171: Chapter 171 Finally Meeting the BOSS

And these pieces of wood were all burning, with the most consumed one only half-turned to charred black.

"It is a bit strange. Why is it like this inside the cave? And someone even specially prepared braziers?" Xiao Niao felt something was off after entering, and after Tang Yao pointed out the fuel in the brazier, that feeling grew even stronger.

They watched the brazier closely for a while and noticed the flames flickering irregularly, the wood crackling continuously, and sparks flying occasionally, yet the wood itself seemed unchanged from the start.

Xiao Niao: "Did you notice? The wood in the brazier doesn't seem to have changed at all after burning for so long?"

Tang Yao nodded, a look of confusion on her face. "I have the same feeling. Even specially treated firewood couldn't last this long. It's almost like it's fake."

Hu Gualing reached out his hand over the brazier to feel it. "It clearly has heat, how could it be fake! You two stop being so paranoid and hurry up and find where the treasure is hidden."

Hu Gualing spoke dismissively, then turned and signaled Tang Yao and Xiao Niao to keep moving forward.

Tang Yao couldn't figure out what was going on, so she followed him, lead rope in hand, pulling Sharp Tooth along in confusion.

Before long, Tang Yao felt Sharp Tooth start trembling again. She could barely pull the Taming Rope. Just as she was about to warn Gualing and Xiao Niao of potential danger, she noticed Hu Gualing, who was walking ahead, had suddenly stopped in his tracks. Tang Yao looked up curiously.

In front of them, within a hall-like area, a monster stood imposingly in the center.

Behind the monster was a strangely shaped Black Stone Seat that looked like its resting place, seemingly mimicking a human throne. It was clear at a glance that this monster was no ordinary creature.

Looking closely at the monster itself, she found it was twice as tall as Hu Gualing. It had a pig's face, a pig's snout, a pig's body, and a pig's tail... it was indeed a wild boar!

But what made this wild boar different from the ones they had encountered outside was that not only was it exceptionally tall—so much so that Hu Gualing had to look up—but it was also standing upright on its hind legs!

Most of the wild boar's body was white, like the domestic pigs raised in villages, but it was also mottled with patches of verdant green.

The white came from its bristles and skin, but the green gave off a sense of rotting flesh, or perhaps moss growing on the White Wild Boar. However, the surroundings were filled with dry yellow earth; everywhere they looked was yellow. Forget plants—they couldn't even find a puddle, so how could moss grow? In short, the green patches on the wild boar gave off a discordant and uncomfortable feeling.

Tang Yao craned her neck high and finally saw its name above the wild boar's head.

[Vibrant Mutant White Boar]!

In her shock, Tang Yao accidentally let go of the Taming Rope. The Sharp-toothed Piglet couldn't wait to turn tail and flee. Its four little trotters trembled as it ran back to where they had first entered—behind the earthen wall carved with two vertically aligned unknown characters.

But as soon as Sharp Tooth hid behind the wall, it saw an incredibly ugly, bald Ostrich. It nearly squealed in terror: Where did this ugly bird come from? How terrifying!

Chen Mo was prepared. Controlling the Ostrich, he lashed out with a leg and kicked toward the Sharp-toothed Piglet.

This Ostrich might be cowardly, but it was quite large. Since its legs were the strongest part of its body, one kick sent the poor Sharp-toothed Piglet tumbling to the ground. He then used his smelly bird foot to step on Sharp Tooth's face, preventing it from making a sound. Only then did Chen Mo control the Ostrich to make a "shh" gesture with its wing. Seeing the Sharp-toothed Piglet freeze and then nod its head as if it understood, Chen Mo finally moved the bird leg off the piglet's face and continued observing this strange place from behind the wall.

After the Sharp-toothed Piglet stood up, it felt that while this Ostrich was a bit ugly, it was still safer than that White Wild Boar who was twice as tall as those two big idiots. So, it hid behind the earthen wall with the Ostrich, poking its little pig head out to see how its master was doing.

"Um... your piglet just ran away." Xiao Niao, standing at the back of the group as usual, had noticed Sharp Tooth's desertion and pointed toward the direction they came from to report it to Tang Yao.

Tang Yao looked at her empty hand, then toward the distant earthen wall, and realized Sharp Tooth was truly terrified to the extreme. It had hidden behind the wall without even greeting her.

But this was fine too. This White Wild Boar clearly wasn't one to be trifled with, and the upcoming battle would surely be dangerous. She might not be able to protect Sharp Tooth's safety anyway. Since they hadn't encountered any danger on the path they had already walked, Sharp Tooth should be generally safe hiding back there.

"It's fine, let it hide."

Thinking this, Tang Yao felt a weight lift from her heart. She relaxed considerably and said, gripping her long sword, "This must be the Mimic Xiao Niao mentioned, right? But I don't see a treasure chest anywhere?"

Hu Gualing chuckled. "I don't know about Mimics, but this White Wild Boar looks very extraordinary, and its name is much longer than the others. This is definitely a BOSS-level monster. If we kill it, it'll surely drop some good loot!"

This White Wild Boar stood upright, was massive, and had a name prefixed with "Vibrant" and "Mutant." It had an overwhelming presence; no one would believe it wasn't a BOSS.

Xiao Niao said worriedly, "Even if it drops rare items, can the three of us really defeat it?"

He looked around the spacious hall where the White Wild Boar was. Other than the strangely shaped Black Stone Seat behind the boar, there was nothing else. The open space could probably hold dozens of people without feeling crowded. Thus, Xiao Niao speculated that this might be a BOSS designed by the developers for a team of dozens to challenge. Did they, three fledgling novice players, really stand a chance?

Hu Gualing squeezed the steel knuckle duster he was already wearing, his Battle Intent surging. "It's just a slightly larger wild boar. As long as it has a health bar, there's no such thing as invincible!"

Tang Yao also said confidently, "Right, let's get it!"

Xiao Niao nodded. "Alright, since we've decided to fight, let's pull the mob. You two test out if this White Wild Boar has any special traits first. I'll observe its weaknesses from the back. After all, I only have eight arrows left; I can't afford to waste them."

Hu Gualing: "Observe all you want, I'm going in first."

Tang Yao: "By the way, if you get bored and want to fire an arrow, make sure to aim at the boar. Don't let your hand slip again and shoot us."

Neither Hu Gualing nor Tang Yao had high hopes for Xiao Niao's combat power, so they didn't take his talk about "observing weaknesses" to heart. After speaking, they launched their attack on the Mutated White Wild Boar.