Chapter 314: Muscle-Devouring and Bone-Eating

"Grab the veins... I mean, grab the vines and come out!" He Lingchuan slid down the rock wall. His hand had barely reached out when he pulled it back. "Right, put on gloves!"

His skin immediately burned upon touching the rock wall, feeling roasted and slightly numb.

There was also some sticky fluid on his palm.

He Lingchuan quickly took out some medicinal powder and sprinkled it on his hand. After a foamy residue appeared, he rinsed his palm with his waterskin, and the pain subsided somewhat.

This corrosive fluid contained acid, making it dangerous.

For guards on duty, gloves were essential. Once everyone put on their gloves, they could touch the rock wall without harm.

The team slid down the rock wall for over three meters before discovering a massive grotto below, at the bottom of which lay a murky, viscous pool!

The pool water occasionally bubbled, clearly indicating it was not something to be trifled with.

Liu Tiao suddenly exclaimed, "Look at the pool!"

She extended the bundle of glowing grass as far forward as possible. As the light illuminated the area, everyone saw that the pool was far from still; something was constantly churning beneath the surface.

What could it be, white tinged with red?

Just then, one of them surfaced, allowing everyone a grim, detailed look.

It was a human.

Strictly speaking, it was the upper torso of a corpse, severed at the sternum. Its flayed flesh hung loosely, no longer concealing the bone.

Half of the face had dissolved, while the other half still bore flesh, its mouth curved into a grotesque smile, as if mocking them. But the eyes were gone, leaving only two empty sockets.

A newly recruited guard retched violently.

Everyone else fought back the urge to vomit, and even Slim quickly covered his mouth.

Disjointed limbs, severed arms, and flesh torn from bone littered the entire bottom of the pool!

Clearly, this was where the Jindu hatchlings deposited the humans they captured for digestion.

From their perspective, the scene was monstrous and gruesome, akin to the fabled Blood Pool Hell.

Menban muttered, "Just how many people has this thing devoured?"

They had encountered many man-eating creatures before, but none consumed their prey with such gluttonous abandon as this one.

The young guard was still retching uncontrollably, unable to stop. Just as Menban was about to remind him not to bend over too far, something suddenly flashed from the rock wall behind the young man!

"Look out!"

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Their comrade, standing at a lower position, was violently shoved by the creature and plunged into the pool.

The guard reacted quickly, instinctively grabbing the thing that pushed him and dragging it down with him.

It was the Jindu hatchling from earlier.

With a muffled splash, both fell into the water.

The splash was minimal due to the viscous nature of the pool water.

The guard immediately thrashed in the pool, letting out loud wails of agony.

He Lingchuan had only felt a stinging sensation when his palm touched the rock wall. For the guard to fall completely into it, the pain must have been amplified tenfold.

When he surfaced, his head, face, and clothes were all faintly smoking.

The Jindu hatchling had separated from the guard upon impact with the water. Using the commotion as cover, it sank to the bottom and vanished instantly. This was its territory, and the corrosive environment had no ill effect on it; in fact, it seemed to invigorate the creature.

With its prey now in the water, it saw no need to engage in a struggle; it could simply wait for the human to be dissolved by the pool.

These humans would eventually become its rich sustenance.

The moment the guard fell, Menban quickly pulled out a coil of rope and threw it down, shouting, "Grab on!"

But the man's eyes had been submerged when he fell, and the corrosive water had blinded him, leaving him unable to see the rope. The intense pain throughout his body also left him disoriented.

Liu Tiao frowned and simply fired a sleeve arrow.

Her aim was excellent; the arrow accurately pierced the fallen man's left arm, then sprang open with a *thunk*, securing a firm hold.

The man cried out in pain again. Liu Tiao, her face grim, pressed the mechanism to retract the line and forcefully pulled the man out of the pool.

The grappling hook's rope was incredibly strong and less susceptible to the pool's corrosive effects, and the arrowhead was completely unaffected.

It seemed the pool wasn't very effective at dissolving metal.

However, just as she was bending over and straining to pull the man, something appeared on the rock wall behind her.

A claw materialized out of thin air, attempting to shove her into the pool as well.

Liu Tiao was using one hand to pull the man and the other to cling to a vine, leaving her with no free hand to fend off the attack.

However, they wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Slim had anticipated this; the moment Liu Tiao bent down to pull the man, he swiftly slid down. The instant the claw touched Liu Tiao's shoulder, Slim plunged a pickaxe into its hand, pulling it outward with force!

There was no need for prior discussion; this was the unspoken understanding developed over years of working together. All four were ready.

The monster's skin wasn't as tough as its kin. With that swing, green blood splattered, a few drops hitting Slim's face. He winced in pain, his eye twitching twice, but he didn't instinctively turn away. Intelligence indicated that each Jindu hatchling possessed different abilities, meaning none should be underestimated.

As expected, the Jindu hatchling let out a howl and lunged at him.

It didn't matter to the creature which opponent it tackled. However, at that moment, the sound of a mechanism came from behind, and another sleeve arrow struck, piercing a bloody hole in its shoulder blade!

He Lingchuan had acted.

