Because he suspected it was a player quest, He Fang naturally led the team himself to search for Guo Miaofeng. As He Fang’s accessory, Min Zhizhou was, of course, present, and this time, another NPC who came along was Yuan Zhiran.
He Fang knew where Guo Miaofeng was. Yuan Zhiran drove while He Fang sat in the front passenger seat, giving directions. Min Zhizhou, however, seemed a little restless.
He Fang had considered whether to bring Min Zhizhou along, but in the end, he felt it would be safer with him there. After all, their apocalypse survival experience was practically zero.
“Stop,” He Fang suddenly ordered. Yuan Zhiran immediately halted the vehicle. He Fang switched his system map to a 1:1 scale—according to the map, his coordinates were now directly overlapping with Guo Miaofeng’s.
He Fang got out of the car and looked around, scanning the surroundings. There wasn’t even a shadow of Guo Miaofeng in sight.
That was strange. The map clearly showed he was nearby, so why was there nothing here?
Raising his eyes, he saw an endless stretch of lush green grassland. There were a few low shrubs, but aside from that, no taller trees. Scattered across the ground were remnants of scorched ashes, clear evidence that this place was once part of a burned-down city.
The system map shouldn’t be wrong, yet Guo Miaofeng was nowhere to be found.
“City Lord, what are you looking for?” Yuan Zhiran asked.
“Looking for Guo Miaofeng. He should be here.” The map wouldn’t lie, right? Could Guo Miaofeng have really entered a dungeon instance?
“If he’s not in a visible spot, then maybe he’s underground.” After scanning the surroundings, Yuan Zhiran even climbed onto the roof of the car to check, confirming that there was nothing in sight. He then pulled up his map again and located the spot where Guo Miaofeng had disappeared. “The place where he vanished is a bit of a distance from here. Should we go take a look?”
“Mm…” He Fang felt that Yuan Zhiran had a point. It was very likely that Guo Miaofeng was underground—after all, the map showed a lot of mine tunnels. “Let’s go check it out.”
Min Zhizhou stared at the vast stretch of green grassland, momentarily dazed.
“What’s wrong?” He Fang noticed his distraction.
“It’s nothing.” Min Zhizhou sat back in the rear seat.
From the back, he watched as He Fang and Yuan Zhiran discussed their coordinates and distance while he himself was lost in thought about Guo Miaofeng’s situation.
Min Zhizhou had traveled to all sorts of places in search of resources, but he hadn’t seen many burned-down cities. Just how much effort would it take to turn an entire thriving metropolis into a flat, scorched earth? Wouldn’t that mean even the buildings were burned to the point of melting?
He could tell that whoever had made the decision to incinerate a city must have had a heart stronger than anyone else. He had heard of such events before—rumors said that in many of these burned cities, some people had chosen to stay behind, perishing alongside them.
Anyone would be reluctant to abandon their homeland. Even now, these gradually reborn lives could very well face an invasion from Nightmare Beast seeds in the future.
But beneath their feet, the remnants of the past were slowly recovering, and this place would no longer be parasitized.
Through a long process of revival, they had been fortunate enough to await the arrival of the Creator.
Min Zhizhou had always been puzzled—why did everyone call He Fang “City Lord” to his face but refer to him as “Creator” in private? But now, he seemed to vaguely understand. Perhaps the title of “Creator” was both a praise for the City Lord and a symbol of hope for rebirth.
“Eh? Up ahead… that looks like Guo Miaofeng’s transport.”
He Fang’s voice suddenly pulled Min Zhizhou out of his thoughts.
The vehicle came to a stop. He Fang got out and walked toward a bicycle parked conspicuously in place. It had clearly been there for a long time—just a light wipe on the seat left his hand covered in dust.
But He Fang’s attention was suddenly drawn to a small, slightly raised mound of earth nearby.
It was clear that the area had been recently dug up. The marks of excavation were everywhere, and the freshly turned soil was still loose. It hadn’t been long since the digging took place. In the middle of it all was an opening just large enough for a person to pass through.
He Fang stood at the entrance. The hole seemed a bit too big for him, but for Guo Miaofeng, with his massive build, it was just the right size.
