Nine Star Burden

Chapter 143: Dark Tunnel

“I have an ominous hunch,” Jiang Xiao said softly after a moment.

Xia Yan also had a sullen expression on her face. Indeed, ever since they headed in the North direction, they had not encountered any creatures of other dimensions in a long time.

“I think we’d better…” Jiang Xiao muttered. Before he could even finish, Xia Yan extended her arm and placed it in front of him.

“Hush,” Xia Yan said, gesturing for Jiang Xiao to keep quiet. At the same time, she bent forward.

Jiang Xiao subconsciously bent over and scrutinized everything around him carefully while keeping his guard up. He seemed to have heard some sounds too.

Xia Yan clenched her fists tightly and raised them high while Han Jiangxue and Li Weiyi also began to make their footsteps as light as possible.

Xia Yan curled her fingers while facing Jiang Xiao before tiptoeing forward.

Under Xia Yan’s guidance, Jiang Xiao laid on the ground, pushed the tall grass away from his face, and hid behind a tree while secretly gazing forward.

There’s actually a savage cooking something?

It should be water, right? If it’s food, I should have already smelled the aroma before I heard the noises, Jiang Xiao thought.

That was also proof of their abilities. They only discovered the bizarreness of the matter when they were very close to the enemies.

If Second Last was with him, she would have probably already discovered the situation a long time ago.

“Something’s amiss. Why is there only one person?” Xia Yan asked with a frown. She stared at the savage boiling water and asked, “Have you discovered his companion?”

Jiang Xiao shook his head and carefully searched his surroundings, for fear that he might have been surrounded. However, even after a while, there were still no traces of the enemy.

The male savage had a chiseled face and his hair was tied back into a braid. His chest was bare and his body was covered in all sorts of scars, looking particularly domineering and stern.

He also had an incredibly wonderful figure, and there seemed to be a layer of oil on his strong, toned, and muscular body. His neatly arranged six-pack abs made Jiang Xiao green with envy.

The male savage was wearing leather pants made out of the skin of beasts and walking around barefooted in the wasteland where weeds were scarce. There was a small bonfire in front of him, on top of which was a stone pot. There were also a few other stone bowls around it.

The scene was indeed rather strange.

Han Jiangxue and Li Weiyi had also secretly crept up and were carefully observing the male savage far away.

“After I go back, I must acquire an inspection Star Technique, regardless of whether it enhances my sense of sight, smell, or hearing. Anything will do,” Xia Yan said calmly.

Han Jiangxue replied, “Don’t panic. Once you enter the Galaxy Stage, acquire a Gold Quality inspection Star Technique. If you acquire a Silver Quality one, you will regret it in the future.”

“In that case, get Xiaopi…” Xia Yan paused abruptly because she suddenly remembered that Jiang Xiao could upgrade his Star Technique. Hence, it didn’t matter if it was of Gold Quality or Brass Quality.

However, she suddenly remembered that Jiang Xiao had only nine star slots and so decided to drop the idea. Jiang Xiao’s star slots were too limited and precious. Hence, he ought not to waste them on inspection Star Techniques.

Unless Jiang Xiao agreed to it himself, she ought not to pressurize him.

While everyone was observing, the male savage squeezed the long braid on the back of his head with both hands, after which he grabbed the handle of the stone pot ruthlessly. He then poured the boiling water into the stone bowl.

He placed the stone pot above the bonfire again and turned around to walk away while holding the stone bowl with both hands.

Everyone looked in the distance, only to see a natural cave in the mountains behind.

Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan looked at each other in shock and dismay. Han Jiangxue said, “Let’s go take a look.”

Everyone crept up slowly and walked through the dense forest on the vast land. After passing the stone pot that contained the boiling water, they secretly moved to the cave beside the mountains.

Xia Yan’s head popped out and peeked inside, only to see that everything was pitch black.

Li Weiyi took a look and said, “This narrow tunnel is very suitable for us to break into. We have at most two or three enemies in front of us, so we won’t be surrounded.”

Han Jiangxue nodded. Having understood what Li Weiyi meant, she said to Xia Yan, “Lead the way.”

Xia Yan looked at the width of the tunnel and tugged Jiang Xiao’s palm. “Xiaopi, follow me. I’ll use my sword while you use your dagger.”

“No problem,” Jiang Xiao answered, placing the wooden sword behind his back and fumbling for the sharp dagger from the side of his leg.

Compared to his Brass Quality Level 6 mastery of the Xia Family Swordsmanship, Jiang Xiao’s Dagger Mastery was at Silver Quality Level 0. Hence, he was much better at using a dagger.

