Chapter 35: Let me check those eight-pack abs, are they mutants?
It was late at night when Wei Yan finished his bath. The firewood for the bonfire was burning pile after pile. The gradually rising chirping of insects and croaking of frogs made the lakeside even quieter.
Xu Nuo squatted on the ground and warmed himself by the fire. "How did you find this lake?"
Wei Yan squatted down and wrung out the clothes over the crackling flames, then hung them on a large rock nearby. "I found a clue on the way to find you. I wonder if it's related to the key."
Xu Nuo: "What clue?"
He pointed at the iron pot at his feet. "I've come all the way from the landing point, passing through many different landscapes. Aside from the designated supply areas, there's been little sign of human activity. Only around here, some discarded human artifacts keep turning up. They don't look like the work of a competitor."
He gestured with his eyes to a nearby area: "Ancient bricks, old boots, half-broken ceramic bowls. And then, by the lake, I found a pot buried in the gravel."
"You looked really closely," Xu Nuo said in surprise. "That makes it really suspicious."
The area of this competition is a well-known no-man's land. Would the organizers put some inexplicable things here for no reason?
Zhou Xuanyi sat cross-legged atop a tall tree trunk, gazing up at the falling moonlight. "Unfortunately, I've already searched the surroundings, and there's nothing suspicious."
Wei Yan glanced at him and said, "I've searched too. Now there's only one place left. In the water."
Zhou Xuanyi said bluntly, "Are you sure the conditions for obtaining the key are so difficult? I think Fino and his group are just happy to see the contestants fighting. They're just dying to see all the treasure chests and keys surface."
Wei Yan: "If you don't want to look for it, you can go somewhere else."
"Who said I don't want to look? It's so dark, what can I see?"
"At worst, tomorrow morning..."
The crackling sound of the bonfire was accompanied by the low-pitched argument of the two men. The steaming flames made Xu Nuo, who was tired after a day of work, gradually squint his eyes and slowly lower his head.
Suddenly, a familiar large hand pressed against her forehead, propping up her face. The girl, dazed and unable to open her eyes, strained to look up at the person who had come before giving up the struggle and lowering her head into his hand. As she fell into a dream, she muttered, "Just a little sleep, just a little sleep..."
The man squatted down and held her face, looking down with a faint smile, and caressed her with his flexible and slender fingers, feeling the shallow breath between his fingers.
Zhou Xuanyi poked his head under the tree: "What are you doing? You're smiling like a pervert. Are you secretly in love with her?"
"Shut up."
The next morning, Xu Nuo stretched sleepily, and the thing covering him slid down his arm.
She grabbed it reflexively and counted it with her head down: one layer, two layers, three layers, a total of one blanket and two pieces of clothing.
At this moment, the sound of water could be heard from the lakeside. Amidst the sudden ripples on the surface, Zhou Xuanyi emerged from the center and shook his head. "I've found it! There is indeed a door. It's hidden really deep."
He emerged from the water wearing only his shorts. His wheat-colored skin was tanned by the sun, and his muscular features were very eye-catching.
Xu Nuo silently covered his eyes: "Don't look at what is indecent, don't look at what is indecent..."
There was another sound of water splashing out.
Wei Yan's voice came: "It's a bit deep underwater, I'm afraid it's difficult to enter."
Xu Nuo quietly opened a gap between his fingers, narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.
Sure enough, in order to make it easier to get into the water, Wei Yan didn't wear anything.
He was bare-chested, with muscular arms bulging. Water droplets flowed down his firm chest muscles into his smoothly contoured waist and abdomen, then suddenly slid into his abdominal groove, submerging his sports shorts. The fabric-wrapped thigh muscles underneath were full, tight, substantial, and powerful, giving him a sense of strength.
Xu Nuo's face flushed, and he muttered softly: "As expected of a Transcendent A Grade..."
Zhou Xuanyi shook his hair dry and walked towards her boldly: "Give me the clothes."
Xu Nuo closed his fingers and said, "I didn't take your clothes."
Zhou Xuanyi wiped the water off his body and bent down to pick through the layers of clothes in her hands: "Nonsense. I covered you before I went into the water."
"Huh? Why isn't it there? Where did you throw it?"
Xu Nuo turned his head away and stretched out his hand, saying, "There are only two pieces and a blanket. Stop searching and just find something to put on!"
"strangeness……"
Wei Yan approached the girl, seemingly blocking her view inadvertently. "Are you awake? There's a large cave in the lake that won't be explored in a short while."
He leaned closer and took his clothes from her hands: "Do you want to go in the water and take a look later?"
"...Why aren't you talking?" Xu Nuo's face flushed red as she struggled to look away from his eight-pack abs: "You... put on your clothes too!"
The two put on their clothes, finally no longer inadvertently revealing their figures, and began to explore the land part along the underwater cave route.
This was a huge project. The giant wolf and the goshawk dug until noon. There were piles of earth and gravel everywhere. After a loud bang, they dug a vertical entrance several meters deep not far from the lake.
The bottom of the entrance is connected to a tunnel that goes deep into the bottomless place. The walls of the tunnel are damp and leaking, and the mud seems to have been poured and is particularly thick.
