Chapter 353: Exploring the Black Prison
At that moment, footsteps sounded from ahead as two people approached them.
"Nun, did you pick up another newcomer again?"
The man walking towards them spoke up.
"This time, I didn't just pick him up. He was trapped in a sealed space. I had to smash open a wall to get him out."
The woman answered with a laugh.
"That's too unlucky. But surviving in that kind of situation means he should be able to hold on here for a while."
The man didn't see any significance in the nun's actions. Prisoners who could survive in the Black Prison were few and far between.
"This is the Repairman. The one next to him is the Pharmacist. I'm the Nun. What should we call you?"
The nun turned her head towards Lin Ye's direction.
"Miner. I'm quite good at mining." Lin Ye was proficient in many professions, but he deliberately chose a title that fit in better with this place.
"You're good at mining? What a shame there are no mineral deposits here, just some rocks."
The Repairman said regretfully.
"It's fine. Actually, I don't like mining that much anyway."
Even if he dug up valuable ore, Lin Ye couldn't take it back with him.
"Found any new water sources?"
The Nun suddenly interjected.
"No. To find a new water source, we'd have to go to unexplored places. But exploring new areas takes a lot of time."
The Repairman and the Pharmacist, who had remained silent the whole time, passed by them. The sound of their footsteps quickly faded into the distance.
"Is the water supply about to run out?"
Lin Ye licked his lips. Mentioning water made him suddenly feel a bit thirsty.
"No, the water can still last for a while. But we can't just wait until it's completely exhausted before looking for a new source."
The Nun continued pulling Lin Ye forward. The camp's water source was a large pit several meters in diameter. A large number of mushrooms grew near the water pit.
"The water is safe to drink directly. These mushrooms are also edible. However, it's best not to eat more than five at a time. It's said that someone saw hallucinations from eating too many mushrooms."
The Nun plucked a mushroom and handed it to Lin Ye. Lin Ye took a bite, and his mouth was filled with the taste of dirt.
"Can't we make a fire here?"
Lin Ye swallowed the whole mushroom. Perhaps the dose wasn't enough, as he didn't experience any hallucinations.
"Nope. Many prisoners have tried lighting fires here, but they all failed. Maybe it's simply impossible to make fire here."
The Nun scooped Lin Ye a bowl of water using a stone container.
Lin Ye took a sip. The water was tasteless, but it made his mouth feel much more comfortable.
"The camp is roughly this big. Big sister here still has some matters to attend to. Can you take care of yourself?"
The Nun had taken Lin Ye on a walk around, introducing the entire camp's situation.
"You go ahead and take care of your business. I need to rest for a while."
Lin Ye found a spot to sit down and rest. His right shoulder blade ached faintly, but the injury wasn't serious. As long as he didn't exert force with the right side of his body, the injury wouldn't worsen.
'The Black Prison should have some kind of connection with the Abyssal Eye. Can I use the Abyssal Eye to leave this place?'
'Too bad I can't sense the Abyssal Eye at all, nor can I use it to connect to the Abyss.'
Without spiritual energy, Lin Ye couldn't even sense the divine seat. Otherwise, he could have contacted Little Red through the divine seat to ask for help.
'So how exactly do I leave this place? Do I need to fulfill some condition?'
Unlike previous stories, this book had no main quest. He didn't even know which direction to strive in.
'Maybe I just need to escape the Black Prison to return to the asylum.'
Lin Ye felt this was the most likely hypothesis.
'Focus efforts in this direction first. But so many prisoners have been unable to leave the Black Prison. Effort alone probably won't be enough. The method to escape the Black Prison is likely related to the Abyssal Eye.'
With food and water nearby, Lin Ye prepared to try his Special Ability.
Lin Ye used his Special Ability: Agility.
The moment he used the skill, Lin Ye lost control of his body. Every part of his body became abnormally agile... including his right eye.
In that instant, Lin Ye clearly saw everything around him, even though there wasn't a single trace of light in the surroundings.
Furthermore, he also saw the bottomless abyss beneath his feet.
He was sitting right on the edge of the abyss. A slight tilt would send him plummeting into the abyss.
Lin Ye immediately deactivated the Special Ability. The surroundings plunged into pitch-black darkness, as if a light had been switched off. Lin Ye nervously reached out to touch the ground in front of him. The abyss had vanished, and the ground had returned to normal.
'...What the hell kind of skill is this?'
Lin Ye wasn't sure if the abyss seen by entering the Abyssal Eye could lead him out of here, but he felt there were serious issues with this.
'No rush. It's best to gather some information about the Black Prison first before making a judgment.'
Lin Ye stood up and walked beyond the camp boundaries indicated by the Nun. Even though the Nun had saved him, he still wanted to personally test whether he could leave the Black Prison by walking.
During this process, Lin Ye could also gather some information about the Black Prison.
…………………………………………
"Where did you go? I thought you got lost."
The Nun didn't expect Lin Ye to return to the camp alive.
"I went outside to gather information."
Lin Ye leaned against the wall to relax his body. He had walked in the Black Prison for three hours. At first, he groped his way forward slowly. Later, after learning to judge obstacles by sensing air flow during movement, he started moving quickly.
These three hours confirmed for him that simply walking like this would be very difficult to leave the Black Prison. This place seemed endless. No matter how far he walked, the scenes remained similar.
Lin Ye didn't even encounter a single monster. He did run into some mentally broken prisoners. Most of them lay quietly in corners, waiting for death. Only a small portion of prisoners still maintained some vitality.
"Any useful information?"
The Nun cooperatively asked.
"Found three water sources. One of them has a lot of mushrooms growing nearby."
Lin Ye hadn't found an exit, but water sources here didn't seem hard to find.
"Very capable. Much better than those two useless ones. But you'd better not tell them, or they'll get jealous."
The prisoners actually didn't really care about finding water sources. They just wanted something to do.
Otherwise, they would have gone insane long ago.
"...I understand."
Lin Ye sighed. He didn't know how long the Nun and the others had been here. He had only been here a few hours and was already feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Mhm, that's good. Here's a reward mushroom."
The Nun took a piece of mushroom from her pocket and handed it to Lin Ye. Unlike the previous mushroom, this piece felt a bit like a chunk of meat when squeezed, and it was coated with some kind of sticky fluid.
Perhaps they were already insane, just not showing it.
"...Thank you."
Lin Ye stuffed the 'mushroom' into his pocket. He wasn't yet at the point where he needed to eat this kind of thing.
"Don't let it run away. It's very tasty."
The Nun seemed able to perceive Lin Ye's actions.
"This kind of mushroom can run?"
Lin Ye squeezed the meat-like mushroom in his hand. It seemed to twitch slightly.
"Of course it can run. And it runs very fast too."
The Nun answered with a smile.