Chapter 475

Its soft body was relatively tender; how could it withstand their long pokes and short jabs? After two quick volleys, it was hit by at least fifty or sixty porcupine quills, yelping loudly in pain as it quickly retreated into its shell.

Its hard shell was solely for protecting its soft interior. In other words, the harder its shell, the more vulnerable its body. Moreover, these porcupine quills had barbs, making it impossible for it to pull them out on its own. After suffering for more than half a year, the porcupines from under Jade Wheel Mountain could finally say they had taken their revenge.

The venom produced by Zhu Erniang caused excruciating pain, as if being seared by a blazing fire. As if the monster puppet's agony wasn't enough, blisters quickly swelled up on its wounds, each one larger than a pig's bladder. Fifty or sixty wounds meant fifty or sixty blisters. If these weren't lanced in time, the spider venom would rapidly spread throughout its body, causing nerve numbness and muscle weakness.

Listening to the monster puppet's screams, there was movement inside the snail shell again.

"There's someone in the shell!" He Lingchuan reminded the officers to aim, then raised his sleeve arrow and fired a shot at the shadowy figure flickering inside the shell.

Only then did the officers realize that there were indeed human figures moving within the snail shell. Two people, armed with long knives, were rapidly lancing the monster puppet's blisters. The weasel demon, appearing from nowhere, leapt into the snail shell.

"Don't go!" The creature was too nimble; He Lingchuan tried to grab its tail, but was ultimately a step too slow.

Seeing the black-and-white blur inside the shell, the person swung their knife. The skunk demon, with excellent footwork, dodged the blade, then raised its bushy tail—

From He Lingchuan's perspective, he could clearly see a cloud of yellowish-green gas spraying from its tail, almost directly onto one of the knife-wielder's faces. This person, no longer caring about striking, grabbed their throat and immediately bent over, vomiting. This kind of involuntary reaction was impossible to control. The weasel demon used the momentum to kick him in the back; the person lost their footing and actually tumbled off the monster puppet's back, falling to the ground.

His companion quickly rushed to help. He Lingchuan, quick-witted and agile, raised his hand and fired a sleeve arrow, which exploded directly behind the man's shoulder. Then, with a reverse pull, he forcibly dragged the man over before his accomplice could reach him.

The villain was somewhat dark-skinned and stout. Even after being dragged over, he remained defiant, shouting and swinging his knife. He Lingchuan casually chopped his long knife in two, then raised his leg and kicked. With two cracks, the bones in both of the man's legs were broken by the kick, and he screamed as he collapsed. Officers immediately went to apprehend him.

With one successful move, the skunk demon's confidence soared. Ignoring its companion's calls, it tried to squeeze further into the shell. There were clearly some gaps in the shell, and it relied on its small size to squeeze through. Unexpectedly, the fleshy mountain ahead suddenly opened a mouth, and it plunged headfirst inside before it could change direction. The monster's large mouth had opened right there. By the time the weasel demon realized what was happening, it was too late; the large mouth silently closed, leaving not even a crack.

However, the stench it had released lingered inside the shell, and the monster was likely suffering from a headache due to the smell. It suddenly burrowed out of its shell again, manifested its four limbs, and leaped high. This jump used all its strength; even with its astonishing weight, it leaped to a height of about four zhang before crashing back down to the ground!

With a loud thud, the ground sank several feet deeper, and two of the large trees bound by grappling hooks were directly pulled down. The monster was in unbearable pain and wanted to retreat underground to recover. The spider silk ropes were stretched tighter than anyone's nerves, as if they would snap at any moment.

The monster's shell even began to glow, a faint brownish light that was inconspicuous in the darkness, but everyone's heart sank, unsure what else this creature could pull off. Could it be a second transformation?

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the monster, covered in wounds, leaped again. No one expected He Lingchuan to snatch a torch from someone nearby at that moment and suddenly charge forward.

Jiao Yu exclaimed in alarm, "What are you doing!" He made a tiger-like lunge, but was a step too slow to stop him.

He Lingchuan's movements were identical to the weasel demon's earlier, even more agile. With a quick lunge, he leaped, heading straight for the snail shell's opening. The monster, still in mid-air, saw him too. It didn't even need to dodge; it just had to open its mouth and wait for him. Its mouth was as vast as an endless abyss, and He Lingchuan's action was akin to leaping into the maw of a toad.

However, someone was still cowering behind the monster's head. Seeing what He Lingchuan was carrying, he shivered and desperately slapped the monster, shouting, "Don't eat it! Turn away! Don't eat it!" Unfortunately, this monster's reaction time was naturally a beat too slow. No matter how much he shouted, the toad-like mouth didn't manage to close in time.

He Lingchuan plunged in, still holding a black jar in his hands. The lid was already open. Entering the monster's mouth was like stepping into a black hole. It was pitch black ahead, with the torch in his hand as the only source of light. The light behind him rapidly diminished; the monster was closing its mouth. Just as the natural light vanished, He Lingchuan desperately shoved the torch into the black jar. This type of torch was coated with special oil, making it impossible to extinguish even in heavy rain.

With a world-shaking "BOOM!", the snail shell exploded!

