At this time, the group of people on the platform also recovered and stepped off the platform one after another. The two groups of people gathered at the giant lizard, but both sides seemed to have some scruples and neither took the lead to say hello. There were eight people on the other side, seven men and one woman, three men were armed, and the remaining five were unarmed. Two men and one woman were young people, one was middle-aged, and one was over sixty years old. These five people looked a bit bookish and looked like experts and scholars. They all looked at Ning Xiaofan and Ning Xiaofan nervously and curiously. As for the young woman, she was none other than Ning Xiaofan's beautiful neighbor Li Wanting. Li Wanting was wearing a warm jacket, but there were many tatters on the surface of the jacket, giving people a very embarrassed feeling. At this moment, she was also looking at Ning Xiaofan and the others with curiosity, but Ning Xiaofan's face was so dark that she didn't recognize them yet. At this time, the other three men holding automatic rifles looked wary, and the automatic rifles in their hands were raised a little intentionally or unintentionally. Ning Xiaofan originally wanted to say hello to Li Wanting, but seeing that the three armed men were not very friendly, he temporarily gave up the idea. The fat man and Hou San also looked cautiously, raising the guns in their hands slightly. Their guns were not pointed at the other two, but only at the leader of the other party. Both sides pointed their guns vaguely at each other, and the atmosphere became tense. However, Ning Xiaofan already knew the identity of the other party, so he acted more relaxed. "Are you a prospecting team?" the middle-aged man with a somewhat scholarly temperament asked slightly nervously. Ning Xiaofan was about to respond, but the fat man standing aside responded first: "Yes, we are the advance prospecting team. "You are" "We are a joint inspection team," the middle-aged man replied quickly. "A joint inspection team? Are you from Jiangnan University? A joint inspection team sponsored by Xin'ao?" It was Ning Xiaofan who spoke this time. "Hey, how did you know that we are from Jiangnan University?" the middle-aged man said with surprise in his eyes. Ning Xiaofan glanced at Li Wanting intentionally or unintentionally, and smiled slightly: "We are a prospecting team belonging to Xin'ao." "Are you from Xin'ao?" The middle-aged man was startled at first, then said with surprise in his eyes: "How dare you? , We are a family, a family" "You said you are from Xin'ao, what proof of identity do you have?" The man on the other side called the boss suddenly asked, still maintaining a vigilant look. Ning Xiaofan immediately took out his ID card, walked over, and handed the ID card to the man with the gun. There was a photo and the name and occupation of the cardholder on the ID card. The man with the gun took a quick look at it and recognized the Xin'ao logo on it. The look on his face relaxed slightly and he said apologetically: "It turns out to be Assistant Ning. I'm sorry, we suffered a little loss not long ago, so we asked you to confirm your identity." Ning Xiaofan said disapprovingly: "You should be careful when going out." "As long as you understand, I will introduce myself first. Wait, my name is Yang Hai, a security officer from the Xin'ao Overseas Branch, responsible for the security of the joint expedition team. By the way, I haven't thanked you for rescuing us just now. Thank you. Ning Xiaofan smiled slightly: "It's a small matter, you." I said before that I suffered some losses not long ago. What happened? The man with the gun darkened slightly and sighed: "When we were camping last night, we were attacked by a team and several people were killed. Fortunately, the team recognized that we were not a prospecting team, so no one rushed to kill us. Otherwise, more people will die. "Is this the beginning of the elimination of dissidents? How many people died? Ning Xiaofan felt a chill in his heart when he heard this, and asked, "Did you recognize the other party's identity?" The man with the gun said bitterly: "It was far away at the time. I only knew that the other party was a prospecting team, and there were several foreign members among them. , It should be a foreign prospecting team. " "Foreign team? Didn't they say they were going into the mine in batches? " " I don't know. I heard that there were several advance teams yesterday morning. We arrived at noon yesterday. Base No. 1, we originally planned to rest for a few days before entering the tiankeng, but then we were notified at short notice that there were geological changes inside the tiankeng and we had to go down to the tiankeng in advance. We went down into the tiankeng around 3 p.m., and there were ten other people with me. There are multiple teams, but each team takes a different route.¡± After listening to Yang Hai¡¯s words, Ning Xiaofan suddenly realized that it had only been a day and a night since he entered the sinkhole, but he came all the way. Not only was it dark in this sinkhole, and it was difficult to tell the difference between day and night, but many things happened, making it feel like several days had passed. And when the team that set out later could meet up with our own team, it was obvious that either we had taken the wrong route, or there was another route that was closer to here. In his mind, Ning Xiaofan asked again: "Well, where are you going?" "Like you, you have to go to the grotto first and then decide."