Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Newly Appeared Rift

It was very dark in the cave, but Xu Xin, who had stepped into it, could clearly hear the sound of wind coming from deep within the cave.

After eating a red berry, everything became clear before his eyes.

This Black Bear Cave wasn’t very deep; you could see its end at a glance. Now, at the deepest part of the cave, there was a change Xu Xin had never seen before.

It was a narrow crevice, only a few dozen centimeters wide and about two meters high. Stones were scattered on the ground outside the crevice, as if something from inside had poked it open.

The eerie “woo-woo” wind sound came from inside there.

This must be the small cave entrance mentioned by someone in the regional channel. From the sound of it, mysterious and secretive, it indeed seemed like the entrance to a dungeon.

Although no red dots appeared on the map indicating danger ahead, Xu Xin didn’t let his guard down. He was well aware that those underground monsters wouldn’t appear on the map until they emerged from below.

Even though he was within the treehouse’s protection range and those monsters wouldn’t survive a few seconds if they came out, he couldn’t guarantee he’d remain unscathed in a surprise attack. It was better to be cautious.

Before entering, he filled up on buffs. Xu Xin took out an orange and a plum, ate them, feeling the dual buffs in spirit and stamina, took a deep breath, and walked towards the entrance.

“Yelp!” After just two steps towards the crevice, Keke on his shoulder suddenly cried out.

“There’s danger!” Xu Xin immediately became alert. He was all too familiar with Keke’s cry. After days of cooperation, he recognized that it signaled danger ahead.

But danger or not, he had to go.

The crevice was too narrow for his spear, so Xu Xin drew out his newly made iron sword from its leather sheath. If any monsters crawled out from the crevice, Xu Xin would slash them with a single stroke.

The crevice was so small that Xu Xin had to turn slightly sideways to enter. He glanced inside; it was deep and had a bend, beyond which he couldn’t see.

“Howl!” Silver King howled, sitting helplessly on the ground. With its shoulders much broader than ordinary wolves, it couldn’t squeeze into the crevice.

“Great, I’ve just lost my only warrior.” Xu Xin was also helpless.

If it was just the entrance being narrow, he could try chiseling it open. But with the entire passage being this narrow, there was no way. He couldn’t chisel his way through the entire passage; who knows how long that would take.

Xu Xin could only leave Silver King at the crevice entrance, and he and Keke proceeded first. Then they’d look for another opening to bring Silver King in.

If not for the backpack’s inability to hold living creatures, Xu Xin would have loved to pack Silver King inside and take it along.

After comforting Silver King and leaving it a piece of meat to guard the entrance and howl if anything happened, Xu Xin entered the narrow crevice with Keke at his side.

This newly appeared passage couldn’t be called a cave anymore, just a small slit. As soon as he squeezed into this crevice, the strange “woo-woo” wind sound became more apparent.

In such a confined space, one never feels safe, especially when danger could lurk at any moment. Xu Xin was highly alert, turning his body sideways as he advanced.

Only the entrance of this crevice showed signs of recently being broken open, while inside, dust was thick, and the stone walls bore all sorts of traces of time. It was clear this couldn’t be a newly formed crevice. The crevice had always been here; the entrance had just been blocked.

Upon entering, Xu Xin realized this passageway slanted slightly downwards, meaning the further he went, the deeper he delved underground.

“Yelp!” Suddenly, Keke jumped off his shoulder, tugged at the leather pants of Xu Xin’s armor, then ran forward along the crevice.

“Keke, don’t run, it’s dangerous!” Keke vanished around a bend in an instant, and Xu Xin called out instinctively.

But then he remembered that this little creature could sense danger. If it dared rush ahead, it meant there was no danger it could perceive up ahead.

Was this little guy trying to test the waters for him?

Clenching his teeth, Xu Xin quickened his pace to follow.

The crevice-like cave became narrower as he advanced, and after merely a few dozen meters, he had to walk sideways all the time.

“Goodness, any fatter, and I might not have squeezed through,” Xu Xin struggled through the crevice.

“Yelp!” A small head poked out from a bend a few meters ahead of Xu Xin.

After a few steps, Xu Xin understood why Keke had stopped there.

At the bend, there were three paths to choose from. They were more crevices than paths; one continued forward, one went left, the other right.

“…Three directions?” Xu Xin narrowed his eyes.

He had a guess in his mind.

Among these three directions, perhaps only one was correct. Choosing the wrong path could lead to a trap, an abyss of no return.

In this narrow crevice where he could only turn sideways, Xu Xin could handle a single monster. But if creatures emerged from all directions, he’d likely be meeting the king of hell soon.

He couldn’t choose so rashly.

Xu Xin observed the three directions; each crevice bent after only a short distance, making it impossible to see what lay ahead. There weren’t any special marks at the crevice entrances, either.

He checked the map, but it showed no maze, just the above-ground Black Bear Cave and the jungle.

After investigating for a while, Xu Xin still found no obvious clues.

“Is it really all based on luck? Or does it not matter if we take the wrong path?” Xu Xin knitted his brow.

Keke ran back and forth before the three paths, occasionally glancing inside, also unable to decide.

“Keke, didn’t you just sense danger inside? Can you tell which direction the danger is in now?” Xu Xin asked Keke softly.

“Yelp…” Keke paused in its movements, then pointed towards the left path.

…Then it pointed to the middle path, lastly to the right path.

“…There’s danger in all directions?”

“Yelp!”

“Which one is the most dangerous?”

“Yelp.” Keke shook its head, indicating it didn’t know.

Xu Xin took a deep breath to calm himself.

What was this? Danger in every direction?

Might as well try one at a time since there’s danger in all of them.

No, he couldn’t be so reckless.

Thinking it over, Xu Xin messaged Li Wenxi: “Did you find the entrance?”

Li Wenxi had once told him that there were mine shafts around her treehouse, and if the entrances appeared in caves, she had a good chance of finding one.

Li Wenxi replied in seconds: “Found it! I followed what that person in the regional channel said and went into a mine with strange sounds, and sure enough, I found a new small entrance.”

Xu Xin quickly sent a voice message, which was instantly answered.

“Did you go inside?” Xu Xin asked softly.

“Yes, I’m inside… but there are so many forked paths, I got lost…” Li Wenxi’s voice sounded a bit embarrassed.

“Lost?” Xu Xin was a bit shocked. “You just went in casually?”

“What do you mean casually? I left marks! But there are so many forks; I ended up getting lost.” Li Wenxi muttered.

Many forked paths?

Xu Xin looked at the three paths ahead.

So, there wasn’t just this one fork; it was a cave maze!