The little guy ran towards the large ore rock using both his hands and feet, clearly very familiar with the place.
When it darted up to the ore, it suddenly noticed the tall Li Yu standing quietly on it.
"ah!"
The little ghost was so frightened that its spirit trembled and almost scattered on the spot, instinctively trying to shrink into the shadow of the ore.
But when its bewildered eyes looked at Li Yu with fear and saw her face clearly, its fear instantly turned into joy.
It immediately and excitedly crawled out from under the ore:
"It's you, wonderful beast!"
The little ghost skipped and hopped over excitedly, running unguarded to Li Yu's side. Its little head tilted back, its face, formed of white mist, radiated pure joy.
"Last time...last time I fell asleep, and when I woke up you were gone. Where did you go?"
Li Yu looked down at the innocent and naive little ghost, and a slight feeling stirred in her heart.
His gaze swept quickly around; this was clearly not the secluded little cave where he had last encountered the little ghost and its mother.
"How did you end up here?" Li Yu asked, looking at the cheerful little ghost.
Faced with Li Yu's question, the little ghost obediently began to explain, clearly having come to regard the strange beast as an acquaintance:
"When I woke up, I found that my mother was still sleeping."
The little ghost's face fell, filled with dejection:
"It seems... even your blood isn't good enough, good beast."
"There's no other way, I can only do as the adults say! I need to find lots and lots of rare, preferably shiny, minerals to awaken her!"
As it spoke, it turned its head expectantly toward the huge ore that was supposed to be its target this time.
"Huh?" The little ghost let out an incredulous cry.
Looking at the dull, grayish-brown ore, Little Ghost couldn't hide his disappointment:
"It was lit up just now, how did it suddenly become like this?"
Li Yu: "......"
Without changing his expression, he gave a completely unconvincing explanation in a flat tone: "Well, it probably went bad from being left out for too long."
"It's...broken?" The little ghost hung its head in dejection.
"Oh, if the adults knew, they would definitely think that I broke it."
Li Yu understood immediately; there was indeed an "expert" pulling the strings behind the scenes.
He asked calmly, "Where are the adults you mentioned? I don't see them."
"They're all in a big hole, a really, really big hole!" The little ghost gestured with his little hands, trying to describe how "big" it was.
Suddenly, as if it had thought of a brilliant idea, it abruptly raised its head, looking at Li Yu excitedly, its eyes gleaming with hope:
“What a wonderful beast! The adults will be very happy to see you. Maybe when they are happy, they will be able to think of more ways to save their mother.”
The little ghost looked at Li Yu with a pleading expression:
"Good beast, would you like to come with me to find the master? Please!"
Looking into the trusting eyes of the little ghost, Li Yu suddenly agreed:
"Okay! Take me to see those adults."
"That's fantastic!" Little Ghost was even more delighted upon hearing this, and immediately ran ahead of Li Yu to lead the way.
"What a wonderful beast! The adults will surely love you too."
Li Yu smiled slightly, thinking that the adults the little ghost was talking about probably didn't think that way.
Those so-called adults repeatedly deceived the little ghost with lies, and even clearly took advantage of the little ghost's desire to save her mother in order to find minerals, which was indeed going too far.
In her excitement, Little Ghost seemed to have completely forgotten Li Yu's previous speed. Afraid that Li Yu wouldn't be able to keep up, she deliberately slowed down and looked back from time to time.
The cave where the adults were located didn't seem far away, but it was extremely well hidden. They had to navigate through several narrow gaps that were only wide enough for one person to pass through, avoiding several areas with obvious signs of mining.
Finally, the little ghost stopped in front of a towering rock wall that looked as if it had been cleaved by a giant axe.
Li Yu looked up at the huge crack in the rock wall in front of her, and was amazed.
Extending upwards and disappearing into the darkness, its size clearly no longer qualifies it as a cave.
"Good beast! The adults are just ahead." The little ghost pointed to the hideous crack and ran in first, its small figure instantly swallowed by the darkness.
Li Yu turned sideways and squeezed into the crack.
After walking dozens of meters along the crack, we finally passed through the tall rock wall.
The little ghost was already waiting for him on the other end.
When Li Yu emerged from the crevice and arrived at the so-called large cave mentioned by the little ghost, he was surprised to find that this seemed to be the other end of the underground rift valley.
It is another underground world, equally unfathomable and vast, separated by natural rock walls.
Li Yu's gaze had already passed over Little Ghost and turned to this brand new world.
From a distance, on the rugged ground, there were some simple yet orderly groups of buildings made of stacked rocks.
Among those buildings, Li Yu indeed saw the presence of ghosts, and there were even ghost squads patrolling among them, indicating that there was also order here.
Li Yu had no idea that there was an unknown area hidden underground on the edge of the Soul Master's territory!
Seeing Li Yu standing there in a daze, the little ghost assumed that Li Yu had never seen so many humans before, and stepped forward to comfort him:
"Good beast, don't be afraid. The adults may be a bit serious, but they won't hurt you. They're just a little special..."
"That's good." Li Yu's voice was devoid of emotion.
"Follow me." The little ghost continued running ahead, leading the way along the rock wall, with Li Yu quickly following behind.
Only then did Li Yu notice that the surface of this side of the huge rock wall was uneven, and it seemed that it was not naturally formed, but rather covered with carvings!
He stared intently, his pupils contracting slightly.
The rock face is covered with huge rock paintings.
The lines are bold yet lifelike.
Upon seeing the content of the rock paintings, Li Yu was even more astonished.
What's depicted above are towering buildings rising from the ground, standing side by side.
Its outline and structure are remarkably similar to those of the major cities of Zhongzhou seen from afar.
After walking a little further, another group of rock paintings was carved with even more intricate patterns—
The engravings on it depict various tools that humans have used: gears, wrenches, and even the outline of a steam locomotive.
There were also various weapons all around: guns, swords, and cannons.
Although the depiction technique is simple and archaic, the features are captured with extreme precision!
"Were these also carved by those adults?" Li Yu asked the little ghost in a deep voice, pointing to the rock paintings.
"I don't know." The little ghost shook its head blankly.
“These strange things were here before I came here.”
"However, I often see adults gathering together, pointing at these walls, as if they are studying something very important."
The little ghost looked up and glanced at the rock painting again, tilting its head slightly:
"The drawing on it might be some kind of strangely shaped mineral."
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