Chapter 474: Big Long Legs

Chapter 473: Long Legs!

Such battle formations are categorized into several levels based on energy consumption and coverage area. The set of talismans currently being used is the smallest type; it covers an area of only twenty zhang in radius and requires just seven talismans to assemble.

He Lingchuan couldn't possibly possess such an item. This set of talismans was borrowed by the constables from the county, along with the profound crystals used to power it. Naturally, they must be returned after use. However, such a display of immense wealth and power profoundly astonished He Lingchuan. In the Iris Kingdom, it would be unimaginable for a mere county official to authorize profound crystals to activate a battle formation with a simple stroke of the pen. This minor incident alone revealed how incredibly prosperous Zhitian Township was.

The monster's burrowing technique had now failed. Not only was its downward momentum halted, but the parts that had already submerged seemed trapped in cement, unable to be pulled out. This was precisely the effect He Lingchuan and his group desired. After tracking it, he had largely concluded that Mr. Mai's monster primarily relied on stealth and disguise. This was how it had managed to kill so many victims without a trace. However, with the initiative of this ambush battle in his hands, he only needed to make targeted arrangements.

After examining the viscous fluid at the crime scene, Jiao Yu and General Ling unanimously confirmed it was a snail-like monster. The most prominent characteristic of such creatures was their slow movement. Therefore, it made perfect sense for it to use a burrowing technique to compensate for this weakness. Now, with the restraining formation holding it in place and preventing it from submerging, the slow-moving monster was like meat on a chopping block. They could buy enough time to slowly dissect it.

He Lingchuan then emerged from the rear. His blade flashed like a bolt of silk. When it struck the herb storehouse, it produced a rapid succession of clanking sounds. Moments ago, he had watched the monster swallow the storehouse whole. If he and Jiao Yu hadn't reacted swiftly, they would be in its belly by now.

The battle was perilous from the very beginning. He appeared to have only struck once, but in reality, it was seven consecutive blows, each landing precisely on the same spot. A small crack appeared in the herb storehouse. He Lingchuan pressed on. This time, his Floating Life Blade finally displayed its special properties, puncturing a palm-deep with a dull thud. He pulled his treasured blade back with all his might. There was no trace of blood on the blade. And he confirmed that the hard shell was hollow inside!

This thing was harder and thicker than a tortoise shell. Despite the Floating Life Blade's sharpness, he still hadn't damaged the creature's true body! Was this truly crafted by Dong Rui? He Lingchuan found it hard to believe. If this monster was so formidable, why hadn't Dong Rui used it to escape Beijia himself? Instead, he had gifted it to someone else? There had to be something strange about it!

The current situation left no time for further thought. He Lingchuan grabbed a grappling hook and, using his bare hands, plunged it into the wound made by the Floating Life Blade. With another press of the mechanism, the hook's tip sprang open within the hollow interior with a whoosh, firmly embedding itself in the wound. He threw the rope to a Wind-Drilling Beast. The beast clamped its jaws around it. It launched into a charge, heading for the nearest large tree. It indeed displayed its Wind-Drilling speed, circling five or six trees in quick succession. The stoutest of these trees had a diameter of nearly one and a half zhang. This warehouse area was originally a lumberyard. At the request of the tree spirits, about a third of the trees were preserved, most of them being massive, thick-trunked giants.

The other constables also hacked and chopped. However, their weapons were not nearly as effective; they couldn't even make a scratch. To everyone, this was incredible. Constables on duty always came equipped with elemental power. They naturally had an advantage against mountain demons and wild monsters. But what was this thing? Only He Lingchuan knew that the demon puppet created by Dong Rui had high resistance to elemental power. Unless a master from the Chi Yan Kingdom personally intervened, these few constables would likely find it very difficult to inflict any substantial damage on it. The twenty-odd people clanged away incessantly, almost as if they were repairing a house. Yet, their attacks were not entirely without effect. The herb storehouse visibly deformed, transforming in the blink of an eye into a two-zhang-tall hard shell. Its dark brown surface was covered with intricate patterns, resembling both natural textures and runes.

The pretense was over; it was revealing itself. The familiar spiral pattern, now a hundred times smaller, looked remarkably similar to the food they slurped daily...

Xu Dayou gasped, "A river snail?"

"It truly is a snail!" General Ling sprang from behind and knocked him flying. Fortunately, the general was quick-sighted and swift-footed. Although Xu Dayou tumbled a zhang away and landed face down in the mud, a giant claw suddenly emerged from beneath the snail shell and slammed down with a *thwack* exactly where he had been standing. Had he not moved, he would have been flattened into a pancake. The constables on the other side of the giant shell were not so lucky. Two of them, standing too close, were crushed into the mud before they could even cry out.

