271: Chapter 271 Blood Nest Hunting Ground

A thick, nauseating mixture of odors—rotting flesh, ancient bones, the stench of some slimy biological secretion, and that cold, malicious energy aura that seemed to seep into the Soul—filled this "anteroom" at the end of the narrow crevice like viscous venom.

In this dense darkness and aura of death, the faint fluorescent light was like a candle in the wind, flickering and unstable, able to illuminate only a small space, yet it made the piled bones, frantic graffiti, and the fresh, gruesome scratches at the cave entrance appear all the more harrowing.

After the initial shock, Ling Ye's heart began to beat steadily at a cold, almost frozen pace.

Adrenaline was still surging, but it was no longer panic; it was an extreme, frigid focus and murderous intent.

He tucked the last bit of fluorescent cloth into a rock crevice to secure it, ensuring the light would not go out completely, while also trying not to expand the illuminated area.

"Old Shi," his voice was kept extremely low, almost a whisper, yet it was exceptionally clear and calm, "Retreat, keep close to the left rock wall, back up slowly. Don't make any noise. I'll cover the rear."

Old Shi was already pale as a sheet, body trembling like a sieve, relying entirely on the rock wall to keep from collapsing.

It looked at the bones and graffiti, its eyes filled with a primal, naked fear of predators that was completely different from what it had felt when facing the "Gate of Order."

Hearing Ling Ye's words, it almost instinctively used its last ounce of strength to follow Ling Ye's instructions, moving bit by bit, inching with difficulty toward the depths of the crevice from where they came, trying its best not to touch anything or make any sound.

Ling Ye did not retreat immediately.

He slowly raised the spear in his hand, which was now just a bare shaft (the spearhead had been destroyed), and held it horizontally before him.

His gaze, like the most precise scanner, swept over the cave entrance, the piled bones, and the rock walls on both sides over and over again.

His ears captured any trace of unusual sound coming from the depths of the cave—aside from that hair-raising, extremely faint "drip" sound, as if slime were dripping, and that constantly permeating malicious energy field, there was no other movement for the time being.

But he knew that the "thing" was very likely deep inside the cave, or... had just left and could return at any moment.

Those fresh scratches were the most direct warning.

They had to leave this "anteroom" immediately, retreat back to the relatively safe crevice passage, and then leave this damn crevice as fast as possible to find another way!

"Rustle..."

As Old Shi retreated, its foot stepped on a small piece of loose rubble, emitting an extremely slight, yet in the deathly silence, exceptionally clear friction sound!

Ling Ye's pupils constricted, and almost the instant the sound rang out, he turned his head sharply to look at the cave entrance!

At that very moment—in the absolute darkness deep within the cave, two ghostly green lights, like will-o'-the-wisps, lit up without warning!

The light was not large, but it was extremely striking, filled with cold, greed, and a nearly playful cruelty!

Immediately following, a hair-raising, dense, and rapid "rustling" sound, as if countless arthropods were quickly rubbing against each other and crawling, surged out from the depths of the cave like a tide, approaching the cave entrance at an astonishing speed!

It's coming!

"Run!!" Ling Ye no longer cared about the noise, letting out a low roar at Old Shi, who had just retreated a few steps!

At the same time, without hesitation, he pulled an "Energy Interference Bomb" from his bosom and, with all his might, threw it fiercely into the cave entrance!

"Whoosh—Bang!"

The "Energy Interference Bomb" hit the rock wall inside the cave and exploded instantly!

There was no flash of fire, only a violently twisting, chaotic energy pulse, accompanied by a piercing, high-frequency noise that erupted at the cave entrance!

This was a one-time item Old Shi had made using special Ore and a crude rune array, theoretically capable of interfering with low-level Energy Perception and precision instruments.

Its effect on predators that relied purely on physical senses and biological instincts was unknown, but at this moment, it was the only means they had to buy time!

The chaotic energy pulse and noise seemed to have a temporary effect!

The approaching "rustling" sound deep in the cave clearly paused and faltered for an instant, and those two ghostly green lights also flickered and swayed violently, as if they had been disturbed or irritated!