A powerful blast of air shot out from the open shell's mouth, and it seemed other things came out with it. One after another, there were a total of four explosions. At that moment, everyone was still hunched over, blinded by the intense light that suddenly erupted from inside the snail shell. They only heard continuous explosions. These were the explosives He Lingchuan had pre-planted in the four corners of the herb warehouse, triggered in one go. The monster's hard shell, originally chestnut-red-brown, instantly became transparent after the explosion, allowing the intense light from the explosion to penetrate unhindered.

Jiao Yu was still the first to react. Like a tiger, he charged toward the landing spot, shouting, "Pursue!" Considering the force and intense light of the explosion, they weren't far from the snail shell, yet it was incredible that they weren't knocked over by the blast wave and could still stand steadily. In fact, everyone only felt a strong gust of wind in their faces and the acrid smell of gunpowder. Beyond that, they didn't feel much else. Most of the explosion's power had been absorbed by the snail shell.

Quickly, everyone converged on the monster puppet's landing spot. Sent by Jiao Yu, several officers entered the forest, and there they found two people. One had lost both legs; the other, remarkably, still had two.

Meanwhile, at the monster puppet's landing spot, the ground had caved in, forming a deep crater. Soil around the crater was splattered outwards in a radial pattern, indicating the immense force of the impact. The snail shell was embedded right in the center of the deep crater. Strangely, it hadn't been blasted into fragments; its shape was even perfectly preserved, though a few deep cracks now marred its outer shell. This shell was astonishingly sturdy.

Xu Dayou asked Jiao Yu, "My Lord, what should we do now?" Since the valiant special envoy had sacrificed himself, the highest-ranking commander present was now Jiao Yu.

Before Jiao Yu could answer, a familiar voice came from behind them: "Get some men over here and drag it out of the pit."

Xu Dayou turned around, and his back tingled with shock: The one who walked through the crowd was none other than the special envoy! The special envoy, completely unharmed and with all limbs intact. If this person was safe and sound, then who was it that had just jumped into the monster's mouth holding a jar of explosives! Fortunately, Xu Dayou had been an officer for twenty years and had seen his fair share of strange occurrences. In an instant, he realized that the envoy likely possessed some extraordinary life-saving ability. So, after his initial shock, he composed himself and put on a joyful expression: "Special Envoy? It's good that you're unharmed!"

He Lingchuan, however, stared at the snail shell in the pit with a solemn expression: "Quickly, get it..." Before he could utter the words "drag it out," the snail shell suddenly moved. It began to sink rapidly again.

General Antelope's eyes widened. "What the—" The explosion was so powerful, and it detonated directly inside its mouth, yet it didn't kill this monster? It looked so squishy, not at all like something that could withstand an explosion like that! Most importantly, how did the grappling hooks holding it loosen?

He Lingchuan grabbed a rope end and pulled; it was loose. The grappling hook had broken! It had probably snapped during the last explosion, and shattered directly inside the snail shell. Although it was a master-crafted item, even the strongest materials have their limits. After being repeatedly tugged by the monster, it finally couldn't hold up.

General Antelope roared in fury and charged into the pit, using his horns to push. Everyone else also rushed into the pit, hoping to flip it over. Even He Lingchuan summoned his Golden Armored Bronze Men, intending to stop its descent. However, the snail shell had dug deep into the earth here, its shell was smooth with no grip, and He Lingchuan's grappling hook had also broken... This time, there was truly no good way to stop it. Everyone could only watch helplessly as it burrowed underground, powerless to do anything.

A dozen breaths later, the last bit of its shell's tip vanished into the bottom of the pit. The creature had escaped.

General Antelope kicked up dirt in the pit and huffed angrily, "Damn it, damn it, it was so close!"

"Its escape speed was very slow, it must have been severely wounded," He Lingchuan said. He also felt it was a pity, but at this moment, he still patted General Antelope's shoulder to comfort his comrade. "Besides, we still have spoils of war."

The so-called "spoils of war" were the two people who had been inside the snail shell, blown out by the explosion. The dead one was torn to pieces. Officers collected remains from various parts of the forest, one time even retrieving an eyeball, but they couldn't assemble a complete person. The lucky survivor, however, was unconscious and bleeding profusely.

Although he was covered in blood and his face was swollen like a pig's head, He Lingchuan still whistled upon seeing him and patted General Antelope's shoulder, saying, "Congratulations, the murderer has been caught!"

Xu Dayou and the others also exclaimed repeatedly, "Wan Song! Wan Song! This is Wan Song!" The locals recognized him after a quick glance: this was Wan Song, the fugitive murderer!

General Antelope's eyes turned red with rage upon seeing his enemy. He instinctively lowered his head, wanting to gore him to death. But with the officers around, and the fellow still having value, he could only suppress his murderous intent, desperately pawing the ground with a front hoof.

"His life is mine!"

"Don't rush." He Lingchuan examined Wan Song's injuries and found that the fellow had severe internal injuries. He was also losing blood rapidly, and his life hung by a thread. If left unattended, he would die within fifteen minutes. Left with no choice, he could only put a life-preserving pill into Wan Song's mouth, then seal the acupoints on his legs to slow down the bleeding, and then instructed the officers to quickly carry him to town for a doctor.

The fierce battle concluded here. Coincidentally, the thunderstorm also stopped, leaving the air thick with the smell of damp earth. This place was originally guarded by humans and demon beasts who watched over the warehouse, but they had been scared away by the commotion. Seeing the battle was over, they now returned in twos and threes.