??Inspection route. "The man with the gun said, hesitating slightly and said: "Since you are the Xin'ao prospecting team, you can be regarded as your own, I wonder if we can go together? You also know that we only have three armed security personnel left. If we want to protect these experts, our strength is somewhat weak. " Ning Xiaofan pondered for a moment and said, "It's not impossible to travel together, but you need to obey the arrangements. " "This" Yang Hai glanced at the middle-aged man standing not far away, and said with a troubled expression: "I have no problem with my two subordinates, but I am not the leader of our team. You have to communicate with our team leader. one time. " "Then let your team leader communicate with me. " "A moment, please. " After Yang Hai finished speaking, he walked over to the middle-aged man. After chatting with the middle-aged man in a low voice for a few words, he walked over to the middle-aged man again. "Hello, my surname is Wang. Wang Zhipeng, manager of the development department of Xinao headquarters. "The middle-aged man who called himself Wang Zhipeng took the initiative to reach out to Ning Xiaofan, but his expression was slightly reserved. "Ning Xiaofan, assistant manager of the development department of Xinao Jiangnan Branch, leader of the advance prospecting team. "Ning Xiaofan reached out and shook his hand. Wang Zhipeng smiled reservedly: "Hello, Xiao Ning, right? I just heard Yang Baoan say that we can go to the grotto with you? " "That's what happened. " "That's good, that's good, let me make some arrangements first. It's almost noon now. Let's find a place to rest first. " Ning Xiaofan was startled when he heard this and said quickly: "Wait a minute, didn't Yang Baoan tell you? If you are traveling with us, you must obey our arrangements. " "I will obey your arrangements? Wang Zhipeng frowned slightly: "Speaking of Xiao Ning, aren't you being a little pushy by saying this?" You have to know that according to our status in the company, I should be your boss. Speaking of which, you should also follow my arrangements. " This guy didn't seem to understand the situation. Ning Xiaofan felt unhappy and said calmly: "Manager Wang, I admit that your position is higher than mine. However, this is not a company, but a mining area. As the team leader, I have to work for you. My team is responsible for safety. If you don't obey the arrangement, then go your own way. " "How could you do this? "Wang Zhipeng looked slightly stunned and said: "You are just the leader of a small team, why do you want us to follow your arrangements? If you do this again, I will report it to the superiors based on your current performance when you get back. When the time comes, if you lose your job, don't blame me for not reminding you in advance. " "It's up to you. Since you don't want to follow the arrangement, then let's go our separate ways. " In Ning Xiaofan's heart, he only cared about Teacher Li's safety and was too lazy to talk to the guy in front of him, so he turned to look at Li Wanting. At this time, Li Wanting was standing next to the giant lizard's body, her gaze blank. Pay attention here, but you and another man in their 60s were looking at the giant lizard corpse. Two of the younger men were still shaking their heads and making comments. Ning Xiaofan bypassed Wang Zhipeng and walked straight to Li Wanting. He said before: "Teacher Li, come with us." When Li Wanting saw Ning Xiaofan suddenly walking up to her and asking herself to follow him, she was stunned for a moment, and then there was a hint of surprise in her eyes: "Xiaofan, you are Xiaofan." "Fan?" At this time, she heard Ning Xiaofan's voice, but Ning Xiaofan's face was too dirty and she didn't dare to confirm it. Ning Xiaofan was also stunned. She hadn't recognized him yet. Then she realized that her face was a little dirty. She quickly wiped it with her sleeves a few times and grinned, "It's not me, Teacher Li. I didn't expect to meet you here. "It's okay that Ning Xiaofan didn't wipe his face. With this wipe, his face looked like a tabby cat, which made him look even more dirty. However, his black and white, slightly shy eyes made him look more dirty. Li Wanting was even more sure and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "You are really a kid. I heard that you went into the tiankeng early yesterday morning, and I asked if I could meet you" While the two were talking, Li Wanting stood beside her. The old man in his sixties next to him saw the two of them chatting and laughing happily, and said with doubts in his eyes: "Teacher Li, do you know each other?" "Yes, I am his landlord. Oh, by the way, let me introduce to you, this is My neighbor, Ning Xiaofan" Li Wanting said, and introduced Ning Xiaofan: "Xiaofan, this is Professor Zhao from Jiangnan University" "Hello, Professor Zhao," Ning Xiaofan said politely. Say hello. "Oh, okay." Professor Zhao seemed to be more interested in the giant lizard, so he said perfunctorily, and his attention turned to the corpse of the giant lizard. Li Wanting smiled apologetically at Ning Xiaofan: "Professor Zhao is an expert in the field of biology. When he saw something like this, he couldn't care less about you. Don't be offended." "How can you? This is professionalism and deserves admiration. "Ning Xiaofan smiled and said: "Teacher Li, I heard that you are going to the grotto first, and you happen to be on the same road as us, why don't you come with my team?It¡¯s over. "