Upon seeing such a large hot spring pool, Zhou Ziwei, even before getting into the water, let out an uncontrollable groan of pleasure.
I first squatted down and reached out to touch the temperature of the hot spring pool... Fortunately, although there was a layer of thin ice around the pool, the water temperature inside was at least in the teens above zero.
Moreover, it seems that the water temperature is higher towards the center.
Zhou Ziwei couldn't wait to take off all his clothes and step into the pool, but suddenly his body stiffened...
There's a breeze... there's actually a refreshing, cool breeze in here.
Zhou Ziwei was secretly startled. This gust of wind must have been blowing from the opposite side of the pool. However, the wind was very weak. If Zhou Ziwei hadn't already taken off all his clothes, he might not have been able to feel it.
The fact that you can feel a fresh, cold breeze here suggests that the people must have at least one place in that direction that connects them to the outside world. It's strange that there's a ventilation hole that hasn't been sealed off by the snow all these years, given that it snows all year round.
Zhou Ziwei was puzzled for a moment, then immediately released his soul power, directly directing it towards the direction from which the cold wind was blowing...
Wait... there's another cave behind this pool.
Zhou Ziwei had just used his soul power to see through the cave's path, but he couldn't detect the end. Therefore, he didn't explore to the left or right. His soul power only found this hot spring and then stopped, but unexpectedly, there was another side cave opposite the hot spring.
Could this cave be the place that connects to the outside world?
Zhou Ziwei was quite worried that the exit of this side cave would be exposed, and if that exit were discovered while he was taking a bath, that would be... It would be alright if a few beautiful women came to watch him bathe, but if teachers like Chang Li saw him soaking naked in the hot spring, that would be quite speechless.
So Zhou Ziwei naturally gathered a wisp of soul power and sent it through the branch of the cave opposite, wanting to see where the cave would lead.
However, to Zhou Ziwei's utter surprise, his soul power had only penetrated about six or seven meters when it suddenly touched something that resembled water ripples. As soon as his soul power collided with that ripple, it was as if a drop of water had merged into a pool.
With a "beep," it blended into the scene and disappeared.
"Ah... what is this?" Zhou Ziwei was shocked. He had never lost his soul power in this way before. Although the amount of soul power he lost was not much, it was only a drop in the ocean compared to his soul power reserves. But the problem was that his soul power was actually absorbed by something else. This was what terrified Zhou Ziwei.
No... I have to see what that is.
Something that can absorb soul power is a formidable nemesis for Zhou Ziwei... Of course... if that thing has already absorbed a great deal of soul power, and Zhou Ziwei can unlock its secrets, then perhaps he will find a new treasure that can provide him with a continuous source of soul power.
At this moment, Zhou Ziwei couldn't tell whether he was feeling greed or fear. In any case, he wouldn't feel at ease until he saw what that thing was with his own eyes.
Zhou Ziwei hurriedly put his clothes back on after taking them off. He then carefully scanned the area around the hot spring pool with his soul power and found that there was no way to reach the cave on the other side of the pool. The only way to enter was to wade across the pool and then climb up a few meters of stone wall.
Of course... this is relative to ordinary people. As for Zhou Ziwei... he doesn't need to go through so much trouble. It's only less than ten meters away, so he can just fly over.
He continuously poured his soul power into the force field space in front of him, and then stepped onto it, immediately riding the floating force field space slowly towards the opposite cave entrance.
When Zhou Ziwei had only flown halfway to the hot spring pool, he suddenly felt that the soul power he had poured into the force field space began to leak out continuously in an instant. And the direction of this soul power leaking out was none other than the layer of water-like material that he had touched with his soul power earlier...
Volume 2: The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 364: Eliminating the Traitor
The power of his soul began to flow out of the force field space at a frantic pace, causing Zhou Ziwei to lose his balance and almost fall headfirst into the hot spring below.
Damn it, what on earth is that thing?
Zhou Ziwei clicked his tongue in shock, wondering whether he should retreat to avoid further loss of his soul power.
Zhou Ziwei is now basically certain that this cave is the mysterious cave that the old leader mentioned, which may lead to another world, and is the target they are looking for.
Because this cave was so strange, it could absorb soul power on its own. Zhou Ziwei had no doubt that if ordinary people were to pass through this strange cave entrance, even the pitiful little bit of soul power they had hidden deep in their sea of souls might be sucked out.
If a person has all the soul power in their sea of souls absorbed, then that person is doomed to die.
No wonder... Anyone who enters this cave has a near-death experience. If Zhou Ziwei were to enter, would he suffer the same fate?
Before discovering the secrets of this cave, Zhou Ziwei was definitely unwilling to take the risk of going in.
