Chapter 168: Lin Sanjiu likes
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
As the hole in the ground got deeper, Lin Sanjiu’s efforts gradually seemed insufficient. After all, she was just a one-man team with one pair of hands. She needed time to rest. When she stopped to eat and sleep, Green Melon and the others would operate her [Bubbles Blowing Girl], blowing up the ground with some small explosions.
That task wasn’t that easy either. They had to be mindful at all times to avoid blasting any possible survivors in the roots. On top of that, they could only maneuver around walking on the tall makeshift platforms they had planted on the ground. After four days, they saved a few strangers, but they didn’t find a single trace of B.Rabbit and the rest of their companions.
As time passed, the possibility that they were still alive grew smaller and smaller.
“We can’t continue like this… There are too many roots, and they’re too deep. There is no end to this,” Lin Sanjiu commented despondently. She leaned on a large root and slipped to the ground, sitting. She felt physically and emotionally exhausted.
After four days of digging and blasting, this area of almost a kilometer radius had completed changed.
The spot where Lin Sanjiu first started digging was now an entrance which could fit two people. Past the entrance, the path sloped downward steeply.
If someone were to walk down this path for a few hundred meters, the person would suddenly feel as though he or she was in a forest. Perhaps, the word ‘forest’ wasn’t the right description. Until today, no human has coined a term to describe a forest created by large intertwining snake-like roots. Looking up, a network of large roots blocked a large portion of the sky. Thus, the path was always dark. Both sides of the path were covered by roots which had not been destroyed. Each of these roots had the girth of approximately the circumference of ten people in a group hug. They crisscrossed and intertwined. Once they sensed any movement, the ‘walls’ of roots would start vibrating rapidly, sprouting waves after waves of long thin probing roots, eager to engulf any surrounding living creatures.
In such an underground mine-like environment, there was barely any natural light. To solve this, Lin Sanjiu hung her [Ability Polishing Agent] on a slender tree root, letting it serve as a lamp. Though that root was thinner than the rest, its girth was almost her size.
Under the [Ability Polishing Agent]’s dim silvery light, both the huge robot doll and the piece of grey cloud floating mid-air sunk into silence as they faced Lin Sanjiu’s dejection.
“But-but…” Bai Xiaoke hesitated for a while, not knowing if what she was about to say would encourage or discourage Lin Sanjiu, “we really can’t do anything else now…”
The two men sitting on the robot doll’s shoulders exchange glances, also feeling rather disheartened.
“Have you guys ever considered how much effort we use?” Lin Sanjiu suddenly questioned them, “Every day, we can only dig about 100 meters or so in one direction, right?”
The grey cloud shook a little as Xiao Baike nodded.
“Right now, we have only been putting those 100 meters downward, ignoring roots that go in other directions. Well, also because we don’t have the manpower for that.” Perhaps, the few days of repetitive physical activity actually helped Lin Sanjiu clear her mind. Her anxiety over the missing companions gradually ebbed as her rationality slowly took charge again.
“But, what if the roots aren’t transporting their ‘prey’ downward? Three of you were in a life or death situation at that time; it isn’t surprising that you guys might have made a mistake in the direction that you were heading in.” She raised her brow and continued, “Logically speaking, it shouldn’t head downward. Nutrients from the roots are usually transported to the phloem. Even though we don’t see the tree trunks yet, shouldn’t it go upward?”
Her logic made sense, yet Qian Zhengguan felt that something wasn’t quite right. He opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but after hemming and hawing for quite a bit, he couldn’t find the words. In the end, his far-fetched thinking gained the upper hand, and he uttered, “If the tree truck is growing somewhere else, does that mean we have to run around this entire planet?” Now, he was totally stumped.
Green Melon rolled his eyes. Being more quick-witted, he smiled after he thought for a while, “Sister Lin, do you have an idea?”
Lin Sanjiu narrowed her eyes without replying. She tilted her head and looked at all of them. Suddenly, she gestured for Qian Zhengguan, “Come here.”
