Chapter 552 - 359: The Eerie Sounds in the Cave

Chapter 552: Chapter 359: The Eerie Sounds in the Cave

After getting a clear look at the source of the faint light, the serious expression Lin Li had worn since entering the cave instantly relaxed, replaced by a joyful smile.

"Hahaha... Good thing I didn’t turn back halfway, or I would have missed out on this Spirit Stone Mine."

The small, blazing Fireball cast an orange-red glow, illuminating the pile of Spirit Stones.

Translucent and irregularly shaped, the Spirit Stones of all different sizes reflected the orange-red light of the Fireball.

Upon closer inspection, one could see faint, pale-gold glimmers of Spiritual Light occasionally flashing across the surfaces of the translucent Spirit Stones.

Lin Li walked over, crouched in front of the pile, and picked up a fist-sized Spirit Stone.

He examined it in his hand. His Perception told him the Spirit Stone contained an abundant amount of Spiritual Energy; it must have been unused.

There was a considerable number of these Spirit Stones of varying sizes. He estimated that if he took them to a shop, he could exchange them for three or four hundred standard Spirit Stones, which would be worth about fifteen to twenty million in cash. It was a substantial income.

’I searched all morning without finding the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s nest. I was starting to think this treasure hunt was just for the experience. I can’t believe I actually found it in the end. My luck’s not bad at all!’ Lin Li muttered with a grin.

Then, he stored the entire pile of Spirit Stones in his Mysterious Small Island.

With the Spirit Stones collected, the treasure hunt was more or less over. It was time to head back to Dongwu City.

But just as Lin Li was about to leave the dark, damp cave, a rustling sound arose from behind him.

"What’s that sound?" Lin Li spun around and looked toward the source. It was pitch-black, and he couldn’t see a thing, but the noise was getting louder.

"DRIP, DRIP, DRIP..."

"SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER..."

The sound of water dripping from stalactites echoed through the cave, and combined with the dense rustling from the shadows, it was enough to make one’s scalp tingle.

It felt as if something unclean was closing in, causing one’s heart to beat uncontrollably faster.

Lin Li frowned. He glanced at the Fireballs floating above him, and the next second, the five hovering Fireballs shot toward the source of the noise.

The blazing Fireballs cast an orange-red glow, rapidly illuminating a large area.

When Lin Li got a clear look at what was making the noise from the darkness, even with his Peak Tier Two cultivation and his unique life-saving ability, he couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

"Fuck...!!!"

Pitch-black creatures, each one-point-two meters long with two long antennae, appeared before Lin Li.

Their segmented bodies each had a pair of legs, and their mouths, filled with fine, sharp teeth, opened and closed, making a faint noise as they came into view.

Centipedes. So many huge, black centipedes. Although they weren’t Mutant Beasts, just ordinary creatures, they were enormous—more than twice the size of a normal large centipede on Blue Star.

And there were so many of them, a dense, terrifying swarm that made one’s blood run cold.

If there had only been ten or twenty of the giant centipedes, Lin Li would have just been startled before quickly calming down.

But a single glance told him there were at least a thousand centipedes before him now. It was impossible to face something like that calmly.

"SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER..."

Having lived their entire lives in the damp, dark cave, the huge black centipedes were momentarily stunned by the sudden light of the Fireballs. They all stopped advancing, but it didn’t take long for them to recover.

Their long, slender antennae twitched, picking up the enticing scent in the air. All of the giant black centipedes locked onto Lin Li.

’Run!!!’ The moment Lin Li saw the giant black centipedes point their antennae at him in unison, the thought of escape screamed in his mind. He immediately spun around and fled.

"SKITTER SKITTER SKITTER..."

Seeing their prey run, the giant black centipedes shrieked and swarmed after the fleeing Lin Li.

A grand chase scene unfolded in the dark, damp cave. The giant black centipedes might have looked clumsy, but when they started running, they were unbelievably fast!

Fortunately, Lin Li was still quite a bit faster than the giant black centipedes. Any other Cultivator would have likely been caught and surrounded in moments.

...

"ROAR, WHOOSH, ROAR..."

The cascading waterfall thundered down, just as it always did.

The area in front of the bottomless pool, which had only just quieted down, grew noisy once again.

Li Mai’s group and the other Treasure Hunting Team, who had fled earlier, had been waiting and watching from the valley entrance. Noticing that the sounds of battle by the pool had died down, they waited a bit longer before returning to investigate.

When everyone returned to the spot where they had encountered the Green-backed Toad Beasts, they saw a scene of utter destruction: a torn-up patch of grass, two conspicuous, charred blast craters, and mangled remains scattered in the surrounding thickets.

Everyone immediately understood. The two ferocious Mutant Beasts had been killed.

"This... who on earth killed those two Mutant Beasts?" a member of the Treasure Hunting Squad whispered, his face a mask of shock.

Li Mai and his men wore similar expressions, but their shock quickly gave way to relief.

Although they hadn’t killed the two Mutant Beasts that had murdered their brothers themselves, the beasts were dead now. They could consider their vengeance served, and their four fallen brothers could rest in peace.

Now, they could continue to the cave by the pool, search for the Spirit Stone Mine collected by the White-Scaled Drilling Rats, and complete the task Young Master Zhao had casually assigned them.

"Let’s go..." Li Mai called to his underlings, taking the lead as he walked toward the distant cave by the pool.

The members of the Treasure Hunting Squad, now reduced to mere onlookers, watched silently with glum expressions as Li Mai led his men toward the cave.

At this point, the whole affair seemed to have come to a close.

But the members of the Treasure Hunting Squad had no intention of leaving just yet. They wanted to see how many Spirit Stones Li Mai’s group would find in the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s nest.

"By the way, where’s that reckless kid? I don’t see him," one of the Treasure Hunting Squad members suddenly asked, remembering Lin Li.

"Yeah! Did anyone see where that reckless kid went?"

"No idea! The moment those two Green-backed Toad Beasts showed up, who had the time to pay attention to him?"

"You don’t think that reckless kid failed to escape and got eaten by the two Green-backed Toad Beasts, do you?"

"He probably wasn’t eaten. After all, there aren’t any human limbs lying around."

"Maybe he used the chaos to slip away and is already on his way back to Dongwu City."

The members of the Treasure Hunting Squad chattered amongst themselves, speculating on the reckless kid’s whereabouts.

Just as Li Mai’s group was cheerfully heading for the cave by the pool and the Treasure Hunting Squad members were busy gossiping, a figure suddenly shot out of the cave, appearing before everyone.

"Finally made it out." Having been relentlessly pursued by the giant black centipedes, Lin Li had at last escaped the dark, damp cave.

Seeing the light of day again, feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin and the pleasant breeze against his body, Lin Li couldn’t help but feel as if he’d been reborn.

Humans, after all, always yearn for the light and detest dark, damp places. It was a perfectly normal reaction.

"It’s that reckless kid."

"He’s still alive, and he didn’t run off during the chaos..."

"Why did he come running out of the cave?"

"Don’t tell me that reckless kid slipped into the cave to pick up scraps during the commotion!"

"Pick up scraps? No way, he actually went into the cave to scavenge?"

"What else could it be? If he wasn’t scavenging, why would he come running out of the cave?"

The members of the Treasure Hunting Squad looked at Lin Li, their minds racing through a series of assumptions. But not a single one of them connected him to the person who had killed the two ferocious Mutant Beasts.

After all, looking at how young Lin Li was, no one present would ever associate him with a powerful expert.

...