Lan Gao frowned as he looked at the water. After a moment of silence, Li Feihu bent down and looked around, trying to find a stone or something to throw into the water to see if he could gauge its depth.
But after searching everywhere, there were no scattered stones. There wasn't even a speck of soil. The entire cave was made of stone, and all of it was a single, continuous rock. There were some stalagmites protruding from the rock walls, some a foot long and some only a few inches.
Li Feihu found a stalagmite about a foot long, grasped it with his right hand and tried to pull it up, but it didn't budge. He was stunned. He could break ordinary stones with this pull, but this stalagmite was as if it were cast in steel, and it didn't move at all.
Li Feihu was usually incredibly strong; he could even break the blue bricks used to build his house in half. Now, frustrated and unwilling to accept defeat, he stretched out his left hand and used both hands to pry at the stalagmite with all his might. Zhou Xuan watched as his face turned red and his blood rushed to his head, but the stalagmite remained unmoved.
Volume One: The First Signs of Growth, Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Poisonous Fish
The flying beast naturally didn't understand. Most of the stalagmites in the cave were created over millions of years. The natural masterpiece is that when calcium carbonate encounters water containing dissolved carbon dioxide, it reacts to form more soluble calcium bicarbonate. When the water containing calcium bicarbonate is heated or the pressure suddenly decreases, the dissolved calcium bicarbonate decomposes, reforming into calcium carbonate which is deposited, releasing carbon dioxide in the process. As water slowly seeps down from the cave ceiling, the calcium bicarbonate in the water undergoes the above reaction, some depositing at the cave ceiling and some at the cave floor. Over time, the ones at the cave ceiling form stalactites, and the ones at the cave floor form stalagmites.
It is said that stalagmites and stalactites grow only one centimeter every hundred years, and it would take ten thousand years for them to grow one meter.
Something that has grown bit by bit over millions of years is much harder and stronger than stone. How could Li Feihu possibly move it by human power alone?
Zhou Xuan pressed his left hand against the rock wall, channeling his icy energy into it to test the water depth. The icy energy reached about seven or eight meters before giving up, but the water didn't reach the bottom. However, he didn't detect any monsters like the ones he encountered in the underground river in America.
Li Jinlong then took a closer look at Zhou Xuan, whom he hadn't paid much attention to since their first meeting. He saw him as an ordinary young man, someone whose appearance didn't suggest he was particularly strong, unlike Lan Gaofeng and his two subordinates, who were clearly highly skilled fighters.
But when they went down into the cave, Lan Gaoling didn't choose his two skilled subordinates, but instead chose this ordinary young man, which was a bit strange. From this moment on, Li Jinlong felt that he might have misjudged him.
Now, Li Jinlong is certain that Zhou Xuan is not as ordinary as he appears on the surface; at least the hearing he just demonstrated was enough to surprise them.
Li Jinlong had practiced his family's tomb raiding skills since childhood, and his skills and senses were naturally much sharper than those of ordinary people. However, he did not hear the sound of water when he stood in front of this water. Just now, he was seven or eight meters away from the bend, through the thick stone cave walls, and he could hear the sound of water. How amazing was his hearing?
After carefully observing the waterway and confirming that there was no way out, the Blue Leader said, "There is no way out of this cave. Let's go back and try the second cave."
The four people returned the way they came. Then they entered the second cave entrance. However, after walking for more than a hundred meters in the second cave, the cave gradually widened and became less winding. After walking for another ten minutes or so, the horizontal area of the cave was about six or seven meters wide, and it was very flat.
Zhou Xuan suddenly felt an unpleasant smell, though it wasn't as strong or disgusting as the miniature coffin, but it still made him feel very uncomfortable!
This is the second time I've felt uncomfortable from the ice!
Zhou Xuan shouted, "Slow down!"
Li Maohu, who was walking ahead, asked again, "What? Is there another underground river ahead?"
Zhou Xuan shook his head, frowned, and didn't say anything. He shone the spotlight ahead and slowly walked over.
Before the four of them lay a pool, about thirty square meters in size, five meters wide and six meters long. Since the cave was only four or five meters wide, the pool's width extended to the stone walls on both sides. The water was a pale blue, shallow, and the bottom was clearly visible. It appeared to be less than a foot deep, and some small fish were swimming in it.
Zhou Xuan stared at the pool, his discomfort growing stronger, yet he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with him. Looking up, he saw water dripping from the stone bell, drop by drop, into the pool, creating ripples. The small fish in the pool swam to the surface, vying for the water droplets as if they were food being thrown down.
When the small fish swam to the surface, Zhou Xuan could clearly see what it looked like. It was very strange; he had never seen such a peculiar fish before.
It had a round little head, and its two eyes were like two very small beans, slightly white. It had no body, and a tail that was two or three inches long grew directly from its head. It looked like a Zhenzhen, also black, but much larger than a Zhenzhen. When it opened its mouth to breathe and drink water, Zhou Xuan saw that this strange thing had no teeth in its mouth, but a red tongue that moved in and out, like the tongue of a snake.
But this thing is clearly not a snake!
Things that survive in such dark places must be mutated, like the transparent fish at the bottom of that sinkhole river in America. They never see the sun and have become transparent, and their eyes have degenerated. They basically rely on their senses to perceive the movement of the outside world.
Li Feihu found it quite amusing and laughed, "What kind of strange fish is this? It looks like a frog but not quite. A frog can't grow this big. When it grows up, it will turn into a frog or a toad!"
