Wei Xiaoyu trembled, almost unable to believe her ears. If it were someone else, she would have been skeptical, but she believed Zhou Xuan because she trusted him. If Zhou Xuan was just guessing about someone else, that wouldn't be surprising, but he made it very clear that he himself had this ability, so it couldn't be a lie. Zhou Xuan was not a liar!
"Really? You really, really have this ability?" Wei Xiaoyu asked in a trembling voice.
Zhou Xuan sighed and said slowly, "Xiaoyu, my abilities are not limited to this. I can accurately determine the age of an item and whether it is genuine or fake, such as antiques. I can also use this ability to cure many terminal illnesses, such as your grandfather's cancer!"
Wei Xiaoyu suddenly realized, "I know, I understand. So you cured my grandfather's terminal tuberculosis? No wonder, no wonder. I knew it. Medical technology is developing rapidly, but it's still far from being able to cure terminal cancer. I asked my grandfather and uncle, but they wouldn't say it. It turns out you cured him. No wonder my grandfather was so good to you!"
Thinking about this, Wei Xiaoyu suddenly understood all her previous questions. She had always found it strange that her family treated Zhou Xuan so well; Zhou Xuan was just an ordinary countryman, there was no reason why his grandfather, uncles, and other relatives would treat him so kindly, even more so than family. Now that this was clear, she truly understood.
Zhou Xuandong said, "I can also sense the information left by the person who touched the object. I sensed the information left by these people on the museum door, so I know they have arrived at Moyin Mountain. However, this is all a trap deliberately left by that person. Xiaoyu, I'm sorry, it's all my fault that you were brought into this predicament!"
Wei Xiaoyu nestled in Zhou Xuan's arms and said softly, "It's okay, Zhou Xuan. I like being with you, even in this kind of environment. I'm willing to do it. But do you really have so many... abilities like you said?"
“Xiaoyu, it’s true.” Zhou Xuan said in a deep voice, “Xiaoyu, do you remember? When we went up the mountain, I used this ability to probe the surrounding environment. So even without a flashlight, I could still see clearly. When we were in that cave, those two people just came out. When I pushed you onto the rock, there was no gap there. I used my ability to turn that area into gold and then devoured it. When we fell into this cave, I first used my ability to probe the bottom of the cave, and then I turned and devoured the rocks under us. Water rushed in quickly, which is why we were unharmed when we fell into the water!”
Wei Xiaoyu was stunned like a puppet, and it took her a long time to react. Then she thought about it and realized that it really was true. Looking back, if Zhou Xuan had said it himself, then all the mysteries could have been solved!
Zhou Xuan sighed again, "I prepared these food and drinks because I was planning to go up the mountain, but I didn't expect it to be a trap, nor did I expect to be so badly injured. Now I have no chance of getting out of this place!"
Wei Xiaoyu stopped speaking, simply resting her head on Zhou Xuan's chest, gently close to him, no longer caring about life or death.
This situation is actually very eerie. Any girl would be terrified to fall into such a deep hole that is impossible to climb out of, with no other way out. All around her are darkness, loneliness, nine corpses, two wounded people on the verge of death, and endless fear of this unfamiliar place. She also doesn't know if a man-eating monster will suddenly jump out from the darkness.
Wei Xiaoyu and Zhou Xuan fell asleep in each other's arms, while on the other side, the two men groaned softly and spoke with difficulty. Their voices gradually faded and eventually disappeared completely.
Volume 1, Chapter 345: Adventure
After Zhou Xuan woke up, Wei Xiaoyu nestled quietly in his arms, breathing softly. Although Zhou Xuan's aura was weak, he had recovered somewhat after these few hours. ()
The ice energy could detect Wei Xiaoyu's sweet face. Despite being in such a dangerous environment, she was smiling brightly in her sleep, showing no fear of being trapped in a desperate situation.
