Chapter 496: Intruder and Tree Roots

Chapter 494: The Intruder and the Tree Roots

The screeching pierced one's mind like needles, causing sharp pain, ringing ears, and dizziness.

He Lingchuan's solution was to throw the net bag he held:

Hadn't he only caught four earlier?

The net was large, with plenty of room left.

The distance between them was short, and his movements were swift. At least forty to fifty bats couldn't stop in time and plunged headfirst into the net.

He had to praise the quality of the Underworld Spider's product; even with dozens of ferocious, rampaging human-headed bats added, the net held strong, not tearing despite their frantic collisions.

The remaining fifty or sixty bats evaded the net, splitting into two groups and charging directly at He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan stood on a stalactite, feeling the direction of the wind.

These creatures were also flying with the wind.

Just as the first bat was about to pounce on his face, Fusheng unsheathed itself.

A flash of light suddenly appeared in the dark cave, like a startled swan or an enraged thunderclap. Though it lasted only an instant, it covered a three-zhang area directly in front of him.

The formidable blade light, like a surging wave, annihilated all the incoming bats.

Wave Slash.

The rest, seeing their disadvantage, tried to escape but were still swept into the blade's wind, perishing instantly.

After being shredded, these bats didn't explode into flesh and blood but turned into black fragments, scattering everywhere.

These things looked like burnt joss paper.

Looking ahead again, the monster somehow had two or three fewer faces on its body, but a vertical pupil had appeared on its forehead.

The vertical pupil was large and protruding, occupying half of its entire face, almost squeezing out the remaining features.

As soon as it opened, it glared at He Lingchuan, its eyes even bloodshot.

Although he didn't know what this thing was capable of, it looked sinister. He Lingchuan didn't wait for it to unleash its power, raising his hand and gifting it two more pellets.

The monster raised its hand to block, but as soon as the pellets touched its skin, there were two loud bangs—

They exploded.

The newly developed fire pellets from Spirit-Gathering Island, also known as "hand-tossed cannons," were quite effective.

As the smoke cleared, he saw the monster torn into pieces, like clay kneaded by a child, its body proportions distorted. Some parts were long, some short, and a large section of its shoulder was missing, precisely where the fire pellets had hit.

But the vertical pupil remained intact and whole.

It stared fixedly at He Lingchuan, and the bizarre creature muttered, "Why can't I find it!"

Find what?

It sounded like a soliloquy.

Right before He Lingchuan's eyes, the creature began to regenerate.

The damaged parts started to retract, as if an unseen hand was molding it back into its original form.

Immune to blades, water, and fire, and capable of self-healing—what was this thing's weakness?

The monster pressed one hand against the rock wall, and bluish-grey moss began to grow on the stone, spreading in all directions.

Something seemed to be wriggling on the moss.

Insects?

He Lingchuan didn't have time to look closely, because the moss withered within two breaths, turning into black ash that rustled down, leaving the rock wall clean again.

"Huh?" A look of surprise appeared on the monster's hideous face. The next time it slapped the rock wall, it did so with more force, even producing thumping sounds.

However, it was useless.

This time, the moss it released withered even faster, unable to spread more than two feet.

He Lingchuan, composed, asked, "Any other tricks?"

Clearly, this creature intended to cast a large-scale divine ability, but for some reason, it wasn't working here.

A look of shock appeared on the monster's face, and it suddenly leaped into the water.

He Lingchuan kept his eyes fixed on it. As soon as it lifted its leg, he moved too, covering the three-zhang distance in a single leap, as swift as an arrow from his sleeve. He followed with a Swallow Strike, Fusheng delivering a powerful and complete slash.

The monster should have been cut in half, but to his surprise, it pressed its palms together, clamping the blade between them!

This creature could actually disarm a weapon with bare hands? And it did so with remarkable skill.

No matter how sharp Fusheng was, it was useless if it couldn't cut flesh.

Immediately after, the monster stretched its neck and opened its mouth wide, attempting to bite He Lingchuan's head.

A human's neck has limited length and usually can't reach an enemy, but this thing's neck suddenly elongated like a heron's; with a little more effort, it could even tie itself in a knot.

Besides the surprisingly large vertical pupil on its forehead, its face looked somewhat normal when its mouth was closed, but when it opened, its jaw dislocated, wide enough to fit an entire hydrangea.

Of course, fitting a human head wouldn't be a problem either.

And inside its mouth, besides two rows of fangs, it was pitch black, like a deep cavern.

This was something that could only appear in nightmares; any ordinary person facing it would surely be scared out of their wits.

Fortunately, it had been abnormal from its first appearance, so He Lingchuan remained calm no matter what new trick it pulled. Before its huge mouth could encompass his forehead, he had already raised his leg and kicked its belly.

However, the kick didn't send the monster flying; instead, his leg sank deeply into it, as if caught in a mire.

This creature's body was incredibly malleable.

Seeing the black, cavernous mouth nearing his head, He Lingchuan raised his other fist and punched it directly on the jaw.

"Kaba," he heard the sound of its two rows of large teeth clashing together.

Then, both fell into the water.

He Lingchuan channeled his primal energy, and the blade emitted a pale yellow light. He then twisted it, severing the monster's hand.

