Chapter 222 Blade Duel at Cang Lin 38
When the announcement for the main quest update came, Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul were still exploring the underground tunnel, looking for a way out. Even though the stone told them that they would have completed trekking through the entire cave system in one night and one night, something was obviously wrong with its calculation. Its so-called one day and one night was probably twenty-four hours without stopping to rest. Naturally, Xiao Tan and Laughing Soul could not do that. When their stamina reached the bottom, they had to stop to rest. Both of them were currently level seventeen, so their maximum Stamina Points was 1,700. No matter what, they decided to keep their Stamina Points at least above one quarter just in case they ran into something unexpected. If they did not have any stamina left, how would they survive?
Even though the method of triggering the puzzle and monster in the cave system was not as random as wading through the grass in Pokémon, there were more than enough event triggers on the map. Normally, they could not avoid the triggers if they wanted to pass. Occasionally, there would be a reward. It felt like someone giving them candy following a slap.
Basically, the duo had entered the traditional playstyle of an RPG. Exploration, trigger event, gain reward, rest, and continue exploration… rinse and repeat. Without realizing it, they had found most of the map. Since they did not know where the actual exit was, when they ran into a split, they tried their best to explore all the options. Because of that, when the two found the exit, it was already approaching the second dawn. It had been about thirty-five hours since they first fell into the hole. In this kind of long-term scenario, toward the end, the players would be visited by a strange feeling of lethargy.
The players' physical bodies were inside the gaming hub sleeping, but their mental world was operating inside a controllable dream world. If the dream carried on for too long, passing one or two days, then one's sense of time would be altered. It would not be that obvious when one was inside the scenario, but the effect would be most obvious when players left the gaming hub. Then, the players would feel like they had not slept at all, but in reality, their physical body would not be tired. They would just feel mentally that they had not gotten any rest.
"This should be the place, right?" Xiao Tan removed the miner's hat.
Laughing Soul also switched the flashlight off. She followed Xiao Tan's gaze and looked up. "Just from looking at it, it feels much taller than the place we fell down from."
By then, Laughing Soul had changed the flashlight's battery twice. She also did not expect that the scenario would need such a long period of light source, so she had only prepared four back-up batteries, and she had finished all of them.
When they conversed with the stone, Laughing Soul had realized that there would be a long period of time where the flashlight would run low on battery. Once they lost the light, their movement would be seriously inhibited, and it would be much more dangerous. So, she had suggested that they alternate the use of their light sources and turn them off while resting to save their batteries. Thankfully, they managed to find the exit before the batteries were fully exhausted.
This was a spot that was similar to the hole that they had fallen through. There was no roof, and leading upward from them was a tunnel. This tunnel did not have the shape of an inverted funnel but a normal cylindrical shape. In the middle of the cave was a pool and yellow and thick vines grew on the surrounding wall. These vines made a natural ladder. They formed a crisscross pattern on the stone wall as they climbed to the top of the tunnel.
Lifting their eyes to see, they spotted light filtering from the top of the cylindrical tunnel. A carpet of plants covered the top, and it shielded the top like a roof. Looking up from the dark cave, moonlight shivered down through the gaps in the plants, hazy and blurry. Even though it was not extremely spectacular, it was pretty enough.
"Er… shall I lead the way?" Xiao Tan asked. "Oh, right, should we find a rope to tie both of us together, making it into something like a safety rope during rock-climbing."
"Not bad, you occasionally will give good ideas." Laughing Soul gave a rare compliment.
Xiao Tan smiled and did not reply. This was a good point about the man. If this was Feng Bujue, he would have added a few more compliments of his own. Laughing Soul did have a rope with her, and it was the kind used for rock-climbing. She had purchased it at the official shop for quite a high price, but she knew it would be practical and worth the asking price. They tied the rope to their shoulders and waist. There was about eight meters of rope between them. This way, they would not inhibit each other's movement, but if one of them slipped, the other could temporarily manage the sudden impact. Of course, this was just an extra measure. It did not preclude the possibility of the impact of the one falling pulling the other one down with them as well.
Before starting the climb, they had another rest to let their Stamina Points rise back up to a safe level, to prevent any dangerous outcomes during climbing. Then, with Xiao Tan leading, they started the climb. Climbing was a basic requirement for an assassin. Like eating, sleeping, breathing, and blinking, an assassin could forget how to speak, but they would never forget how to climb.
Of course, Xiao Tan was not a real assassin; he was merely wearing an assassin's outfit. He was a player that planned to expand down the path of agility and speed. But facing this kind of climbing requirement in-game was still quite easy for him. After all, there were many places for him to grip, and the vines were extremely sturdy and could hold his weight well.
Even though Laughing Soul was lacking physically compared to Xiao Tan, she had the advantage of lighter weight and would take less effort in climbing. With someone leading the way and the rope tying them together, she had it easier psychologically. She followed Xiao Tan's rhythm and soon reached the halfway mark.
Lowering her head to look, there was only darkness beneath her. The sound of water lapping came, but there was no sight of it. Lifting her head, the moonlight appeared to be getting closer.
They had been climbing for about twenty minutes, and they soon reached the top. The excitement and joy of finally breaking free washed away the fatigue collected from the past ten hours. Everything that they had experienced was still fresh in their minds, like the endless tunnel, the monsters that might show up anytime, puzzles that blocked the way, the many surprises. Finally, they were going to put that behind them. The feeling was as good as drinking a glass of cold milk after a hot bath.
"Phew… we're finally out!" When the two reached the ground, they lay down on the grassland and let out a long sigh, looking at the stars. They were situated inside a forest, and the moonlight lit up their surroundings like it was morning. The woods were sparse, and the ground was uneven. In any case, there was no imminent danger.
"I say… this is the morning of the third day, right?" Xiao Tan asked.
"Yes, the duel is tonight," Laughing Soul answered. "We should have about ten hours left."
"From the update, Brother Jue them should be at that place called the Realm of the Bell, right?" Xiao Tan asked again.
When Laughing Soul heard that, something came to her. "That's right! What are we going to do with the aid requested by Miss Su?"
Xiao Tan showed a worried look. "Hmm… At least from the team tab, we can see that Atobe is still alive…"