Chapter 461: You Chase, I Flee

**Chapter 460: You Chase, I Flee**

Jiao Yu shook his head. General Antelope leaned closer, sniffed, and even licked it. "It seems to be a mineral."

He Lingchuan glanced at the creature, surprised it wasn't afraid of poisoning. General Antelope seemed to read his mind and replied, "The toxins from earth, metals, and herbs don't affect us much."

What an impressive talent for a Driller Beast, He Lingchuan thought. He used his knife tip to scrape off a good amount of powder. It was red... stone powder? The color was like liver-red. Had he seen this somewhere before?

He called Zhao Dazui over and asked, "What is this?"

Zhao Dazui also looked bewildered. Wasn't it perfectly normal for random minerals to grow in such a cave?

He Lingchuan then took out a small bottle from his pocket, poured out a mixture of mud and red powder, and said to Jiao Yu, "Smell this powder." Fortunately, Jiao Yu didn't know where these things came from. He leaned in, sniffed carefully, and nodded, "It's the same as what you scraped off the stone. Where did you get it?"

"Just after entering Chi Yan territory, Fu Shanyue and I killed a sheep thief. He had this powder on him."

Jiao Yu understood. "He's been around here?"

"Very likely." He Lingchuan scraped more powder from the stone to collect it. "Let's figure out what this is when we get back." He felt a sense of relief. After all these days, he finally had a usable clue.

Just then, the whinnying cries of the Rock Goat echoed down from the crevice. Having spent a long time with this spirit mount, He Lingchuan could discern its emotions and sensed its cries were filled with alarm.

"Bad news, something's happening up there!"

The Spirit-Capturing Mirror automatically translated for him: "Come up quickly! There's something down there, right behind you!"

He Lingchuan immediately felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The culprit actually knew they were here?

Zhao Dazui, of course, couldn't hear what the Spirit-Capturing Mirror said, but he was also startled. "We, we should go back quickly!" he said, turning to leave. Jiao Yu and General Antelope were about to follow, but He Lingchuan shook his head. "Why take the long way around when there's a shortcut?"

Daylight could shine down from above; they were only separated from the surface by a narrow crevice. However, this crevice was very narrow and largely collapsed by boulders. He Lingchuan had prepared a large hammer for today's journey, which he now took out from his storage ring. He tried smashing it twice, causing a cascade of rocks to fall from above, almost burying him in dust.

Zhao Dazui couldn't help but say, "My lord, you can't get out from here." It wasn't out of schadenfreude; this lord truly lacked common sense. Above them were rocks of all sizes that had collapsed from a height; digging from below, they could easily be crushed to death. These pampered high-and-mighty individuals had less foresight than a common miner!

Still, the space above had at least expanded somewhat. As Zhao Dazui spoke, He Lingchuan threw a palm-sized doll towards the rock pile. With a soft "thump," the doll transformed into a ten-foot-tall giant. The Golden-Armored Bronze Man appeared. Of course, it could only stand hunched over here, its posture identical to He Lingchuan's when he first entered the cave.

Under its master's command, it began digging relentlessly, ignoring the stones rattling down from above. If it only sustained minor surface damage, it could quickly heal itself. Midway, He Lingchuan also manipulated it to dodge two massive rocks that threatened to fall directly onto its face. With a chaotic clatter, the falling rocks and dust almost covered it in grayish-white, but the daylight shining into the cave suddenly brightened.

They had dug through!

"Go up." He Lingchuan jumped, tapping the Golden-Armored Bronze Man's shoulder with his foot, then shot through the large opening directly to the surface. The fierce tiger and the Driller Beast followed suit. Zhao Dazui was stunned and could only carefully climb upwards.

He Lingchuan didn't linger after landing, quickly running towards the Rock Goat. He saw the spirit beast digging frantically at a crevice with its hooves, as if trying to excavate a hole. But the crevice was too small for it to descend, and it bleated in distress.

"What's going on?"

The Spirit-Capturing Mirror translated: "There's something down there, likely the source of the foul smell." That's right, the last time the Rock Goat was attacked, it likely smelled the culprit too.

He Lingchuan peered into the crevice and saw something indeed wriggling inside, with a slight dark brown reflection. Well, it was actually here! He Lingchuan pulled out his large hammer, channeled power into both arms, and struck three powerful blows! Under the storm-like assault, the rock shell cracked. He first threw a handful of fluorescent grass down to scout the environment, and then jumped in.

Something slid into another cave. He Lingchuan dashed forward. However, the creature had already sunk down into the stony ground, leaving only the very tip of its tail exposed. General Antelope rushed past him, as fast as the wind. It also saw the tail tip and, without hesitation, lowered its head, butted, and then flicked! A Driller Beast's head-tossing power is immense; it could easily lift and throw a giant rhino. The underground creature was indeed pulled out a long section, but its entire body didn't emerge.

With a "thud," the long tail hit the ground, wriggling by itself, but it wasn't connected to a body. It actually had the gecko's ability to sever its tail for survival! He Lingchuan subconsciously glanced at General Antelope. The old goat's speed just now was unbelievably fast, like a javelin hurled at a target, or perhaps an instant flash. Combined with its sharp horns, it was truly a deadly weapon for battlefield surprise attacks.

