Book 8: Chapter 40: The Dark Pit

发布时间: 2026-06-12 07:23:15

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“Haha, you fell earlier because you tripped over this little crack, didn’t you?” Several Elven Rangers near Milleras teased the unlucky fellow good-naturedly.

“No, it wasn’t the crack that tripped him, but something that came out of it!” Longer pointed carefully at a faint, nearly invisible mark in the center of the crack, speaking seriously. “Actually, I was right behind him. Though it was only for an instant, I vaguely saw something branch-like trip him. When I snapped back to attention, it had vanished!”

The group exchanged glances, their smiles finally fading.

“Likely a small animal like a snake, insect, or lizard!” Milleras slightly furrowed his brow.

By now, only a faint glow remained of the sunset on the horizon. The light was dim. The stone crack in the ground, barely two fingers wide, was pitch-black inside. It seemed to have some depth, making it impossible to see within.

“Maybe,” Longer said doubtfully, but he dutifully dropped to the ground anyway. He pressed his ear near the stone crack to listen for anything below. As the Rogue responsible for scouting and trap disposal in the team, this wasn’t for show.

Seeing his focus, Qin Lun smiled knowingly. He lowered his head, avoiding the others’ stares, as a small black-and-red target shape appeared in his left pupil. The “Ganitus Left Eye” possessed powerful X-ray vision, perfect for examining the crack’s interior.

Though he assisted Longer’s investigation, it was mainly the Rogue’s diligence rubbing off on him. Deep down, he agreed with Milleras. Whatever had happened, it was over. Wasting time here wasn’t worth it.

Yet, in the next instant, Qin Lun and Longer’s expressions changed simultaneously. The Rogue sprang up from the ground as if electrocuted.

“Scatter! Don’t stay here!” Qin Lun yelled at the group surrounding him. He braced himself, ready to leap away.

Crrrk!

But he was too slow. The circle of ground where they stood, seven or eight of them, suddenly emitted a sharp cracking sound. The crack—only two fingers wide and half a foot long moments before—violently split open. It was like a great beast snapping open its jaws. From its core, spiderweb-like fissures instantly spread across the rocky floor.

Before Qin Lun could jump, that entire section of ground collapsed with a roar. By the time Kelly and the others raced over, Qin Lun, Milleras, and the other Elves—seven or eight in total—were gone. Only a dark pit, ten feet square and profoundly deep, remained where they had stood.

“Philip!” Stark anxiously called over his shoulder.

“Got it!” Philip’s face was grim as he raised his staff and murmured, “Chakra Cove.”

A soft ball of light flared atop his staff, illuminating the pit. Peering over the edge, the group’s expressions shifted. This pit was clearly not natural. Its walls were muddy and unnaturally smooth, resembling a barrel-shaped tunnel ten feet wide.

Crucially, this dark tunnel didn’t plunge straight down. It twisted and turned, snaking into unknowable depths. Philip’s Light spell only illuminated about ten meters inside before the path vanished.

“Blast it! Blast it all! To come this far and still have trouble!” Philip stomped furiously.

“Perhaps we should be grateful it didn’t happen on the eastern slopes during the blizzard,” Robin spread her hands and sighed helplessly.

“Both Elf Princes are down there. What do we do?” Nicole asked, her pretty face strained by a wry smile.

“What else can we do? Down we go! Haha, sis loves cave exploration!” Kelly laughed cheerfully, crossing her arms. It seemed only this carefree, fierce woman was unfazed by the situation.

Stark reached out a finger and touched the muddy pit wall. Looking at the paste-like sticky substance coating his fingertip, he frowned deeply. He brought it near his nose and smelled it. His expression immediately turned grim.

“Be careful when we go down. This hole might not have been dug by intelligent beings! This scent is intense, fishy. There might be a giant serpent’s nest below.”

“A snake? That thick?!” Nicole gaped, staring at the barrel-shaped pit ten feet wide.

“Not necessarily a snake. Ancient Sandworms or certain Mountain Nightflowers could also create holes like this,” Robin murmured, her face troubled. “This is bad news. Such creatures have strong territorial instincts. Once disturbed, they fight intruders to the death… and they’re notoriously hard to kill.”

…

“Firal… Iristin… Prince!” Numerous shouts echoed through the vast, twisting pit, reverberating, making Qin Lun’s head spin.

“Pentagram Crystal Mirror!” Yet, his mind remained sharp. A faint light flashed in the oppressive darkness, and an Elemental Burst helped Qin Lun twist mid-air.

