Chapter 224: The Cave

Unlike the eeriness of the space movement when going to Saint Byrons, Xia De did not see any illusions. The sound in his ears fell, and immediately, the surrounding white fog disappeared completely.

He felt as if he hadn't moved at all. Looking around, after the white fog dissipated, he was standing in the familiar circular space, and in front of him was still the ancient god statue that lit up as he watched it.

But this time it was no longer the statue space under Saint Deran Square. There was no clutter piled by the wall; it was clean, not even with dust. Although it was still a circular space, the area here seemed smaller, and the ceiling was higher.

"Success... However, this statue is also in this kind of circular space. It seems it's the same group of people who placed the statue in Saint Deran Square."

A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he looked down at the suitcase. He opened it to check, and all the items were there. This meant that space movement could carry items containing supernatural power.

But his heart still didn't relax; he immediately used the miracle 【Echo of the Past】.

Five consecutive times, he didn't hear any human voices, which also proved that this space had likely not been used for a long time.

But Xia De didn't rush to explore the outside world immediately; instead, he turned back and reached out to touch the ancient god statue again.

After the incantation was spoken, he returned to the white fog area of the "Space Labyrinth." As expected, there were still only two wooden signposts on the blurry path in the white fog.

After touching the signpost labeled 1, the sound in his ears whispered softly:

【The Guide will guide your direction.】

The white fog dissipated, and he saw the circular space again. The clutter piled by the wall already told Xia De that this was the basement of his own home. After returning to the first floor from the basement and seeing Saint Deran Square in the rain outside the window, he finally confirmed that the statue's long-distance teleportation had no waiting time, which was really the best thing.

He had just placed Miya at Miss Lu Yi Sha's place, which now seemed like an unnecessary move. But there was no need to bring the cat back immediately. Xia De returned to the basement with his suitcase and umbrella, returned to the brand-new circular space through the statue, and prepared to embark on a new adventure.

His eyes fixed on the statue, and the statue immediately glowed with a soft light. Then he opened the suitcase, placed important items on his person, held the revolver, and looked at the curved wall facing the statue. According to the pattern, the hidden wall was located right here.

"Can you feel what's outside this wall?"

【You are only sensitive to elements with your soul, not possessing X-ray vision.】

"Alright then."

He watched the front nervously, then summoned his Ring of Fate to illuminate the wall, and the wall indeed disappeared.

Outside, there seemed to be no light, only deep darkness. The light from the statue behind him only stayed in this space and couldn't illuminate the environment outside.

"Silver Moon."

He walked out of the circular space holding the gun in one hand, then whispered, letting his fingers emit a faint silver moon light.

What he saw was a deep, dark passage, and the location of the hidden wall was at the end of the passage.

Under his feet was not soil, but uneven, hard stones, while all around were slippery rock walls, with some green moss like seaweed growing on them. It was extremely dark all around. Under the deliberately maintained faint light, a creepy chill made Xia De think of many horror scenes. At this moment, even if an ugly merman rushed out from the darkness, he wouldn't be surprised.

The passage wasn't very wide, probably enough for three people of Xia De's size to stand side by side. As for the height, Xia De believed that as long as he jumped lightly, he would immediately hit the rock wall above.

Because it was too low, he didn't need to raise his fingers to see the full picture of his standing position.

"But why are there no bats?"

He thought in his heart, searching under his feet again, but didn't find any animal feces or footprints.

"How strange."

The air was humid and cold. He sniffed gently, and strange smells rushed into his nasal cavity: rot, fishy dampness. No matter where this was, it had probably not been stepped on by humans for a long time.

So he increased the light of his fingers slightly to see further. Only then did he discover that where the passage extended forward, there was something black lying there.

After approaching cautiously, he actually discovered that it was a group of sea turtles. These sea turtles looked a bit ferocious in the darkness, but after being illuminated by the silver moon light, they just moved their positions slowly. It seemed Xia De had disturbed them.

"Where on earth am I?"

The passage was going slightly downward while moving forward, which meant the hidden wall at the end of the passage was actually at a high place.

Walking outward along the passage, he had to be extra careful under his feet, and the slipperiness of the uneven ground rocks became more and more severe.

This passage wasn't very long, and he could see the end in about fifty steps. During this period, besides seeing a group of sea turtles, Xia De also saw a nest of crabs, several rotten dead fish, and some things like sea anemones.

During this time, he also tried 【Blood Echo】 and 【Echo of the Past】 many times, but didn't find any traces of human activity. It seemed that not only inside the wall, but even this passage had not been stepped on by anyone for a long time.

Continuing to walk forward, the sound of water became clearer and clearer. When he was twenty steps away from the hidden wall, there was already a layer of accumulated water on the ground. Continuing forward, the terrain became lower, and the water became deeper.

By the time he reached fifty steps, the accumulated water had reached Xia De's knees. He couldn't continue walking forward. The light shone forward, and he could clearly see that the passage, which was sloping downward, was completely submerged in water not far away.

He could feel the flow of water, which meant this was not stagnant water but living water. Outside, it should be...

"The ocean."

This was the answer Xia De tasted after dipping a little water with his hand, and the animals and plants he saw just now also proved this point.

Considering that this closed passage with the ocean in front and a hidden wall behind actually had oxygen, and there were no air holes visible inside the passage, there was reason to believe that at some point between high tide and low tide, at least part of the passage would be directly connected to the outside world.

"In other words, if I enter the water and swim outward, it shouldn't take long to reach the outside world."

Thinking in his heart, Xia De turned back to the hidden wall and returned home through the statue with his suitcase.

After reorganizing the items and putting them back into the suitcase, the focus was on a set of dry clothes and boots. Then he found a large piece of waterproof canvas left by the previous detective, cut it, and completely wrapped the suitcase.

He found some hemp rope at home, connected them end to end, and then used the remaining rope to tie the suitcase, which had undergone strict waterproofing, to his back, before returning to the cold and damp passage.

Walking forward for fifty steps, the water surface was almost at his knees. He tied one end of the long rope to a rock pillar protruding from the ground and water, and the other end to his waist.

After confirming that both ends were very secure, Xia De waded forward through the water. He could already feel fish swimming under the water surface.

After the water surface completely covered his waist, Xia De took a deep breath.

"Spell - Underwater Breathing."

He plunged forward into the water. It felt just like trying the spell in a water basin before; he could open his eyes in the water, and when breathing in the water, it felt as comfortable as breathing in the air. The feeling of oxygen entering his lungs from the outside world made his whole body feel pleasant. He struggled forward for dozens of steps on the extremely slippery ground, confirmed that the water was deep enough, and then swam forward in the winding downward passage. ===== CHAPTER 225 =====