Chapter 146 - It's the Scarabs, Run!

The mist was thick, making it impossible to see the road ahead. Cassius followed the shadow deeper into the dense forest.

Where is it leading me?

Cassius squinted, a pale stream of air swirling around his nose.

Five minutes later.

Tap!

A black boot stepped onto the clearing.

Three adult men in ordinary clothes turned their heads sharply toward the incoming person. The strongest of them looked him up and down. "A hunter? Nah, looks like it's just an ordinary human."

Tap, tap, tap...

The incoming person charged straight ahead, showing no signs of stopping. "Get out of the way! Don't block the path!"

After hearing this, the three members of the Blood Race laughed in anger. The strongest man in the lead frowned. "How dare you speak to me like that, puny human? I wasn't planning on having an extra meal today, but..."

"

Roar

!"

A high-pitched roar erupted from the man's mouth, and his entire body instantly transformed, expanding in size. His face became beast-like, and his clothes ripped apart, revealing a powerful, black-red body covered in bristly fur. The man's bat-like face twisted into a cruel grin; he loved seeing the terrified expressions on the humans' faces when they encountered the true form of the Blood Race.

"Die!" The man rushed forward in a flash.

Bang!

The next second, a shadow was sent flying back. Blood arced elegantly through the air.

"What!" The other two members of the Blood Race were stunned, and in their shock, they quickly transformed using their Blood Gift. In an instant, they became monsters, half-human and half-beast, with enormous claws as large as a human head.

Whoosh!

In a split second, a massive shadow darted past the two. Cassius didn't even glance back, the white mist around his hands dissipating quickly. Without a word, he rushed deeper into the fog. Two heads were thrown into the air behind him, blood shooting out from their necks.

In the dense, white mist, Cassius was highly focused. He could sense that the shadow who was leading the way was accelerating, no longer concerned with whether he could keep up or not. If he wanted to see where it was taking him, he couldn't slow down.

Any Blood Race or humans blocking his way had to move aside. And if they didn't, the only outcome for them was death.

Another ten minutes passed in the seemingly endless fog. Cassius's hands dripped with blood, and his steps were swift and light. Each powerful stomp left a deep crater in the ground, propelling him explosively forward.

As he continued, the environment remained unchanged. The only difference was the increasing number of Blood Race members. These secluded bloodsuckers had no concept of stepping aside. Cassius was just a blood bag running around, and their first reaction was to intercept him. And, well... he didn't need to explain what the consequences of blocking his way were. Cassius had already slaughtered nearly a dozen Blood Race members.

Splash... Splash...

In the distance, the faint sound of water could be heard.

Moments later, Cassius stopped at a grassy area. Despite the foggy surroundings, he could still make out the outline of a waterfall ahead. The waterfall cascaded down into an oval-shaped pool, with a small stream flowing from the pool's outlet.

Before Cassius could catch up, the shadow disappeared. The area around was all green grass with some gray-white stones covered in moss. Beyond this clearing lay the forest.

Cassius looked up. "The shadow stopped."

The shadow that had led him here had slowed down, pacing back and forth in the mist as if searching for something. A few seconds later, it headed straight, finally stopping beside a large tree. Without waiting for Cassius to get near, the shadow vanished.

Standing beside the tree, Cassius slowly leaned down. The old tree was tall and massive, looking like it had been growing there for ages, the wrinkles on the bark not dissimilar to an old man's face. The roots on the ground were thick and strong, resembling enormous gray-white pythons writhing through the earth.

Cassius squatted beside one of the large roots, using his hands to brush away the leaves and soil in the gaps. A short while later, he uncovered some gray stones. He wiped off the dirt and discovered that they weren't ordinary stones; they looked like part of a wall or perhaps tiles. He dug a bit more with his hands.

More stones appeared before Cassius's eyes, showing signs of extensive weathering. However, they still retained traces of civilization, with carvings and markings on them.

Cassius held the tile in his hand, deep in thought. Suddenly, his hands were enveloped in a white mist, and he started digging furiously into the gap between the tree roots, tossing up a large amount of soil beside him. Before long, the ground beneath Cassius felt empty as if there was a space underneath.

He pulled hard and a dark hole appeared before him, its depth unknown. Cassius noticed that the hole had a rock wall layered around the edge, showing clear signs of human construction.

A tomb? Or a ruin?

Cassius furrowed his brows tightly, recalling the shadow that had guided him here. For a moment, he hesitated, unsure if he should go in and explore.

He moved closer to the entrance; the air inside seemed fine. Taking a deep breath, Cassius stepped directly into the hole and began to slide downward. It was a gray-white slope at about a sixty-degree angle. Inside, it was dark, making it nearly impossible to see anything.

Shh! Shh! Shh!