"Go! Fast!" Ling Ye seized this fleeting opportunity, turned around, grabbed the almost paralyzed Old Shi, and dragged it along the narrow crevice passage, fleeing for their lives in the direction they had come!

He no longer cared about the sound of footsteps, no longer worried about stamina!

Run!

Use the fastest speed to leave this crevice, leave this damn nest entrance!

"Hiss—!!!"

Behind them, from the depths of the cave, came a sharp, shrill screech, filled with rage and irritation, like metal scraping against glass!

The sound pierced directly through the eardrums, stabbing straight into the brain, carrying a strong mental impact and a sense of dizziness!

Ling Ye felt his head swim, and he nearly stumbled!

Old Shi even let out a painful groan, almost collapsing!

Immediately after, that "rustling" crawling sound rang out again!

And it was even more rapid and violent than before!

It was as if the completely enraged predator was rushing out of the cave at an astonishing speed, pursuing them!

Ling Ye bit his tongue, using the sharp pain to forcibly dispel the dizziness in his brain, and while gripping Old Shi tightly, he stumbled forward through the dark, rugged, and slippery crevice!

The "rustling" sound behind him drew closer and closer; he could even feel a foul, damp, and cold current of air, mixed with a dense aura of malicious energy, blowing against the back of his neck!

"Left! There's a fork in the road over there!" Old Shi suddenly hissed, its voice distorted by fear.

It seemed to be relying on a vague memory of the direction, pointing to a dark, even narrower crevice on the left side of the main passage, almost completely hidden by hanging vines and stalactites!

No time to think!

Without a second thought, Ling Ye dragged Old Shi and dove into that narrow crevice!

The crevice was even narrower and lower than the main one, requiring them to bend over completely, or even crawl, to pass through.

Inside, it was even darker, the air was foul, and it was filled with a heavy smell of damp earth and mold.

But at this moment, this narrowness had instead become their only hope—it could restrict that predator of unknown size!

"Rustle-rustle-rustle—!!!"

Behind them, in the main crevice, that hair-raising crawling sound reached the entrance of the fissure they had dived into almost instantly!

Immediately followed by an even angrier, more violent screech, and the teeth-grinding "creak" of rock being struck and scraped by immense force, along with the sound of falling rubble!

That "thing" seemed to be blocked by the narrow entrance!

It was too large to squeeze in immediately!

But Ling Ye dared not pause for even a second, nor did he dare to look back.

He only knew to use all his strength, crawling on hands and knees, desperately moving forward through this narrow, winding, gut-like crevice!

Old Shi followed behind him, its breathing like a worn-out bellows, but the instinct for survival also made it burst forth with its final strength, following closely.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound came from behind; it seemed some rocks had been forcibly smashed or crushed by that "thing"!

The entrance to the crevice was widening!

The "rustling" sound rang out again, but this time, it seemed somewhat... sluggish, difficult?

It was as if that "thing" was forcing its way into this narrow passage, its massive body rubbing against the rock walls, emitting an even more piercing noise.

It was still chasing!

And it seemed determined to squeeze in!

"Ahead! There's light!" Old Shi suddenly whispered in surprise.

Ling Ye looked up, and sure enough, about a dozen meters ahead, at the end of the narrow crevice, a sliver of extremely faint, natural, grayish-white skylight—different from the fluorescent light—was filtering in!

Although very weak, in this absolute darkness, it was like a lighthouse!

An exit!

It might be the exit to another crevice, or a fissure leading to other parts of the canyon!

Hope was like a stimulant injected into his body!

Ling Ye burst forth with his final strength, crawling frantically toward that sliver of daylight!

The "rustling" sound and the scraping of rocks behind him were getting closer and clearer!

He could even smell that thick, nauseating, foul stench, which was almost about to completely pollute the air in the cramped space!

That "thing" was about to catch up!

"Fast! Almost there!" Ling Ye roared lowly, encouraging Old Shi, who was nearly exhausted.

Finally, they crawled to the end of the crevice!

Outside, it was indeed a more open, yet still inside the canyon, dimly lit small cavity filled with scattered rocks!

