After Wang Li finished speaking, he led Song Hao away invisibly, and the two turned towards the back of the mine.
In a grove of mixed trees, Wang Li found a large rock and haphazardly piled up some wooden stakes behind it.
“It’s right here.” Wang Li said, and together with Song Hao moved the wooden stakes aside, revealing a dilapidated wooden door blocking the entrance to a hidden cave. Wang Li stepped forward and kicked the wooden door open, revealing a cave about the height of a person to the two of them.
Wang Li turned on his headlamp and shone it inside, but the light seemed to be sucked in, unable to see the end. This instilled a sense of dread. Wang Li, already accustomed to life in the mines, didn't seem to care and went in first. Song Hao followed.
Chapter Forty-Two Stalagmites
At first, the mine tunnel was somewhat damp, but after walking for a while, it gradually became drier. The terrain also gradually sloped down. To conserve electricity, Wang Li, who was walking ahead, used a headlamp to light the way, while Song Hao followed closely behind. Entering this secluded place for the first time, Song Hao felt somewhat uneasy. In the silent mine tunnel, he could almost hear his own heartbeat, and especially in the darkness, he felt as if he were wandering in dark clouds, his body feeling somewhat lightheaded.
"Brother Wang, have you walked this mine tunnel before?" Song Hao asked softly to lessen his fear.
“I’ve been there before, but not this far or deep,” Wang Li replied softly from the front.
Their voices still echoed in the mine tunnel, filling the space and seeming to stretch far into the distance. It was as if they had disturbed the spirits of the underworld, causing an unusual atmosphere to permeate the surroundings.
Song Hao felt his breath catch in his throat and dared not speak anymore, because he felt countless eyes staring at him in the darkness, which was especially eerie.
The mine tunnel gradually widened, filled with piles of boulders. The two men struggled to move forward through the rubble. Occasionally, Wang Li would bend down to pick up a stone, examine it under his headlamp, then throw it away, shaking his head and saying, "The copper content in the ore here is too low. It seems we're still some distance from the main vein."
"Squeak... Waaah..."
Suddenly, a strange sound seemed to come from both ahead and deep underground, sounding especially eerie in the silent mine tunnel. Startled, Song Hao and Wang Li immediately stopped in their tracks.
"Wh...what sound?" Song Hao asked in a trembling voice.
"I...I don't know either," Wang Li said in a panic.
"Brother Song Hao, no... no, let's go back." Wang Li said timidly.
“Brother Wang, we’ve come this far, let’s go a little further. There shouldn’t be any living creatures underground, it’s probably just a natural sound caused by loose soil in the mine tunnels,” Song Hao said, trying to hide his fear as he reassured Wang Li.
“It doesn’t look like it!” Wang Li shook his head.
The two listened quietly for a while longer, and thankfully, the strange sound did not reappear.
Wang Li gritted his teeth and said, "We're probably almost at the old mining area. Whatever! Let's just keep going."
The two then mustered their courage and continued on their way.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, the two finally reached the end of the mine tunnel. A pile of rubble blocked their way.
Wang Li set his headlamp aside and then worked with Song Hao to move the rocks. After moving dozens of rocks, they dug an opening big enough for one person to pass through. Wang Li crawled in first, checked it out, and then turned back, exclaiming with delight, "We've reached the old mining area!"
The two crawled through the hole, and Wang Li then blocked the entrance with a few stones to disguise it, so that they could retreat through the same spot when they returned.
This is another mine tunnel, which is very spacious, with a passageway on the ground for vehicles to enter and exit.
Wang Li pointed in a direction and said, "That's the new mine that can be mined, but it's shut down now. This is an old mining area that's been around for hundreds of years. Now we can rest assured, the Ghost Doctor Sect people are guarding the mine entrance, they won't come in. Let's go find that medicinal seedling."
Wang Li held up his headlamp and shone it around, frowning as he asked, "Where is that legendary old mine shaft?"
Song Hao said, "Let's go deeper in and take a look. Now that we've found the Ghost Doctor's Sect, they should have opened the entrance, which will be easy for us to discover."
Wang Li nodded and said, "Yes! That makes sense!"
The two then continued on their way.
After walking about a hundred meters, Wang Li suddenly exclaimed with delight, "It's here!"
Following the light from the miner's lamp in Wang Li's hand, Song Hao saw a two-meter-high opening in the stone wall beside him.
"So the legendary old mine really does exist! I've been to this old mining area before, but I never noticed this entrance," Wang Li exclaimed.
Once inside the cave, the two found it to be a narrow passageway, which gradually widened after several dozen meters. However, the walls were smooth and the ground was flat, no longer resembling a typical mine shaft. It seemed to have been man-made, leading to a natural karst cave. The further they went, the more pronounced the karst landforms became.
"So there's a natural cave beneath this mine!" Wang Li exclaimed in surprise.
The space ahead widens, revealing stalagmites of various shapes and sizes hanging from the cave ceiling. Some are several meters long, others only a few inches, and they have existed for millions of years. Illuminated by miner's lamps, they shimmer with vibrant colors, dazzling the eye, as if stepping into a dream world. This is due to the reflection of light from the various metallic minerals contained within the stalagmites.
Wang Li deliberately turned off his miner's lamp, and then the surroundings returned to endless darkness.
At this moment, Song Hao and Wang Li were surprised to find a soft halo appearing not far ahead, indicating that there was something unusual. The two quickly turned on their headlamps and went to look for it.
A flat, massive boulder, over two meters high, appeared before the two, the aura emanating from its top. They climbed up from the side and discovered that in the center of the boulder grew a five-inch-tall, emerald-green stalagmite, like a bamboo shoot emerging after rain, its vibrant green color subtly shimmering. Unlike those that grow downwards, it seemed to have grown directly from the stone.
"Medicinal seedlings!" Song Hao and Wang Li exclaimed in unison.
"All things in nature are wondrous! This so-called medicinal seedling is actually a stalagmite. It looks like a seedling just beginning to grow, but is it really growing?" Song Hao exclaimed in amazement as he reached out to touch it.
But feeling the smooth and soft texture of the stalagmite, he exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't a stalagmite, is it? It looks more like a jade shoot!" As he spoke, he exerted force and pulled the jade shoot up. It grew close to the stone and had no roots.
Song Hao held the stalagmite in his hand and felt that it was not very heavy, more like a jade artifact shaped like a bamboo shoot.
"What's the use of this? Do the Ghost Doctor Sect use it in medicine?" Wang Li asked, puzzled.
"Who knows! Let's take it out first. Anyway, it can't fall into the hands of the Ghost Doctor's sect." Song Hao said, and he and Wang Li got off the boulder.
Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the side, snatched the stalagmite from the unsuspecting Song Hao, and turned to run. Deep underground, who could have known there was another person? This initially startled Song Hao and Wang Li, but they quickly realized their belongings had been stolen and gave chase with a shout.
The dark figure snatched the stalagmite and ran wildly, his unlit headlamp tripping over a stone and causing him to stumble. Song Hao and Wang Li caught up from behind and pinned him to the ground.
After Song Haoxian snatched the stalagmite back from that man, under the light of the miner's lamp held by Wang Li, a familiar, fearful face of a young man appeared before him.
"You...you are that Ji Dongyang!" Song Hao exclaimed in surprise.
Ji Dongyang snorted coldly and said, "So you still recognize me!"