Meng Huai’s actions were too unusual in the eyes of Hui Xingxiu and Jing Yuancheng, so they couldn’t help but stare at her, afraid something might happen to her.
Fortunately, after two to three hours, Meng Huai opened her eyes. She saw the two of them sitting about two meters away from her and asked, “What are you two doing?”
Hui Xingxiu, upon hearing this, excitedly asked Meng Huai, “And you ask us what we’re doing? What’s wrong with *you*? You scared us to death!”
Meng Huai stood up, patted the dust off her back, and casually said, “Nothing, just resting.”
Hui Xingxiu and Jing Yuancheng were still sitting on the ground. Hui Xingxiu directly imitated Meng Huai’s posture, cross-legged, though not quite managing it, and placed his palms on his knees, saying, “You rest like this?”
Meng Huai raised an eyebrow and casually replied, “Yes, do you have a problem with that?”
Hui Xingxiu shook his head and said, “No problem, as long as you’re alright. Then hurry up and help me see if this ore is useful.”
Meng Huai followed Hui Xingxiu to where he had been excavating, pondering what had just happened to her.
She had sat down cross-legged to cultivate. Suddenly, she felt a surge of immense mental power directed towards her. Meng Huai disregarded the situation around her and immediately entered a state of cultivation to absorb this mental power.
After absorbing this mental power, Meng Huai’s strength increased again.
In fact, her strength had been stagnant for a long time; it was difficult to advance further once a certain realm was reached. This pure mental power allowed her long-dormant strength to increase. Although not by much, it was an unexpected joy.
Meng Huai mused about the source of this pure mental power but couldn’t figure it out. She didn’t realize it was the collective prayers of many people who were concerned for her safety.
Such earnest prayers could indeed aid cultivation in Meng Huai’s original world. Therefore, some sects would absorb a large number of followers to help with their cultivation.
However, such a cultivation method was still too difficult because the human heart is the most unpredictable thing. Relying solely on this for cultivation would lead down a narrow path, so this method of cultivation was not common.
Since Meng Huai couldn’t ascertain the source of this mental power, and it wasn’t a bad thing, she decided not to dwell on it.
However, over the past few days, this mental power had become increasingly pure and abundant, causing Meng Huai’s ‘resting’ time to become longer and longer.
After a few days, Hui Xingxiu and Jing Yuancheng were convinced that Meng Huai would not have any problems due to her unique resting method, so they stopped worrying about her.
With the start of the military academy league, more and more people were discussing it. Consequently, the mental power continued to increase, and Meng Huai kept absorbing it.
Meng Huai reaped considerable benefits from this unexpected event, while Jing Yuancheng and Hui Xingxiu also obtained quite a few rare ores during their excavation.
“With these, we won’t have to worry about materials!” Hui Xingxiu exclaimed, digging out another large piece.
Jing Yuancheng, however, said, “Not all materials are ores, and these things might not be of much help. But what about the Green Jadeite? I wonder how it’s doing?”
“Could Zheng Yiran and Rong Feiwen have taken it all for themselves?”
Meng Huai, after finishing her cultivation, heard this statement. She walked behind Hui Xingxiu and firmly smacked the back of his head, “What are you thinking!”
“Exactly!” Jing Yuancheng chimed in.
How could they possibly have taken it all! They probably felt heartbroken, perhaps even thinking they were dead!
With that thought, Jing Yuancheng asked Meng Huai, “When can we get out of here?”
Due to the mental power, Meng Huai finally used her divination method.
She sat on the ground, spread a cloth, and then took out her divination tools. The coins rattled in the turtle shell, making a sharp sound.
Hui Xingxiu and Jing Yuancheng had only heard of this divination method before. After all, Meng Huai only performed this divination once a month. They had never managed to get a spot, so they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.
Now, having the opportunity to witness it, the two of them sat opposite the spread cloth, watching Meng Huai close her eyes and shake the divination tools.
The crackling sounds were especially noticeable in the empty mine cave, and the two of them involuntarily held their breath. After Meng Huai shook the shell six times, she placed the turtle shell and coins aside. Thinking about the hexagrams she had just cast, she calculated when they would be able to get out.
After a moment, Meng Huai knew which direction they should excavate to get out faster.
So, she pointed out the direction, and the three of them worked diligently.
On the other side, the rescue team was indeed much better than the previous one. That day, they finally dug down to the bottom.
It was precisely where Meng Huai and the others had landed. However, the area was buried, and the place where they had hidden was not visible. But since it wasn't visible here, they could continue excavating.
It was evident that Gao Fei had judged that the place they were digging at had reached the bottom, so he ordered his subordinates, “Excavate all around. Stop digging downwards for now.”
Hearing Gao Fei’s words, Xie You approached him and asked, “Have you found anything?”
Gao Fei told Xie You, “Your Highness, it’s like this. Based on the conditions here, I’ve judged that this is the deepest point of the earthquake collapse. However, we haven’t found those three students here, so they might have hidden somewhere else.”
Gao Fei continued, “Since there are mine tunnels everywhere, they might have fallen into one. In that case, the students might actually be in a better situation.”
Xie You’s heart, which had been tense for the past few days, eased slightly upon hearing Gao Fei’s words.
So, Xie You said, “Then let’s continue digging.”
At this moment, the people here held onto hope even more tightly, filled with anticipation. An hour later, a team member made a discovery.
“Captain! We found something over here.”
Unlike the previous rescue team members who shouted excitedly about a discovery only to find a camera, this time, Gao Fei’s team member informed Gao Fei and the others, “There’s a mine tunnel here, and it’s very well-preserved.”
Gao Fei came over, and Xie You also walked over. After Gao Fei examined it, he told Xie You, “It seems these students are really alright. Judging by the traces here, it’s recent excavation. Could these students be trying to dig their way out themselves?”
As Gao Fei made this deduction, Xie You also said, “Then let’s follow the path and see!”
Just as Xie You said this, he heard a voice from above: “Is there anyone down there?”
Because over the past few days, the excavation had reached a considerable depth from the original ground level. Therefore, the sound they heard was distant and hollow, still echoing.