Chapter 48

It was unknown how much time had passed.

In the dim cave, Yuan Ming struggled to open his eyes, feeling a painful soreness. Instinctively, he wanted to rub his eyes, but suddenly felt a chill at his neck.

"Don't move if you don't want to die." A cold yet crisp female voice rang out.

"Chen Wan... Senior Sister?" Yuan Ming called hesitantly.

"I'll give you one chance to explain. What exactly happened?" Chen Wan asked.

She remembered the conversation and the roasted meat she had with Kuntu and others in the temple, and how she felt very sleepy and fell asleep.

In her drowsiness, she seemed to have a dream about fighting a fierce beast.

When she woke up, she found herself lying in the arms of this fur-clad slave, in this deep and dark cave.

Yuan Ming blinked hard, his vision still blurry and his head heavy.

"You were drugged by Kuntu and his group. They put something in the meat you ate. After you fell asleep, they tried to take advantage of you. I saved you." Yuan Ming organized his words and said.

"Why would you, a stranger, save me?" Chen Wan clearly didn't believe him, and the cold sensation from her hand moved closer.

"They tried to kill me to cover their tracks. I had no choice." Yuan Ming said.

Chen Wan frowned upon hearing this.

She had always known about Kuntu's intentions, and she was very resistant to being in the same team with him, but she never thought he would resort to such despicable means.

"You're lying. If Kuntu could silence you, why couldn't he silence Bada and Yanchan as well?" Chen Wan's face remained cold, but her tone softened slightly.

"Even I, an outsider, could see that Yanchan was jealous of you and Bada lusted after you. They worked together to drug you. Otherwise, where do you think the drug that knocked you out came from?" Yuan Ming said with a cold laugh.

Chen Wan's heart sank upon hearing this.

"The fire python that chased us in the cave later, do you think it was there to save you? It was there to silence us." Yuan Ming continued.

Hearing this, Chen Wan quickly felt her sleeve and discovered that a red fire bomb was missing. She realized that it wasn't a dream but a real experience.

She still had doubts about what Yuan Ming said, but she withdrew the dagger from his neck.

Chen Wan rubbed her aching forehead and waved her hand, causing a ball of fire to light up in front of her. The fireball floated in the air, illuminating the surroundings. Yuan Ming then saw that they were in a large underground cave.

The surroundings were cold and damp, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling, dripping water.

Across from him, Chen Wan, dressed in a red dress, had disheveled hair, a dirty face, and disarrayed clothes, looking disheveled and pitiful, evoking a sense of sympathy.

He glanced at her and quickly looked away.

Chen Wan subconsciously tightened her clothes, but the outer garment, already torn by Kuntu, couldn't be restored.

Her gaze fell on Yuan Ming, and her brows furrowed.

His body was covered in scrapes and bruises, though the bleeding had stopped and scabs had formed, the sight was still shocking.

"You're injured." Chen Wan said.

Yuan Ming looked at himself, seeing that his clothes on his arms and legs were torn. He turned his head to look at his shoulder.

This movement caused intense pain, making him wince.

His back felt like it was on fire, seemingly more severely injured than the rest of his body.

"Turn around, let me take a look." Chen Wan said upon seeing this.

Yuan Ming hesitated but still turned around, enduring the pain.

The moment she saw his back, Chen Wan's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth in shock.

His back was charred black, with almost all the skin burned. The white bones of his shoulder blades were exposed, indicating a severe injury.

"How did he endure such a severe injury?" Chen Wan wondered.

Looking at herself, she saw that apart from disheveled clothes and minor scrapes, she had no other injuries. She thought, "Did he protect me and thus suffer such severe injuries?"

Yuan Ming, unaware of her thoughts, asked, "Are you done?"

"Your back is severely burned. It will take some time to recover on its own. Don't move, I'll apply some medicine..." Chen Wan, regaining her composure, said.

"No, I..." Yuan Ming instinctively wanted to refuse.

Just as he was about to turn back, he heard a stern voice behind him, "Don't move."

Yuan Ming was taken aback and stopped.