I don't know how much time passed. The phone was also damaged after falling into the water. I don't know the exact time, but I feel that at least six or seven hours have passed. Wei Xiaoyu was exhausted and worried about Zhou Xuan. After she was relieved, she snuggled in his arms and fell into a sweet sleep.
Zhou Xuan used his weak icy aura to probe the other two men. Fortunately, the aura reached just the right distance. When he detected them, his heart sank. The two men were already stiff, their hearts had long since stopped beating, and they had only eaten a small portion of the two pieces of bread Wei Xiaoyu had thrown them! Zhou Xuan sighed and didn't wake Wei Xiaoyu. At this moment, the only thing he could do was to quickly restore his icy aura. Even if it was only half restored, it would still be very useful, much better than their current half-dead state.
Without the powerful and vast ice energy of crystals to absorb, relying solely on oneself to recover bit by bit is much more difficult and slower.
Zhou Xuan diligently practiced his ice-energy ability. Wei Xiaoyu, in his arms, twisted her body and hugged Zhou Xuan even tighter, whispering dreamlike words: "Sister, I'm sorry... Sister, I'm sorry..." Zhou Xuan didn't know what kind of dream she was having, nor did he know what she had done to offend Wei Xiaoqing, but the ice energy detected tears streaming down her face, as if she were in great pain.
Zhou Xuan sighed, then noticed that Wei Xiaoyu had shrunk back, feeling cold in her sleep. He quickly covered her with his outer clothes and circulated his icy energy around her body twice.
After practicing for another two or three hours, this time his mind was clear, and he could tell around this time that Wei Xiaoyu in his arms finally woke up slowly! The first thing Wei Xiaoyu did upon waking was to touch her face to Zhou Xuan's face to feel his temperature and breath. Zhou Xuan was awake and of course knew, and asked in a low voice, "Xiaoyu, you're awake?" Wei Xiaoyu wasn't used to such a dark environment, so she touched him and saw that Zhou Xuan's complexion was much better than when he fell, which reassured her. She sat up and then looked at the other two men.
Zhou Xuan sighed, "Xiaoyu, there's no need to look anymore. Those two men are dead. Now it's just the two of us left!" Although the two men were seriously injured and had no ability to move, they were still two living people. In this endless darkness, it felt a little better. Now that they were dead, there were only the two of them left. Wei Xiaoyu trembled and shone her flashlight around again. There were still so many corpses and pools of water, and the space above her head was pitch black.
The two of them remained silent, creating a deathly stillness. Wei Xiaoyu timidly sat down next to Zhou Xuan again. After a while, she finally revealed her true nature as a girl. It seemed that only at this moment, in this environment, could Zhou Xuan see Wei Xiaoyu's true colors.
After a while, Wei Xiaoyu took out some bread and biscuits from her backpack, tore open the bag, took out a piece of bread and handed it to Zhou Xuan, and opened a bottle of distilled water for him, saying, "Zhou Xuan, eat a bite and drink a sip of water, don't choke!" Zhou Xuan naturally didn't stand on ceremony, ate some bread and drank some water, while Wei Xiaoyu herself also ate a little.
After finishing his bread and water, Zhou Xuan continued practicing his ice-qi recovery. He couldn't do anything else. Wei Xiaoyu chatted with him casually, asking about his family, his childhood, and how he acquired this superpower. However, she didn't touch on Fu Ying's matter, as she didn't want to get involved and make herself unhappy.
While practicing his ice qi, Zhou Xuan answered Wei Xiaoyu's questions honestly. Fortunately, his ice qi recovery was not like practicing any profound internal martial arts, which required concentration. If he were distracted, it could lead to serious problems, such as "going into qi deviation." He could practice ice qi while sleeping or playing, but Zhou Xuan preferred to practice in quiet times, mainly because he didn't want outsiders to see or know about it.
Wei Xiaoyu turned off her flashlight and chatted with Zhou Xuan. After taking another nap, Zhou Xuan woke up and found that about 20% of his ice energy had recovered. He still couldn't transform and devour large objects, nor could he sustain it for long, but he could detect objects and get up and move around without any problems. He estimated that he had been in this place for about two days.
