The wind, however, was coming through this gap. But the gap was only about ten centimeters, too small to pass through.
An ordinary person seeing this small opening would surely regret it.
But Ning Beichen did not.
He took a step back, and with a thunderous roar.
Ning Beichen punched through the ten-centimeter opening, creating a large hole that a person could pass through.
After Ning Beichen squeezed through the opening, he was surprised to find himself not far from the passage he had entered.
The passage he emerged from was originally a dead end. He had been here with Zebra before, but he had left because he thought it was a dead end.
So when Zebra saw Ning Beichen not coming out from inside, but entering from outside, he was so astonished his mouth went crooked.
"God, he must be a god. Only gods can do such things."
Ning Beichen had no interest in explaining much to a native like him. He just nodded at him, then checked the time.
Although he had spent a lot of time inside, it had only been a few hours. It was just past seven in the evening, but the heavy rain had subsided considerably.
"Zebra, we'll spend the night here. We'll set off tomorrow after the water recedes."
Ning Beichen said to Zebra.
Zebra naturally had no objections to this god of his. Even if Ning Beichen told him to set off right now, he would not refuse.
Dinner that night was made by Zebra. But he didn't cook in his usual way; instead, he followed Ning Beichen's usual method. It looked quite hygienic.
He probably knew in his heart that Ning Beichen wouldn't eat the food he used to make.
"Zebra, thank you."
This time, Ning Beichen didn't refuse. As long as he didn't open his mouth to spit out his usual concoctions, Ning Beichen could accept it even if it wasn't perfectly clean.
"The god praises me!"
Ning Beichen's "thank you" made Zebra ecstatic, shouting joyfully in his heart.
"Hmm, it tastes good. It seems you observed the whole process of me cooking very carefully."
Ning Beichen took a bite and praised Zebra again, making Zebra even happier.
After eating his fill, Ning Beichen told Zebra not to disturb him, then sat cross-legged on a clean large rock and began to cultivate.
However, he did not use the Toad Crystal Flower. He intended to take it back for Liu Yilin to study, as it might have better effects.
Besides, in a place like this, with no one guarding him, he didn't dare to fully immerse himself in cultivation.
Zebra watched Ning Beichen cultivating, kneeling behind him like a devout believer, praying.
But he dared not disturb Ning Beichen, not even daring to breathe heavily, for fear of disturbing the god in his heart and incurring divine punishment.
Ning Beichen naturally noticed his actions, but he had no intention of stopping him.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing for Zebra to consider him a god. At least, if he asked Zebra to do something, he would execute it loyally with just a word, without any fear of refusal.
The next day.
The weather had cleared up, and the water that had risen yesterday had completely receded.
However, the flood had made the ground very muddy, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Ning Beichen was also not interested in waiting here for the muddy ground to dry in the sun, as it would take several days.
Ning Beichen led Zebra out of the cave, then took him to find the materials and helped him build a boat. If Zebra had to do it alone, he probably wouldn't be able to leave today.
With Ning Beichen's help, Zebra only took a little over two hours to build a new wooden boat. This boat was much larger and sturdier than the previous one.
Of course, this was largely due to Ning Beichen's assistance. Whatever material he wanted, Ning Beichen immediately found it for him, saving him any trouble.
After the boat was built, the two ate the leftover piranha meat and set off by boat.
Ning Beichen was still his usual self, occasionally catching a few piranhas from the river, and even caught a crocodile.
In the wilderness, food was the most important thing. Whatever could be found along the way should not be wasted, otherwise, it would depend on luck to find food when setting up camp.
After sailing on the river for two days, Ning Beichen finally arrived at the place Zebra had mentioned.
And this place was not on land but was largely submerged in water, resembling ancient human structures.
Ning Beichen asked Zebra why he had brought him to this place, but Zebra himself could not give a clear explanation, only repeating that this place was special.
But what was special about it? Why did he think it was special? Zebra became dejected, unable to explain himself even after much questioning.
So Ning Beichen simply stopped asking him.
Ning Beichen had originally hoped that Zebra would lead him to some rare treasures, but instead, this fellow had brought him here.
Ning Beichen was unsure if there were any rare treasures here, but the place had obvious man-made structures, and ancient ones at that. He thought it was worth exploring.
However, these structures were submerged in water. To explore them, one had to go down. But Ning Beichen had already seen that the water was full of crocodiles and piranhas, which gave him a headache.
His headache was not for himself, but for Zebra. In a place like this, Zebra would probably become food for crocodiles and piranhas the moment he entered the water.
"Do I have to leave him outside?"
Ning Beichen muttered, then told Zebra to find a safe place to wait.
Zebra probably knew his own limitations. He rowed the boat around these structures for a while and found a building that was not completely submerged, with a part of it exposed above the water.
Zebra gestured to Ning Beichen, indicating that he would wait here.
Ning Beichen nodded, dragging the food and the wooden boat into the building.
He then instructed Zebra that he didn't know when he would return, so he shouldn't wander around. There was enough food here for him to eat for a long time.
If he didn't return for a long time, Zebra should go back by himself and not wait for him.
Ning Beichen left the timing to Zebra, as he himself didn't know when he could return.
If the structures were small or contained nothing significant, he might be back in half a day.
But if this ancient underwater complex was vast, or if he got lost and trapped, it was hard to say.
Zebra knelt on the ground and swore to Ning Beichen that he would not leave and would wait here until Ning Beichen returned.