Chu Tian felt groggy, sensing liquid flowing into his mouth.
The sound of a massive current reached his ears.
He slowly opened his eyes.
A dazzling light flashed, forcing him to quickly shield his eyes with his hand.
"You're awake!"
It was Nie Yun's voice.
Chu Tian quickly sat up.
He discovered the blinding light was from the headlights of the Paramount Raider.
Nie Yun was holding a bottle of mineral water.
Beside him were Old Yang and Dian Dian.
He hadn't expected that among them, the first to wake up would be Nie Yun.
She had even managed to get them out of the vehicle.
She had even gotten the headlights to turn on.
The water was naturally from the vehicle's supplies.
"How long have you been awake?"
Chu Tian patted his throbbing head.
Nie Yun wiped her forehead and said with a smile, "Just got you guys out."
Seeing her smile, Chu Tian also smiled.
This time, it was truly a narrow escape from death.
He never would have imagined that miles below the Sea of Death, there would be such a vast underground river.
Under the light, Chu Tian got a clear view of the terrain.
Above them was a massive stone dome, with a large hole appearing for some unknown reason.
The place they had fallen from was still slowly trickling sand downwards.
The falling sand entered the river channel and was swept away by the current.
It resembled a funnel.
Unless the underground river dried up and this place was filled with sand, the quicksand pit above would disappear.
Or, if the dome above collapsed, and a large amount of sand and earth piled up, severing the underground river.
"How is Dian Dian?" Chu Tian stood up.
"She's fine, just fainted from lack of oxygen!"
Nie Yun crouched beside Dian Dian, stroking her head as she said.
"How did you get us out? What did you use to open the car door?"
Chu Tian asked again.
"I used your fingerprint to open the car door!"
Nie Yun stood up and smiled.
"Oh..."
"Dian Dian's birthday is coming up soon, isn't it? What date is it?"
Chu Tian suddenly asked this question.
"It's..." Nie Yun paused suddenly.
She couldn't answer immediately.
Chu Tian stepped forward and grabbed her by the neck.
"Who are you, and where is Nie Yun?"
Nie Yun, who was lifted into the air,
kicked her legs randomly, clawing at Chu Tian's arm, and cried, "Chu Tian, what's wrong with you? I am Nie Yun!"
"Is that so? Then how come you don't even know Dian Dian's birthday?"
Chu Tian tightened his grip, and Nie Yun struggled, saying, "I... I was too scared, I forgot!"
"Still pretending? You don't know because I don't know, right!"
"You even used my fingerprint to unlock the door. The real Nie Yun wouldn't know what a fingerprint is."
"Moreover, you certainly don't know that the bloodshot eyes of someone who has been suffocated wouldn't disappear this quickly!"
As soon as Chu Tian finished speaking,
Hiss...
Nie Yun in his hand instantly transformed into a small, blood-red snake.
Its slender body was barely thicker than a chopstick.
It flicked its tongue and lunged at Chu Tian.
"Holy crap..."
Chu Tian had always been afraid of snakes. This sudden transformation made him jump.
He forcefully tightened his grip.
Splat...
Just as it was about to bite his arm, he crushed it.
The next second, Chu Tian jolted.
He abruptly opened his eyes.
He found himself still inside the Paramount Raider.
His body was bound by ropes, hanging there.
And his hand was sticky.
He brought it closer and saw that there was indeed a small red snake, crushed in his hand.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
As Chu Tian moved, he immediately heard countless sounds.
His back instantly went cold, and goosebumps erupted all over his body.
The air was filled with a sweet aroma.
Chu Tian cautiously turned his head. Through the red warning lights inside the Paramount, he saw that the entire vehicle was filled with snakes.
Dense clusters of snakes, all about as thick as chopsticks and no longer than a foot, small red snakes.
Chu Tian feared snakes the most. Seeing this scene, his hair stood on end.
What was going on? How could there be so many snakes in such a tightly sealed Paramount Raider?
Even if the ventilation system was open, there was an isolation shield above.
These snakes shouldn't be able to get in.
As Chu Tian was thinking, he suddenly felt intense pain in his shoulder.
This made him jolt again.
He opened his eyes once more.
All the snakes he had seen before had vanished.
In his shoulder, a damaged military knife was embedded.
Pain...
Real pain...
Chu Tian looked up.
He saw Old Yang swaying, holding the military knife.
He was muttering, "Die... you all deserve to die..."
Swish... He pulled out the military knife stuck in Chu Tian's shoulder.
