Suddenly, a much louder sound came from behind them.
With a rumble.
Jiang Fan looked at the stone in front of him, where a faint light appeared. It was evident that after the large door was opened, this light shone upon the stone.
Jiang Fan, along with the others and Gun Gun, lost their balance and tumbled into the doorway.
It was clear they had entered a new environment, but the rolling stone had not stopped.
Watching the stone relentlessly approach, Jiang Fan instinctively raised his hand to block it.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, the stone wedged itself tightly between the sides of the narrow corridor outside the large door.
Upon seeing this, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Almost simultaneously, they exhaled the breath they had been holding, for the stone was now firmly stuck, making it impossible to roll in.
"That was close. Thankfully, the door opened in time."
"Otherwise, we would have likely been crushed by that stone."
After saying this, Jiang Fan slowly got to his feet. Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei, standing beside him, trembled on their legs. Fortunately, Yao came to support Dai Xiaomei.
Although Zhou Niannian's legs were also shaking, she held tightly onto Gun Gun's fur and slowly stood up.
Jiang Fan didn't suspect anything about Zhou Niannian's peculiar action. He simply surveyed their surroundings.
This place was not as dark as their previous locations; it was much brighter.
More accurately, it was not only brighter, but the natural light was also quite good.
However, this led Jiang Fan to deduce something.
They had been descending for an unknown amount of time, but they had definitely gone a considerable distance underground.
Now that light was able to penetrate, it meant there was another level above them. But Jiang Fan had no idea how to get up.
With no other option, they took a few steps forward.
"Let's move on quickly. We don't know what we'll encounter, but the lighting here is a bit better, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."
As Jiang Fan finished speaking, the others and Gun Gun followed closely behind him.
Even though the place appeared relatively safe, it did not diminish Jiang Fan's vigilance.
As the leader of the group, he had to remain fully alert at all times.
He needed to pay close attention to any changes in their surroundings.
Just then, Jiang Fan suddenly spotted a raised area in the distance, with several wooden stakes around it, seemingly securing something.
However, due to the distance, Jiang Fan couldn't immediately tell what it was.
Jiang Fan slowly walked towards that direction, gripping his fire axe tightly, prepared for any sudden situation.
At this point, Dai Xiaomei, behind him, seemed to recognize what the raised area in the distance was.
"That looks like a campsite."
"There are people stationed over there. The camp seems to be there and hasn't been packed up yet."
Hearing this, Jiang Fan was somewhat incredulous.
After all, they had almost died upon entering, and now it seemed someone had successfully reached this place?
Without hesitation, Jiang Fan confidently moved forward and discovered that the raised area was indeed a campsite.
Jiang Fan checked the supplies in his backpack and found they were insufficient.
Looking at the tents and drying racks for meat, Jiang Fan roughly estimated that this place had been abandoned for a long time.
However, there were no spiderwebs, as if the spiders disdained this place or simply had no inclination to spin webs here.
"It seems we can only replenish our supplies now. Otherwise, given our current conditions, we won't last much longer if we continue."
"Since it's a campsite and there appears to be no one here."
"We'll have to fend for ourselves."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei became incredibly happy.
Too many tense events had occurred, making them momentarily forget themselves.
Now they could finally rest a little.
The tents looked to be of decent quality, and inside there were some cotton mats, allowing them to rest properly.
However, before that, they found some preserved food from an unknown era.
Fortunately, it was all specially prepared, giving these rations an almost indefinite shelf life.
But the most crucial factor was the lack of moisture in the cave, which had excellently preserved the food.
Jiang Fan then walked around each of the tents.
At the same time, he noticed that one tent among the cluster stood out significantly.
Clearly, this tent belonged to the leader of this group of adventurers, or perhaps some special individual.
In any case, it was definitely not ordinary. Jiang Fan unhesitatingly walked towards that tent.
Upon opening the tent, Jiang Fan was surprised to find it remarkably simple. On a small wooden stool sat only a notebook.
This notebook might have been there for too long, weathered by time, and its entire body had become somewhat fibrous.
Opening these pages required extreme caution; otherwise, with a slight carelessness, one could easily tear the book.
More accurately, it wouldn't be torn, but rather folded.
Jiang Fan sat down without hesitation and began to examine the contents of the diary.
From the records of the adventures, it was evident that the owner of this diary was an explorer from an adventuring team.
The time elapsed was not too long.
And it seemed they had encountered various hardships.
Because Jiang Fan still vividly remembered the events he had previously experienced.
It was clear that this adventuring team had also passed those trials, reached this place, and survived.
It appeared their adventuring team's strength was quite formidable, otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to survive in such a dangerous environment.
Jiang Fan studied every detail of their progress, and it seemed there was no difference from his own experiences.
But where had this adventuring team gone now? Why had they set up their camp here, and why had the diary been left behind?
"This diary... it indeed warrants careful examination!"
Jiang Fan said, while scrutinizing the notebook in his hands.