Chapter 23: Chapter 23 – Cave

Shi didn't have time to rest on the ground for long since she wasn't sure if the ground she stood on would collapse like the other parts of the ceiling. She needed to move quickly, at least out of the area she was on. 

Standing up, she looked around for the first time she got up here, noticing she wasn't on the surface like she believed she would be.

Shi was in yet another cave— thankfully, this one wasn't like the ruins she had fallen into before. This one was naturally forming, at least as far as she could tell. It was a small roundish cave tunnel; Shi could barely stand up straight in it with her height of 5'7, which goes to show just how small it was. 

The walls were made out of dirt and stone— perfectly packed together in such a way that they wouldn't easily cave in. It was a wonder to Shi how amazing nature was in forming such structures naturally without any effort at all. Truly wondrous. 

The cave didn't have much of a design to it not— that she expected it to have any. The only noticeable thing in the cave was how flourishing it was. The cave's walls were littered with plants of all kinds— the most notable being a semi-translucent type of mushroom that glowed with a faint hue. 

'So that's why it looked like daylight.' Shi thought to herself as she observed how well they lit the room up. Their colors may be different, but with enough of them— the colors simply intertwine and make one bright light. 

While she was disappointed that this wasn't the surface, it was still better than a random ruin— that was falling apart. 'Don't they say that if there are plants there is a way out? I mean, oxygen has to get in somehow, right?' Shi thought to herself as she quickly moved down the only available pathway of the tunnel.

She may have been mesmerized by the mushrooms and interested in seeing what each of these plants were— but her main concern at that moment was getting away from the area she came up from. 

The pathway was straight, with little turns to it as far as she could see. She had been walking for around 20 minutes like this when she finally came up to a fork in the tunnel. 

'One left and one right.' She muttered to herself as she looked at the two options available.

'Well, it's either left or right; it's not like it matters which i pick since i don't even know which way leads out to begin with— no point in overthinking it. Right is always right.' Shi didn't think about the choice for long since doing so was pointless. 

She didn't enter this cave from the surface, which meant that she didn't have any way of knowing how she got in or how to get out to begin with.

Overthinking which pathway to choose in a cave she had no way of knowing about would be like overthinking which grain of sand looked different from another. So with that thought in her mind, she just started going down the right pathway.

It was only a few more minutes before she noticed something different about the path she took. The plants and mushrooms that decorated the cave's walls were getting more prominent.

She had even seen some grass growing in places that you wouldn't expect it to be. This could only mean one thing— she was going in the right direction— even if she didn't know what direction she was going in.

It took no less than 25 minutes to prove her point right— finding herself in a large open cave that looked nothing like the tunnels she walked through previously. If it wasn't for the mushrooms that kept the place lit up— and her enhanced visions— she wouldn't be able to marvel at the sight before her.

It was an underground cave world.

'No wonder plants were able to grow under here.' Shi thought to herself as she observed the area around her.

While Shi could tell that the place was still that of a cave— it had expanded enormously in all directions alongside being filled with much more than just stalagmite and stalactite. Looking up, Shi tried to see just how high the cave was, only to be met with a ceiling that was more than tens of meters above her head— easily out of her reach.

Looking down from the ceiling she peered around the cave itself. It, on its own, was a wonder easily outclassing that of the white room she was previously in— or any room she has been in for that matter.

While she could still see the walls due to her enhanced vision, they were off in the distance— and even then— she could see they had pathways etched out of them leading to other locations.

And while the size of the cave was an amazement in and of itself. What filled the room was even more grandiose. 

Grass and plant life of all kinds littered the floor; if one were to tell Shi that this was all underneath a barren desert— she just mightn't believe them. The place was so lush that it could easily become a biome of its own.

As she was mesmerized by the sights, her hearing caught wind of the thing that cause all of this. Turning her head, she gazed towards the right side of the chamber. There she saw it, a long stream of water that was etched into the very ground of the cave— running as far as she could see. 

It was no doubt to Shi that this stream of water ran much further than just this chamber. Maybe it even ran under the walls of the tunnels she was previously walking along— which allowed it to bloom with life.

