Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Encountering the Gigantic Crocodile at the Bottom of the Stream

”Keke, do you feel anything unusual around here?” Xu Xin asked Keke on his shoulder once more.

”Ying.” Keke still shook its head.

Perhaps it is not here.

Thinking about it, descending from this entrance doesn’t lead to any dungeon, but to a massive underground world, which is not even in the same class. This underground world is not something they can engage with at this stage.

The mysterious voice also mentioned that the dungeon entrance had just opened, so it certainly wouldn’t be this entrance that Xu Xin had dug out earlier.

Xu Xin glanced at the iron door and decided to release the Red Mist inside, just like he did the first time he came here. They’ll have to go in eventually, so he might as well deal with it now.

Xu Xin gripped the rusty iron handle and said to Keke on his shoulder, ”Hold tight, Keke, get ready to run in a moment.”

”Ying!”

He took a deep breath, summoned his strength, and swung the iron door open sharply.

At this moment, his strength was much greater than the first time he came. The iron door was swung open directly, and large swathes of Red Mist spilled out.

Xu Xin sprinted outward, dashed out of the underground, and leaped onto the Silver King, all in one fluid motion.

”Come on, Silver King, let’s take a spin around here!”

”Awooo!”

Looking back from a distance, Xu Xin saw the red mist continuously emerging from the barren land, only to be dispersed by the wind.

Xu Xin rode the wolf around the vicinity for half a day, constantly monitoring changes on the map, but did not find any entrance to a dungeon. Apart from trees, there was nothing, and Keke showed no response either.

”Could it be not in this direction?” Xu Xin pondered with a frown; this was the only place nearby connected to the underground.

Xu Xin opened his watch and checked the regional channel.

The regional channel was very quiet; almost everyone had gone to search for the dungeon entrance.

Just as Xu Xin was feeling disappointed, someone suddenly spoke up: ”I’ve found the dungeon entrance!!”

Xu Xin immediately perked up and directly asked in the regional channel, ”Where did you find it?”

This time, he didn’t post anonymously.

”Whoa! It’s Boss Xu! Boss, Boss, I found it in a cave near my house! I originally wanted to chip some stones to repair my weapon before setting off, and then I heard strange noises coming from deep within the cave.

I walked all the way to the end of the mine and discovered an additional path, a very narrow small hole! The strange sounds were coming from the entrance! This hole never existed before; I’ve explored the entire cave thoroughly and remember it very clearly! This path has newly appeared, it must be the dungeon entrance!”

”When you discovered that entrance, did you encounter any danger?” This question was from Ji Chaoyang, it seemed he was keeping an eye on the regional channel all the time.

”Boss Ji Chaoyang! No danger, I heard strange noises inside so I didn’t dare go in; there might be something dangerous inside.”

In the cave...

Xu Xin suddenly recalled the Black Bear Cave he first encountered.

He had entered the Black Bear Cave several times and could always hear strange wind sounds inside, as if there was a cavernous space underground emitting a wailing sound, but he had searched many times and never found where the sound came from.

”It really seems to be the Black Bear Cave!” Xu Xin slapped his palm, ”Such an obvious thing, I actually overlooked it!”

Xu Xin replied in the regional channel: ”Thanks, after I enter the dungeon, I’ll let you all know what’s inside.”

”Ah, ah, no need to thank me, Boss Xu, I’ll just wait for the guide, you go ahead!”

Riding the Silver King, Xu Xin first returned to the entrance of the underground world, where the Red Mist had completely dissipated. He descended in front of the iron door, took a look inside, and it was still that seemingly endless passageway. The ladder and iron walls were rusted beyond belief.

”Hmm?” Xu Xin noticed that the rust on the ladder and iron walls in the passage was visibly more than last time.

”Is it because of the Red Mist?” Xu Xin pondered, ”Could it be that this passage has a limited number of uses? After being corroded by the Red Mist multiple times, it will become unusable?”

Forget it, it’s not the time to consider this right now; at least for a long period, Xu Xin doesn’t have to descend and face those giant underground creatures.

Before leaving, Xu Xin closed the iron door.

He felt that if he didn’t close it, some weird things might come out from inside. And in case the Red Mist, as he speculated, really could cause wildlife mutations, if this place continued to periodically emit Red Mist, that would indeed be a blunder.

