Chapter 2014 - 1828: They All Have Inner Cores? (2)
Song Yun shrugged, grinning.
The more he smiled, the more Gude hated it.
Gude originally wanted to order the two werewolves carrying the stretcher to put Song Yun down, but was afraid of Nie Wushuang’s reprimand.
He gave Song Yun a fierce glare, too lazy to say more, snorted coldly, turned around, and walked forward, thinking to himself: "I hope to run into people from the Dark Holy See and the Desla Family, so they can kill you, bastard."
Just then, the passage ahead gradually widened, suddenly opening up, and voices could be heard from the front.
"Damn it, we lost four people just to take down that big creature."
"I never thought there’d be such a thing here; that monstrous bird-like creature had strength comparable to a lower Marquis."
"Four dead, we have six left, and all are injured. If we encounter the Desla Family or people from Wolf Castle, it will be trouble."
Hearing this, Song Yun’s group understood.
Ahead, there were people from the Dark Holy See.
Just at this moment, someone there suddenly shouted: "Who? Come out here!"
"Who, come out here."
The Dark Holy See people issued a loud shout, and six of them looked toward the passage where Song Yun’s group was.
Luckily, they had already heard the talking ahead and hid behind rocks, so the other party could not see them.
"I’ll go check it out."
A member of the Dark Holy See stepped towards them.
The footsteps thudded, not fast, but like stepping on the heart, causing it to contract and nerves to tense.
Just when Song Yun thought a fight was inevitable, Gude reached into his chest, pulling out a squirrel and releasing it.
The squirrel squeaked, panicking and running aimlessly, rushed under the Dark Holy See member’s foot, and was stomped to death.
Seeing the squirrel die, Nie Wushuang frowned, showing compassion, almost crying out in surprise.
Emily quickly covered Nie Wushuang’s mouth, gently shook her head, signaling her to keep silent.
"It’s just a squirrel."
The person from the Dark Holy See who came to check relaxed and returned.
"It’s strange; this place is full of rocks, airtight, and without trees. Where did the squirrel come from?"
"Perhaps the squirrel dug a hole and came down."
"Forget it, let’s talk about serious matters. There are eight passages in total, all converging here. We don’t know if other passages have fierce creatures like that monstrous bird stopping the Desla Family and Wolf Castle."
"We can’t be sure; maybe there’s nothing in those passages."
"From the footprints on the ground, someone has already walked ahead of us, don’t know who."
"Whoever it is, we must hurry, otherwise, the Ice Crystal Holy Grail might be taken by them."
"Let’s go, can’t waste any more time."
Footsteps gradually faded, and the people from the Dark Holy See left.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Gude peeked out and said: "It’s alright now, they’ve left."
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
Nie Wushuang ran out from behind the hiding rocks, and her first action was to check the dead squirrel. She saw the squirrel squashed, its innards and blood splattered.
She looked back at Gude, dissatisfied: "Gude, how could you?"
Gude frowned: "Miss Wushuang, if not for that squirrel, we might have been discovered by the Dark Holy See’s people."
Nie Wushuang said: "So what if we were discovered? Since we’re here for the Ice Crystal Holy Grail, we’ll fight them sooner or later."
Gude replied: "That’s true, but if we wait for them to fight with the Desla Family to the point of mutual destruction and then act, isn’t it more beneficial for us? So right now, we need to preserve our strength."
Nie Wushuang understood Gude’s point and said no more, digging a hole to bury the squirrel and said: "What should we do next?"
Everyone stopped, showing thoughts of contemplation.
Song Yun lay on the stretcher, observing the surroundings.
This was a vast underground cave, with only sporadic glow grass around, not very bright.
Above was pitch black, its height unknown, and all around was a dark expanse, with no end in sight.
It seemed like this world had only blackness, nothing else.
Behind them were eight passages.
Above the passages were Chinese characters written sequentially: one, two, three... up to eight.
The passage they emerged from corresponded with the Chinese character for seven.
Clearly, after descending the well, any of the eight passages would eventually lead them here.
What was the intention of those who built this place?
Song Yun quickly figured it out.
The people from the Dark Holy See mentioned encountering a strange fierce bird, comparable to a lower Marquis.
This means that each of the eight passages had different monstrous beasts guarding them, blocking those who tried to enter.
Perhaps those beasts would fight each other if together, so the builders placed them along eight passages.
Or maybe some passages had no beast guardians—it was up to the luck of those who came.
By the way, the flood snake had an inner core, did the fierce bird have one?
Song Yun’s eyes lit up, glancing back at the eight passages. From the footprints on the ground, there were prints on passage one and four; which one the Dark Holy See came from was still uncertain.
Furthermore, there was another group faster than the Dark Holy See.
A flood snake’s inner core allowed Song Yun to ascend from late stage Level SS to a peak.
Obtaining a few more inner cores would undoubtedly be beneficial.
However, now was clearly not the time to collect inner cores, for Song Yun’s most important goal in this journey was to obtain the Ice Crystal Holy Grail.
That item could directly elevate one to Level S.
"The remaining seven passages might hold seven inner cores, and I will eventually get them all."
Song Yun silently thought, retracting his thoughts.
At this moment, Gude took out a compass and flashlight, glanced into the darkness ahead, and said to everyone: "Let’s go, keep moving."
"Right, we must hurry, or someone else will get ahead."
Nie Wushuang nodded, appearing a bit anxious.
She had gone through so much for the Ice Crystal Holy Grail and didn’t want someone else to grab it.
The others all agreed with Gude’s viewpoint.
However, Song Yun shook his head: "Wait."
Everyone looked at him, and Gude glared: "Wait for what?"
Song Yun ignored Gude and turned to Nie Wushuang and Emily: "It’s pitch black here, unknown dangers ahead; maybe the Dark Holy See is lurking, waiting to ambush us when we proceed."
Gude coldly said: "Coward, if you don’t dare to go forward, then go back because we don’t want to carry you."
Saying this, he turned to walk forward, saying: "Follow me, everyone."
Nie Wushuang hesitated; she lacked experience and didn’t know how to decide.
But in the end, her desire for the Ice Crystal Holy Grail prevailed.
She said to Song Yun: "The Dark Holy See’s people left twenty minutes ago; it’s dark ahead, but there has been no movement. If we’re careful, it should be fine."
Song Yun thought about it, saying: "Alright, but be careful, you and Emily."
Upon hearing this, Nie Wushuang quickly called for two to carry Song Yun’s stretcher, and the group continued forward.
Guided by the compass, they moved in the same direction.
Although it was dark ahead, some glow grass was around, and the flashlight illumination made the ground path visible.
After walking for about half an hour, Gude glanced back at Song Yun on the stretcher, showing a smug expression, sneering disdainfully: "Hmph, didn’t you say there’s an ambush? From what I see, you’re just a coward."
"Ah!"
Just as Gude finished speaking, a scream rang out from the crowd.
Immediately, someone fell.
Everyone looked, seeing that person’s neck was slashed; blood pouring, eyes rolled back—dead.
An ambush, there was indeed an ambush!
Everyone was suddenly shocked.
Gude quickly shouted: "Be careful, everyone, it’s the Dark Holy See’s Shadow Assassin."