Who told him to make the cards!

"It's just my duty."

Chen Zhi smiled, then used his pickaxe to probe the path before leading the way into the slope.

"Same as always, stick close to me."

Luo Xiao's eyes flickered slightly.

You're right, Steward Ding.

This kid's got some skills.

The fifth floor is behind the slope.

This is the only correct information on the map.

Liu Bai's hands never stopped recording the events. He asked Chen Zhi, "Can you tell me the principles behind the mine tunnel folding and illusions?"

“It’s not exactly folding,” Chen Zhi said. “It’s more like translation.”

"The mine accident two weeks ago caused the road surface to crack and the rock strata to move violently, resulting in the passageway shifting to the left and right... that's roughly it."

"It concerns legal principles, and I can't explain it clearly. You are the professionals in this area and should know more about it than I do."

"I only know how to find my way."

Liu Bai nodded.

He felt that Chen Zhi was being modest.

But Chen Zhi was unwilling to say more, and he did not insist.

Let's change the subject.

He was very curious about why Chen Zhi, a miner, knew so much.

The word "legal principle" should not come out of a miner's mouth.

And then there's the card replacement technology.

But before he could speak again, a series of rapid noises suddenly came from his ears.

Something is crawling.

And there are many.

Chen Zhi's expression changed, and he immediately stopped in his tracks.

At the same time, the mining lamp card was turned off.

"Lights out."

"quick!"

Luo Xiao, who was walking at the back, seemed not to have heard clearly and frowned, asking, "What did you say?"

"Turn off all the cards, including the dust filter card!" Chen Zhi repeated, raising his voice.

Shen Qinglian and Liu Bai quickly did as instructed.

The old servant did nothing.

Because he's useless.

Luo Xiao hesitated for half a second before finally turning off the light card pinned to his chest.

Darkness descended instantly.

Chen Zhi didn't move, and they didn't dare to move either.

The sounds around my ears grew more and more intense, like surround sound, coming from all directions.

Using the last glimmer of light before Luo Xiao's miner's lamp went out, Liu Bai, who was looking around, finally saw that the crevices in the rock walls on both sides were teeming with gray beetles the size of a thumb.

No, not just the left and right sides.

There are also some on the top of the head.

There's also under your feet!

These insects seemed to have a poor sense of direction, crawling around aimlessly, their sharp mouthparts flashing with a faint blue light.

Shen Qinglian got goosebumps.

She hates bugs!

“These are mineral-eating worms,” Chen Zhi said in a low voice. “They love energy.”

The needles he used to replace his cards were made from the mouthparts of mineral-eating worms.

They actually have little fighting ability, but their sheer number and ugly appearance easily evoke fear in people.

Many mineral-eating insects fell from the rock crevices, climbed onto the people's feet, and then moved upwards along their ankles.

Several even landed on Shen Qinglian's shoulders, climbed up her snowy neck and face, causing her to clench her fists.

Everyone was surrounded by mineral-eating insects, which were trying to find the scent of energy that had previously drawn them there.

An insect landed on the card holder at Luo Xiao's waist, its mouthparts slightly open.

Luo Xiao clenched his fist, seemingly wanting to activate the card to kill the bug.

Chen Zhi noticed his movement and shouted, "Don't move!"

"You can kill one, you can kill a group, but can you kill an entire colony?"

The number of mineral-eating worms is far more than these; if they were all lured here, they would be enough to fill the entire passage.

Luo Xiao gave Chen Zhi a cold look.

Shen Qinglian's voice grew even colder: "You'd better listen to him."

Luo Xiao had no choice but to give up.

Shen Qinglian looked at Chen Zhi again, asking him with her eyes what to do.

She couldn't stand the bugs.

Chen Zhi gestured to the girl not to rush.

Mineral-eating worms lack sight and hearing, and their senses are dull. Their only sensitivity is to energy. As long as they don't move around too much, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Chen Zhi waited patiently.

until a certain moment.

With fewer insects around him, he suddenly pulled out a nearly destroyed energy card with lightning speed and threw it forcefully behind him.

The card landed and flickered twice.

All the mineral worms stopped at the same time.

The next instant, a dense and terrifying crawling sound surged backward like a tide.

"go!"

Chapter 6 Victims

Chen Zhi grabbed Liu Bai and ran forward without looking back.

Liu Bai was taken aback.

I thought to myself, "Damn, this kid is pretty sweet."

Chen Zhi ran very fast.

The light fixtures in this mine tunnel had long been eaten away by the ore-eating insects, and even after the eyes had adapted to the darkness, the visibility was less than three meters.

He dared to run like that purely because he was familiar with the road.

As Chen Zhi and the others moved forward, the mineral worms were drawn backward by the energy card, and the distance between them quickly increased.

Only when the crawling sound completely disappeared did Chen Zhi stop and reactivate the mining lamp card.

The dim light illuminated the surroundings.

They arrived at the fifth floor.

This is where the miners used to work. But after many years, the miners are gone and the mine is empty. The mining site, which was once filled with raw ore, has now become an empty space, leaving only a few crystal clusters by the wall, a tilted mine cart, and a few iron pickaxes half-buried in the mud and ash.

Liu Bai was manipulating the cards to record everything when he suddenly felt a heat in his arm.

Looking down, I realized that my sleeves had many tiny holes.

The edges of the hole were charred black, as if it had been burned, and it emitted a strange smell similar to straw.

This is why Chen Zhi ignored Shen Qinglian, who clearly held a more prestigious position, and instead went to pull him away.

Liu Bai wasn't wearing a dustproof suit.

The moment the dust filter card and the miner's lamp card were turned off, the mineral dust had already begun to corrode his body.

The arm, covered only by a single layer of clothing, showed extensive burns.

His cheeks turned bright red, with faint traces of blood seeping out.

Only then did Liu Bai realize what was happening, and a piercing, burning pain shot through him, instantly causing him to break out in a cold sweat.