Douluo Continent: Martial Soul Young Gilas, Sandstorm King!

Chapter 25 This rock wall... doesn't seem to have anything special about it?
The collapsed passage, several hundred meters long, did not pose a real obstacle thanks to Eurythmus's almost superhuman digging abilities.

Just five or six minutes later, the boulders and mud that had been blocking the way completely disappeared, and a smooth and stable passage, smoothed by the power of the Younger Ones, was suddenly opened up, connecting to the area that the miners had last excavated before the mining disaster.

However, the opening of the passageway brings more than just a bright future.

As the soil and rubble were cleared and compacted, some pale skeletons buried deep beneath the ruins were exposed to the flickering light of the torches.

Their varied postures silently tell of the despair and struggle that came with the disaster.

Lin Xia stopped in his tracks, staring at the white bones that looked particularly glaring in the orange-red flames. A chill mixed with an indescribable sense of heaviness welled up in his heart, making his throat tighten, and he stood silently in place.

The towering building loomed over the boundary between firelight and shadow.

The smile on his face had vanished, replaced by a deep solemnity and an indelible sorrow.

Lou Gao didn't speak, but silently walked forward, his movements unusually gentle, as if afraid of disturbing the sleeping soul.

He crouched down and carefully picked up the scattered remains, some intact and some broken, piece by piece, solemnly storing them into the inconspicuous storage soul tool at his waist.

Lin Xia looked at Lou Gao's broad back without saying anything, but her mood became even heavier.

After collecting the remains exposed in the passage, Lou Gao slowly stood up, the firelight casting deep and shallow furrows on his face.

After taking a deep breath, seemingly to calm his turbulent emotions, he said in a deep voice:

"Let's go, the road ahead... should be the last stretch. Hopefully... we haven't missed anything."

The sound from the high-rise building was deep and hoarse.

"Yoji! Yoji yoji!"

Just then, the young Gilas, who had been unable to contain itself any longer, let out an urgent and excited cry.

No longer content to stay in place, it waved its little paws vigorously, pointing to the relatively open area at the end of the passage that had not been affected by the collapse. It hopped and skipped ahead, leading the way, while frequently turning back to urge Lin Xia and Lou Gao on. Its ruby-like eyes shone with the burning light of discovering treasure.

Lin Xia immediately understood, suppressed the surging emotions in her heart, and quickly followed Young Gilas, with Lou Gao holding a torch and following closely behind.

At the end of the passage is a relatively spacious branch of the mine. This branch was indeed not directly impacted by the collapse, and the walls are relatively intact. However, the ground is scattered with pickaxes, rotten parts of mine carts, and some weathered remnants of daily necessities.

However, what is even more shocking is that in a corner of the cave wall and in a recessed area, there are three relatively intact skeletons scattered around!
Their huddled posture, the empty water bags scattered around them, and the food scraps that had long since turned to dust all indicated that they had been trapped and died inside the mine.

Lin Xia's heart sank suddenly, and an indescribable feeling of suffocation gripped her throat.

Lin Xia subconsciously looked at Lou Gao with a complicated expression. At this moment, Lin Xia finally understood why Lou Gao had reacted so strongly and spoken so heavily when she proposed the idea of ​​mineral exploration at the dinner table!

This is by no means an exaggeration, but a lesson learned through blood and tears!

Lou Gao's gaze swept over the three skeletons, his facial muscles twitched slightly, and a deeper pain flashed in his eyes.

Lou Gao did not let his emotions show too much. He walked forward silently and solemnly, and as if treating his companions in the passage, he carefully collected the three remains with gentle and solemn movements.

After doing all this, Lou Gao straightened up and let out a long, heavy breath, as if to expel the sorrow that had been building up in his chest.

At this moment, Lou Gao also noticed that Lin Xia was looking at him with a gaze that mixed sympathy, understanding, and inquiry. Lou Gao tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to force a smile, but the smile carried an undisguised weariness and bitterness.

"Boy, what's with that look? Why are you staring at me like that? Do you think I'm about to cry because I'm so upset?"

Lou Gao tried to mask his true feelings with his usual rough tone, but his deep voice betrayed his true state of mind.

"Teacher...I..."

"okay!"

Lou Gao waved his hand, forcefully interrupting Lin Xia's words, as if to dispel the heavy atmosphere.

Then he deliberately raised his voice, speaking in a slightly helpless, gruff tone.

"I've lived most of my life, what storms haven't I weathered? It may be tough, but life goes on, and I still have to teach others! Put away your thoughts, now is not the time to dawdle!"

Lou Gao turned his gaze to Young Gilas, who was excitedly spinning around in front of a rock wall and scratching at the rocks with his little paws, and immediately changed the subject.

"Look at your little glutton, its tail is wagging so hard it's practically falling off! What good thing has it found that's making it so excited?"

Lin Xia's attention was immediately diverted.

Young Gilas was standing against the rock wall on one side of the mine, his small, gray-green body trembling slightly with excitement.

It tilted its little head back, its scarlet eyes fixed on a dark brown rock wall that looked ordinary and no different from the rest of the place. Glistening saliva dripped uncontrollably from the corner of its mouth, and it made urgent "purring" sounds in its throat. Its short tail slapped the ground with a loud thud. Its drooling appearance was several times more exaggerated than when it saw Star Gold, Star Refined Gold and Star Cold Iron before!
"teacher!"

Lin Xia's breathing quickened. He walked quickly to Young Gilas's side and followed the little guy's gaze to the rock wall. But no matter how hard he concentrated, he could not detect any obvious energy fluctuations or anomalies, except for the cold and hard rock.

Lin Xia was filled with doubt and turned to look at the experienced Lou Gao.

"Can you see anything unusual about this rock face? It doesn't seem to be anything special?"

Lou Gao had already gotten close, his expression solemn. He stretched out his calloused, thick fingers and gently tapped the rock wall, listening intently to the dull echo.

Then he carefully rubbed the texture and grain of the rock with his fingertips, and even brought it close to smell it.

Finally, he even took out a small, uniquely patterned mining hammer from his storage soul tool, gently tapped off a few pieces of rock from different locations on the rock wall, carefully examined them in his palm, crushed them, and then smelled them under his nose.

However, after a professional investigation, Lou Gao frowned and shook his head with some confusion and uncertainty.

“Strange… Judging from the echo, texture, pattern, and smell, this is indeed a common associated complex layer, even less fertile than the rocks in the main vein. It shouldn’t be like this…”

But when Lou Gao looked at Young Gilas, who seemed to be longing for him, he couldn't explain the little guy's unusual excitement.

"I can't see anything obviously wrong either, unless..."

"Yoji—!!!"

(End of this chapter)