Lingsha tiptoed into the basin overgrown with medicinal herbs, her small, crimson feet sinking slightly into the soft earth. The soil here felt different from anywhere else she had been.
It's worth noting that Lingsha had been barefoot the entire journey. Wearing high heels on this terrain would have been far too taxing on her ankles—and when we say barefoot, we mean literally barefoot.
She slowly bent down, her gaze sweeping over the rows of herbs before her. If Li were gathering herbs here, she would likely have jumped down, grabbed a handful at random, and left. After all, the place was overflowing with herbs, and even if she didn't get enough or picked the wrong ones, she could simply return for more.
But Lingsha meticulously examined the appearance and scent of each plant. As she had suspected, in addition to the herbs she already knew from the Mountain Cave, there were countless new varieties here with entirely different properties.
While Lingsha focused intently on her herb gathering, Ikezawa and Li naturally found themselves with nothing to do. Ikezawa surveyed the surroundings, but the monotonous landscape of withered black trees offered nothing of interest. With nothing better to do, he and Li began wandering around the basin, chatting idly.
Ikezawa wasn't exactly a extrovert, and his conversation skills were rather average. Yet, whenever he spoke, Li would gaze at him intently, listening carefully to every word. Even when he stumbled, the naturally talkative young girl would quickly introduce a new topic.
Throughout their conversation, Li's tail wagged rhythmically from side to side behind her, a clear sign of her happiness.
Li was undeniably the perfect conversation partner, and her adorable appearance only amplified Ikezawa's growing affection. In just a short time, his fondness for her had surged dramatically, even overshadowing much of his fear that she might be a man-eater.
If we were to measure their mutual affection on a scale of zero to one hundred, Ikezawa's feelings for Li likely hovered around seventy or eighty. Who wouldn't adore such a cute beast-eared girl?
Unbeknownst to him, Li's affection for Ikezawa was also in the same range.
As Ikezawa and Li strolled along, chatting idly, a sudden "bang!" echoed through the air. Ikezawa's face instantly turned ashen as he clutched his right foot, hopping around on one leg.
Though his physical capabilities had improved significantly, human toes remained notoriously vulnerable. Some could endure broken bones without flinching, but the sharp pain of a little toe colliding with a sharp corner could bring even the toughest to their knees, drenched in cold sweat.
Ikezawa was undoubtedly experiencing precisely that. His sudden outburst startled Li, who swiftly drew her bow and arrows from her back, scanning the surroundings warily. "Enemies?!"
"N-no..." Ikezawa groaned, sitting on the ground and gasping for air. "I... I just stubbed my toe."
After a moment to recover, he glared angrily at the spot where he'd hit his foot. A dark purple object protruded from the ground. Without hesitation, Ikezawa grabbed it and yanked it free.
He froze. The "hidden weapon" that had ambushed his toe looked unmistakably like a rusty wrench.
Yes, it was definitely a metal wrench from the 21st century, the kind used for repairs and tightening bolts. Though completely corroded with rust, obscuring its original form, Ikezawa was certain it was a wrench.
After all, before transmigrating to this world, his family had run an auto repair shop.
"How is this possible?!" Ikezawa exclaimed in disbelief. A rusty wrench wasn't surprising in itself, but finding one in this world was utterly bizarre.
It was as absurd as stumbling upon a nuclear bomb launch button in a realm of swords and magic.
"No... way..." Ikezawa swallowed nervously. Just then, Lingsha approached, cradling a bundle of freshly gathered herbs in her hands. Her eyes immediately fell on the "wrench" in Ikezawa's grasp.
Having recently learned that the Beast-Eared Girls regarded gods as food—and that these gods were likely former humans—Lingsha had already suspected that humans had once inhabited this world, only to be devoured into extinction.
Now, the wrench seemed to confirm her chilling theory.
If that were true, then this world must contain other pre-human creations.
Ikezawa stared at the spot where he had just pulled out the wrench. Holding the tool in one hand, he began digging with his bare hands, scooping out dirt.
Li, though unaware of what was happening, immediately joined in. Planting her feet firmly, she crouched low and shoveled the soil behind her with remarkable speed, far outpacing Ikezawa's efforts.
Lingsha pondered for a moment. Without any visible action from her, a Fuyuan suddenly materialized beside her. As if receiving a silent command, the rabbit-like creature drifted toward Ikezawa and Li, gradually dissolving from its condensed form into a cloud of smoke. The smoke began to seep downward through the gaps they had dug.
"Could it really be here?" Lingsha murmured to herself before speaking aloud, "You two, please step back a bit."
Though unsure of what was happening, Ikezawa instinctively trusted Lingsha, and Li followed her instructions without question. They swiftly retreated. In the next instant, the ground bulged violently upward, sending a geyser of dust and debris flying into the air.
After Lingsha's Fuyuan seeped into the ground, it discovered a hollow underground space. The vaporous Fuyuan regrouped and rapidly expanded, resulting in the scene unfolding before them.
A white rabbit stood half-buried in the soil, its upper body exposed. Its adorably innocent red eyes shone like rubies, utterly captivating. Slowly, it wriggled free from the large pit and shook the dirt from its back.
This scene should have been undeniably cute, but... what if the rabbit were dozens of times larger, so tall that three people would have to crane their necks to look up at it?
"Come back," Lingsha murmured softly. The rabbit shrank swiftly, hopped lightly onto her head, and curled up there.
As for the massive hole it had just created, peering down revealed a metal corridor covered in moss and overgrown with unknown plants stretching into the darkness below.