Chapter 320: Searching for a water source
Before long, Lin Ye heard the sound of dripping water.
"There's a water source!"
Neil also noticed the dripping sound and instinctively quickened his pace.
Turning a corner, they found a water pit at the end of the mine shaft, with water droplets falling from the ceiling into the pit.
The water pit was clear and transparent, seemingly drinkable.
Lin Ye shone his headlamp on the water surface, but the pit was too deep to see the bottom.
The test paper given by the girl had been divided into four portions by Lin Ye, with everyone carrying several sheets.
Stopping Neil who wanted to approach the water pit to use the test paper, Lin Ye threw a small stone into the water pit.
The water pit was deep, and just using stones couldn't determine its depth. As the stone entered the water pit, Lin Ye saw ripples forming, but those ripples didn't seem to be caused solely by the stone.
"There seems to be something else inside." Old Arthur keenly detected the abnormality.
"That's normal. This is an underground water source. Even alien creatures that consume ores need to drink water. It would be strange if there was nothing inside."
Lin Ye threw several more stones into the water pit. This time the ripples were more complex, and as if knowing that hiding was useless, something emerged halfway from the water.
"It's a mining rat! Great, I'm hungry anyway. I didn't expect these rats to be able to swim."
Leo licked his dry lips and said.
A large black rat the size of a little dog surfaced from the water. This size was enough for all four of them to replenish some energy.
"Should we take action?"
Old Arthur was also tempted. Because he had just been mining, he was a bit hungry too, but he didn't act directly, instead turning to ask Lin Ye's opinion.
Lin Ye didn't answer, just crumpled a test paper into a ball and threw it into the water pit.
The moment the test paper contacted the liquid in the water pit, it turned dark red, not even needing five minutes.
Even Leo now knew the water pit was problematic. The four of them tacitly retreated into the mine shaft, moving away from the water pit.
The mining rat looked at the test paper, then glanced at the food that had retreated into the mine shaft, regretfully shrinking back into the depths of the water pit.
After running farther away, Neil couldn't help but look back, and that glance showed him a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
At this moment, the area outside the water pit was crowded with various creatures. These creatures were connected together by a blood-red web, with various colored ores embedded in their bodies.
All the creatures' blood-red eyes were fixed on them. The blood web continuously writhed, passing through the bodies of those creatures, which moved according to the web's motions.
They just watched them leave, the bottom of the blood web not emerging from the water pit.
"Damn! What the hell is that? Are these monsters everywhere here?"
Leo loudly vented his fear.
Old Arthur and Neil were also heavy-hearted. They had to search for food and water in such a place, and also dig ten white ores to bring back. Although they were experienced, they also felt hopeless about the road ahead.
"Just one monster, don't make a fuss. Sigh, newcomers are always like this, never seen the world before."
Lin Ye spoke lightly and continued leading the way in front.
Neil and Old Arthur followed behind Lin Ye with their mining pickaxes. With someone leading the way, they naturally wouldn't give up easily. Having someone walk in front was really important at times like this.
Seeing this, Leo could only follow behind as well—he didn't want to die yet.
Before long, Lin Ye led them to find another water pit.
This time no one dared to approach.
"Will there be something inside this time too?"
Neil threw a small stone into the water pit.
"Probably not."
Lin Ye also threw several stones into the water pit. This water pit wasn't deep, and the ripples caused by the stones showed no issues.
Old Arthur patted Leo, who had no choice but to approach the water pit trembling with fear.
Until Leo put the test paper into the water, there was no movement from the water pit.
All four breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Ye didn't waste time, taking out his mining pickaxe and starting to mine nearby. Although this place wasn't a thousand meters from the mining area, he still wanted to give it a try.
Lin Ye didn't completely trust the information given by the girl.
The others weren't as energetic as Lin Ye. Mining and walking in the dark mining area weren't easy tasks. They needed to constantly concentrate on observing their surroundings, preventing monsters from suddenly jumping out of some dark corner to bite them to death.
Five minutes quickly passed, and the privilege of being the first to drink fell to Leo.
"Can we switch to someone else?"
Leo looked at the water pit with a grim expression.
"We'll switch after you die."
Old Arthur spoke words full of hope.
"Well, thank you very much for that!"
Leo scooped up some clear water from the pit and took a drink.
"How is it? Any discomfort? You'd better not lie to us. If you collapse, we can still save you. If we collapse, you'll die here."
Although he said this, Neil, being a fraudster, had some confidence in detecting lies.
"Nothing yet. If you're worried, wait a bit longer."
Leo couldn't help but drink a few more mouthfuls. Although he hadn't been mining, he had sweated a lot while walking with his mining pickaxe and was very thirsty now.
After waiting another five minutes and seeing that Leo was fine, the others began to drink.
"Did you find any white ores?"
Neil took a drink of the clear water, feeling like he had come back to life.
"No, but there are many gray ores here. If we mine a bit longer, we should be able to dig out one or two white ores."
Lin Ye also drank some clear water. The girl's information seemed temporarily reliable.
"Can we use the ores to make some water containers?"
Old Arthur wanted to carry some drinking water with him.
"Use Leo's miner's helmet. I don't want to become a miner."
Lin Ye felt that drinking liquid that had contacted ores wasn't a good idea.
"...You're right. Why didn't I notice something so simple?"
Old Arthur felt somewhat strange. He couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake.
"Probably getting senile."
Leo muttered quietly.
"It's probably due to the influence of the ores. Under normal circumstances, humans wouldn't eat ores. Maybe the ores here affect surrounding creatures to treat them as food."
Perhaps because his mental energy was higher, Lin Ye didn't have similar thoughts, but he couldn't be completely sure he wasn't affected either.
"Then aren't we doomed?"
After hearing Lin Ye's words, Neil suddenly felt an impulse to take a bite of an ore.
"We won't die. As long as we can dig up ten ores quickly, we can leave here before turning into miners... Time to go."
Lin Ye stood up, picked up his mining pickaxe, and headed toward the mine shaft.
Walking in front was far from as easy as walking behind. Lin Ye's current body had good stamina, but his ability to remain so composed relied entirely on energy-saving techniques. Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago.
Observing the road conditions clearly, controlling breathing and movement rhythm, avoiding unnecessary actions, fully utilizing inertia during movement...
Lin Ye was very skilled at conserving energy.