“Guo Miaofeng wouldn’t have dug his way down and ended up burying himself inside, would he?” He Fang asked absentmindedly.
Min Zhizhou: “……”
He Fang: “……” Although he found it highly unlikely, he couldn’t shake the feeling that if it were Guo Miaofeng, he might actually be able to pull it off.
“Guo Miaofeng is just not very smart. He doesn’t actually have cognitive issues, right?” Yuan Zhiran, who wasn’t particularly familiar with Guo Miaofeng, couldn’t help but ask. The ones who had the most interaction with him were the Chong family brothers, but Yuan Zhiran had looked into Guo Miaofeng’s character and had a rather favorable impression of him.
“……No, he’s fine, just a bit rigid in his thinking.” He Fang’s expression was somewhat complicated as he said to Yuan Zhiran, “Anyway, let’s go down and take a look. We won’t know unless we check, right?”
He Fang attempted to take a few steps downward when Yuan Zhiran spoke up, “City Lord, let me go ahead and scout the way.”
He Fang turned back and said there was no need. After all, while his stats weren’t as high as an NPC’s, as a player, he definitely had better survival skills. However, just as he finished speaking, his foot suddenly slipped into empty air. Before he could steady himself, his entire body lost balance and he plunged straight down.
Startled, he flailed his hands wildly, but his legs suddenly dangled in midair.
He Fang found himself awkwardly suspended, held under the armpits by Yuan Zhiran’s firm grip.
“City Lord, relax. I’ll pull you up now,” Yuan Zhiran’s calm voice reached him, giving him a strong sense of reassurance.
“You might as well just put me down.” He Fang had just noticed that Yuan Zhiran had somehow fixed a small flashlight onto a safety helmet. With his head tilted downward, the light perfectly illuminated the area below, revealing that he wasn’t actually hanging over empty space but above a pathway.
“Understood, City Lord.” Yuan Zhiran also noticed the not-so-high ground below and carefully set He Fang down.
As He Fang descended into the cave, a wave of cool air rushed toward him. The atmosphere was damp and chilly. Under Yuan Zhiran’s flashlight, he took a quick look around. Aside from the entrance, which seemed freshly excavated, the rest of the cave bore distinct signs of artificial construction rather than recent digging.
As expected, there was something here. Although it hadn’t been visible from above, the terrain must have had some elevation changes. The location marked on He Fang’s system map seemed to correspond exactly to this cave entrance.
“Is this a cellar?” Min Zhizhou, who had also climbed down by now, glanced around and asked, “In the expansion pack, farmers before the apocalypse would build cellars to store food and prevent spoilage. Is this something similar?”
“A cold storage?” Yuan Zhiran picked up on Min Zhizhou’s meaning and felt the temperature inside the cave. “It’s definitely cooler, but probably not to the level of a proper cold storage facility.”
“If we can, should we go in and take a look?” He Fang pointed toward a pitch-black tunnel not far away. “There’s a high chance that Guo Miaofeng went inside. It rained a few days ago, and the ground is still muddy—I can see some footprints that should belong to him.”
Inside the passage, a clear, continuous trail of footprints led deeper in. It seemed like Guo Miaofeng had gone straight in without hesitation.
“Just in case, we should leave some markers,” Min Zhizhou suggested.
“I’ll remember all the terrain, and besides, I believe Guo Miaofeng has likely already left plenty of markers,” Yuan Zhiran said with certainty. “Guo Miaofeng is an extremely meticulous person. I’ve seen the maps he’s drawn—they’re incredibly detailed and precise. At least when it comes to navigating roads, he’s more professional than any of us.”
He Fang was momentarily stunned by Yuan Zhiran’s words. That was true. As an expert, Guo Miaofeng wasn’t someone who would get lost. After all, his attribute points had almost all been allocated to this single skill.
But he still hadn’t come out yet…
“Is there a signal here?” He Fang asked.
Yuan Zhiran checked, then frowned, looking up at the cave entrance above, where the light was still clearly filtering through. “Not even a little.”
“No way someone set up a signal jammer here… what would be the point of that—” He Fang suddenly froze mid-sentence. A signal jammer… it wasn’t impossible.
