the sofa did not change in size this time, but the faint white light around him seemed to be brighter, and even his green fur seemed to be coated with a layer of bright edges.
"You..." Jiang Qing's voice trembled a little. She pointed at Zhu Tianba and couldn't finish her words for a long time. "Can you speak now?"
"Talk?" Zhu Tianba tilted his head and thought for a moment, his claws still groping in her coat pocket. "I can always."
"The strange one is Jiang Qing. He seems to have become a little smarter and can understand what I say." Zhu Tianba added.
"?"
Jiang Qing instantly recalled those days.
Zhu Tianba actually always likes to hum in her arms, sometimes rub his head against her palms, and sometimes make strange hums to the neighbor rabbit.
She always thought that when a spirit beast spoke, it would speak fluent human language like Director Bird.
After Zhu Tianba's reminder, she realized that it wasn't Zhu Tianba who finally spoke, but that she had finally brought the translator...
Zhu Tianba pulled out a biscuit from Jiang Qing's coat on the sofa, picked up the bag, and jumped lightly to Jiang Qing's side.
"Jiang Qing didn't eat enough tonight, this is for you."
Jiang Qing looked at the wrinkled biscuit, then looked at Zhu Tianba who was staring at the biscuit with a greedy look, and chuckled.
It looks like someone didn’t eat enough at night!
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Author's words: Zhu Tianba: It's not easy, Jiang Qing can finally understand pig language [melted]
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