Chapter 57: Down the River
Just as Chu Jiu felt like he was about to turn into stone, the system’s notification sound rang.
Whether it was his imagination or not, the usually calm and unwavering system voice even carried a hint of awkwardness.
[Cough, congratulations, Host, on obtaining the hidden rare item: “Blessed Statue.”]
[Blessed Statue: A statue personally carved by the dwarf beastman tribe with heartfelt gratitude! Place the statue in a place where people come and go, and receive blessings from everyone. Perhaps the subject depicted in the statue will also receive mysterious protection? Note: This statue cannot be stored in your backpack.]
…Mysterious protection, huh.
Hopefully, it’s the kind of protection that will actually be useful.
At this moment, Chu Jiu was very clear that the little squirrels had sincerely created such a statue. Even if his heart was exploding, he could only grit his teeth and say:
“Thank you, it’s very good, very special…”
“Why do I have tears in my eyes? That’s of course because I’m too touched.”
*
Chu Jiu arrived at the underground river again.
He first went to the pond to check on the hippopotamus:
According to the ribbon-wearing little squirrel, the hippopotamus loved its new home.
It spent most of its time soaking in the pond, and at fixed times every day, it would climb ashore to bury its head in eating grass and lie on the pebble chairs for a massage. Sometimes, it would even carry the little squirrels for a couple of laps in the river.
And the little squirrels who had taken the “Hippo Brand Cruise” didn’t forget to give the hippopotamus a “cupping therapy service” as a thank you after getting off the boat, making the hippopotamus feel extremely comfortable.
In short, this monster that had once blocked the water inlet was now healthy and happy, and presumably wouldn’t cause any more water cut-off incidents.
Chu Jiu was relieved.
He held a torch and searched along the shore, preparing to choose a suitable place to enter the water.
As he walked, Little Can, sitting on his shoulder, leaned close to his cheek and whispered something.
Chu Jiu raised an eyebrow, smiled wryly, and said nothing.
After walking a bit further, Chu Jiu suddenly stopped and turned around—
“Squeak!”
“Squeak squeak!”
“Squeak squeak squeak!”
Three little squirrels who had been following silently behind him bumped into each other one after another, falling to the ground in a fluffy pile.
Chu Jiu sighed: “Why did you guys follow?”
These three little ones were, of course, the Axe, Shovel, and Pickaxe brothers.
The little squirrels sat up, rubbing their sore little ears and big tails:
“Friend!”
“Adventure!”
“We, help!”
Seeing that Chu Jiu didn’t respond immediately, the three little ones became a little anxious:
“Underground river, dangerous!”
“Have stones, stone caves! We, understand stones, dig holes very well!”
The axe squirrel, fearing that Chu Jiu wouldn’t believe him, even pointed at Little Can: “You ask him! He’s seen it!”
Little Can: …?
When have I ever seen you dig holes?
Chu Jiu didn’t pay attention to this small detail.
He was considering the three little ones’ request.
He knew that these three little ones were saying: We want to help! There will be many caves in the underground river area, and we are very familiar with rocks and caves, we can definitely help!
Chu Jiu knew that what they said was true, but he was still a little hesitant.
Because the blacksmith squirrel had once said that according to the dwarf beastmen’s age, these three little ones were still cubs…
This trip wasn’t a leisurely sightseeing and material-gathering outing. According to Eric’s records back then, their safe return was largely due to his good luck.
Who could guarantee that he would have such luck on this trip?
What’s more, he planned to go further than Eric and his companions, to the depths they hadn’t reached.
Just as he was thinking about persuading the three little ones to go back, Chu Jiu heard a soft cough.
Turning his head, he saw the white-eared Mr. Blacksmith.
The blacksmith squirrel had probably seen what Chu Jiu was hesitating about. He pointed at the three little ones, then at himself:
“Experience.”
“They, yearn.”
“I once, also like that.”
The three little ones looked at Chu Jiu expectantly: “We, not make trouble! We, very good!”
The yearning of youth…
Chu Jiu pondered for a moment, then finally sighed: “Alright. Then I’ll add three more berths to the raft.”
The three little ones didn’t understand this uniquely human way of expressing agreement indirectly. They didn’t know if Chu Jiu was agreeing or disagreeing.