He raised it and swung it at Chu Tian again.
"What the..."
Chu Tian lifted his leg and kicked.
Old Yang flew backward with a cry.
The back of his head hit the vehicle's interior.
His body went limp and he slowly collapsed to the ground.
Chu Tian quickly untied the ropes binding him.
He could still hear faint hissing sounds in his ears.
Startled, he quickly looked around but found nothing.
However, the sweet smell in his nostrils still lingered.
Suddenly, he was struck by a realization...
He remembered the nitrogen tank for the acceleration system.
That sound...
The tank had leaked!
That sweet aroma was the smell emanating from the 'laughing gas' contained within the nitrogen tank.
Inhaling too much had caused hallucinations.
Looking behind him, Nie Yun's face was flushed, her eyes were like rippling water, and her hands were touching herself.
He didn't know what she was dreaming about.
Without hesitation, Chu Tian first untied Dian Dian.
He opened the car door and carried her out.
Next, he carried out Nie Yun and Old Yang, whom he had kicked unconscious.
Inside the vehicle, the hissing sound continued.
But Chu Tian no longer cared.
It would be fine once it all leaked out.
This thing wasn't as terrifying as it appeared on television, prone to exploding at any moment.
At room temperature, it was an extremely stable inert gas.
It was difficult to explode without strong reducing agents.
In the spiritual space, he took out a flashlight and looked around.
The situation here was exactly the same as what he had seen in the illusion.
It made Chu Tian doubt if he was still hallucinating.
But the pain in his shoulder told him this was not a hallucination.
He activated his transformation, entering the ancient tree form.
With a few healing skills, the wound gradually scabbed over.
Finally, there was no scar left.
Chu Tian realized that his healing skills were very effective for external wounds.
However, they were useless against difficult and complicated ailments!
After his wound healed, he walked a distance along the underground river.
The space below was vast; they could advance along the underground river and perhaps find a way out.
If there were no exits leading outside, there would be no air circulation here.
With this thought, he turned back towards the Paramount Raider.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Old Yang and Nie Yun sitting up.
They were both rubbing their heads, looking quite unwell.
Chu Tian felt the same; this was a lingering effect of inhaling a large amount of 'laughing gas'.
"Damn... it's bleeding!"
Old Yang touched the back of his head.
Seeing him, Chu Tian thought, "You're the one bleeding a little? I almost got stabbed to death by you."
"You guys rest for a while. We'll head downstream along the river channel later to see if we can find a way out."
As he spoke, he took out some food and distributed it to the two of them.
Then he went to where the Paramount was overturned.
The sound of the laughing gas leak had stopped.
Chu Tian glanced at it, grimaced, and felt heartache.
This car was scrap!
The entire car body was incredibly smooth, with no paint left.
The two areas on the car body that he and Old Yang had been striking had seriously deformed.
He guessed this was a testament to the Paramount Raider's durability.
If it were any other car, it would be more than just deformed and losing paint.
"Alas..." Shaking his head, he stored it into his space.
Then he turned back, picked up the still unconscious Dian Dian,
called out to Old Yang and Nie Yun,
and they all headed downstream together.
Nie Yun had not spoken since waking up.
When she saw Chu Tian, her eyes kept darting away.
The three of them walked for about ten minutes.
Chu Tian's flashlight beam suddenly illuminated a wooden plank bridge.
This sight surprised Chu Tian.
Someone had built a bridge to cross the river here?
"Chu Tian, look..."
Old Yang tapped him.
Chu Tian followed the direction of his flashlight and saw a building resembling a city wall on the opposite bank of the river.
It was quite far, and the light wasn't sufficient to see clearly.
Just as Chu Tian was preparing to use his spiritual sense to probe,
[Ding... System Prompt: Discovered unknown ancient city ruins, triggering main quest [Explore Ruined Remains], reward item: Bloodline Secret Map Fragment x1.]
Chu Tian thought, "Well... I have no choice but to go."
The main quest had appeared again, and the reward was a [Bloodline Secret Map Fragment].
Although it was a reward, Chu Tian knew it would inevitably require him to go inside and find it.
The item found would be the quest reward.
It was equivalent to no reward...
However... the fragment here...
Could it be the fifth mysteriously missing fragment?
With this thought, Chu Tian did not hesitate.
"Let's go... check it out!"
"Perhaps, we can find a way back to the surface."
Saying this, he walked to the front and reached the bridgehead.
"Okay!" Old Yang responded.
Nie Yun, naturally, had no other thoughts.
She followed them.