Now, Zhou Ziwei has unexpectedly discovered that there is a mysterious power in this cave that can absorb soul power. This makes him feel both fearful and expectant. He wonders what kind of treasure is in this cave that can absorb soul power, and what he will find inside if he successfully enters the cave.
Zhou Ziwei really wanted to risk going in and take a look, and he guessed that the greatest danger in this cave was probably the strange place in front of him that absorbed soul power.
For ordinary people, it is impossible to clearly sense the existence of soul power like Zhou Ziwei. Even if the soul power in their sea of souls is continuously sucked out, they may still be unaware until the soul power in a person's sea of souls is completely sucked out, at which point that person will suddenly and inexplicably die.
However, this kind of danger should not be a big deal for Zhou Ziwei. Since two people had successfully returned from this cave before, it proves that this thing is not particularly strong in its ability to pull on the soul power contained in the sea of souls. Even an ordinary person with a maximum of a dozen soul power might be able to get through by luck. So for someone like him whose soul power is about to reach 100,000, it is naturally even less of a problem.
If things are indeed as Zhou Ziwei predicted, then this cave, which poses an extremely deadly danger to most people, may not be a problem for him at all.
However, Zhou Ziwei's restless heart was suddenly suppressed just before he was about to leap over the hot spring and reach the dark cave on the other side.
It wasn't that he was too cowardly to take even this small risk, but rather that he suddenly remembered there were four guys outside plotting to murder the special forces team. If Zhou Ziwei were to embark on his treasure hunt alone amidst this bustling activity, those dozen or so special forces soldiers would likely all perish here.
So even if Zhou Ziwei changed his mind and wanted to come here for an adventure, he still had to resolve the matter outside first!
In the blink of an eye, Zhou Ziwei had already reversed his angle mid-air and started flying back the way he came...
With a "plop," Zhou Ziwei broke through the top layer of snow with both hands and finally emerged from the eerie cave.
This time, Zhou Ziwei didn't fill the snow layer back into the path he had crawled through. Instead, he pushed the dug-out snow all at once and rushed it out of the ground.
This way of drilling the tunnel naturally requires Zhou Ziwei to exert a lot more effort, but it allows him to leave a snow tunnel in his path that is just big enough for one person to barely pass through.
This way, we won't have to wait for those special forces soldiers to dig slowly, shovel by shovel, because Zhou Ziwei doesn't have that much patience to stay here with them.
Zhou Ziwei's emergence through the snow was quite impressive, startling the three special forces soldiers who were passing by nearby.
Upon hearing the commotion, the first reaction of the special forces soldiers was to turn around and point their sharp military daggers in the direction of Zhou Ziwei.
After getting used to it over this period of time, they basically know that even if there are guns on this snow mountain, they dare not fire them. It is more reliable to carry a military dagger for self-defense.
Because it was already quite dark at this point, from seven or eight steps away, one could only vaguely see a figure, but could not make out its appearance.
Fortunately, the special forces soldiers had relatively sufficient supplies, including all kinds of survival items necessary for survival on the snow-capped mountains.
Immediately, someone turned on a wolf-eye flashlight. The stark white light shone like the eyes of a wolf, casting a bright beam that shone directly onto Zhou Ziwei's face.
"Huh... it's Commander Zhou, what are you doing here?" The special forces soldier holding the wolf-eye flashlight was stunned for a moment, then quickly put away his military knife and ran forward, asking with concern, "What's wrong... Commander Zhou, you didn't fall into a snow pit, did you?"
Zhou Ziwei rolled his eyes at him, somewhat speechless, but didn't explain anything. He simply asked casually, "And what are you doing here?"
The special forces soldier hurriedly replied, "We saw red signal flares fired by some team members, and we suspect that someone may have discovered the target they are looking for. So our entire squad is heading here in batches. We are the second to last group. The people ahead of us should have already found the cave! Judging from the markings they left behind, it should be not far ahead..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ziwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was fortunate that he hadn't lingered down there for too long. Otherwise, if he had delayed any longer and waited until the last group of people arrived, the two foreigners would probably have successfully carried out their plan, locking everyone in the cave and then releasing poison gas, killing even the two traitors among the special forces.
Zhou Ziwei had originally planned to spend some time playing with the two foreigners, but now that they had discovered the real target cave, his mind was completely focused on it. He had no patience for playing cat and mouse games anymore, so he nodded to the three of them and said, "Let's go over there quickly! Hehe... a good show is about to begin."
The special forces soldiers didn't understand what Zhou Ziwei meant, but they didn't ask any questions. They immediately turned on their flashlights and led the way.
After the group had walked a few dozen meters, the special forces soldier who was leading the way with a flashlight suddenly exclaimed, "Oh dear... I forgot to fill that snow pit. What if the last squad comes and falls into it without noticing? You wait a moment, I'll go fill it up and come back."