Being wealthy, he had purchased specialized arrowheads from the Spirit Isle artifact shop that far surpassed Liu Tiao's in hardness, strength, and penetration. Although the cunning merchant, Bai Guo, had charged him a hefty sum, she had indeed provided quality goods. This arrowhead, after piercing the monster's shoulder, exploded and hooked firmly, and the attached rope remained intact despite the creature's corrosive bodily fluids.

With a successful hit, He Lingchuan yanked the grappling hook back. Learning from the previous lesson, he wouldn't give the monster a second chance to escape.

Thus, Slim and He Lingchuan hooked onto opposite sides of its body, each pulling forcefully in a different direction.

The creature was effectively pinned. Although it thrashed desperately, there was no hope of it breaking free.

At this moment, Menban pointed to a large opening about nine meters away.

"Get over there and help him!"

Strictly speaking, it wasn't a hole but rather a recess, though it was more than spacious enough to hold four or five people.

The rescued guard was smoking faintly, and though conscious, he was trembling uncontrollably from the pain.

The captured monster, naturally, struggled like mad. The rock wall was already steep and difficult to stand on, and Slim, not as strong as He Lingchuan, was dragged several times.

At that moment, He Lingchuan longed for the enchanted binding rope his father possessed. With it, securing the creature would take less than two breaths.

Fortunately, Menban arrived. He was a large man, and his equipment was equally robust. He now produced two heavy chains: one he used to shackle the monster's legs, and the other to bind its arms. As He Lingchuan loosened his grip, Menban tightened his, securing the monster's arms as well.

These two sets of chains could also interlock, further restricting the monster's movement.

This double-knot lock was most effective for capturing ape-like monsters, and it seemed to work just as well on the Jindu hatchling.

Fearing it might sink if it touched the rock wall, Menban simply hoisted it onto his back.

The monster shrieked loudly, kicking the rock wall repeatedly.

Then, the entire cave began to writhe.

It was genuinely writhing, contracting and grinding in all directions according to a strange rhythm.

This place was actually cooperating with the Jindu hatchling to attack them! The guards were startled and scrambled toward the recess.

Midway, one guard lost his footing, hit his forehead on the rock wall, and reeled backward.

Below him was the pool.

Fortunately, He Lingchuan was nearby. With quick reflexes, he grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him up.

The guard was pale with fright. "Th-thank you!" he stammered.

"Move!" He Lingchuan snapped, with no time for pleasantries. "Now!"

The group, in a chaotic scramble, jumped into the recess. The injured guard was then tasked with holding the monster while Menban and Slim carefully removed his clothes and sprinkled medicinal powder on him. "Can you still manage?" Menban asked.

"I can… but my eyes, I can't see," the young man stammered, trembling all over. Some of the corrosive liquid had also entered his mouth, burning it and making his speech slurred.

He was only sixteen. If he went blind, how would he live his life?

Liu Tiao patted his shoulder, her voice firm. "You closed your eyes in time. With some medicine afterward, you'll probably be fine."

The young man visibly calmed down, taking a pinch of the medicinal powder to clear his mouth.

Menban pointed at the young man, looking at Liu Tiao with a puzzled expression that clearly asked, "Are you serious?"

Liu Tiao gave him an exasperated glare and mouthed back:

"How should I know?"

In a perilous situation like this, should she not encourage him, but just let him break down or give up?

He Lingchuan, keeping a vigilant watch, suddenly announced, "Our way back is sealed."

Everyone looked up and saw that the path they had used to descend had indeed narrowed into a mere crack and was rapidly vanishing.

The guard holding the monster said anxiously, "We can't see an exit. How do we get out?"

Their path back was gone, and below them was a man-eating pool. How could any of them escape this place alive?

"If this mine tunnel is a mimicry of a human body created by the Jindu hatchling," He Lingchuan posited, a statement no one disputed, "then we must be inside its 'stomach.'"

"That's right," Liu Tiao affirmed, also surveying their surroundings. "Then there should originally be two passages here: one at the bottom of the pool..."

Everyone looked at the pool, none believing it would offer a viable escape route.

"The other passage should be directly above us," Liu Tiao continued. She tied a bundle of glowing grass to an arrow, drew her bow to full tension, and fired it upward.

The illuminated arrow flew for about twelve meters. The group saw no opening directly above the grotto, but noticed a large, concave fold diagonally above.

"That's the cardia," Slim murmured with a sigh, "the junction between the esophagus and the stomach. We'll only be able to climb out once it opens, right?"

"Even if we could climb up there, the passage beyond would be almost vertical," Menban acknowledged, realizing the difficulty. "This 'body' has a bad temper; it won't let us ascend easily."

The guard holding the monster couldn't help but ask, "So, what exactly are we going to do?"

The others exchanged glances.

Liu Tiao walked up to the monster. "Can this thing understand human speech?" she asked.

"According to the intelligence we've gathered, some of them can," Menban replied.

"The city's intelligence is getting less reliable," Liu Tiao grumbled. "'Some can' – does that mean some can't?" She snapped two fingers in front of the Jindu hatchling. "Can you understand me? Lead us out, and you might live."

The Jindu hatchling quieted.

A chance? Liu Tiao raised an eyebrow, thinking her luck might be in.

To her surprise, the Jindu hatchling immediately spat at her with a wet *splat*.

She dodged instantly, and the green saliva splattered against the rock wall.