Moments later, Rick burst from the water, wiping his face and gasping for breath. In truth, only three or four minutes had passed since he entered the fissure, but maneuvering through the turbulent current had been exhausting.
After gulping enough air, Rick surveyed his surroundings—and froze in astonishment. He'd expected a rocky underground cavity, but what lay before him was something else entirely: a colossal city buried beneath the earth.
He now stood in its moat—a 30-meter-wide channel winding over ten kilometers around the city's perimeter. The moat's scale alone proved this metropolis, in its prime, had dwarfed any of the Three Cities of the Forest Domain, perhaps even exceeding them combined.
"What a discovery..." Rick whooped, swimming eagerly toward the city. Having left his clothes on the shore above, he climbed out naked—no need to feel awkward in this deserted ruin. Striding up to the towering city wall, he found it dangerously eroded by constant moisture. A light touch sent chunks of pockmarked brick crumbling, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Cough... Must be ancient." Covering his mouth, Rick wandered to the city gate. The architecture here was unlike anything seen today, not even in the oldest illustrated tomes, fueling his curiosity about the city's era and why it lay perfectly buried.
Brushing dust from a square stele at the gate, he saw faded letters relieved at the top, glowing faintly green in the dim light. "Fluorescent paint made from firefly sap?" He sniffed—age had dulled the scent, but something was off. "No, maybe not."
Peering at the weathered letters, he read them aloud: "Tan... Tanzan? Tanzan City!" Rick started. This was the very desert he traversed! Earlier research had mentioned a legend: Tanzan Desert wasn't always a desert—300 years ago, it had been a great city that vanished without a trace, sparking endless speculation.
Rick had dismissed it as folklore—how could a city disappear? But now, witnessing it firsthand, he knew the legend held truth: the city hadn't vanished; it had sunk underground, entombed forever.
"Incredible... I've uncovered a 300-year-old mystery! Hahaha..."
Overcome with joy, Rick continued reading and found that besides the city name at the top of the stele, a detailed city map was also relieved on it.
"Oh, it's enormous. Judging by the map's scale, this city could probably house ten million people—truly huge."
Rick only roughly studied the map; he had no interest in exploring it now. After all, he'd been underground for a while, and Lav and Anna were still above. He didn't want them to worry due to his delay. If it were just him and Moya, the two might have eagerly ventured in by now.
Running his hand over the rotten, uneven stele, he looked back at the ancient city stretching beyond the horizon, a faint smile on his lips. "I'll explore it next time, together with Moya..."
Back on the shore, Rick found his clothes. Noticing the growing dark, he hurried back to the temporary camp by the riverbank.
Entering the thicket, Rick suddenly stopped—the atmosphere felt off. As he scanned his surroundings, a slender jade hand clamped over his mouth from behind, dragging him into the dense bushes.
"*Mmmph!*～～～"
Rick struggled, but an urgent shush reached his ear, followed by Anna's beautiful big eyes.
"What's going on?" Rick mumbled. Though he'd sensed something amiss, he detected no hostility, so he let Anna pull him in—had there been even a hint of threat, Anna's prank would've been met with a sharp blade.
"This isn't a prank." Anna whispered, pointing to Lav behind her, who was fully hidden in the foliage, only her terrified big eyes visible.
If Anna were pranking, Lav would never join in. Then...
Realizing this, Rick's face paled. Holding his breath, he wrote on the ground with his index finger: "What happened?"
"Wolf Pack."
After answering, Anna crawled with him to the edge of the bushes, pointing through the branches to their former campsite.
"Kashin!"
Kashin's signature flowing silver hair made him instantly recognizable. He was leading ** others around the campsite, apparently checking the temperature of the campfire's ashes.
"Looks like they did encounter the sandstorm—otherwise, Kashin would never have so few men with him, and they wouldn't be this bedraggled." Rick scanned the travel-worn group. Turning his gaze elsewhere, he suddenly spotted Balzac perched on a nearby tree—the same Balzac who had nearly killed him.
"Dammit, why is he with them? This is trouble." Rick's face went pale as he carefully retreated deeper into the thicket, lest he be spotted by Balzac, who was on guard in the tree.
"What should we do?" As soon as they returned to their hiding spot, Lav asked fearfully. Having witnessed the Wolf Pack's brutality, she was mortally afraid of them.
"Run. I can't fight so many," Rick replied with a helpless bitter smile.
"Did they follow us here?"
"Probably not. Maybe it's just a coincidence. They must have encountered the sandstorm too and lost many men. They likely found this oasis by chance." Rick inwardly cursed—why did these bastards have such luck? If they'd died in Tanzan Desert, none of this would be happening. Now they were in real trouble.
"What about the ox-horned insect?" Rick suddenly remembered the massive creature that could easily give away their position.
"I hid it behind that acacia thicket." Anna looked at Rick, seeming to guess his plan. After a moment's hesitation, she pleaded, "It's so docile—just lying still among the thorns. Can we—"
"No. We can't take it. It's too big; it'll give us away." Rick refused without hesitation.
Anna had expected this answer. With a sigh, she gently stroked the giant curved horn protruding from the acacia bushes. "What's your plan? Use it to distract the Wolf Pack so we can escape? But where would we go?"
"Nowhere before, but now..." Rick thought of the massive underground city he'd just discovered, a mysterious smile crossing his face.
He gestured for Anna and Lav to come closer, then whispered to Lav, "Can you swim?"
Lav looked away sheepishly, admitting honestly, "No..."
"That complicates things." Rick scratched his head, looking into Lav's eyes. "I'll take you into the water. Just hold your breath—remember, don't let go."
"What are you thinking? Hiding in the lake? That's just waiting to be caught!" Anna hissed in a forced whisper.
"Don't panic. There's a place to hide underwater. Once we're in, they won't find us." Rick pushed Anna. "Go pack what we need. I need to apologize to our big friend."
Rick crawled to the ox-horned insect, leading it out of the acacia thicket. Gazing into its shiny black eyes, he said apologetically, "Sorry, we wanted to take you with us. But your old masters found us. Since we healed your wounds, do us a favor."
Grimacing, Rick pulled a dagger from his pant leg and stabbed the ox-horned insect in the rump..