As he spoke, he bent down and reached into the water to catch the small fish.
Zhou Xuan hurriedly reached out and said, "Don't put your hand in the water!" As soon as he finished speaking, Li Feihu had already put his hand into the pool. The moment his fingers touched the water's surface, a wisp of smoke seemed to rise up.
Li Feihu screamed and quickly pulled his hands back. But his hands, which were five or six inches deep in the water, were like those in a pot of boiling oil. Blisters appeared on his hands, and then they burst, exposing the skin and rotten flesh.
Li Feihu could only scream in pain. Li Jinlong and the Lan executives were shocked. Li Jinlong quickly held his nephew down to prevent him from moving, while tearing off his clothes to bandage him.
Zhou Xuan reached out to stop him, saying, "Don't touch his hands. Don't get near his hands either, this water is highly poisonous. And don't let him scratch any other part of your body, it will spread the poison!"
As Zhou Xuan spoke, he placed his hands on Li Feihu's shoulders and channeled his icy energy into Li Feihu's arms. The icy energy paused briefly upon contact with the poison in Li Feihu's hands. Just as Zhou Xuan was about to forcefully channel the icy energy again, Li Feihu suddenly couldn't bear the pain and struggled to break free. At this moment, his strength was actually greater than usual, and Li Jinlong couldn't even catch him.
Li Feihu reached back and wiped his hand on his chest. But no matter how he wiped, the pain persisted, and wherever he wiped, the flesh and skin immediately began to rot.
Li Jinlong was also shocked and quickly stepped aside, keeping a few meters away from Li Feihu. He cried out in a mournful voice, "Feihu, don't grab me like that!"
If Li Feihu had been able to control himself at the beginning, Zhou Xuan might have been able to force the deadly poison out of his body. Although his rotting hands might have been crippled, at least his life could have been saved. But he couldn't bear the pain, and after his poisonous hands began to scratch wildly at his body, spreading the poison throughout, Zhou Xuan could no longer save him!
Although this toxin was potent, Zhou Xuan could still sense it. It was much weaker than the toxin in the miniature coffin. When the ice in the "Kawaguchi" was harmful to Zhou Xuan, he would naturally feel uncomfortable or have a cold sensation. This could be considered a warning. In terms of the level of discomfort in his body, Zhou Xuan could still control this toxin.
However, Li Feihu couldn't control himself. After struggling a few more times, he collapsed weakly to the ground. The main reason was that his chest had been covered in too much poison when he was attacked. His chest had rotted to the point of revealing the white bones. In the wisps of rotting smoke, only a human head remained of Li Feihu's body. His eyes were wide open, his mouth was open, and it was trembling slightly, just like a fish placed on dry ground with its mouth trembling slightly.
His body, from neck to toe, was nothing but a skeleton! Li Jinlong had been robbing tombs for decades and had experienced many terrifying and bizarre things, but nothing had ever really happened. This time, seeing his own nephew turn into a skeleton with only a human head left in front of him, the shock and pain he felt was truly too shocking!
The Blue high-ranking officers had encountered countless terrifying dangers while carrying out their missions, but they had never seen anything so bizarre that they were speechless with astonishment!
Zhou Xuan, on the contrary, was not surprised at all, because he had seen far more dangerous and perilous things. In the sinkhole and the Yin River, the viciousness of those monsters was definitely more ferocious than this poison. After all, only Li Feihu was poisoned, and with precautions, at least he wouldn't harm the people around him. But those monsters were different. As long as you were in that environment, everyone's life was in danger.
After a moment of stunned silence, the Blue executives realized what was happening and looked at Li Jinlong.
Li Jinlong's face was filled with sorrow. His hands were outstretched, a sight beyond description.
The senior executive sighed and said, "Old Li, don't think about it anymore. Your nephew is gone too. No matter how painful it is, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Besides, our preparations were not sufficient, or rather, we did not expect such danger. Let's go back and prepare before coming down again."
Li Jinlong's lips trembled slightly as he reached out to take Li Feihu's skeleton away, but he knew that the skeleton still contained potent poison, leaving him helpless.
Zhou Xuan reached out and pulled Li Jinlong back a few steps, advising, "Old Li, your nephew is covered in poison and can't move. Once we've made sufficient preparations, we'll come up with a plan. We can then bring his remains back. For now, you should come with us. These caves are full of dangers, and we can't do it without preparation!"
Li Jinlong was a seasoned veteran of the underworld, how could he not understand the ways of the world? But the underworld of today is very different from the underworld of the past. Now, money is money, but it's not a time to kill someone whenever you want. It's not an era of freedom and doing whatever you want. There is a country and national laws. If you do something illegal, you have to do it secretly and as discreetly as possible.
He initially believed there would be benefits to this collaboration with the Blue administration. After all these years, when had he ever been so blatant and openly involved in such activities with the police? It was something he probably never imagined he would do in his entire life!
Originally, I wanted to take this opportunity to make a fortune, both to do good for the Blue administration and to enrich myself. Once I had enough money to live on for the rest of my life, I would quit.
But unexpectedly, his most valued nephew was gone. Although Li Quan was also his nephew, his ability and loyalty were far inferior to Li Feihu's. After being arrested by the police this time, the Lan higher-ups got rid of him almost effortlessly. As for his nephew-in-law Wang Dagui, although he was his nephew-in-law, there was still a distance between them. In the future, he could pass on his skills and the things passed down from their ancestors to Feihu. He had brought Feihu down with him this time to give him more experience, but he never expected that he would harm Feihu instead.