There was really a qualitative difference between Silver Quality and Brass Quality.

Xia Yan tiptoed forward painstakingly because walking wasn’t easy in the cave. There was gravel all over the ground and they had no idea how the savage managed to walk in barefooted.

As everyone delved deeper into the tunnel, the light gradually turned dim.

Xia Yan held the giant sword resting on her shoulder with her right hand. She extended her left hand and a tiny fire snake appeared on her fair and slender palm. It then weaved in and out between the gaps of her fingers in an agile manner.

In the end, Xia Yan’s left hand was covered in flames, which added a trace of light to the tunnel.

How long and deep was this tunnel exactly?

All of a sudden, everyone sensed the ground shaking beneath them.

What was going on?

Everyone panicked. Indeed, the earth was shaking.

Was this an earthquake?

Was the epicenter of the earthquake far away from the surface? Was that why it was trembling gently?

“Damn it, the army is crossing the border,” Xia Yan said all of a sudden.

Jiang Xiao asked, “What?”

Xia Yan hurriedly replied, “Have you forgotten what happened when the White Ghoul armies crossed the borders in the snowfield?”

Jiang Xiao was slightly stunned. He would never forget that scene.

What kind of army could make the ground quake?

“Can we go out?” Xia Yan asked as she turned around to look at Han Jiangxue.

“No, keep going.” Han Jiangxue made up her mind decisively because she didn’t think that leaving would bring a good outcome.

However, if they stayed in the cave, they could blow up everything in there and block the tunnel so that they could stay there safely until the army passed the border.

However…

Hai Tianqing…

Given how strong he was, he should have already sensed that something was amiss and should probably enter soon, right?

Turning around and fleeing was a feasible option too, but after thinking about the size of the White Ghoul Army, they reckoned that it would be safer to stay in the cave.

“Li Weiyi, go to the cave opening and call Hai Tianqing. Hurry and go, and be back quickly. If necessary, you can blow up the tunnel after you come in so as to block the opening,” said Han Jiangxue.

“Got it,” Li Weiyi said while flames burned in his hand, lighting up the way.

Out of all the members of the team, Xia Yan and Li Weiyi were the only ones who had Burning Flame. Han Jiangxue and Jiang Xiao did not have any means for conventional lighting either.

However, Han Jiangxue could condense a fireball while Jiang Xiao could use the light from Blessing to light up the cave. However, Li Weiyi and Xia Yan’s Burning Flame was much more convenient.

Jiang Xiao could hear Li Weiyi’s footsteps leaving behind, as well as the footsteps that were coming in front, which were rather gentle. The sounds were clear when the footsteps were set on the gravel.

Han Jiangxue frantically moved forward and shot Xia Yan a glance when she opened Sky Smasher in front of Xia Yan.

Xia Yan acknowledged and quickly extinguished the flame in her hand, causing the tunnel to turn pitch black.

The sounds of the gentle footsteps seemed to be getting closer and closer.

As the three of them held their breaths, at last, they finally saw a pair of eyes glowing with a bizarre, purple light.

However, although they were glowing, they didn’t seem to have night vision.

It was as if the pair of eyes was merely floating in the air in the dark tunnel, creating a peculiar scene.

The savage supported himself against the wall and strode forward coldly, seemingly extremely anxious.

All of a sudden, the pair of purple eyes floating in the air stopped and emitted a magical ray of light when they were about three meters away from the team. It then roared at them.

In the dark, the three of them couldn’t see each other at all, and Xia Yan couldn’t understand what Han Jiangxue was trying to get her to do.

Hence, it was rather quiet in the tunnel.

Jiang Xiao held his dagger tightly but saw that the pair of purple eyes had already changed in direction and seemed… to have turned around to run away.

“Wait a minute, let me put away the spaces!” Han Jiangxue suddenly exclaimed, breaking the silence.

She hurriedly restrained Sky Smasher. If the team was to accidentally run into it while chasing, the consequences would be terrible.

Han Jiangxue exclaimed, “Chase!”

Flames were ignited in Xia Yan’s palm again as she frantically chased forward.

At the same time, a groundbreaking and explosive sound could be heard from behind them.

The entire tunnel then began to tremble.

As the entrance began to shake, a female voice could be heard coming from afar in the tunnel which had an unknown depth.

The female voice was extremely stern and austere.

She seemed to be questioning and cursing something.

Her voice echoed in the tunnel and lingered it in for a long time.

For some reason, the images of the homeroom teacher Ye Xianglan began to form in Jiang Xiao’s mind…