Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: The Dungeon Entrance

The toad seemed somewhat inconvenienced due to its bulky body, unable to move easily in the cracks, so it did not advance, simply staring silently in Xu Xin’s direction, completely still.

Its two extraordinarily large red eyes bulged out, appearing somewhat creepy.

However, Xu Xin wouldn’t be intimidated by its appearance. Compared to the Lake Giant Python, the Creek Bottom Giant Crocodile, and Blood Pattern Giant, this toad even seemed a bit cute.

”Isn’t this just a target?” Xu Xin thought humorously to herself, aiming the crossbow at the Blood-Striped Toad and pulling the trigger.

The bolt shot swiftly towards the toad, and just when Xu Xin thought one arrow would settle it, a bright red tongue suddenly shot out from the Blood-Striped Toad’s mouth, wrapping around the bolt nearly a meter away and gulping it down!

”Huh?” Xu Xin was a bit stunned, ”This...”

This crossbow was made with Mutated Rabbit Ear, the strongest below violet level, yet it was intercepted so easily?

Could it be that the green-level bolt wasn’t strong enough?

Unwilling to accept defeat, Xu Xin stared at the completely stationary Blood-Striped Toad, loaded a poisoned bolt into the crossbow, and aimed to pull the trigger.

The same scene played out again, with the poisoned bolt similarly being swallowed into the toad’s mouth, and then nothing further happened. The fat toad still motionlessly blocked the corner.

If the snake venom doesn’t enter the bloodstream, it has no effect; ingested, it would be destroyed by digestive juices and not work at all.

It seems the crossbow doesn’t pose much threat to this Blood-Striped Toad.

Speaking of which, that tongue just extended more than a meter—it’s too long!

Wait...toad?

Isn’t this species supposed to live in the water? Where does the water come from in this eerie gap maze?

Could it be an underground river?

Xu Xin squinted contemplating, if he scared away the toad and pursued it, might he be able to escape this maze and find the underground water source?

The mutant creatures here aren’t deeply contaminated; they probably won’t lose sanity and only know how to attack once injured like the previous Mutant Rabbit and Cat, right?

”Toad...” Xu Xin wasn’t very knowledgeable about toads, or rather, bullfrogs, just knowing that they had poor eyesight and only had stereoscopic vision for moving objects, unable to see still objects.

Wild toads eat various flying insects; perhaps that’s why mutant toads have such strong intercepting abilities for flying bolts.

”What if I use a spear?” Xu Xin slowly sheathed her sword, took out her specially made sharp spear from the backpack, and aimed the tip at the toad. Xu Xin’s spear was nearly three meters long, enough to stab the toad before its tongue reached him.

Although the spear couldn’t swing in such narrow cracks, it could certainly be thrust straight forward.

”Keke, stay nicely on my shoulder.” Xu Xin quietly warned Keke, who liked jumping around, and slowly approached the toad sideways.

”Ying.” Keke responded softly, even stopping the tail that was always wagging.

Wearing leather armor, Xu Xin made nearly no noise, yet the toad’s blood-red protruding eyes turned slightly, seemingly noticing Xu Xin’s approach, pushing its bulky body slightly forward.

It noticed his movements; it seemed though the toad had poor eyesight, it possessed night vision. Generally, organisms living underground have degraded sight, but this toad appeared different. Xu Xin didn’t believe such large red eyes were merely for show.

”Moving around here is quite inconvenient.” Xu Xin muttered in dissatisfaction, then abruptly quickened her pace, thrusting the sharp spear fiercely towards the toad!

The Blood-Striped Toad shot its crimson tongue from its mouth the instant the spear moved, aiming to coil around the spearhead.

But Xu Xin’s spear was made from high-grade materials, and based on her assessment, that Blood Pattern Rabbit’s level was higher than the mutant creatures here. Thus, the spear merely faced slight resistance before slicing through the toad’s tongue.

As she wanted the toad to lead the way, Xu Xin subtly redirected the spear tip, forcefully stabbing the toad’s right side, penetrating half a spearhead before stopping.

”Gwaa—!” The Blood-Striped Toad let out a harsh, raspy croak, and Xu Xin withdrew the spear, stabbing its body again.

