[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse":3,"chapter-starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-chapter-37":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},651513,887,"Chapter 37: Explorer from Earth?","starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-chapter-37",37,"\u003Cp>Sitting ten meters away from the cave entrance, Xu Xin held Keke, quietly waiting for the red gas to disperse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't that he didn't want to go in; the smell was simply unbearable for humans.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, Xu Xin was somewhat worried the smell might be toxic. Although his body was only weak from vomiting the dinner, who knows if inhaling too much would cause serious effects?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It's better to be cautious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gradually, no more red gas floated out from the cave entrance, and the surrounding red color dispersed with the wind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Xin walked to the cave entrance and looked inside. There was still a faint red gas inside the cave, but it had significantly weakened compared to when it first emerged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, there's no ventilation inside the cave, so expecting these gases to completely dissipate isn't realistic; this was the best outcome. Xu Xin sighed and asked Keke, \"Are you coming down with me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Keke's body stiffened. After hesitating for a moment, it nodded its little head and jumped onto Xu Xin's shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This little guy. Xu Xin patted its head, tied his clothes around his face, grit his teeth, and entered the cave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the cavern, faint red lingered in the passage, but to Xu Xin's surprise, the red gas wasn't filling the whole corridor; it only lingered above the cave space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tried bending down, and indeed, although the low air still carried a hint of that eerie stench, it was within his tolerable range now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It seems this strange gas is lighter than air. That's good; the foul gas inside the iron door must have already drifted out!\" Bending down, Xu Xin advanced through the cave, quickly reaching the open underground iron door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking inside, there was a narrow iron passage only allowing one person up and down. Iron ladders were fixed to the walls, and who knows how deep they went.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ladders were covered in rust. Xu Xin was a bit hesitant looking at this passage, but he still stepped onto the ladder and began climbing down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The passage was long. Xu Xin climbed step by step. The only sounds in the underground well-like passage were his footsteps and Keke's occasional whimpering on his shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little one was also scared, clutching tightly onto the clothes on his shoulder, fearing it might fall off at any moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This passage is too long! I wouldn't end up underground, would I!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The passage was too long, and Xu Xin felt his arms starting to tremble. But he couldn't help it; he was already halfway down, he couldn't climb back up and give up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Continuing to climb down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who knows how long he climbed; just as Xu Xin felt he could barely hold onto the ladder, he finally reached a room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After climbing down another four or five meters, Xu Xin set foot on the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Finally climbed down!\" Xu Xin stood on the ground, rubbing his arm muscles, \"Such a long iron passage consumes so much iron!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mumbling to himself, he turned around and began inspecting his surroundings. His gaze shifted, and his pupils shrank abruptly as he gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was empty; three walls were standard iron plates, not even a window, with only one wall having a very heavy and solid door. The door was round, much like a vault door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the first thing he saw was a human skeleton, dressed in tattered clothes, leaning against the wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone has been here before!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Xin was shocked; beneath the wild depths, there was a vault-like underground room, and here was a skeleton!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who was he? Perhaps a survivalist from before? Or a native of this world?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Examining his attire, despite the clothes being inexplicably tattered, he could still tell it was standard wilderness survival gear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Walking forward, Xu Xin saw a dirty bundle beside the skeleton. Made from animal skin, it had lain underground so long the outer skin had mostly peeled off, looking extremely shabby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Sorry, brother.\" Xu Xin silently mumbled, opening the bundle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moldy smell emanated from the animal-skin bundle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The contents were rather mixed; Xu Xin dumped them out, counting what was inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"An entirely rusty, collapsed multipurpose knife, an empty lighter, and a small flashlight—these are Earth tools! This person must have been a wilderness survivalist; the tools were complete.\" Xu Xin murmured, \"But the question is, why would anyone bring Earth tools to this world?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Keke hopped down from his shoulder, pawing through the items.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was even a wrapper of eaten compressed biscuits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He picked up the lighter and flashlight; although the writing was a bit blurry and the flashlight's exterior cracked, Xu Xin could still see the product names and logos, written in unknown language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Xin had some exposure to European languages; these letters should be Greek.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He picked up the compressed biscuit packaging. Although he couldn't understand the text, he could see the fuzzy production date—April 1980.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ordinary compressed biscuits have a shelf life of about three years. If this person didn't eat expired biscuits, it means he's been dead for nearly 40 years!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Forty years ago, someone had already arrived in this world!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The moon here changes from full to new within a day, and it's noticeably larger than in his original world. Xu Xin knew this wasn't his original world, even though he saw Earth merchandise here, which didn't change his view.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His back felt cold, wondering what secrets this world concealed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were people sent here forty years ago? How could he bring things from there?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Examining the room again, Xu Xin increasingly felt it resembled a prison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even prisons have toilets and beds; this room was empty except for the ragged clothed skeleton, a heavy iron door, and an openable passage overhead resembling a ventilator.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the bundle wasn't any diary for Xu Xin's reference; he looked at the skeleton again; besides the tattered clothes, there was nothing valuable. He felt somewhat disappointed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It figures, who writes diaries seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ying!\" Keke suddenly cried, staring at the iron wall behind the skeleton.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What?\" Xu Xin followed Keke's gaze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the iron wall behind the skeleton seemed to be some writing, partially obscured by the skeleton, with only a small part of the inscription visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Xin gently moved the skeleton.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unexpectedly, with a slight push, the skeleton tilted sideways, fell to the ground, bones scattered everywhere, startling Xu Xin who jumped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The skull rolled around on the iron ground, finally stopping in front of Xu Xin, face up, seemingly staring with its hollow eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hiss——!\" Xu Xin gasped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He previously didn't believe in ghosts or spirits, nor feared skeletons, but his worldview started to crumble since arriving here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Science couldn't explain why he woke up in this world, why plants grew so rapidly, or why eating fruit granted special abilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this world, anything was possible, including this skeleton suddenly coming to life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, it didn't come alive; it merely looked as if it was staring straight at Xu Xin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The iron chamber was quiet; Xu Xin suppressed his unease, looking at the now unobstructed wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The inscriptions were knife-carved, surrounded by purple-black stains resembling dried blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But frustratingly, the wall lettering was similar to the flashlight and biscuit packaging - strange letters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Xin had only learned English and encountered some Spanish; he couldn't understand other European languages, let alone Greek, the second hardest language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ying?\" Keke tilted its head at the wall text, unable to comprehend, turning its gaze to the skeleton's skull.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's so frustrating, finding clues but not understanding them.\" Xu Xin sighed, eyeing the heavy door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The success of this underground exploration depended entirely on what lay behind the door.\u003C\u002Fp>",1288,"2026-06-02T07:15:07.815Z",1,"novelbin.me","924a4384ebedbfec3b6c8e2940dc0418d6e1a8fae79f8201f819b2a6513371ff","starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-chapter-38","starting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-chapter-36",1122,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-off-survival-with-a-small-treehouse-cover.jpg"]