It wasn’t until Rawr Rawr Rabbit poked its head out and roared excitedly a few times, and Little Can also nodded slightly, that they were certain: Oh yeah! We can get on the boat! We can go on an adventure!
*
Chu Jiu finally found a relatively wide and flat spot suitable for pushing the raft into the water.
He clicked on [Quick Crafting] and, according to the special recipe he had modified with Gluglu, combined the materials to create a [Raft Suitable for Drifting in the Underground River].
This “raft” was made by drying the strongest bamboo and wood to remove moisture, bending and shaping it by fire, and finally binding it with leather ropes.
The raft was generally square, with an area of about 12 square meters. It had a bamboo railing, brackets for inserting torches and for the little cat to climb, and a simple cabin woven from bamboo leaves and branches, which could block the wind, provide warmth, and was convenient for sitting, lying down, and resting.
Inside the cabin, in addition to hooks for hanging hammocks, a simple stove for making fire was specially reserved—the underground river was humid, cold, and dark, and the long absence of firelight and warmth could lead to depression and fatigue.
When Chu Jiu said earlier that he would “add three more berths to the raft,” it wasn’t just a figure of speech. When he used [Master of Details] to determine the internal structure of the cabin, he hadn’t considered that the three little squirrels would also be going. Therefore, he temporarily added a few more hammock hooks to the recipe to ensure that the little squirrels had a place to put their sleeping bags at night.
In about 10 minutes, a well-equipped, sturdy, and lightweight raft appeared on the bank of the underground river.
Having witnessed Chu Jiu using his spiritual power to create a large object for the first time, the three little squirrels’ eyes were wide, their tails weren’t even wagging, and they just looked up with their mouths open, only able to express their amazement with a “wow…”
And Rawr Rawr Rabbit, who was already used to such sights, unconsciously revealed an expression of “Roar roar roar, you little guys who haven’t seen anything, our Chu Jiu is amazing, roar roar roar!”; Little Can, although not as obvious, also had a “hmph, hmph hmph” look in its eyes.
Strangely enough, although these two little spirit beasts couldn’t communicate with the dwarf beastmen in words, the dwarf beastmen could basically understand what they wanted to express.
It was precisely because of this that, seeing these two inexplicably smug spirit beasts, Chu Jiu was a bit amused and helpless, patting one’s head and tugging the other’s tail: “Alright, you’re the ‘seniors,’ you can’t be so obvious!”
With everything prepared, Chu Jiu pushed the raft into the water, sent the three little squirrels onto it, and then, with a final jump, gently pushed off the riverbed with the bamboo pole in his hand, officially starting this underground river journey.
The raft drifted downstream.
This initial stretch of the waterway was spacious and the current was gentle.
Under the light of the torches, most of the banks were smooth large stones, without any jagged rocks, so there was no need to worry about the raft suddenly hitting a reef.
If you looked closely, you could occasionally see one or two small stone-built shacks on the shore—it was said that these were temporary resting places for the dwarf beastmen who used to come to the underground river to mine.
And the rock caves above had high-hanging ceilings, with specks of ghostly blue reflections mixed in the deep black rock, just like stars scattered in the night sky.
The little squirrels stood at the bow, excitedly pointing at the cave ceiling: “Star stones! Good stones!”
These star stones weren’t particularly hard minerals, but they had a very peculiar refractive index. As long as there was a little bit of light nearby, they could reflect enough brightness to illuminate. The stones Chu Jiu had seen in the underground passage, used to enhance the passage’s brightness, were made by the dwarf beastmen by polishing these star stones.
Or they would point to the shore in surprise: “Clear water stones! Good stones!”
These clear water stones naturally had a special internal structure even finer than a honeycomb. Even muddy river water could become crystal clear after being “filtered” by these stones. For the dwarf beastmen, who weren’t very good at using charcoal to precipitate impurities, this was undoubtedly the best water purification equipment.
Unfortunately, clear water stones were very fragile. Once mined and broken, they would lose this magical effect. Therefore, even the dwarf beastmen who were best at digging stones couldn’t mine these stones to carry with them. They could only collect clean water in places where there were both clear water stones and a water source.
So, even though Chu Jiu wished he could stop the raft and pluck a couple of these stones to put in his backpack, he could only think about it.
Just as he was secretly regretting this, he suddenly heard Little Can say softly, “The little squirrels are acting strange.”