Riding the Silver King, Xu Xin swiftly maneuvered through the jungle, occasionally using the crossbow in his hand to shoot down a wildcat.

[Killed a wildcat, earned points: 1.]

Indeed, you can still earn points, though during the previous hunting event, wildcats were worth 5 points, now it has dropped to just one.

Upon dismantling and storing the wildcat carcass into his backpack, Xu Xin suddenly remembered that the spot where the giant crocodile lurked was precisely in the creek at the entrance of the Black Bear Cave.

He had always wanted to try and see if he could ask Brother Crocodile to come to his lake and resolve the issue of the piranhas in the lake waters.

For the gigantic terror crocodile, the piranhas probably aren’t a big deal at all; the piranhas might not even be able to break its defense, and it might be able to devour a herd of them in one bite.

Although he couldn’t see the terror crocodile’s red dot, its power level was very likely on par with the Lake Giant Python’s.

Currently, it seemed not to have any hostility towards him, so why not attempt to build a good rapport with it?

Meanwhile, Xu Xin first returned to the treehouse, carried out two hundred kilograms of wild boar meat left from the previous hunt. Although it might be trivial for the giant crocodile, it was a token of goodwill, in case he really needed to ask for its help.

Soon, Xu Xin arrived near the creek at the entrance of the Black Bear Cave. Despite the turbulent rush, the creek remained crystal clear. If Xu Xin didn’t already know that the creek bed, resembling a rock, was actually the back of the crocodile, he wouldn’t have been able to tell anything unusual.

Xu Xin tentatively called out along the creek, ”Brother Crocodile, are you there?”

The moment his words fell, the creek responded.

A tiny whirlpool appeared in the center of the creek, seemingly greeting him.

It’s still here!

Xu Xin glanced at the map; there was still no red dot displayed, indicating that this crocodile wasn’t considered a hostile force.

Feeling slightly reassured, Xu Xin placed the two hundred kilograms of wild boar meat on the creek’s edge and chuckled, ”Brother Crocodile, I said last time before leaving, that I’d bring you something tasty when I pass by; although this might be a little meager for you, it can at least serve as a snack.”

Two eyes slowly emerged from the water, glancing at the pork on the ground.

Soon after, a giant terror crocodile emerged from the water and slowly approached Xu Xin. To say it was swimming, it was more like wading due to the shallow stream compared to the crocodile’s massive size.

Xu Xin’s facial muscles twitched briefly as he resisted the urge to step back. The gigantic body indeed exerted an overwhelming presence. But since the map didn’t show red, it meant it bore no hostility towards him; retreating might displease the other party.

The Silver King didn’t cower in fear as it did when it saw the Blood Pattern Giant previously, though it clearly seemed a bit frightened, pressing its body tightly against Xu Xin. Keke, on the other hand, wasn’t afraid at all, even ”ying-ying” greeting the crocodile.

The crocodile grabbed the boar meat on the creek’s edge with its colossal mouth, tilted its head back, and swallowed the entire two hundred kilograms of pork in one gulp.

That mouth was indeed huge.

”Ying!” Keke’s eyes widened at the sight, pausing its little claws that were waving a greeting.

After swallowing all the pork, the crocodile let out a low growl towards Xu Xin and Keke, the call was mellow, and Xu Xin could sense a hint of goodwill in it.

Then, the giant crocodile retreated to the creek bottom and submerged, leaving the stream to resume its usual appearance.

Xu Xin waved towards the creek, saying, ”I’m leaving, Brother Crocodile, I’ll come to see you again next time.”

”Ying!” Keke also waved a greeting.

Another whirlpool appeared on the water surface. This crocodile responded to them again.

Does this mean... it gained a bit of the giant crocodile’s favor?

Once this event is over, he’ll ask it to try dealing with the piranhas.

Moving on, it was time for the main event.

Xu Xin turned back toward the entrance of the Black Bear Cave. As he approached the cave, he could already hear the wind sounds inside, much louder than before.

Looks like the entrance really is inside this cave.

Accompanied by Silver King and Keke, Xu Xin cautiously stepped into the Black Bear Cave.