Having prepared everything, Xu Xin entered the underground cave with a stone spear.
He was a bit sensitive to the word "underground" now, so even though Keke told him there was no danger below, he still remained highly alert and replenished himself with red berries and oranges.
Upon first entering the cave, Xu Xin looked ahead. The cave was narrow, only slightly wider than his shoulders, and the cramped space couldn't even allow two people to walk side by side.
The direction of the cave wasn't forward but sloping downwards, and as Xu Xin followed the path, he found himself getting farther and farther from the surface.
The sides of the passage were rough earth walls, looking as if they had been dug out artificially.
Xu Xin could see the end of the path at a glance. The end of the cave was only a few hundred meters away from him.
"Strange, a dead end?" Xu Xin wondered aloud.
He checked the surrounding walls as he walked, expecting to find other passages leading in different directions, but when he reached the end of the cave and touched the earth wall with his hands, he still found no other paths.
The end of the cave was no longer sloping downward but was flat ground. Xu Xin calculated that the position he was in was about twenty or thirty meters from the surface.
Looking down at Keke, he saw Keke at his feet, digging the ground with its small paws.
Xu Xin focused, noticing the color of that patch of earth was slightly different from its surroundings. If it weren't for his night vision ability that allowed him to see in the dark as if it were broad daylight, he wouldn't have noticed the difference in soil color even with a torch.
This patch of earth had been loosened.
The treasure chest must be buried here!
"Alright, Keke, leave it to me!" Xu Xin moved the hardworking Keke aside and took out a spade to start digging at the patch of differently colored soil.
"Yip, yip, yip!" In a careless moment, Xu Xin accidentally showered Keke with dirt, and Keke protested, shaking the dirt off and jumping up to hug Xu Xin's leg.
"Haha, sorry, Keke!" Xu Xin couldn't help but chuckle, patting Keke's head, feeling the earth particles on its little head, giving it a gentle pat, "I'll give you a bath when we get back!"
"Yip!"
Xu Xin continued digging, but even when the depth of the hole reached his waist, he still hadn't found anything.
He looked at the soil in the pit, and as he dug, the earth began to take on a tinge of red. Although it wasn't very noticeable, Xu Xin spotted it easily.
"Is there really no danger?" Xu Xin hesitated, as the soil seemed to be stained with blood, reminding him of the blood-red lines and thorns on the dark green vines, and the blood-red petals and stamens of the Cannibal Flower.
He sighed and patted the small creature's head, saying, "If something goes wrong here, we might both die together."
"Yip!" Keke had one paw holding onto Xu Xin's leg and patted its chest with the other, as if to say, trust it, if it says there's no danger, there's no danger!
He decided to continue trusting Keke.
Having come this far, giving up halfway wouldn't be good.
He continued digging, but instead of digging straight down, he angled his digging upwards at the entrance to the cave, creating a path to walk up again, and laid the excavated soil flat in the passage, ensuring nothing blocked his way out.
Better to leave an escape route first, just in case he needed to dig very deep, it could be tricky to get back up.
He continued digging until the hole's depth was almost as tall as he was when his shovel suddenly hit something hard, producing a sound different from stone, as if it were made of metal.
Xu Xin's eyes lit up.
Was it the treasure chest?
He quickened his digging pace, swiftly clearing the earth beneath him.
Underfoot was indeed metal, but to his disappointment, it wasn't gold, it was iron.
Not knowing how long this iron object had been buried, its surface was covered with a layer of dark red rust.
Xu Xin cleared the surrounding dirt around the exposed iron surface, discovering it wasn't just some small thing, but an underground iron door!
A door leading to deeper underground!
"Why is it a door?" Xu Xin muttered, looking at the rusty handle, "A door to an underground space?"
This iron door gave him the same feeling as a manhole cover by the roadside, but a manhole cover is round, whereas this rusted iron door was square, with an iron handle just like the rest.
He dug around and discovered the surroundings were still completely stained red soil, unlike any red earth Xu Xin had seen before.
Xu Xin grabbed a handful of soil.
[Polluted Soil (Gray): Soil contaminated by an unknown force, useless to survivors.]
Indeed, this soil was also problematic.
He tossed the soil aside, staring at the iron door.
There was no other way but to go down.
He dug out a space big enough to stand, grabbing the handle and taking a deep breath, then forcefully pulling upwards.
The iron door was very heavy, but fortunately, it wasn't locked. With his twice-enhanced strength, Xu Xin exerted all his might and finally began moving the iron door.
The rusty iron door made a sharp screeching sound, opening a crack.
Before Xu Xin could apply more force, a strong, unpleasant odor rushed out from the crack, catching him off guard and making its way into his nose.
"Ugh..." Xu Xin dry-heaved, losing his grip, and with a "bang", the iron door he had just cracked open slammed shut again.
Even Keke let out a sharp cry of disgust from the smell, giving a little retch.
"What on earth is in there, why does it stink so much!"
Xu Xin had mild pharyngitis and usually gagged at unpleasant smells, but this nausea wasn't even related to his condition because the odor under the iron door was far beyond a normal person's tolerance!
It was unbearably foul! Like spoiled herring in a can mixed with moldy pickled bamboo shoots, a smell that was physically repulsive!
With no other option, Xu Xin reused his old trick, using his clothes as a mask to cover his nose.
Gripping the rust-covered handle again, Xu Xin exerted his whole body. Amidst a teeth-gritting sound, the iron door opened again to a crack.
Suppressing his nausea, Xu Xin increased his strength.
"Up—You—Go—!!"
"Crash!!" The iron door flipped completely over, falling heavily to the other side.
A red gas wafted up from below, the foul odor swiftly filling Xu Xin's nostrils.
Xu Xin couldn't hold it in any longer and rushed to the passage above, tearing the clothes from his face and hurling.
Too foul, just unbearably foul!
Xu Xin thought that the smell from behind this door was even scarier than the Cannibal Flower! It was practically a biological weapon!
Keke was also clutching the cave wall with its little paws, making a series of retching sounds beside him.
No way, the whole cave was filled with this smell!
Xu Xin grabbed Keke and bolted to the surface, taking huge breaths of the fresh air from the jungle.
He had never found the jungle air so refreshing, even found the faint scent of the Cannibal Flower around him pleasant.
After catching his breath, Xu Xin bit his lip. He couldn't let mere odor make him give up!
Steeling himself, he prepared to truly enter this dreadfully smelly iron door this time.
Just as Xu Xin was about to head back down the cave, he paused, his eye twitching as he looked at the hole he had enlarged.
A faint red gas was slowly seeping from it, spreading around the entrance, drifting to Xu Xin, entering his nose.
"Ugh!"