Journey to the West: Building a Celestial Empire Starting from Lion Camel Ridge

The two stopped at the same time, and could see the surprise and uncertainty in each other's eyes.

The roaring noise had just subsided when the shelter fell silent, a silence that was unsettling.

The tremors that came from underground still lingered in the soles of my feet.

Chen Ping'an stood up and gripped his spear tightly; Ali, who had only spoken halfway, quickly took down his hunting bow, drew it, and nocked an arrow.

Their eyes were fixed on the same spot.

The ground, which had been soaked in the putrid liquid of the dead toad all night, was about two feet in diameter.

The original stone slabs were completely corroded, and the compacted soil layer underneath also collapsed.

At this moment, loose soil was still falling from the edge of the cave entrance, sliding down the cave wall with a slight rustling sound before falling silent.

Chen Pingan cautiously walked to the edge of the cave and looked down.

It was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything.

But there is wind.

It gushed out from inside, damp and slightly cool.

Chen Pingan slowly squatted down, brought his hand closer, and sensed the direction of the airflow.

The wind is blowing from the inside out.

This means it's not a dead end.

Chen Ping'an originally had no way to deal with the putrid liquid of the Death Toad, but unexpectedly, after several hours of corrosion, it actually created a hole in the ground.

Is it a blessing or a curse?

Ali stared intently at the cave entrance, put down her bow and arrow, picked up a piece of broken brick, and threw it inside.

The brick bounced twice against the cave wall, then landed with a muffled thud.

"It's not very deep, but it's not shallow either, about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) deep."

Ali roughly calculated the distance.

Chen Pingan nodded. "I'll go down and take a look."

Ali went to a corner of the shelter and found a roll of thin hemp rope. She picked up a wooden stick from the ruins, wrapped a strip of cloth around the end, soaked it in some oil, made a simple torch, and then handed it to Chen Ping'an.

Be careful.

"Um."

Chen Ping'an took the torch, tied one end of the hemp rope to the purifying spirit altar, and tied the other end around his waist in a knot.

Ali handed him the torch, glanced around the edge of the cave entrance, and kicked a piece of broken brick far away.

Chen Ping'an gripped the torch tightly, took a deep breath, and first put his legs into the cave entrance, then slowly slid down the cave wall with his feet on it.

------

After descending about ten feet, the soil layer was replaced by a stone wall.

These aren't ordinary rubble bricks—they're whole stones chiseled in, with the gaps filled with yellow mud. When you touch them, the texture is fine and dense, showing that time and effort were put into their creation.

It shouldn't be a demon race, but rather a cellar meticulously built by the human race.

If it really is a cellar, could there be things left behind by previous generations?

Chen Ping'an was overjoyed.

Holding my breath and listening intently, I heard no sound of spirits or monsters.

He controlled the rope, slowly lowering himself to the bottom of the hole, then looked up and surveyed the space.

The top is about ten feet high, and the space is not large, about four or five steps square.

The stone walls and ground have been meticulously treated, and there is no standing water.

In the corner, there was a row of rough pottery jars, some of which were broken and the fragments were scattered on the ground; others were intact and sealed with wax.

Chen Ping'an picked it up; it was heavy, and there were things inside.

Near the right side of the stone wall, there is a simple stone platform that has been built. There is nothing on it, but the surface of the platform is polished very smooth, as if something has been placed there for a long time and then taken away.

On the left, there was a bundle of rotten straw mats piled in the corner, with a few broken pottery pieces scattered around it, and a pottery bowl lying upside down on the ground.

People used to live here.

Chen Ping'an examined each of the intact pottery jars one by one.

A jar of salt was only half full; it had solidified into lumps, but the quality remained.

I opened one of the two jars of dried goods and smelled it. It contained dried wild vegetables. Because it had been there for so long, it had almost no smell left, but fortunately it hadn't gone moldy and was still edible.

Although the quantity was small, the supplies were all usable.

Chen Ping'an could not hide his joy. If the Death Toad knew that by chance, it had given the two people in the shelter a little more confidence to survive, he wondered what they would think.

Misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and a blessing may be a misfortune in disguise.

There's still one stone wall left to see.

Directly opposite the cave entrance, at the very bottom of the stone wall, there is a crack, about half a person's height, blocked by several stones. The stones are piled up very neatly, clearly placed there by someone, not by natural collapse.

Chen Ping'an walked over and faintly felt a surge of air coming out from behind the stone.

He moved the stones one by one.

Behind the crevice was darkness, and the airflow came from there, cool and damp, more humid and heavier than the air in the cellar, carrying a faint watery scent.

Chen Pingan stuck the torch inside, bent down, and looked inside—

It is a passageway.

Another passage, even narrower than the one at the entrance, barely wide enough to squeeze through sideways.

The top is very low, and you have to bend over to get through.

The passageway stretched on, and the torchlight couldn't reach the end, but the steady flow of air indicated that the space inside was quite large.

"Ah Li, come down and take a look!"

Chen Pingan called out.

Ali's voice came from above.

"What's wrong?"

"It's alright, just climb down the rope and bring a torch."

---

Soon, the two squeezed sideways into the narrow passage and crouched down to walk inside.

The passage was short, about twenty steps, before suddenly opening up into a bright and spacious area.

The voice changed first.

The echoes of footsteps suddenly became hollow, as if one had entered a place much larger than a cellar. The sound hit the stone walls and bounced back, carrying an empty echo.

Then came the sound of rushing water.

Chen Ping'an gripped his spear tightly, was the first to step out of the passage, and raised his torch—

Both of them were stunned for a moment.

Before us was a huge cave with an underground river flowing through it.

Although it's called a river, it's not actually very wide. At its narrowest point, it's about three or four steps wide, and at its widest point, it's about seven or eight steps wide.

The rocks are vaguely visible at the bottom, indicating that it's not very deep.

The river meanders along the terrain, with rough stone walls on both sides, stalactites hanging down, with fine water droplets clinging to them, glistening one by one in the torchlight.

Chen Ping'an walked happily to the riverbank, squatted down, scooped up a handful of water, and smelled it.

Clean, without the lifeless, fishy chill, even with a hint of sweetness in its coolness.

He took a sip.

Ali stood beside him, silent, watching him.

Chen Pingan looked up. "I can drink."

Ali squatted down, scooped up a handful, and drank it.

The two squatted by the underground river, not speaking, listening to the echoing sound of the water.

Since the shelter was established, the water used has always relied on rainwater collected from outside, or sneaking out to find it during the day when the bone demons are young—this is the first time that there is water right under our feet, clean water that we can drink anytime.

"There seems to be something else down there."

Ali stood up first and raised the torch further into the river.

"Where does this river come from, and where does it go?"

Chen Ping'an looked in the direction she was holding the torch. The river meandered between the stone walls on both sides, coming from the north and then heading into the depths of the ruins.

North...

Chen Pingan remembered.

"There are mountains to the north," he said.

"right."

Ali also thought of it, and her voice deepened, "There is a water source in the mountains. This river comes from the mountains."

"Safety."

Ali's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy. She squatted back down by the river, lowered the torch, and brought it close to the water's surface.

There's something in the water.

Slender and only two or three fingers wide, it curls up in the water and swims slowly with the current.

One, two, and looking further upstream, there are more, like tiny leaves being carried forward by the water.

fish.

It's a small fish commonly found in mountain streams, grayish-white with irregular dark spots on its back.

It was about the length of a finger, and it swam very slowly in the torchlight, unafraid of the light, as if it had never seen a torch before.

Ali stood up, handed the torch to Chen Ping'an, bent down, put her hand into the water, and waited motionless for a while.

He suddenly reached in and scooped it up.

A fish appeared in my palm and thrashed about twice.

Ali carried the fish to the torch, examined it carefully, flipped it over, opened its gills, looked at it again, and then looked up, exclaiming in surprise, "It's not corroded by death energy."

Chen Pingan took it, looked at it closely, and smiled, "We're in for a treat tonight."

"Um!"

Ali bent down and slowly put her hands into the water. "Come on, let's catch a few more."