He changed Tiwat

As an experienced mine survivalist, Lao He even discovered that the light energy of "lumenstone" could resist the damage from the black mud. The reason he left a note in the box containing lumenite was probably to pass on his discovery to future generations.

But there's another thing in Lao He's record that's quite intriguing: the "auditory hallucinations" he mentioned. Judging from his description, it seems that a female voice appeared in his ears, telling him that there was "water and mushrooms" deep in the abyss.

I don't know if this is the effect of his contact with the "spirit stone" or the black mud.

Judging from Lao He's tone, he obviously didn't believe his "auditory hallucination," but Han Fulai believed that Lao He must have listened to the voice in the end.

The reason is simple: because "there are mushrooms".

This ore warehouse has energy and water, but no food. If Old He stays here, he will starve to death soon.

The voice told him that there was food deep within the Abyss of Laminaria.

At the same time, Lao He's mental state was also very unstable. No matter what was affecting him and causing his "auditory hallucinations," the effects would continue as long as he did not leave this giant rock abyss.

Judging from the notes on this note, Lao He's physical and mental condition is not optimistic.

However, their search for Lao He was merely to gather information about human affairs, mainly to give Jinwu a glimmer of hope. After all, she and Lao He had a teacher-student relationship that wasn't so easily severed.

Han Fulai handed the note to Zhiqiong for safekeeping, and then accepted the Lumen Crystal from the box.

"Where else is there that Jinwu mentioned might have clues about Lao He?" Han Fulai asked.

Zhiqiong rolled her eyes and thought for a moment, "That must be the mining area where the 'spirit stone' was found. Old He used to work there. Going there means you're very close to the 'spirit stone'."

"Okay, then that's our next destination."

Han Fulai made a decision.

After meeting the group of treasure hunters, Han Fulai had a reasonable guess about the reason for Qi Ding's disappearance. However, he was more concerned about the clues left by Lao He than Qi Ding himself.

On the one hand, in his eyes, Lao He was the real "missing miner who needed to be searched for and rescued." On the other hand, the logbook left by Lao He provided them with a lot of information. He believed that Lao He must have discovered and recorded many phenomena in this giant abyss. Although he was just struggling to survive, he inadvertently provided valuable investigative data for later generations.

The information left by Lao He can help them understand the anomalies of the Layered Rock Abyss in more detail.

As they continued, the road became increasingly steep, winding around like a mountain road. Even with his superhuman strength and physical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people, Han Fulai found it quite strenuous to move, and his walking speed inevitably slowed down.

It is truly remarkable that Zhiqiong, a young woman with no superhuman strength, could carry such a large travel bag while surveying the terrain and trekking through mountains and rivers without ever complaining of hardship or fatigue.

Ever since Zhiqiong pointed out that the direction of the road had changed, the map she had drawn from memory was no longer usable. The deeper they went into the Layered Rock Abyss, the more branching paths they encountered. The changes in terrain caused increasingly greater differences, and it was no longer just a matter of road direction; some of the paths in Zhiqiong's memory had even completely disappeared.

Even with Zhiqiong's excellent memory, she still had to be extremely careful, otherwise she could easily get lost. She would often mark each intersection and repeatedly compare the differences between her memory and the actual roads before daring to make a judgment.

At this pace, it would have taken them much longer to reach the mining area where Lao He had worked.

Fortunately, Lao He's message helped them.

According to Lao He's note, the place he was going to had both food and water. And right next to the ore warehouse was an underground water vein. Considering Lao He's situation, following this underground water vein deeper would prevent him from running out of water halfway and getting stuck in a dilemma.

Although the underground watercourses are not stable, often with one section above the ground and another submerged underground, Zhiqiong can lie on the ground and judge the direction of the underground watercourses based on the moisture level of the soil and subtle underground sounds.

After walking and stopping for about an hour, the three of them finally arrived at an area with underground water features, and not far away was the newly opened mining area.

According to Zhiqiong, this place should be hundreds of meters underground, and the mineral deposits are much more abundant than those at the previous camp.

