Chapter 58: Chapter 57: The Green King Conch
Chen Xing was woken up by Taotie nudging him urgently with its head against his body.
Only then did Chen Xing notice clear water sounds coming from downstairs, and a thick fog filling the hall.
Looking around, he saw Zhou Hao and Wang Bing still cuddling together, resting, while Zhao Liang was already standing by the window.
“Damn it, something’s happened,” Zhao Liang’s voice came.
“What’s wrong?”
“Follow me,” Zhao Liang said decisively, “Wake those two up.”
Zhou Hao and Wang Bing were roused by shaking and were somewhat bewildered after learning about their situation. Wasn’t this supposed to be a safe zone? Why was this happening?
Chen Xing frowned slightly, quietly observing his surroundings.
“Here they come.” As Zhao Liang finished speaking, a wave of murky evil surged towards them, and two majestic red crabs with an imposing appearance steadied themselves on the windowsill.
Almost the height of a floor, they were huge and entirely crimson, with two massive claws that looked like shields and were particularly ferocious.
[Species]Red-faced Rakshasa Crab
[Energy Level]52
[Energy Level Limit]52
[Attribute]Water, Fire
[Length]Crab diameter 5.1 meters
[Height]2.9 meters
[Weight]1400kg
[Skills]
Primary Skill: Sweep (Proficient), Gather Water Shield (Proficient), Crimson Fire Shield (Proficient), Rapid Collision (Perfect), Water Devouring (Proficient)
Intermediate Skill: Flame Dance (Proficient), Great Vortex (Proficient), Cutting Water Line (Proficient)
Advanced Skill: Annihilation Heavy Strike (Proficient), Ice-Fire Nineth Layers Burst (Mastered)
A shock ran through Chen Xing’s heart. Was this the kind of creature that could be bred in this secret realm?
Wasn’t it that the most dangerous thing here was a Green King Conch with an Energy Level of 35? Yet here appeared a Level 52 Red-faced Rakshasa Crab.
And judging by the proficiency level of its skills, it was well-rounded in close combat, defense, ranged attack, and mobility.
“Zhao, be careful, this monster might not be wild,” Chen Xing warned Zhao Liang.
The proficiency level of the skills didn’t resemble that of a wild monster. They looked more like those of a trained Beast Taming creature.
Zhao Liang, who had his back to Chen Xing, was taken aback but then spoke solemnly, “I understand. You guys take care of yourselves. If a fight breaks out later, try to stay away from here as much as possible. Unless I come to get you, don’t come over here, I’ll come find you.”
“Um… got it,” Chen Xing said, pulling Zhou Hao and Wang Bing away to retreat.
Luckily, there were more than one exit on this third floor.
The three men hurriedly retreated through another exit; the woman in green who had come up earlier also left with them.
Not long after their departure, intense sounds of battle came from the hall they had left behind.
…
“Look behind you!” Zhou Hao pointed behind them, his voice trembling a bit.
In the surroundings of the large building that was supposed to be a safe zone, a vast whirlpool had formed in the water.
The diameter of the whirlpool exceeded four hundred meters, and the buildings under their feet also made booming noises due to the impact of the water flow.
Was this the Great Vortex skill unleashed by the Level 52 creature?
Taotie’s Great Vortex skill was also at a proficiency level of Proficient, but the difference in scale was more than tenfold.
“Let’s find a place nearby to hide for now,” the woman in green who was in the group suggested.
Following her suggestion, Zhou Hao and Wang Bing then noticed the woman who had joined their group at some unknown time.
Zhou Hao’s eyes lit up because this woman who wore simple green clothes seemed to be in her early twenties, not much older than themselves.
Her unpainted cheeks were slightly flushed from the running she had just done.
With her rapid breathing, her chest heaved under the tight fabric.
“E… let’s go together,” Zhou Hao steadied his thoughts, diverting his gaze as he felt it was impolite to stare at someone like that.
Zhou Hao turned to the other two, “Are we going to a different safe zone or should we find a place nearby to wait for Brother Zhao?”
Wang Bing hesitated for a moment, “At this time of night, we have to go through a dangerous area to reach another safe zone…”
He felt that the three of them might not be able to deal with an adult Death Reaper Crab.
“Isn’t there one more with us, what if she’s a powerhouse?”