Only then did Chu Jiu realize that the three little squirrels, who had been making a racket a moment ago, had been quiet for quite a while.
Turning his head, he saw:
The three little ones who had been standing at the bow, excitedly, were now one hugging the torch stand, one holding onto the railing, and one simply lying flat on the raft.
Each little squirrel was groaning weakly:
“So… dizzy…”
“Feel like throwing up…”
“Ugh ugh…”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit jumped out of Chu Jiu’s backpack, touched the foreheads of the three little ones, and said anxiously, “Roar roar roar, are they sick?”
Chu Jiu squatted down and looked at them carefully, shaking his head: “Not sick. They’re… seasick.”
Thinking about it, it wasn’t strange.
For the little squirrels who had always lived on land and mined in caves, this was their first time on a boat, their first time standing on the water.
Fortunately, Chu Jiu wasn’t completely unprepared.
He took out [Sachets made with the juice of Sawtooth Lemongrass] from his backpack and hung one around the neck of each of the three little ones.
[Sawtooth Lemongrass] was something Chu Jiu had casually collected while fishing on the banks of the [River of the Past].
The edges of this lemongrass’s leaves were literally “sawtooth,” making it no problem to saw through wood, bones, and even metals that weren’t hard enough.
If Chu Jiu hadn’t asked the blacksmith squirrel to forge a special machete using [Shieldskin Fish bone plates] before, he wouldn’t have been able to collect this material at all.
Cutting the lemongrass with the special machete, removing the hard outer shell, and then repeatedly rubbing the tender inner core would yield the uniquely fragrant [Lemongrass Juice].
Chu Jiu had initially wanted to use this juice to make some mosquito repellent—
In Southeast Asia on Earth, some people would use this lemongrass essential oil to repel mosquitoes.
But after obtaining the finished product, the system prompted him: [Just a little bit of the juice can refresh the body and mind, and eliminate various discomfort symptoms caused by factors such as motion sickness].
Wasn’t this typical motion sickness medicine? Considering the upcoming journey, Chu Jiu simply made a few extra sachets.
He didn’t expect they would actually come in handy.
After hanging the sachets, the three little ones gradually stopped complaining about dizziness, but they were still listless.
So Chu Jiu went to the cabin ahead of time to hang up the small hammocks, then lit charcoal to start a fire in the stove, letting the three little ones lie down and rest properly.
The axe squirrel huddled in its little sleeping bag, groaning dejectedly: “We, wanted to help, but, caused trouble.”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit squatted beside them, shaking its ears and saying, “Roar roar roar, it’s okay, you won’t be dizzy once you get used to it, don’t worry, just get a good sleep and you’ll be fine.”
The little squirrels seemed to understand, hugged their big tails, and fell asleep with heavy breathing.
Seeing that they should be alright, Chu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief and asked the two spirit beasts, “You guys aren’t seasick, are you?”
Little Can: “Meow.”
Rawr Rawr Rabbit: “Roar roar roar, how could we be seasick? Speaking of which, the Starship Legion’s earliest training was conducted at sea. We wouldn’t get seasick from such wind and waves and ship speed, roar roar roar roar.”
Chu Jiu: “Good that you’re not seasick. Hmm? What did you just say, Rawr Rawr Rabbit?”
Starship… Legion?
Did I hear wrong?
After Rawr Rawr Rabbit finished this long string of words non-stop, it was also confused, scratching its face with its paw: “Roar? I think I just said we weren’t dizzy, I don’t remember anything else…”
At this moment, Little Can’s back suddenly arched: “Something’s outside!”
As soon as the words fell, Little Can shot out like an arrow!
Immediately afterward, Chu Jiu only heard a few whooshing sounds from above, and the next second a dark “rag” fell onto the raft.
Chu Jiu walked towards the “rag,” and the system popped up an illustrated card:
[Hallucinating Ghost-faced Bat: A giant bat with a wingspan of up to 5 meters. Its wings are covered with a very strong membrane tissue. Perhaps such wings have other uses? However, is it really worth hunting this bat for its wings? It’s very ferocious. The ghost-faced bat’s favorite food is the fresh blood of animals. Its upper jaw has curved incisors that are extremely sharp and can quickly cut deep incisions on the surface of its prey without the prey feeling anything. At the same time, its saliva also contains a special anesthetic substance that can make the prey feel strange pleasure while being sucked. It is said that some prey, in order to experience this pleasure, do not hesitate to actively expose their necks for the ghost-faced bat to suck their blood until they are finally sucked into dried corpses. Appears in: Dark caves]
In Eric’s ?Underground River Adventure?, there was a page that depicted a “vampire bat more terrifying than a demon.” Erica and Little Iron back then had laid flat at the bottom of their dugout canoe, completely covering their bodies with a tent cloth made of animal hide, and that’s how they avoided the bat’s attack. When Chu Jiu read this passage, he decided that if he encountered such a bat head-on, he would just use the [Bug Catching Net] to deal with it.
