Thump, thump... thump, thump... thump, thump...
This time, it wasn't an illusion. The sound of a real, unmistakable heartbeat came from ahead. When Hao Ren heard it, he couldn't help getting goosebumps. The instinct that he was approaching some ancient, terrifying thing made him almost subconsciously check his shield capacity.
He knew his sixth sense had always been accurate, but this time, he hoped it was wrong.
Lily was still walking at the very front of the group. This husky, who never learned her lesson no matter when or where, had already forgotten the unease she'd felt earlier and was bravely leading the way again. Once more, she was the first to cry out: "Whoa!! Wh-what... what is that?!"
Hao Ren cautiously moved forward. When he saw the sight outside the cave's exit, he was nearly suffocated by what lay before him:
At the end of the cave was an enormous, unprecedentedly huge ellipsoidal cavern. Countless openings were distributed in an almost symmetrical ring around its stone walls, and the place where Hao Ren and the others stood was merely one of them. Innumerable roots spread from the openings surrounding the cavern, probing out from the stone walls in every direction and hanging down from beneath the domed ceiling. In the center, they had twisted and grown together into one indescribable mass. That tangled thing was probably a thousand meters wide, shaped like a pitted meteorite, and lay crouched in the center of the cavern with overwhelming grandeur. Its surface was covered in thorny vines. Through the gaps between the roots, dark-red, leathery tissue could be seen. The tissue emitted flickering red light with every heavy "thump," like a heartbeat, or perhaps breathing.
This enormous "heart" sat in the center of the cavern just like that. Countless roots spread out