Canyon Horror and Peach Blossoms in the Soprano

The dark red crystal of the energy monitor slowly rotated in Li Xian's consciousness space.

The pointer is stopped at "28".

It improved by 12 points compared to yesterday—at least 8 of which came from the uncontrolled absorption this morning. Li Xian stared at the number, his stomach churning. That wasn't just energy; it was Xiao Lingshan's pain, the administrator's cold calculations, and proof that he had almost completely succumbed.

"You don't look well," Xiao Lingshan's voice came from beside her.

They had been away from the dilapidated temple for two hours. They now stood before the entrance to a deep, dark canyon. The mountain walls on either side were towering, their rocks a deep, iron-gray color, covered in dark green vines. The wind at the canyon entrance carried a damp, earthy smell, making their clothes flutter loudly.

"I'm fine." Li Xian shook his head and looked at Xiao Lingshan. "And you? How much of your internal energy have you recovered?"

Xiao Lingshan raised her palm, a faint wisp of emerald green energy flowing between her fingertips—it only lasted for three breaths before dissipating. "About thirty percent. The little pine tree's energy has been almost completely drained; I need time to slowly draw it back from nature."

Her tone was calm, but Li Xian could hear the weariness beneath. What happened this morning had not only drained her energy, but also a certain trust—at least temporarily.

"I will make it up to you," he said, his voice low but firm.

Xiao Lingshan glanced at him but didn't reply.

"Attention passengers—" Superman circled ahead, shouting in a voice mimicking a traffic announcer, "The Canyon Sightseeing Line is about to depart! The road ahead is rough, so please fasten your seatbelts—if our convertible cabins have seatbelts!"

"Stop joking around." The Dark Knight flew steadily at the front, his newly replaced rotors running smoothly. "My thermal imaging shows multiple warm-blooded animal signals in the canyon, medium-sized, possibly leopards or a pack of wolves. I suggest maintaining formation."

"Leave it to me!" Batman excitedly flew to the left side of the group. "Full sonar! Let this machine hear the heartbeats of these cuties—"

"Thump, thump, thump..." it mimicked a heartbeat, then suddenly stopped. "Wait, this rhythm is wrong. Too slow, too rhythmic... it doesn't sound alive."

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

Li Xian raised his hand, and the group stopped. He looked into the depths of the canyon—where the light was cut into narrow strips by the towering rock walls, and the shadows were so deep that details were obscured.

"What is it?" Xiao Lingshan asked softly, her hand already reaching for the wooden sachet at her waist.

Batman monitored for a few more seconds: "Still analyzing... The sound wave reflection indicates a humanoid outline, but the body temperature is only two degrees above the ambient temperature, and metabolic signals are almost undetectable. Number... five. No, six. They are distributed in a fan shape around the corner three hundred meters ahead."

"Zombies?" Daya's voice trembled. "The kind with men in black?"

"Doesn't seem like it." Superman pulled up the database. "According to the data from the last battle, the blood sacrifice zombies have heartbeats and basal metabolisms. These... are more like statues."

Li Xian and Xiao Lingshan exchanged a glance.

"I'll go take a look." The Dark Knight glided forward silently, zooming out to its maximum.

A few seconds later, its voice returned: "Safe. Stone carvings. Six sword-wielding warrior statues, crudely carved, but neatly arranged, like some kind of... sentry post?"

It was a false alarm.

Li Xian breathed a sigh of relief, but a lingering unease remained. A stone sentry post? Deep in this desolate canyon?

The group continued onward. The canyon narrowed further and further, at its narrowest point only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The sky overhead was squeezed into a thin, bright blue line, and vines hung down from both sides like green curtains.

Three hundred meters later, they saw the stone sculptures.

Indeed, they were rough—the faces had only indistinct facial features, the armor was simple geometric lines, but the stone swords in their hands were exceptionally sharp, gleaming coldly in the dim light. Six statues stood on either side, three on each side, facing the valley entrance, as if they were truly guarding something.

"The age of the carving cannot be determined," Superman scanned the rock wall, "but the stone material is consistent with the canyon's rock strata, so it should have been sourced locally. The arrangement... shows faint traces of residual energy."

