Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 37 - 37: Explorer from Earth?

Sitting ten meters away from the cave entrance, Xu Xin held Keke, quietly waiting for the red gas to disperse.

It wasnʼt that he didnʼt want to go in; the smell was simply unbearable for humans.

Moreover, Xu Xin was somewhat worried the smell might be toxic. Although his body was only weak from vomiting the dinner, who knows if inhaling too much would cause serious effects?

Itʼs better to be cautious.

Gradually, no more red gas floated out from the cave entrance, and the surrounding red color dispersed with the wind.

Xu Xin walked to the cave entrance and looked inside. There was still a faint red gas inside the cave, but it had significantly weakened compared to when it first emerged.

After all, thereʼs no ventilation inside the cave, so expecting these gases to completely dissipate isnʼt realistic; this was the best outcome. Xu Xin sighed and asked Keke, ”Are you coming down with me?”

Kekeʼs body stiffened. After hesitating for a moment, it nodded its little head and jumped onto Xu Xinʼs shoulder.

This little guy. Xu Xin patted its head, tied his clothes around his face, grit his teeth, and entered the cave.

In the cavern, faint red lingered in the passage, but to Xu Xinʼs surprise, the red gas wasnʼt filling the whole corridor; it only lingered above the cave space.

He tried bending down, and indeed, although the low air still carried a hint of that eerie stench, it was within his tolerable range now.

”It seems this strange gas is lighter than air. Thatʼs good; the foul gas inside the iron door must have already drifted out!” Bending down, Xu Xin advanced through the cave, quickly reaching the open underground iron door.

Looking inside, there was a narrow iron passage only allowing one person up and down. Iron ladders were fixed to the walls, and who knows how deep they went.

The ladders were covered in rust. Xu Xin was a bit hesitant looking at this passage, but he still stepped onto the ladder and began climbing down.

The passage was long. Xu Xin climbed step by step. The only sounds in the underground well-like passage were his footsteps and Kekeʼs occasional whimpering on his shoulder.

The little one was also scared, clutching tightly onto the clothes on his shoulder, fearing it might fall off at any moment.

”This passage is too long! I wouldnʼt end up underground, would I!”

The passage was too long, and Xu Xin felt his arms starting to tremble. But he couldnʼt help it; he was already halfway down, he couldnʼt climb back up and give up.

Continuing to climb down.

Who knows how long he climbed; just as Xu Xin felt he could barely hold onto the ladder, he finally reached a room.

After climbing down another four or five meters, Xu Xin set foot on the ground.

”Finally climbed down!” Xu Xin stood on the ground, rubbing his arm muscles, ”Such a long iron passage consumes so much iron!”

Mumbling to himself, he turned around and began inspecting his surroundings. His gaze shifted, and his pupils shrank abruptly as he gasped.

The room was empty; three walls were standard iron plates, not even a window, with only one wall having a very heavy and solid door. The door was round, much like a vault door.

And the first thing he saw was a human skeleton, dressed in tattered clothes, leaning against the wall.

”Someone has been here before!”

Xu Xin was shocked; beneath the wild depths, there was a vault-like underground room, and here was a skeleton!

Who was he? Perhaps a survivalist from before? Or a native of this world?

Examining his attire, despite the clothes being inexplicably tattered, he could still tell it was standard wilderness survival gear.

Walking forward, Xu Xin saw a dirty bundle beside the skeleton. Made from animal skin, it had lain underground so long the outer skin had mostly peeled off, looking extremely shabby.

”Sorry, brother.” Xu Xin silently mumbled, opening the bundle.

A moldy smell emanated from the animal-skin bundle.

The contents were rather mixed; Xu Xin dumped them out, counting what was inside.

”An entirely rusty, collapsed multipurpose knife, an empty lighter, and a small flashlight—these are Earth tools! This person must have been a wilderness survivalist; the tools were complete.” Xu Xin murmured, ”But the question is, why would anyone bring Earth tools to this world?”

Keke hopped down from his shoulder, pawing through the items.

There was even a wrapper of eaten compressed biscuits.

He picked up the lighter and flashlight; although the writing was a bit blurry and the flashlightʼs exterior cracked, Xu Xin could still see the product names and logos, written in unknown language.

Xu Xin had some exposure to European languages; these letters should be Greek.

He picked up the compressed biscuit packaging. Although he couldnʼt understand the text, he could see the fuzzy production date—April 1980.

Ordinary compressed biscuits have a shelf life of about three years. If this person didnʼt eat expired biscuits, it means heʼs been dead for nearly 40 years!

Forty years ago, someone had already arrived in this world!

The moon here changes from full to new within a day, and itʼs noticeably larger than in his original world. Xu Xin knew this wasnʼt his original world, even though he saw Earth merchandise here, which didnʼt change his view.

His back felt cold, wondering what secrets this world concealed.

Were people sent here forty years ago? How could he bring things from there?

Examining the room again, Xu Xin increasingly felt it resembled a prison.

But even prisons have toilets and beds; this room was empty except for the ragged clothed skeleton, a heavy iron door, and an openable passage overhead resembling a ventilator.

Inside the bundle wasnʼt any diary for Xu Xinʼs reference; he looked at the skeleton again; besides the tattered clothes, there was nothing valuable. He felt somewhat disappointed.

It figures, who writes diaries seriously.

”Ying!” Keke suddenly cried, staring at the iron wall behind the skeleton.

”What?” Xu Xin followed Kekeʼs gaze.

On the iron wall behind the skeleton seemed to be some writing, partially obscured by the skeleton, with only a small part of the inscription visible.

Xu Xin gently moved the skeleton.

Unexpectedly, with a slight push, the skeleton tilted sideways, fell to the ground, bones scattered everywhere, startling Xu Xin who jumped back.

The skull rolled around on the iron ground, finally stopping in front of Xu Xin, face up, seemingly staring with its hollow eyes.

”Hiss——!” Xu Xin gasped.

He previously didnʼt believe in ghosts or spirits, nor feared skeletons, but his worldview started to crumble since arriving here.

Science couldnʼt explain why he woke up in this world, why plants grew so rapidly, or why eating fruit granted special abilities.

In this world, anything was possible, including this skeleton suddenly coming to life.

However, it didnʼt come alive; it merely looked as if it was staring straight at Xu Xin.

The iron chamber was quiet; Xu Xin suppressed his unease, looking at the now unobstructed wall.

The inscriptions were knife-carved, surrounded by purple-black stains resembling dried blood.

But frustratingly, the wall lettering was similar to the flashlight and biscuit packaging - strange letters.

Xu Xin had only learned English and encountered some Spanish; he couldnʼt understand other European languages, let alone Greek, the second hardest language.

”Ying?” Keke tilted its head at the wall text, unable to comprehend, turning its gaze to the skeletonʼs skull.

”Itʼs so frustrating, finding clues but not understanding them.” Xu Xin sighed, eyeing the heavy door.

The success of this underground exploration depended entirely on what lay behind the door.