Zhou Ziwei had painstakingly dug the snow hole, and he wasn't about to let this kid fill it up again. He quickly grabbed the special forces soldier's arm and said, "No need... It's just covering up that snow pit, right? I can do it myself..."
As Zhou Ziwei spoke, he bent down and scooped up a handful of fresh snow, kneading it into a solid snowball. He then gently tossed the snowball onto the ground, and it immediately rolled towards the snow hole that Zhou Ziwei had created earlier.
When the special forces soldier heard Zhou Ziwei say that he would cover it up himself, he was slightly taken aback. Before he could exchange a few polite words with Zhou Ziwei, Zhou Ziwei actually grabbed a snowball from the ground and threw it over to him.
Well... that snow pit doesn't look very big, but it couldn't possibly be covered by just a small snowball, could it? Well... this Director Zhou is really joking!
Just as the three special forces soldiers thought Zhou Ziwei was joking, they suddenly saw the snowball, which was originally only the size of a fist, roll larger and larger on the snow. Rolling for dozens of meters, the small snowball had become a huge ball almost the size of half a car. No matter how the giant snowball rolled along, its trajectory remained perfectly straight, and it landed precisely on the snow hole that Zhou Ziwei had left earlier. As soon as the snowball reached that spot, it was immediately stuck in the snow hole and did not go any further.
"This will work?"
The three people were stunned by what they saw, their mouths agape for a long time.
"Is this a coincidence? Or... has Director Zhou actually managed to control his power to such a precise degree?" At the same time, all three of them couldn't help but think of this serious question.
Keep in mind that this is a snow-covered mountain, not a flat area. A snowball rolling down the ground would easily follow the slope from high to low. However, the snowball that Zhou Ziwei threw seemed to defy this logic. It rolled along a straight line from beginning to end without deviating at all. This alone was enough to astonish people.
Moreover, after a small snowball is constantly covered with fresh snow, its weight gradually increases from a few ounces to several hundred pounds. If such a heavy snowball can roll forward on its own without human intervention, then how enormous must the force exerted on the snowball when Zhou Ziwei initially threw it out must have been!
"The problem is solved, let's go!" Zhou Ziwei seemed completely oblivious to the three's astonishment. After the snowball accurately covered the snow hole he had previously crawled out of, he immediately turned and walked towards the ravine.
Upon hearing this, the three special forces soldiers snapped out of their daze, exchanged glances, and then began to move, closely following behind Zhou Ziwei. However, each of them would involuntarily turn back every few steps to look at the large snowball, their eyes filled with undisguised horror.
Soon, the group of four arrived at the exposed hot spring cave in the mountain hollow. There, they saw the two special forces spies who had already set up the trap with the two foreigners talking animatedly to Chang Li and several other special forces soldiers about the benefits of the cave. It seemed that they were suggesting that Chang Li take the initiative to move the entire special forces search team's headquarters here, so as to avoid living in the tent buried in the snow pit, where they would be woken up by the cold several times every night.
Chang Li was clearly somewhat tempted, but he did not act on his own initiative and decided to wait for Zhou Ziwei and the other special forces soldiers to arrive before making a decision.
Looking up, he saw Zhou Ziwei approaching with three other special forces soldiers. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Director Zhou, you've arrived... Ma Xiaoshan and his buddy have really done a great job this time... After being captured, they not only used their exceptional wit to drive away the two foreigners, but they also accidentally discovered this wonderful place... There's even a natural hot spring here. It seems that if we set up camp here, we won't have to endure the cold every night anymore. What do you think, Director Zhou?"
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and said, "The location is good, but... the entrance is too narrow. If someone suddenly collapses the entrance from the outside and then puts in a few poison gas bombs or something, hehe... then none of us will be able to escape."
As soon as Zhou Ziwei said this, the expressions of three people changed simultaneously. Among them were the two special forces traitors, and the other was Chang Li.
He was a veteran special forces soldier, so he was naturally very experienced in this kind of thing. He glanced back at the hot spring cave and his expression immediately became more serious.
"Hmm... Director Zhou is right. It seems that even if we really move here, we will have to take turns on duty. Otherwise, if everyone stays in the cave, it is very easy for the terrible result that Director Zhou mentioned to occur."
"I don't think so..." Just then, four more people walked over from a distance. It was the last group of special forces search team members who had arrived.
The person who spoke was Liu Xinghan, the only woman in the group.
Liu Xinghan was completely covered in thick cotton-padded clothes, even her head and face were covered up. However, her feminine curves could not be hidden by the thick cotton-padded clothes and she still stood out among the several big men.