"Energy?" Li Xian asked warily.

"Very faint, almost completely dissipated. Its properties... are similar to stored energy in talismans, but not Xuan Qi." Superman paused. "More like a low-budget imitation of the cosmic radiation energy Boltzmann's brain used to create the little pine tree?"

Counterfeit?

Li Xian's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that besides the brain and the administrators, some third-party force had come into contact with this energy?

"Keep moving forward," he said, his voice turning somber.

After passing the stone-carved checkpoint, the canyon suddenly turned, and an underground river appeared before us. The river water was a deep blue, its bottom unseen, gushing from a crack in the right rock wall, flowing to the left and disappearing behind another rock wall. There was a narrow pebble beach along the riverbank, scattered with smooth pebbles.

"Route planning updated," the Dark Knight projected a holographic terrain map. "The best route is to proceed along the riverbank for about 800 meters, after which the river will enter a cave. According to sonar detection, there is an exit at the other end of the cave."

"Is there any danger in the cave?" Er Ya asked, unusually.

"The sonar indicates the cave structure is stable, with no large creatures. But..." Batman suddenly hesitated, "My ultrasonic waves are being interfered with on a certain frequency band. It's like... deliberate interference, the kind that's regular."

Li frowned: "Can you analyze the pattern?"

"Attempting... Wait, this pattern looks familiar..." Batman's indicator light flashed rapidly. "It's Morse code! Repeat signal: STAYOUT."

"Stay out." Superman immediately translated, "Someone doesn't want us to come in."

"Or there might be something," Xiao Lingshan added, squatting down and lightly touching the pebbles on the riverbank with her fingertips. "There are subtle energy etching marks on the surface of the stones... They are very ancient, but they share the same origin as the residual energy on the stone carvings."

Li Xian looked around. The canyon formed a natural atrium here, with sunlight pouring down from the funnel-shaped space above, illuminating the faint mist rising from the river. Everything looked peaceful, even beautiful—if one ignored the warning signs.

"Manager," he whispered to himself, "what do you think?"

[Energy Residue Analysis: Preliminary application of radiation energy by a low-level civilization, efficiency below 7%.] The administrator's voice remained cold: [Threat Level: Extremely Low. Ignore the warning and continue. Your energy level needs to be increased.]

"What if there's danger inside?"

Your death will result in mission failure. I will take over your body to continue the mission. Efficiency will be reduced, but acceptable.

Li Xian gritted his teeth. This feeling of being used as a tool...

"Li Xian?" Xiao Lingshan looked at him.

"Into the cave," he decided. "But everyone be on high alert. Superman and the Dark Knight will lead the way, while Batman will continuously monitor for any acoustic anomalies. Yaya and Arya will protect Xiao Lingshan."

"Yes, ma'am!"

The group walked along the riverbank. The sound of the underground river echoed between the rock walls, creating a strange reverberation, sometimes like a whisper, sometimes like a sigh. After walking for about fifteen minutes, the entrance to the cave came into view—a natural archway five meters high. The cave was deep and dark, and the light disappeared after the river flowed in.

Superman turned on the powerful light. The beam pierced the darkness, illuminating the stalactites hanging from the cave ceiling. The stalagmites, in their bizarre shapes, cast distorted shadows in the light.

"Oxygen levels inside the cave are normal, and there are no toxic gases," the Dark Knight reported. "Humidity is 87%, and the temperature is four degrees lower than outside. Recommendation—"

Its words came to an abrupt end.

Because a second group of stone sculptures appeared within the area of ​​light.

This time, they weren't warriors, but... commoners. There were about twenty figures, men, women, and children, each with a different posture: an old man leaning on a cane, a woman holding a baby, a young man carrying tools. The carving was still rough, but the figures were lifelike, all facing the same direction—the depths of the cave.

Even more bizarre is the arrangement of these stone sculptures.

They weren't placed randomly, but rather arranged in an incomplete circle. At the center of the circle, where the river flowed, there was a raised stone platform. The platform was empty, but its surface was covered with densely packed symbols—neither writing nor runes, but a twisted pattern resembling both vines and electrical circuits.

