CHAPTER 280: CHAPTER 244: THE PURPLE-BLACK WHIRLPOOL REAPPEARS, THE SECRET IN THE HILLS (4,000 WORDS)

Li Wenxi looked at the ground covered in salt mines, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and prepared to finish work.

"This should be enough, right?" She nodded in satisfaction and looked up to ask Xu Xin if it was enough, only to find that Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang had run deeper into the mine.

"Those two, didn’t they agree not to go deeper!" Li Wenxi stomped her foot in frustration, both dissatisfied and worried. However, this mine was indeed too strange, so she didn’t dare call out loudly to bring them back.

No, she must get them out!

Li Wenxi thought for a moment, while tidying up the salt mine on the ground, she directly sent a voice message to Xu Xin, wanting to tell him to come out quickly, not to stay deeper, it was too dangerous.

However, the voice message didn’t go through.

"Huh?" Li Wenxi was taken aback, "What’s going on? There’s no signal in this mine?"

She glanced at the two over by the wall and tried to call again.

Still unable to get through.

Unconvinced, she looked over at Qi Xuefei, who was observing the situation at the cave entrance, and sent her a voice message.

Qi Xuefei’s watch vibrated. She raised her hand and looked at it, paused, then looked at Li Wenxi without answering, and raised her watch, saying, "What’s this for? You’re so close and you’re calling me?"

The distance between them was only about ten meters, and their voices could be clearly heard.

"Huh? Sister Xuefei can be reached? Then why..." Li Wenxi turned to look inside the cave.

Then she froze.

The depths of the cave had become empty, with no sign of the two people or two beasts. It was eerily quiet inside.

"Hey?" Li Wenxi thought she was seeing things, rubbed her eyes, and looked inside the cave again.

The depths of the cave were still empty.

Li Wenxi gradually widened her eyes, dazed for two seconds.

"...Sister Xuefei, they’re gone! All of them are gone!" Li Wenxi snapped out of her shock, turned to find Qi Xuefei, who had already come over and was standing behind her, frowning as she looked inside.

"I saw it; they just disappeared suddenly." Qi Xuefei was equally shocked.

She had been watching the two, and in just the blink of an eye, the two people and two beasts had vanished. Since the cave’s depths were dark, and she hadn’t eaten any red berries, she didn’t see clearly what happened.

She seemed to have glimpsed a black mass flash by. The cave was already dark, and that thing was even darker, pitch black. Since it happened in an instant, she couldn’t guarantee she saw it clearly.

She relayed this to Li Wenxi.

"A... black thing?" Li Wenxi looked deeper into the cave. Having eaten red berries, she could see everything clearly inside. She remembered Xu Xin and the others were by the wall on the side, inspecting something.

She took a couple of deep breaths, calming herself slightly.

With Xu Xin around, she could act impulsively; now that Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang were missing, she had to stay steady.

She took a crossbow from her backpack and looked deeper into the cave: "Sister Xuefei, I’m going in to check. It must be that wall they were observing that’s peculiar, the wall Xu Xin mentioned that glows white when it splits."

Qi Xuefei stopped her, saying softly: "Don’t rush. They’re not dead yet. Their names are still on the watch, not grayed out, which means they’re still alive."

"But..."

"Look, Bai Ma is still sitting at the cave entrance, unchanged and emotionally stable, indicating its owner is likely okay."

Qi Xuefei didn’t intend for Li Wenxi to take the risk.

The two missing individuals were each stronger than them, and they had the Silver King, a top-tier mid-level mutant beast by their side.

If the situation was beyond their capability, finding them would mean sacrifice. If they could barely handle it, two non-combat skilled, weak fighters like them going would be a burden.

She shared this thought with Li Wenxi, who, despite her concern, let go of her insistence.

Indeed, they were no strong combatants; finding the others would mean they’d be protected at best.

"Sister Gui Xin’s abilities are certainly more helpful..." Li Wenxi sighed.

She wished she had Wen Guixin’s powerful skills; if it were Wen Guixin, she’d confidently rush in to rescue.

Unlike her, who had to worry about being a burden while wanting to save others.

"Don’t underestimate yourself; our abilities surpass even Wen Guixin’s in some aspects," Qi Xuefei comforted.

"Mm..."

Li Wenxi looked at her watch, where Xu Xin and Ji Chaoyang’s names were still normal, giving her some peace of mind.

"Let’s wait at the cave entrance for a while," Qi Xuefei said, pulling her out of the cave, "If they don’t emerge after dark, then we’ll look for them."

"These guys brought us here and then disappeared. How are we supposed to get back!" Though saying this, Li Wenxi had no intention of leaving and kept looking worriedly into the depths.

"There is Bai Ma, though..." Qi Xuefei looked at Bai Ma, "Too bad it doesn’t listen to us."