This was actually the Driller Beast's inherent talent, called "Charge." Once it locked onto a target within eight zhang (approx. 26.6 meters), it could almost instantly reach it — provided there were no obstacles in its path. If it were their first encounter, He Lingchuan thought he might not have been able to dodge it. Unlike humans, monsters don't need overly complex techniques; they just need to perfect their innate talents. General Antelope's "Charge" talent had reached the third level, meaning it could perform three consecutive charges, with each successive charge increasing in speed and power. By the third charge, it was truly imperceptible to the naked eye.

When Jiao Yu, the fierce tiger, arrived, both He Lingchuan and General Antelope were examining the long tail section. It was brownish-coffee colored, hairless, all flesh, and still wriggling on the ground. Jiao Yu poked it with a paw, then quickly retracted it. "It's slimy!"

"I just severed this from that thing," He Lingchuan said. "It should be the tip of its tail." There were also two holes on the tail tip, made by General Antelope's horns.

"Why is there no blood?"

"There is, but it's mixed in with the slime," He Lingchuan said thoughtfully. "Like when you chop an earthworm into pieces."

"This thing is an earthworm?"

He Lingchuan shook his head. "I saw a reflection from the crevice; its surface should be hard and smooth."

Jiao Yu looked back at their path. "There's slime all along the ground."

"It leaves a trail as it moves."

"Slime when it walks, hard skin, hairless, soft-bodied..." Jiao Yu thought for a moment and easily concluded, "Could it be a snail that became a demon?"

"It's quite similar," He Lingchuan said, putting away the trophy. "But what's its connection to the dead sheep thief?" No one had an answer to that question.

He Lingchuan followed the slime trail on the ground back, realizing the monster's path led towards the ground burrows of the Porcupine Demons, which was — the direction they had come from. "This thing was coming for us," he said coldly. "It wanted to ambush us." The Rock Goat exposed it, and seeing its opportunity lost, the creature fled.

Jiao Yu hesitated. "Is it possible it was just a chance encounter?"

"From Wang Mazi's description, this thing's attack method is ambush on rainy nights, patiently waiting for prey to come to it. The night my mount was attacked, there was also heavy rain," He Lingchuan mused. "But today is a bright, sunny day, and it's quite dry underground, which doesn't fit its usual pattern. Therefore, it's very likely it came specifically for us."

General Antelope sneered, "Let it come! I'll make sure it doesn't leave alive!"

Jiao Yu said seriously, "No, it must have a strong reason to dare to come here."

The man and the tiger ascended back to the surface. The Rock Goat came forward, gently butting He Lingchuan with its head. "Thank you," He Lingchuan said, stroking its curved horns, genuinely grateful. "This monster had probably already set up an ambush underground, waiting for us to return the same way, but you foiled its plan."

Although Jiao Yu possessed elemental energy, He Lingchuan wasn't arrogant enough to assume they wouldn't be hit. This monster had committed crimes everywhere and succeeded repeatedly, so it must have extraordinary abilities. Not to mention, were hundreds of Porcupine Demons that easy to deal with? If He Lingchuan himself had to face a hundred enraged Porcupine Demons without using tricks or having a numerical advantage, he would only be able to run for his life. He was chasing the culprit, but the culprit had set up an ambush on their unavoidable path, waiting for them to walk into a trap using its most skilled method. The thought of it was chilling. How close they came to falling into its trap. This danger truly arrived without warning.

The Rock Goat rubbed its head against his hand, indicating he was welcome. The Driller Beasts initially looked down on the Rock Goat, considering it too weak to be anything but a human mount, but now they came forward and gently butted heads with it in thanks.

At this moment, Zhao Dazui finally climbed up, panting as he rushed over and asked, "What happened?"

"The culprit tried to ambush us."

"Huh?!"

He Lingchuan ignored him and went to retrieve the Golden-Armored Bronze Man. "Lead the way. We're going back to Youtian Town."

The return journey was smooth, without any hitches. On the way, He Lingchuan, Jiao Yu, and General Antelope exchanged views. The fact that the creature appeared in the Porcupine Demon's den meant either it was its habitat or it had come specifically to ambush the Crown Prince's special envoy. Considering the Porcupine Demon's den was relatively dry, and such creatures likely preferred damp, dark, decaying habitats, the man, the tiger, and the antelope all believed the latter possibility was greater.

So, the next question arose. How did the creature know they would go to the Porcupine Demon's den today? If it hadn't been tracking them the whole way, then someone must have leaked the Crown Prince's special envoy's whereabouts. Those who knew He Lingchuan's schedule for today were none other than the few people at last night's banquet. Investigating them one by one would surely yield results.

The investigation finally had progress, and Jiao Yu was almost eager, his whip-like tiger tail slapping against the carriage with sharp cracks. Case investigations were usually tedious work, with clues either not matching up or leading to dead ends, especially finding the reason for a flying creature's disappearance felt like searching for a needle in a haystack.