Xu Xing could not accept that she had been betrayed by her own people. She had been captured while trying to protect the miners, yet she was betrayed by a miner. How could this be?
Seeing Xu Xing’s disbelief, Chai Kefu felt pity for her and said directly, "Last night, I saw you. You and a miner were getting water, and then that guy was caught and fell. You ran away. Do you really think anyone can escape from the Treants?"
"So, you mean Chazhaifu was captured and then ultimately chose to compromise under the enemy's threats?" Xu Xing quickly asked.
When Xu Xing asked this question, Chai Kefu gave a positive answer, "Yes, exactly as you thought. You have been betrayed. You should have noticed this yourself, right? I personally saw the mutated plants give that guy something. With this, your whereabouts will be pinpointed."
Upon receiving this news, Xu Xing was momentarily stunned. She couldn't believe that the person she had desperately tried to save was actually the enemy who betrayed her. No wonder she was attacked by the Treants immediately after leading her people out of the underground. It turned out someone had deliberately exposed her location.
"How could this happen? I saved them, why did they betray me so easily?" Xu Xing found it hard to accept the reality. She didn't want her good intentions to be met with betrayal.
Lu Yizhen kindly said, "Young girl, you are still too young. If you were a bit more mature, you would know that no one in this world is trustworthy."
This statement made Xu Xing’s heart fill with confusion. If no one in the world could be trusted, then was there any point in doing good deeds? Would she encounter the same situation next time?
Just then, Lu Yizhen remembered something and quickly asked, "Young girl, why are you here? Aren't you one of Shen Feng's people? You should be in Yuzhou. How did you end up in Siberia? Has Shen Feng also come here?"
This was the first time Xu Xing had been betrayed by someone she trusted, and her emotions were very low. She replied faintly, "That's right, we came to find you. We were requested by Miss Shen Yu to come to Siberia. We thought you were all fine, but we didn't expect you to all be captured."
Hearing this, Lu Yizhen found it strange and couldn't help but ask, "Why is Yuzhou here to save us? Is the headquarters completely indifferent to us?"
This question was very sharp, and Xu Xing had to answer truthfully, "That's right, you have all been abandoned. Headquarters needs to deal with the mutated birds coming south from Siberia, so they don't have time to manage you."
Upon hearing this news, everyone's faces showed disappointment. They clearly hadn't expected the headquarters to abandon them so easily. They had come to Siberia under the headquarters' orders to end the oil shortage in China as soon as possible. Yet, when they encountered danger, the headquarters ignored them, as if they were discarded like unwanted dogs. This blow was too much for them to bear.
Being abandoned is never a good experience, no matter when. Xu Xing was not in a good mood after being betrayed by the people she protected. She finally understood why her mother had always said not to trust anyone. People in this world were too insidious. She only wanted to save them, but she was directly betrayed.
At this moment, Chai Kefu said seriously, "From now on, we can only wait for Xiao Sheng and the others to come and save us. By now, Shen Feng should also be able to save us."
Xu Xing looked back and noticed that among the seven captured ability users present, some key personnel were missing. Xiao Sheng, Zhang Zi, and Jin Zijue were not there. These three were fifth-tier ability users of the Ability Administration Bureau, the strongest group. It seemed these three had not been captured.
"You said they would come to save us, so where are they now? I haven't seen them," Xu Xing quickly asked.
Lu Yizhen replied helplessly, "They are probably hiding near the underground ice spring. As long as Shen Feng can get there, he can find them."
"Ice spring? What ice spring?" Xu Xing instinctively began to inquire.
Chai Kefu quickly explained, "You didn't take the main entrance, so you didn't pass the three trials. You don't know that the second trial is at the ice spring. There are transparent shrimp in the water. If someone who doesn't know enters the water, they will be caught by the transparent shrimp, and there's poison too. But if you remove the head, you can eat them."
"What are the three trials?" Xu Xing quickly asked.
Xu Xing really wanted to know what trials existed for taking the main entrance, as her rescue would likely depend on Shen Feng and the other two. As for Xiao Sheng and the others, if they could have done something, they would have already acted, and this group wouldn't be hanging here.
If Shen Feng couldn't pass the trials and return, then Xu Xing herself wouldn't be rescued.
Therefore, Xu Xing was eager to know what trials one had to pass to get from the front cave to the deepest cavern.
Lu Yizhen quickly said, "Nothing much, just a hot spring, an ice spring, and a cliff."
Hearing this, Xu Xing couldn't help but feel puzzled. If these were just three simple checkpoints, how could the people from the Ability Administration Bureau have been captured? Could it be that the Treants were responsible?
As Xu Xing was wondering, a woman's voice came from a distance, "Just wait a moment, you'll be fine in a few more days."
Xu Xing quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman hanging from a tree. Her long hair covered her face, making it impossible to see who she was. Xu Xing didn't know who this woman was.
