Super Zoo

"What is it?" Suming squinted at the distance, but it was too far to see clearly what the dogs were barking at.

Zhao Yun simply said, "Go up the mountain and take a look, and we'll know."

Thus, the two of them climbed up the slope using hands and feet together. The slope must have been about forty degrees, almost requiring hands and feet to get up. Suming and Zhao Yun handed over their backpacks and equipment to Su Meng, who climbed up like a large ape, zipping up swiftly. Zhao Yun and Suming followed behind, and after climbing for nearly half an hour, they finally reached the elevated area of the slope, a few dozen meters high.

Strangely, there were no ancient tombs or the like in sight, only a slanted hole about the size of a water vat on the ground. A few dogs surrounded the hole, slightly bending their bodies as if facing a great enemy, staring at the entrance as if there was something very dangerous inside.

Scattered around the slope near the hole, there were some ancient vessels half-buried in the soil. It looked like the scraps that the wolf dogs had given to Suming had been picked up nearby...

Zhao Yun and Suming looked at each other, a bit surprised, and the same thought crossed their minds at the same time: could this hole be a robber's tunnel?

Seeing Suming approaching, Huiya turned its head and bared its sharp fangs at Suming, a gesture of affection that startled Zhao Yun. At first, he hadn't noticed that among these dogs was an actual wolf!

"It's alright, it's mine," Suming said, patting Huiya's head with a smile.

Zhao Yun, seeing that Huiya wasn't biting, was reassured and walked up to the hole to look down. Suming also walked cautiously to the entrance and bravely peered inside.

The sun could shine in from this position, and with its help, he could see down into the darkness. It seemed very deep with bursts of cool air hitting his face. It looked like there might be water at the bottom.

Zhao Yun casually picked up a fist-sized stone and threw it into the hole. A 'plop' was heard soon after, indicating the stone hitting water. By the sound of it, the water was not very deep.

Suming was a bit scared, but even more curious. He couldn't help but ask Zhao Yun, "Shall we go down and have a look?"

Zhao Yun, well, he might seem like a mature, successful businessman on the outside, but deep down, he did not lack the adventurous spirit of a man. Additionally, he had a background in antique research and spent his youth wandering all over the place fiercely and wildly. It was only after he had a family and took on the responsibilities of a father and husband that he gradually settled down.

Faced with the large hole before them, Zhao Yun also felt an itch in his heart as if a cat's paw was scratching him. The two were in immediate agreement and decided to go down and explore.

Zhao Yun prepared various tools on one side while Suming hugged Huiya and whispered a few words to it.

"You're not planning to take the wolf down with you, are you?" Zhao Yun asked, a bit perplexed as he put on a miner's hat with a searchlight.

"That's actually a good idea," thought Suming, realizing the reason in Zhao Yun's remark. Wild animals naturally have a keen instinct for danger, and with Huiya's night-vision, it might be more useful in the dark environment than a person would be.

However, Suming had instructed Huiya to do something else, and soon Huiya ran off swiftly with a few dogs.

Suming, worried that Zhao Yun might not be able to accept what was to come, intentionally gave a heads-up, "Mr. Zhao, you don't think there could be zombies or something like that inside, do you? Should we prepare some weapons?"

"You've watched too many movies. There's no such thing. If there is indeed a tomb below, the real dangers are mechanisms and air quality, or at most a few large rats." Zhao Yun carelessly tossed a flashlight over a foot long to Suming.

It felt quite heavy, suitable as a bludgeon, but Suming still looked unconvinced, saying, "I'd rather prepare some weapons."

"Suit yourself," Zhao Yun said indifferently. He had seen many first-time tomb raiders like Suming, whose heads were filled with all kinds of strange fantasies, acting as if they were going to war in Iraq, fully armed for a tomb expedition.

In reality, in a tomb, weapons are far less crucial than experience.

After a while, Huiya returned with the dogs, carrying two large waterproof bags and dropping them in front of Suming.

Suming opened the bags and Zhao Yun glanced casually, then was stunned, exclaiming, "The weapons you talked about... are these?!"

Indeed, the bags contained real weapons: two pistols, two rifles, and two tightly packed boxes of bullets.

These were seized from a poaching gang last time and had been hidden in a large cave ever since. Huiya knew the way and had brought a portion over with the dogs.

"Heh heh heh..." Suming chuckled mysteriously, shouldering a rifle and tucking a pistol at his waist, then tossed the bag to Zhao Yun.

An ordinary person would undoubtedly ask a lot of questions at this point, but Zhao Yun had seen these things in his younger days. He and Suming also had an understanding, rarely prying into each other's secrets under normal circumstances.

Picking up a rifle casually, he expertly pulled the bolt twice and aimed it as if targeting something.

"Not bad, but it's best not to shoot. If there is indeed a tomb below, stray bullets could easily harm us," he said.

Zhao Yun slung the rifle over his back and tugged at the climbing rope around his waist, handing the other end to Suming, getting ready to go down and check the depth of the water in the hole.

