Next to the enormous chasm dividing the Exotic Realm, Yu Sheng and his companions saw what looked like enormous roots of some plant—these massive "tree roots" spread out from the depths of the chasm, winding up the cliff and extending to the surface. However, their dark color blended almost entirely with the surroundings, making it hard to discern them from the air.Yu Sheng cautiously approached these enormous roots emerging from the underground, then looked far to both sides. He discovered that the area covered by these roots was much larger than imagined. Shadows of the roots were virtually everywhere inside the visible section of the chasm, and their base lay in the unfathomable darkness of the underground.
Erin came over from behind, and her short-legged, short-armed figure clumsily climbed up one of the roots onto a section resembling a "wooden knot," peering down and immediately exclaiming: "Wow... it's so damn deep down here!"
"No life signs," Luna also approached, running her hand over a nearby massive root, as a glow flickered within her mechanical eye, "Scanning... underground structure... detected, enormous cavity."
Yu Sheng lifted his gaze and saw Hu Li also glancing over.
"Savior, might these roots be what the Beauty God mentioned earlier..."
"Hard to say, I'm also wondering," Yu Sheng nodded slightly, then looked toward the depths of the chasm, "We'll have to go down and take a look. Luna mentioned there's still a large underground structure below. Let's fly down."
Zheng Zhi immediately prepared to summon something, but Li Lin quickly grabbed his arm, "If you make me ride a bamboo dragonfly or paper airplane, I'll be furious you, let me tell you, I'm just over 20 this year, not worth the risk..."
Before he could finish speaking, a burst of fire lit up at the edge of his vision, and a swaying, floating fox tail glowing with fox fire drifted beside him.
Li Lin took a look at this fox tail, which appeared to lack any guardrails or handrails, and slowly swallowed.
"... Can those Divine Birds over there be ridden?"
White Cut and Salt Roasted simultaneously let out a cry to the sky, their bodies brimming with celestial glow.
Li Lin was instantly startled, and Hu Li translated for him: "They said you can, but riding once costs two corns. You can put it on account first."
Li Lin: "..."
Minutes later, streams of light leapt into the deep chasm.
In the middle of the complex environment within the chasm, where the roots crisscrossed, the enormous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox found it challenging to move, so Hu Li transformed into human form in advance. Yu Sheng carried Erin with a fox tail in tow, following behind, while Freyia flew in the center of the group—primarily providing lighting assistance.
With the lighting provided by Miss Angel and the glow from the surrounding fox fire, the group could easily see their surroundings.
On both sides, the "cliff walls" were slowly rising as the height of the fox tail lowered, and the dark, withered roots covered the rock wall like a tangled web. Numerous roots were even embedded in the rocks, with signs of breakage at many locations.
Aside from that, Yu Sheng also noticed that the cliff was not just composed of rock and soil—he saw structures resembling ruins and debris that looked like walls and shattered towers, deeply embedded in both sides of the cliff.
The deeper they descended, the clearer these structures became, gradually forming a continuous, complete appearance.
Recalling the ruins of Exotic Realm buildings that appeared on the surface, Yu Sheng suddenly had a feeling that the underground structures before his eyes seemed alive and were slowly growing. The towers and walls revealed on the surface were like branches growing from the tips of this underground city...
And those roots clung to the cliff, now withered and dead, seemed to be desperately trying to halt this "growth" process.
Luna's figure flickered and jumped between the cliff walls, returning beside Yu Sheng after scouting ahead: "There is an entrance ahead."
Yu Sheng pressed the fox tail down, following Luna's direction. He quickly saw the opening leading into the underground cavity.
It appeared to be a corridor extending from the cliff wall out of thin air, with ancient, massive stone columns and arch ceilings supporting the rocks and soil, and a small platform structure protruding from the front edge of the cliff wall.
The group landed on the small platform, and Hu Li conjured several balls of fox fire, tossing them into the corridor.
Flames floated across the dark space, and Yu Sheng discovered that the corridor was only a short segment at the exit, leading deep into the cave and seemingly branching into complex paths.
"Looks a bit scary," Erin had already climbed nimbly onto Yu Sheng's shoulder by this time, babbling while clutching his head, "I always feel that taking a few steps forward could lead a monster to suddenly jump out from the ceiling or corners and backstab us... Maybe we should roll forward?"
Luna had already started walking forward at this time, glancing at the Little Puppet as she passed: "I have a radar. Besides, if you wish, you can simply get down and walk; there's no need to roll."
