Slowly advancing in the underground cavern, Xu Xin began to observe the surroundings.
The walls were not stone, but slightly dry soil, which was light red in color. The entire wall was composed of this light red, contaminated soil (gray).
He lightly touched it with his hand, and a small piece of wall crumbled, falling onto the slope and rolling down a bit.
"You guys, don’t touch the walls if you don’t have to; it’s all soil and might collapse." Xu Xin reminded the four beasts.
The underground passage inside this cavern was round above and below. Though the ground was slanted, it was relatively flat, while the ceiling was curved.
The entire cave seemed like it was burrowed by a gigantic worm, tunneling downwards.
"Eek..." Keke lay on Xu Xin’s shoulder, huddling its head in some fear.
Its sense of danger was extremely keen, and in its perception, they were moving step by step towards peril.
Xu Xin naturally knew danger lay ahead, but he still had to move forward. His treehouse was surrounded by a mass of mutated vines, and without destroying that heart, he wouldn’t even be able to protect his treehouse.
In theory, this path should be less than a kilometer, but he felt as though he had been walking for a long time. The deeper he went, the quieter it became, to the point where he could not see his hand in front of his face. Thankfully, Xu Xin had night vision capabilities, so it wasn’t too much of an issue.
Mimi and Silver King, being mutated beasts, could both see in the dark, while even though Keke wasn’t a mutated beast, for some reason, darkness never affected it. As for Afu, nothing needed to be said, it could use the ultrasound it emitted to navigate, completely unaffected by the darkness, which in fact was its domain.
Within the cave, only their footsteps echoed.
Though his nose had adjusted to the fragrance in the environment, Xu Xin could still perceive that now the scent was more intense than at the entrance, becoming almost pungent, while a faint red mist began to drift around.
Suddenly, ahead, a glimmer of red light quietly appeared, making Xu Xin’s heart skip a beat.
A closer look made him sigh in relief, discovering the light source was Mimi walking in front of him.
The blood-red patterns on Mimi’s body were faintly glowing.
Was it because of the Red Mist in the area?
The blood markings on Afu, who was crouching on Mimi’s back, didn’t light up, but looking back at Silver King, he noticed it also emitted a weak red glow.
Apparently, mid-grade mutated beasts were more sensitive to the Red Mist, or rather, they could make more efficient use of it, even when the mist was thin, to enhance their own power.
However, this served as a warning bell, instantly heightening his vigilance.
His past experiences in the Hilly Resource Zone taught him that in areas densely filled with Red Mist, the protective effect of treehouses became weaker, and there was a high probability of encountering mutated creatures.
In a cave, spears weren’t very useful, so Xu Xin touched the blue-grade iron long sword at his waist, holding an explosive crossbow bolt mounted in a crossbow, following closely behind Mimi.
Mimi also dared not walk fast, sensing an unknown danger ahead. It treaded like a cat, ensuring its hind paw always stepped where the front paw had landed, ensuring its safety.
After walking for a few minutes, the view suddenly broadened. The person and the four beasts entered a space like an underground hall.
There were no other exits in the entire space, indicating they had reached the end. This space was devoid of vines, nor was there a pulsing "heart" wrapped around by vines, which left Xu Xin somewhat disappointed.
They must have taken the wrong path. Xu Xin checked his position on the map and realized there was still some distance to the treehouse.
Yet, Xu Xin wasn’t in a hurry to return, for he was drawn to the plant growing prominently in the center of this space.
There were three huge, very vivid flowers clustered together. Each flower petal was as large as a lotus leaf, blood-red like dripping crimson. In the center of countless petals, yellow stamens clustered together, appearing unusually beautiful.
Xu Xin was puzzled, pondering how such bright flowers could exist in this perpetually dark underground.
He dared not approach casually, understanding that in the natural world, organisms with more brilliant colors tended to be more dangerous.
"Eek!" Keke suddenly cried out.
...It meant there was danger!
Xu Xin held his explosive crossbow, aiming at the cluster of vivid red flowers ahead, prepared to pull the trigger if anything went wrong. Silver King moved to his side, while Afu flapped its wings and took flight, and Mimi arched its back, ready to pounce and claw the flowers to pieces at any moment.
Suddenly, one of the flowers’ stamens trembled slightly, and a thick red mist burst forth from the stamen.
Xu Xin nearly pulled the trigger, while Mimi’s body shuddered, clearly itching to attack but restrained itself.
The flowers did not continue expelling red mist, only releasing a burst before stopping. The red mist dispersed into the air, eventually diluting into a faint red haze.
Several meters away, Xu Xin caught a whiff of the familiar pungent scent.
His eyes gradually widened in surprise.
This airborne red mist was actually released by these flowers right before him!
The red mist spread towards them, and Xu Xin inevitably inhaled some. At the present moment, his body was enhanced by Spiritual Power, so he felt no discomfort, merely finding the odor somewhat unpleasant.