Chapter Ninety-Three: The Scorching Cave

“What did you say, Master?” Lu Zhe blinked in confusion.

“It’s here,” Doctor Elder repeated.

“No, no, no, no,” Lu Zhe hurriedly denied in a string of words, then spread his hands and said with a stunned look, “I mean, what do you mean by that?”

“The miraculous medicine is underground,” Doctor Elder said calmly, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Underground?” Lu Zhe asked blankly, now understanding what he meant.

“Yes.” Doctor Elder nodded. A moment later, he made a motion to settle his breathing, then said faintly, “This morning I suddenly sensed a fluctuation from the miraculous medicine. Since the chance was too precious to miss, I probed it carefully, and soon discovered that the disturbance was coming from beneath our feet. I suspect the miraculous medicine is buried underground.”

After hearing the explanation, Lu Zhe stroked his chin and lowered his head in thought. He looked at the ground, crouched down, scooped up a handful of yellow sand, and let it slip gently through his fingers. Watching the wind scatter the grains, he turned back to Doctor Elder and asked in disbelief, “You’re telling me the miraculous medicine is really here?”

Doctor Elder nodded. He also scooped up a handful of yellow sand before slowly letting it fall, then brushed his hands clean and stood up. Looking down at the sand beneath his feet, he said, “When a rare treasure is born, it is bound to stir up signs in heaven and earth.” Then he swept his gaze around the area and added, “This place is vast and utterly exposed, with nowhere to hide. If there were anything here, it should have been discovered long ago.”

After hearing Doctor Elder’s analysis, Lu Zhe felt that the old man made sense and nodded. “Then let’s do as you say.” After another look around, he said, “But this place stretches on endlessly. How are you supposed to look for it?”

At that, Doctor Elder also looked around, his brows furrowing deeply. It seemed even he was stumped by the problem.

“You think about it first. I’m going to take a leak,” Lu Zhe said with a wave of his hand, then started toward a sand dune not far away.

He strolled around to the back of the dune, looked about, and took a step forward. Suddenly, he felt the ground vanish beneath him. Before he could react, his whole body lurched forward, then slammed facedown onto the sand ahead. With a dull thud, he dropped straight through.

“Ah—”

As he fell, Lu Zhe shouted at the top of his lungs.

On the other side of the dune, Doctor Elder suddenly heard him cry out. He snapped his head toward the dune where Lu Zhe had gone, then sprinted there like a bolt of lightning.

Rounding the dune, what appeared before him was a pit five feet across. It was utterly black, like a fathomless abyss.

Reaching the edge in a flash, Doctor Elder crouched and shouted down, “Little Lu, what happened?”

His voice rushed downward and quickly echoed through the pitch-black pit, faint reverberations drifting back from the depths.

Lu Zhe struggled to his feet from the ground below, shaking off the yellow sand that had covered him. As he dusted himself down, he heard Doctor Elder’s urgent call. Raising his voice, he shouted toward the opening above, “I’m fine, Master!”

“How are you doing now?” Hearing Lu Zhe’s reply, Doctor Elder let out a small breath and called down again.

“What place is this?” Leaning against the wall, Lu Zhe barely managed to stand. He looked around and found that everything in every direction was black as ink, so dark he could not see his hand before his face. The only light came from the large hole above. Staring at this scene, he murmured in bafflement.

“Wait there. I’ll come down at once,” came Doctor Elder’s voice from above, resonant as a great bell.

Soon, Lu Zhe heard a rush of wind. Then, with a heavy thud, a white figure dropped to the ground in front of him. It was Doctor Elder.

After landing, Doctor Elder shook the dirt and sand from his clothes, looked around the place, and frowned slightly. Then he turned to Lu Zhe, who was leaning against the wall and looking at him, stepped quickly forward, lifted Lu Zhe’s clothing, and examined his injuries in the sunlight filtering down from the opening above. Seeing that there was nothing serious, he walked in front of him and said in a mildly mocking tone, “How can you even get into trouble while going to pee?”

Lu Zhe rolled his eyes at him, then looked around and asked, “It’s pitch-dark in here. Did you bring a fire starter?”

Doctor Elder reached into his robe and took out a fire striker. With a sharp crack, he lit it and raised it high. At once, its glow drove back the surrounding darkness and illuminated the nearby space.

