Chapter 89: Mine Cave
Chapter 89: Mine Cave
“The Undead Creatures had appeared, so the Ancient Castle must have emerged in the Blackwater Swamp as well, though I don’t know exactly where,” Xu Feng thought to himself. “That Ancient Castle is the stronghold of these Undead Creatures. With my current strength, exploring it would be suicide. But now that the Ancient Castle has appeared, the Flood Dragon lurking in the Blackwater Swamp will probably show up soon too.”
The Giant Lizard Beast was very fast. Though it had a huge body, it moved across the swamp as if gliding on water, at least three times faster than Xu Feng could run.
The deeper they went into the swamp, the more Swamp Lizard Beasts they encountered. But as soon as these lizard beasts saw the Giant Lizard Beast that Xu Feng was riding, they panicked and fled in all directions.
The Giant Lizard Beast was a Three-Star Elite Monster, exerting a pressure effect on ordinary monsters of its kind. This greatly increased Xu Feng’s speed of travel.
Moving as swiftly as the wind, Xu Feng could faintly make out the shadow of a continuous mountain range ahead.
“So I’ve already crossed nearly half of the swamp,” Xu Feng looked up.
In his memory, the entrance to the mine cave in Blackwater Swamp was beneath a rocky cliff.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosive roar of spells suddenly echoed from ahead. Xu Feng stopped and frowned slightly—there were actually other people here.
Xu Feng jumped off the Giant Lizard Beast and commanded it to switch to follow mode.
Soon, the Giant Lizard Beast’s body began to shrink, eventually turning into a juvenile form that stood no higher than Xu Feng’s knees.
The Giant Lizard Beast seemed uncomfortable with this size. It shook its head and let out soft, complaining hisses.
Xu Feng patted its head to soothe it.
There were people up ahead, and he didn’t know if they were friend or foe. The Giant Lizard Beast’s original form was too large and conspicuous.
Xu Feng walked forward about a dozen meters and soon discovered another group of people surrounding and attacking a Two-Star Swamp Lizard Beast.
This team had six people in total: one with Three-Star Strength, and the rest with Two-Star Strength.
Xu Feng stopped when he was about ten meters away from them. Just like in online games, in this post-apocalyptic world, monster stealing was common. If you got too close while others were fighting, it could easily cause misunderstandings.
The people opposite noticed Xu Feng and grew wary.
“Be careful, someone’s approaching.”
“Phoenix, watch your Energy Value, save your spells. Wood, keep one control skill ready…”
A Two-Star Lizard Beast was no match for this group. While they intensified their attacks, they kept most of their attention on Xu Feng.
“He probably isn’t here for us,” a woman holding a staff whispered.
The leader, seeing that Xu Feng had stopped about ten meters away and didn’t advance further, relaxed a little and nodded.
“Let’s still be cautious. He looks like a lone adventurer. If he dares to come here alone, he must have some skill. As long as he doesn’t try to steal the monster, let’s avoid provoking him.”
The team remained careful and didn’t show any hostility.
“Captain, look beside him…” one team member exclaimed.
The leader glanced over and was so startled that his sword swing went wide, and the lizard beast slammed hard into his chest.
“Captain, watch out!”
The others intensified their attacks, drawing the lizard beast’s attention away.
“I’m fine.”
“A lizard beast—that guy actually tamed a lizard beast as a pet!” someone cried out.
“He must be rich. A taming contract costs ten thousand Fate Points, and there’s a risk of failure.”
“Look closely, it doesn’t seem like an ordinary lizard beast. It looks fiercer and more terrifying than usual.”
Soon, the Swamp Lizard Beast let out a piercing shriek and collapsed to the ground.
The leader stepped forward and dug out the Insect Crystal. Then a short member rushed out, holding a Short Blade, and began skinning the lizard beast’s corpse. In a short while, he held a complete beast hide.
“Brother, can we help you with something?”
After gathering the loot, the captain saw that Xu Feng still hadn’t left and walked over to ask.
“I wanted to ask if you’ve seen a village in this swamp,” Xu Feng said.
“A village? No,” the team leader shook his head. “But there’s a large cave under the cliff ahead. It’s deep and we couldn’t see the end. We heard faint roars of monsters inside, so we didn’t dare to enter.”
Xu Feng smiled slightly and nodded in thanks.
Roar!
The Giant Lizard Beast let out a roar toward the sky and returned to its combat form. Xu Feng mounted it and rode off in the direction the team had indicated.
“So fast…”
“That’s no ordinary lizard beast. Could it be a BOSS?”
The speed of the Giant Lizard Beast startled them.
“Alright, Monkey, go lure another monster over…”
“Okay, Captain.”
The team glanced uneasily at Xu Feng’s receding figure. To them, Xu Feng was just a passerby. In the future, they might hear rumors about Xu Feng and only then realize how close they had once been to a Legendary figure.
Xu Feng continued forward for a while. The ground here had become dry. Soon, he arrived at the foot of a mountain range that stretched for thousands of miles.
“This is the place,” Xu Feng dismounted and murmured, staring at the mountains.
Following the earlier team leader’s directions, Xu Feng headed west along the mountain foot and soon found a deep cave opening.
The entrance was surrounded by black rocks. The cave was about two meters wide and three meters high—quite narrow. From the outside, he could vaguely see three or four meters in, but beyond that, it was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything. Occasionally, a chilly wind blew from inside the cave, cold enough to freeze one’s soul. Along with the wind came strange sounds, like the roar of a monster or a person shouting in a hoarse voice.
Xu Feng knew that this place, like the Blackwater Swamp, was a fragment of space from the cosmos that had inexplicably crossed over to Earth. Now it had merged with Earth and become part of it.
The creatures in this area, like the lizard beasts in Blackwater Swamp, were all beings from that shattered space, not originally from Earth. But before long, once this space fully integrated with Earth, these creatures could naturally be called Earth creatures as well.
Inside this cave was one of the three mine caves in Blackwater Swamp. The space inside the mine cave was cramped and couldn’t accommodate the Giant Lizard Beast’s large body. Xu Feng had to command it to shrink and follow behind him. If a fight broke out, he would have to handle it himself, unless there was an area in the mine cave big enough for the Giant Lizard Beast to join the battle.
Xu Feng stepped into the mine cave.
After entering, Xu Feng looked around at the rock walls. Soon, he noticed many oil lamps hanging on the walls. Xu Feng took one, lit it, and carried it in his hand.