A mechanical hissing sound echoed from the surrounding walls. Cassius felt something hit his body and quickly closed his eyes, raising his arms to shield his face and neck.

Ding, ding, ding...

A series of impacts reverberated all the way down. About fifteen seconds later, Cassius regained his footing, firmly planting his feet on a solid, stable passageway floor.

Phew~

A faint flame suddenly appeared along the edge of the tunnel walls, spreading inward in a line. The pale white flame was not very bright, giving off a dim, eerie glow.

Cassius was slightly surprised. He then reached up and pulled a black arrow from his hair. These small projectiles had been attacking him earlier. He looked at his right forearm, noticing small white spots on his skin. Some parts had nearly been pierced through, showing just how strong these arrows were.

Cassius had mastered the Stone Armour Technique, which allowed him to withstand bullets. These arrows were as powerful as bullets in terms of penetrative power. With a forceful press, he snapped the arrow in his hand with a loud crack.

Wary of further traps ahead, Cassius deliberately slowed down, cautiously making his way deeper into the passage. After about two minutes, he came to a corner.

He stepped forward. Suddenly, the ground ahead cracked open. A trap!

A neatly arranged set of spikes appeared at the bottom of a pit that was about two meters deep. Cassius fell straight into it. He twisted midair and his right hand shot out, digging into the edge of the pit.

Using both hands, he swung himself back up. He returned to his original position, his hands clenched into tight fists. Stepping decisively, he leaped over the entire trap.

Then,

crack!

The ground opened up again. Caught off guard, Cassius fell right into it. The bottom of the pit echoed with a thud.

"Damn it! How sneaky!" Cassius hadn't expected to be outwitted.

He lay on a pile of spikes, his face gloomy. Although he didn't react as quickly as he had the first time, he managed to control his body by flipping midair and landing on his muscular back. The more spikes that made contact simultaneously, the less pressure they exerted individually, making it harder for them to enter Cassius's body. He had made the right move.

Although he had fallen to the bottom of the pit, his back didn't hurt. He didn't seem to be injured or bleeding. He quickly got back on his feet. These spikes were nearly as tall as his thighs. An average person would find it impossible to reach the bottom.

He looked up at the spot where he had fallen. The tips of the spikes were all flattened. On closer inspection, it became clear that these iron spikes had been there for countless years, and were severely corroded, with rust covering their entire surface. Their piercing power was clearly not what it had been when they were new.

Cassius thought back to the sharp arrows from earlier. Those weapons inside the walls had likely been sealed better...

Half a minute later, he was back on the passage floor.

This time, Cassius was even more cautious. However, he didn't encounter any further traps or dangers. He easily walked along the passage for hundreds of meters before coming to a stop.

Before him lay a vast cavern, a wide cylindrical chamber. The bottom appeared to be the size of a basketball court, with gray-white walls pocked with oval-shaped passage openings, seemingly leading in all directions. As he surveyed the rest of his surroundings, Cassius saw countless dark holes extending into unknown depths, giving off a sinister, terrifying feeling.

Cassius's eyes flickered as he took a few steps forward until he was standing on a raised platform within the cavern. Looking to his right, he saw steps carved into the cave wall. If he jumped from one step to the next, he'd reach the bottom.

Cassius hesitated for a moment then carefully jumped over. The steps weren't traps, nor did they feel like they might suddenly break; in fact, they were incredibly sturdy. Step by step, he descended to the bottom.

The air around Cassius suddenly dropped in temperature, and he could feel the heat from his body escaping. As he exhaled, a faint white mist could be seen forming in the air. He shivered, and the blood began to circulate rapidly through the three nodes in his body, providing warmth to his bare upper half.

Five minutes later, Cassius reached the bottom.

Scanning the area, he saw five enormous openings at the base, leading to who knows where. In the center of the wall, a grayish-white fountain was running, with white water flowing around the pool in a continuous cycle.

How can this fountain keep working for so long? Is someone maintaining it?

Cassius wondered as he took a couple of steps to the side. He felt something crunch beneath his foot.

When he held it aloft, he found a crushed bug—white-shelled, about the size of a thumb—underneath his shoe. The bug was dead, and a pale green liquid was sizzling on the ground.

Cassius lightly stomped his foot, and the fountain in front of him began to tremble, the white water rippling violently. Without warning, the fountain ejected a swarm of white scarabs, their incessant chirping filling the air.

Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...

Jets of corrosive acid shot toward Cassius. He quickly dodged, throwing his body to the side. His right hand turned pale as a spinning vortex of air rapidly formed in his palm.

The flat, spherical vortex buzzed unsteadily. Just as it was about to spin out of control, he threw it at the fountain. With a sharp pop, the air mass hit the fountain and blew up, a fierce gust of wind enclosing the surrounding area within a meter.

