Chapter 125 - 102: Giant Tree and Black Pool! The Blood-tooth Python Appears Again! An Extraordinary Artifact is Successfully Forged
A few of the members looked around at the empty scenery and started complaining.
"It doesn’t look like there’s anything good here. Besides this giant tree, the bottom of the sinkhole is completely bare."
"You can barely even see any weeds down here. The ground is covered in fallen leaves, all rotten. No wonder the Fighting Club said this place was full of snakes. This kind of environment is a favorite for those crawlers."
"I think the Blood Python never returned to its lair after fighting the Giant Eagle. Does this look like a place that could hide such a behemoth?"
"Exactly. It either ran off to hide somewhere else or died in some corner of the jungle. Even the smaller snakes didn’t come back, so the Blood Python probably bolted too."
"Why don’t we just leave? So many students came before and didn’t find anything good. Our chances are probably slim too. Besides, this place feels so gloomy. I’m getting goosebumps..."
The young man leading them looked grim. He had been so ambitious when they set out, but they hadn’t found a single damn thing.
"Damn, what a shithole. I walked for hours to get here. What a waste of time."
After speaking, he kicked out in frustration, sending a rock on the ground flying into the deep pool of water in the sinkhole...
PLONK—
The rock fell into the pool, making a deep, muffled echo.
"Listen to that sound. This pool must be pretty deep, huh?"
Seeing this, another member’s interest was piqued. He spotted a larger rock nearby, quickly picked it up, and threw it down.
This time, the muffled echo of the rock hitting the water was even louder.
"Wait for me! I’ll find an even bigger rock. The sound it makes will definitely be louder than yours..."
The boys actually started playing around, tossing several rocks down one after another.
Finally, a girl spoke up timidly, "Stop throwing them. This pool is so deep, and the color is terrifying. What if there’s a monster inside and you lure it out? That would be terrible."
A boy who had just thrown a rock said dismissively, "You’re just too timid. There aren’t that many monsters. What do you think this is, the Giant Catfish from the great river? Besides, we’re not getting in the water, so what’s there to be afraid of?"
Another boy chimed in, "Don’t tell me you think the giant python is hiding in there? If it could come out, it would have already! It wouldn’t have waited for us. How else would all those people who came before have gotten back alive?"
"Exactly. Normal beasts are territorial, and Extraordinary Creatures are even more so. It’s definitely not here. And even if it was, injured as it is, it’d be half-dead. If it dares to show its head, I’ll stab it to death and reap a huge haul of Rare Cards..."
The group of them laughed.
The girl was left speechless by their retorts. However, a few of the boys frowned and stepped forward.
"I think Li Yu is right. We shouldn’t stay here any longer. Let’s go."
"Stop throwing rocks. It’s better to let sleeping dogs lie. Just coming here was a huge risk. Don’t go looking for more trouble."
The few who were having fun immediately got defensive.
"Dude, if you’re scared, then leave. No one’s stopping you."
"Yeah, seriously. It’s one thing for a girl to be timid, but a bunch of grown guys acting so scared? I can’t believe it..."
"You!" one of them started to get angry but was held back by the person next to him.
"Forget it, forget it. If they don’t want to leave, we will. We just teamed up temporarily anyway."
"Let’s go. Don’t mind them..."
And just like that, the few boys and the girl who had tried to stop them started walking out of the depression. After a moment’s thought, a few others followed them.
The team had been formed on the fly. They didn’t know each other well, so they could part ways at any moment.
And now, a difference of opinion had split them right in two...
The team of over twenty people was instantly reduced by half.
After the departing group was a good distance away, the ten or so people who remained had also grown tired of their game.
They tossed down the last rock and dusted off their hands.
"Alright, we’ve had our fun. Let’s head back too."
"Let’s go, let’s go. There’s nothing here. We came all this way for nothing."
"I wonder where that Blood Python went. It’d be a shame if it really died in some godforsaken corner. I was hoping to pick up the Cards it dropped."
"Yeah, even if it wasn’t dead, just half-dead, it’d be great if we ran into it, hahaha..."
Just as they turned to leave, nobody noticed that even though no more rocks were falling into the water, a string of bubbles was rising from the bottom of the blackish-green pool.
The surface of the water, which should have been calming, began to ripple more and more violently, sending out distinct waves.
A massive black shadow appeared at the bottom of the pool, and it was growing larger...
「...」
"Brother Chong, give me a hand! I’m afraid of heights, my legs are weak..."
At the summit of the desolate mountain, on the last section of rock face that needed to be climbed, Chen Chong gripped Xu Jun’s hand tightly and pulled him up.
"For fuck’s sake, you’re afraid of heights and you didn’t say so sooner?"
"The thing is, you never asked!"
"I..."
Chen Chong was speechless. ’Did I really fucking need to ask?’
’I said we were going to the Stone Claw Eagle’s nest at the top of the desolate mountain. Isn’t it obvious that means we’d have to climb?’
Although the journey had been exhausting and Xu Jun had repeatedly cried that he couldn’t go on, he had thankfully managed to push through his limits and reach the base of the mountain.
But the climb up was sheer torture.
Not for Xu Jun, but for Chen Chong.
The path up the desolate mountain was extremely treacherous. The cliff faces were incredibly steep, and a single misstep could send you plummeting.
Staring down at the endless abyss below, Xu Jun kept yelling that he wanted to go back down.
’But how could that be an option!?’
’I can’t carry the Blood-tooth Python’s fang by myself; it’ll take at least two people.’
And so, after a great deal of coaxing and threatening, Xu Jun finally persevered and made it to the top.