When she opened her eyes again, it was pitch black all around. The damp earth emitted a foul, fishy smell, and the sound of dripping water came from not far away. Xiang Wan felt unwell all over; her ankle seemed to be swollen, and it hurt terribly to move it.
After groping around, I found that the place where she was lying was covered with a layer of mud that reached above her ankles, with soil on both sides. When I touched her head, some small bits of soil fell down.
This was a cave, cold and damp, without a glimmer of light. Xiang Wan groped her way to sit up, leaning against the cave wall. She reached out and took off her boots, pressing on the swollen area. The outer skin was numb; only by pressing hard could she feel pain. It seemed that beneath the skin of her ankle, there was an ulceration oozing pus; without immediate treatment, her entire ankle would likely rot away.
This body must have been in this state for more than just a day or two, otherwise it wouldn't be in such a serious condition. The hunger pangs in my stomach have subsided; it seems I've passed the point of extreme hunger.
He searched his body, but found nothing but clothes. Where could he find anything to treat himself in this pitch-black cave?
Stopping what she was doing, Xiang Wan listened carefully to the sound of dripping water, which seemed to be coming from not far ahead. She took off her boots and slowly crawled towards the water droplets.
Closer and closer, around a corner, not only could one hear the sound of dripping water, but also the gentle murmur of flowing water. Above, a faint light illuminated the space.
Without thinking, Xiang Wan plunged into the water, washed her face and hands clean, scooped up a handful of water, and drank it down. After drinking several mouthfuls, her stomach was full, so Xiang Wan found a place to sit down and rinsed her ankles with water to wash away the mud.
After settling down a bit, Xiang Wan looked up and saw that the sky above was pitch black, but countless pale blue points of light were slowly moving, like a sky full of stars, which was very beautiful. Occasionally, a point of light would fall down, and after falling halfway, it would slowly start to climb back up.
What did the original owner do to fall into a cave deep underground?! Xiang Wan smiled bitterly. Watching so many documentaries wasn't entirely useless. At least, she knew she was far from the surface, and the lights above her were bioluminescent insects from the ground. Usually, where there were bioluminescent insects, there would be other creatures, otherwise these insects would have starved to death long ago.
Xiang Wan is currently unable to move easily, and if her ankle isn't healed, she probably won't be able to climb out of this cave.
Looking around, she picked up some relatively sharp stones and washed them in the water. Xiang Wan first took off her trousers and washed them in the water, then washed her outer clothes, tearing off a few pieces of cloth and hanging them to dry on the nearby rocks.
He held his clothes in his mouth, stretched out his ankle, poked a hole in the skin with a sharp stone, squeezed out the pus and blood, and wiped it clean with a cloth. He did this several times until fresh blood flowed out, then wrapped his ankle with a clean cloth and moved to a nearby rock to rest.
After all that commotion, Xiang Wan's forehead was covered in sweat, and she felt exhausted. But she dared not sleep, sensing that some danger was about to befall her.
As Xiang Wan fell into complete silence, she heard the glowing insects moving overhead, the sound of flowing water as always, and the faint sound of wind and animals crawling from the cave she had crawled through, growing ever closer!
Xiang Wan immediately got up and searched the surrounding area for stones, regardless of their sharpness, to use as a means of self-defense.
The space was small, only about 20 or 30 square meters. Xiang Wan sat upright on the rock, fully alert.
From that cave, a faint red light slowly extended in, accompanied by a hissing sound.
With the pebble already in his hand, Xiang Wan stared intently at the cave entrance, waiting for whatever was coming in so he could scare it away with the pebble.
The searchlight-like light stopped at the cave entrance, and after a short while, a red fruit fell in and rolled to the water's edge.
The rustling sound started again, this time heading into the distance.
After waiting for a while, there was no further movement in the cave. Xiang Wan slowly got up, limped to the water's edge, poked at the fruit with a pebble, and seeing that there was no further movement around, she boldly picked it up and smelled it.
The fruit was about the size of a palm, plump and round, with a pleasant fragrance and a slightly fishy smell. Xiang Wan washed it in the water and ate it.
The cave was quite large, so the fruit must have been brought to her by that animal in its mouth. The fruit was completely undamaged, indicating that the animal's mouth was quite large, and its head was at least larger than hers. Furthermore, the hissing and crawling sounds were quite loud, meaning the animal was a snake, and a very large one at that.
Snakes are extremely sensitive to the heat emanating from their prey. How could someone as large as her escape a snake's pursuit? The fact that it passed the entrance of the hole without entering, and even brought the fruit in, suggests that the snake didn't intend to devour her, or perhaps it wanted to keep her, like livestock, until she was fattened up before slaughtering her.
Regardless of the snake's purpose, Xiang Wan had no intention of starving herself. To escape this place alive, she had to conserve her energy; otherwise, she would either starve to death or become the snake's meal.
A warm current flowed from her lower abdomen, slowly enveloping her entire body. Xiang Wan felt refreshed, the surrounding cold dispelled, and her strength gradually returned.
The wound on her ankle started to tingle and itch. Xiang Wan immediately unwrapped the cloth strips to let the wound air dry, while warily looking towards the cave in case the snake suddenly attacked.
A day passed, and the snake brought another fruit. Another day passed, and at the same time, the snake brought yet another fruit.
Xiang Wan's strength gradually returned, and the injury to her ankle also began to heal. Because she feared a sudden attack from the snake, Xiang Wan had been on high alert for the past three days, opening her eyes at the slightest sound, and hadn't allowed the system to transmit the plot, fearing she'd be interrupted halfway through.
After the snake left, she recalled the contents of the "Frostbite Technique" and began cultivating her inner energy. Unexpectedly, this body quickly developed a trace of internal energy. Without hesitation, Xiang Wan immediately adjusted her posture, found a corner, and began to regulate her inner energy, cultivating the Frostbite Technique. Every so often, Xiang Wan would open her eyes to look around, and then continue.
The snake had never entered, but it brought Xiang Wan a fruit every day. Half a month had passed in the blink of an eye. Xiang Wan's ankle was completely healed, and her internal cultivation technique had almost reached level 2. She decided to go out and take a look.
Before leaving, Xiang Wan knocked down many bioluminescent insects with pebbles, wrapped them in her coat, and used them as flashlights. She also collected a lot of pebbles for self-defense.
Arriving at the cave entrance she had come from, Xiang Wan looked around. The cave was littered with scattered mud and rocks, as well as traces of a snake crawling back and forth. Judging from the movement marks, the snake was at least as thick as her waist.
Xiang Wan walked forward cautiously, and when she reached the fork in the road, she carefully avoided the path the snake had taken and went down the other path.
In the silent passage, only her own breathing and footsteps could be heard, along with a slight breeze. It seemed she had chosen a ventilation shaft.
Xiang Wan quickened her pace and walked forward. As she turned a corner, a pair of searchlight-like eyes were staring straight at her.
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