152: Chapter 152 Mysterious Clues and Shadows, Golden Cicada Escapes Again

If the opposition had already locked the search area roughly to the Industrial Zone or its vicinity, then simply disappearing (sneaking underground) might cause them to concentrate their forces and search that area.

However, if he could intentionally create some plausible but misleading clues pointing in other directions before leaving, it might distract them, or even lead them in the wrong direction, buying him more time and space to sneak underground and proceed with his subsequent relocation.

This required clever planning and a prediction of the environment, as well as the potential methods of the pursuers.

Although it might not completely fool a sophisticated opponent, even gaining a few hours of chaos would be of immense value.

Ling Ye did not act immediately.

He first carefully sensed his surroundings, confirming that apart from the sound of the wind and the distant machinery, there were no other unusual movements for the moment.

Then, he left the pile of car shells silently, moving like a shadow among the scrapped vehicles and stacked parts, creeping toward the southern edge of the Industrial Zone, near a small, abandoned open-air Warehouse.

He chose this direction because the southern side was closer to the city outskirts and freight channels; if the pursuers believed he was "fleeing the city," this direction made more logical sense.

Arriving near the open-air Warehouse, he found some rusted shipping containers and damaged wooden crates stacked here.

Ling Ye took out the old jacket he had been wearing before changing at the shopping center (which he had previously stuffed into a shopping bag) from his backpack.

He carefully tore a few irregular rips into the jacket, as if it had been snagged while rushing through obstacles.

Then, he hung the jacket on a sharp corner of a shipping container, choosing a spot that was relatively easy to spot from the direction of the main road, but not too conspicuous.

Next, he picked up a few pieces of broken glass and metal from the ground, and using his foot, drew some messy drag or running marks on the mud below the jacket that pointed further south (toward the suburban wasteland); the marks were shallow, but they would be noticeable under specific lighting.

He also deliberately dropped a scrap of cloth stained with a bit of his own sweat (from his earlier exercise) near a puddle not far along the direction the tracks extended.

After doing this, he quickly retreated and observed from a different angle to ensure the "scene" looked as if a person had been snagged by an obstacle while fleeing in a hurry, struggled, tore their clothes, continued running south, and perhaps paused briefly by the puddle.

Then, he turned toward the east, where there was a relatively intact factory building with high walls.

Using the cover of ruins and shadows, he moved quickly to the side of the factory, where there was a half-covered manhole cover leading to underground maintenance pipes; it was heavily rusted but seemed pryable.

This was another potential entrance he had noticed during his previous exploration, but it was not his true objective.

He did not pry open this manhole cover, but instead used his multi-tool to carve an extremely tiny scratch, resembling an arrow pointing east, in an inconspicuous spot on the edge of the cover, and deliberately smeared some dirt scraped from the sole of his shoe—containing the unique grime of Rust Town—near the scratch.

This "clue" was very concealed and could only be discovered upon close, careful inspection, intended to mislead those pursuers who might conduct a detailed on-site investigation.

After setting up the two misleading "clues," Ling Ye did not linger; he turned immediately and crept toward the northwest—into the depths of the Industrial Zone, an area that looked even more desolate with denser, older buildings.

His true target was an old steam pipe maintenance entrance located beneath an abandoned boiler room, half-hidden by collapsed bricks and stones, and almost forgotten.

That entrance was more concealed, and the connected underground pipe network was said to have been linked to the city's main drainage System in the early years; although it was later abandoned, its structure was complex, like a labyrinth.

While moving quickly, he cleared away the real footprints and traces of his scent (using dust kicked up by the wind to cover them, and deliberately walking through areas with strange odors or chemical residues).

At the same time, he pushed his "Spiritual Sense" to the limit, sensing whether there were any triggered "information ripples" or abnormal energy concentrations behind him and to his sides.

When he arrived at the abandoned boiler room and found the maintenance entrance almost buried by rubble, it was still silent behind him, with only the night wind howling.

The misdirection did not seem to have elicited an immediate reaction for the time being.

He did not enter immediately, but instead confirmed the surroundings were safe once more, then carefully used his tool to pry open the rusted-shut grate, squeezed inside, turned around to restore the grate as best as possible, and used gravel and dust to create a simple camouflage from the inside.

It was pitch black inside the pipe, filled with a heavy, mixed odor of rust, dust, and some kind of aged grease.

The air was stagnant, but it seemed still breathable.

The pipe was over a meter in diameter, barely enough for a person to move forward while hunched over.

The interior was covered with thick dust and dense spiderwebs.

Ling Ye did not turn on any lighting, but instead closed his eyes and pushed his "Spiritual Sense" to its full capacity.

In the absolute darkness, his "Spiritual Sense" became exceptionally clear regarding the spatial structure, airflow direction, and potential sound vibrations in the distance.

He "felt" that after this pipe extended forward about twenty meters, it branched into three paths, each leading in a different direction.

One of the paths had a faint, extremely weak airflow, and its direction was roughly toward the more remote, northwestern region of the city.

He chose this path with the airflow and began to move forward cautiously.

His footsteps were extremely light, avoiding kicking up too much dust.

His hand rested on the cold, rough pipe wall, sensing every inch of the space ahead.

The pipes were intricate and complex, like an underground anthill.

From time to time, he encountered forks in the road, collapses blocking the way, or steep inclines and declines.

He consistently followed two principles: first, choose paths with weak airflow (implying there might be an exit or a larger space); second, try to move in a direction away from the Industrial Zone, away from the city center, and away from where he had set up his misleading clues.

Time passed in absolute darkness and silence, with only his own slight breathing and footsteps, and the occasional wailing from deep within the pipes, whether it was the wind or some other cause, he did not know.

He did not know how long he had walked—perhaps an hour, perhaps longer—when he felt the pipe gradually becoming more spacious. Ahead, there was a faint glimmer of extremely weak light; it was not natural light, but rather seemed like some kind of eerie green, faint cold light, like the fluorescence emitted by glow-in-the-dark paint or low-level fungi.

At the same time, the smell of rust and dust in the air seemed to be mixed with a hint of dampness and a faint, indescribable odor of aged organic matter, a bit like... algae or lichen from a long time ago?

Ling Ye stopped and concentrated his senses.

The light came from behind a corner ahead.

His "Spiritual Sense" fed back that the space there seemed to suddenly open up, and that eerie green cold light was not concentrated in one spot, but scattered like stars across a larger area.

There were no fluctuations of vital signs.

But that odor of aged organic matter made him slightly vigilant.

He adjusted his breathing, concentrating his "Spiritual Sense" forward, while keeping his body pressed against the pipe wall, moving silently toward the corner at the slowest possible speed. Then, extremely carefully, he poked half his head out to peer toward the source of the light.

Before him was a huge underground cavern that seemed as if it were naturally formed, yet also appeared to be an abandoned, man-made excavation.

Many bizarre stalactite-like structures hung from the ceiling of the cavern, but the material was neither stone nor ice; it was more like some kind of translucent, gelatinous substance with a dark green luster.

Those eerie green cold lights were emanating from the inside and surface of these gelatinous condensations, casting the entire cavern in a ghostly glow.

The floor of the cavern was uneven, covered with stagnant water and slippery moss-like plants (emitting that odor of aged organic matter).

In the center of the cavern was a small, deep black pool of water; the water was deathly still, with some algae-like flocculent matter floating on the surface.

And by the side of the pool, in the corner of the cavern, Ling Ye saw something that made his pupils shrink—

It was not a naturally formed scene, nor was it simply ruins.

It looked like... traces of an extremely rudimentary place where someone had lived.