"This..."
Upon hearing Yue Yan's words, Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying's expressions turned serious.
They all considered the possibility that the eighth-tier advanced zombie might have been human once, and was likely connected to Ta Xing City. Those who released it might have intended to use the zombie to locate Ta Xing City.
"Big brother, what do we do next?"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao asked a crucial question.
"Qiao Ying, throw the eighth-tier advanced zombie's corpse far away. It might mislead anyone or any monster tracking us!"
"Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, let's have one of us observe the surroundings, and the other two speed up the digging. How about that?" Yue Yan suggested after a moment of thought.
"Alright!"
Ye Feng nodded. A gleam of light flashed in his hand as he tossed a small bottle to Qiao Ying. "This is environmental concealment potion. Spray it when the time comes."
"Okay!"
Qiao Ying didn't delay. She sprayed the environmental concealment potion on the eighth-tier advanced zombie's corpse on the ground, then lifted it and flew rapidly towards the distance.
Immediately, Ye Feng looked at Yue Yan, who was picking up a shovel. "Yue Yan, you stay on guard up here. Xiao Xiao and I will go dig."
"Okay!~"
Yue Yan blushed slightly and agreed, after all, the holes she had dug before were somewhat...
...
Deep in the night,
Around three hundred meters underground,
"Big brother... are we looking in the wrong place?... We've already dug so many different tunnels... and they're all very deep... Haven't found anything..."
A sweating Xiao Xiao looked at Ye Feng with a puzzled expression.
Beside Xiao Xiao, Yue Yan, also sweating, frowned.
"Let's go up and rest for a bit. Because of that eighth-tier advanced zombie... we've all become too anxious!" Ye Feng sighed softly and said.
"Okay!~"
...
Soon,
Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, and Yue Yan returned to the surface camp and began to drink water and eat.
Fearing that someone might be following them, they did not start a fire to cook. Instead, they drank water from their thermoses and ate dried meat, bread, and fruits by moonlight.
After a satisfying meal, the four of them did not continue digging. Instead, they rested and observed their surroundings.
"This primitive forest is truly vast..."
Standing on high ground and looking at the dark green expanse ahead, where the sounds of insects and birds could occasionally be heard, Ye Feng muttered to himself.
"Sister Yue Yan... do you think... the mark on this map... might represent a clock...?"
At this moment, Xiao Xiao's voice sounded. Yue Yan and Qiao Ying, who were looking at the Starfall City map beside her, looked puzzled.
"A clock?"
Yue Yan frowned slightly. "Why do you say that?"
"I touched it by accident just now... This spot on the Ta Xing City map looks like an ordinary scratch, but it actually seems to have three marks... with different depths... It's a bit like the hour, minute, and second hands of a clock!" Saying this, Xiao Xiao pointed to a location on the map.
"Indeed..."
Yue Yan reached out and touched it, and was somewhat surprised. "This location is exactly where Ta Xing City is marked. Before, we only focused on Ta Xing City and overlooked this scratch..."
"If this gray scratch is not from the struggle over the Ta Xing City map, but is truly a clock... then what does it represent?" Ye Feng walked over and asked.
"Maybe it's stars!" Qiao Ying chimed in.
"I... I was just guessing~" In the gaze of Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Yue Yan, Qiao Ying pointed to the sky in the distance. "I just noticed that the stars change with time..."
"A clock... generally refers to time, right?... When the hour, minute, and second hands overlap on a clock and point upwards... it represents twelve noon... or midnight..." Xiao Xiao looked at the watch on her left wrist and guessed.
"Let's wait and see!" Ye Feng made a decision. The three women nodded in agreement, as blindly digging in such a large area was obviously not suitable.
...
Not long after, midnight arrived.
"Big brother, look, the starlight in that area seems to be brighter!" Saying this, Xiao Xiao excitedly pointed to a direction in the distance.
"Let's go take a look!" Ye Feng's expression was quite excited.
"Wait a moment!" Yue Yan pointed to the deep holes they had dug, some near and some far. "Xiao Xiao's guess is likely correct. If we really find the ruins of Ta Xing City, it won't be appropriate to leave people outside. If the Dark Saint Cult or the Gods pursue us, it would be better to set up some traps in those tunnels to serve as alarms!"
"Okay!" Ye Feng nodded. A flash of light appeared in his hand, and large boxes of grenades, landmines, and the like appeared on the ground. The four of them acted quickly, and soon traps were set up in all the dug tunnels.
"Let's go!"
...
Soon, the four of them arrived at the area that seemed like a convergence of starlight. Ye Feng randomly found a spot, and a gleam of light flashed in his hand. His Tang blade appeared, and he swiftly dug downwards. Perhaps it was because he often used his Tang blade to dig various holes before, Ye Feng's digging speed was very fast. In a short while, he had gone more than a hundred meters underground.
"There's concrete construction, and rebar!" Not long after, Xiao Xiao, who was waiting on the surface, heard Ye Feng's voice through the walkie-talkie.
"Go!" After nodding, Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, and Yue Yan jumped into the hole Ye Feng had dug.
"Plop~"
"Pat, pat!~" Within a few breaths, Xiao Xiao, Qiao Ying, and Yue Yan landed underground, in a relatively large space dug out by Ye Feng.
"Is this the roof?" Yue Yan looked around and was somewhat surprised. "It's just as we speculated before, Ta Xing City is covered by other terrain..."
"Xiao Xiao, Yue Yan, Qiao Ying, let's keep digging around!"
"Okay!~" As Ye Feng's voice fell, the three women held their shovels, channeling either arcane energy or angelic power, and began to dig.
...
"Everyone, stop!" After a while, Ye Feng spoke to the three women.
"Big brother, what's wrong?" Xiao Xiao wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to look at Ye Feng with a puzzled expression, as she noticed Ye Feng was observing a large cement lump with exposed rebar using a flashlight.
"Combat-grade quick-drying cement... This place should be the outskirts of Ta Xing City that Senior Shen mentioned before," Saying this, Ye Feng stood up and shone his flashlight around at the large and small cement lumps. "According to Senior Shen, entering the inner city from the outskirts of Ta Xing City requires a special method... it's not something you can just walk into. It might be a teleportation array. Everyone look for arcane runes or something similar..."
"Okay!"
...