Unexpectedly, before he could even take out the bug-catching net, or even notice the bat approaching, Little Can had already dealt with it!
Chu Jiu praised Little Can, squatted down to cut the “rag,” and collected [Sturdy Giant Bat Wings].
Little Can watched Chu Jiu’s movements from the side and asked, “This wing… useful?”
Chu Jiu replied:
“Yes, very useful.”
“It’s thicker than our existing linen and has better extensibility than ordinary leather—if we go to sea to build a large ship in the future, we can make it into sails.”
Little Can: “Then, more?”
Chu Jiu: “Huh?”
Before Chu Jiu could react, Little Can “swooshed” and leaped up again!
The sound of wind whooshing echoed in the darkness again.
About three minutes later, a thick pile of “rags” accumulated on the raft.
Little Can: “Can’t find any more.”
“There are no more of these bats in this area.”
“They all seem to have hidden.”
Chu Jiu: “…”
These “vampire bats more terrifying than a demon” were all scared away by Little Can.
While diligently collecting, Chu Jiu curiously asked, “Little Can, has your hunting skill improved again?” “I could barely see your movements before, but now I can only hear the whooshing sound.”
Little Can: “…Maybe it’s just too dark here.”
Chu Jiu: “Oh.”
That made sense too.
Chu Jiu didn’t take it to heart and continued to sort out the bat wings.
And Little Can stood on the nearby bracket with all four paws together, thinking seriously:
Still not fast enough. Still need to keep practicing.
Chu Jiu didn’t know that in the past few nights, this little cat would sneak into the forest while he was asleep and repeatedly practice “scratch.”
The little cat had already made up its mind that even if it only knew “scratch,” it would turn this “scratch” into a super move that could terrify its enemies!
The raft drifted down the underground river for three consecutive days.
By the second day, the three little squirrels had adapted to life on the boat and were bouncing around again.
Unfortunately, at this stage, the underground caves had become increasingly narrow and cramped, the water flow increasingly rapid, the cave ceiling no longer had those illuminating star stones, and there were no new and interesting minerals around.
The “cave wonders,” which had initially held a bit of charm, gradually became eerie and terrifying.
According to ?Underground River Adventure?, the vast majority of dwarf beastmen would not continue drifting at this point but would choose to turn back.
Even the dwarf beastmen who were accustomed to underground city life would feel uneasy and oppressed in such an environment for a long time.
Eric and his companions had also originally wanted to turn back, but they were forced to continue forward because they encountered a strong undertow on their return journey.
Eric said in ?Adventure?, “There was only the sound of water all around, and it was cold everywhere,” “We were very scared at the time,” “So Little Iron and I sang loudly so we wouldn’t be afraid.”
Now, on Chu Jiu’s raft…
It was quite lively.
Torches were lit on the boat, a stove was burning in the cabin, chestnuts were roasting in the stove, and fish and shrimp were grilling on top.
There were no minerals for the three little squirrels to identify, so they simply sat together and taught Rawr Rawr Rabbit to play chess with chestnut shells and small pebbles.
Although the little squirrels were all “veterans,” Rawr Rawr Rabbit learned quickly and had unknowingly won several times.
The more it won, the more smug Rawr Rawr Rabbit became, its small woolly tail bobbing back and forth non-stop.
The three little squirrels, on the other hand, were tugging at their ears in confusion, not understanding how they had lost again.
And Little Can either stood on the bracket or perched on the roof of the cabin, surveying the surroundings.
Fortunately, apart from the [Hallucinating Ghost-faced Bat] on the first day, no more aggressive monsters appeared afterward, only some small, terrifying-looking but actually harmless shadowy creatures.
These nightmarish things all became extra meals on the raft ark.
