Chapter 93 Isolation
Chen Leying and Qin Jiu gripped the rope tightly and slowly lowered Meng Qingyin down.
After Meng Qingyin stopped, she said to the two people above her, "Alright, I'm down now."
No sooner had he said that than all three of them received a notification at the same time.
[Congratulations on unlocking the hidden mission – Rescue the Pangolins: A group of poor pangolins are imprisoned in this mysterious mine. Please rescue them within 12 hours! Successfully rescuing the pangolins will open the mine entrance; failure will permanently close the entrance.]
Upon hearing this suggestion, the three of them were greatly encouraged.
Qin Jiu was overjoyed: "So, as long as we complete this hidden quest, we can leave this mine! The pangolin is down there?"
Chen Leying, however, was not as optimistic: "It's probably not that simple. If the mission fails, we'll be trapped here forever."
Meng Qingyin was searching below with a torch when suddenly she kicked something, making a heavy rubbing sound.
Meng Qingyin lowered the torch and discovered that she had just kicked a chain as thick as a baby's arm.
Judging from the material, it's not an iron chain.
Following the chain, Meng Qingyin saw a group of pangolins huddled in the corner.
Their hind limbs were tightly bound by chains, some of which had been rubbed raw and bleeding, and some chains had even dug into their flesh, leaving them a bloody mess.
The pangolins huddled together, staring at Meng Qingyin with terrified eyes, like frightened birds.
Meng Qingyin held up her torch and glanced around; there were at least 20 pangolins here.
She quickly shouted, "I've found the pangolin! Chen Leying, come down and take a look!"
Chen Leying's voice came from upstairs: "Okay, I'll go down now."
Qin Jiu said anxiously, "I want to go down and help too!"
Meng Qingyin: "You can't come down. The three of us have been down for a while. Who's going to pull us up?"
Qin Jiu thought about it and agreed, "Alright then, I'll wait for you upstairs. But what's the situation down there?"
Chen Leying had already gone down. She followed the light of Meng Qingyin's torch to her side and also saw the tragic state of the pangolin herd.
She couldn't help but frown: "Who did this to them?"
Meng Qingyin shook her head: "The hind limbs of each of them are bound by chains."
She pointed to a spot not far away, "Moreover, the other end of the chain is welded to the pillar. To rescue them, we have to find a way to cut the chain."
Chen Leying looked in the direction she was pointing and found that more than twenty chains were locked to a thick pillar, the material of which was indistinguishable.
"Cut the chain?" Qin Jiu immediately volunteered, "Leave this to me, I'm strong, I'll cut it!"
Chen Leying: "Do you have an axe or a knife?"
Qin Jiu: "No."
“I do have an iron axe here,” Meng Qingyin said, taking it out. “I just don’t know if it can cut these chains.”
Qin Jiu couldn't wait any longer. "Hey Chen Leying, come up here quickly, let me go down!"
Helpless, Chen Leying had no choice but to go up first and replace Qin Jiu.
Upon seeing the pangolin's miserable state, Qin Jiu couldn't help but curse, "Which heartless bastard imprisoned this pangolin here?"
Meng Qingyin thought for a moment and then put away the iron axe.
She needs to keep this iron axe to cut down trees in the future; she can't let it be scrapped.
She took out the heavy knife, weighing over thirty pounds, and handed it to Qin Jiu.
Qin Jiu took the heavy sword, felt its unusual weight, and exclaimed, "What a fine sword!"
With that, he swung his heavy sword and slammed it down on the chain, sparks flying everywhere, leaving only a small nick in the chain.
Qin Jiu muttered, "What's this chain made of? It's so sturdy!"
“It’s definitely not an ordinary material,” Chen Leying said quietly.
Qin Jiu was shocked. "Why did you come down? All three of us are down. How are we going to get back up?"
Chen Leying: "I tied the rope to a big rock, and I can climb up in a bit."
"That's good," Qin Jiu said, relieved. She swung her heavy sword again. "Step back a bit, so you don't get hurt later."
Chen Leying and Meng Qingyin took a few steps back.
With a loud clang, the heavy sword slammed into the chain again, widening the gap.
Qin Jiu's confidence soared. "A few more hits and the chain will break."
Meng Qingyin and Chen Leying transformed into a cheerleading squad, shouting in unison, "Go for it!"
Qin Jiu suddenly became even more energetic and started smashing things with a bang.
Twenty minutes later, the first chain was successfully broken.
Qin Jiu was drenched in sweat from exhaustion. "It's finally broken..."
Meng Qingyin followed the broken chain to find the pangolin, whose hind limbs were rubbed raw and bloody from the chain.
Although the chain had broken, the pangolin remained cowering, showing no intention of escaping.
Feeling sorry for the pangolin, Meng Qingyin took out a cotton swab, dipped it in some ointment, and gently applied it to the wound on the pangolin's hind leg.
The pangolin seemed to know they were there to rescue it, and did not resist, letting Meng Qingyin apply the ointment to its hind legs.
Soon, the ointment took effect, and its hind limbs recovered completely.
It squeaked twice, seemingly expressing its gratitude.
Seeing this, the other pangolins also looked at Meng Qingyin with expectant eyes.
Meng Qingyin: "Okay, let me heal your wounds first."
He then started by applying ointment to the hind limbs of the nearest pangolin.
Qin Jiu pulled out a bottle of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), tilted his head back and drank the last half of the bottle, then continued smashing it.
Chen Leying asked worriedly, "How long will the effects of this wine last?"
Qin Jiu was stunned: "Huh? You, how did you know..."
Chen Leying: "We figured it out a long time ago."
Qin Jiu: "I thought I was hiding it well. I can stay so for half an hour after drinking."
Chen Leying frowned. "Do you still have any baijiu?"
Qin Jiu shook her head: "No more."
While applying medicine to the pangolin, Meng Qingyin inquired about their situation and expressed concern upon hearing their words: "If they can break another chain in half an hour, what will we do about the remaining 23 pangolins?"
She just counted, and there are a total of 25 pangolins trapped.
Qin Jiu quickened her pace: "I'll try my best and try to break open two in half an hour!"
Chen Leying: "It's no use, we're still far from there."
Meng Qingyin: "Why don't we go to the trading hall and see if anyone is exchanging liquor?"
Chen Leying: "Leave it to me, you treat their injuries first."
"good."
After a while, Chen Leying's somewhat serious voice rang out: "There is liquor in the trading hall, but it cannot be exchanged."
Upon hearing this, Meng Qingyin roughly understood. "Just like the summoning card is unusable, it seems that this mine has isolated us from the outside world. Only by rescuing the pangolin can we leave this place."
Qin Jiu gasped for breath: "Ah? What should we do? I feel like I'm about to die..."
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