But during this time, several wisps of black smoke rose from the monster's body and shot into the water.

Behind He Lingchuan, they transformed into several water specters. Their hair instantly grew into dense, luxuriant aquatic plants, coiling around his ankles and arms, pulling him relentlessly toward the bottom with astonishing strength.

The monster in front also lunged at him.

Was this a multi-on-one attack, bullying him for being outnumbered?

He Lingchuan's eyebrow twitched, and a shadow figure materialized behind him, wielding two blades and dispatching one water specter with each.

The doppelganger had appeared.

The third water specter, recognizing the danger, turned and fled.

With the restraints gone, He Lingchuan's arms were free. He aimed a decisive slash at the monster in front.

The timing was perfect, almost as if the monster had deliberately moved to receive the blow.

He Lingchuan cared most about the large eyeball, and since the monster's neck was thin, it was severed directly.

Even underwater, he heard its mournful wail.

In the inn three hundred zhang away.

The spellcaster remained kneeling before the idol, murmuring incantations. Three incense sticks burned extremely quickly, nearing their end in about fifty breaths.

The spellcaster had to continuously replace the incense to ensure a steady supply.

These three, it seemed, were already halfway consumed again.

He opened his eyes, just about to replace them, when he heard a soft "thud." The three incense sticks suddenly broke without a breeze and fell onto the table.

This was...?

The spellcaster froze. The swirling smoke in the room suddenly re-coalesced into the idol's form. It first looked at the broken incense sticks on the table, then questioned the spellcaster, "What offering did you give me!"

"It's a person," the spellcaster replied instinctively. "Although he has been appointed by the Crown Prince, he's a foreigner who cannot use primal energy!"

If He Lingchuan had primal energy protecting him, he wouldn't have summoned such an evil entity.

"No! It's not that simple!" the smoke snarled. "I'll deal with you when I return!"

With that, it shot out through the window with a whoosh, even creating a small storm within the room.

Several sheets of white paper on the table behind were swept into a flurry.

The smoke then settled again, even drifting out the window. The spellcaster knew that the entity itself had gone.

His task was simply to continue lighting incense.

But the spellcaster's mood was far from calm. Given the idol's power, ambushing an unknown, unsuspecting human should have been effortless, shouldn't it?

Even if the idol had only sent a doppelganger before, it shouldn't have failed.

What was happening now?

Although the monster's body was covered in faces, the one on its neck was the most important. At this moment, it disregarded He Lingchuan and stooped to retrieve its head.

It's worth noting that after its head was severed, the monster's body reverted to normal size, its neck shortened, and its torso no longer elongated.

Seeing this, He Lingchuan's heart stirred. He grabbed the monster by the shoulder and, before the bizarre face on its chest could move to bite him, he flung it out of the water.

Despite its gaunt appearance, the creature was incredibly heavy in his grasp. He Lingchuan felt as if he had pulled out not a person, but a wild boar weighing over three hundred jin.

Fortunately, his true power flowed abundantly through his arms, and he stood firmly on a nearby stalagmite, allowing him to exert the necessary force.

With that throw, the monster landed not far from the rock wall.

He Lingchuan threw Fusheng with a backhand motion, and with a whoosh, it pinned the monster to the stone wall.

Without its head, it couldn't deform and slide off the blade.

Only then did He Lingchuan swim away with peace of mind to look for the head.

He looked around, but the head was gone.

A sudden thought struck him, and he dove headfirst to the bottom of the water.

After swimming around twice, guided by the light of the glowgrass, he discovered that the monster's head had actually regrown a body, this time thin, long, and without limbs.

It was constantly diving deeper into the water; the lack of limbs didn't prevent it from swimming incredibly fast.

At this moment, the doppelganger had finished off the last water specter and happened to be not far from the head, so it immediately fired a sleeve arrow.

He Lingchuan feared the creature might open its mouth to eat the arrow, so the arrowhead was aimed at its tangled, grassy hair.

As expected, the arrow pinned the head's tangled hair into a nearby rock crevice.

He Lingchuan also dived to this spot, took his doppelganger's blade, directly chopped off its newly grown body, and then grabbed the head and floated upward.

With the head in hand, he still needed to go up and deal with the monster's body.

However, when he surfaced and looked up, holding the glowgrass, he was surprised again:

At some point, numerous dark brown vines, both thick and thin, had grown on the rock wall, tightly binding the monster's body.

It was truly bound comprehensively.

Even though the monster struggled, pinned by Fusheng, it couldn't go anywhere.

He Lingchuan looked closer, then felt that these were not vines, but rather...

...tree roots?

Because there were countless tiny root hairs on them.

What kind of plant could instantly grow so many roots?

The roots were here, but where was the plant itself?

He Lingchuan traced the roots and found that they likely originated from a crack in the rock wall directly above.

Clearly, they were targeting the monster.

Some root tips had even pierced directly into the monster's skin, sucking incessantly as if drawing nutrients.

The remaining faces on the monster's body tried to escape but were firmly held by the root system. A faint green light emanated from the root hairs, preventing them from turning into black smoke and slipping away.

(End of Chapter)