"This thing has legs!" Jiao Yu had circled it several times before, finding no place to bite. Now, finally seeing something it *could* bite, how could it let go? It lunged forward like a hungry tiger, only to be lifted off the ground.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated the sky and earth. The onlookers gazed at the monster before them, utterly aghast: Not only did this thing have legs, but it had four long, enormous ones! The long legs, slick and glistening, could bend forward like human legs. Their feet were wide and flat, with webbing between the claws. At the same time, the monster extended its head from its hard shell. Its head was square, its snout wide and round. A massive mouth stretched back to its nape, opening like a bottomless abyss. In front of its forehead were two antenna-like feelers, thin and long, resembling needles or arrows. Of course, this creature also possessed a snail-like body, its surface covered with faint brown spots, making it inconspicuous in the dark. It had a thick, long tail, but its tip was missing, having been severed as it escaped General Ling's horn in the porcupine den.

The constables stared, wide-eyed, muttering, "What in the world is this monster?!" The Chi Yan Kingdom was also a land of demons, but no one had ever seen such a bizarre creature. It clearly had a snail's body and hard shell, yet it possessed frog-like limbs and head. It was utterly disjointed, as if someone had forcibly pieced these parts together. Everyone could clearly see that these limbs and head extended from its body, just like a snail's feelers, capable of retracting at any moment.

General Ling was also stunned: "Could it be a salamander?" If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have guessed that the true culprit behind the series of murders looked like this. To be able to shock even demons into such a state of bewilderment, He Lingchuan inwardly gave a thumbs-up. *Dong Rui, oh Dong Rui, you truly live up to your name.* Seeing the monster's appearance, he became even more certain that it was Dong Rui's creation.

A constable happened to run past, three zhang directly in front of the monster, carrying a torch. He assumed the monster was immobilized, so his evasive action was slow. To his surprise, the monster suddenly opened its mouth, and a red blur, too fast for the eye to follow, flashed out. The constable, with a prolonged scream, was swallowed into its mouth.

"A tongue?" General Ling shouted, "Don't stand in front of its mouth! This thing hunts by flicking its tongue!" They finally understood the purpose of that large mouth. It was clearly a frog's mouth. It devoured people just like a frog hunts its prey. Everyone scattered, no one daring to linger near its mouth. That huge mouth looked like it could swallow ten people in one go and still have room.

The demon puppet swallowed the constable without even chewing. Then, it powerfully pushed off with its two hind legs, leaping from its spot! He Lingchuan had never imagined how a cumbersome, mountain-like monster could jump so high. This time, he was finally enlightened. Probably because its hard shell was too heavy, the monster actually sprang forward, landing after less than eight chi in the air, shaking the ground with a thud. What seemed like a thunderous leap was actually only three zhang in distance, even less than an ibex's aerial jump.

However, its continuous leaping frequency was rapid. In the blink of an eye, it had covered twenty-four or five zhang, moving beyond the range of the burrowing technique restraint formation. The monster sensed this and prepared to plunge into the ground. As long as it could submerge, it would be safe. It could also take the full storehouse of selfheal as provisions for a long time to come. However, its triumphant escape was just one step short.

The monster desperately tried to submerge with a burst of momentum, but it still couldn't go down. It wasn't the formation at work, but a pulling force from behind that prevented it from moving forward. The grappling hook He Lingchuan had embedded in its hard shell had finally taken effect. One end of this grappling hook set was now firmly embedded in the snail shell, while the other end was wrapped around five or six large trees and tightly fastened by the Wind-Drilling Beast to the mightiest tree trunk. For it to successfully submerge, it would first have to pull down these trees. The demon puppet exerted more force, and the rope suddenly went taut. Two large trees groaned loudly as their trunks were constricted, their bark cracking all around.

This thing was incredibly powerful, but the quality of the rope and grappling hook was equally excellent. The rope had recently been made for He Lingchuan by Li Qingge, the Lord of Songyang Prefecture. Its main material had been switched to the Cloud Brocade he acquired in the Demon Nest Swamp. This was the finest spider silk produced by the Cave Spiders. It was light as air, yet its toughness and elasticity were astonishing. Madam Zhu could suspend herself from a tree and swing freely using just a single strand of this silk. Her own size was not much different from that of this demon puppet. Thus, He Lingchuan had great confidence in its strength, knowing that anything Madam Zhu produced was of superior quality.

As for the grappling hook, it was Li Fubo's masterpiece. He claimed it was his best work in the past three years. It hadn't broken even with the demon puppet's extreme tugging. Uh, not yet. Naturally, others watched with bated breath, fearing that if the demon puppet exerted more force, the thin rope would snap with a "crack."

"Jiao Yu, come back!" The fierce tiger retreated at the command. The creature was too large; its fangs and sharp claws couldn't inflict substantial harm.

He Lingchuan then ordered, "Nock your crossbows, quickly! Give it a few more shots!" Xu Dayou picked up his hat from the ground and put it on. He fumbled to pull out a black-and-white short barb and fit it onto the crossbow as an arrow. His subordinates all followed suit, then raised their crossbows and shot at the monster's soft body. Previously, it had hidden in its hard shell, making it invulnerable. Now, with its head and rear exposed, and being so massive, who could possibly miss? These were not ordinary arrows; they were the sharp quills He Lingchuan had collected from the foot of Jade Wheel Mountain! The porcupine quills themselves possessed corrosive and toxic properties. He Lingchuan had manually enhanced them, coating each one with the venom from the cave spider's poison glands, a gift from Madam Zhu.

(End of Chapter)