Zhou Xuanyi was the first to go down the cave, walking ahead in the dark. He said, "It would be great if I had a flashlight. I wonder if there's a supply point."
Xu Nuo walked cautiously between the two of them, water dripping onto her head from time to time. As the dripping became slower and slower, her hair soaked through, and she could feel the top of her head becoming wider and wider, a tunnel extending downwards, deeper and deeper.
Ten minutes later, she suddenly stepped on something hard and heard a "click" sound from the bottom of her feet.
The sound was very strange, not like the sound of a naturally formed cave, and it felt like a man-made product.
Thinking of this, she turned around and asked, "Wei Yan, has the ground changed?"
"Yan, has the ground changed—"
"Has it changed—"
“It’s changed—”
The deep and vast cave transmitted her voice like a megaphone, and finally it reached a very deep place and turned into a ghostly muttering.
Xu Nuo stood there stiffly, a chill spreading throughout his body.
I don't know when Zhou Xuanyi's nagging stopped coming from the front, and the regular footsteps from behind also disappeared.
They got separated.
She was the only one left in this huge, dark, and unknown cave.
"Gu?"
The little bird appeared, blinking its small black eyes, and gently pecked its owner's head with its beak.
Xu Nuo went up and hugged its fluffy feathers tightly, and only when he felt wrapped in warmth did he relax a little.
Logically speaking, the best option for a lost person is to stay where they are and wait for rescue. However, just as she calmed down, she heard shouting from far away.
"Promise—"
"promise--"
It’s Zhou Xuanyi!
"Where are you—where—"
"come over--"
Xu Nuo's heart moved and he walked towards the direction of the sound. Just as he was about to move, his wrist was grabbed and he felt a warm touch.
"Don't go."
She turned around in surprise: "Wei Yan!"
The voice was right above her head, low and unusual, yet unusually gentle: "Hold on to me, I'll take you away."
Xu Nuo hesitated and shook his hand back. She felt the warm skin, and their fingertips were interlocked, as if their fingers were tightly clasped together without leaving any gaps.
"Where are we going?" She followed him, having to hurry to keep up.
"Go somewhere safe."
"Oh. But you are walking so fast, can you - hey!" Xu Nuo tripped over a protruding stone on the ground and fell.
The voice gasped, quickly approached, and held out his hand again: "Are you okay? Get up quickly, I'll take you out first."
"go out--"
"go--"
For a long while, there was still no movement on the ground.
The voice waited silently for a moment, then suddenly became angry, letting out an inhuman roar, and quickly chased after the faint footsteps in the distance.
Depend on!
Xu Nuo ran as fast as he could, and was blocked by the ground or the stone pillars around him from time to time. He fled in panic to the place where he had just felt the strange ground texture, and the "thump thump" sound of his footsteps spread to the unknown distance.
She was gasping for breath, her heart pounding in her chest. The unknown creature was chasing her relentlessly. Several times, strange roars were heard right behind her ears, forcing her to speed up and distance herself from it.
"Little Goo!"
The bird shrank and circled behind him, sometimes shooting out like a sharp sword and pecking at the monster, buying him every second of breathing time.
Unfortunately, the bird's eyesight is not as good as that of wolves and eagles. It cannot see clearly in the dark, so it is difficult for her to identify the location.
Finally, Xu Nuo was hit on the leg by an invisible heavy object while running at full speed. He stopped in his tracks and fell to the ground.
Damn it!
She instantly extended her tentacles to wrap around her entire body, calling on Xiaogu to spread her wings and prepare for the attack.
...The imagined harm did not come.
There was a slight sound of tiny ice crystals in front of him, and the cold air spread immediately. In the darkness, solidified ice climbed up the monster's lower body, climbing upwards step by step. It quickly solidified amidst its uneasy and angry roars, and soon froze into a strangely shaped icicle.
Xu Nuo stood up alertly, and Xiao Gu landed in front of him.
From a distance, a second Wei Yan voice rang out: "It's me."
Xu Nuo said defensively: "Don't move."
The steps towards her stopped abruptly, and there was silence for a moment: "You just met me too"
Xu Nuo said coldly: "Whether you are Wei Yan or not, don't get close to me. It's safe for both of us."
There was silence for a moment: "Okay."
"But you can't leave my sight."
Xu Nuo looked doubtful: "Can you see it?"
What answered her was a pair of wolf eyes that lit up in the distance, deep dark green, like gems gleaming with an eerie luster under the moonlight.
"Can it get closer?"
“…”
After receiving the tacit consent, the giant wolf opened its eyes wide and cautiously approached with clattering steps. When it was in front of the girl, it lowered its head and exposed its furry neck: "Awoo~"
Xu Nuo and Xiao Gu looked at each other, and the little bird flapped its wings, flew over and pecked at it quickly, then flashed back.
"Wow..."
Xu Nuo checked with the bird: "Is it a spirit? Or is it an illusion?"
After a moment, she waved hesitantly: "...Come here?"
The young man on the other end was really called over by her. He walked closer and stopped a few meters away from her: "Are you still scared?"
Xu Nuo felt relieved and took the initiative to walk closer, putting his hand on his chest: "Let me check if it's a mutant."
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