81: Chapter 81 Minado Rainforest Horror

The flight from Gorontalo to Manado took a little over an hour.

As the plane landed, he could see the blue ocean through the porthole.

The water was so clear that the coral reefs on the seabed were visible.

In the distance, a volcano puffed white smoke, forming a sharp contrast against the blue sky and white clouds.

Upon exiting the airport, a wave of heat hit his face.

He hailed a taxi and gave the address of a small town near the Toka Tindung mining area.

The driver was a young man in his twenties with decent English and a talkative nature.

"You're going to Toka Tindung? That's a gold mine, not a tourist area."

"I know. I'm going there for a hike; I heard the scenery in those mountains is very good."

The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror, hesitating as if he wanted to say something.

"What's wrong?" Li Xin asked.

"It's... not been very peaceful over there lately," the driver lowered his voice.

"A few days ago, someone went in and didn't come out."

Li Xin's fingers tightened slightly.

"What kind of person?"

"I don't know. A stranger," the driver shook his head.

"The police searched for days and didn't find anything.

Some say he fell into a mine pit; others say he was bitten by wild boars."

"A mine pit? There's a mine pit there?"

"Yes. A big pit," the driver gestured with his hand.

"It's very deep; if you fall in, you won't be coming back up."

The car drove for two hours before arriving at a small town.

The town wasn't big, consisting of only one main street and two rows of low houses.

There weren't many pedestrians on the street, just a few elderly people cooling off in their doorways.

Li Xin got out of the car and found a hotel to stay in.

The hotel was a two-story wooden building with white-painted outer walls.

The receptionist was a middle-aged woman wearing a batik shirt; seeing Li Xin alone, she smiled.

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

"Going to the mining area?"

"No, not the mining area, just walking around outside."

The woman looked at him and took a piece of paper from the drawer, handing it over.

"This is a map.

You can't take the red paths; there are security guards.

You can take the green paths, but you must be back before dark."

"Thank you."

Li Xin went upstairs to drop off his backpack and then came back down to eat.

The restaurant was small, with only a few tables.

He ordered a serving of fried rice, sat by the entrance, and studied the map while eating.

There were seven or eight red paths, all leading into the mountains.

There were only two green paths: one followed the river, and the other cut through a rubber plantation.

He decided to take the one along the river.

Early the next morning, Li Xin shouldered his pack and set out.

He followed the dirt road north of the town toward the mountains.

The road was wide, flanked by palm forests and banana plantations.

A few farmers were working in the fields, not even glancing his way.

After walking for about an hour, the palm forest gave way to mixed woods.

The trees grew denser, and the path became narrower.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

He arrived at the small river marked on the map.

The water was very clear.

There was a wooden bridge over the river made of a few logs tied together; it didn't look very stable, much like the wooden bridge from yesterday, though this one was slightly longer.

He had just crossed the wooden bridge when a voice came from behind him.

"Stop."

He turned his head.

A man in uniform stood at the bridgehead, holding a walkie-talkie.

He was in his early thirties, sturdy, with an expressionless face.

"Where are you going?"

"Hiking."

"You can't go this way," the man pointed to the path behind him.

"Ahead is the mining area, and there's barbed wire. Go back."

"I'll just walk to the outside of the barbed wire; I won't enter the mining area."

"No," the man shook his head.

"Company policy prohibits tourists from getting close. Go back."

Li Xin looked around.

On the other side of the stream was a dense forest; he couldn't see any buildings.

He nodded and turned to walk back.

After walking about fifty meters, he stopped, crouched down, and pretended to pick something up.

"System, Scan the entire Toka Tindung gold mining area."

"[Scanning... Scan complete. Toka Tindung Gold Mine: Proven reserves approximately 110 tons. Type: Open-pit rock gold mine. Distribution depth: 30-200 meters.]"

"[Note: This gold mine is owned; the host can extract 60%, totaling 66 tons.]"

"[Extraction in progress... Extraction complete. Obtained 66 tons of gold. Cumulative gold refined: 162.4057 tons.]"

As he stood up and turned around, the security guard was still standing at the bridgehead, staring at him, and shouted in a deep voice.

"What are you doing over there?"

"I'm picking up some things," Li Xin turned back and smiled.

The guard stared at him, not letting his guard down, then urged him loudly, "Leave quickly. Don't come here again."

Li Xin smiled and nodded, said nothing, and turned to leave.

When he reached the fork in the road, he didn't return the way he came, but turned onto another path that led to the river, which was the green safe route marked on the map.

Not long after, he saw a river.

The river wasn't wide, but the current was swift, and the sound of the water was roaring.

He stood by the river and raised his camera to take pictures.

"[Ding... System prompt: Ancient sunken gold ruins discovered approximately 15 meters below the riverbed. Gold reserves: approximately 4.5 tons. 100% Extraction possible.]"

"[Extraction complete. Obtained 4.5 tons of gold. Cumulative: 166.9057 tons.]"

Having secretly taken another small treasure, he couldn't stop the smile on his face as he prepared to head back.

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping came from behind him—crack.

He turned his head sharply.

No one was there.

But the sound continued—crack, crack, getting closer and closer.

His hand slowly reached toward the side pocket of his backpack.

