Chapter 1156: Appearing

“Yanluo, be careful.” Zu An gently touched the beautiful woman behind him, simultaneously becoming extremely vigilant.

Yu Yanluo softly hummed in acknowledgment: “Pay special attention to the ground and walls.”

These were lessons Yu Bin had learned through bitter experience.

As she spoke, she held the Thousand-Mile Mountain and Sea Map to shield them, and also drew patterns on the ground. This way, if something suddenly burrowed out of the ground, the patterns could offer some defense and buy them time to react.

Zu An thought that since neither of them primarily relied on mental attacks, they shouldn't be as severely countered by the monster.

On the other side, the others’ hair stood on end. They had experienced this scene once before, making them feel the terror even more acutely.

Their intentions were clear: sacrifice others to save themselves. They wished the monster would target someone else so they could seize the opportunity to escape.

After all, they now knew the map to exit, and they would never return to this cursed place again.

Everyone in the field looked worried. Their most effective mental attacks had no effect on the monster, and they were unsure if their remaining abilities would be enough to protect themselves from its assault.

The Dark Elf, on the other hand, was a physical attacker with swift movements and evasion, originally much safer. But having just been injured by Zu An, he was now the weakest and most vulnerable.

He shot a venomous glare at Zu An, vowing that if he had the chance, he would definitely feed him to the monster.

Just then, a series of rattling sounds from a drum suddenly echoed through the cave. Everyone wondered if the Viper Kid was an idiot, making noise at such a time as if afraid the monster wouldn’t know his location.

They all turned to look, only to see him darting away like lightning. As he passed Zu An and Yu Yanluo, he waved his hand, and the rattle drum flew towards them, swaying incessantly and emitting a piercing sound.

Zu An immediately understood his malicious intent. The Viper Kid intended to deflect the danger, making the monster attack him and Yu Yanluo while he seized the chance to escape.

Clearly, the previous incident had left him resentful, and even now, he hadn’t forgotten to retaliate against them.

Zu An was speechless. This guy was really going all out; that rattle drum was his magical artifact, tempered over countless years and experiences, yet he just threw it away.

Both of them were shocked and enraged. They hastily tried to knock the rattle drum down to silence it, but its flight path was erratic and unpredictable, clearly still being secretly controlled by the Viper Kid.

They no longer had time to curse him. While dealing with the annoying rattle drum, they focused all their attention on guarding against a potential monster attack.

Seeing this, the Dark Elf’s eyes flickered, and a sinister smirk appeared on his lips, clearly plotting something malicious.

The Paper Maiden looked at them with sympathy, but things had come to such a pass that she could barely take care of herself.

Kong Qing looked hesitant, wondering if he should save them later if they encountered danger, considering that Zu An was the Princess's beloved.

In that instant, the Viper Kid had already reached the cave entrance. He made a farewell gesture to Zu An and was about to turn and fly away.

Suddenly, the adjacent wall clamped shut, biting him and pulling him into the wall.

Everything happened so quickly that even with Zu An's cultivation, he couldn't clearly see what had transpired.

It seemed as if two sharp, scythe-like teeth had merged with the wall, then instantly clamped shut as the Viper Kid passed by, biting him.

But what kind of ferocious beast in the world could have such long fangs, capable of opening to 180 degrees?

The Viper Kid shrieked and struggled desperately. After all, he was a notorious villain with considerable cultivation.

He braced his hands against the wall, trying to pry himself out.

Unfortunately, he had already been severely wounded in that instant, and with his vital points clamped, he couldn't fully exert his strength in that position.

No matter how much he struggled, his entire body was steadily being dragged deeper into the wall.

The Viper Kid spat out a mouthful of black blood, clearly indicating severe internal organ damage. He then brandished countless shimmering blue powders from his hand, ceaselessly slapping them into the wall.

The Viper Kid was renowned for his poisons, naturally being extremely skilled with them.

Yu Yanluo herself had experienced it once before.

Now, trapped in such a desperate situation, he surely held nothing back, using undoubtedly his most potent poisons.