Because of his ice detector, he could detect distances of 15 or 16 meters even with 20% ice, without needing a flashlight. But Wei Xiaoyu couldn't do that. However, Wei Xiaoyu used her flashlight very sparingly, only turning it on when absolutely necessary or when she couldn't resist. The rest of the time, she kept it off. Even so, the power of that flashlight was almost used up, and she didn't dare to touch the last one.
Once he was able to move freely, Zhou Xuan pushed all eleven corpses into the pool and sank them, placing them on the rocks to frighten Wei Xiaoyu.
Wei Xiaoyu watched Zhou Xuan do these things with a flashlight. One corpse after another was pushed into the pool, splashing high into the water. Wei Xiaoyu felt a chill run down her spine. When would she and Zhou Xuan become the last two corpses? After pushing all the corpses into the pool, Zhou Xuan used his ice energy to probe its depth. It was terrifying; the pool was very deep. Zhou Xuan's ice energy probed to a depth of fourteen or fifteen meters without reaching the bottom. However, he didn't sense any undercurrents in the pool. The water in the pool wasn't stagnant; there were obviously other underground rivers flowing elsewhere, just not vigorously or with strong currents.
Zhou Xuan didn't detect any special creatures in the pool, except for a few small fish.
Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then said to Wei Xiaoyu, "Xiaoyu, my injuries are mostly healed now, and I can move freely. I'd like to swim around in the water to survey the environment. Since this water isn't stagnant, but the pool isn't rising or falling, I believe there must be other currents flowing in and out. I'll go down and explore!" Wei Xiaoyu was startled and quickly grabbed Zhou Xuan, shaking her head firmly, "No, no! This water is too dangerous! We don't know how deep it is, or if there are any strange things in it. We can't go!" Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Xiaoyu, it's not that scary. My special ability has recovered to about 20%, allowing me to detect things up to 15 meters away. Once I'm in the water, I can control any danger within 15 meters. If there's anything, I can immediately transform it, so there won't be any danger. Besides, how can we get out if we don't try to find a way out?" "Go?" Wei Xiaoyu was stunned, her face full of worry. But what Zhou Xuan said made sense. Since he had the ability, and as he said, the area within fifteen meters was indeed under his control. Seeing Zhou Xuan's resolute expression, she figured she couldn't stop him. After thinking for a moment, she could only instruct him, "Then... you must be careful. If there is any danger, swim back here immediately!" Zhou Xuan smiled and comforted Wei Xiaoyu, "Don't worry, it's okay, I know what I'm doing!" In fact, Zhou Xuan had only recovered about 20% of his ice energy ability. He definitely couldn't transform large objects; he wouldn't be able to sustain it. But if he really encountered a monster like the one he met at the bottom of the sinkhole in America, he wouldn't need to transform its entire body. He only needed to transform its key parts, such as its heart or brain, to kill it instantly without consuming too much ice energy.
The temperature in the pool was not high, only about two or three degrees Celsius. Wei Xiaoyu could feel it in the water. At this temperature, an average person would get frostbite if they fell in and stayed for more than ten minutes, let alone swim around the edge of the pool. Judging from the distance, it would take at least ten or twenty minutes to swim around it.
However, Zhou Xuan's ability to protect himself with ice energy was very strong, and this temperature was not enough to harm him.
Zhou Xuan didn't want to get his clothes wet again. Wearing such thick clothes in the water would greatly slow his swimming speed. If there were dangers, especially in large numbers, it would cause considerable trouble. Like the huge, ferocious monsters he'd encountered at the bottom of the sinkhole in America, one or two wouldn't be a problem, but if a group, or even countless ones, came, even if Zhou Xuan only transformed a tiny bit of his vital parts, he wouldn't be able to withstand it and wouldn't be able to hold on. Plus, if his swimming speed slowed down, he could suffer a great loss! Zhou Xuan smiled at Wei Xiaoyu, then turned away embarrassedly, took off his clothes, then his pants, leaving him only in his boxer shorts. He walked to the edge of the pool, squatted down, stirred the water with his hands, and then prepared to jump in.