"Don't mind her. She's been talking nonsense these past few days, babbling about escaping on her own. We can't move right now, we eat, drink, and relieve ourselves on the tree. Escaping is just a pipe dream," Chai Kefu said indifferently.
"On my own?" Xu Xing suddenly thought of something and her spirits lifted. She remembered that she had seeds of Agave given to her by Shen Feng, which could be eaten in critical moments.
"That's right, I have a chance to escape from here. I still have Agave seeds. As long as I can find a way to eat them, I can escape. Moreover, I can save all the people here," Xu Xing thought to herself.
However, Xu Xing wanted to take out the seeds on her body, but she felt weak all over. It was difficult to even move, and her abilities were completely unusable. It felt like the sensation after staying up for several nights and drinking alcohol, her whole body was soft, and she could only sway in the air.
...
After entering the cave, Shen Feng immediately encountered a hot spring. It was a hot spring flowing from underground, steaming and vast. The passage in the cave was over fifty meters wide, all filled with flowing hot spring water. Seeing a hot spring in the midst of winter was undoubtedly a wonderful thing.
Lu Xian used his ability and discovered that on both sides of the cave were hot spring vents and flowing channels. The hot spring was naturally formed, but the temperature was extremely high.
"Wait a minute, Qi Lingshan, come back! It's not suitable for bathing here. It's over a hundred degrees Celsius," Lu Xian quickly said.
While Lu Xian was speaking, Qi Lingshan had already taken off his shoes and socks and was undressing. He hadn't bathed in days, and because the weather was too cold, not being able to bathe was a torment for Qi Lingshan, a typical southerner.
Qi Lingshan, however, dismissed Lu Xian's warning and directly said, "Come on, even if you're bragging, you should at least write it down. Don't think you can trick me just because I'm a high school student. The boiling point of water is only a hundred degrees. You're telling me the water here is over a hundred degrees, do you think I haven't studied?"
Saying this, Qi Lingshan was about to reach out and test the water temperature, hoping to take a bath in the cave for a while.
As a result, as soon as Qi Lingshan put his hand into the hot water, he immediately felt the scorching high temperature. His palm hurt, and he quickly retracted his hand, blowing on it to try and dissipate some of the heat.
"Hoo, it's so hot, so hot! It's like boiling water, how can it be so hot?" Qi Lingshan said in confusion.
Lu Xian explained, "Although these are hot springs and you think it's water, it contains many dissolved minerals. It's actually a solution. The boiling point of pure water is indeed one hundred degrees, but the boiling point of a solution is higher. Over a hundred degrees is definitely possible."
"Minerals? Does that mean we can drink mineral water?" Qi Lingshan continued to ask.
"No, hot spring water cannot be drunk. It contains many toxic substances, and drinking it will cause poisoning. If the temperature were a little lower, it could be used for bathing and treating skin diseases," Shen Feng chimed in at this moment.
Qi Lingshan had no choice but to put his shoes and socks back on, thinking, "There's no chance for a bath."
Looking at the cave in the distance, Shen Feng fell into thought. He couldn't understand how the people before had managed to go deeper inside. Fifty meters was not a long distance, but if one fell in, they would be cooked.
"Let's investigate the situation first, and we also need to wait for Xu Xing to return. We should look for a place to stay nearby," Shen Feng said quickly.
It was getting late, and Shen Feng was worried about encountering Treants at night. Although he was already a sixth-tier ability user, Shen Feng was not confident he could defeat the invulnerable Treants. Fire was a good method, and there was still oil near the distant oil well, but using oil against enemies now was clearly too late.
Therefore, Shen Feng decided to investigate the situation first.
However, at this moment, Lu Xian suddenly felt something. He quickly took out his flashlight and shone it towards the distant cave. Upon closer inspection, he saw over fifty red-skinned salamanders. These salamanders looked very ugly, as many salamanders live in remote places that most people have never seen. The first encounter would naturally be considered ugly.
"City Lord, what is this thing?" Lu Xian quickly asked.
Lu Xian knew that Shen Feng had a book gifted by Professor Niu, which was full of illustrations. Therefore, Shen Feng likely knew what the creature in front of them was.
However, Lu Xian miscalculated. When Shen Feng saw the creature in front of him, he was also stunned. He seemed to have never expected to see such a thing. Shen Feng could only say, "I don't know what this is either. It looks like a salamander, but it can move in boiling water. I've never seen anything like it."
Shen Feng was surprised to see animals living in the scorching hot spring. How could these creatures not be afraid of the high temperature of the hot spring? If a person fell in, they would be boiled into soup.
The three looked at each other. Facing the rapidly approaching salamanders, they quickly fled towards the outside of the cave without any hesitation.
When the salamanders discovered that their enemies had disappeared, they did not continue the pursuit and instead returned to the caves on the sides.