The daylight was filtering down from a narrow crack at the top of the cavity.

Ling Ye crawled out of the crevice first, turned around immediately, and dragged the nearly collapsed Old Shi out.

Then, without time to observe the environment, he immediately picked up a basin-sized, sharp-edged rock from nearby and jammed it tightly into the narrow crevice entrance they had just crawled out of!

Although he knew this probably wouldn't stop that "thing," it could at least hinder it slightly!

"Find cover! Fast!" Ling Ye looked around.

This cavity was only about half the size of a basketball court, the terrain uneven and piled with scattered rocks of various sizes.

The only advantage was that there were a few relatively tall piles of rocks that could serve as temporary cover.

He dragged Old Shi to hide in the innermost part of the cavity, in a relatively sheltered corner formed by several huge stacked rocks.

This place was surrounded by rocks on three sides, with only a small opening in the front, making it easy to defend and hard to attack.

Ling Ye immediately took the bow from his back, drew two arrows, notched them on the string, and pulled the bowstring half-taut, the arrowheads aimed fixedly at the crevice entrance they had just crawled out of, as well as other possible entrances to the cavity.

Old Shi slumped in the corner, its face pale, chest heaving violently, nearly fainting.

Its right hand, that gray-green patch, seemed to have become active and hot again during the extreme fear and intense running just now, emitting an extremely faint, ominous, ghostly light.

"Rustle... creak... creak..."

The hair-raising sound came again from behind the crevice entrance blocked by the rock.

The rock was being pushed slowly, emitting an unbearable groan.

The stone blocking the door was being pushed open bit by bit!

It was coming out!

Ling Ye held his breath, his fingers on the arrows steady as a rock, his gaze cold, like the most patient hunter, waiting for the moment the prey revealed a fatal flaw.

"Bang!"

Finally, the stone blocking the door was slammed open from the inside by a huge force, rolling off to the side!

Immediately after, a huge, hideous, suffocating, and terrifying head slowly, covered in viscous liquid and gravel, forced its way out from that narrow crevice entrance!

By the faint, grayish-white skylight filtering down from the top of the cavity, Ling Ye finally saw the true face of the terrifying predator that had been hunting them the whole way—it was a nightmarish creature that was difficult to accurately describe in words, as if it were a crude amalgamation of the features of a giant spider, a centipede, and some kind of crustacean deep-sea monster!

Its head was about the size of a basin, covered in a dark, thick, deep-purple chitinous shell, riddled with tumor-like protrusions and eerie energy patterns.

At the front of its head were two pairs of huge, curved, sharp mouthparts like sickles, shimmering with a ghostly green cold light, constantly opening and closing, dripping with viscous, foul-smelling transparent liquid.

Above the mouthparts were those two ghostly green compound eyes, filled with cold and cruel light, which were, at this moment, fixedly locked onto the rock pile where Ling Ye and Old Shi were hiding!

Behind the head was an even more massive, bloated trunk covered in the same deep-purple shell, growing countless pairs of short, thick, powerful, hook-tipped walking legs!

The trunk was at least four or five meters long and was currently struggling to wiggle and squeeze out of the narrow crevice bit by bit!

Every movement of its walking legs scraped against the rock, emitting a teeth-grinding noise.

The entire body exuded a thick, nauseating scent, a mix of decay, stench, and that cold, malicious energy aura, as if it were an Incarnation of a nightmare crawling out from the filthiest, most twisted abyss!

This was a mutated, or deeply eroded and alienated, terrifying "Abyssal Remains" predator contaminated by the "abyssal eye"!

And it was a top-tier predator that had specifically adapted to the extreme environment of the Rift Canyon, possessing powerful physical strength, swift speed, and some kind of mental impact ability!

Ling Ye's heart sank to the bottom.

He knew that today, in this extension of the death nest, only one side could leave alive between them and this terrifying predator.

There was no retreat, only a fight to the death.

He slowly pulled the bowstring to a full moon.

The arrowhead was aimed steadily at the center of those two ghostly green, cold, and cruel compound eyes on the monster's head.