6 Chapter 6: The Skeleton and the Ring
Ding ding dong dong—
The rhythmic sounds of hammering echoed in the deep mine, flickering firelight illuminating a group of miners.
"Xiao Lin, were your ancestors specialized in mining?" A surprised voice suddenly reached Lin Xiu, who was focused on mining.
The middle-aged man and the others in the dormitory all stopped their work, their gazes locking onto Lin Xiu.
"Uncle, why are you suddenly asking?" Lin Xiu was taken aback.
"Yesterday you didn't even know how to swing a pickaxe, and now, after just one night, your movements are more skillful than those who have been mining for half a year." The middle-aged man had never seen someone pick up mining so quickly.
"I don't know either, I just... mined, and before I knew it, I got the hang of it."
Lin Xiu responded casually.
However, after the middle-aged man mentioned it, he realized that some of his skills had indeed improved. Many effortless techniques came naturally to him, without conscious effort.
The middle-aged man talked to the people around him about Lin Xiu, saying that he was naturally gifted for mining. He could make big money and marry a wife in less than ten years with his talent for mining.
The others nodded in agreement.
Lin Xiu heard this but paid it no mind. Mining couldn't be done forever. He was just gaining experience, earning some Attribute Points.
After adding points to Constitution, not only did his sore muscles feel relieved, but he also felt stronger.
Compared to yesterday, Lin Xiu's mining skills became even more adept. His movements were smooth, rhythmic, and pleasing to the eye.
[You mined, gaining +5 experience]
[Your Ability Mining has reached level 4, gaining 1 Attribute Point]
He didn't know how much time had passed before words appeared before Lin Xiu.
"Leveled up? Feels so quick. If I work hard today, maybe I can level up again"
Previously, for the three Abilities he had, Basic Qi Cultivation only gained experience once per day, no matter how many times he practiced cultivating.
Similarly, Making Horse Food was the same; when the horse didn't eat, making it didn't earn any experience.
Horse Training was related to the horse's mood. Training too frequently would make the horse irritable, resistant to training, and likewise not gain any experience.
Mining, however, was different from those. Just swinging the pickaxe could yield results. Although the experience was relatively small, the rewards were consistent.
Suddenly, Lin Xiu's gaze paused.
He saw at his feet, wisps of white smoke had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. These wisps were small, easy to miss if one wasn't paying close attention.
Turning his head, his gaze followed, and the next second, his pupils contracted sharply.
"Fog! White fog! Such thick fog!"
From the depths of the mine, the white fog surged like waves.
Upon hearing Lin Xiu's voice, the middle-aged man and the others all stopped, then, upon seeing the fog, they all exerted themselves to run towards the entrance of the mine.
Lin Xiu was fast; even before he shouted the warning, he had already started running.
Many miners were left behind in his wake, but the white fog was spreading even faster than Lin Xiu.
After running out for about ten meters, the dense fog engulfed their vision, and the firelight was extremely dim in the fog.
Lin Xiu immediately pressed himself against the wall.
In a situation where the path was invisible, compared to the crisis within the fog, falling was equally dangerous. The other miners, in their rush to escape, wouldn't care if they were stepping on people or on the path.
"What should I do?" Encountering white fog for the first time, Lin Xiu felt lost.
In the vast whiteness, his vision had become useless, and screams and cries echoed incessantly in the mine.
"What's that sound?" Feeling his way along the wall to move forward, Lin Xiu suddenly heard a rustling sound, as if something was scraping against the ground.
Due to the white fog obscuring his vision, Lin Xiu glanced around but found nothing.
Suddenly, his feet began to itch, as if something was coiling around them.
Lin Xiu quickly lifted his leg, but the next moment, a tremendous force came from below, and before he could react, he was already falling to the ground.
Countless brown vines were shuttling on the ground, resembling snakes, which was extremely terrifying.
These vines surged towards Lin Xiu, attempting to wrap him entirely. How could he agree to that? He kept rolling and struggling.
Suddenly, there was a piercing pain from under his feet, as if something had pierced his skin.
Lin Xiu's heart clenched, feeling even more worried. What if this thing was poisonous? Then he would be in trouble.
"Huh!" At this moment, an unexpected scene occurred, which surprised Lin Xiu. The vines actually began to loosen their grip on him.
Freed from the binds, Lin Xiu quickly stood up from the ground. He reached out his hand and wiped it, finding his palm covered in dark red blood.
"Scared of my blood? How could that be? I'm just an ordinary person, nothing special." Lin Xiu tried smearing the blood on the vines, but they didn't seem to care and simply ignored it.
The cave became quiet, and those vines seemed to have a hypnotic effect, as the screams of many people gradually faded away.
Lin Xiu took a few steps along the wall. "Should I go down and take a look?"
Turning back to look towards the depths of the mine, his heart started pounding rapidly.
If there was danger, he would not hesitate to flee. But the current situation was such that, for some reason, he had not been attacked.
His thoughts were like lively seeds, once they landed, they uncontrollably sprouted and grew rapidly.
Picking up a pickaxe, not knowing whose it was, Lin Xiu walked towards the depths of the mine.
As he went deeper, the temperature dropped even further. Goosebumps appeared on Lin Xiu's hands and neck, and all his hairs stood on end.
"The fog has dissipated a bit." He noticed that he could see about two or three meters ahead, and Lin Xiu's mood improved slightly.
Better visibility meant being able to see dangers in advance and avoid them.
Soon, Lin Xiu reached the end. There was a hole on one side of the wall, big enough for one person to pass through. Most of it was blocked by vines, so the only way to get in was to crawl through from below.
Outside the cave, there were several figures of miners lying there. The middle-aged man was also among them, but he was currently unconscious.
A vine drilled out from below, wrapping around one person's foot, and then dragged him inside.
"Since I'm here, I can't just sleep through the night without taking a look." Lin Xiu took a deep breath and crawled into that hole.
He thought the cave would be deep and cramped, but it turned out to be just over a meter long.
Inside the cave was a hollowed-out area, somewhat resembling a secret chamber. In the center of the ground grew a plant, surrounded by Red Jade Ginseng covering the entire floor.
Those Red Jade Ginseng seemed to be supplying nutrients to the plant, with roots connecting to it. As for the people dragged in, they were all suspended in midair. Some had already turned into dried corpses, as if all their blood had been drained.
Lin Xiu stood up, hardly daring to breathe. It was evident that this was the nest of some kind of plant Magic Beast.
The fact that he had been fine before was probably because he had eaten too much Red Jade Ginseng, causing the creature to overlook him.
Lin Xiu glanced around and caught sight of a skeleton sitting in a corner, with only bones remaining. On the index finger of the left hand, there was a ring.
Without hesitation, he took the ring. After all, he had come all this way.
With a clatter, the skeleton fell to the ground, disturbing the plant, which reacted violently. Lin Xiu quickly fled outside.
Dragging the unconscious middle-aged man, the two soon left that area.
Lin Xiu didn't immediately leave. Instead, he waited until the fog was about to dissipate and the middle-aged man was almost waking up. Then he acted as if just waking up himself.
"Huh, I'm not dead again." The middle-aged man felt his body, somewhat surprised. He quickly looked over to Lin Xiu beside him. "Xiao Lin, you're okay too. That's great. It must be because of my luck. Today, your chicken drumsticks are mine."
Lin Xiu's lips twitched. Repaying kindness with enmity, huh?
---
Check out my Patreon for up to 50 Advanced Chapters.
Link : patreon.com/AlbertTL