Mixing all of this together with the mushrooms that glowed in different colors— the place truly looked like a magical world of its own to Shi.

"How could something so— thriving— exist underneath the dead zone that is the Suna Desert?" Shi stuttered out of her agape mouth.

"Wait, doesn't this mean that if these plants could survive down here, animals can too? They have everything they need to survive after all." Her eyes instantly glanced around the room in a panic. 

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If she thought correct and animals did exist underneath here, it could be both a good and bad thing for her currently.

Good— because she was currently starving. She hasn't eaten anything in who knows how long she has been underneath here; plus she needed more blood to offset the blood she had lost due to the injury from falling here.

Bad because she was much weaker now due to her hunger and lack of blood. So if whatever animals were down here proved to be more dangerous than she could face— she would die. Again.

Thankfully from her quick glance around the room— she didn't spot anything dangerous. Releasing a sigh of relief— Shi walked over to the stream of water that flowed through the cave.

Glancing down at her reflection in the water, she couldn't help but grumble at her disheveled appearance in the reflection of the water.

Her hair was unkempt and full of dust; her face stained with blood and mud; her clothes torn and dirty. While she was never one to care for appearance— she didn't like looking this unkempt.

It was almost like a stain on how her mother raised her.

Kneeling down at the bank of the stream, Shi extended her hand to the shallowest part of the water in order to draw some. As far as she could tell, the stream was actually quite deep. It was around 15 feet wide— since it was easily double her length— with the center most part being so deep that she couldn't see the bottom of it. 

She first took some of the water in her hand and sniffed it. "Smells like water, though i have no clue what water is supposed to smell like. So I'll just hope it's water."

She had to make sure it was water before she drank any of it. Yes, drink. She was very thirsty— and without drinking anything she just might dry up— metaphorically— that is. 

So using her cupped hands she drank a few mouthfuls of the water until she was satisfied; the water had an odd taste— almost earthy— but she didn't mind the added flavor. 

'This water is definitely not clean, but i don't really have much of a choice.'

Once she was done drinking the water, she decided to use some of it to wash her body off. Shi didn't go into the water this time as she did on the surface— that ended pretty badly last time. Instead, she used her cupped hand to throw water over her body, washing her face off its grime first, followed after by her body. 

When she finished washing her face, she paused and looked down at the water. On her forehead— between her eyebrows—  was what looked like the tattoo of a black dot. Just a dot. She wasn't able to see it before because it was covered with blood, but now that the blood was gone, she could see yet another thing touching that book did.

She didn't know what it was; it didn't pain her when it was added, nor did it have any effects as far as she was aware. So she couldn't do anything about it at the moment besides think.

So as soon as she finished cleaning herself off— she stopped. She felt much better now that her body wasn't covered in mud and blood. She even wet her clothes a bit in order to get out some of the mud from it. 

She wasn't all that worried about getting sick since she has never had a cold in her life, for some reason.

After rinsing her clothes off, Shi got back to her feet and looked around again. The cave was still the same as it was before; however, she did notice something else that stood out to her in the distance. 

It had more pathways to choose from. Shi noticed them before but didn't pay much attention to them at the time due to being amazed at the sight.

She had more ways to go— even more pathways that could either lead her out or lead her to her death. 

'I'll just pick a random way later. For now, i should take some time and rest.' Shi thought to herself as she looked around the cave once more.

Her intention this time was to find a good place she could lay down and relax. After all, she has been moving non-stop for a few hours now. Not to mention she— hasn't actually slept properly since that time in the cave. 

Both her body and mind were greatly fatigued. 

She sat down on a patch of grass a distance away from the water and any opening since she wasn't sure if a creature might suddenly attack her from them— better safe than sorry as she always said— well, she didn't, but she will from now on. 

Laying her head down on a mound of dirt covered with leaves that she created to act as a pillow, she finally allowed her body to relax for the first time in a long time. She hadn't realized just how tired she was until that very moment— her entire body just falling limp on the ground, utterly worn out.

'Whatever, a quick rest won't hurt.' Shi thought to herself as she allowed her eyes to flutter close, calming her mind.

She didn't even realize it, but soon enough, she fell fast asleep.

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