“Anyway, let’s go in and take a look. Maybe we’ll find some markers Guo Miaofeng left behind.”
“Alright.” Yuan Zhiran responded, then unexpectedly took off his jacket and draped it over He Fang. “The temperature here is quite low. City Lord, be careful not to catch a cold.”
“You’re not cold?” He Fang was a bit surprised as he looked at the young man, now only wearing a black short-sleeved undershirt beneath his military uniform jacket. With the flashlight fixed to his helmet, the refined-looking youth now gave off the vibe of a miner.
“It’s fine. This level of cold is nothing,” Yuan Zhiran said matter-of-factly, without a hint of deception.
“If you’re cold, I can lend you my armor…” Among the three of them, only Min Zhizhou was wearing armor. Fully armed, he looked like a superhero, the beast-faced helmet reflecting light and giving off an impression of warmth.
“No need. Mr. Min, your top priority is to protect yourself,” Yuan Zhiran politely declined. “Your only mission is to avoid being parasitized by the Nightmare Beast seeds.”
Min Zhizhou choked on his words, unable to refute them.
“Yuan Zhiran, your uniform is actually a bit big on me,” He Fang spread his arms and found that Yuan Zhiran’s military uniform was still loose on him. “Did you grow taller again?”
“Yes, ever since I started training, my body seems to have gone through a second growth spurt. It’s a bit troublesome—I’ve had to get my uniform altered several times,” Yuan Zhiran replied with an embarrassed smile. It was a rare sight, a hint of youthful innocence in his expression. Yet, for some reason, He Fang could suddenly sense how Yuan Zhiran’s features were becoming more mature.
As He Fang followed the passageway deeper inside, Yuan Zhiran led the way. He Fang watched Yuan Zhiran’s back. Due to the dim lighting, everything around them appeared hazy, which made him notice even more how the tight-fitting inner layer clung to Yuan Zhiran’s frame. The once-slim teenager had grown, his physique now well-defined, his muscles distinctly visible.
A thought suddenly popped into He Fang’s mind—if he hadn’t intervened, would Yuan Zhiran have ended up working in entertainment? Maybe as a model, an actor, or something in the entertainment industry?
Just as that idea was forming, Yuan Zhiran abruptly stopped. He bent down to inspect the ground. “This area seems to have been recently excavated. There probably wasn’t a path here before.”
He Fang immediately stuck his head out and also noticed the traces on the ground. There was a considerable amount of soil around, and on it were clearly repeated footprints, indicating that the soil had recently fallen again.
He Fang was confused. “So this tunnel had already reached its end, but Guo Miaofeng still found another way and dug through?”
“Why would he do that?” Min Zhizhou didn’t understand. For them, if they couldn’t find a way forward, they would naturally turn back. Who knew what unexpected things might be waiting ahead?
“Guo Miaofeng is highly knowledgeable about geology. If he decided to dig here, there must be a reason that made him believe this excavation would lead to another passage,” Yuan Zhiran explained.
Min Zhizhou looked at Yuan Zhiran and suddenly asked, “Do you admire Guo Miaofeng?”
“I do,” Yuan Zhiran said frankly, without hesitation. “I admire his personality. He has always worked hard to do everything within his ability for the City Lord. I respect anyone who dedicates themselves fully to their work and strives for excellence. Of course, that includes you as well, Mr. Min. So far, you’re the only former outsider I genuinely respect.”
Min Zhizhou had long known that Yuan Zhiran respected him. Or rather, he could clearly sense it from the way Yuan Zhiran had always treated him—with deference, even considering him as a senior.
“You were raised well,” Min Zhizhou remarked. He didn’t care that many people in the city looked down on him. In a society where ability was everything, respect was only given to the capable. It was an accepted truth—if you couldn’t compete, then being suppressed was only natural.
He Fang looked at Yuan Zhiran. Though he seemed a bit different from before, that didn’t change the fact that Yuan Zhiran was, at his core, a good kid.
“Are we going in?” Yuan Zhiran took the initiative to ask He Fang, as He Fang was the one who made the final decisions.
“We have to. Guo Miaofeng is inside—we can’t just wait for him here.” As He Fang spoke, he glanced at his map and let out a breath of relief upon confirming that any path they had traveled would automatically be recorded.