Holding the fire striker, Doctor Elder turned in a slow circle and said, “So this is a cave.”

Lu Zhe nodded without objection, then lit one himself. Using the flame for light, he began to wander through the cave.

Suddenly, he noticed that the flame on his fire striker was trembling slightly. Watching it wobble, Lu Zhe frowned and muttered uncertainly, “Could there be wind in here?”

At that thought, he shivered. He quickly raised the fire striker high, and the light spread farther ahead. Taking great care, he moved forward, all the while paying attention to the direction in which the flame flickered.

As he searched, he finally found the source of the wind: a cave entrance about five feet high and three feet wide.

Bending down to look at the low opening, he saw that it plunged into unfathomable depth. With the darkness inside black as ink, it was impossible to tell where it led.

“What is it?” Doctor Elder’s voice suddenly came from behind him.

Lu Zhe straightened up, took another fire starter from his waist and lit it, then tossed the nearly spent one into the cave. “I found a cave here. I can’t tell where it leads.”

At that, Doctor Elder raised a brow and went around Lu Zhe to the entrance. He bent down to inspect it. After a moment, he straightened, reached into his robe with his right hand, and fumbled for a bit before taking out a stone that gave off a faint green glow.

With the fire starter tossed into the cave, Doctor Elder held the glowing stone in his right hand and looked at Lu Zhe, thinking for a moment before saying, “This cave is sending out a stream of warm air. Did you feel it?”

Lu Zhe recalled it for a moment, then nodded.

Turning to glance at the small cave, Doctor Elder looked back with a trace of excitement in his smile. “Well? Shall we go in and have a look?”

Seeing his eager expression, Lu Zhe gave a wry smile. “Let’s go.”

After hearing Lu Zhe’s answer, Doctor Elder smiled and took the lead, bending low as he entered the mysterious cave.

Once Doctor Elder was inside, Lu Zhe also stooped and followed him in.

The cave was neither especially large nor especially small. By the build of Lu Zhe and Doctor Elder, they could just barely pass through; if either of them were any fatter, they might have gotten stuck. From the outside it looked spacious enough, but inside it was rough beyond measure. The stones along the walls jutted out at odd angles, making the passage much narrower. Still, they could get through by forcing it, though several of the sharp projections tore Lu Zhe’s skin in a number of places, which left him somewhat annoyed, though he could do nothing about it.

The cave was truly long. Lu Zhe and Doctor Elder had been bent over walking for nearly half an hour, yet they still had not reached the exit. One strange thing about the passage, however, was that the farther in they went, the hotter it became. At first it had not seemed like much, but now waves of heat rolled through it, leaving Lu Zhe drenched in sweat.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Lu Zhe looked at Doctor Elder ahead of him and asked, “Not there yet, Master?”

Doctor Elder was probably feeling the heat no less than he was; the back of his clothing was nearly stuck to him. Hearing the question, he could not turn around, so he simply said, “Not yet. Damn it, why is it so hot in here?”

Lu Zhe gave a bitter smile and continued following him.

After another half hour or so, the two of them were truly like people entering a steamer, soaked through and dripping with sweat.

At last, Lu Zhe could not help asking, “Still not there?”

Doctor Elder replied irritably, “What are you shouting about? When we get there, we’ll get there. Are you the one feeling hot?”

Lu Zhe wiped the sweat from his cheeks and forehead. Just as he was about to move on, he noticed that Doctor Elder had suddenly stopped. Startled, he was about to ask what was wrong when Doctor Elder suddenly said, “We’re here.”

Lu Zhe froze. Looking past Doctor Elder’s right side, he suddenly spotted a red point ahead. Overjoyed, he hurriedly said, “Hurry up.”

With that, the two of them pressed forward like horses urged by whip and rein. In no time at all, they reached the red point, leaped ahead, and left the cramped, stifling tunnel behind.

Yet before they even had time to cheer at escaping the oppressive narrowness and heat, what appeared before their eyes left both of them stunned beyond speech...

It’s getting late, and I need to sleep. I’ll post the last update tomorrow morning. Plenty of sleep is the capital of any revolution; otherwise, if my body breaks down, it won’t be worth the loss. Lastly, please vote and add this to your favorites.