Night fell.
The herb-gathering team also fell silent.
The only sounds were the faint chirping of insects and the low growls of monsters in the distance.
But in the darkness, two figures emerged from the tent, carefully leaving the camp one after the other without alerting anyone.
"You even changed your clothes. Were you so well-prepared? I didn't expect you to be so weak, but you have such an adventurous spirit."
Xu Qi looked at the Little Fairy Doctor, who had changed into a black outfit, and couldn't help but tease her.
Little Fairy Doctor blushed, puffed out her chest, and said, "This is called being well-prepared, understand?"
In contrast, Xu Qi didn't change any clothes, emphasizing simplicity.
"Alright, alright, I know you're well-prepared, let's go."
Xu Qi walked at the front, carrying a torch, and headed back along the route marked during the day.
It has to be said that Little Fairy Doctor is indeed very bold. Despite having little cultivation, she still dares to go out and act late at night.
Even during the day, she dares to go down the cliff alone; she's incredibly brave.
...
The two soon arrived at the cliff where they had been in daylight.
"This should be it."
Little Fairy Doctor took out a prepared rope, tied one end firmly to the tree trunk, and then lowered the rest of the rope down the cliff.
"This rope of yours should be sturdy enough, right?" Xu Qi suddenly asked.
Little Fairy Doctor immediately understood what he meant and replied firmly, "There's definitely no problem!"
She had learned from her lesson during the day. She had secretly tested the rope and it was definitely strong enough to support the weight of two people!
"That's fine. I'll go down first, you can follow me down slowly."
Xu Qi, however, was quite the gentleman. Holding a torch in one hand and a rope in the other, he slowly descended the cliff.
"At least you have manners."
After muttering something to herself, Little Fairy Doctor also started to grab the rope and slowly descend.
The two of them, one above the other, maintained a distance of about twenty centimeters as they descended into the cave about ten meters below.
In the pitch-black abyss, only the torch in Xu Qi's hand provided a faint light.
The two of them went smoothly at first, but halfway down the mountain, a rustling sound suddenly came from the darkness.
Like the sound of scales in the eyes rubbing against rocks.
"Xu Qi…"
Little Fairy Doctor suddenly called out to him in a trembling voice.
"What's wrong?"
"There's a snake..."
On the cliffs on either side, a venomous snake, its entire body brown and almost blending into the rock, was flicking its scarlet tongue at Little Fairy Doctor.
Rock Serpent, a Tier 1 Intermediate Magical Beast, highly venomous!
Rock snakes usually hide on various cliffs and rocks, using their coloration to conceal themselves well, waiting for their prey to fall into their trap before launching a fatal attack.
Clearly, this rock snake has its sights set on Little Fairy Doctor.
"Don't move, stay quiet," Xu Qi whispered a reminder.
So Little Fairy Doctor immediately shut her mouth, even holding her breath, her eyes fixed on the rock snake.
But it is clear that for snakes, remaining still does not necessarily allow them to hide.
The rock snake was still slowly approaching Little Fairy Doctor, and the distance was gradually decreasing.
Two meters, 1.5 meters, one meter...
As the rock serpent slowly approached, Little Fairy Doctor's heart was pounding with nervousness.
"hiss!"
The rock serpent finally launched its attack, its body leaping out suddenly, opening its mouth to reveal two sharp, long fangs as it lunged at Little Fairy Doctor.
"ah--!"
The Little Fairy Doctor was so frightened that she immediately closed her eyes.
At the critical moment, Xu Qi used a rock as a springboard to leap up, grabbed Little Fairy Doctor's slender waist with one hand, and stuffed the torch into the rock snake's mouth with the other, pinning it against the wall.
Then, Xu Qi stomped hard on the wall again and jumped straight down to the stone platform at the cave entrance below.
Safe landing!
The whole process was smooth and seamless!
Little Fairy Doctor is still hiding in Xu Qi's arms in fright, too scared to open her eyes.
It wasn't until Xu Qi spoke up: "Alright, we've landed safely."
She then opened her eyes shakily.
Realizing she was still nestled in Xu Qi's arms, she quickly let go, her cheeks flushed red, hot and burning.
Fortunately, the lighting is poor, so Xu Qi can't see it...
"Have we... arrived at a cave?"
Coming to their senses, Little Fairy Doctor realized that they had landed on a stone platform in the middle of the cliff.
Before her lay a dark cave hidden behind vines.
"This must be the cave you were talking about."
Xu Qi relit the torch, pushed aside the vines at the cave entrance, and went inside, with Little Fairy Doctor following closely behind.
The cave was very damp. The two walked one after the other without saying a word.
This profound silence, like a demon relentlessly gnawing away, made Little Fairy Doctor's nerves increasingly tense.
until,
Xu Qi suddenly stopped, and she was caught off guard, so she fell on his back.
Little Fairy Doctor quickly took a step back, her pretty face flushed, and whispered reproachfully, "Why did you suddenly stop?"
"There's no road ahead."
Xu Qi held up a torch, illuminating a huge stone gate in front of him, which emitted a faint yellow light.
Upon hearing this, Little Fairy Doctor stepped forward and carefully observed the yellow runes on the stone door. She quickly concluded: "There should be some kind of earth-based mechanism or seal set up on this. There should be a switch nearby."
As she spoke, Little Fairy Doctor took a tinderbox and began searching for mechanisms around her.
Just then, a muffled thud startled her so much she almost jumped up.
"What are you doing?!"
Xu Qi pressed his palm against the stone door, and with a slight exertion, several huge cracks appeared in the hard stone door.
Xu Qi shrugged: "It's just a stone gate, no need to go to all this trouble."
He possesses the "Blessing of the Earth God" and has a deep understanding of earth-related elements.
He simply sensed the seal on the stone door, found the flaw, and easily broke it.
"This is the senior's place. What if you damage the treasure inside by being so rude?!"
"It probably won't break that easily."
Xu Qi pushed hard with his palm again, directly opening the cracked stone door and revealing a dark cave.
Xu Qi, holding a torch, strode inside.
Although Little Fairy Doctor didn't quite agree with this guy's rude behavior, she still quickly took a step and followed him.
The cave was filled with a damp atmosphere, and the walls were inlaid with moonstone, which illuminated the entire cave with a soft light.
The cave is not large. In the very center of the cave, a skeleton sits on a stone chair, which should be the owner of this cave.
In front of the skeleton, three locked stone boxes were neatly placed.
In a corner to the side, there was also a huge stone altar.
On the stone altar, a large number of medicinal herbs were planted, and each of them was very rare...