Erin looked momentarily stunned, patting Yu Sheng's head: "What does C-type buckle mean?!"
"She's wishing you a safe journey."
"Right, right..."
Yu Sheng kept up with Luna's pace, leading the others deeper into the cave.
Here, you can also see those strangely colored, dark roots—they twist and grow along walls and the ground, reaching everywhere.
And just like the roots on the surface, the roots here have completely withered with no signs of life.
After walking forward for an unknown distance, the group arrived at a larger underground cavern.
This is where several caves converge, with several entrances large and small appearing in view, and numerous twisting roots extending from each cave. Occasionally, on the uneven ground, you can see collapsed stone pillars and roof structures that shouldn't be underground, as if they were brought here during the roots' growth from elsewhere.
Freyia flew into the air, clenched her fist to exert her strength, making herself like a searchlight to illuminate the surroundings.
"Which way should we go?" The Little Puppet poked Yu Sheng's back and asked, while looking at those distant paths, "They all look the same... Should I summon a couple of groups to scatter out and explore the way?"
"Don't bother," Yu Sheng waved his hand, turning his head towards Zheng Zhi who was curiously surveying around, "Which way should we go?"
Zheng Zhi was a bit stunned and pointed at himself with wide eyes: "Huh? Asking me?"
"Well, who else should I ask?" Yu Sheng replied matter-of-factly, "This is a moment for some occult science."
Zheng Zhi's face was somewhat difficult to maintain, but it wasn't the first time. He quickly accepted this setup and then looked around several times with some anxiety, finally closing his eyes and pointing in a direction: "Then let's go this way—just to be clear, I completely guess this place looks the same everywhere..."
So the group walked in the direction Zheng Zhi had pointed, entering a cave passage that looked no different from the surroundings. After walking a little further, a faint glow appeared at the end of their view.
Zheng Zhi was dumbfounded himself: "…Hey, isn't this a bit too convenient?!"
Yu Sheng chuckled happily, casually dropping the phrase "this cave" and quickly walked forward.
He soon saw the source of the faint glow.
At the end of the cave, a small campfire illuminated the surroundings, and a cloaked figure was sitting by the fire, fiddling with an oddly shaped musical instrument. In the firelight beside him, faint illusions of walls seemed to appear and disappear.
Erin immediately recognized the figure: "Ah, it's that Minstrel!"
Li Lin was completely confused: "Minstrel? What Minstrel?"
No one answered him. Yu Sheng was already carrying the Little Puppet quickly towards the distant campfire, and almost at the same time, the Minstrel, who was bending over his instrument, noticed someone approaching and looked over.
"Ah, amid the dark and cold journey, companions appear..." From beneath the hood came the Minstrel's slightly hoarse voice, he said in slightly exaggerated tones, "Who is it... Oh, a friend I've seen before?"
"You actually remember us?" Yu Sheng said in surprise, "How did you end up here?"
"A traveler himself does not know where he will wander," The Minstrel slowly shook his head, strumming the strings of his instrument, "Everything is guided by unpredictable fate."
Erin jumped down from Yu Sheng's shoulder, looking up at the cloaked figure in front of her: "So you just got lost."
"…Yes."
Yu Sheng was momentarily speechless at this answer, but quickly spoke: "Listen, we are also looking for the Lodaxim High Wall right now; some bad things have happened recently. Do you know what's going on with the Kingdom?"
The Minstrel didn't raise his head: "I am an exiled person long ago; how could I know the situation of the Kingdom?"
This answer was expected, but Yu Sheng really had no other sources of information now. The Minstrel, who seemed to come from the High Wall Kingdom, was the only person besides the Knight he could communicate with on this matter. So he stubbornly dug into his pocket, pulling out a paper depicting the Iron Armor Giant and waving it in front of him.
"Do you recognize him? He used to guard the Royal City..."
The Minstrel glanced up, his tone finally changing: "Ah, this, this is someone... I'd recognize if there's payment."
Erin jumped up immediately, cursing with all the words except punctuation marked with stars.
But Yu Sheng expected this and immediately raised his hand to call Freyia over.
Miss Angel casually made some fake coins and handed them to the figure by the campfire.
"Ah, so dazzling—he is the gatekeeper of Royal City, 'Giant' Jorheim. Many years ago he was exiled, never thought one day I'd hear about his fate from an outsider... Fate, oh fate, how unpredictable."