With the guidance of the screeching kite, everyone pressed on under the sun, hurrying to keep up with the kite’s shadow.

After walking for about half an hour or so.

Everyone arrived at a high point of the canyon.

As the screeching kite suddenly dived into the canyon’s depths, everyone’s expressions froze.

"Is this the water source at the bottom of the canyon?"

Dennis asked somewhat gloomily.

Chen Wen chuckled, patting Dennis on the shoulder: "For now, it seems so."

Fred went to the edge of the canyon and peeked down.

Vaguely, he seemed to see some muddy puddles, like yellow mud soup.

Fred’s expression showed a slight change.

But he still gritted his teeth and said, "Having water is better than no water! No matter how dirty the water is, it can still be drinkable after filtering!"

"That’s right!"

Adam nodded in agreement beside him: "And by finding stagnant water, we might be able to follow it to find underground water or even an underground river! That water would definitely be clean and safe to drink!"

Everyone nodded one after another.

After all, at this point, there was no time to worry about everything.

Surely going back to the baobab tree to dig into its trunk and drink the sap wasn’t an option, right?

Since it was decided to fetch water, everyone began to look for a way into the canyon.

After a few minutes, Chen Wen found the canyon’s entrance under the guidance of the screeching kite.

He called everyone to approach and led them into the canyon.

...

Inside the canyon.

The humidity here was also alarmingly high.

Moreover, the cramped environment caused a feeling of discomfort deep within one’s heart.

Dennis reached out his hand and touched the red sandstone on both sides of the canyon: "The sandstone here is very damp, there should be a lot of water!"

Upon hearing this, Adam said helplessly: "That’s because of the high humidity, not really related to the water we need to drink."

As the two spoke, their voices were muffled within the canyon, creating a dull echo as they bounced back and forth.

"Shh!"

Chen Wen gestured with his hand for them to be quiet.

Soon, he led everyone to the side of the stagnant water.

As Chen Wen had expected, the stagnating water was yellow, very muddy, and not particularly abundant.

"This water is undrinkable."

Chen Wen scooped up a handful of stagnant water with his hand, brought it to his nose, and sniffed it, finding the smell very unpleasant!

Besides the strong earthy odor, there was a lot of stench.

Perhaps he could rely on his [Stomach Strength, Need No Words]ability to strengthen his digestive system, forcibly drinking some without getting sick.

But for ordinary people like Hua Yun, it wouldn’t work.

If they dared to drink, they’d suffer from diarrhea and exhaustion before even reaching the next day, by the afternoon of the same day.

Everyone looked at the stagnant water in front of them, their minds foggy.

Having worked so hard to come this far and find stagnant water, only to discover it was undrinkable.

It’s unbearable for anyone!

"Can’t we filter it?"

Fred walked up to the pond, asking unwillingly.

He reached out his hand, stirring the stagnant water as if analyzing its composition.

Chen Wen shook his head, pulling Fred back: "Don’t even think about it."

Hearing this, everyone fell into a bout of despondency.

But just at that moment, Chen Wen inadvertently glanced at the middle of the stagnant pond.

He suddenly noticed that, as Fred stirred, some small whirlpools seemed to appear, and there were also bubbles surfacing in the center of the whirlpools.

"Hiss, this place... something’s off!"

Chen Wen narrowed his eyes, quickly returning to observe the middle of the stagnant pond.

Adam also walked over, looking at the whirlpool in the center.

The two exchanged glances, a jolt of realization passing through them.

They both thought of a possibility simultaneously.

"There’s an underground river beneath here!"

Chen Wen spoke first, with Adam nodding repeatedly.

The two picked up their tools, aiming at the spot where the bubbles were emerging.

Chen Wen used the long spear to poke vigorously, while Adam struck the vicinity with a hatchet.

Moments later, the whirlpools and bubbles increased, and the stagnant water showed a significant seepage downwards.

"It seems there is indeed an entrance to an underground river here!"

Chen Wen grinned: "An underground river, everyone look around this area, the terrain is quite uneven, and it’s possible we might find a fractured rock layer, which could be the underground river’s outlet. If we’re lucky, the outlet might be nearby!"

Adam put away the hatchet, showing an equally delighted expression: "Exactly, everyone start searching!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately sprang into action.

After the others dispersed, Chen Wen once again had the screeching kite fly up, utilizing its flight ability to search for potential underground water outlets.

He also specifically instructed the screeching kite to pay attention to those rugged and sunken terrains.

As the screeching kite flew away, Chen Wen joined the search party.

This time, luck was on their side.

In less than ten minutes.

Chen Wen looked towards the side, seeing the screeching kite swiftly flying back.

There was a look of surprise in its eyes: "Found it!"

....

Under the lead of the screeching kite, Chen Wen arrived at the other side of the canyon with it.

"Be careful, there’s a big cliff ahead!"

The screeching kite warned Chen Wen.

And Chen Wen cautiously retracted his outstretched foot, watching the situation outside.

Just as the screeching kite said, ahead was a very deep cliff, about thirty meters high.

And in the middle part of the cliff, there was an outlet of an underground river.

Large amounts of water from the underground river flowed slowly from the break point, cascading down like a waterfall into the bottom of the cliff.

At the bottom of the cliff was a meandering river, not boasting an ample quantity of water, but it could still be considered a small stream.

"Wow, great job, screeching kite!"

Chen Wen, holding onto the rock wall, smiled happily: "This river might be one of the sources of that overflowing river before. However, descending down poses a bit of a challenge!"

Having said that, Chen Wen glanced in both left and right directions.

He noticed that the further right they went, the lower the rock wall became, and from the flow direction of the stream, the terrain to the right was relatively high as well.

"It’s that way; go check it out, see if you can find the riverbank!"

Once more, Chen Wen tasked the screeching kite.

The screeching kite flew off gladly, returning after a few minutes: "Found it! It’s not far; there’s a large open area, with both sides only being about three to five meters high!"

Perfect!

Chen Wen cheered internally and quickly retreated back into the canyon, gathering everyone.

Once everyone was assembled, he shared his findings with them.

Then, with the spirited crowd, he led them towards the riverbank.

Exiting the canyon, under the screeching kite’s guidance, everyone headed southwest for about half an hour.

Just as Fred was about to collapse.

Everyone finally found the source of the small stream.

The stream’s source was also an outlet of an underground river, and additionally, it was located in the valley of a small mountain.

The underground river’s water gushed out from the valley, forming a stream and extending as it followed the ancient river path.

"This is the place we were looking for!"

Chen Wen was overjoyed, hastily making his way towards the stream.