This ce was originally a tourist attraction,plete with a predetermined sightseeing route. However, the electricity inside had been destroyed and, due to concerns about poisonous hazards harming people, it had not yet been restored. After proceeding a short distance, the path ahead was enveloped inplete darkness, and they could only rely on shlights to forge ahead.


    Five to six minutester, Xiao Shun and his party were carefully standing above a copsed sinkhole, a pitch-ck hole of about ten meters in diameter lying in front of them. Apart from Zhao Xianyong, the other three firefighters were young men in their twenties. Now that they had donned gas masks, Xiao Shun couldn’t recognize who was who. Zhao Xianyong led the mission, tying a safety rope to a protruding stone pir and throwing the other end into the sinkhole.


    “I’ll go down first to check it out. Once it’s safe, Dr. Xiao and Master Yuxu will follow. Bull and Bucket, you stay up here to assist,” Zhao Xianyong ordered.


    The three firefighters obeyed. Xiao Shun and Yuxu exchanged a nce. Both were cultivators and knew that the danger below might be more than an ordinary person could handle. Letting Zhao Xianyong go down seemed somewhat inappropriate.


    “Perhaps I should go first,” Xiao Shun suggested.


    Zhao Xianyong gave him a dismissive look. “You should not add to the chaos. You are appointed by the leaders, and I can’t afford any mishaps.”


    “Yes, Dr. Xiao, this is our job. How could we expose you to such a risk? Wait for Team Leader Zhao to confirm it’s safe, then you guys cane down,” said one of the firefighters, whose name was either Bull or Bucket.


    Xiao Shun gave a resigned smile. “Alright, we’ll wait up here. If there’s danger, shout.”


    Ignoring him, Zhao Xianyong, shlight in one hand, other hand clutching the safety rope, began his descent down the rock wall. The safety rope had a professional slide lock to control the speed of descent.


    Humans have an inherent fear of the unknown, and despite his daring reputation, Zhao Xianyong felt his heart tighten with every meter he descended. The cave was inherently damp, and chills seeped through his protective clothing, making him want to shudder.


    When his feet finally touched the ground, his fear peaked. He stood on a pile of rubble, surrounded by pitch ck, and could only inspect his surroundings with the light from his shlight. It seemed he hadnded on a shallow beach, the calm water reflecting the glow of his shlight.


    The space around wasrge, filled with bizarrely shaped rocks, and the damp walls were covered in moss. He couldn’t find any traces of tourists, but he suspected they were probably trapped under theserge stones. As a firefighter, he’d seen his fair share of corpses, but the thought of someone falling from a 20-meter height and then being crushed by these heavy stones was unimaginable.


    “It’s safe. Come down,” Zhao Xianyong shouted upwards, his voice muffled by his gas mask.


    Upon hearing Zhao Xianyong’s voice, Xiao Shun and the others breathed a sigh of relief. At least for now, it seemed the protective clothing and gas masks were somewhat useful. The two firefighters who had gone down before had not made a sound.


    Xiao Shun walked over and instinctively tugged at the safety rope to see if it was secure.


    “Don’t worry, this rope is specially made. No need to be so timid,” one of the firefighters above retorted, clearly annoyed.


    A bit amused, Xiao Shun thought that even if he jumped directly from this 20-meter height, he wouldn’t be killed. But at this moment, he didn’t want to argue. The firefighter named sses had already taught him how to use the slide lock, and soon the three of them reached the bottom of the hole.


    “Have you found any survivors?” sses asked first.


    In this vast, quiet ce, even with the gas mask on, one’s voice echoed hollowly.


    Zhao Xianyong shook his head, indicating the pile of rocks with his chin. “Chances are slim.”


    Xiao Shun circled the pile of rocks and took a careful sensing of the energy. He couldn’t feel any life force from inside the pile, and sighed, “They’re likely all dead.”


    Yuxu remained vignt all this while.


    “What do we do now? We can’t possibly move theserge stones to find the bodies,” sses asked, frowning.


    “Now that we’re here, we need to try to figure out where the poison hazard came from and eliminate this risk. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the experts to start their work. They can’t be expected to wear gas masks for their explorations,”Zhao Xianyong said.


    “Master, do you have any ideas?” he asked, turning to Xiao Shun.N?velD(ram)a.?rg owns this content.


    “No, you’re the team leader. You can lead,” Yuxu replied.


    “Alright, let’s look around and try to understand the terrain here,” Zhao Xianyong said.


    The area was spacious but not infinite. The team quicklypleted a circuit and discovered an underground river flowing through a narrow crack towards deeper areas. Apart from this, there wasn’t anything unusual about the cavern; no signs of artificial excavation were found.


    Zhao Xianyong shone his shlight towards the direction of the underground river, but a rock at a bend blocked the view ahead, making it impossible to discern the situation further down.


    After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Let’s go inside and take a look.”


    With that, he bravely started walking along the narrow crack that could barely amodate one person. Xiao Shun and the others followed closely.


    The sounds of water echoed beneath their feet as they traversed the varying depths of the underground river. It was dark, oppressive, and damp, abination that could easily induce feelings of suffocation.


    Xiao Shun and Yuxu were fine, but Zhao Xianyong and sses started feeling restless after walking for about five or six minutes.


    “Someone talk or sing to lighten the atmosphere,” Zhao Xianyong suggested as he walked.


    “Team Leader, are you scared?” sses teased him.


    “Nonsense! What is there to be afraid of? I’ve seen countless charred corpses,” Zhao Xianyong retorted. “If Dr. Xiao isn’t scared, it would be ridiculous if I were.”


    “The doctor often deals with disembowelments and such. He’s probably seen more bodies than us, right, Dr. Xiao?” sses chuckled.


    “I don’t perform surgeries, I practice traditional medicine,” Xiao Shun corrected him with a smile.


    “Oh… okay,” sses replied.


    “Stop.” Xiao Shun suddenly halted, causing everyone to freeze.


    “What’s wrong? You got us all jumpy,” Zhao Xianyong asked after a moment of silence.


    “Nothing, let’s keep going. But watch your step,” Xiao Shun advised. His heightened senses had detected the sound of rushing water up ahead, suggesting that the water level might not remain as cid as it was currently.