Everyone unconsciously stopped their steps, feeling a sticky sensation on their backs; wiping their hands revealed cold sweat that had unknowingly seeped out.
A nauseating stench of decay permeated the passage, intertwined with the cold, damp air, constantly drilling into everyone's nostrils.
The faint "rumbling" sound echoed in the darkness, each boom like a heavy hammer striking their hearts, making their heartbeats increasingly rapid.
Lin Yue's hand gripped Chen Feng's clothes so tightly that her nails almost dug into the fabric, her voice trembling noticeably: "Brother Feng, this sound is too scary. Do we really have to keep going?"
Chen Feng patted Lin Yue's hand, trying to offer her some comfort, but his own palms were also covered in sweat.
Although Wang Yufei, who was in front, appeared calm on the surface, a hint of unease flashed in his eyes within the pitch-black environment.
He swallowed hard, feigning composure as he said, "We've come all this way, can we turn back now? Maybe there's some earth-shattering discovery ahead." After speaking, he gripped his compound bow tightly and slowly shuffled forward.
Zhao Yang and Li Xuan exchanged glances, both seeing fear in the other's eyes, but they still braced themselves and followed.
Chen Feng took a deep breath and turned on his flashlight; in this dark, cavernous space, the light appeared to waver.
They continued to move forward cautiously, and as they delved deeper into the underground passage, the sound grew closer, and the ground beneath their feet became increasingly slippery.
From time to time, strange viscous liquids could be seen, shimmering with an eerie glow under the flashlight's beam.
After an unknown period of walking, a faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared ahead, instantly reinvigorating their tired bodies.
Each person held their compound bow ready, cautiously moving forward step by step.
Ahead was a cave entrance, similar to the previous one, but inside, it was a world of its own.
The few of them walked in and were all stunned.
Deep underground, at an unknown depth, there was such a massive underground karst cave.
Above the cave were unknown creatures emitting powerful light sources; everything was so inconceivable.
"Brother Fei, this, this can't be an alien base, can it? Let's go." Lin Yue unconsciously swallowed, this was too strange; there was such a mysterious world underground.
The rest of them did not respond and continued to walk forward.
Until they saw an enormous beast in the underground lake: a snake's body, a toad's head, and bat wings—it did not resemble any monster that could have been born on Blue Star.
At this moment, its body was covered with bizarre insects.
The insects were only about half a meter long, and their Solid Armor and terrifying mouthparts were truly frightening; both sides were engaged in a fierce battle.
The strange insects on the giant beast's body plunged their sharp limbs into its flesh and blood, and the venomous stingers at their tails made the giant beast suffer immensely.
Wounds torn open one after another caused the giant beast to let out wails of agony, wanting to escape and retreat, but it was entangled by countless spider silks, leaving it like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
The few of them watched all this, unable to help but cover their mouths, afraid of making a sound that might attract these strange insects.
Everyone exchanged glances and cautiously retreated step by step.
However, they found that the cave entrance was already surrounded by a group of terrifying-looking strange insects with thick legs, wasp-like stingers at their tails, and scythe-like mouthparts that scared everyone into not daring to make a move.
At this moment, endless regret and fear surged into their hearts.
With a "swish," Wang Yufei's heart was consumed by fear, and his finger unconsciously pressed on the compound bow; a sharp arrow was instantly fired, heavily striking the Solid Armor on the back of a Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier, producing a crisp sound.
The others were all startled; seeing that these strange insects had not actively attacked, they had not made any rash moves, but they never expected Wang Yufei to fire the first shot.
What shocked everyone even more was that the arrow shot from the compound bow did not penetrate the strange insect's defense.
A bone-chilling coldness surged into their hearts.
Now they were finished.
Before they could even prepare for battle, several strange insects flashed forward, directly pouncing on them, and in an instant, a great force knocked them all to the ground.
"Ahhh!" Lin Yue, seeing the grotesque and terrifying appearance of the strange insect, disregarded the pain in her back and let out a piercing scream, then fainted from fright.
The Fifth-Order Four Fiend Insect Soldier began to spray a strange gas from its mouth, and the other few people also fell into a coma after smelling the gas.
............
Meanwhile, at the breeding farm.
The weather was beautiful today, the sun's rays illuminating the earth. Zhou Qi was napping, eyes slightly narrowed, when he suddenly opened them wide.
He turned to look towards White Snake Mountain, as if he had received a warning.
He instantly entered the Evolution Space and directly teleported over.
With a flash of light, Zhou Qi arrived in the underground karst cave, his face grim as he looked at the five people lying on the ground.
He took a deep breath; perhaps he had felt too smooth-sailing lately, becoming a bit complacent.
He knew people were entering the mountain, yet he didn't make the cave entrance more concealed, and now this mess had happened.
Hearing the loud noise coming from the underground lake, Zhou Qi disregarded the few people in front of him and Ascended to the giant creature's presence.
At this moment, the giant creature was already entangled by spider webs and unable to move; the Fifth-Order River Earl Insect's venom had already invaded its brain cells, leaving only its mouth capable of making some sounds.
Zhou Qi looked at this giant creature, whose life strength was at least above 20 points, and couldn't help but be shocked by the combat power of the Fifth-Order River Earl Insect.
Bug Clan Family are indeed collective organisms; hundreds of Fifth-Order River Earl Insects, each with only 9 points of life strength, captured this giant creature alive at the cost of a dozen casualties.
Zhou Qi ordered them not to kill it, but merely to feed it a little something daily to keep it alive.
A crazy idea formed in Zhou Qi's mind: who said that only Bug Clan Family could undergo Combined Reinforcement?
What kind of life would be created if animal-type Family members were to use Combined Reinforcement?
Then, Zhou Qi looked at the few people lying on the ground, falling into distress for a moment.
Should he kill them all? If not, what would they do besides revealing the secret of this place?
Zhou Qi questioned his inner Dao, filled with torment; the current Bug Clan Family did not yet have the ability to directly confront humans.
Even powerful Elder-level existences like the Lizardmen were suppressed in the Geocentric World, unable to emerge, only able to rely on stealth and disguise to enter the human world.
If he killed them, what if someone knew their itinerary? Then it would surely be known that people had gone missing in White Snake Mountain. The few of them looked like they came from wealthy and influential families, so someone would definitely come to patrol and search the mountain.
The shadowed side of his face, turned away from the light, was drawn in a deep scowl, while the other side, illuminated by soft white light, appeared so sacred. Zhou Qi was momentarily caught in a dilemma...
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