They kept moving forward. Guo Miaofeng seemed to be continuously exploring downward, though there were several places where he had clearly dug pits but, after failing to break through, changed direction and continued digging.
“Did he bring a shovel? This is insane,” He Fang was genuinely shocked.
“He probably didn’t rely solely on digging,” Yuan Zhiran said from the front. “It looks like he pinpointed the right direction where the passage was already connected and then forcefully broke through. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be seeing only a single continuous path.”
Min Zhizhou glanced back at the broken wall and brushed against it with his armor without thinking. The distinct sound of metal scraping against stone echoed.
Min Zhizhou: “…”
The lighting was too dim—he had assumed the surrounding walls were just soil.
But to his surprise, the entire area was made of sandstone!
Did Guo Miaofeng really break through all of this by sheer force alone? Min Zhizhou was filled with admiration. Although Guo Miaofeng didn’t seem like someone with overwhelming combat power like Chong Xiao, he was still a city dweller. Their innate strength was terrifying.
He Fang felt that Guo Miaofeng was winding through the tunnels in all directions, leaving holes everywhere like a burrowing rat.
But he also noticed something peculiar—these interconnected tunnels weren’t naturally formed. They all bore clear signs of artificial excavation, and many sections had been reinforced with metal.
If these were man-made passageways, why had they been deliberately sealed off?
Each tunnel was a perfectly straight rectangular corridor, wide enough for a person to pass through. Yet, they resembled train cars—completely straight, lined up in parallel at different heights, like staggered compartments of a railway system.
Looking at the map, the pathways formed a dense, three-dimensional network. It was an unusual design.
Although they had ventured deep underground, the air remained fresh, suggesting some special ventilation system had been implemented. Otherwise, He Fang might have worried that Guo Miaofeng could have suffocated inside.
“It’s really humid in here,” He Fang remarked. The dampness had almost completely soaked his clothes, and the chill was beginning to seep in.
“We should consider heading back,” Yuan Zhiran suddenly stopped and turned around.
“What’s wrong?” He Fang asked.
“Judging by the echoes, the path ahead is still long. We don’t have enough food or warm clothing, unlike Guo Miaofeng, who came prepared.” Yuan Zhiran had been carefully observing his surroundings and had just noticed a few inconspicuous crumbs of compressed biscuits that Guo Miaofeng had eaten and dropped on the ground. “We might need to go back and prepare properly before continuing our exploration.”
He Fang pressed his lips together slightly. “I remember we brought quite a lot of supplies in the vehicle.”
“Yes,” Yuan Zhiran confirmed. To ensure the Creator’s every need could be met at any time, he had packed an extensive amount of supplies. The vehicle’s trunk was completely filled.
Without hesitation, He Fang sat down on the spot and said to Yuan Zhiran, “Go back and get them quickly. We’ll rest here and wait for you.”
Yuan Zhiran froze for a moment, visibly concerned. He was clearly uneasy about leaving He Fang and Min Zhizhou alone in this place. In his eyes, it was like leaving two rabbits in a starving wolf’s den—far too dangerous.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be in danger.” He Fang was confident as he glanced at the map. “Besides, Min Zhizhou brought plenty of weapons for dealing with Nightmare Beasts, and those weapons work just as well against living creatures. No matter what, his skills can make up for a lot of shortcomings. And with Guo Miaofeng ahead of us, plus you being the one with the best stamina among us, we really need you for this. Sorry for the trouble.”
He Fang’s reasoning was sound. Although Yuan Zhiran was still worried, he wouldn’t go against the Creator’s words. Without further hesitation, he turned back and retraced his steps, determined to return to He Fang as quickly as possible.
“Guo Miaofeng will be fine,” Min Zhizhou said. It wasn’t often that he found himself sitting in silence with He Fang, and for some reason, he felt oddly tense. His heartbeat quickened involuntarily as if he had unknowingly developed a sense of awe toward He Fang.
“Yeah, don’t worry,” He Fang turned to reassure him. “He seems to be in good condition right now.”
Min Zhizhou was genuinely puzzled. How exactly did He Fang determine Guo Miaofeng’s condition? He Fang always had an uncanny ability to pinpoint people’s locations—his included.