“Wh-why?” the small-faced young male replied as alarm bells in his head started ringing inexplicably. “Sister Lin, what do you want? I can’t go down.”
The reason was almost sigh-inducing. To launch the explosions while Lin Sanjiu slept, they made quite a few tall makeshift platforms so that they could move around within a certain perimeter.
“Are you coming?” Lin Sanjiu asked bluntly.
Although his answer was a definite “no”, Qian Zhengguan realized that he was slipping from the robot doll. With a fretful expression, he asked cautiously, “Sister Lin, what are you planning?”
“I have a question. How much time do you need to activate your [Great Reversal Technique]… Quick, answer me. I’m waiting. Apart from the requirement regarding ‘Jin Yong’, are there any other prerequisites? Oh god, why are you so slow?”
His sluggish movements could drive anyone mad. In the end, Lin Sanjiu stood up and grabbed him by his collar. Qian Zhengguan did treasure the shirt that Green Melon gave him, so he quickly acknowledged what Lin Sanjiu said and panicked as he stabilized himself on the makeshift platform. After that, he touched his collar and answered, “Umm… The activation time is quite short. Just a thought will do. Other than that ‘Jin Yong’ requirement, the target has to be around my size, and the person or item shouldn’t be too heavy…”
She might be imagining things, but recently, Lin Sanjiu felt that she had grown taller. Standing beside Qian Zhengguan, who was 1.73 meters tall, she seemed almost his height.
[How could I be growing taller at my age? Even if I have evolved, I don’t have a height increment ability…] Lin Sanjiu sneered at herself inwardly and asked, “Is my height alright?”
The young man with a small face looked at her and considered for a second before nodding quickly, “Yes. Tall women are popular now. Look at those mistresses…”
“I’m talking about your [Great Reversal Technique] ability! What are you thinking?”
“Oh oh, yes!”
Lin Sanjiu felt more irritable than usual when she had to deal with a scatterbrained slowcoach like Qian Zhengguan. She massaged her temples and placed one hand on Qian Zhengguan’s back. Then, she instructed softly, “On a count of three, I’ll push you toward that tree root, are you ready?”
“How can I be ready!” Pale-faced, Qian Zhengguan waved his hand randomly around in a panic, “Sister Lin, what exactly are you trying to do?!”
Lin Sanjiu whispered, “Listen, I will stand on this platform. The second you’re completely swallowed by the tree root, you are going to swap places with me.
The idea to let herself be swallowed by those roots sounded too risky so she knew that Bai Xiaoke and Green Melon would never agree with her on doing so. Thus, she never even thought of mentioning it to them. Qian Zhengguan was different. They only got acquainted with each other days ago, and considering his slow and pliable personality, he would probably follow her instructions.
“So, you want to get in there…”
“Yes, as you know, somehow, these tree roots just refuse to pull me in. So, we can’t swap places early. You have to swap the very second their epidermis close…” Lin Sanjiu stared into his eyes, a little nervously. Yet, her tone was resolute, giving him little leeway to refuse.
Their conversation was very soft, so Green Melon could barely hear what they were saying. Bai Xiaoke and Green Melon were still in the dark about the situation. They waited for Lin Sanjiu to say something but they only saw her pushing Qian Zhengguan violently toward a nearby root—
Before both of them could cry out, many thin probing roots flew out from the ground and caught Qian Zhengguan. He let out a shriek before he was sucked into the roots entirely. Everything happened quicker than a blink of an eye.
“Now!” Lin Sanjiu bellowed. His screams came to a spontaneous end before the tough epidermis closed. His vision blurred and Qian Zhengguan gasped. He had swapped places with her. He stood on the platform, grabbing his knees for support.
Green Melon and Bai Xiaoke looked over in a daze, just in time to watch Lin Sanjiu’s shadow disappear into the closing thick white epidermis.
