"What's wrong with these profound beasts? Do they love playing waves that much? And where the hell is this place?" Yun Lintian complained while looking around in puzzlement. The moment when the sand waves engulfed him, he didn't feel much except for a certain degree of impact. Following that, he found himself appeared in a huge gloomy cave with no sign of life. It was as if he got teleported here.
The cave was dark and humid, which contrasted with the earlier endless sea of sand. Yun Lintian made a simple torch, trying to survey the vicinity. The cave's walls were made of solid stone, including the floor. There were two tunnels in front of him, and behind him was a dead end.
"Senior Sister Chan, can you hear me? Sister Hua? Yang Ping?" Yun Lintian said to the modified transmission jade. In the past two days, he had modified everyone's transmission jade and connected them together.
A moment later, Yun Chan was the first to respond. "Junior Brother Yun? Where are you?"
Yun Lintian asked, "I'm currently standing in the cave alone. Are you the same?"
"Yes. But our sisters are here with me." Yun Chan replied.
Yun Lintian was stunned and smiled bitterly while thinking… Ah… How the hell I am here alone? He sighed and said to the transmission jade, "Be careful, Senior Sister Chan. I think we may see each other soon."
"You have to be careful too." Yun Chan replied back concernedly.
Yun Lintian put the transmission jade away, looking at the tunnels before him while pondering.
"The old saying left side is lucky. Let's choose the left tunnel then." Yun Lintian strode into the left tunnel cautiously.
Along the way, Yun Lintian carefully examined the wall and determined there shouldn't be any visitor here before him. The profound energy here was denser compared to the desert area earlier. This made Yun Lintian started to think this place might be the actual core secret of this mythical realm.
According to the typical novels, when the protagonist went to the secret realm and 'accidentally' stumbled into an unknown place. There was a high chance that the place hiding a godly treasure or a super inheritance of a random mighty old man. Thinking of this, Yun Lintian became ecstatic and looked forward to unraveling the secret of this place.
Buzz—
The transmission jade in Yun Lintian's sleeve suddenly vibrated. He quickly picked it up and heard Hua Litong's voice, "Yun Lintian, are you in the cave as well?"
"Yes. I think everyone has been transported here." Yun Lintian replied while swinging the torch to get a clear vision ahead.
"I found an underground river here. I'm not sure which way I should go. Any idea?" Hua Litong asked from the other side.
"It's simple. If you wanted to get out of here, just follow the river's flow. If you wanted to figure out the origin of this place, you can try to walk upstream." Yun Lintian answered.
"Fine. I will walk upstream. Take care." Hua Litong said and hung up the connection.
Yun Lintian put away the transmission jade and resumed his journey again. He walked for a very long time, but he never encountered anything aside from tunnels after tunnels. Every time he met more than a tunnel, he would choose one randomly and go in. He also used the iron spear to poke here and there from time to time in case there was a hidden passage behind the wall, but he didn't find any of it.
An hour later, Yun Lintian arrived at an intersection with a small open space and decided to take a break here as his stomach protested a little. Profound practitioners below the Origin Profound Realm would still need to eat to maintain their physical strength. Yun Lintian was worried because his senior sisters didn't have an interspatial ring, and this ghostly place didn't have any creature or any edible plant. He could only pray that he would meet them soon within a week.
Yun Lintian put several torches around the place, setting up a simple fireplace, and took out a pan and ingredients. Every time he made food by himself, he would occasionally think back to the time he was on Earth. Another hobby he loved to do besides reading a novel was cooking. His culinary skill could be considered as a professional chef in a three stars hotel.
He skillfully cut a portion of beefsteak, seasoning with salt and pepper, and seared on the hot oil. After the steak was browned, he smashed garlic and threw them into the pan along with butter and herbs. For the past sixteen years, he had introduced Earth's delicacies to everyone in the Misty Cloud Sect. Whether it was western cuisine or eastern cuisine, everyone in the Sect gradually fell in love with these never-seen-before delicacies. Especially to Yun Lingwei, the foodie, she would pester him to teach her how to make a cake and other pastries from Earth.
When the steak was done, Yun Lintian slowly cut into a mouthful piece before savoring it one by one.
"Mhm. This is true happiness." Yun Lintian said with a joyful expression.
Squeak!