Then he heard the sound of a bottle cap being removed, followed by a sudden, intense burning sensation on his back, making him let out a low growl.

"Ugh..."

Yuan Ming suppressed his growl. The burning sensation lasted for only a few breaths before turning into a cool, peculiar feeling, and then a slight itchiness.

He could feel that the woman behind him was applying the powder meticulously to every wound on his back.

Suddenly, the fireball in the air went out, and Chen Wan stopped her actions.

"The healing power of Yusheng Powder is quick. Your wounds will scab over in half a day, but it will take three days to fully recover." Chen Wan's voice echoed in the darkness.

"Thank you." Yuan Ming said gratefully.

He moved slightly, finding that the pain in his back had lessened. He pulled up the white ape skin tied around his waist and draped it over his shoulders.

In the darkness, neither of them spoke, and a silence fell.

After a moment, Yuan Ming broke the silence, "We can't stay here long. We need to find a way out."

As he spoke, a fireball lit up again, rising to the ceiling and splashing sparks.

"Before you woke up, I checked. We fell from a vertical shaft above, but the turning point of the shaft has collapsed. It's impossible to return the same way." Chen Wan said.

Yuan Ming looked up, struggled to stand, and staggered, saying, "Then we need to find another way."

He looked around.

"This is a cave eroded by underground river water. During the flood season, it would be completely submerged. I've checked, and there are no exits on either side." Chen Wan sighed.

Yuan Ming walked forward a few steps and indeed saw an underground river, with calm water, but the depth was unknown.

He touched the water, feeling the icy cold.

Chen Wan also came over and, after a glance, frowned, "The water level has risen. When I checked earlier, the water line was not this high. How did it rise so much in just a short time?"

"Although it's not the flood season, the rain yesterday was heavy. The underground river level rising is not surprising, but we don't know how much it will rise." Yuan Ming pondered.

He walked to the other side of the cave, examined the stone wall, and furrowed his brows.

"What's wrong?" Chen Wan asked, noticing his expression.

"Look, there's a clear water line on the wall. The area above is slightly dry and has moss, while the area below is more damp and smooth. This indicates that the area is often flooded." Yuan Ming explained.

Chen Wan looked at the water line, which was over ten feet high, and her face changed.

"If the water continues to rise, it will eventually flood this area. We can't just wait to die. We need to find a way out." Yuan Ming continued.

"How can we escape? There's no way out here." Chen Wan said.

"If there's no way on land, we can go underwater. The underground river must have an exit." Yuan Ming looked at Chen Wan and said.

Chen Wan looked troubled and hesitated, "I... I don't know how to swim."

"Then... I'll go underwater to explore first. You wait here for a moment." Yuan Ming was taken aback but quickly said.

He took off the bronze sword from his waist, removed the white ape skin, and from his tattered clothes, took out a black, bumpy animal skin and draped it over himself.

He walked to the river, activated his magic, and performed the Fur-Wearing Technique.

The black animal skin wrapped around his body like a living thing, quickly covering him entirely, completing the transformation.

His entire body was covered in black fur, with large, bumpy black lumps on his back, looking very sturdy. His fingers and toes had webbed membranes, and his eyes were slanted.

He looked like a human-shaped toad.

Chen Wan was startled by his sudden transformation and took a step back, keeping some distance.

Yuan Ming moved his body, took a deep breath, feeling a surge of air in his chest, and his abdomen seemed to expand. He suddenly kicked the ground, leaped, and fell into the river.

A chill ran through his body, making him shiver. He kicked his legs and swam underwater, following the direction of the river flow.

A splash of water rose to the surface and quickly calmed down, and Yuan Ming's figure disappeared.

Chen Wan stood on the shore, waiting quietly.

But after a long time, there was no movement in the water, and Yuan Ming did not return.

Suddenly, the cave was filled with a rumbling sound, making Chen Wan's heart race.

She immediately relit the fireball to illuminate the surroundings.

Her feet suddenly felt cold, and she looked down to see that the water level of the underground river had risen again, and it seemed to be rising faster than before.