Chapter 2497: Appearing

"Be careful, Yanluo." Zu'an lightly touched the beautiful woman behind him, simultaneously raising his guard to the highest level.

Yu Yanluo softly hummed in acknowledgment: "Pay special attention to the ground, walls, and so on."

These were lessons Yu Bin had learned through painful experience.

As she spoke, she held the Thousand-Mile Mountain and Sea Map to shield them both. She also drew some patterns on the ground so that if something suddenly emerged, it could block it and buy them time to react.

Zu'an thought that since their primary means of attack weren't mental, they shouldn't be as heavily countered by the monster.

Meanwhile, the other individuals nearby felt their hair stand on end. They had experienced this scenario once before, making their fear even more palpable.

Their thoughts were clear: better someone else die than them. They hoped the monster would target others so they could seize the opportunity to escape.

They already knew the map to get out, and they vowed never to return to this cursed place.

Everyone in the group looked worried. Their most effective mental attacks were useless against the monster, and they were unsure if their remaining abilities could ensure their self-preservation against its attacks.

The Dark Elf, on the other hand, was an physical attacker with fast movements and evasion, making him relatively safer. However, having just been injured by Zu'an, he was now the weakest and most vulnerable.

He glared at Zu'an venomously, thinking that if he had the chance, he would definitely feed this guy to the monster.

Just then, a rattling sound like a pellet drum echoed through the cave. Everyone wondered if the Serpent Poison Child was an idiot, making noise now as if afraid the monster wouldn't know his location.

They all turned to look, only to see him darting out like lightning. As he passed Zu'an and Yu Yanluo, he flung his hand, and the pellet drum flew towards them, rattling incessantly and emitting a piercing sound.

Zu'an immediately understood his malicious intent. This guy planned to redirect the monster's attention, making it attack him and Yu Yanluo while he escaped.

Clearly, the previous incident had filled him with resentment, and even now, he hadn't forgotten to retaliate against them.

Zu'an was speechless. This guy was truly going all out. That pellet drum was his magic artifact, forged through who knew how many years of effort, yet he tossed it aside without hesitation.

Startled and furious, the two quickly tried to knock the pellet drum down to silence it. Unfortunately, its flight path was extremely erratic, clearly still being controlled by the Serpent Poison Child from afar.

They had no time to curse him. They dealt with the annoying pellet drum while remaining on high alert for a potential monster attack.

Seeing this, the Dark Elf's eyes gleamed, and a sinister smile played on his lips, clearly hatching some wicked scheme.

Paper Maiden looked at the pair with sympathy, but given the situation, she was too preoccupied to help.

Kong Qing showed hesitation, wondering if he should save them if they encountered danger, considering Zu'an was the County Princess's beloved.

In that brief moment, the Serpent Poison Child had reached the cave entrance. He made a farewell gesture to Zu'an and was about to turn and continue flying away.

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

Everything happened too fast; even with Zu'an's cultivation, he barely registered what had occurred.

It seemed like two sharp, scythe-like teeth had merged with the wall, then snapped shut the moment the Serpent Poison Child passed by, biting him.

But what kind of fierce beast in the world had such long fangs that could open 180 degrees?

The Serpent Poison Child screamed, struggling desperately. He was, after all, a notorious villain with considerable cultivation.

He braced his hands against the wall, trying to pull himself free.

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

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

The Serpent Poison Child spat out a mouthful of black blood, clearly indicating his internal organs were gravely injured. He then frantically threw countless blue powders into the wall.

The Serpent Poison Child was renowned for his poisons and was naturally extremely skilled in their use.

Yu Yanluo had personally experienced it once before.

Now, in this desperate situation, he was surely holding nothing back, using only his deadliest poisons.

Yet, those potent toxins, when thrust into the wall, were like a clay ox entering the sea; the monster inside showed no reaction.

Instead, the Serpent Poison Child's hands became increasingly weak, and fragments of internal organs could even be seen in the blood he spat out.

He desperately stretched out a hand towards Kong Qing and the others, his voice faint: "Save... save me..."

A few of them swallowed, but no one moved.

They had only come together for mutual benefit; they wouldn't risk their lives now.

As for Zu'an and Yu Yanluo, they remained indifferent. This guy was simply hoisted by his own petard; he deserved it.

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

Zu'an transmitted a message with his elemental energy, asking the others, "Did you see what it was?"

"No, it seemed like only two large pincer-like things," Paper Maiden replied.

The Dark Elf tightened his grip on his sword. He had intended to escape through the nearby tunnel while the Serpent Poison Child was trapped, but the tunnel entrance was too narrow. He worried that passing through it would alarm the monster and lead to him being attacked.

And that entrance was the very path the map showed as the only way out of the mine, leaving him torn.

At this moment, Kong Qing said with some confusion, "Huh, why isn't there the same terrifying pressure as last time?"

Zu'an was about to ask when a sudden surge of danger warned him. He pulled Yu Yanluo and leaped upwards.

The spot where they had just been was instantly occupied by a ferocious giant maw that clamped shut. Its two sharp teeth gleamed coldly like scissors.

The defensive pattern Yu Yanluo had set up was instantly crushed.

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

Seeing Zu'an attacked, the Dark Elf was not alarmed but delighted. He quickly darted into the tunnel where the Serpent Poison Child had met his demise, eager to use this time to escape.

Zu'an had no time to pay attention to that side. As the monster lunged out, he finally saw its true form.

It looked like a gigantic worm, its body shimmering with a metallic luster. Its head was indistinguishable, but at the front were two pincer-like teeth, and its mouth opened to reveal countless circles of serrated teeth.

Its appearance strongly resembled a Bobbit worm from his previous life's animal documentaries, only monstrously larger.

"How satisfying would it be to be taken by a mouth like that?" Zu'an was even imagining how painful it must have been for the Serpent Poison Child when he was bitten, when the bizarre long worm sprayed a cloud of black mist from its mouth.

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

Yu Yanluo opened the Thousand-Mile Mountain and Sea Map, absorbing the black mist. She had even tried to capture the strange worm, but it remained motionless, evidently uncapturable.

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

After some rest and the healing medicine she had just taken, she had recovered some of her elemental energy and could barely exert some power.

The strange worm, covered by her gaze, stiffened briefly but was not petrified and quickly recovered.

But that brief moment was enough. Zu'an drew his long sword and plunged it into what appeared to be its "head."

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

The immense force on his hand made Zu'an stumble, almost dragging him back into the earth.

He quickly used his Thousand-Jins Drop technique, planting his feet on the ground. With a loud thud, his feet created deep imprints.

The strange worm twisted desperately, dragging his feet, leaving two deep marks on the ground.

Seeing this, Yu Yanluo rushed over to pull him. Even with their combined cultivation, they were struggling to hold it.

Just then, Paper Maiden intervened. Countless paper money tokens shot onto its body, but they only sparked on its surface without causing any injury.

Kong Qing's eyes narrowed, and a three-colored divine light flashed. A "plop" sound came from the long worm's surface, and green liquid also emerged.

Wishing everyone affected by the epidemic a speedy return to normal life. For those in other areas, it's wise to stock up on supplies at home and keep some vitamin tablets on hand.