For example, [Long-tailed Short-snouted Lizards], skinned and cut into pieces, could be pan-fried or grilled, and tasted no different from top-quality pork ribs.
Another example was the [Croaking Skinless Frog], which had no skin to begin with. After washing and cutting, its meat was delicate and delicious. Rawr Rawr Rabbit could eat a large basin of it in one go.
Finally, the fifth day arrived.
From this day on, the speed of the water flow noticeably increased.
By the seventh day, according to the speed and force of the river, it was impossible to row back upstream by human power.
Small, rapidly rotating whirlpools could be seen on both sides of the raft, with waves rising and falling.
The water slapped against the rocks on both sides, crashed against the surrounding rock walls, water mist splashed everywhere, and water columns shot out from the cracks.
At this time, the underground cave had narrowed to about the width of a subway tunnel, the sound of water roared all around, and the raft pitched up and down in the rapids, sometimes leaping high and sometimes falling sharply.
Chu Jiu instructed the three little squirrels to return to the cabin and fasten their “safety ropes,” while he stood up and began to make preparations.
Without waiting for his instructions, Little Can and Rawr Rawr Rabbit had already swiftly darted to the raft’s railings, as they had practiced before, and tied several [Wind Breath Fruits] to the railings one after another.
Chu Jiu stared at the rapidly changing scenery around him, firmly remembering the landmark boulder mentioned in ?Adventure?. When he saw the boulder, he waved his hand: Inflate!
Little Can and Rawr Rawr Rabbit then pressed the [Bamboo Inflation Cylinder] at an astonishing speed, causing the [Wind Breath Fruits] to expand rapidly!
While holding onto the [Wind Breath Fruits], Chu Jiu glanced at the rapidly receding rocks and silently counted, “9, 8, 7…”
When he counted to “0,” the sound of the surrounding water had become a deafening roar. The rapids pushed the raft forward irresistibly, then roared as it plunged into the abyss!
The three little squirrels inside the cabin, although they couldn’t see what was happening outside, the sudden feeling of weightlessness and falling made them instinctively hug each other and scream with all their might!
But as they trembled, they discovered…
The raft had become steady again?
The little squirrels cautiously poked their heads out and looked around by the light of the [Cold Light Torch]: The raft… was floating in the air?
Surrounding them were unfathomable cliffs, pitch-black darkness, and earth-shattering roars.
In this chilling darkness, the raft swayed gently, slowly and steadily descending.
Chu Jiu leaned against the railing, let out a long breath, and smiled at Little Can and Rawr Rawr Rabbit, “Beautiful.”
The several times they had practiced before hadn’t been in vain.
Back in Bean Village, Chu Jiu had learned from ?Adventure? that at the end of the underground river, the flowing water would turn into a waterfall, crashing down from a cliff.
Eric and his companions had fallen while screaming and were lucky enough to land on the head of a giant beast.
Chu Jiu didn’t think he would also happen to land on a giant beast’s head.
So, he had calculated the time, prepared the pipes for inflating the [Wind Breath Fruits] in advance, and then timed it perfectly to make the raft “take off.”
The reason for the precise timing was that the tunnel was too narrow, which would cause the raft to get stuck and unable to move.
Chu Jiu had confirmed and repeatedly practiced every step of this operation with Little Can, including when to start inflating, when to make the raft float, and how many Wind Breath Fruits were needed.
Now it seemed that all that practice had really paid off.
The Wind Breath Fruits began to slowly deflate. The raft drifted for a long time before finally landing heavily on the water.
The deafening roar from before was gone, so they must have been some distance away from the waterfall now.
Chu Jiu lit the torch again, stood up, and looked around.
This place looked like a calm pool.
Wait, it didn’t seem that calm either.
For example, right in front of the raft, the water surface visibly rippled!
Little Can roared and directly stood in front of Chu Jiu.
Rawr Rawr Rabbit followed closely behind with wide eyes.
The ripples were getting closer!
Something—some enormous creature—emerged from within!
That was…
Hmm? Eh?
Chu Jiu first subconsciously tightened his grip on the torch, and then involuntarily widened his mouth.
The little squirrels huddled together behind Chu Jiu: “What… is that?”
Chu Jiu stared at the round, large head, the wrinkled skin, and the long neck in front of him, and said with difficulty:
“This…”
“In our place, we call this… a ‘dinosaur’.”
Thank you for the chapter