"The residual energy is increasing," Superman whispered. "The stone platform is the source. These statues... seem to be guarding it, or perhaps worshipping it."

Xiao Lingshan suddenly gasped softly. She quickly walked to a statue of a woman, squatted down, and ran her fingers along a small patch of ground at the statue's feet.

There, in the damp crevice of the rock, grew a clump of pale pink moss.

It's not green, it's pink.

"This is..." She picked up a speck of moss, held it to her nose, and sniffed it lightly. "Peach blossom moss. It only grows in areas where peach wood energy is abundant, and it's very rare. But there are no peach trees here..."

"Peach blossoms?" Li Xian's heart skipped a beat. "Batman, where is the source of the interference signal you mentioned?"

"It's nearby! Wait... sonar indicates the interference source is moving!" Batman's indicator lights flashed wildly. "It's coming towards us from deep within the cave! Very fast—no, not just one, three! Four!"

"Prepare for battle!" Li Xian shouted, dark red energy rising from his palm—the half of control left behind by the administrator now allowed him to more directly access the absorbed energy.

Xiao Lingshan pulled out the binding rope, and the drones entered battle formation.

A rustling sound came from deep within the cave, like countless claws scraping against the rocks.

Then, they appeared.

It's not a monster, it's not a zombie.

It is... a machine.

Four spider-like creatures, entirely metallic in shape and about the size of a washbasin, moved with ghostly speed along the rock face on their eight legs. Their "heads" had no eyes, only a constantly rotating sphere that emitted a pale blue glow.

"What the hell is this?!" Daya exclaimed.

The spider-like machines stopped in unison, and the rotating sphere aimed at the team.

[Low-level intelligent mechanical unit detected.] The administrator's voice carried a rare...tendency? [Design style: A blend of this world's forging techniques and rudimentary energy-driven technology. Estimated civilization level of the creator: 0.7 (just emerging from the primitive stage).]

"They're scanning us," the Dark Knight said in a deep voice. "My sensors are being reverse-engineered—they're learning our technology!"

Before he finished speaking, one of the spiders suddenly sprang up and pounced straight at Superman!

Superman reacted extremely quickly, dodging to the side and firing a laser from his belly—but the laser struck the spider's exoskeleton, leaving only a faint white mark.

"The outer shell is made of a black iron alloy!" Superman exclaimed, "and it's mixed with some kind of energy-conducting material!"

The other two spiders pounced on Li Xian and Xiao Lingshan. Li Xian struck out with his palm, and the dark red energy hit the one in front, knocking it back several steps—but the spider only swayed and rushed forward again, its sphere spinning faster and emitting a high-frequency "humming" sound.

The sound drilled into his ears, and Li Xian suddenly felt dizzy.

"Sonic attack!" he shouted through gritted teeth. "Disable the hearing sensors!"

But it was too late. Daya and Erya lurched and plummeted, while Xiao Lingshan covered her ears, her face pale. Only Batman shouted excitedly, "That's the frequency! The jamming frequency! Let this machine sing a duet with you—"

It emits a complex, constantly changing sound wave.

The movements of the four spiders simultaneously froze. The sphere's rotation became chaotic, its blue light flickering erratically, as if it were struggling.

"It worked!" Batman exclaimed triumphantly. "They were communicating with sound waves! I disrupted their coordination signals with an anti-phase attack!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Li rushed forward, his hands flashing out to form two chains of dark red energy that tightly bound the two spiders. Xiao Lingshan, enduring the discomfort, unleashed her silken rope, which constricted the leg joint of the third spider. Superman, meanwhile, used his mechanical hand to firmly hold down the last spider.

"What should we do?" Superman asked.

Li Xian looked at the mechanical spiders that were still struggling. They were lifeless, without consciousness, merely tools executing some kind of command. But the people who created them…

"Open one up," he said. "Take a look inside."

Superman's robotic arm operated deftly. The outer shell of the black iron was opened, revealing the internal structure—gears, springs, crystal circuits that conduct energy, and at its core: a pink crystal about the size of a thumb that constantly emitted a faint glow.

