"I'm fine!"
"I am fine!"
Both girls gave their own answers. Wei Xiaoyu reassured Zhou Xuan, while Fu Ying felt Zhou Xuan's indescribable affection for her after he risked his life to take care of her when they fell from the top of the waterfall. This was different from his feelings for Wei Xiaoyu. Although Zhou Xuan had also saved Wei Xiaoyu, Fu Ying's sensitive heart noticed the difference. At this moment, Zhou Xuan asked them both with concern. Although Fu Ying had always been indifferent to Zhou Xuan, she softened at this moment and answered softly.
Seeing that Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu were both alright, Zhou Xuan then looked at An Guoqing and his group.
An Guoqing and the others looked at their surroundings with surprise and uncertainty. It was a huge pool of water, the bottom of which was unfathomably deep, and the top was equally high, even with the strong lights shining on it, the top was not visible.
Judging from the time it took to fall, the waterfall underground must be more than 3,000 meters high. That means they are currently 3,000 meters underground. How could they have gotten to this depth if they hadn't fallen from such a complex underground river with skylights?
The surrounding area resembled a circular bottle, with a thunderous waterfall cascading into the pool. Strangely, the water level in the pool neither rose nor fell, suggesting the existence of underground currents, though Zhou Xuan couldn't detect them. The diameter of the pool exceeded the two hundred meters his ability could reach, clearly indicating it was much larger. The depth of the water beneath his feet was also undetectable; even at such a depth, the pool was still over two hundred meters deep!
The rock walls on all four sides are steep and straight, with no other exit holes. There isn't even a place to put your feet down on the edge of this pool!
Fortunately, although it was terrifying, apart from the center of the waterfall, there were no dangerous waters such as whirlpools or rapids in the pool, and the water surface on the side was very calm.
All eight people swam to the side furthest from the waterfall, and only when they reached the edge of the rock face did the huge roar of the waterfall subside, and their voices could be heard again.
An Guoqing tested it, and the communicator was still working, and everyone could talk. However, it was impossible to contact the outside world, as there was not a single signal.
Actually, Zhou Xuan knew it was impossible without even trying. His superpower was much stronger than the radio waves of the communicator, but even his superpower energy couldn't detect these rocks more than five meters away. At this point, the distance between them and their men outside the skylight was far more than five meters.
It's at least four or five thousand meters away!
Everyone was scanning the terrain with their eyes, and the more they looked, the more frightened they became. There were no strange creatures here that had appeared at Black Dragon Pool, but the terrain was far more dangerous than Black Dragon Pool.
How can one return to the human world after falling into such a deep underground abyss with no other way out?
At this moment, not to mention the despair of the Wolf Brothers, Roger, Zhang Ya Ge, An Guoqing and others, even Zhou Xuan felt that this time it was really impossible to escape alive!
An Guoqing and Zhou Xuan were even more frustrated. They had come to such a place, yet they hadn't seen a trace of the Nine Star Pearl. However, the water contained molecules containing the energy of the Nine Star Pearl, which Zhou Xuan could clearly detect. Obviously, this abyss was related to the place where the Nine Star Pearl existed, but how could they get out?
In desperation, the brothers Tiff and Daniel started speaking in German, which no one could understand, but they could tell from their voices that they were speaking with anger and despair.
Roger and Zhang Yage's hands trembled as they leaned against the rock wall. Everyone's eyes weren't blind; the current situation was a dead end.
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Xuan sighed and said, "Mr. An, the Nine Star Pearl is nowhere to be found, and there's no exit either. It seems that going up is impossible; we can only go down!"
Everyone understood Zhou Xuan's meaning: from the height he had just fallen from, let alone underground, even with intact equipment, climbing such a high cliff on land was impossible. The only way was indeed to search underwater.
With such a large flow of water rushing down, the pool neither rises nor falls, clearly indicating that there is another passage below. The thought of having to explore an even deeper, more unknown underground river is terrifying, but this is the only way out.
The eight men looked at each other for a while, and An Guoqing nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it this way. Everyone go down and explore. To save manpower and gas cylinders, let's split the eight of us into three groups. Xiao Zhou will be in one group with Miss Fu and Miss Wei, Roger and I will be in another group, and Brother Zhang Ya will be in another group with the Wolf and Daniel brothers. Xiao Zhou will be in charge of the area at about 120 degrees from here. Roger and I will be in charge of the 120-degree area on the right, and Brother Zhang Ya and the Wolf brothers will be in charge of the 120-degree area on the left. We will keep in touch!"
Although the distance between them in the pool was quite large, the communication devices worked without obstruction. The eight people could contact each other at any time by voice without any objection. After the arrangement was made, An Guoqing was in one group and Zhang Yage was in another, and they dispersed to the left and right respectively.
Zhou Xuan and his two companions were assigned to this area. This was because An Guoqing considered that Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying were girls, estimating that their physical strength would be inferior to that of men, and that girls' mental resilience would also be weaker. Therefore, he arranged for Zhou Xuan's group to be responsible for the nearby area.
