dtnovels Chapter 187: Don’t venture too far.
Chapter 187: Don’t venture too far.
They walked deeper into the cave, the crystallized salt stones fading into darkness.
Eva created energy lights to illuminate their path. They settled into a comfortable silence, and ten minutes passed before the sound of a gushing stream reached them.
They packed as much as they needed before reluctantly continuing on their way—if it were impossible, they would have taken the cave with them.
"Don’t worry, I made a mark on the cave; I won’t forget the way here," Ethan murmured, rubbing his hand against her hair as he saw her reluctant expression.
"I know, let go. With those four containers, we don’t have to worry about salt for a while." Eva smiled in satisfaction as she recalled the containers overflowing with salt.
Then he slapped her finger away and arranged her hair. A light chuckle escaped Ethan’s lips at her action.
Eva and the others quickened their pace toward the sound, and upon reaching it, they were stunned to find they were at the end of the cave.
They all scattered around in search of a way out.
"Where’s the water coming from if this is a dead end?" Julian asked aloud as he stared at the gushing blue stream.
He noticed small fish swimming past and thought there might be a way out through the water.
Eva pressed her ears against the wall, feeling for a weak spot they could break through.
The walls were tough and cool to the touch, and Eva feared that if they were broken by force, a cave-in would occur.
"There’s no way to go over the walls," Eva announced, then withdrew her hand. Her gaze fell on the gushing stream.
Ethan returned to the stream, shaking his head.
"The stream—"
Julian and Eva muttered in unison, expressing the same idea.
"I can swim better and hold my breath longer than both of you. Let me search for the entrance," Eva suggested, already mentally prepared for their disagreement. Without waiting for a response, she jumped into the water.
The loud splash of water stunned the two; their expressions changed, and they tried to jump into the water after them when Eva yelled.
"Don’t worry, I can protect myself and escape into my space if I have to!" Her tone carried a mix of confidence and stubbornness, showing she wasn’t going to back down.
"Be careful," Ethan said helplessly, knowing he couldn’t stop her.
Julian’s eyes were filled with worry, and he was mentally planning to learn how to swim once he returned to her space.
Seeing they were rushing in after her, Eva took deep breaths and dove in with peace of mind.
Ethan and Julian waited at the shore, their hearts in their throats, their eyes fixed on the stream that rippled from the continuous gush at its center.
Time ticked by agonizingly slowly. Finally, the water split on the left, and Eva shot out of it.
The globe of water that had enveloped her face and neck popped, sliding back into the stream.
Ethan jumped in and swarmed toward her, carrying her out of the stream.
"How was it? You didn’t run into any dangerous beasts down there, did you?" Julian asked, his voice laced with concern as they reached the shore.
Eva shook her head, wiping water from her face and squeezing the excess from her hair before answering.
"There is a hole in the depths of the stream. I didn’t swim passed it, but I noticed a school of fish swimming through it."
Julian and Ethan’s hanging hearts dropped; they were relieved she was all right and that there was a way out of here.
"What was that globe of water wrapped around your head?" Julian asked, recalling what he saw when she emerged from the water.
"Oh, that." Eva paused as she formed another globe of water around her head. Strangely, she could breathe freely even though she was fully enveloped in water.
"This is my water power. It can help us breathe long enough underwater. Useful, isn’t it?" Eva bragged, glossing over the fact that she had almost drowned when she realized she could use her water powers that way.
Fortunately, she had read enough novels; otherwise, she wouldn’t have thought of such an idea.
"Useful." Julian gave her a thumbs-up. He had almost forgotten her second power because she didn’t use it often.
"Rest up, and then we all leave this place," Ethan announced.
They hummed in response, and after resting enough, Eva covered Ethan and Julian’s heads with water globes. She placed one over her own head, then jumped into the water, with them following behind.
The coldness of the water made them flinch, a chill running through their bodies, but they endured it and swam after Eva.
Gradually, they got used to the cold. Ethan was amazed to be able to breathe freely in the water; his gaze fell on the passing fish, which he poked, watching them scatter in amusement.
They swam deeper, and minutes passed before they noticed a hole from which a strong current of water gushed.
Eva signaled to them and was about to swim through when Julian stopped her, and Ethan took the chance to go first.
"Why are you stopping me?" Eva mouthed, her expression confused.
Julian motioned for her to wait, which only made her more baffled. Only when Ethan returned and motioned for them to follow did she understand their intentions.
They had wanted to explore the new territory first before letting her through—it seems her earlier search for the exit had scared them.
She followed behind Ethan, passing through a rocky but moss-covered tunnel before a bright light shone above her.
Eva swam upward, breaking the surface as the globe of water popped.
She gasped at the scene around her. The valley echoed with bird calls; vibrant flowers of different colors swayed in the light breeze, and white butterflies fluttered in circles or scattered across the field.
The evening sun, orange and warm, cast its glow through the leaves, making her surroundings look as if they had been taken from a painting.
She soaked in the enthralling sight for a while longer before swimming towards the shore.
"It’s warmer here," Julian muttered, pulling off his wet top and tossing it aside. His body was soaked, dripping water at the edges.
His words snapped her awake, and she called for both of them to come closer.
Once they were near, she brought them into her space so they could change their clothes.
Eva remembered to let the chef out of her space, worried he might grow bored if he remained inside too long.
The chef nodded to Eva with a grateful smile, then turned to admire his surroundings.
"You can search around for new crops and spices, but don’t venture too far. There might be a beast nearby." Ethan warned the chef, then took the dagger from his space ring and handed it to him.
"Thank you, master." The chef took the knife handed to him and walked ahead, excited.
Ethan drew another knife and asked Julian to retrieve a wolf from his ring so he could skin it and prepare its meat for dinner.
"Let’s prepare two instead; I’ll help with the gutting," Julian suggested, then took two wolves out of his ring.
He felt they could store the unfinished ones in their rings and eat on the way.
Eva, who was drying her hair by the shore, looked over, and her eyes brightened at the wolves on the ground.
She quickly wrapped a towel around her hair and jogged up to them. "There are enough spices in my space to make barbecue. Barbecue and alcohol, yes!"
She pumped her fist in the air in excitement and dashed into her space to get the spices before they could refuse.
Julian looked at the space and closed his mouth with a helpless shake of his head.
He had planned to tell her to bring back some trays and plates, but she left before he could say anything.
’Just have to send her back again to get it.’
He squatted and drew a sharp dagger from his ring to help Ethan.
They carefully and skillfully peeled off the skin, ensuring they made no mistakes in their cuts.
Ethan took the skin to the other side of the stream to wash the blood away. He spread it out on the grassy ground to process later.
Eva returned with different containers of ground spices, her hands so full that she used her chin to hold some of them in place.
She placed them on the ground, clapping her hands in satisfaction.
"I took them from the kitchen. Luckily, our cook is detail-oriented and writes each spice name on its container, or I wouldn’t have found this much."
Eva picked up a container and showed him the small wooden tag with the word ’cinnamon’ inscribed in the middle.
Julian hummed in response, his gaze falling on the pile of spices, and he grimaced.
"Erm... I don’t think we’ll need all of that. Also, get me some trays to hold the cleaned meat and a bowl to season it," Julian said hesitantly, careful not to dampen her enthusiasm.