But before he could descend, Huiya had already taken the lead, leaping directly into the hole.

With a splash, a sound of water followed by swimming noises came up. Suming hurriedly lay down at the entrance and shone the flashlight downwards.

In the circle of light from his flashlight, Huiya flapped and swam swiftly through the water, quickly vanishing into the depths of the cave, followed by the soft sounds of fur shaking and Huiya's bark signaling everything was safe.

"Down!" Zhao Yun said without hesitation, grabbing the climbing rope and sliding into the cave, while Suming illuminated the descent with his flashlight. Zhao Yun sank just two or three meters before touching the water surface, and as his body slowly submerged, the water reaching about his chest, he finally stopped sinking and gestured an OK sign to Suming.

Suming hammered the end of the climbing rope firmly into the ground with a peg, then slid down the rope himself, his feet gradually disappearing into the water.

It might have been in his head, but even through the waterproof suit, he could feel the water in the cave was bone-chillingly cold.

Soon, feeling solid ground beneath his feet, he realized he had reached the bottom. Suming and Zhao Yun were of similar height, around 1.77 meters, and the water in the cave came just up to their chests.

Finally, Su Meng jumped down directly, like a human bomb, causing a large splash as he hit the water.

The cave was pitch dark, and for Suming, who was in such a place for the first time, his heart was aflutter. Clutching his gun firmly in one hand above the water, he turned his head to look around. Suddenly, about twenty or thirty meters ahead, he saw two ghostly lights floating in mid-air.

"Shit!" Suming got a fright, nearly yelling out loud.

But the ghostly lights made a sound first. After Zhao Yun waved his flashlight, it turned out to be Huiya. The shore was just twenty meters ahead. Huiya had already climbed ashore, listlessly yawning, sticking out its tongue to lick its mouth, stretching luxuriously, and then lying down, waiting for Suming and the others.

Those two 'ghost lights' were its eyes.

Suming also quickly turned on his flashlight, sweeping it around. Overhead was a cave that sloped upward; there wasn't much space to either side or the back—only about seven or eight meters from the cave walls. Only straight ahead was the area spacious, a reasonably sized body of water followed by the shore.

The space on the shore seemed large, and moving the flashlight, he could glimpse the ruins of buildings in the distance, but they were too far away to make out what they were.

"Let's go ashore and take a look," Zhao Yun signaled and led the way through the chest-high water, with Su Meng bringing up the rear and Suming, the most cautious, sticking safely in the middle.

The three of them moved slowly through the water, the soft babbling sound echoing in the cave. Ripples radiated around them as they advanced, and the cave echoed with their splashing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The water wasn't deep, but since there were only two beams from their flashlights, the rest of the water looked ominously dark, too calm—as if a creature could leap out at any moment.

Perhaps because of the stagnant water accumulated over many years, and because the cave wasn't well-ventilated, the air was always tinged with a rotting smell, making it very uncomfortable to breathe.

Fortunately, Huiya remained lying lazily on the shore, showing no sign of sensing danger.

The floor beneath the water was sloped, and the closer they moved toward Huiya, the shallower the water became. Before long, the water only reached halfway up the body of Zhao Yun, who was leading, and up to the thighs of Suming.

Just as they were about to reach the shore, suddenly, on the other side of the pool, a faint splash sounded as if something had slipped into the water.

At the same moment, Huiya, which had been lying down, jerked to its feet, its fur bristling on its neck, howling fiercely behind Suming and the others!

The water's surface split unexpectedly to both sides, spraying droplets everywhere, as something seemed to rush rapidly towards them from beneath!

In the blink of an eye, before Suming and his companions could react, the 'thing' underwater had reached Suming, about to collide with his waist!

"Get down!"

With a roar, Su Meng reacted instantly, stretching out his arms, grabbing Suming with one hand, Zhao Yun with the other, and hoisted them high out of the water, before powerfully thrusting them forward.

Experience tales at empire

Suming and Zhao Yun felt themselves flying through the air, then with two splashes, they landed on the shore in agony.

Su Meng was about to charge onto the shore when, taking one step, he was suddenly yanked back as if bitten by something from behind, violently dragged backward, and plunged into the water.

**********

PS: You don't have to worry about the word count for this segment.

Let me explain the update schedule after going live: as always, there will be updates every day at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m., not less than 6,000 words a day. Of course, there will often be more. There's no set rule for bonus updates; I will do my best to write them.

Also, at midnight today, the average subscriptions for this book just broke a thousand!

This is a great encouragement for a newcomer.

Here, I'd like to be honest with everyone. Because I didn't get recommendations for a while, I was a bit distracted while writing, so some of the plotlines were not very satisfying. Starting now, as my backlog is almost depleted, I will treat this book with a more serious attitude and will not let you down!

No more rambling; there will be an extra update today! Two chapters in the morning and two chapters in the evening, 3,000 words each, a total of 12,000 words!

Let's work together, aiming for an average of 1,500 subscriptions next!