374: The bottom of the bone island

He suppressed the nausea, paddling his arms to swim towards the center of the lake, only to find the water becoming thicker the further down he went.

The glowing spores were like countless tiny fireflies, illuminating the underwater world like a nightmare.

Bi Yao suddenly struggled violently, and Su Han turned to see her ankle tangled by a tentacle, its suckers greedily sucking her blood.

He swung his knife at the tentacle, but found the blade was repelled by some kind of tough membrane.

The shadows of the Monster horde hovered above the water, their eerie green compound eyes like peering demons, while the outline of a giant creature loomed in the depths of the lake, slowly approaching them.

Su Han shielded Bi Yao in his arms, his back suddenly hitting something hard.

He looked down and found it was the bottom of the white bone "island." The white bones glowed with a chilling white light underwater, and the bottom layer of skeletons was wrapped in rusty chains.

Bi Yao suddenly grabbed his arm and pointed towards the depths of the bone pile—

There was a pitch-black opening, from which an eerie blue light emanated from deep within, faintly revealing strange runes flowing on the stone wall.

The cries of the Monster horde suddenly became sharp. Su Han felt immense water pressure from above; the giant creature was diving.

He tightened his grip on Bi Yao's hand and swam towards the opening, but just as he was about to touch the edge of the opening, he was repelled by an invisible force.

Bi Yao coughed up a mouthful of bloody water and said weakly, "The runes... there's a Restriction."

The shadow of the giant creature loomed. Su Han looked at the flowing runes in the opening and suddenly remembered the Monster horde's bizarre behavior of mimicking fire.

He gritted his teeth, pulled out his last tinder from his In arms, and just as he was about to be swallowed by the giant creature, he flicked the spark towards the runes.

The eerie blue light suddenly surged, the runes twisted as if alive, and the Restriction on the opening shattered with a crash. Su Han and Bi Yao were violently pulled into the darkness by a suction force.

The current was rapid in the passage. The two constantly collided in the darkness. Su Han desperately protected Bi Yao's head until their bodies suddenly became suspended and they fell heavily onto a damp sandy ground.

The crackling of the torch was exceptionally clear in the darkness. Bi Yao trembled as she lit the torch. In the weak light, they saw a narrow stone passage before them.

The stone walls on both sides were covered with twisted patterns—these patterns depicted some kind of sacrificial ritual, with humans being sacrificed kneeling by the lake, and the giant creature opening its gaping maw to swallow fire into its belly.

The sound of dripping water came from the end of the stone passage. Su Han gripped his dagger, exchanged a look with Bi Yao, and slowly walked towards the unknown.

They didn't know if a way out or a dead end awaited them ahead, only that the cries of the Monster horde still echoed in the distance, and in the depths of the Cave, there seemed to be secrets more terrifying than the danger before them hidden.

The air in the stone passage became increasingly damp. Bi Yao's torch began to sizzle, its flame flickering under the pressure of the water vapor.

Su Han suddenly reached out to stop her, squatting down to carefully examine the ground—

There was a string of strange footprints on the sandy ground, the edges of the footprints marked with traces of mucus, but they didn't seem to be left by the Monster horde.

The footprints meandered into the depths of the stone passage. At the end of the torch's halo, a faint green reflection could be seen.

"It's a person."

Su Han's voice was low. He dipped his finger into the mucus on the sand, "But they've been infected by the Monster."

Bi Yao's face instantly turned pale. She tightened her grip on the torch.

The two followed the footprints, and the stone passage gradually widened. More runes appeared on the rock walls on both sides.

This time, the runes no longer flowed but had a dark red, rusty appearance, as if soaked in blood.

Suddenly, the sound of dragging chains came from ahead.

Su Han abruptly pulled Bi Yao behind him, the cold light of his dagger unsheathed. (End of Chapter)