Unfortunately, those highly toxic substances, when struck into the wall, were like a clay ox entering the sea – the monster inside showed no reaction at all.

On the contrary, the Viper Kid’s striking hands grew weaker, and the blood he spat out even contained fragments of internal organs.

He desperately reached out, looking towards Kong Qing and the others, his voice a mere whisper: "Save... save me..."

The others swallowed hard, but no one moved.

They had only gathered together for mutual benefit; how could they selflessly rush into danger at such a moment?

As for Zu An and Yu Yanluo, they remained indifferent. This guy had essentially shot himself in the foot; he deserved it.

The light in the Viper Kid's eyes dimmed. The next second, whatever was inside pulled, and his entire body vanished into the wall.

Zu An used his vital qi to transmit his voice, asking everyone, "Did any of you see what it was?"

"No, it just looked like two large pincer-like objects," replied the Paper Bride.

The Dark Elf tightened his grip on his sword. He had originally intended to use the Viper Kid's capture as an opportunity to escape from the side, but the tunnel entrance was too narrow.

He worried that passing through there would alarm the monster, leading to an attack on himself.

And that very entrance was the required path to leave the mine according to the map, leaving him conflicted.

At this point, Kong Qing remarked with some doubt, "Huh, why isn't the terrifying pressure as intense as last time?"

Zu An was about to ask when a sudden warning sign flared in his mind. He pulled Yu Yanluo and leaped upwards.

Where they had just been, a monstrous maw swiftly appeared and clamped shut. Its two sharp teeth gleamed chillingly, like a pair of scissors.

The defensive patterns Yu Yanluo had drawn were instantly crushed.

The monster clearly hadn't expected its sure-hit attack to miss. It shot upwards, lunging towards them like lightning.

Seeing Zu An attacked, the Dark Elf felt joy instead of alarm. He swiftly dashed towards the tunnel where the Viper Kid had met his end, aiming to seize this opportunity to escape with his life.

Zu An had no time to pay attention to that side. As the monster lunged out, he finally got a clear look at it.

It resembled a giant worm, its body shimmering with a metallic luster. It was hard to discern its head; only two pincer-like teeth were visible at the front, and when its mouth opened, countless rows of serrated teeth could be seen inside.

Its appearance strongly resembled a Bobbit worm from his previous life's animal documentaries, though it was many times larger.

"How 'refreshing' would it be to be bitten by such a mouth?" Zu An even found himself imagining the pain the Viper Kid must have endured when bitten, as the bizarre long worm had already spewed a cloud of black mist from its mouth.

It was clearly trying to poison them with the black mist.

Yu Yanluo unfurled the Thousand-Mile Mountain and Sea Map, absorbing the black mist. She had originally tried to absorb the strange worm itself, but it remained motionless, clearly unabsorbable.

She had no choice but to activate her Medusa's Gaze, her eyes glowing.

After this period of rest and the healing medicine she had just taken, she had recovered some of her vital qi, barely able to exert a bit of strength.

The strange worm, enveloped by her gaze, quickly stiffened, but it wasn't petrified and soon recovered.

However, that brief moment was enough. Zu An's long sword flashed from its sheath and plunged directly into what appeared to be its "head."

A gush of green fluid sprayed out, and the entire long worm struggled desperately, instinctively trying to retract into the ground.

The immense force from his hand made Zu An stumble, almost dragging him back into the earth.

He quickly used his Heavy Drop technique, stomping his feet onto the ground with a loud thud, leaving deep imprints.

The strange worm twisted frantically, dragging his feet and carving two deep marks into the ground.

Seeing this, Yu Yanluo rushed over to pull him. Even with their combined cultivation, they struggled to hold on.

Just then, the Paper Bride took action, countless paper coins shooting towards the creature. Unfortunately, they only sparked harmlessly against its surface, failing to wound it in the slightest.

Kong Qing's gaze sharpened, and a three-colored divine light flashed.

With a soft splutter, green fluid also erupted from the long worm's surface.