As Xie Feng made an effort to ascend to the surface of the lake in the inner part of the cave, he soon noticed that something was wrong.
-50
-50
-50
-50
...
For each second that counted down, instead of losing 20 health points, he began to lose 50 health points. In just five seconds, Xie Feng had lost 250 health points!
Due to the fact that the big-sized red potion that Xie Feng had prepared to recover his HP had already been consumed by him, Xie Feng simply had no way to restore the lost health inside the lake.
Of course, Xie Feng could use one of the five daily cures that the Pearl of Light had available, but if possible he preferred not to spend those five chances unless he really had no choice since he didn't really know what dangers he might face in the course of the day.
Wouldn't it be a shame to be killed by a monster because of using an skill that could recover his full HP instantly due to losing 50 health points per second? Therefore, even when Xie Feng's health bar dropped below 2000 points, he gritted his teeth and swam with all his might.
Fortunately, Xie Feng did not need to use the Pearl of Light. When his health bar was just over 1100 points, he finally managed to leave the poisonous lake.
Immediately after leaving the dangerous poison lake, Xie Feng did not relax his guard and instead quickly jumped to the side while taking out the Blood Sword from his inventory.
+200 HP
+200 HP
+200 HP
Although the Blood Sword could not compare to the Calamity Spear in terms of attributes, the unique skill of recovering the user's HP using blood from slain monsters was extremely useful to Xie Feng. The only disadvantage was being in a passive, non-combat condition; it was precisely for that reason that Xie Feng could not use it underwater.
As the Blood Sword flashed with a faint reddish radiance, recovering Xie Feng's HP bit by bit, he carefully looked at his surroundings.
The cave was really big. It had a height of over twenty meters, which was a clear proof of how deeply immersed it was underwater. However, to Xie Feng's surprise, the cave did not look scary in the least. On the contrary, it looked quite beautiful if one ignored the faint fishy smell coming from the poisonous lake.
Encrusted in the walls were rocks the size of a grain of rice that glowed with a faint pure white glow, softly illuminating the cave. At a glance, Xie Feng could count hundreds of small rocks shining like the stars in the sky. It was truly a beautiful sight, worth appreciating.
[Moonlight Rock (Small): A strange rock that was formed from the weathering of the air and other unique components of the Adastreia Continent. To form a Small Moonlight Rock it takes at least 200 years in absolute darkness. Mining requirements: Intermediate Miner.]
"Really..." Xie Feng smiled bitterly. One would truly never be able to understand his current feelings unless one personally experienced what it felt like to see a richness in front of one's own eyes without being able to do anything about it.
The same situation happened to him before he fought against Shui Xiu. However, this time Xie Feng was not too discouraged ... Intermediate Miner; in a few months the players could reach that requirement. Precisely because he knew it, Xie Feng marked the map of the place just in case.
As for this place being found by another player? Xie Feng didn't think that was too possible. Considering the camouflage qualities and how poisonous the lake was, the chances of another player finding the mineral were extremely low.
After about twenty seconds or so, Xie Feng's health bar recovered to 100%.
"Ling Long."
At his call, Ling Long left the pet space and appeared beside him.
"Let's go." Xie Feng smiled at the small pet and began to walk deeper into the cave.
What surprised Xie Feng was that even after walking for more than ten minutes without stopping, they had not encountered any monsters along the way. Another surprise was the fact that even after going around so many times, the cave showed no signs of an end in sight.
"How deep is this damn cave?" Xie Feng wondered in amazement as he looked at the walls and slowly advanced.
Although Xie Feng could see in the dark even without the illumination of the Moonlight Rocks thanks to the Pearl of Light, it was still gratifying to have such a beautiful sight to appreciate in a place so far away from the outside world and isolated from all human life.
As he continuously moved forward, Xie Feng's steps stopped abruptly and Ling Long also stopped beside him as she looked with her big eyes straight ahead.
After a moment of silence, Xie Feng whispered in the lowest possible voice, "You heard it too?"
Ling Long nodded her little head several times.
Seeing Ling Long nod, Xie Feng finally confirmed that he was not going crazy after entering this world-forsaken place.
Just a moment ago, Xie Feng could hear the faint sound of what seemed to be sobbing. Although it was almost imperceptible and inaudible, after walking for several minutes in an extremely silent place, that small sobbing could not escape Xie Feng's senses and even less Ling Long.
Adjusting his grip on his crimson red spear, Xie Feng narrowed his eyes and began to advance slowly and carefully with his gaze fixed in front of him.
If there was a sound of crying somewhere along the road in front of him, then there was definitely a living being. It could even be some kind of monster, who knows, maybe it was the strange monster mentioned by King Hu Yi. It's just that Xie Feng preferred to think it was the sound of a human being sobbing.
If possible, he would prefer to finish this mission as quickly as possible without having to go through too many complications. Xie Feng not only had to ride on horseback for days, he even came close to dying on several occasions when high-level monsters almost closed in on him. Then, he even had to risk his life by entering a poisonous lake without knowing its depth or whether he would find a place where he could recover his health points.
You should know that although it seemed simple, the mere act of jumping and swimming deep into the poisonous lake was probably one of the most dangerous things Xie Feng had done so far.
Precisely for all those reasons, he hoped that he would not have to encounter the unknown monster.
Fortunately, it seemed that the goddess of luck was on Xie Feng's side and heard his prayers.
Upon reaching a bend inside the cave, Xie Feng leaned forward slightly while keeping most of his body as hidden as possible and looked to the front.
There, was a boy who looked to be about six or seven years old. His hair was a mess, his clothes were almost completely gone and his eyes were red from crying. The little boy was lying on the ground randomly, and what caught Xie Feng's attention the most were two things.
The first thing Xie Feng noticed was that the boy's skin, which should have been white like his father's, had several green lines. Those green lines were the boy's veins.
The second thing that caught Xie Feng's attention was the pile of old bones that were lying not far from the boy. There were large bones that clearly belonged to other monsters as well as human bones.
Clearly, the monster who owned this cave brought them here and used them as food.
Before leaving his hiding place, Xie Feng inspected the boy lying on the ground.
[Hu Zheng -
Level:10
HP: 100 / 899
Description: Little crown prince of Eminentis City, son of the current ruler of the north of Adastreia Continent.
Current condition: Poisoned by an unknown poison. His health will be slowly drained for each hour that passes.]
After confirming the boy's identity and making sure there was no danger, Xie Feng left his hiding place and approached slowly while whispering:
"Hey, kid. Are you okay?"
With his question, Xie Feng was not referring to the boy's health; he could clearly see that he was not well. What Xie Feng wanted to ask was whether or not the boy still felt he could survive.
Although his face was trembling with pain, the boy seemed to understand what Xie Feng meant and, perhaps because he was happy to see another human being, he made an effort to answer:
"I-I'm fine... Just for now though..." Hu Zhen spoke haltingly due to pain, but as if he had thought of something, he looked at Xie Feng with faint hope and tentatively asked, "You... You... Did my father send you?"
Before answering, Xie Feng suddenly remembered something so he quickly asked:
"Hey, little prince. Wasn't there another boy with you?"
The monster was supposed to have kidnapped not only King Hu Yi's son, but it must have also taken one more boy!
"Another boy?" Hu Zheng blinked in confusion. Soon, however, he remembered something, and his eyes filled with tears again as he murmured through his tears: "He... Ming Lu couldn't resist the poison..."
Although Hu Zheng had not finished explaining, Xie Feng immediately knew what he meant.
'Sigh..'
Xie Feng could not help but sigh in his heart. In the end, a life was still lost.