It was impossible to see the sun, so why was the sunlight so intense, and so hot?

Lin En stood on the mountainside and sighed.

It had taken more than an hour to reach the mountainside. Attributes had only increased after arriving here, otherwise he wouldn't have made it.

"Hey, Da Shan, isn't there a shorter way to go?" Lin En said, covered in sweat.

Da Shan: "A shortcut? I do have one, but there are some little cuties inside."

Little cuties?.

Lin En didn't think too much and directly asked Da Shan where the shortcut was.

Following Da Shan's guidance, he arrived at a cave entrance. Looking at the dark cave, Lin En opened his backpack. There was only a fire starter that could provide some illumination.

Glancing at the fire starter in his hand, Lin En decisively put it back into his backpack and opened the [Trading] section to search. Before long, he found several items that met his needs.

After looking at them, Lin En directly chose a torch. Cave exploration definitely required a torch; flashlights just didn't have the right atmosphere.

He looked at the seller's requirements: food.

Lin En checked his backpack. All he had were eggs, which he was only carrying for "Egg Beating, Chicken Flying" (a martial arts technique). Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought them.

He looked at the seller's conditions again. It seemed like any kind of food would do? Lin En put in two eggs to see if the seller would trade.

As soon as the eggs were placed, the trade was completed. Lin En had been about to use "Egg Beating, Chicken Flying," but he was a step too slow.

His backpack now held ten torches, and he was short two eggs. He'd thought it would be one torch, but it was ten.

Taking out a torch, he lit it with the fire starter and walked directly into the cave.

Drip, drip.

It was quiet, with occasional dripping sounds.

Suddenly, a dark figure appeared ahead. Lin En waved the torch and saw the shadow swaying in the light. Only then did he relax and approach.

Upon closer inspection, it was a dark rock, oddly shaped, like a stalactite in a cave.

Like a chain reaction, stalactites appeared one after another after the first one.

Looking at the stalactites, Lin En sighed, "I've always heard people say that the stalactites in caves are beautiful, but I could never explain it to others. I wondered why I couldn't even describe them."

Each stalactite had a unique aesthetic, with varied shapes, and none were the same. No wonder people couldn't describe them.

Speaking of which, what were the "little cuties" that Da Shan mentioned? Could he have been referring to these stalactites? Looking at the increasingly large stalactites, Lin En felt that he probably was. After all, there was nothing else here.

Suddenly, the torchlight dimmed. Lin En realized the torch was fading. He checked the time and realized that about an hour had passed. He hadn't even noticed. No wonder the torch was running out so quickly.

After lighting another torch, he stuck the nearly extinguished one on a stalactite, grabbed the newly lit torch, and continued forward.

Didn't Da Shan say this was a shortcut? Why hadn't he made it through yet? He hadn't taken that long when climbing the mountain.

Listening to the dripping water, Lin En slowly began to feel annoyed.

After a while, Lin En leaned against a stalactite and opened the [Chat] channel.

…

"Another treasure chest (*๓´╰╯`๓)♡, [picture]"

"Damn it, why haven't I found a weapon yet? I've been buying them on the [Trading] section. Can't I find one myself?"

"Today is another day of no gains ▄█▀█●"

"Wow, really? I average a find every two dungeons [・ヘ・?]"

"I'm so happy ＜(￣c￣)y▂ξ [smoking]"

"Damn, you even have cigarettes?"

"Isn't it normal to have cigarettes? [picture] (five packs of Huazi arranged in a pyramid)"

"What does Huazi taste like? I usually smoke Shuangxi"

"(●°u°●) My heart is breaking right now. Why are you guys even chatting? Haven't you encountered any ferocious beasts? Aren't you injured? ヾ(＞Д＜;))))..... Escape~~"

"I'm relieved that you still have time to chat(´・︶・`)"

"What the hell? You're being chased by a ferocious beast and you still have time to chat Σ(°△°|||)︴"

"Why run? Come on, shoot it to death! My submachine gun (๑•ૅw•´๑)【┳═一"

"Damn it, if I had a gun, would I be running? I'm running because I don't have one!"

"Brother, I'll give you my discarded pistol."

…

After opening the treasure chest, Wang Jianjun had originally wanted to look for the remaining students on the [Chat] channel. Then, he saw this message. Without thinking, he gave him the pistol. After all, a life was at stake, and he was a soldier.

After sending the pistol, Wang Jianjun quickly scanned the channel again. When he didn't find any students, he continued to the next dungeon.

…

"Big brother, do you want a little brother?"

"Thank you, thank you, big brother. I've already defeated the ferocious beast. I'll return the pistol to you now."

…

…

Wang Jianjun? I remember I bought that kitchen picture from him, Lin En thought fleetingly.

Closing the [Chat] channel, Lin En started moving again.

Rumble, rumble

Lin En suddenly heard the sound of flowing water. The further he went, the louder the sound. Before long, he saw the torchlight reflected on the water surface.

Approaching the water's edge, Lin En discovered that it was an underground river. The water wasn't deep, only about a meter, and it was very clear. He hadn't seen such clear water in a long time.

Lin En took out his empty mineral water bottles and filled two of them.

Name: 500ml Underground River Water

Category: River Water

Effect: None

(Underground river water, sweet and delicious, can be drunk directly)

Lin En gulped down a whole bottle. The underground river water didn't even need to be chilled; it was ice-cold and refreshing.

Lin En emptied all the mineral water in his backpack and used them to fill up with underground river water.

He put the bottles of underground river water into his backpack. Looking at the clean river, he began to undress. Before long, a naked Lin En jumped straight in.

Splash! Water splashed everywhere.

In the clear underground river, a white figure swam quickly. It appeared and disappeared under the light of some bioluminescent plants.

On the opposite bank, a head suddenly emerged from the river. In this pitch-black underground, anyone who saw it would be scared to death.

While Lin En was playing around in the water, about two kilometers away at the cave exit, several tall figures slowly entered the cave.

Lin En was completely unaware. He was still occasionally exposing his bare buttocks to the surface of the water, reliving the childhood fun.

Meanwhile, those tall, unknown creatures were gradually approaching the underground river.