Black Rock Factory originally planned to develop this area into its main mining area, but construction was only halfway completed when it encountered the anomaly of the Layered Rock Abyss and was forced to stop.

Otherwise, with both water and mineral deposits, this place would indeed be an excellent mining site.

The three of them investigated the mining area as before. There were also asphalt-like black mud and mud lumps in the area, and quite a lot of them. Fortunately, there were no berserk monsters affected by the black mud, so it seems that black mud does not necessarily coexist with monsters.

For safety reasons, Han Fulai once again activated the "Lumen Stone" catalyst at its highest power to disperse several clumps of black mud that were relatively close to the mining area—at the cost of adding a few more cracks to the "Lumen Stone".

Judging from the catalyst's wear and tear, Han Fulai could probably only use this function of dispelling black mud two or three more times. In order to reduce the loss of catalyst light energy, Han Fulai lowered the brightness of the catalyst, reducing it to a range of about ten meters of visibility.

During their search, they also found Lao He's message.

This time, it was Jiang Xue who discovered Lao He's message—the message was actually posted properly on the mine's message board.

The message board in the mining area is generally used as a bulletin board for posting work tasks and a record board for miners to clock in and out. Of course, it is also sometimes used as a chat board. Perhaps Old He had been alone down there for too long, or perhaps he wanted to create an atmosphere where he was still accompanied by others. In any case, his messages filled the entire message board, and the content gradually became somewhat delirious, as if he had split into two people, chatting idly.

Of course, it's more likely that—as Lao He said in his previous log, he might really have gone mad and is showing signs of schizophrenia.

The following are some of the more important messages on the message board:

"...Strange black lava is seeping up from deep underground, or maybe it's not lava at all. In any case, it looks very ominous, and no one dares to approach..."

"I went deeper into the area and brought back some strange mushrooms... I'm not sure if they're edible..."

"...'Lava' has attracted some elemental creatures...If they can eat it, maybe I can too..."

"Something's not right. Those little things are acting strangely. We need to get out of here quickly; these things are clearly not food..."

"...If you get used to it, mushrooms taste pretty good..."

The last message on the message board read:

"Let's continue towards the area where the mushrooms are growing, and set up camp there next."

After searching the mining area and confirming that they hadn't missed any clues, the three collected all the messages on the message boards. Then they lit a campfire and ate a simple lunch—a signal from their own biological clock that they were hungry.

Four hours have passed since they left the lower Rock Abyss, and it's almost noon. It's time to take a break and organize the intelligence we have so far.

Based on the messages they collected, they could deduce a trajectory of Lao He's movements—

Old He's miner's log was first discovered at an abandoned camp about half an hour away from the main mining area of ​​Black Rock Mine. This shows that Old He initially intended to go to the main mining area to seek rescue, and he even came quite close to the main mining area at one point.

However, Lao He discovered "floating fluorescence" in the abandoned camp, and this so-called "fluorescence" may very well have affected his actions.

Then he went to the ore warehouse to look for a water filter and a backup light source.

There, Lao He encountered "lava," which is black mud, and discovered that the light energy of "Lumen Stone" could resist the erosion of the black mud. At the same time, Lao He also experienced auditory hallucinations, in which he heard a woman's voice guiding him to find water and mushrooms.

Later, he came to this new mining area. Judging from the messages on the message board, he lived here for quite some time. After all, there was a water source and food and tools that the miners hadn't taken with them when they left, which should have been enough for him to survive for a long time.

But he eventually ran out of food. So he ventured deeper into the area and brought back some "strange mushrooms".

Although he wasn't sure if the mushrooms were edible, he ate them anyway in order to survive.

Perhaps he managed to survive for a while by eating mushrooms, but his good fortune didn't last long, and the mining area became unsafe. Old He witnessed firsthand the black mud seeping from the ground and forming lava-like clumps.

Furthermore, the black mud attracted elemental creatures, most likely small monsters like slimes—because the starving Old He seemed to be eyeing them. With the black mud and monsters increasing in number, the area became increasingly dangerous, so Old He decided to head towards a place with more mushrooms.

