Our neighborhood has been transported again.

Chapter 51 Mysterious Cave
Deng Guang looked around at the repetitive scenery and the dense canopy of trees overhead, and a sense of panic crept into his heart. "Where are we now? Can we find our way back?"

"Yes, the way back to the community is just ahead."

Qin Ziwen pointed ahead.

A harpy eagle was leading the way overhead.

It can fly over the forest and determine the location of the neighborhood from a high altitude.

This is the harpy eagle's greatest use: in the forest, it acts as a "GPS satellite" for navigation, so you never have to worry about getting lost.

Hearing that they could find their way back, Deng Guang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm afraid of getting lost in this forest.

"Wait a minute." Qin Ziwen pulled Deng Guang back as he walked forward.
In the dense forest ahead, a tall, heavy shadow loomed over as vines and bushes swayed.

A beast nearly two meters tall, with its thick triangular horns, emerged.

Its dark brown mane cascaded down its neck, and its bright, dark eyes gazed at the three of them.

After watching for a moment, I chose to ignore it and strolled away leisurely.

"What a huge deer!"

It is nearly three meters long, and beneath its rough fur are strong muscles. I can't imagine how painful it would be to be kicked by it.

As it walked out, five more deer emerged from behind it, two large and three small.

The fawn seemed a little afraid of people; upon seeing them, it sped up and quickly hid in the bushes ahead.

Qin Ziwen felt a surge of excitement; the resources here were incredibly abundant.

Apart from the six deer we just saw, we didn't get up close to any other wild animals for more than an hour.

Most animals kept their distance after noticing their movements.

Deng Guangxian asked, "By the way, Brother Qin, are you planning to take those gray sweet potatoes back and eat them directly?"

Qin Ziwen shook his head: "No, I filled some boxes with soil, cut them into pieces, and threw them in to plant."

Deng Guang was taken aback. "Have they sprouted?"

Qin Ziwen replied truthfully, "No."

Deng Guangzhu nodded slowly, seemingly lost in thought. He said in a low voice, "Have you never grown sweet potatoes before?"

"Never planted it before."

Deng Guang understood and instructed, "To plant sweet potatoes, you need to start by cultivating seedlings. When you get back, you can dig out the sweet potatoes buried in the soil, wash them clean, and then apply quicklime or wood ash to the surface of the cut pieces to prevent rotting and increase the survival rate."

The temperature for planting sweet potatoes should not be too low or too high; around 20 degrees Celsius is ideal. They should not be buried too deep, about five centimeters of soil is sufficient. The soil should be kept moist. They will sprout in two to three days, or at most a week.

Qin Ziwen asked, "Brother Deng, have you ever grown sweet potatoes?"

Deng Guang said with a smile, "My family used to grow this when I was a child, so I guess you could call me a country person. By the way, when you cut it, you should make sure that each small piece has a bud eye, and the new shoots will sprout from those bud eyes."

As he spoke, Deng Guang asked Qin Ziwen to take out a gray sweet potato from his bag and taught Qin Ziwen how to identify the buds.

The buds were not difficult to recognize, and Qin Ziwen quickly mastered the technique.

"Thank you, Brother Deng."

"Not so polite."

As the two chatted, Qin Ziwu, who was walking ahead, heard the sound of gurgling water ahead. He quickly stepped forward and said, "There's a stream here."

The stream was not wide, less than ten feet wide.

The stream is lush with aquatic plants and dotted with rocks.

To the right front is a hillside, and the stream flows out from above.

"Water bamboo?" Deng Guang recognized a plant in the stream.

Following Deng Guang's gaze, Qin Ziwen saw a plant with broad, sword-shaped leaves, which was a full meter tall.

Deng Guang stepped forward, looked around to make sure there were no snakes, then used his small knife to cut open the base of the leaf sheath, took out a section of the stem, and then peeled off the outer layers of skin like peeling corn, revealing the fleshy stem inside.

After clearly identifying it, Deng Guang was overjoyed; it was indeed what he had imagined.

"Brother Qin, this stuff is edible! Have you ever tried it?" Qin Ziwen walked over and shook his head.

He doesn't recognize it.

Deng Guang said, "This stuff is delicious when stir-fried with meat. It's edible. There used to be a lot of wild ones by the streams and rivers, but we've seen them less often since then."

(Water bamboo shoots, water bamboo shoots, and bamboo shoots)
The three of them picked water chestnuts by the stream for a while, filling nearly half of their backpacks.

Qin Ziwen stood up, clenched his fist, and pounded his lower back before letting out a long sigh of relief.

Besides water bamboo shoots, I also grabbed a dozen or so large crabs and threw them into the bucket.

There are many crabs in the stream, perhaps because they have never been caught by anyone. The stream is rich in resources, and there are also some small black fish about the length of a finger, but they are very fast and difficult to catch.

Qin Ziwen looked up and said, "If we go any further up from here, we'll be climbing the mountain. We should be at the foot of the mountain."

This is a hillside downhill, and the stream flows out from above.

However, he couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but he could mark this stream as a special spot. The stream was quite rich in resources, and many animals would drink water by the stream. So he set up the trap here, crushed a crab, and threw the fishy-smelling crumbs into the trap.

Then place the phone in the small pouch on the harpy's chest and let it fly up to observe its surroundings. Ideally, there should be a clear landmark so that you can deduce its exact location.

Once the eagle landed, Qin Ziwen took out his phone.

By comparing the location of the residential area in the video with the tributary river behind it, the current location was roughly determined.

It's about two or three miles away from the residential area, near the foot of the mountain, located northeast of the residential area.

While watching the video, one scene caught his attention.

Qin Ziwen quickly pressed pause and repeatedly checked the progress bar.

Surprisingly, there was a cave right above their location.

Qin Ziwen gently rubbed the casing with his fingers, lost in thought.

The two known altars were both found in caves. Now that he has seen a new cave, could there be an altar inside?

It felt as if a little devil was whispering and tempting me in my ear.

"There's a cave here," Qin Ziwen said, looking at the two of them.

Qin Ziwu said without hesitation, "Go!"

Deng Guang hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, "Let's go take a look."

After climbing upstream along the stream for about half an hour, a cave came into view.

The cave is not tall, only a little over two meters high, but it is nearly three meters wide. The cave is dark and dimly lit.

The stream originates from inside the cave.

The entrance to the cave is a jumble of rocks, and the deeper you go in, the deeper the water becomes.

Qin Ziwen observed his surroundings and noticed that many plants along the edge of the cave had been trampled.

"Be careful."

Qin Ziwu noticed several scratches on the nearby tree. "There are signs that it has been scratched."

Deng Guang even found a cigarette butt in the bushes, saying, "Someone has been here before."

Qin Ziwen became alert; had anyone been here?

He looked at the cave in front of him. Since someone had been here, this cave must have been explored by others.

I took the flashlight out of my bag and turned it on to level four.

The intense beam of light instantly illuminated the pitch-black cave.

The cave is shaped like a gourd, with a narrow entrance but a spacious interior. Inside, a pool of water has accumulated, and above and behind the pool is a deep tunnel.

Above their heads, several bats the size of basketballs flew towards the depths of the tunnel.

In the pool, water splashed and leaped, and something swam away to hide in the deeper part the moment the beam of light shone upon it.

On the stone platform beside the pool, a square stone altar, about one meter high and two meters in diameter, stands there.

(End of this chapter)