“It’s because of the mine below. The torrent in this place is entirely different from other places.” The captain explained after seeing everyone’s doubt.
Yun Lintian scanned the surroundings and didn’t see any living beings nearby. Around seventy kilometers below, he discovered a strong whirlpool twirling into a cave entrance. This must be the Black Jade mine.
“Everyone, follow me closely. Do not go out of the path. Otherwise, you might be swept away by the torrent.” The captain warned solemnly.
Everyone’s expression became serious as they were aware of the consequences of being swept away into the powerful torrent. Their life would be difficult to be preserved.
The captain didn’t explain anything further and dived toward the cave entrance, followed by Yun Lintian and the rest.
Along the way, the captain would occasionally move to the left and right, skillfully avoiding the fierce water current. His movement was so precise and agile, evidently, he had come here countless times.
Yun Lintian didn’t forget to scan the surroundings with Eyes of Heaven. However, he didn’t see a single trace of that strange red dot. This made him doubt his previous conjecture.
It didn’t take them too long before reaching the cave entrance. The captain warned everyone to maintain their profound defense and waited for his signal.
The captain led everyone into the cave, and a few people were waiting for them inside. When these people saw the captain, they quickly activated a formation, and the water current around the entrance immediately vanished. It was at this moment did the captain tell everyone to put their profound defense away.
As soon as everyone retracted their defense, a tall, handsome man clad in a black robe stepped forward and greeted them. “Welcome to the Black Jade mine. My name is An Lang. I’ll be your guide today.”
The man, An Lang, scanned the crowd and paused on Yun Lintian briefly before saying. “I’ll take everyone to the rest area first, and we’ll talk about today’s plan there.”
Yun Lintian felt weird. Why did this person seem to have something with him? He didn’t think about it further and followed An Lang into the mine.
The atmosphere in the Black Jade mine was relatively gloomy. It was mainly because all the walls and ground here were black. Combined with an unpleasant smell, the faces of Xiao Lian and others were filled with frowns. Some even used profound energy to get rid of the smell around them.
An Lang saw this scene and chuckled slightly. He also had the same reaction when he came here for the first time. When he saw Yun Lintian was fine without any response on his face, he was slightly surprised, but he didn’t think about it too much. After all, how could someone that Island Master Zhou pay attention to be ordinary?
What An Lang didn’t know was that Yun Lintian’s mind was occupied with something else at the moment, causing him to forget everything around him. Yun Lintian heard a cold and hoarse voice ringing in his mind.
“I…am…here.”
The voice was incomparably cold, making Yun Lintian feel a chill running down his spine. He glanced around and didn’t see anyone have a particular reaction besides a slight frown on their faces. This made him realize he was the only one who heard this.
“Help…me.”
Yun Lintian continued to listen for a while and found the voice kept repeating these two sentences. He thought for a while and asked Linlin. “Linlin, did you hear anything?”
Linlin tilted her head and said. “I heard it, but I can’t find this person’s position.”
Yun Lintian wasn’t surprised to hear this, as he said. “It seems we are the only ones that heard this.”
Linlin glanced around and discovered it was the case. She thought for a moment and said. “You need to go deeper, Big Brother Yun. Although I can’t feel this person’s presence, I can still feel something extraordinary here.”
“Oh?” Yun Lintian was surprised.
While they were talking, An Lang had already led everyone to a spacious area with various tents placed around. There weren’t many people here; approximately ten or so miners were resting. The arrival of Yun Lintian’s group didn’t cause any reaction from them. It was as though they had seen such a scene countless times before.
“This is our resting area. Everyone can take a rest here first and try to adapt to the environment here. An hour later, I will bring everyone to see our mining process.” An Lang said with a smile.
Xiao Lian looked around briefly and asked. “Senior An, I heard that there’s an extraction base here. Can I take a look at it?”
An Lang glanced at her and replied. “Sure.”
“Senior An, have you encountered any living beings here?” Yun Lintian suddenly asked.
His question made everyone turn their head to look at him with weird gazes. Before coming here, everyone had read a brief introduction of this mine and the record stated that there were no single living beings here when the Island Master Zhou found this place. Why did Yun Lintian suddenly ask this question?
Yun Lintian had no idea about this. He didn’t study the Black Jade mine before coming here.
An Lang didn’t feel anything wrong. He replied with a smile. “No. We have never encountered anything besides Black Jades.”
“I see.” Yun Lintian nodded and asked further. “May I ask how deep this mine is?”
An Lang shook his head. “We have been here for a few centuries, but we haven’t found the end yet. Right now, we could go at most around two hundred kilometers. I reckon that this isn’t halfway yet.” He turned to look at everyone, and he said further. “As everyone knows, Black Jade is sturdy and even stronger than diamond. We have to make a special tool to mine it.”
An Lang turned around and pointed at a black pickaxe nearby. “That pickaxe is made with Black Jade, Star Sand, and Flame Heart. It has the ability to melt the surface of Black Jade vein.”