The silver circle in his right eye pulsed with a faint light. With one hand, Qin Lun flashed out and drove the Dagger of Sin deep into the soft tunnel wall. He was surprised to find the wall wasn’t hard rock but rather damp, muddy soil.

Though the Dagger slowed his fall slightly, it couldn’t stop him entirely.

“What is this stuff?” Ignoring injury, Qin Lun plunged his bare left hand into the wall to grasp it. He succeeded only in tearing away a layer of sticky, viscous white slime.

Thump! Just as Qin Lun processed this, a body slammed into his like a cannonball. His barely stabilized descent spun out of control again.

“Sorry, Firal!” Iristin’s voice sounded weak, likely injured.

“Stay strong!” Qin Lun gritted his teeth. Alone, he might have managed to slow down and climb back up. With the Elven Druid added weight, it was hopeless. He worried about Milleras, Longer, and the others.

During the collapse, Iristin had been near the edge. She could have escaped. Instead, she tried to save him and ended up falling too.

“Iristin, can you still shapeshift?” Qin Lun asked hurriedly. Given her Druid magic, she shouldn’t be this weak.

“No,” came the frustrated reply in the dark. “I tried shifting into a giant eagle to lift you. But my wing slammed against the wall. The bones… I think they broke.”

“You shifted into an eagle… inside a twisting cave…” Qin Lun felt a wave of bewildered resignation. He kept thrusting the Dagger of Sin into the walls with his right hand while wrapping his left arm tightly around the Druid. Her body felt warm and soft beneath his touch. He honestly couldn’t tell exactly what part he was grabbing.

Accepting the inevitable plunge, Qin Lun focused his senses through his Eyes. Despite the rapid descent, the Clock Eye’s Perception lines let him vaguely “see” the tunnel’s true shape.

This observation made him frown again. This barrel-shaped tunnel wasn’t a single passage. As they fell, he spotted numerous smaller branching paths.

Now, he reached the same conclusion as Stark. This pit wasn’t natural. It was likely some kind of massive burrowing creature’s nest.

The thought made Qin Lun grateful he’d stabbed the Dagger repeatedly along the way. It left marks. With this intricate, sprawling tunnel network, his companions up top might get lost trying to find them, even if they descended below.

As for Milleras, Longer, and the four Sun Elven Rangers who fell first, he “saw” them too.

The six had managed some initial self-rescue and adjusted their fall. Linked together by a thumb-thick chain held by Longer, they hadn’t scattered too far. All eight of them were strung out along the tunnel, no more than thirty meters separating the first from the last.

Seeing this, Qin Lun felt a touch of emotion. In previous Quest Worlds, he’d felt team importance but hadn’t deeply grasped it. This adventure finally showed him true teamwork in action.

This large Plot Mission clearly wasn’t something a Lone Apostle could handle alone. Even Longer, a Level 1 Rogue far weaker than him, played a vital role here. Alone in this emergency, Qin Lun wouldn’t just have failed to turn things around – he likely would have died.

The group tumbled awkwardly down the twisting passage. Their fall, while rough, wasn’t violently fast. After a while, Qin Lun finally felt something stir in his senses. He tightened his grip on Iristin. In the Clock Eye’s vision, an enormous cavern opened beneath them. They seemed to be nearing the bottom.

“Hang on tight, Iristin!” Qin Lun whispered cautiously into the Elf Druid’s small ear on her cheek.

“Mmmh,” Iristin murmured into the darkness, her weak tone suddenly tinged with a trace of shyness.

Qin Lun, however, paid no heed to this subtle shift in her mood. The dial in his right eye blazed silver. The three needles within his pupil spun wildly.

“Hah!” Qin Lun planted a foot forcefully against the tunnel wall. Retracting the Dagger of Sin in his right hand, he wrapped both arms around Iristin protectively, almost hugging her. A powerful surge of Wind Element suddenly wrapped around them, drastically slowing their descent.

This was an improvised use of Swift Wind Step’s principles. Since perceiving the Ancient Inheritance of the Elven Hunter, his affinity with the Wind Element hadn’t grown stronger, but his skill in applying it had improved.

Thud! Qin Lun landed on slightly bent knees, absorbing the impact. “Iristin, you can step down now.”

“Mmmh,” the Elf Druid wriggled slightly but didn’t immediately pull away from Qin Lun’s embrace. Instead, she whispered, nearly inaudibly shy, “Y-you let go first!”

“Ah? Oh… apologies!” Qin Lun paused, then looked down. He realized then where his left hand had been gripping. The prominent peak of Iristin’s chest was strangely flattened and distorted beneath his palm. No wonder he’d felt that slippery, warm softness all along – like squeezing an incredibly elastic rubber ball.

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