Back then, when Yuan Zhiran came looking for him, Min Zhizhou had been enjoying a meal at a newly opened buffet restaurant. Yet, Yuan Zhiran had been able to pinpoint his exact location and take him straight to board a plane bound for Hope City. It had been his first time at that restaurant, and he hadn’t told any colleagues about it—there was no way anyone could have known.
Min Zhizhou sometimes secretly wondered if He Fang had implanted some kind of tracking device in all the residents to monitor and control them.
“What do you think is down here?” He Fang suddenly asked.
Min Zhizhou was caught off guard. He shook his head. “When I was a mercenary, we usually didn’t dig underground. Exploring unknown areas blindly is dangerous. We only excavated if we had intelligence confirming something valuable was buried deep below.”
“Even if it means missing out on potential resources?” He Fang was puzzled. Weren’t mercenaries known for risking their lives to obtain resources?
“It’s too time-consuming and exhausting. Unlike mobile cities, mercenaries don’t have specialized scouting teams—we rely on our own bodies to explore. Staying in one place too long increases the risk of being targeted by Nightmare Beast Seeds,” Min Zhizhou explained. “Besides, large cities rarely end up buried, so there’s no need to dig. And near Nightmare Beast Forests, excavation is even more dangerous. The depths below those forests are pitch-black. If you accidentally disturb a dormant Revival Nightmare Plant, you’re as good as dead.”
He Fang nodded, half understanding. “Then, what do you think would make a resource-starved mid-sized mobile city risk everything to come all the way here?”
Min Zhizhou fell silent, his brows furrowing in thought.
“The City Lord of Hope City…” Min Zhizhou had clearly connected the dots from He Fang’s questioning. “Maybe they received some information—something that suggested there are massive resources here that could sustain a mobile city’s survival.”
“That’s what I think too.” He Fang had brought up the topic deliberately, trying to sort out his thoughts. “I can’t keep providing Hope City with resources from the main city indefinitely. Even though it’s true that Hope City is practically an empty shell right now and I could develop it gradually, the current situation doesn’t allow for that.”
Zhu Yan was already trying to crack the locator systems to track the positions of other cities. In this world where cities constantly moved, there was no guarantee that another city wouldn’t end up in this region. He Fang needed to grow stronger before that happened—otherwise, he’d be caught unprepared when another city discovered them.
“City Lord, are you certain?” Min Zhizhou asked, his tone probing.
“There’s a high probability.” He Fang’s expression was steady. “You’ve seen it too—there’s an enormous man-made chasm between the Nightmare Beast Forest and this land. A rift that large should be enough to prevent the Nightmare Forest from expanding. But even after evacuating the entire population, they still went to the trouble of burning the entire city. That’s not natural.”
When He Fang first saw the markings on the system map, he had already begun suspecting whether they were related to what Hope City had been searching for.
By the time Yuan Zhiran returned, he had brought additional clothing for He Fang, helping him barely ward off the cold.
The deeper they went, the more He Fang noticed that the once train-like corridors were getting shorter and shorter. Eventually, they reached a point where, every couple of steps, they encountered another freshly excavated section.
He Fang watched as the distance between them and Guo Miaofeng on the map grew smaller and smaller. Just as he was focused on the map, Yuan Zhiran suddenly stepped on something, producing a crisp splashing sound.
He Fang looked down and saw a very thin, almost imperceptible stream flowing beneath Yuan Zhiran’s foot.
Now that they had stopped, the gentle murmuring of the water became more distinct. He Fang raised his gaze toward the path ahead.
There was an opening in front of them.
But what truly caught He Fang’s attention wasn’t the cave entrance—it was the small branch growing at its edge.
The branch was frail, its leaves a pale yellow. But how could a plant be growing inside such a cave?
Puzzled, He Fang raised his flashlight and shone it inside.
Beyond the narrow entrance, the space suddenly widened. A fresh mist of water vapor rushed toward them, carrying the distinct scent of decaying leaves. Faintly, there was even the fermented aroma of fruit, reminiscent of wine. The beam of light struggled to pierce through the dense foliage, which nearly filled the entire opening.