Many of the white scarabs were decimated, but more of them kept crawling out, advancing in swarms. But Cassius was no longer on the bottom platform; a shadow darted into one of the openings. Half an hour later, rapid footsteps echoed through a silent passage, the white fire on the ceiling trailing along with the footsteps.

This place is so similar in style to that ruin Twilight once visited,

Cassius thought as he ran at full speed.

His figure appeared at the end of the passage as a flash. Moments later, the sound of countless bugs crawling echoed at the gray-white passage entrance. These white scarabs were relentless in their pursuit.

After another five minutes, Cassius rushed into another passage like a whirlwind. His pupils narrowed, but he didn't slow down; instead, he pushed himself even harder, sprinting with all his might. In an instant, he was at the end of the passage.

Barely a second later, twelve gray-white stone statues on either side of the passage came to life. Stone chips fell from their joints as they raised their heads, revealing bizarre human faces depicting twelve different emotions—crying, laughing, angry, roaring...

Their stiff movements quickly became much more fluid, and these large figures started marching toward the direction Cassius was fleeing in.

However, just then, the sound of countless crawling insects erupted from the entrance of the passage. The statue at the back of the pack turned its head, only to see a white torrent pouring in, instantly engulfing all the statues.

"

Hiss... hiss... hiss...

"

It was almost like it was raining highly corrosive acid.

"

Roar... roar... roar...

"

Hearing the deafening roars behind him, he quickened his pace.

Hours later, Cassius, now barefoot, was almost at his wit's end. "Seriously, all this fuss just because I stepped on one scarab? Did they have to go all out and chase me for three...four hours?!"

He looked to be in quite the sorry state, with corrosion marks from the acid all over his body. Besides a pair of shorts that were nearly splitting at the seams, he had even thrown away his shoes on suspicion that they were contaminated with pheromones. Yet, the swarm continued persistently tailing him. He suspected he might have pheromones on his body too, but it wasn't like there was any water in the ruins to wash it off.

So, Cassius could only keep running for his life, relying on the extraordinary stamina provided by the three nodes. Along the way, he encountered many other dangers in the ruins, such as bloodsucking vines hanging on the walls, mantises the size of half a person, flowers with hallucinogenic pollen, and mutated three-headed pythons...

The white scarabs on the other hand destroyed the dangers. It looked like he had gone ahead and provoked the final boss right from the start.

Chirp, chirp, chirp... Chirp, chirp, chirp...

Cassius charged through a hall filled with plants and creatures that looked like monkeys were hanging from vines, all of whom attacked him with weapons, desperate to stop him.

Luckily, Cassius had trained his hardening Qigong technique well and forced his way through. The annoying monkeys screeched, seemingly intent on chasing him.

But the next second, a white torrent swept through the entire hall and when it subsided, numerous monkey skeletons fell from the vines and shattered into pieces, smoke coming from its bodies.

Ten minutes later, Cassius suddenly found himself at the end of a tunnel, but to his dismay, it was a dead end! He could hear the insects had already reached the entrance behind him, and a swarm of white scarabs was already pouring in.

"Damn it!" He punched the wall in frustration.

Huh?! This wall seems to be hollow?

Meanwhile, in a vast hall, the dome stretched high above, its surface covered in a mural painted with unknown black and red pigments. An enormous pool was situated in the center of the hall, with a stone pillar submerged in the center of the water.

The space between the hall and the pool was covered in densely packed red ritual lines that extended out like a spiderweb. Strange symbols that no one could understand were etched into them. It looked like tadpoles. Now, these symbols were starting to light up one by one.

Ten mysterious figures, draped in black robes, knelt devoutly on the ground, chanting in a strange, twisted tongue. It seemed to be some kind of eerie and mysterious prayer. They pressed their fingers against the ground, blood continuously oozing out and seeping into the ritual lines as if they were trying to awaken something.

"

Ki tu gi a ba a ba

..."

The prayer grew louder, reaching a crescendo. Suddenly, all the ritual lines on the ground changed to red. The once calm water in the pool turned into a transparent, amber-like gold. A plume of steam rose, and the hall began to rumble.

Wait, rumble? That had never happened before during the ritual. Several black-robed figures looked up, bewildered, at the pool. Could it be? Could it really be?

One black-robed figure murmured excitedly, "Finally..."

Boom!

The dome shattered, and a chunk of the stone wall crashed down. Then, a shadow plunged into the water with a splash. All the black-robed figures jumped up, shouting.

"What's going on?! Who is that?!"

"He fell into the Sacred Pool!!!"

"How dare he?!"

"This is bad! We can't stop the ritual now; it's already completed!"

Shhh... shhh... shhh...

From above, a white torrent began scuttling down the walls, the sound of limbs scraping against stone ringing through the hall. In the next moment, the chaotic noise turned into unified screams.

"Damn it, it's the scarabs! Run!!!"