"In conclusion, for various reasons, Lao He's life trajectory is getting closer and closer to the depths of the Abyss of Layered Rocks. Moreover, he is very likely to be suffering from food shortages and mental breakdown..." Han Fulai concluded.

Although he didn't finish his sentence, his implication was clear: Old He's chances of survival were indeed very slim.

“So if Lao He is still alive, he might be living deeper in the Abyss of Layered Rocks, in a place where mushrooms grow.” Zhiqiong didn’t want to give up at all. She took out the map and circled the area representing the nearby underground swamp.

"Mushrooms usually grow in damp places, so I guess they should be somewhere in this marshland. As for exactly where... we'll have to explore to find out."

That area was still largely blank on her map, clearly indicating that she had never explored this underground swamp before.

"But we don't have time to explore the underground waters today."

Han Fulai reached out and tapped the birdcage, and the little blue sparrows inside chirped a few times in dissatisfaction.

"Don't forget, we promised Jinwu we had to be back before dark. I don't want to 'disappear'."

"Hmm..." Zhiqiong puffed out her cheeks with some regret.

"Also, the underground waters and the 'spirit stones' are not in the same area. Don't forget, we still need to find Qi Ding." Han Fulai said, pointing to another direction.

Because the brightness of the "Lumenite" catalyst was turned down, the area was shrouded in darkness by the layered rock abyss, and only the outlines of some hideous giant rocks could be vaguely seen.

"I know. Don't worry, I can tell what's important and what's urgent," Zhiqiong replied.

In Zhiqiong's memory, the area was called "Rugged Stone Hall" by the miners because of its rugged roads and strangely shaped rocks.

As the lower-level terrain of the Abyss changed, Zhiqiong's job as a guide became increasingly difficult. She knew she couldn't guarantee completing both the scouting and the search for Qi Ding within the time limit. After all, their primary task was to search for Qi Ding, and they shouldn't waste time exploring other places if it wasn't on their route.

At this moment, Jiang Xue, who had been silently eating her dry rations, suddenly whispered, "Something... is coming over there."

Jiang Xue's gaze was fixed on the direction of the rugged stone hall.

Both of them were startled at the same time. Zhiqiong almost dropped the water bottle in her hand, while Han Fulai's back suddenly straightened, ready to spring up from the ground at any moment.

Han Fulai listened intently, and just as Jiang Xue had said, strange sounds came from the direction of the rugged stone hall. The sounds were indistinct and resembled the low growls of demons.

Moreover, the sound grew closer and closer to them as time went on.

Han Fulai secretly channeled his immortal power, silently increasing the brightness of the "Luminite" catalyst by a significant margin to ensure a visibility range of about fifty meters. He wanted to give himself and Jiang Xue as much reaction time as possible. The sooner they saw each other, the sooner they could react.

As the sound drew closer, the indistinct growl gradually became more discernible—

"...Where are you...Where are you..."

The ambiguous calls, like some kind of incantation, were repeated endlessly. The sound echoed and reverberated against the rock face, layering upon layer like a witchcraft summoning spirits, sending chills down one's spine.

It's a human voice! Someone is coming from the direction of the rugged stone hall!

Han Fulai stood up abruptly, clasping his hands together, ready to activate the Jade Shield at any moment. At the same time, Jiang Xue gripped his bladeless sword.

Not long after, the owner of the voice emerged from the darkness.

A round, chubby figure wearing a safety helmet staggered toward the crowd—it was Qi Ding!

Chapter 140 Rescuing the Missing Miners (Final) [4k]

The newcomer was round and plump, wearing a demolition team helmet with sunglasses. Who else could it be but Qi Ding?

This is what they call "searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly," Han Fulai thought with a touch of emotion.

Although he had always believed that Qi Ding couldn't possibly have really "disappeared" and would surely be waiting for them to "rescue" him near the "spirit stone," he never expected that Qi Ding would return on his own. This saved them a lot of trouble.

"It's Qi Ding! That's great, he's alright!" Zhiqiong jumped up from the ground.