The toad tried using its injured tongue to block her actions, but it was of no avail. It seemed the tongue was more effective against flying objects; for Xu Xin’s spear, at most, it was a hindrance.

As Xu Xin retracted the spear for a third stab, the Blood-Striped Toad retreated.

It emitted another harsh croak, rapidly shrinking back around the corner.

Sooner or later, fear does set in, unlike the Mutant Rabbit and the cat who lost their senses in an instant!

”This is a good opportunity, let’s follow it!” Xu Xin put the spear back into his backpack, drew his iron sword, and rushed forward.

The spear was too long, holding it in hand would cause it to get stuck at the corners and not pass through.

As he turned the corner, Xu Xin saw the huge toad squeezing into the depths of the crevice, its blood-striped skin rubbing against the uneven walls, which made Xu Xin feel a bit uncomfortable for it.

Due to its size, the toad’s speed wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow either. Since the passage was narrow, Xu Xin had to walk lightly side-stepping to increase his pace, barely staying three or four meters behind the toad.

This distance was fairly safe, after all, its tongue couldn’t stretch so long.

Soon they reached the next fork in the path, Xu Xin followed the Blood-Striped Toad into one of the crevices, of course, he didn’t forget to carve a mark on the wall, just in case the toad couldn’t lead him out.

The Blood-Striped Toad noticed Xu Xin following behind and sped up.

”Damn, why is it moving so fast!” Xu Xin struggled to keep up.

”Yip!” Keke suddenly jumped down from his shoulder, its small body able to move agilely within the crevice. It darted forward and swiped at the back of the toad, then quickly retreated.

The toad was clawed by Keke and turned to shoot its tongue behind, but Keke had already retreated nimbly several meters, escaping the attack. This paused the toad, allowing the lagging Xu Xin to catch up.

”Well done, Keke!” Xu Xin praised fiercely.

”Yip!” Keke chirped with pride.

Thus, with Keke’s harassment, Xu Xin stayed right behind the toad. Wherever the toad went, he followed, traveling for an unknown duration, until gradually, the crevice became wider, and he no longer needed to side-step frequently to pass through.

”Indeed, my thoughts were correct, this toad can lead me out of this underground maze! Keke, come back, there’s no need to continue harassing it.”

Though the toad no longer squeezed between the walls, moving faster, the now freed Xu Xin kept pace with its movements effortlessly without Keke’s help.

”Yip!” Keke responded, climbing back onto Xu Xin’s shoulder.

The road seemed to be the last path, they walked for a long time without encountering any forks, instead, the passage widened even more, gradually resembling a corridor, with increasing height.

The once uneven stone walls around them became smooth, Xu Xin felt as if he entered a man-made passage.

Slowing his pace, he no longer hurriedly chased the fleeing toad ahead, because he could hear the faint sound of flowing water ahead.

This place was so eerie, there might be some mechanism, he couldn’t advance recklessly any longer.

Cautiously proceeding forward, the sound of water flow became more distinct.

”Huh?” Xu Xin squinted, not far ahead something seemed to be emitting a faint bronze light.

Continuing forward, the area suddenly became even more spacious, inducing a feeling of revelation, and the source of the water flow sound appeared.

Indeed it was an underground river, like a waterfall, water flowed out from an opening atop the passage, falling into the riverbed. The underground river was crystal clear, with various fish and shrimp swimming within, accompanied by some subterranean creatures Xu Xin couldn’t name.

The injured Blood-Striped Toad had long disappeared. Not killing this toad was a pity, but it didn’t matter much.

”Since you led the way for me, I’ll spare your life.”

Following the river path, getting closer, Xu Xin saw what was emitting the bronze light.

At the end of the walkable passage in the tunnel, there was a gigantic copper gate.

The underground river veered left past the gate, continuing further, but unless Xu Xin waded through the river, this was as far as he could go.

Standing before the gate, Xu Xin began inspecting the copper door in front of him.

The door was about five meters tall, with a fan-shaped top, a double-leaf design, complete with door rings, truly giving one the sense of a dungeon entrance.

[Congratulations, survivor, for discovering the dungeon entrance! Next, enjoy the thrill of treasure hunting!]