The entirety of Duan Ya Mountain became steeper as one descended, the cliffs so sheer that only rocks remained; vegetation or trees growing in the crevices were seen only on the upper regions, but lower down, there were no trees at all.
This phenomenon was somewhat abnormal; looking downward from the summit, through the lush trees initially, there were hardly any trees further down.
Approximately halfway up the cliff, the rocks were rugged and strange, with two huge boulders jutting out, and between these boulders, there shockingly was a cave.
From a distance, this cave appeared as if it had been forcefully indented, blending with the surrounding rocks to form an image akin to a person opening their mouth, with the cave representing the mouth.
Walking into the cave, it was pitch dark at first, so dark that you couldn’t see your fingers in front of you, without a trace of light, but about two hundred meters in, there faintly appeared some light. This light was not the color of the sun but was a pale yellow, emanating from the surrounding walls upon closer inspection.
Moreover, at the center of this concave cave, there surprisingly was a Round Pond about ten meters in diameter, with not even a ripple on the water, which was very clear. Yet eerily, from above, one couldn’t see the bottom of the pond at all.
Additionally, from the surface of the Round Pond, wisps of cold air were rising visibly, but they evaporated midway in the air.
Not far from the Round Pond, Li Chen lay on the ground, unconscious. His clothes were in utter disarray, and he had many wounds on his body, most of which were sustained from hitting the rocks as he fell. His lips were smeared with fresh blood, and his hands were even more tragic, flesh blurred as though they had been scraped against hard objects.
Meanwhile, Xiaoxiao was also deep in a slumber not far away.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Xiaoxiao finally woke from her deep sleep.
She looked around, completely unaware of where she was or how much time had passed, but suddenly, she spotted Li Chen lying not far ahead.
Immediately, Xiaoxiao was shocked, and she hurried forward to kneel, her eyes red, tears swirling.
"Brother-in-law, what’s wrong? Please, be okay."
Xiaoxiao pushed Li Chen’s body, and suddenly the grey, murky world around her seemed to ripple like the surface of water, and she found herself half-kneeling in it, pushing at herself.
Strange, isn’t that me?
Li Chen felt puzzled and wanted to say, "Xiaoxiao, I’m ok."
But after a while, he realized that though his lips moved, no sound came out.
Xiaoxiao was crying there. Everything that happened today was so sudden, and now, Li Chen was her biggest support, yet he was still unconscious.
"Brother-in-law, please wake up, I won’t be willful again, woo woo woo." Xiaoxiao started crying, but it was all to no avail, as Li Chen remained unconscious, only able to vaguely sense and perceive Xiaoxiao’s crying, yet unable to respond.
In the quiet cave, only Xiaoxiao’s crying echoed, but when her crying reached a certain pitch, suddenly, countless echoing cries appeared all around!
The crying Xiaoxiao was startled, panicking as she looked around and asked nervously, "Who, who’s there?"
However, an identical voice replied.
Xiaoxiao’s suspended heart relaxed, but looking at Li Chen, who was still unconscious, she felt a wave of panic again.
Xiaoxiao tentatively called out again, seeing that Li Chen still showed no response, she had to give up on the idea.
She looked around; although there were lights on distant walls, most places were still pitch dark. Xiaoxiao was somewhat afraid, but regardless, she had to face it alone.
After a while, Xiaoxiao finally calmed down. At this time, she noticed her lips were very dry.
Today, she had climbed to the summit without drinking a drop of water. After that, she fell off the cliff, and until now, not knowing how much time had passed, Xiaoxiao still hadn’t drunk any water. It was only natural that her mouth felt parched.
At the same time, Xiaoxiao felt a pang of hunger. In order to leave early in the morning, she had only eaten a little food, which had long been digested by now.
Looking around, Xiaoxiao realized that apart from the Round Pond, there was nothing else.
Coming to the edge of the pool water, it was then that Xiaoxiao noticed that the surface of the pool intermittently revealed some small white fish, which were only the size of thumbs, even tinier than miniature.
Xiaoxiao, out of curiosity, tried to catch them, but as soon as her hand touched the water, she exclaimed.
Looking at the misty pool water, Xiaoxiao’s eyes were filled with disbelief. How could the water in the Round Pond be this cold?
The moment she reached her hand into it, the temperature was only a few degrees, barely exceeding ten degrees. It was summer now, and even if it was inside a cave, it shouldn’t be this cold.
The white fish, however, seemed very suited to this temperature, swimming joyfully to and fro, and some even leaped from the water only to fall back in.
Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, only then realizing they were chapped and very dry. Without hesitation, she scooped the water from the Cold Pool with her hands, cupped it, and drank.
Though the water was very cold, it was equally refreshing.
The icy water flowed into her body through her throat, causing Xiaoxiao to shiver uncontrollably; it was just too cold, and her body seemed to tremble.
Xiaoxiao felt somewhat wronged. As the second young lady of the Lin Family, she had grown up spoiled and carefree, never lacking food or clothing, never having been in such a situation before.
She took a deep breath, suppressed the feeling of being wronged, wiped her eyes, and brushed away the tears from her eye sockets.
Then, enduring the cold, she scooped up water, slowly stood up, and went over to Li Chen.
"Brother-in-law, drink some water."
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