''and how the hell did i end up here?''


    zhao tian uttered in his mind looking at the narrow passage he was in, approximately 1400 meters underground.


    he was hemmed in by the stone walls on either side, which felt almost as if they were closing in on him.


    now in this tight space, he can only move forward or backward as the tight stone walls are clutching him from both sides.


    he turned his head to the left and saw the dim light at the end of the passage, but there was a dim light on the right side too.


    ''which side should i go?''


    as he used his astral sense, all he could see was pitch black and he couldn''t sense which side to go.


    his gaze narrowed ''if anything goes down, i can still enter the artifact to escape... so let''s see what''s down here.''


    he decided to go to the left, and since he couldn''t run through the narrow corridor, which was almost crushing from both sides, he decided to teleport.


    as his range is 200 meters, he quickly began to teleport within the narrow space, moving closer to the end of the tunnel.


    *woosh* *woosh*


    he moved swiftly through the passage, each teleportation bringing him closer to the end.


    the passage felt endless, yet with each jump, the dim glow grew brighter. finally, after several teleports, he reached the end of the tunnel.


    a few minutes later he reached the end of the narrow tunnel and what he saw was... dead end.


    -_-


    a sigh escaped his lips and he turned back to look at the right side path.


    *woosh*


    he continued teleporting through the narrow path and finally reached the end of the path, as a bright light flashed his eyes.


    ''but why would anyone abandon an astral mine with a mother stone?''


    as he continued to explore deeper into the cavern, zhao tian''s eyes fell on a row of scattered human skeletons lying along the cave wall.


    bones of various sizes and shapes, clad in the tattered remnants of robes, armor, and weapons, lined the path like silent sentries.


    looking at the bones, his gaze narrowed as he noticed a skeleton lying on the wall with a piece of paper in its hand.


    he crouched down beside the skeleton and took the paper in his hand as he shook it, clearing the dust.


    opening the folded paper, he read through it "i am xiang min, an outer sect disciple of the jade eclipse sect."


    "we found this astral mine with a mother stone, but unexpectedly.. a sudden earthquake happened and closed the path for us to leave the mine."


    "we were stuck here and people here are already fighting each other... without proper food and suffocating air in the underground."


    "i am sure we will die soon..."


    as zhao tian read through the letter, he noticed the dried blood stains on the paper.


    the handwriting was shaky and uneven, as if the writer had fought against exhaustion and pain with every stroke.


    "an earthquake. then, i guess, the narrow path cracked open due to the same earthquake, and i slid in the narrow gap because of that fucking snow landslide while returning to the tent."


    he recalled his own slip into the narrow gap, the way the ground had given way under his feet without warning as he descended the mountain.


    the brutal impact of the snow landslide, as it had hurtled down from above, struck him like a wave, forcing him into the confined space before he could even react.


    "well i could have escaped if only i had properly teleported at that time, and soon the narrow gap was filled with snow and soil from the landslide, making me unable to climb up through the pathway."


    a soft sigh escaped his lips, looking at the skeletons scattered around here and there.


    he stood up, storing the letter back in his ring ''after returning to the sect, i need to report this.''


    ----------------------------------------------


    i hope you guys liked this chapter!