Li Andy picked up Yuquan Youxi, who rubbed her eyes and looked at the scene before her with some surprise.
After a brief moment of excitement, Meilin also immediately understood that the three people in front of her were not a rescue team, and her eyes dimmed.
With Sophia's help, Li Andy also understood what had happened to this "Meilin" in front of him.
Her name was also Meilin, the daughter of a mining team leader, who usually, along with several other women, was responsible for cooking and delivering meals to the miners.
Today, she routinely took bread down into the mine, only to find many people fleeing in terror, shouting repeatedly:
"Monsters! There are monsters down there!"
Immediately after, she saw a person wearing a miner's uniform, looking like a mummified corpse, walk out.
Just as she was about to scream, she found the mummified corpse fall straight down in front of her.
This mummified corpse didn't seem to be a monster, but a living person harmed by a monster.
Being young, she had never seen such a scene before, and goosebumps instantly appeared all over her body.
But her concern for her father outweighed her fear, and she resolutely rushed into the mine.
However, shortly after entering, the mine collapsed, and when she woke up, she found that the way back was blocked by rubble, and the tunnel layout inside was also disrupted.
"Boohoo... I can't find my father..."
Meilin wiped away her tears and said,
"Those few surviving co-workers said that someone accidentally dug into the abyss and released devils. The mine collapse might have been done by the people above to prevent the monsters from appearing. We... have been abandoned... Boohoo..."
Li Andy frowned and asked,
"Can you take us to the surviving co-workers? Although we are not a rescue team sent by the higher-ups, if we work together, we might find a way to leave. Your father might also be found."
Meilin wiped away her tears, nodded gratefully, and motioned for everyone to walk deeper into the cave.
Before leaving, Li Andy subconsciously glanced at the place where he had just rested, and his pupils suddenly constricted.
"What's wrong, brother?"
Youxi noticed his abnormality and asked, holding his arm.
Li Andy swallowed, staring directly at the place where he had just rested.
The mark he had scratched on the wall had disappeared!
Who did it?!
He was only meditating, not sleeping; everything around him was within his perception, even Sophia, who was on watch.
Could it be that the stone wall was alive and could heal itself?
Li Andy licked his somewhat dry lips and said,
"I remember just now... I made a mark here."
Upon hearing this, Sophia frowned and quickly ran to the side to check.
She was horrified to find that the marks she had left to prevent getting lost when she had just left were also gone!
A chill crept up her spine, and Sophia suddenly felt as if something in the surrounding darkness had been following and staring at her!
"What's wrong with you two?" Meilin raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but ask.
"Meilin, do the walls of your mine here repair scratches by themselves?" Li Andy asked.
"How is that possible..."
Meilin frowned slightly and pointed to some existing scratches on the wall, saying, "Look at these, they are marks left by our miners, and they have always been there."
Li Andy frowned.
Could it be because we are outsiders?
After thinking for a while without a result, Li Andy looked at Meilin:
"It's nothing, let's go."
Meilin nodded and continued to lead the way.
Li Andy walked in the middle with the lantern, letting its light envelop the surroundings, and gestured with his eyes for Sophia to continue leaving marks along the way.
All the way to the surviving miners' camp, Li Andy did not find any of those marks missing.
What on earth was going on?
Was it meant to trigger something?
"Where are they? Where are the co-workers you mentioned?"
Sophia scanned the surroundings and found that there was nothing here except a mining cart and a few pickaxes.
Was this Meilin lying to them?
Thinking of this, Sophia immediately became alert, her right hand on the hilt of her sword, staring intently at Meilin.
Meilin's face changed, her body trembled with fear, and she couldn't help but take a step back:
"They're right here, can't you... see them?"
"What?"
Sophia and the three, Li Andy, felt their hearts sink.
Just then, the pickaxe at Meilin's feet spoke:
"Is that Meilin back? Hey, you actually found other people?!"
As soon as these words came out, the other pickaxes also "woke up" one after another, clanging and clanking, standing up.
"Really!"
"Is it the rescue team? That black-hearted boss actually didn't abandon us??"
"Look closely, would the rescue team be three kids? This is just like us, unlucky folks who can't get out!"
"Sigh, well, it's good to wait for death together, at least there's company on the way." The nearby mining cart sighed, as if you could see it shaking its head.
Apparently, the surviving workers Meilin spoke of were these cold tools.
Almost forgot, this domain has the characteristic of animating creations.
Perhaps in Meilin's eyes, those were all normal "people."
"Sorry."
Li Andy came before Meilin,
"We haven't been down to the mine much before, and our eyesight isn't very good in the dark environment, so we didn't see everyone who was asleep."
Meilin was still somewhat confused, but looking at Li Andy's clean and gentle face, most of her inner vigilance and fear dissipated.
She came to a pickaxe with a few rust spots,
"Uncle A-Lu, I found them in Tunnel 13."
"Thirteen? That abandoned shaft?"
The tip of the rusty pickaxe pointed at the three, seemingly sizing them up,
"Are you... clergy?"
He had obviously noticed the three's outfits of a priest and nuns.
Li Andy paused, then followed his words, responding:
"Yes, we received a commission and, following divine instructions, arrived here early, but we didn't expect the way back to have collapsed."
"Really?!"
A pickaxe with a chipped mouth jumped out,
"I told you, there are devils down there! Look, people from the church are here!"
"That's a deity! Not a devil!"
Another cracked pickaxe stood up and retorted, "We trespassed on the deity's resting place, which is why we attracted divine punishment!"
"The people above sacrificed us here to appease the deity's wrath. We... are sinners."
After speaking, it fell to the ground, seemingly squatting down in dejection.
Li Andy thought for a moment and asked,
"Have any of you truly seen that monster?"
The group fell silent. After a few seconds, the rusty pickaxe coughed a few times and pointed to the corner.
There, lay a pickaxe with only its wooden handle remaining.
"Everyone who saw the monster died; only that madman survived."
Li Andy came before the pickaxe and found it trembling constantly, as if trapped in an endless nightmare.
Suddenly, it leaped up, screaming sharply:
"Monster! The monster is coming!"