Chapter 554 - 360: Soaring Hatred, Vowing to Make Him Regret Coming into This World

Chapter 554: Chapter 360: Soaring Hatred, Vowing to Make Him Regret Coming into This World

Hearing his man’s cry for help, Li Mai glanced back.

The horrifying sight that met his eyes made him run even faster.

His man, surrounded by giant, pitch-black centipedes, was swinging his weapon, hacking at the swarm as it endlessly surged forward to attack him.

Although he resisted with all his might, he was no match for the sheer size of the Centipede Swarm. No matter how many he killed, more of the pitch-black centipedes would surge forward to attack.

And so, he was overwhelmed by the seemingly endless tide of pitch-black centipedes.

"Ah—"

The pitch-black centipedes tore at the fallen man, ripping his flesh to a bloody pulp.

As is well known, centipedes are venomous. The man was quickly poisoned, and his body began to go numb. As he gradually lost consciousness, his struggles grew weaker and weaker.

"Ah... Boss, save me! I don’t want to die."

Though his body was numb and he was losing consciousness from the venom, the man being mauled by the centipedes refused to give up, driven by a powerful will to survive.

With the last vestiges of his consciousness, he used his remaining strength to cry out to his companions for help.

Li Mai watched his man’s gruesome end, and his scalp went numb with fear. He heard the cries for help, but against such a Centipede Swarm, there was no way he could mount a rescue.

A few of his men heard their companion’s desperate cries and instinctively slowed down, wanting to stop and help. But just then, Li Mai bellowed a warning.

"Don’t look back! Don’t stop!"

"Boss!" After all, they had drunk together, feasted together, and gotten into trouble together. Their bond was strong, and the men couldn’t bear to abandon him.

"Stop if you want to die," Li Mai said gravely. "But let me remind you, this Centipede Swarm won’t give you a chance to change your mind."

Hearing their boss’s warning, the men’s hearts skipped a beat. Their so-called deep bond was instantly forgotten. They picked up the pace again, scrambling over each other to escape.

"Ah..." The shrill screams of the man being mauled by the giant centipedes grew fainter and fainter until they vanished completely. His entire body was covered by the pitch-black creatures.

Under the bright sun, in a scenic valley, a group of humans fled in disarray. Behind them, a dense, massive swarm of pitch-black centipedes gave chase.

As time passed, some of the faster humans managed to put some distance between themselves and the relentless Centipede Swarm, while others found the gap between them and their pursuers shrinking steadily.

"Ah—"

"Boss, help me!"

A few more people were caught by the Centipede Swarm. On closer inspection, it was clear that the ones being overtaken were, once again, Li Mai’s men.

There was a reason for this. They had previously fought the White-Scaled Drilling Rats, expending a great deal of stamina and Spiritual Energy. Their condition was far worse than that of the Treasure Hunting Squad members, who had merely been onlookers.

Now, facing the pursuit of the fast-moving Centipede Swarm, it was only natural that Li Mai’s exhausted group would be the first to fall behind.

"Boss, I can’t run much longer!" one of the men cried out to Li Mai, his legs turning to jelly as he heard the screams of his companions being overtaken by the swarm behind them.

"If you don’t want to die, you’d better keep going! We’ll be out of this valley in a little while.

Once we’re out of the valley, the Centipede Swarm behind us should give up the chase.

Victory is in endurance, so don’t give up!" Li Mai yelled back, his own face grim.

"CHITTER CHITTER CHITTER..."

"Ah—"

The pitch-black centipedes captured more prey, chittering with excitement. The screams of the humans who were tackled to the ground were quickly drowned out by the creatures’ cries.

At this moment, the valley was completely blanketed with the pitch-black centipedes, their numbers impossible to count.

A rough estimate would place their numbers far beyond the thousand or so Lin Li had predicted in the cave; there were at least ten thousand of them, if not more.

It was unimaginable that a Centipede Swarm numbering over ten thousand could be living in such a scenic valley.

Li Mai’s group and the members of the Treasure Hunting Squads all cursed their terrible luck. ’How did we run into something like this?’

At the same time, they couldn’t help but blame the young man who had escaped before them.

Thinking back to how the young man had bolted from the cave, it was obvious that he had disturbed the Centipede Swarm living inside and that it had chased him out.

If he hadn’t led the Centipede Swarm out of the cave, they wouldn’t be facing this disaster now.

They pinned all the blame for the disaster squarely on Lin Li.

In reality, even if Lin Li had never entered the cave, the outcome would have been the same.

Li Mai’s group would have entered the cave anyway, found the Spirit Stone Mine, and attracted the attention of the resident Centipede Swarm.

And the members of the Treasure Hunting Squads, waiting outside to see how much of the Spirit Stone Mine Li Mai’s group could claim, would have inevitably been attacked by the Centipede Swarm that Li Mai’s group would have led out.

"Ah—"

"Help!"

After sacrificing several more lives, the fleeing crowd finally managed to escape the deadly valley.

The situation unfolded just as Li Mai had predicted to his men. Seeing their prey escape the valley, the pursuing Centipede Swarm halted at the exit before turning back toward their lair.

It seemed the Centipede Swarm considered the valley their territory.

Once their prey had left their territory, they had no intention of continuing the chase.

"Haaa..."

The survivors, who had narrowly escaped death, were panting and drenched in sweat. They wiped their brows as they watched the terrifying Centipede Swarm recede like a tide.

When the terrifying Centipede Swarm had vanished completely, everyone’s frayed nerves finally began to unwind. Many found their legs giving out, collapsing onto the grass.

"Damn, that scared the hell out of me."

"Yeah! Me too. I really thought I was a goner today!"

"Once I’m back in Dongwu City, I’m going home to rest for a good long while."

"After surviving that, I’m going to the brothel for a few days to really blow off some steam..."

"You’re going to the brothel? That’s not cheap! You got the money for that?"

"Yeah, I’ve saved up a lot this year..."

The members of the Treasure Hunting Squads chatted with relaxed expressions, discussing their plans for when they got back to the city.

Meanwhile, the surviving members of Li Mai’s group presented a stark contrast to the relaxed Treasure Hunting Squads.

Li Mai’s group had left the city with over twenty men to carry out a mission for Young Master Zhao. Now, only a dozen or so remained.

Not only had they failed the mission, but they had also lost many of their comrades. It was a total disaster. ’How can we possibly face Young Master Zhao when we get back?’

Moreover, the dying cries of their comrades—caught by the swarm and left without even a body to bury—still echoed in their minds.

It was easy to imagine how grim the expressions on the faces of Li Mai’s group were.

"Boss," his men said, their faces grief-stricken as they looked at Li Mai’s livid expression.

"This is all that bastard’s fault! I don’t care where he is, I’m going to find him and make him regret the day he was born!" Li Mai roared through gritted teeth, his face contorted with rage and veins bulging on his forehead.

He placed the blame for this utter failure entirely on Lin Li.

And at that very moment, Lin Li, the target of all their curses, was leisurely riding his dirt bike back toward Dongwu City.

...