Something emerged from the bushes.

A wild boar.

It was stocky, covered in black fur, with two tusks protruding from its mouth.

It stared fiercely at Li Xin, its nose twitching constantly, and it pawed at the ground with its front hooves.

Li Xin didn't dare to run.

He could only tiptoe backward slowly.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Suddenly, the wild boar let out a low grunt, took a step forward, and charged at him.

Li Xin turned sharply and bolted.

The stones under his feet were a bit slippery, and he almost fell.

The wild boar chased from behind, its huffing and puffing getting closer and closer.

Ahead was a tree with a thick trunk.

Li Xin rushed over, grabbed a branch, and scrambled up.

The branch shook, snapped, and broke.

He fell down, landing on the ground, scraping his palms.

The wild boar had already charged right in front of him.

He didn't have time to stand up, so he rolled on the ground.

The wild boar rushed past him and crashed into a tree, causing the trunk to shake.

Li Xin scrambled up and ran desperately toward the river.

The wild boar turned around and chased after him again.

He ran to the riverbank and, without hesitation, jumped straight in.

The water was cold and the current was strong.

He was swept several meters by the current before surfacing.

Looking back, the wild boar stood on the bank, staring at him fiercely, grunted a few times, and then turned and left.

Li Xin drifted dozens of meters downstream before grabbing a rock and climbing ashore.

By now, he was soaked through.

His palms were bleeding, and his knees were scraped.

He sat on the bank, panting heavily.

After resting for a few minutes and regaining his strength, he stood up and started walking back.

As he walked, the sky began to darken.

He quickened his pace, but the path became increasingly difficult to navigate—it wasn't the same path he had taken earlier.

He was lost.

He took out his phone; there was no signal.

He opened the GPS, but the location pin kept spinning, unable to load the map.

It was getting darker and darker.

He turned on his flashlight and shone it on the path ahead.

The path was narrow, flanked by dense woods.

The wind blew, and the leaves rustled as if something were moving.

After walking for about half an hour, a fork in the road appeared ahead.

He remembered there hadn't been this fork when he arrived.

He stopped and checked the direction.

To the left was a downhill path, and to the right was an uphill path.

He chose the left.

After walking for about ten minutes, a wooden hut appeared.

The door was half-open, and it was pitch black inside.

He shone his flashlight into it.

There was a pair of eyes in the crack of the door.

Green eyes.

The hair on Li Xin's arms stood up immediately.

He took a step back.

The eyes moved.

They emerged from the door crack.

It was a black dog, scrawny and filthy.

It looked at Li Xin, wagged its tail, and let out a few whimpers.

Li Xin let out a sigh of relief.

"You scared me to death."

The dog walked over and rubbed against his leg.

He crouched down, patted the dog's head, and took out some food from his space to feed it.

"How did you end up here?"

After a while, the dog whimpered a few times and turned to walk into the wooden hut.

After taking a few steps, it looked back at him, as if asking him to follow.

Li Xin hesitated for a moment, then followed.

The wooden hut was very dark and smelled musty.

He shone his flashlight around and discovered a small hole in the floor.

It was big enough for a person to crawl into while bending over.

The dog stood beside the hole, whimpering.

"[Ding... System prompt: Man-made space discovered approximately 30 meters below the hole. Gold reserves: approximately 8 tons. Type: Gold artifacts, gold Buddhas, gold coins. Unclaimed remains, 100% Extraction possible.]"

Li Xin crouched down and placed his hand on the edge of the hole.

"System, Extraction."

"[Extraction in progress... Extraction complete. Obtained 8 tons of gold. Cumulative gold refined: 174.9057 tons.]"

He stood up and was just about to turn around.

Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from the hole.

Crack... It sounded like wood splitting.

He looked down at the hole, but it was pitch black inside, and he couldn't see anything.

Crack... crack... The sound grew louder.

The dog began to bark wildly.

Li Xin stepped back abruptly.

The soil at the edge of the hole began to fall.

First small chunks, then large pieces.

The ground was shaking.

A cave-in.

He turned and ran.

The dog followed behind him, running faster than he was.

A loud boom came from behind, and the entire floor of the wooden hut collapsed.

Dust billowed toward him, making him cough uncontrollably.

He ran a few dozen meters, stopped, and looked back.

The wooden hut was gone.

In its place was only a large pit that was still collapsing downward.

The dog stood beside him, trembling all over.

He crouched down and patted the dog's head.

"It's okay now."

The dog whimpered and licked his hand.

He tossed the dog some more food, stood up, and continued walking back.

An hour later, the lights of the town appeared in the distance.

He had reached the town.

Returning to the hotel, the receptionist was startled to see him soaked through and covered in mud.

"What happened to you?"

"I fell into the river," Li Xin shrugged and smiled helplessly.

"The road was slippery, and I lost my footing. Fell into the river."

"Hurry upstairs and wash up, don't catch a cold."

After coming out of the shower, he flopped onto the bed and opened the system panel—Cumulative 174.9 tons.

He turned off the light and closed his eyes.

In his mind, he was thinking about that hole, that wooden hut, and that dog.

Who hid it? Why hide it there?

He turned over and soon fell asleep.