This was…
“A forest?” He Fang was utterly stunned as he took in the sight before him.
Though the towering trees resembled those of a typical forest, they were markedly different from the lush greenery outside. Deprived of sunlight, the vegetation here had taken on an unusual translucence, their delicate structures appearing frail—so fragile that it seemed a mere touch could shatter them into pieces.
“What is going on here?” Min Zhizhou was equally stunned. A forest underground?
“There’s a path here.” Yuan Zhiran pushed aside a thick layer of undergrowth, revealing a stone-paved road beneath their feet. It was clearly man-made but had been completely overtaken by trees and grass. “And some of these plants have broken stems—very likely snapped by Guo Miaofeng.”
“Why is it so dense?” He Fang felt as if the entire space had been swallowed up by vegetation. The air was thick with moisture, and the dim surroundings made it impossible for their lights to reach far; the dense foliage absorbed the glow completely. As He Fang moved forward, he could feel branches and leaves pushing against his body, as if trying to shove him back.
“City Lord, should I carry you?” Yuan Zhiran asked.
He Fang: “No need.”
The overgrown plants were so dense that standing a single step apart was enough to visually separate them. To prevent the three of them from getting lost, Yuan Zhiran used a safety rope to tie them together as they moved forward.
He Fang suddenly stepped on something. Looking down, he was surprised to see a cucumber lying on the ground. When he looked up, he saw cucumber vines tangled everywhere. As their flashlights illuminated the foliage, they spotted heaps upon heaps of Chinese cabbages growing among the leaves.
“These seem to be vegetables,” Min Zhizhou remarked.
“They are,” He Fang confirmed. Simple crops like cabbages, cucumbers, and radishes were easy to recognize. He Fang reached up and loosened his collar slightly. “It feels kind of hot in here.”
“It’s not just hot—it’s also very humid,” Yuan Zhiran remarked.
“City Lord, be careful. There’s a low-hanging steel frame here,” Yuan Zhiran warned. He Fang instinctively looked up and saw a slanted steel structure, seemingly bent under excessive weight. He also noticed that the interior of these steel frames was packed with soil.
“Could this place be…” He Fang murmured as he observed the various elements that facilitated plant growth. He hesitated before guessing, “A greenhouse?”
He had never farmed before, but his impression of greenhouses matched this scene—except normal greenhouses didn’t extend this high. It seemed like every inch of space had been maximized, even the air above.
Following the stone path, they explored further and discovered that this massive “greenhouse” wasn’t just one level—it extended downward through multiple layers. The plants—or rather, the vegetables—grew wildly in complete disorder, a clear sign of having been left unattended for a long time.
He Fang suspected that the City Lord of Hope City had been searching for this place. They likely had some vague intel but were unable to locate the entrance.
So much uncontaminated food, untouched by Nightmare Beast seeds, could easily sustain an entire city.
“Do you hear that? Birds?” He Fang suddenly asked. The space was eerily quiet, making any sound even more noticeable.
“Not just birds—there are insect chirps and even some poultry noises. They’re all alive,” Yuan Zhiran responded.
“What is this place…?” He Fang muttered as he glanced at the system map, watching as Guo Miaofeng’s location overlapped with theirs, then moved apart again—back and forth, repeatedly.
The vegetables here were so overgrown that He Fang felt like he was swimming through them.
The stench of rotting leaves was as pungent as a poison gas bomb, making his head throb.
He Fang stopped in his tracks. Yuan Zhiran noticed and turned back in confusion. “City Lord?”
He Fang blinked a few times, staring into the pitch-black space. They had been following Guo Miaofeng’s tracks this whole time, meaning he had been running back and forth here for some unknown reason.
Feeling somewhat reckless, He Fang suddenly shouted, “Guo Miaofeng!”
His voice was swallowed by the dense foliage, unable to carry far. Yet, to their surprise, a clear response echoed back: “Eh?!”
Yuan Zhiran: “?”
Guo Miaofeng’s voice was strong and full of energy, not the least bit distressed.
Min Zhizhou was dumbfounded. Voice communication?
He Fang hadn’t expected an actual reply either. He shouted again, “Where are you?!”