"Director Zhou, I think you're just exaggerating," Liu Xinghan strode over, snorted, and said, "What do you mean, 'collapse the cave entrance' and throw in some poison gas bombs'... Even if you're going to make up a story, you don't have to go this far! Look... this cave is covered in thick ice that's been frozen for years. It's not so easy to collapse it. Unless someone uses explosives... but that would definitely cause an avalanche, and then the person who ambushed us would definitely not survive. So... your assumption is completely invalid. Brother Chang, you don't need to listen to him. Let's move over here quickly! Ah... it would be great if there were hot springs inside, but I wonder if we can take a bath there!"
Zhou Ziwei had never seen a woman as self-righteous as Liu Xinghan, but he was too lazy to pay her any attention. He pointed directly at the two special forces traitors who were colluding with the foreigners and said, "You two stop pretending. I heard everything you said to those two foreigners... Hmph, I don't care what your reasons are, you traitors who betray your country and your comrades are people I can't tolerate no matter what... I'm giving you a chance now. Tell me about your collusion with foreigners and your plot to harm your comrades! Maybe I can plead for you then, otherwise... no one can save you."
"You... what did you say... what collusion with foreigners... you... don't talk nonsense, okay?" When Ma Xiaoshan and the other special forces soldier heard Zhou Ziwei's words, their minds went blank for a moment, but they knew that they could not admit it even if they said they would die.
Regardless of whether admitting to this would lead to charges of treason, their former comrades-in-arms, with whom they had shared life and death, would likely not let them off the hook... So, for now, their only option is to desperately deny it.
Anyway, once things get out of hand, those two foreigners, unless they're idiots, probably won't show themselves. And so what if Zhou Ziwei did overhear their conversation? Without direct evidence, there's no way to convict them.
“Yes…we…we were indeed caught by those two foreigners, but…we escaped when they weren’t looking…we admit…saying we chased those two foreigners away was just bragging, but…bragging isn’t illegal, is it? Even if you’re a section chief or a superior officer, you can’t just accuse us of treason without any evidence!” Another special forces soldier immediately protested his innocence upon hearing Ma Xiaoshan’s explanation.
Zhou Ziwei sneered upon hearing this, not bothering to waste words with them. He released his soul power to scan the area around the cave entrance briefly, then walked to a patch of snow that looked no different from the rest of the place. He lifted his foot and stomped down hard, instantly stirring up a flurry of snowflakes...
As snowflakes scattered, a snow pit half a meter in diameter appeared on the once flat ground, and within the snow pit, the shadows of five or six poison gas grenades were faintly visible...
Volume 2, The Assassin's Nightmare, Chapter 365: This works too!
Upon seeing the poison gas bomb in the pit, the special forces soldiers exclaimed in unison. Having undergone special training, their knowledge of various weapons far surpassed that of ordinary soldiers. Therefore, a mere glance was enough for them to determine that it was a highly toxic gas bomb, strictly prohibited internationally. This gas was extremely dangerous, causing rapid weakening of the inhaler, rendering them completely incapacitated within half a minute. Even with subsequent treatment, irreversible and severe damage would occur, ranging from lifelong paralysis to immediate death.
In a nearly enclosed space like this cave, a single poison gas grenade would likely be enough to take down all of these dozen or so people. And here, there are five or six gas grenades. If all the special forces soldiers were to enter the cave and then be thrown in en masse… it's easy to imagine that with that concentration of poison gas, even if the cave entrance wasn't sealed, anyone who was slow to react would likely be unable to escape.
Chang Li and the others glanced at the few poison gas bombs in the snow pit, then turned to look at Ma Xiaoshan and the special forces soldier named Hu Li. Their eyes all turned sharp.
"Believe me...we really...we really don't know what's going on!" Ma Xiaoshan's face was deathly pale, and his whole body trembled slightly as he turned to look at Zhou Ziwei, his expression somewhat complicated. "Director Zhou, why...why did you do this? Why did you bury these things here? Is it to frame me? But...I don't seem to have any connection with you. We've never met before...Could it be...that you have some other purpose in betraying us like this?"
Seeing that Ma Xiaoshan was still denying it even after all this, Zhou Ziwei could only shake his head helplessly and say, "I've given you a chance. Since you're not willing to confess, there's nothing I can do."
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei turned his head to look at a patch of snow that looked completely normal not far away, and raised his voice to call out in English, "Gentlemen, you've been hiding down there for so long, don't you feel stuffy? How about coming out for some fresh air?"
After Zhou Ziwei finished speaking, he waited for a moment but received no response. He could only give a bitter smile and say, "It seems that you two still think you are hiding very well and are still holding on to the last bit of hope. Is that it...? Then I will drag you out myself!"