Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse-Chapter 692 - 459: Encountering Xue Lan Again (5000 words)
Around three to four meters below the iron door, Xu Xin landed easily on the ground.
There was actually a metal ladder, but he didn’t need it.
"Boom..."
The surroundings continued to shake.
Below, exactly as Ji Chaoyang’s prophecy predicted, there was a stairway tunnel about three meters wide, spiraling downward.
Because the spiral center didn’t have the usual gaps that allow for a view below, nothing could be seen below at all.
"Eep..." Keke lifted its little head to look upward.
The vibrations around had already begun to gradually lessen.
From the surrounding soil, came the sound of something being pulled out from it.
Suddenly, the entrance above, which was originally blocked by a vine bundle, swung wide open.
Light immediately shined in from outside, illuminating this small area of entry.
It seemed that the vine bundle above his head had also been pulled out from the ground, retracting towards the opening in the sky.
He no longer paid attention to the top but instead looked at the spiral stairway passage.
Speaking of which, is he now equivalent to...
Opened the prison doors of the vine bundle’s branch prison? 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
Since the vine bundle was already retracted, does it mean...
Even if they don’t enter this underground prison, their mission should already be completed, right?
Forget it, best not to think so much, let’s proceed.
Even without the agreement with Changyin, he anyway wanted to see what was in this underground prison.
He immediately stepped into the passage and began quickly progressing downward.
"Eep!" Keke jumped down from his shoulder.
It ran ahead of him to lead the way, just like it had done in the underground city before.
However, now Xu Xin didn’t need to walk cautiously and slowly as he did earlier out of fear of slipping.
Back then, the underground city was not only slippery but also steep; once you fell, you’d roll straight to the bottom. The spiral staircase, in contrast, was unusually dry, and even dust-covered.
Plus, his physical condition had greatly improved now, so he directly started jogging in the spiral stairway.
According to Ji Chaoyang’s prophecy, he ran down for at least fifteen minutes before reaching the bottom. Hence, the passage was long, demanding a speed increase.
"Eep!" Seeing Xu Xin speeding up, Keke also didn’t want to be outdone and quickened its pace.
In the midst of running, he didn’t forget to observe the surroundings of the spiral staircase.
Unlike the central main underground prison, this subordinate’s passage wasn’t made from that special metal, it was simply a dug-out passage in the earth.
A stone passage.
The stones were dust-covered, showing footprints other than theirs, many going up and down.
Even the stone walls occasionally bore dirty handprints.
However, this was well within Xu Xin’s expectations.
This was normal, as these furry odd people managed the place, and below possibly held Xue Lan, so entry and exit were pretty regular.
Judging by the looks of it, the place hadn’t been used for a long time, recently activated, hence the many footprints over thick dust.
Xu Xin and Keke continued their downward race.
Round after round.
He followed the inside of the spiral stairway, taking the fastest route to descend rapidly.
The repeated circles made him dizzy due to the speed.
Keke seemed to speed faster than him, now completely vanished.
Yet his enhanced hearing could still pick up the sound of Keke running below.
Although faint, he could still catch it.
"Eep!"
Who knows how long passed when a sound from Keke came from below.
Xu Xin rotated two more rounds, finally stepping at the end of the spiral staircase.
"Whew... finally down." He rubbed his temples.
Dizziness indeed.
He composed himself, looking forward.
Ahead was now a flat passage.
This passage was no longer rocky but returned to that hard metal like in the previous prison.
Moreover, it emitted a golden glow.
A gold-level prison, surely holding important figures.
Could Xue Lan be inside?
The passage bent about ten meters ahead, obscuring further view, so he couldn’t tell what lay within.
"Eep..." Keke climbed back onto his shoulder, its big tail drooping behind his back, its little head also drooped, its chest heaving like trembling.
Definitely exhausted.
"Tiring yet running so fast."
Xu Xin rubbed its little head.
"Eep..." Keke weakly chirped.
Clearly truly exhausted.
If it were in its usual state, it’d probably be dashing deep inside on its own.
"There’s no danger inside, right, Keke." Xu Xin ventured deeper into the passage, querying Keke drooped on his shoulder.
"Eep..." Keke responded, indicating no danger.
Xu Xin nodded.
He already caught sounds from the other side of the passage.
Were these... footsteps?
Apparently, someone indeed inside!
He quickly reached the passage’s turn, peeking around.
