Nightmare Shuttle

The moment Chu Yi's eyes landed on the woman, there was a strange palpitation in his heart. It wasn't fear or excitement but a kind of resonance and nostalgia that came from similar kinds. However Chu Yi was sure that he had never met this woman before, so therefore this feeling could only be as a result of the game settings. 

He narrowed his eyes slightly, what connection could he have to this woman trapped in the withered tree. Moreover what history did she have with the elves to be trapped underneath here in a tree that had an uncanny resemblance to the guardian tree? In his eyes, the glowing root fibers emitted faint blue dust that slowly drifted beside the tree, settling briefly on the black leaves before gradually sinking into it, in turn, more blue dust would reappear to continue the cycle.

Although he couldn't see the woman's face clearly what he could make out was the peaceful and tranquil smile on her face. As if what she was trapped in wasn't a tomb but a simple resting place and soon she'd wake and breathe life again. But it was impossible, no matter how tranquil her expression was it could still not hide the presence of death. 

Chu Yi's eyelids drooped faintly as if he was concentrating on something, his lips pursed and in the next second, a thin blue vortex suddenly appeared in his hands! The strange blue wisps gradually condensed and combined, until a small water ball was suspended above his palm!

However, this structure didn't hold for long and soon collapsed, leaving Chu Yi's pale face drenched in a cold sweat and a pounding headache inside his skull. Chu Yi had long felt something off with the elves. Although his character introduction introduced the aspect of elements and magic. When he did interact with the elves, there was no trace of mana or magic amongst the species rumored to be closest to nature.

It was as if the elves had all tacitly forgotten. Now he could finally confirm his conjecture, it wasn't that the elves didn't have mana but that they couldn't practice it!

The land had been stripped of its elements! The moment he tried to circulate mana inside his body, he could feel this deficiency intuitively. It was like an extremely thirsty person was suddenly given a glass of water, but before he could even take more than a sip, that water was abruptly taken away from him–

It left a bad taste in his mouth.

Chu Yi glanced down at his fingers and clenched his fist before looking up at the woman trapped in the tree. The floating dust that he could see in the air was a sparse amount of water element that had somehow managed to stay here.

Without it, Chu Yi would not have been able to create the water ball in his hands just now. Nevertheless, this still could not clear his doubts, where did these water elements come from and why was the land stripped of its elements. He did not have any special emotions about the elf's plight and after searching around the room and seeing nothing else, Chu Yi started to search for another entrance.

It wasn't long before Chu Yi realized that this underground space was more like a large maze. With a pull of a lever, the wall would give way to different branching pathways and trails. Most of them were dark and cold, and without much contemplation, he just picked a random path to follow through to the end.

This cave is as high as one person, and it was just enough for one person to pass through. Except for many cracks and holes, the walls and floor of the cave are clean and free of any dirt. The stone with a special pure black, as if someone had accidentally splashed it with ink. 

The farther he walked the colder the temperature around him, and even after an hour had passed Chu Yi had still not reached the end. He could feel that the path beneath his feet was on was slowly sloping downwards. The faint gushing sound of water that he had first heard looked to be getting louder and louder as Chu Yi quickly realized that what he was hearing was the sound of water crashing into a seabank.

The location of the Ren clan was mountainous, almost more than 4,600 meters above sea level, and the altitude of the tribe was is not low. Judging from the height of Chu Yi's current position, it's estimated that he had descended into an underground river.

The water elements in the air grew deeper, a damp water vapor blew towards his face. When the dark passageway finally opened up to a large opened cave. He could finally see clearly, further ahead was a dark river, torrential waves slamming into the air along with the rapid water flow, cold sprays of water splashing onto his face.

It may have flowed under the plateau for thousands of years, but when Chu Yi finally added on the damp seabank he was surprised to see that in the middle of the river, a huge winding trunk descended from the depths of the mountain and rooted into the river. The rough and dark trunk was damp with water and the roots could not even be seen from where he was!

Beside his feet, there was a faint rattling and when he looked down, Chu Yi, saw that he had accidentally stepped onto a dark chain. It was only then did he realize that the darkness of the cave hid the deep grooves that have been smashed into the rock walls . There were traces of stone chains in the rock wall, and these black chains went straight into the dark river. The metal was rusted by moisture and time, but this chain seemed to be made up of special material and even after being pulled by the torrential water, it shows no signs of breaking. 

The water continue to splash and the cave resounded with a silent chime, the faint blue dust in the air had increased exponentially and surrounded him in a fantasy-like atmosphere.

"A little hungry."

Chu Yi hummed slowly, instead of going forward to explore any further. He simply sat down on the stone steps, took out a box of canned braised beef and a few compressed biscuits, a bottle of water, and orange from his system space, as if he wanted to have a picnic on the spot.

In front of him was an underground lake, rooted in it was the legendary guardian tree that held the most precious secrets of the elves, but he refused to go any further. At this time, Chu Yi turned on the small flashlight, illuminating the pile of food in front of him. This wasn't a spontaneous decision. Chu Yi hadn't eaten since he came to this space, he didn't know if the elves simply forgot but he had not been offered any food since he arrived here. The conjuring of the water ball had stripped him of any strength still left in his body. 

He took a sip of his water leisurely, the red eyes narrowed in a casual pleasure, this type of wanton freedom could only be done in such a place like this. He calculated something in his heart, the barren elements, the dying guardian tree, the secret of the elves, and the woman trapped underground. All of these were interconnected but there was still a few missing links that would completely reveal the secrets of this place.

The long black drifted faintly in the winds thrown by the waves, he lifted a hand and slowly traced the outline of the tree in the distance. A strange smile appeared on his lips, after a moment he slowly closed his eyes, to anyone else here it would seem as if he wanted to rest.

Chu Yi had long since secretly released Ankiron to explore the other side of the lake. Before the box of canned beef was finished, Ankiron had almost finished exploring. As expected by Chu Yi, it discovered another side hall. When it ventured into the room, through its vision it quickly realized the difference between it and the other halls. It was filled to the brim with weird ancient murals and paintings and statues.

Ankiron moved closer to the wall and focused its vision on the painting of a tall tree that occupied most of the wall, on it, a hundred weirdly shaped figures, hung from its branches. However, when he tried his mind to focus on it, a weird click suddenly echoed in the room. It was so soft that without careful attention, most would not be able to recognize it.

Something had been activated.

Chu Yi opened his eyes abruptly, his eyes gleaming brightly, without the slightest trace of tiredness. He picked up his flashlight and jumped to the side, just avoiding the suddenly falling gravel above his head. The entire cave suddenly shook, the ground beneath his feet, the rock walls next to him, and the dark river water swept up in turbid waves, which swept in even more turbulently, slapping against the shores!

There seemed to be a muffled sound from the depths of the river ahead, and a more violent tremor hit, shaking the sky as if the entire underground maze would collapse and be destroyed in a rumbling earthquake. The loud bang was deafening, he saw that behind him, the rock wall cracked, large boulders fell, and the stone steps leading to the dark river were all buried and blocked!

Although it blocked the river crashing wave, it also blocked the passage, and it was impossible to return to the original path.

But Chu Yi was in no hurry. He quickly avoided the rubble that fell like a hurricane and walked to the black lake. The guardian tree still stood rooted and the rumbling and shaking of the cave, like an inviolable God.

His eyes dilated into narrow pupils and without hesitation, Chu Yi suddenly charged towards the crashing seabank! In an act of total suicide, he jumped in!

*

In another place, someone else was facing a dire situation.. Tang Shun stared at the bright red dress being held in the woman's hands and wanted to cry with no tears. Can his thick waist fit into this thing?!