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墨書 Inktalez
Seeing Yao Long's anxious expression, I dared not ask more questions and pulled Hu Fang aside. Li Zhisheng and Yao Long quickly pressed themselves against the rock wall opposite me.
At that moment, a strong gust of wind suddenly rushed past my chest, carrying dust with it. The object was merely a finger's breadth away from me; if I had taken a deep breath at that moment, I might have been struck directly. It was precisely because it was so close that I could see its form even in the pitch darkness surrounding us.
It was covered in green scales, resembling a giant tiger. Each time its four sturdy legs hit the ground, I felt the earth tremble beneath us.
In the blink of an eye, the creature dashed past us. I asked Yao Long in astonishment, "What on earth is that monster?!"
Yao Long shook his head. "I don't know. Just now, I sensed danger, which is why I shot an arrow to test it. By the sound, I could gauge the size of the creature. But since it came out from below, there must be something terrifying down there. I wonder if the shopkeeper is still alive..."
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but feel worried as well. Right now, we couldn't care less about where that monster had gone; our priority was to find the shopkeeper.
Thinking this over, I said, "Yes, let's go down and see. We need to find him first before making any plans..." The others nodded in agreement.
Without further ado, we set off running toward the dark depths of the mine. Although we had our phones for light, their illumination was limited. In this seemingly bottomless mine, we felt like a lone boat adrift in a vast ocean.
As we ran, several stones suddenly fell in front of me. I quickly dodged to avoid them and came to a halt. At this point, everyone sensed that the ceiling of the mine seemed unstable and could collapse at any moment.
"Do we really have to go down? This place seems very unsafe; it might cave in..." Hu Fang expressed her concern.
Li Zhisheng added, "Yeah, if we get buried here, it would be a real problem. This place is so remote that no one would come to rescue us."
Hearing this made me waver slightly, but thinking of the shopkeeper still being down there made me feel we couldn't just abandon him. Gritting my teeth, I said, "If we turn back now, even if we survive and return home, my conscience will never be at peace. Regardless of anything else, that shopkeeper has shown us kindness despite being strangers; how can we just leave him to die? If anyone wants to leave now, you still can, but I will not turn back!"
The group sensed my determination and fell silent. They followed me as we dodged falling rocks while sprinting deeper into the mine.
Yao Long had more combat experience than us and his ability to discern sounds made avoiding falling debris easy for him. However, both Li Zhisheng and I were struck by several stones on our shoulders and foreheads; I could clearly feel warm blood trickling down from my forehead. As for Hu Fang, her anguished cries echoed throughout the mine.
I felt a pang of guilt and quickly took off my jacket, draping it over her head to lessen her suffering.
But just as we were running wildly, a sound like a wolf's howl suddenly erupted behind us, followed by a chilling wind that suggested something was chasing us.
"Go ahead! I'll hold it off!" Yao Long shouted, turning around and raising the Azure Spirit. He unleashed a flurry of arrows. The crimson arrows burst behind us, illuminating our faces with a fiery glow. It seemed Yao Long was determined to do everything he could to block whatever was pursuing us.
I knew that Yao Long was giving it his all, which meant the creature behind us was no ordinary foe. Leaving him alone would surely spell disaster.
As I contemplated stopping, Li Zhisheng suddenly slapped my shoulder and said, "Don't stop! You all keep going; I'll stay back to help him!"
Seeing Li Zhisheng take the initiative to halt, I decided not to argue. I understood that the power of Soul Burial was not much inferior to Yao Long's Void Spirit, and might even be stronger than Yao Long without using Hatred.
"Alright, just be careful. Don't push yourselves too hard; we'll meet below!" With that, I continued running alongside Hu Fang without looking back.
At that moment, explosions and crashes erupted behind us, shaking the cave even more. Rocks began to fall like rain. There was no way for me to dodge anymore; I could only cover my head with my hands and push forward.
"Hu Fang, can you still hold on?!" I asked anxiously.
She gritted her teeth and replied, "I'm fine!"
Though she said so, I could sense that she had long wanted to give up. If it weren't for my insistence on coming down here, she would have probably left already.
Just as I felt guilty, a glimmer of light appeared ahead as if something was burning. "Hurry! We should be close!" I called out ahead, "Shopkeeper! Are you down there?!"
As soon as I finished speaking, the flames flickered in front of me and emitted a muffled roar. Yet there was still no response from the shopkeeper.
Now I was even more anxious and instinctively quickened my pace, racing downwards. Suddenly, the space before me opened up into a vast circular area where someone resembling the shopkeeper stood with their back to me in the center of that space.
In front of him stood a humanoid monster towering over three men. The creature seemed to lack a head, but its body was covered in what looked like numerous snake heads, each one flicking its tongue in and out incessantly.
"Hey, boss, why did you come down here by yourself?" I asked cautiously as I stepped forward.
However, the figure resembling the shopkeeper did not respond; he didn't even move. He stood rigidly facing the monster, seemingly lost in thought.
Seeing this, I cursed under my breath and hurriedly took a couple of steps closer to him, grabbing his shoulder to turn him around.
As I did so, I was taken aback to find that it was indeed the shopkeeper, but his face was frozen in an expression of shock. "Boss! Boss! What happened to you?" I shook him vigorously, but he remained unresponsive, as stiff as a log with that astonished look still etched on his face.
At that moment, Hu Fang rushed over. She looked at the man in front of us with terror in her eyes. "Shen Xu, look... something seems to be moving inside his arm..."
Upon hearing this, I quickly stepped back from him and noticed that something appeared to be wriggling beneath the fabric of the shopkeeper's left sleeve, as if it were trying to burrow its way out...
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