Wei Xiaoyu suddenly said, "Zhou Xuan, wait a minute!" Zhou Xuan turned around and stared at her in astonishment. Wei Xiaoyu rushed forward and hugged Zhou Xuan tightly, sobbing loudly and refusing to let go! She was very worried that Zhou Xuan might not be able to return, and she was also worried that danger might occur. In short, she was inexplicably worried. If she really had to die, she hoped to die with Zhou Xuan in her arms and not be separated from him! Zhou Xuan gently stroked Wei Xiaoyu's hair and comforted her, "Don't worry, nothing will happen. If there were any dangerous things in the water, they would have climbed up while we were sleeping. Why would we have to wait until now? Hehe, besides, I used my ice energy to detect them. Apart from a few small fish, I didn't find any other creatures!" However, although Zhou Xuan said these comforting words, he couldn't guarantee that there were no other dangers in the pool. The wild beasts in the water were in the water, and it wouldn't be surprising if they couldn't climb ashore. Besides, if there were any rapids or whirlpools on the other side of the pool, he couldn't detect them here, as his ice energy couldn't reach that far.
Volume 1, Chapter 346
Whether out of worry or reluctance to part, Wei Xiaoyu knew that Zhou Xuan was determined to explore the pool. ()
Zhou Xuan himself understood that if he went down to explore the pool, there might still be a way out, but if he didn't explore, there was only one way out: to quietly wait for death.
Zhou Xuan patted Wei Xiaoyu's shoulder gently again, but since he was completely naked, he felt embarrassed to hug her again, so he let go of her hand and jumped into the pool.
Wei Xiaoyu's heart was in her throat. The light from one flashlight was still a bit weak, so she quickly took out another flashlight. The two flashlights shone on Zhou Xuan as she watched him swim along the edge of the pool.
After swimming more than ten meters, Wei Xiaoyu looked again and saw that only Zhou Xuan's head was bobbing on the surface of the deep water. Only then did she realize that the pool seemed to be larger than she had estimated, because you can't actually measure how big it is just by looking. After another ten minutes or so, Wei Xiaoyu became even more worried.
Zhou Xuan's figure seemed to be just a tiny black dot swaying on the water's surface, and he had only swum a third of the way. It seemed that the area of the pool he had initially estimated was far smaller than it actually was.
After entering the water, Zhou Xuan had already pushed the ice energy to its limit. Although it was only about 20% of the normal amount, it was still enough to ensure his safety. As long as there were no extreme situations or environments, there shouldn't be any problems.
The rocky edge was slippery due to years of water immersion. Zhou Xuan swam along the rocky edge, using his icy breath to probe the area around him and the dozen or so meters below, looking for any other exits. Since it was clear to the naked eye that there were no openings in the pool, his goal was to probe below the water.
Having learned from the experience in America, Zhou Xuan knew that the exits from the caves were all underwater in the underground river beneath the water pit, so he pinned his hopes on this aspect.
Although the water was cold, Zhou Xuan circulated his ice energy, keeping it well within his tolerance range. He swam for half an hour and only reached halfway. The ice energy probe did not detect any underwater caves, and the ice energy still could not reach the bottom of the pool. This pool was simply like a vertical bottomless pit, with nothing but deep, dark, cold water.
Zhou Xuan finally swam halfway to the spot, feeling a bit weak. Since he had no footing, he immediately stretched out his left hand and transformed the rock wall, creating a small hole. He then grabbed onto it to support his body and rest.
Zhou Xuan looked back at Wei Xiaoyu standing on the opposite rock. Wei Xiaoyu's small and lonely figure made Zhou Xuan feel heartbroken. The light from the two flashlights shone on his side, making her look so weak in the dark cave.