"This is..." Xiao Lingshan leaned closer to examine it, her eyes widening. "Peach wood heart crystal. Only peach trees over a thousand years old, under specific energy conditions, will condense this crystal in their heartwood. It... is the energy source for these machines."

She looked up into the depths of the cave: "There must be a peach grove nearby. And a very old one at that."

As if in response to her words, a ray of light suddenly pierced through the darkness at the far end of the cave.

It's not sunlight.

It was pink, with a gentle light like the morning sun.

At the same time, a faint, sweet fragrance of peach blossoms wafted out along the river.

Batman's voice picked up on a new signal at that moment. It paused, then said in an incredulous tone:

"The space at the other end of the cave... is vast. Extremely vast. My sound waves reflect off it, revealing open water, undulating terrain, and... a great deal of regular geometric structures. Like architecture."

"And," it added, "there are life signs in those buildings. Lots of them. Humans."

Li Xian and Xiao Lingshan exchanged glances.

A paradise on earth truly exists.

"Get rid of these spiders first," Li said. He initially intended to destroy them, but hesitated for a moment and changed his mind, saying, "Tie them up and leave them here. If they have owners, they'll come and collect them."

"A merciful choice," Xiao Lingshan said softly.

Li Xian smiled wryly. This wasn't kindness, it was caution—in a completely unfamiliar place, one shouldn't make enemies right away.

The group continued deeper into the cave. The further they went, the brighter the pink light became, and the stronger the fragrance of peach blossoms grew. The river gradually widened, the current slowed, and more pink moss appeared on the rock walls, with even a few real peach blossoms blooming here and there.

Finally, they reached the end of the cave.

It was a narrow crevice, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, half-hidden by vines. Pink light surged in from behind the crevice, carrying warmth and vitality.

Li Xian pushed aside the vines and squeezed out sideways.

Then, he stood there, stunned.

Before me stretched a vast and breathtaking expanse of land.

They stood atop a high cliff, below which lay a vast, oval-shaped underground lake. The lake water was crystal clear, shimmering with a faint pinkish-blue fluorescent light—because the lakebed was covered with glowing pebbles. Seven islands of varying sizes dotted the lake, their slopes covered in peach blossoms, rising and falling like pink clouds.

Wooden bridges connect the islands, and figures move about on them. Several small boats float on the lake, with people casting nets or fishing on board. Further away, wooden houses built against the mountainside are stacked one on top of another, with wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys.

The light of the setting sun—a soft, amber-like light cast from who-knows-where—spread across this idyllic paradise, gilding everything with a warm golden hue.

"My God..." Daya murmured, "This place... is it paradise?"

"Sonar confirms, this is a completely enclosed underground space." Batman's voice was also filled with amazement. "The highest point of the dome is about three hundred meters, with complex layers of fluorescent minerals providing illumination. The air circulation system... should be connected to the outside world through hidden ventilation holes. A perfect artificial ecosystem."

Xiao Lingshan walked to Li Xian's side and stood beside him, gazing at the scenery. Her profile appeared soft in the pinkish-gold light, her eyes reflecting the shimmering lake and islands.

"Is this the paradise on earth?" she asked softly.

Li nodded first, then shook his head: "Yes. But I'm afraid it's not that simple."

He raised his hand and pointed to the depths of a peach grove on the nearest island.

There, several figures emerged from the forest, looking towards the cliff where they were. The distance was too great to see their faces clearly, but they could discern that they were wearing uniform, light blue robes, and their movements were perfectly synchronized.

Moreover, the figures were all holding some kind of long, rod-shaped object in their hands—which reflected a cold metallic gleam in the setting sun.

"It seems," Li said in a low voice, "that the master has already discovered the visitor."

The energy monitor spun silently in his mind.

The pointer trembled slightly, jumping from "28" to "29".

It was as if the rich life energy in this paradise was nourishing his body simply by breathing it in.

And the manager's voice echoed incessantly:

[A high concentration of life energy field has been detected. Recommendation: Explore further to find the core energy source.]

You have nine days left.

(End of Chapter 23)