The underground passage was just a narrow cave located a layer below the valley. The swamp was on the surface, and below it was an underground river with a layer of rock in between.
Li Man had donned all her equipment and was traveling in the underground cave on her own. The light from her watch could only cover a limited distance. Luckily, she and Mo Fan had made some markings along the walls, indicating the specific location she was at relative to the surface.
The task given to her was not too complex. Both Li Man and Zhang Xiaohou were Battlemages, so they had brought along some useful devices apart from their daily needs.
” Li Man, have you arrived at your position ?” Mo Fan’s distorted voice appeared in her ear.
Li Man readjusted her earphone and responded, “I’m underground now, but the signal is weak. I can’t hear what you’re trying to say.”
” Time is running out, the Giant Lizards are almost done with their daily public square dance, ” said Mo Fan.
They had to make their move when the Giant Lizards were away taking a sunbath, thus they would not have enough time to wait until each step was completed. They had to move simultaneously!
“Start luring the creatures, I’ll be there soon,” Li Man said. She had just arrived at the second-to-last marking that they had put down before. She was very close to reaching her designated position.
” Alright, I guess we have no choice. Remember, use all you have to blast it open !” Mo Fan reminded her.
“Oh, I guess I should make the hole big enough for the two monsters to fall down here, too?” Li Man asked in a calm voice.
” So you do have a sense of humor !”
Li Man’s pink lips curled upward. As a matter of fact, if she were to use an Advanced Magic, she could easily blow a hole big enough for the two monsters…
—
Up on the surface, Zhang Xiaohou, who had already eaten plenty of the disgusting fruits, was holding his position.
He started to feel nervous when he saw that the sun was setting on the horizon. He kept on telling himself: Wake the poisonous bug, bring it to the spot, wait for Li Man to blast the ground open, and drop down following the spiral… It isn’t complicated at all, and not dangerous, either!
” Houzi, we’re ready… By the way, the military’s communication device is pretty impressive. You can even use it in the wild ,” Mo Fan’s voice crackled over the com.
“It’s being driven by the Magicians’ energy. We can hide our energy well, thus it won’t attract the attention of the demon beasts easily,” said Zhang Xiaohou.
” Mm, it’s about time. Go and wake the little poisonous bug up. I’ll wake the big lizard up, ” said Mo Fan.
“Sure thing!” Zhang Xiaohou nodded as his gaze firmed. He quickly scanned this section of the swamp, with its extraordinary colors.
The swamp here was separated from the big swamp in the valley. It was the territory of the poisonous bug. Both of the demon beasts would usually mind their own business.
Zhang Xiaohou had eaten the fruits that were an antidote to its poison. He boldly went up to the swamp and cast Earth Wave, stirring the mud like a giant tide.
“Come on, come on, don’t force me to use an Intermediate Magic on you!” Zhang Xiaohou yelled at the swamp.
As long as the water was mixed with mud, Zhang Xiaohou could control it with his Magic. As a result, the previously calm swamp was stirred into great chaos, throwing the mud everywhere.
Zhang Xiaohou was told that the poisonous bug was quite a tyrant. It would surely chase after those disturbing its cozy nap, although Zhang Xiaohou had no idea why Mo Fan knew that.
Finally, a response! Zhang Xiaohou stared at the tide of mud that was rising up high into the air in a spectacular manner.
The mud rolled like black boiling water, splashing wildly into the surroundings, before pouring back down on the ground in front of Zhang Xiaohou like a downpour…
A long body sprang out from the muddy water. At a single glance, it looked like a giant python had whipped up from the bottom of the water into the air. However, the body had giant limbs on both sides!
A pair of the giant limbs extended out onto the surface. There was a thirty-meter tall tree right on the shore there, and it turned out to be the same height as the giant limbs!
One pair, two pairs, three pairs… Seven pairs…
Half of its body was still buried in the swamp, but there were already fourteen limbs exposed!
An ugly head with a pair of snapping mandibles, like a pair of giant scissors, popped up from the mud. It opened its bloody mouth wide and screamed at the tiny human staring at it from the land.
The scream was followed by a powerful gust of wind driving into Zhang Xiaohou’s face with splashes of mud. Zhang Xiaohou stared at the huge creature with a blank face.
“Little…little poisonous bug?”
Zhang Xiaohou could feel a billion voices cursing and swearing inside him!
Can anybody tell me what is little about it? I’m smaller than the hair on its leg!
A centipede, a Gigantic Swamp Centipede…
Normally, a centipede would be proud of itself if it was the length of a human’s finger. As for the centipede in front of him… A human was not big enough to fill the gap between its teeth!
Zhang Xiaohou was utterly lost. He said to Mo Fan with a trembling voice, “Brother…brother Fan, I’ve woken…woken it up.”
” Then why aren’t you running!? ”
Zhang Xiaohou almost had the urge to give up on the spot, but considering that his Brother Fan would never send him to the jaws of death, he immediately tamped down the fear in his heart!
Wind Track!
Earth Wave!
Zhang Xiaohou cast the two speed-increasing abilities at the same time, and turned himself into a little mouse running across the mud.
Luckily he was already a certain distance away from the little centipede – Oh no, it should be a centipede that had been cultivating for more than a thousand years – Otherwise, he would have been crushed into pieces instantly when the beast made its entrance…
Zhang Xiaohou was incredibly fast on his feet, way faster than the average Intermediate Magician. He knew how to stack the Wind Tracks to increase his speed further, and knew how to use Earth Wave to fill in the gaps between the Wind Tracks to make sure that he was consistently at his highest speed possible.
The problem was, there was no way two legs were able to outrun a gigantic centipede who had fourteen giant limbs on only half of its body…
Zhang Xiaohou felt like he was dead meat. He did not dare to turn around, but continued to sprint forward with tears running down his cheeks.
The mud rolled with such great force that the momentum of it hitting the stacked rocks nearby was enough to shatter them into pieces. The giant centipede chased after the human fiercely. It looked like the creature did not have any ranged attacks; otherwise, a single spit would have easily killed Zhang Xiaohou!