Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The cricket struggled as hard as it could, but eventually, the ruby on its head began to shine. And then, something else appeared on the creature’s head.
Han Sen saw a one-meter-wide red saw manifest. It began to spin around and around like a rotor, trimming all the vines that had ensnared it. The Holy Vines were thick like arms, but they were weed-whacked away in just a couple of seconds.
Han Sen ran. There were no other creatures around to occupy the cricket and buy him the time to build up a coin with immense power. He knew there was no hope of fighting the cricket under the circumstances.
While the red cricket was still trapped, Han Sen wanted to run as far as he could, and hopefully get out of its sight for good. But after two miles of running, Han Sen heard the Tzi Tzi sounds again. It was catching up swiftly.
The scariest thing was that its ruby saws were still spinning as it pursued Han Sen. If it could tear the Holy Vines to shreds, Han Sen would be sliced in two with little to no effort.
Han Sen kept on running, but the cricket was closing the gap. The situation became even worse when Han Sen noticed he was racing towards a dead end.
“D*mn it!” Han Sen thought to himself. He scanned the walls all around, hoping there was a passage he could slip into and keep up the escape.
There were so many caves and tunnels in the Underworld, but unfortunately, this one big wall didn’t have the slightest crevice.
Han Sen ducked to the left. Fortunately, there, the cave was wide and he did not have to go back.
Han Sen stopped after a few more steps. Nothing was blocking him or anything, but the cricket had stopped thirty meters away from him.
If Han Sen ran back now, the distance between him and the cricket would reduce.
The redheaded cricket screeched and squealed at Han Sen, but it did not move or come any closer. As Han Sen thought the scenario strange, and pondered what it meant, Bao’er said, “Dad, look behind you.”
“Isn’t that just a wall?” Han Sen wondered, but he still looked back. And what he saw gave him a shock.
The uneven wall that seemed comprised of discs was actually populated by a number of shells. The shellfish on the wall were all opening up, revealing the red meat that was inside them.
There were many of them, all within a few hundred meters. And they all opened up their shells, showing off the sickly red meat inside.
Some of these Stoneshells had pearls inside. The jewels they possessed were the size of a man’s fist and had a pinkish hue.
Han Sen didn’t plan to take anything, of course. He couldn’t even tell what level the Stoneshells were, but the cricket must have had a reason to stop chasing him. Han Sen wagered it must have had something to do with the shells.
Han Sen gave them a scan with his Dongxuan Aura, but the results surprised him. While there were a few sacred-blood variants amongst them, the horde of shells was primarily composed of primitive and mutant types.
They didn’t seem like the sort of enemy the cricket might fear. The fact that the cricket had stopped perplexed Han Sen.
Han Sen was sandwiched, with a cricket behind him and a wall comprised of shells in front of him. While the Stoneshells did not seem that strong, there had to be something wrong with them that made the cricket not dare take a step closer. They must have had a special power or something, that struck fear into the hearts of super creatures.
As Han Sen wondered what was going on, the meat of each shell reached out like a tongue. They were all going right for Han Sen.
You could not imagine how strange it was to have a wall full of wretched tongues reach out for you. The tongues were incredibly stretchy, and they became longer and longer as if their lengths were infinite.
Han Sen saw the meat and saw the cricket. Defiantly standing his ground, he pulled out Taia to cut the tongues down.
The shells were not very powerful, and Han Sen was thankful they were foes he was able to deal with. He knew for sure he could not take out the red cricket.
Taia’s sharpness was useless in the Fourth God’s Sanctuary, but its hardness was still good enough. If you had enough power, the weapon could still be useful. With Taia and his strength, Han Sen was able to cut through the incoming tongues. After the blade was driven through, they immediately fell to the ground and stopped moving.
Where the tongues had been cut would profusely bleed pink blood. They reeled back to their shells with alarming speed, to lick their wounds.
“They really are just mutant creatures. They don’t seem very strong.” Han Sen was happy to learn how weak they were.
Han Sen continued to wave Taia, dropping all the tongues coming for him. After a while, they all gave up.
“The shells aren’t very special. What is the cricket afraid of?” Han Sen asked himself, observing the cricket.
The red cricket was slowly stepping backward.
But this just gave Han Sen a heightened chill. Although it had not been revealed, he knew there was something up with the shells. It could not have been that simple.
Before Han Sen could turn around to take a look, the entire cavern began to shake and rumble. Rocks broke from the ceiling, falling down dangerously.
Han Sen dodged the falling stones and took a look at the wall. His eyes opened wide with shock, and he found himself immediately running back towards the cricket.
Now Han Sen understood what the cricket was afraid of, and he’d much rather fight the insect than the new threat.
