Chapter 139: The Past of the Underground Village

The battle ended quickly; most of the Magma Cave ant-men were wiped out, with only a very few successfully fleeing the scene. Yage began organizing the Militia Group to clear the battlefield, making it easier for the villagers in the rear to pass through safely.

Zhu Zhiquan looked at the victorious battlefield, somewhat dazed. Zhao Yuxin, standing to the side, said in surprise: "Wow! There must be hundreds of them at least! Ajiu, if we had to rely on just us few to kill all these monsters covering the ground, how long would that take?"

Zhu Zhiquan only shook his head without speaking, then attempted to perform a Soul Sacrifice on the dead Magma Cave ant-men.

He attempted to sacrifice four souls, but in the end, only one soul was successfully sacrificed. The system also provided an explanation: "Incomplete soul detected; the number of successful sacrifices this time is one."

During Zhu Zhiquan's sacrifice, Zhao Yuxin said with an envious look: "Wouldn't it be great if one day I could make plants like that too? Then we would have our own unique means of concealment!"

A militiaman cleaning the battlefield nearby quipped: "Oh? Outsider, it's not that easy to replicate the Magic Potion our mages research."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuxin immediately pointed at his nose and retorted defiantly: "Hmph! You're looking down on me, aren't you! Let me tell you, I can absolutely replicate this ability to block perception, believe it or not!"

"Hahaha..." Hearing Zhao Yuxin's words, all the surrounding militia burst into loud laughter.

Facing the mockery of the crowd, Zhao Yuxin put her hands on her hips and demanded: "What do you mean by that!? Do you believe I could research it right now if I went back!"

Just as Zhao Yuxin finished speaking, the crowd erupted in even louder laughter. Zhu Zhiquan, standing to the side, shielded Zhao Yuxin behind him. His eyes seemed to burn with fire as he scolded the militiamen who had mocked Zhao Yuxin, and he didn't even stutter while speaking.

Finally, Zhu Zhiquan took Zhao Yuxin's hand and returned to the Tricycle carriage. As soon as they returned to the carriage, Zhao Yuxin ignored the Ice Cream Cactus that lunged toward her, walked straight to the Portable Plant Research Table, and began her new research.

Zhu Zhiquan didn't know what was wrong with Zhao Yuxin either, so he could only silently go to the driver's seat to wait for departure, taking the opportunity to open the World Channel to pass the time.

Before long, the group set off again. Zhu Zhiquan took one last look at the number in the top left corner; it showed there were still about 1,200 people left.

Zhu Zhiquan took a deep breath, closed the panel, and drove the Tricycle to follow the main group forward.

Along the way, Yage led everyone to avoid the Magma Cave ant-men as much as possible; only when they encountered nests that could not be bypassed would Yage lead the Militia Group to capture them.

News of multiple nests being conquered was reported layer by layer by the fleeing Magma Cave ant-men, allowing the Magma Cave ant-man Grand General responsible for this area to sense something was amiss.

At this moment, on the Magma Cave ant-man Grand General's sand table were nests of various sizes that they had built. Many of these nests were filled with ice blocks, representing that they had fallen.

If one connected the fallen nests, one could see there were six lines in total, meaning there were six groups marked on it, one of which represented the route Zhu Zhiquan and the others were on.

The Magma Cave ant-man Grand General picked up a skull, drew a symbol on it, and said respectfully to it: "Report to His Majesty the Insect Emperor, humans from six villages have begun to migrate here; please allow me to lead troops to exterminate them."

After the Magma Cave ant-man Grand General finished speaking, a low voice came from inside the skull: "Granted. Do not let the prey escape our control!"

"This subordinate obeys." Having received the Insect Emperor's permission, the Magma Cave ant-man Grand General began to deploy the troop distribution for each nest.

Soon, the changes in the underground passage were noticed by Buyelu Village Chief Yage, who immediately ordered the group to stop moving and summoned the Elders to discuss a plan.

The mages immediately dug out a room by the roadside to facilitate the Village Chief and the others' conversation. Inside the carriage, Zhu Zhiquan watched Yage and the Elders enter the room to deliberate, and he couldn't help but pose his doubts to Lao Ka.

This left Lao Ka very confused, and he couldn't help but ask: "Outsider, you don't know? Then how did you enter such deep underground?"

"This..." Zhu Zhiquan didn't know how to answer this question for a moment; after all, he couldn't tell them they had been teleported underground!

At this time, Zhao Yuxin interrupted her research, leaned on the carriage window, and said with a serious face: "Don't worry about that; just tell us what is going on here."

Seeing Zhao Yuxin's firm attitude, Lao Ka had no choice but to explain to them: "According to our village's ancient records, a long time ago, there were no monsters like the Magma Cave ant-men underground.

It was only later that these monsters suddenly appeared and swept through towns large and small; at that time, many people were captured by these beasts.

It is said that the captured people worked as forced labor during the day and were used as food at night; for this reason, our ancestors fought a great war against them."

Lao Ka's story attracted the Ice Cream Cactus and the Durian Warrior, who had been playing in the carriage, and they also leaned on the carriage window to listen patiently to his story.

Zhao Yuxin also urged him: "And then? Did you win in the end?"

"Of course we didn't win!" Lao Ka said decisively, "According to the ancient records, after the ancestors were defeated, they split into two parts. One part surrendered to the Magma Cave ant-men and became their livestock. The other part wandered around.

And we are the branch that wandered back then. Unfortunately, we weren't diligent enough. Ever since I was a child, our village's population has been declining; it's only been slightly better these past few years, with the survival rate of the children having improved."

After Lao Ka finished the story, many of the surrounding villagers were secretly shedding tears. Zhao Yuxin and Zhu Zhiquan suddenly had a headache, feeling dissatisfied with the mission issued by the system.

After all, this is just too damn hard! Requiring all players to reach the surface on the seventh day, and arranging such outrageous monsters to block the way—this is going to cost us players our lives!

Zhao Yuxin leaned on Zhu Zhiquan's shoulder, listening to the discussion between Yage and the Elders in the room in the distance. She pulled Zhu Zhiquan to sit inside the carriage, her voice trembling slightly as she said: "Ajiu, do you think we can survive this world?"

Zhu Zhiquan pulled Zhao Yuxin into his arms and responded in a soft and calm voice: "We can. We will definitely make it through this world safely! What? Don't tell me you're scared?"

"Who's scared!" Zhao Yuxin immediately straightened her chest and retorted in a firm tone: "Aren't they just a few ants? I could handle them single-handedly, believe it or not!?"

Looking at Zhao Yuxin, whose pupils were trembling slightly, Zhu Zhiquan just smiled slightly and held her in his arms.

Zhao Yuxin didn't resist, and she hugged Zhu Zhiquan tightly. At that moment, time seemed to have paused, and their worries also slipped away while they cherished each other.

Knock, knock, knock~

A militiaman knocked on the carriage shed and shouted: "You two, the Village Chief and the others invite you over."

The militiaman waited in place for a moment, heard no response, and knocked again.

The two knocks made the two who were cherishing each other subconsciously separate. Just as the militiaman was about to enter the carriage to check the situation, Zhao Yuxin pushed aside the curtain on the carriage window and said impatiently: "May I ask what the matter is?"

The militiaman in charge of the notification stood straight and replied to Zhao Yuxin: "Our Village Chief has something to discuss with you."

"Okay, I know." After saying that, Zhao Yuxin retracted into the carriage to relay the news to Zhu Zhiquan.

Zhu Zhiquan tidied up his appearance, "Let's go. This time, we finally have a chance to take action."