When Zhou Wen came out, Lu Yunxian and company had already walked out of the tent and were looking in the direction of the ruins.
“Young Master Wen, should we go take a look?” Lu Yunxian asked Zhou Wen. Clearly, he had also determined that the noises came from the strange vehicle.
Zhou Wen nodded. “It’d be good to take a look.”
He was very curious about the strange vehicle too. In the game, he didn’t see the vehicle, despite entering the tunnel.
Zhou Wen was very curious as to where the strange vehicle had come from. Was it brought in by someone or something that was originally from the underground tunnel?
Seeing Lu Yunxian follow Zhou Wen into the ruins, Lu Ning, who hadn’t recuperated from her injuries, hesitated for a moment before following them.
“How did you resolve the spatial winds?” Lu Ning rode a huge Snow Fox behind them. She didn’t see Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian use any means to interfere with the spatial wind, so she couldn’t help feeling puzzled.
When she had entered with the others previously, they had sacrificed quite a number of Companion Beasts to find a way to interfere with the spatial wind. However, it was only a stopgap measure; the spatial winds still appeared.
“Young Master Wen has already killed the dimensional creature that uses the spatial winds. There shouldn’t be any spatial winds anytime soon,” said Lu Yunxian.
Lu Ning found it unbelievable. She looked suspiciously at Zhou Wen, finding it hard to believe that this youth could do something so unbelievable.
However, the reality forced her to believe it. She didn’t encounter the spatial wind again despite having been inside the ruins for some time.
Zhou Wen didn’t say a word as he walked forward silently. Soon, the three of them arrived in front of the underground tunnel.
As expected, the strange vehicle that emitted the sounds was parked in the tunnel. However, it suddenly started moving again when they approached. The wooden puppet standing in front of the vehicle started to move its arms, turning the crank. The strange vehicle began to creak, producing a loud clang with every revolution of the crank.
The wheels of the strange vehicle moved slowly, but this time, it didn’t move forward, but backward as though it was returning to the ruins.
“This is the strange vehicle you were talking about? Did I come out lying on it?” Lu Ning asked as she looked at the strange vehicle that was slowly retreating.
“Yes.” Lu Yunxian said, “You came out on it. You were the only one.”
“What power is driving it?” Lu Ning looked at the puppet on the strange vehicle, as if she wanted to know if it were alive.
“Young Master Wen and I had checked before. The vehicle is a dead object. There are no signs of living creatures on the puppet, but we didn’t discover any fuel or similar items. We have no idea what principle is behind the driving force. We originally imagined that it had expended its energy source, but from the looks of it, that isn’t the case,” Lu Yunxian said.
Seeing that the strange vehicle was slowly retreating and about to enter the underground tunnel, Zhou Wen looked at Lu Ning and asked, “Lu Ning, you were brought out by the vehicle while unconscious. Then, could you have fallen into the strange vehicle?”
“I really don’t know. I was struck off the fault by Lord Alcohol and the rest and fell into the tide of Blood Threadworms. I lost consciousness very quickly. I really don’t know what happened next.” Lu Ning shook her head.
Zhou Wen looked at the strange vehicle that was about to retreat into the tunnel with a frown.
In the game, he had already entered deep underground with the information given by Lu Ning. However, Lu Ning’s information only had a few landmarks and didn’t come with detailed directions or path identifiers. Hence, Zhou Wen had no choice but to find a path himself.
However, the underground world was massive. He had spent more than ten hours in it without finding the temple that Lu Ning mentioned.
Zhou Wen didn’t have the opinion that Lu Ning was lying to him because the roads inside were complicated, as though they had been changed artificially. He walked for a long time and realized that there were many instances when he would circle back to a spot he had passed previously. This spot wasn’t fixed, but despite walking for more than ten hours in-game, Zhou Wen still failed to walk past it.
“I remember you mentioning that you fell to a fault layer underground. That was inside the temple, right?” Zhou Wen asked Lu Ning.
“That’s right. As soon as we entered the temple, we were ambushed by Lord Alcohol and the others, and we were struck down the fault layer,” Lu Ning said.
“If I were to deduce that you fell into this strange vehicle and triggered some mechanism, allowing it to take you out, then if we were to ride this vehicle, would it take us back to the fault layer where you dropped?”
“I really don’t know, but it’s too dangerous,” Lu Ning smiled bitterly.
“Yes, that’s too dangerous.” Lu Yunxian said.
“Although it’s very dangerous, this might be the best solution. Lu Ning also said that she was led by Lord Alcohol and the rest. Since they know the path and we don’t, we might not be able to find the temple if we just head down. Lu Ning came out on this strange vehicle, and since she was able to come out safely, it implies that the strange vehicle’s interior is safe. Our only way of going straight to the temple is by taking the strange vehicle in,” Zhou Wen said.
Of course, there was another sentence that Zhou Wen didn’t say. He had played the game for more than ten hours and was quite familiar with the underground world. He had a way to deal with the few dimensional creatures inside. What was most troublesome was that he couldn’t get out of the maze-like area. The strange vehicle in front of them seemed to be the only hope.
“But that’s just speculation. What if the strange vehicle takes us to a more dangerous place?” Lu Yunxian said.
“We know nothing about the interior, so everything inside is dangerous for us.” Zhou Wen saw that half of the vehicle had entered the tunnel and didn’t hesitate anymore. He walked over briskly and jumped into the carriage and said to Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning, “Head back to the camp and wait for me. I’ll head on to take a look.”
Although Zhou Wen could continue waiting and find a way out in the game, he didn’t know how long that would take. Perhaps a day or two, maybe a week or so, or even a month or two. He was afraid the former principal couldn’t afford to wait for him.
Zhou Wen wasn’t worried that he would be trapped inside. With his understanding of the underground world, he knew that there were a few relatively safe spots inside. Furthermore, his chaos space also had plenty of daily necessities. He wouldn’t be in danger even if he was trapped for a year.
Furthermore, he had his phone. After entering the tunnel, he could have the blood-colored avatar follow the path. If any accidents were to happen, he could find a safe place to continue exploring in game.