In fact, although Fu Ying and Wei Xiaoyu were afraid, they were not as An Guoqing thought. Wei Xiaoyu had been through life and death with Zhou Xuan several times and had long since put life and death aside. She only wanted to be with Zhou Xuan. What did danger matter to her? Everyone has fear. In such an environment, who wouldn't be afraid?
Many people are not afraid of death, such as taking poison, jumping into water, or hanging themselves, but they are afraid of being bitten to death by wild animals or being frightened to death in unfamiliar and frightening environments. This is the effect of psychology.
After An Guoqing and Zhang Yage's groups left to their respective sides and then dived into the water, Zhou Xuan gave Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying a shushing look.
Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying didn't know what Zhou Xuan meant, but they obviously didn't want to say it out loud so that An Guoqing and the others could hear, so they kept their mouths shut and looked at Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan reached out and placed his hand on the rock wall exposed above the water. Right before Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying's eyes, a hole suddenly appeared in the damp and hard rock wall in front of them, about seven or eight meters wide, two meters high, and three or four meters deep!
Fu Ying was taken aback. Before she could even process what was happening, Zhou Xuan had already climbed up, taken off his hood and wetsuit, and then reached out to pull Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying up with him.
This hole was obviously created by Zhou Xuan using his supernatural power to transform and devour the rock. It was two feet above the water, but just wide enough for eight or nine people to lie down, rest, and sleep.
Wei Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment, then realized that Zhou Xuan had done it with his special ability, and also understood the meaning of Zhou Xuan's expression just now.
Zhou Xuan certainly didn't want An Guoqing and the other five people to know. Fu Ying knew, as Zhou Xuan had told her, but Fu Ying was unwilling to believe it. However, Zhou Xuan didn't care whether he showed it to her or not. Regardless of whether Fu Ying believed it or not, Zhou Xuan regarded her as the closest and most trusted person in his heart.
Zhou Xuan also detected that the oxygen composition in the air of this abyss was not much different from that on land, allowing them to breathe freely without the air tanks. However, after taking off their diving suits, their faces and skin still felt a bit cold.
Underneath their diving suits were specially made, thin, cold-weather clothing that provided excellent protection against the cold. Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying immediately took off their diving suits as well. Zhou Xuan had already used his powers to improve their bodies, so they didn't feel cold on the icy rocks.
Removing their diving suits and air tanks is to conserve air. They don't need air tanks here for the time being, but if they need to dive in deep water for a long time and escape, they will definitely need air tanks. Right now, their air tanks only have one-third of their capacity left. Zhou Xuan's is in much better shape, with about 80% left, which can be considered full. Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying's air tanks also have two-thirds left. In terms of survival, Zhou Xuan and the other two are undoubtedly in the best position.
After removing the diving suits and air tanks, Zhou Xuan whispered to Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying, "You two stay here and rest. Guard our air tanks. I'm going down to find a way out."
Wei Xiaoyu's expression changed, and she immediately grabbed Zhou Xuan's hand, saying, "No, I want to go with you. I can't let you go underwater alone."
Zhou Xuan shook his head and comforted Wei Xiaoyu, saying, "Don't worry, I can detect a distance of 200 meters. With my special ability protecting me, there's no danger. Besides, the water isn't flowing fast and there are no undercurrents, so there's even less to worry about. I'm more likely to find a way out than they are to go down and explore. Going down won't be of much use to you; it would just be a waste of your gas cylinders. Once I find a way out, these gas cylinders will come in handy. So, saving every bit of gas now is a greater guarantee for our lives!"
Wei Xiaoyu thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. Zhou Xuan's superpower was indeed capable of such things. As long as it wasn't an overwhelming force of nature that he couldn't resist, monsters and water pressure, etc., couldn't really harm him.
Wei Xiaoyu paused, then said, "Then put on your diving suit before you go down, so we can communicate with you via voice."
No problem, Zhou Xuan nodded, and put his diving suit back on. He just didn't need to use the air tank, so no one could tell and it didn't matter.
After putting on his diving suit, Zhou Xuan instructed, "Xiaoyu, Yingying, when An Guoqing and the others come up and see this hole, just say that's how you saw it. It's normal that they can't see clearly in such a dark place. Anyway, they will never think that I have such a superpower. You just need to deny everything!"
After saying this, Zhou Xuan put on the hood again, made a hand gesture, and then jumped into the water.
As Zhou Xuan disappeared into the water, and there was no one else in sight, only Wei Xiaoyu and Fu Ying remained on the vast expanse of water, apart from the roar of the waterfall.
Fu Ying stared at the water, lost in thought, remaining silent.
Wei Xiaoyu gazed at Fu Ying's stunningly beautiful face for a long while before saying, "Miss Fu, do you believe in what happened between Zhou Xuan and me?"
Fu Ying turned her head and stared at the girl who was just as beautiful and proud as herself. Wei Xiaoyu's eyes contained expressions of jealousy and sadness. For a girl to openly express these expressions in front of her meant that her love for Zhou Xuan had reached its peak!
"Do you really like Zhou Xuan that much?" Fu Ying asked after a moment of silence.