After running out of the alley, Chen Bugu sprinted straight out of the camp.
At the camp's exit, he used the majestic High Heaven City in the distance as a reference point to determine his direction, then headed south.
Chen Bugu didn't have time to explain to Lin Lin and the others; if it really was that hollow, Bai Ting and his team were in a very dangerous situation.
This damned commission, Chen Bugu remembered!
In his previous life, this commission had been hanging on the 'Farm' announcement board for a full year, with no one completing it, precisely because every team that entered the hollow never returned.
Since no one survived, no accurate intelligence was naturally relayed back.
And after teams were buried one after another, almost no one in the camp would take on this commission again.
By the time Chen Bugu reached High Heaven City, this commission had long been withdrawn.
People gave this commission a vivid title: 'No Return Hollow'.
However, the 'No Return Hollow' commission was eventually completed.
It was said that because the client increased the reward to three general-level beast cores, several major forces from different camps joined forces to explore it.
Ultimately, they delivered the commission at the cost of half their team members' lives.
However, after the exploration, those forces suffered heavy casualties and were consequently devastated.
Rumor had it that after the commission ended, they even clashed with the client over the distribution of the reward.
Whether the subsequent reward was redistributed is unknown.
But it was most likely a failure, because since that commission, those forces completely disappeared from their respective camps, their whereabouts unknown.
Three months after this commission was completed, the intelligence peddler Chen Bugu knew told him the truth.
He heard that after the commission was completed, that hollow completely collapsed not long after.
That intelligence peddler spent a lot of effort, consulting many Dwarf masters, and finally concluded that 'No Return Hollow' simply did not possess the conditions to produce liuguang jade!
After learning this news, that intelligence peddler ran around trying to find an Awakened who had participated in the 'No Return Hollow' exploration.
But no matter how hard he tried, he still found nothing.
Since that exploration ended, the surviving explorers had all vanished, and not a single one could be found.
He therefore speculated that liuguang jade was just a pretense.
There must be another secret hidden deep within that hollow!
However, with the commission over and the hollow collapsed, no one paid attention to this matter anymore.
As for a few forces being annihilated and a few teams disappearing within the camp, these were all normal occurrences, and even less would anyone notice.
That intelligence peddler thought he had discovered some conspiracy, but in reality, no one cared about what he said.
In desperation, he could only use these things as gossip to tell Chen Bugu.
Chen Bugu didn't pay attention at the time, as that guy's intelligence was always worthless.
But hearing 'hollow' and 'liuguang jade' at this moment, he immediately remembered this matter.
Being able to cause half the casualties in several teams indicates that at least general-level magical beasts are active in the hollow.
Such a commission should not appear in the camp at all, since the mercenary teams in the camp generally do not have the strength to undertake such commissions.
The more Chen Bugu thought about this, the more anxious he became, so he could only speed up and rush south of the camp at full speed.
Fifteen minutes later, amidst knee-high weeds, Chen Bugu saw a withered tree sandwiched between two rocks.
Thanks to that intelligence peddler constantly chattering in his ear, he remembered this landmark.
Brushing aside the weeds, Chen Bugu saw a deep pit about one meter in diameter.
He looked into the pit, all light was swallowed, and he could only perceive a complete darkness.
And on the rock beside him, a coil of rope was tied, one end of the rope extending downwards from the entrance, deep into the darkness.
Chen Bugu hurriedly pulled the rope upwards, hoping to send some information to Han Badou and the others.
However, things did not go as planned; a minute later, Chen Bugu frowned, looking at the broken rope in his hand.
...
At the same time, thirty to forty meters underground, the scent of sweat mixed with soil permeated the air.
Words like dark, narrow, and damp seemed to be endowed with life, leisurely wandering in this place.
Yan Kuan felt for the first time that the ordinary fluorite in his hand could emit such dazzling light.
However, beneath that light was a section of rope that made the four people present look extremely solemn.
"The break is very rough, it looks like it was smashed with a blunt object or torn by brute force. In short, the rope is completely useless."
Han Badou looked at the retrieved rope in his hand, untied the other end from his waist, and casually tossed it aside.
"Was it the Mulin Tribe?" Lin Xiaoxiao had several Cold Steel Flying Daggers Floating at her side, looking unpleasantly towards their rear.
"Probably not. I did sense a burst of energy just now, but those 'rats' of the Mulin Tribe most likely wouldn't act alone, and that energy level doesn't seem like the Mulin Tribe; it should be the original magical beast of this cave."
Han Badou focused his Energy Monitoring in one direction, extending the monitoring distance as much as possible, but found nothing; the other party seemed to have left after destroying the rope.
"What level was that energy just now? Did you figure it out?" Bai Ting asked.
"Nine Star, and it knew to destroy the rope, so it should possess a certain level of intelligence."
"That's a bit troublesome. After all, if we fight here, only I have some advantage."
Yan Kuan sat on the ground, speaking weakly, evidently a bit tired.
In fact, ever since they descended into the hollow, the deeper they went, the narrower the passage became, and the oxygen content also seemed to be gradually decreasing.
Since Yan Kuan's Awakening, he rarely felt tired from simply traveling, but at this moment, due to lack of oxygen, he was uncharacteristically out of breath.
Behind him, the dark underground passage continued to extend into the unknown depths.
The dim yellow light of the fluorite fell on the stone wall, casting blurred shadows of everyone, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat oppressive.
Through 'Emotion Perception', Han Badou could feel that Yan Kuan and Lin Xiaoxiao both wanted to retreat, and he also understood that continuing deeper in this situation was hardly a sound strategy.
"Let's retreat first, regroup, and then consider the next step."
Han Badou made the suggestion, and even Bai Ting immediately expressed his agreement, and everyone retreated together towards where they came from.
They had made marks at every fork in the road when they came, precisely to deal with unexpected situations with the rope.
However, when they retreated to the previous fork, everyone was stunned.
The marks on the stone wall had disappeared...
"Wait a moment, did I carve it on the other side? I'll go check."
"No, I remember Ba Dou, you drew it on this middle path."
Bai Ting, Yan Kuan, and Han Badou separately observed the inner walls of the three paths, trying hard to find a mark on the smooth stone wall.
"Don't you think it's strange?"
Lin Xiaoxiao's voice seemed to carry a hint of fear, coming from behind them.
Bai Ting and the other two turned their heads, only to see Lin Xiaoxiao with wide eyes, pointing to the other side and asking tremblingly.
"Just now... was there really... this fourth path here?"