“Which level are you on?!” Guo Miaofeng yelled back at the top of his lungs.
“I don’t know!” He Fang bellowed.
“Wait! I’ll turn on the lights! Once the lights are on, you’ll be able to see!” Guo Miaofeng shouted.
No one quite understood what he meant by turning on the lights.
But the moment an enormous brightness suddenly flooded the space, He Fang was utterly stunned. The lights had truly been switched on! A massive row of bulbs lit up like a miniature sun, illuminating the previously dark space with dazzling brightness—it was like daylight!
Now, they could clearly see everything around them!
Only then did He Fang realize that hanging right above his head was… a tomato?!
“Go to the exit! There are numbers at the exit! You should be able to see the numbers!” Guo Miaofeng’s voice rang out again, this time closer than before, as if he was rushing toward them.
When they reached the doorway, Yuan Zhiran suddenly sensed something unknown approaching. Instinctively, he stepped in front of He Fang to shield him.
But what emerged were several large geese waddling past them, completely unfazed by their presence.
“Incredible,” He Fang sincerely praised as he looked up at the numbers above the exit. He then shouted, “Three! We’re at Three!”
“I’m coming over now! Don’t move! Stay right there!” Guo Miaofeng’s voice echoed again.
With the lights back on, He Fang finally noticed that this place wasn’t just a simple underground pit as he had imagined. The entire area was clearly man-made, reinforced with structured walls and a ceiling. What he had thought were towering vegetables were actually growing from soil that had been artificially elevated and secured in place.
Guo Miaofeng said, “Don’t move,” and He Fang really didn’t move. After all, Guo Miaofeng had been here for many days already, and it would be more convenient for him to come over on his own rather than for them to wander around aimlessly.
He Fang noticed that many parts of the wall had crumbled due to years of neglect, leaving behind fragile chunks of earth that had fallen off, creating multiple holes. He suddenly felt a bit worried—could this place collapse at any moment?
“City Lord!”
Suddenly, from one of the holes He Fang had been staring at, Guo Miaofeng emerged with excitement. “Why are you here?”
However, He Fang was stunned when he saw Guo Miaofeng. His clothes were tattered beyond recognition as if he had been attacked by something. Torn fabric revealed patches of exposed skin all over his body, making him look like he had rolled all the way down from the peak of a high mountain.
“Are you hurt?” He Fang was startled. He quickly stepped forward, grabbing Guo Miaofeng and trying to tear away his ragged clothes to check for injuries.
“I’m fine, not hurt. Don’t worry, City Lord.” Guo Miaofeng immediately explained, “It’s just that there seemed to be some kind of automatic defense mechanism when I entered. But maybe because it’s so old, it didn’t have much power—it could only tear my clothes. Just in case, I dismantled everything inside that could attack.”
He Fang was dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Min Zhizhou looked at Guo Miaofeng’s clothes, which were barely more than scraps of fabric, and thought of Chong Xiao, who had emerged unscathed under powerful weaponry. He figured that maybe it wasn’t that the defensive weapons here had deteriorated—perhaps Guo Miaofeng’s body was just too tough, rendering any form of attack completely ineffective.
“Are you alright? As long as you’re fine, that’s good.” He Fang finally felt relieved—the map was intact, and Guo Miaofeng was indeed unharmed.
“You went missing. City Lord was very worried. He personally came to find you,” Yuan Zhiran said proactively upon seeing Guo Miaofeng. “You shouldn’t have cut off communication.”
“I’m sorry.” Guo Miaofeng clearly knew he had made a mistake and looked quite embarrassed. “I just thought that maybe I should finish surveying this place before reporting back. I didn’t expect City Lord to come looking for me personally.”
“What did you discover?” Seeing that Guo Miaofeng was safe and sound, He Fang finally relaxed and immediately began asking about the surroundings.
“I honestly haven’t figured it out either.” Guo Miaofeng scratched his head in embarrassment. “I was just following the City Lord’s orders to map the area. I’ve been drawing maps this whole time.”
As he spoke, he unfolded the mapping data in his hands and activated a three-dimensional projection.
The map Guo Miaofeng had surveyed was instantly uploaded into He Fang’s system map, displaying incredibly detailed information.