Regardless of how Han Fulai viewed Qi Ding's disappearance, to Zhiqiong, Qi Ding was ultimately one of her miner companions with whom she spent every day. Upon seeing Qi Ding return, her joy far outweighed her surprise, and she immediately prepared to go forward to greet him.

"Wait a minute." Han Fulai pressed down on Zhiqiong's shoulder again. "He looks a little strange."

In fact, Qi Ding's condition was not just "somewhat" strange, but extremely strange.

He walked unsteadily, as if he were drunk, and his gaze was unfocused, as if he couldn't see Han Fulai and the others at all.

Even when Zhiqiong called his name, Qi Ding ignored her completely. Not only that, he kept repeating those three words—

"……Where are you……"

Qi Ding's strange walking posture, his ambiguous whispers, coupled with the dark and deep underground of the Layered Rock Abyss, easily evoke images of wandering ghosts or zombies... In short, it's creepy.

Han Fulai clearly felt Zhiqiong's shoulder twitch, and it was obvious that Zhiqiong also realized that something was wrong with Qi Ding.

"He, he, he..."

Zhiqiong didn't say a word for a long time, but Han Fulai knew what Zhiqiong wanted to say.

“He may have been affected by the ‘spirit stone’ and fallen into that state of mental confusion,” Han Fulai said.

This is a reasonable speculation. Qi Ding came from the direction of the "spirit stone", and Qi Ding's dazed state is very similar to that of the miners who were affected by the "spirit stone" in the past.

However... Han Fulai was unsure whether Qi Ding was truly affected by the "spirit stone" or was faking it.

After all, there is still a considerable distance between the "spirit stone" and this new mining area.

He needs to test Qi Ding.

"I'll go check on the situation."

Han Fulai turned his head to look at Jiang Xue.

Jiang Xue nodded slightly, his hand still resting on the sword hilt, clearly indicating that he would remain on guard.

Han Fulai, holding the "Luminous Stone" catalyst, went forward to meet it, while secretly channeling his immortal power to prevent Qi Ding from exhibiting any unusual behavior.

Surprisingly, as Han Fulai approached, Qi Ding reacted—he suddenly raised his hand to cover his eyes, as if the white light emitted by the "Luminite" was too dazzling, and even took two steps back.

Is this... a reaction to the light energy of "Lumenite"?

Han Fulai's heart stirred, and he forcefully channeled his immortal power into the "Luminous Stone" catalyst. Instantly, a bright white light shone, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

"Ah!" Qi Ding covered his eyes with both hands, let out a wail, and fell backward to the ground, as if he had been struck down by the light energy of the "Luminite".

Han Fulai noticed that at the moment he activated the catalyst, it seemed as if a black mist was driven away from Qi Ding's body, but because the time was too short, he did not see it clearly.

However, Qi Ding's reaction did not seem fake; he appeared to have been influenced by something—Han Fulai guessed that it might not only be the "spirit stone" but also related to the "black mud."

As they traveled deeper into the abyss of layered rocks, the black mud appeared more frequently. Although they didn't know the condition of the road ahead, Han Fulai was certain that there would be plenty of black mud.

In his log comments, Lao He mentioned that getting close to the black mud would cause various symptoms such as mental confusion, while getting close to "Lumen Stone" would improve the situation, indicating that the light energy of "Lumen Stone" could also heal people affected by the black mud.

However, ordinary lumen crystals contain limited light energy, which is probably insufficient to dispel the effects of the black mud on people; at most, it can only slow down the process of the black mud affecting the body. As can be seen from Lao He's log, his condition was slowly deteriorating.

But if Lao He had a piece of lumenite catalyst on hand, the situation might be much better.

Qi Ding's avoidance of the light energy of the "Luminite" gave Han Fulai reason to believe that he was affected by the black mud, so he tried to activate the light energy of the catalyst to treat Qi Ding, and it worked.

Han Fulai adjusted the brightness of the catalyst in his hand back to normal. He could feel that the catalyst's depletion had reached a rather dangerous level. If the light energy treatment of Qi Ding failed this time, he wouldn't dare to use it on Qi Ding again. After all, he didn't know if the black mud would reappear, and he would also need the "Lumenite" catalyst on the way back.