"We thought by going further in we could find another exit, but the more we went in, the more our spiritual energy and strength drained away."
This wasn't the worst of it. Lei Tao thought back to their experiences in the tunnel and shuddered. "Eventually, we couldn't even move. We could only wait here to die."
"Where did you fall from?" Hearing Lei Tao's account, it seemed they hadn't entered from the same entrance.
"That direction," Lei Tao pointed to the opposite direction from where Chu Lingwei had entered. "There's only this path, though it twists and turns several times, and we've lost our bearings."
Chu Lingwei nodded. Seeing that they had all recovered some strength, she said, "Let's leave here first."
None of these people had spiritual energy. If a demon were to appear, she might not be able to save all of them.
Lei Tao and the others were overjoyed to hear they could leave and quickly followed behind Chu Lingwei.
The direction Chu Lingwei had entered from was close. She decided to exit the same way she came.
Upon reaching the entrance they had descended from, no light filtered in from above. Chu Lingwei had a bad feeling.
"This entrance is blocked," Chu Lingwei used her spatial abilities to propel her flying artifact up to the entrance. It was sealed, with complex runes flashing and interwoven, even more intricate than before they entered.
Lei Tao and the others sank into despair. The longer they stayed, the more they felt something draining from their bodies, creating an oppressive feeling.
"The runes above are difficult. I can't decipher them. We'll have to find another exit," Chu Lingwei returned. Since they couldn't leave this way, they had to go to the place Lei Tao mentioned as their entry point.
"Alright, I know the entrance we came in from. I'll lead you there." Now that only Chu Lingwei could use spiritual energy, Lei Tao placed all his hope in her.
"Has anyone noticed, the smell here is a bit like the swamp?" The deeper they went, the stronger the smell became. Chu Lingwei was now certain it was the scent of those swamp vipers.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, you don't mean to say this is actually the swamp vipers' lair?" Lei Tao's blood ran cold thinking about the swamp vipers that had chased them.
Shi Tou and the others were all at the Spiritual Movement stage. They had no chance against a fourth-tier swamp viper.
"Not necessarily. If it were their lair, why haven't we seen a single snake?" Chu Lingwei only felt the smell here was very similar to the musky scent of swamp vipers. Perhaps there was some connection.
"Yes, we haven't seen any snakes in the few days we've been here," Shi Tou said, nodding vigorously behind Lei Tao. If they had encountered them, they might have already perished.
Chu Lingwei didn't speak further. They had only just regained some strength, and they needed to conserve it.
"It's just ahead." After walking for about an hour, Lei Tao finally spotted the familiar black stone he had fallen near. "It's here, I'm sure of it. This stone was right here at the time."
"Weiwei, this is a good thing," the Illusion Cat, now appearing as a human child of four or five years old, tightly gripped Chu Lingwei's hand and telepathically communicated, "Let's take this stone into our space."
Chu Lingwei approached the stone. It was only as large as a laptop screen. When she placed her hand on it, a sharp pain struck her.
Fortunately, Chu Lingwei reacted quickly, or she could have felt her hand being pierced.
"What is this?" Their actions startled Lei Ze and the others. There was something wrong with this stone.
"I don't know." Chu Lingwei looked at her hand, which had narrowly avoided serious injury. She directly unleashed a stream of spiritual energy at the stone. The stone seemed startled and flew erratically in the small tunnel, crashing into the walls and the ground.
"Still!"
Chu Lingwei took out a body-binding talisman and cast it on the stone. It only stopped for two breaths before jumping even more violently.
"Be careful, it can hurt people." Chu Lingwei was anxious. The stone began to emit a red light, exuding a dangerous aura.
Lei Tao and the others quickly retreated.
"Move again, and I'll blow you up," Chu Lingwei, unable to stop it with spiritual energy, held a Soul Pursuit Thunder Strike talisman in her hand, her voice as sharp as winter ice.
As Chu Lingwei spoke, the stone indeed stopped moving.
"If you dare move, I will turn your body to dust. Feel free to try," Chu Lingwei sneered. It seemed that everything feared brute force.
"Weiwei, we can make it lead us out," the Illusion Cat gently tugged at Chu Lingwei, his eyes conveying meaning. As he spoke, the stone trembled slightly.
Lei Tao looked in surprise at the small boy beside Chu Lingwei. A child of four or five years old, already a cultivator at the Spiritual Movement stage, was truly remarkable.
He himself hadn't even had his spiritual veins tested at that age.
"Did you hear that? Lead us out, or become dust." Chu Lingwei knew the stone could understand her. She pointed her sword directly at its body.
The stone seemed hesitant, but under Chu Lingwei's spiritual sword, it finally relented and led them to the cave entrance.
"Yes, yes, this is it," Lei Tao looked up at the cave entrance above. This was where they had fallen from.
Chu Lingwei glanced up at the small opening, barely large enough for one person to descend. She turned to them, "With such a small opening, what were you thinking, all falling down one by one?"
Lei Tao: "..." Did she have to be so blunt?
"We were worried about the swamp vipers chasing us, and thought we could hide here to block them," Lei Tao said sheepishly. He vowed he would never make such a foolish mistake again.
"I'll send you up." Chu Lingwei considered it. They couldn't fight a fourth-tier swamp viper, so finding a place to hide was their only option. "Who will go up first?"
She was the only one who could use spiritual energy here, and there was a stone that could attack at any moment. Naturally, she had to be the last to ascend.
"I'll go up first," Lei Tao stepped forward without hesitation. His only hope was that upon reaching the top, he could regain his spiritual energy.
Chu Lingwei, after Lei Tao was ready, used her spiritual energy to lift him to the cave entrance.
Lei Tao successfully stood on the ground above. There were no swamp vipers. It seemed they hadn't pursued them after all.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, send them up. It's safe up here."
Soon, Chu Lingwei sent all of them up, leaving only her and the stone.
Sensing Chu Lingwei's gaze, the stone instinctively tried to flee.