Zhou Hao looked at the girl, “Miss, how strong is your Beast Taming? Should we head to the next safe zone?”
The woman in green shook her head, her tone dejected.
“My Beast Taming was injured, and I was planning to leave directly with the staff tomorrow morning.”
She hesitated before continuing, “However, while adventuring during the day, I accidentally found a rather hidden place where we could hide and wait for the staff’s rescue. Since such a big incident has occurred here, the authorities must already know, and with the Secret Realm being not very large, the rescue should arrive quickly.”
Chen Xing mused, “Then let’s go and have a look.”
“Good,” the woman in green led the way.
Leading the three of them around two turns, they entered a four-story old house.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance on the water behind them.
A deep teal Reaper Crab appeared to have heard the noise, emerging from the water.
In the darkness of the night, just the sheer size of the Reaper Crab standing there brought an invisible oppression.
Zhou Hao swallowed nervously. He remembered Zhao Liang mentioning that each year at least a thousand people die in the Secret Realm because of the Reaper Crab.
He couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to be added to the death list.
“Hurry, run! I’ll hold it off,” the woman said firmly, summoning a Golden Iron Beast.
The towering black-and-white bear, standing over three meters tall, bore several fierce scars on its body.
Seeing the black-and-white bear, the Reaper Crab seemed intimidated, standing still and staring at the bear.
After taking a closer look at the Golden Iron Beast, Chen Xing turned his gaze back to the woman in green.
The woman in green squatted down and moved a moldy plank at the corner of the wall; behind the sodden wall was a pitch-dark hole.
“This wall leads directly to the back door of this house; there’s a small path behind. The Reaper Crab is too large to pass through here,” she explained, then knelt down and crawled through the hole.
Zhou Hao was about to follow when Chen Xing suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Brother Chen?” Zhou Hao looked puzzled.
Wang Bing, who was ready to follow, hesitated on seeing Chen Xing’s action and also stayed put.
After a moment, the woman’s anxious voice came from the other side, “Come on over quickly.”
A while later, the woman’s head reappeared from the hole, speaking urgently to Chen Xing, “Hurry up and get in! My beast won’t be able to deter it for much longer.”
Chen Xing looked at the girl’s face, dirtied from crawling through the hole, and her dark, bright eyes, and sighed lightly, “But I feel it’s even more dangerous behind the wall than behind us.”
“What?” The woman first appeared confused, then angry.
“I’m kindly helping you, and yet you don’t trust me!” The woman sneered, “Doubt that I would harm you? If I wanted to harm you, I would have done it already, not bothering to use my beast to buy you time.”
With that, the black-and-white bear turned into a beam of white light and was recalled to the Beast Taming Space by the woman.
“Then just stay here and feed it,” she said.
Without looking back, the woman walked away from the other side.
“Brother Chen, I think we might have really misunderstood her,” Zhou Hao said, squatting down to crawl into the hole.
“If you want to feed the Azure King Snail, then go ahead.”
Halfway through, Zhou Hao froze in place.
He turned back to look at Chen Xing, disbelief in his eyes.
Full of confusion, he thought, “Azure King Snail?
That girl wants to feed us to the Azure King Snail?
Chen Xing cursed under his breath, “Now I know why there are legends about the Azure King Snail disguising itself as a young and beautiful woman before eating men!”
“But Brother Chen, the Reaper Crab behind us is coming,” Zhou Hao pointed behind them. Without the deterrence of the Golden Iron Beast, the Reaper Crab was inching closer.
“Don’t worry, it’s just an illusion,” Chen Xing calmly assured.
Because his eyes couldn’t see the Attribute panel of the Reaper Crab at all!
Not only the Attribute panel of the Reaper Crab, but he couldn’t see that of the Golden Iron Beast either!
Chen Xing even suspected that if he could see people’s panels, the girl probably wouldn’t have one either!
Damn it, it’s all an illusion!
If all that was an illusion, what was this hole?
And what lay beyond the hole?
Chen Xing already had an idea in his mind.
An immensely huge Azure King Snail towered in the water, “lovingly” watching the men nervously and awkwardly crawl into the hole…
Wait, Chen Xing suddenly stiffened, a possibility crossing his mind.
If they had been unwittingly ensnared by an illusion, then the moment they entered this house, or perhaps as soon as they crossed through the door…