Yun Lintian abruptly stood up when he heard squeak sounds rang out nearby. The iron spear appeared in his hand while he looking around cautiously. Staying here for hours, he never met any creature before. This was the first time he heard other sounds besides his own steps.
At this moment, a red rat poked its head out behind the tunnel's wall, staring at Yun Lintian — more precisely, staring at the piece of steak.
Yun Lintian was surprised upon seeing this small creature. Searching for the information about this rat in his mind, he found out that he didn't recognize this creature at all. Its appearance was similar to a normal dirty rat, but the size was three times bigger. The notable points were a golden sheen in its eyes, and fiery red furs, making it appeared special.
Yun Lintian didn't feel any hostility or malice from the rat. He sat down, put the spear on the side, and picked up one of the steaks. He said, "Do you want to eat?"
The rat's eyes lit up and started drooling. It almost gave a nod in a reply, but shaking its head in the end after wrestling between hungry and safety for a while.
Yun Lintian chuckled when he saw this scene. He tossed the steak toward the rat and the latter received it before hiding itself behind the wall. Since this place was extremely quiet, he could hear a gnawing sound from time to time clearly.
Ten seconds later, the rat poked its head out again, staring at Yun Lintian with its big golden eyes, as if it was begging for another piece. The rat never ate anything like this before. This was the first time it tasted a salt and pepper flavor and wanted to get more of it.
"Want more? Come here." Yun Lintian seduced it by stuffing the steak into his mouth, slowly chewing with a blissful smile.
The rat was hesitating once again, but when it saw Yun Lintian's expression as if he was ascending to heaven, the last line of defense in its heart crumbled instantly as the rat ran to his side in a flash.
Yun Lintian took out another plate and gave the rat a portion of steak. The bizarre scene occurred afterward. One human and one rat, happily eating a meal together.
"Have you ever heard this saying before? There is no free lunch… not right, it's dinner now. There is no free dinner in the world. It's time for you to give something in return. What do you think?" Yun Lintian poured water to the rat and himself as he asking. To this point, he was certain this rat possessed intelligence and could understand his words. He wanted to ask the whereabouts of others.
"Squeak?" The rat rubbing its stomach and tilted its head cutely when it heard Yun Lintian's question. A moment later, it seemed to understand his words. It turned around and rummaged through something on its body. When it turned around, a piece of Profound stone could be seen in its hands.
"Middle-grade Profound stone?" Yun Lintian didn't mean to let the rat give a treasure in return, but when he saw this Middle-grade Profound stone, he was shocked.
The rat put the Profound stone before Yun Lintian and let out a low squeak as if telling him to take it.
Yun Lintian didn't take it. He asked, "Where did you get it from? Also, have you ever met anyone around here besides me?"
The rat tilted its head once again in a confusion. Before it pointed to the right tunnel with a squeak.
"You mean, you get this stone from there?" Yun Lintian asked for a confirmation.
The rat nodded its head in a reply. Yun Lintian quickly cooked another portion of steak and gave it to the rat. "Can you show me the way? I'll give you this."
The rat drooled once again, even though it was already full. The temptation was too great; it agreed with Yun Lintian's request almost instantly.
Yun Lintian packed everything up and followed the rat into the right tunnel. Along the way, he didn't meet any creature like before. He was curious where was this rat came from.
An hour later, the rat led Yun Lintian to a spacious area that resembled a hallway. On the floor laid smooth marbles, different from other places he had been before. The wall was made of solid stone, and there were countless strange runes engraved all over the place.
Yun Lintian cast his gaze to the center of the hallway and saw a huge human-shaped statue built by limestones, and it was coated by something to protect the statue from aging. The statue was a man wearing exquisite armor and holding a long sword in his hand. His facial features couldn't be seen clearly, as it was destroyed by something.
Yun Lintian turned to the rat, "Is this the place?"
The rat pointed its small finger at the foot of the statue. Yun Lintian didn't see anything special in that area. While he was confusing, the rat ran to the statue and tapped on the statue's foot. Instantaneously, the statue trembled slightly before it slowly moved away from the place, revealing a hidden passage beneath it.
Yun Lintian was surprised once again. This time, he was even more curious about the identity of this rat and why was he so lucky to meet it… Is this the legendary protagonist's unreasonable luck? Wait, did I become a protagonist now? Yun Lintian made a funny thought in his mind as he followed the rat into the passageway cautiously.