“I’ve been here for a few days. The lights turn on and off according to the day-night cycle, and this place is huge. There are a lot of doors, but I can’t open them. It seems like they’re controlled by something,” Guo Miaofeng explained while pointing to a massive hole nearby. “Whenever I tried to force a door open, it would trigger an alarm. Since I didn’t know how to disable the alarm, I had no choice but to just remove all the doors.”
He Fang was dumbfounded. He stared at the enormous hole—so this place was originally… a door?
“Removing the doors stops the alarms?” Yuan Zhiran asked, somewhat surprised.
“As long as you don’t touch the doors, the alarms won’t go off. I’ve already torn down everything I could see, but I have no idea if there are still more left,” Guo Miaofeng nodded as he spoke.
Min Zhizhou thought to himself that most people wouldn’t even consider directly demolishing doors—after all, normal people would just walk through them.
“Are these doors easy to remove?” He Fang’s expression was complicated as he couldn’t help but ask.
“Very easy. The surrounding walls are made of earth, so a few knocks and they crumble.” Guo Miaofeng nodded seriously. “It looks like an ancient structure, heavily deteriorated from age.”
He Fang and Min Zhizhou looked up at the so-called “heavily deteriorated” walls and were momentarily speechless.
“As long as you’re safe, City Lord should be relieved.” Yuan Zhiran let out a sigh of relief. “City Lord, we should head back. There are hostile elements here. For your safety, it’s best to leave now.”
“It’s probably safe now. Besides, exploring a bit more could be fun—there’s no rush to leave,” Guo Miaofeng, completely oblivious to the situation, chimed in.
“The City Lord has been searching for you for a long time and needs rest,” Yuan Zhiran patiently explained.
“There are beds here. You can rest.” Guo Miaofeng pointed in a certain direction. “At the very end over there, there’s a small room. It was probably where the original caretaker of this place lived.”
“A small room? Is there someone inside?” Yuan Zhiran froze for a moment and instinctively took two steps closer to He Fang, just in case anything unexpected happened.
“There used to be someone, but not anymore. And it was just one person,” Guo Miaofeng said.
“How do you know there was only one person?” Was there just a single bed or something?
“Because there’s only one corpse,” Guo Miaofeng replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He Fang: “?”
Min Zhizhou: “!”
Yuan Zhiran immediately became alert. “What kind of corpse?”
“It’s a frozen corpse, an old man. There are no other graves or bodies, just him. He must have lived here alone, and that room was his,” Guo Miaofeng explained. He only described what he had seen—anything beyond that was beyond his ability to analyze.
“Are you telling me you want the City Lord to sleep in a dead man’s bed?” Even Yuan Zhiran couldn’t help but raise his voice slightly, his usually refined face now filled with disbelief.
“Ah, yeah. But it’s fine! I already washed everything. There’s a washing machine here. I even disinfected it.” Completely oblivious to what Yuan Zhiran was actually concerned about, Guo Miaofeng assumed he was worried about infectious diseases. He made a reassuring gesture. “I’ve been staying here for a few days already. Don’t worry, it’s perfectly fine!”
“You want the City Lord to sleep in a bed that you slept in… which used to belong to a dead man?” Yuan Zhiran looked utterly dumbfounded. Was Guo Miaofeng actually serious right now?
“Isn’t it pretty nice? There are books, teacups, and lots of handmade crafts. It’s a really cozy room,” Guo Miaofeng said with a smile. “The old man had a love for arts and literature. There are even a bunch of old records, but they’ve been sitting for too long and don’t play very well anymore. Oh, and he also had a habit of keeping a diary.”
At the mention of a diary, Yuan Zhiran immediately asked, “Did you read it?”
“It’s not really right to read someone else’s diary without permission, is it?” Guo Miaofeng scratched his head.
“But didn’t you already sleep in his bed and live in his house without permission?” Yuan Zhiran countered.
Suddenly, the two fell into a speechless silence.
He Fang covered his face—halfheartedly.
![After I Transmigrated as a Mermaid, I Transmigrated Back [GL]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/mermaidtransmigrate2.jpg "After I Transmigrated as a Mermaid, I Transmigrated Back [GL]")
