Giant Frog vs. Centipede (Part 2)

"Mo Li! You're a civil servant, can't you read a book once in a while?" Wei Dengke almost face-planted into the lake when he heard Mo Li's question. Hadn't he just spent ages explaining things, and this guy still didn't understand?

Mo Li knew his knowledge base was indeed lacking, so he didn't argue with Wei Dengke. Instead, he awkwardly scratched his head and lowered his gaze, falling silent.

Just as Wei Dengke was about to tease Mo Li further, a huge splash suddenly echoed, drawing all three of their attention. They then saw that it was the Giant Frog that had jumped into the water with the centipede.

The centipede clearly couldn't swim. After falling into the water, it became frantic, leaving the Giant Frog's body and desperately trying to move towards the shore. However, having gone to so much trouble to get the Giant Centipede into the water, how could the Giant Frog let it escape? After the centipede left its body, the Giant Frog chased after it and bit down on the Giant Centipede.

Bitten by the Giant Frog, the centipede began to struggle desperately again. But in the water, it was no match for the Giant Frog. Even with its struggles, it couldn't escape.

Perhaps realizing it couldn't escape, the Giant Centipede went all out. It twisted its body and bit down on the Giant Frog. The centipede's massive pincers were forty to fifty centimeters long, and the bite was incredibly fierce. The sharp pincers plunged directly into the Giant Frog's body, causing it pain and thrashing in the water.

However, the centipede clearly intended to take the Giant Frog down with it. No matter how much the Giant Frog struggled, it didn't let go. The two behemoths thrashed in the lake, churning the entire Underground Lake into a frenzy. The giant waves they kicked up even extinguished some of the fires still burning on the shore.

This battle lasted for about five to six minutes before the Giant Frog finally stopped moving. The spot where the centipede had bitten it had turned a dark purple, clearly indicating the centipede possessed potent venom.

After all that struggle, the centipede was obviously exhausted. Furthermore, due to the Giant Frog's thrashing, they were now very far from the shore. The centipede had no chance of returning. It released its grip on the Giant Frog and desperately thrashed its nearly hundred-meter-long body in the lake. However, it was at least three hundred meters from the shore, making it almost impossible to swim back.

Having already been exhausted from fighting the Giant Frog, the Giant Centipede lost all its strength after thrashing for a while. It then began to sink into the lake, just like the Giant Frog's corpse.

As the Giant Centipede sank, the lake's surface gradually returned to calm. If they hadn't witnessed the fierce battle firsthand, no one would have guessed what had transpired in the Underground Lake.

The three exchanged glances with peculiar expressions. Wei Dengke was the first to speak, "Have we passed the crisis?"

"From the current situation, it seems so," Mo Li said with a wry smile. He then subconsciously glanced at the Underground Lake, wondering if there was a third Giant Frog in there, or perhaps other giant insects in the underground cavern.

To be safe, the three waited on the stone platform for about an hour. After this long period, the raging fire in the underground cavern was no longer as fierce, and explosions no longer occurred. A pungent smell filled the air. At this point, all three were covering their noses and mouths with wet cloths. After all, such intense burning had occurred earlier, filling the air with carbon dioxide and toxic gases produced by the combustion. If they hadn't used wet cloths to filter out those toxic substances, they likely wouldn't have lasted even an hour.

Of course, these three wet cloths didn't appear out of thin air; they were the sleeves of Wei Dengke's assault jacket. When they felt there was no longer any danger, the three returned to the lake and swam towards the shore. They stopped when they were three to four meters away from the shore and only climbed onto land after confirming there was no danger.

Counting the time, it had been over thirty hours since they departed. In just these thirty hours, the three of them had faced life and death repeatedly, with their legs having stepped into the gates of hell several times. Their survival was partly due to their efforts to stay alive, and partly due to their incredible luck.

Both their physical and mental strength had reached their limits. Moreover, the area was filled with large amounts of carbon dioxide and toxic gases from the fires. Even with wet cloths covering their noses and mouths, they couldn't completely block out these gases. The moment they relaxed after climbing ashore, all three felt their vision go black before passing out.

If the three had remained unconscious, they likely would never have woken up. The toxic gases filling the area would surely have claimed their lives in their sleep. However, it had to be admitted that these three were incredibly lucky. Less than five minutes after they had fallen unconscious, a tall, grayish-white figure rushed over from the southwest of the underground cavern. It was a massive Yeti, standing about three and a half meters tall, with bulging muscles that conveyed immense strength. The Yeti approached the three and cautiously observed them. After confirming they were all unconscious, it walked up to them and lifted Wei Dengke with its giant palm.

After examining Wei Dengke for a moment, the Yeti slung him over its shoulder. It then carried Mo Li and Zhong Lichun on its other shoulder. Following that, the Yeti sprinted back in the direction it came from at an extremely fast speed and disappeared into the distant darkness.

Mo Li felt extremely dizzy. Although he was gradually regaining consciousness, the dizziness intensified with his returning awareness. Almost instinctively, Mo Li sat up abruptly and then turned his head, opening his mouth to vomit. The last time he had eaten was over ten hours ago, a bit of raw wolf meat. Having not eaten for over ten hours, Mo Li couldn't really throw up anything, just dry heaved.

After dry heaving for a while, Mo Li finally recovered. It was only then that he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the long-lost blue sky and green trees. Everything before him felt unreal. Mo Li raised his hand and pinched his face. After feeling the sharp pain, he confirmed he wasn't dreaming.

Had he left that cave? But how did he get out? Where was this place? What about Wei Dengke and Zhong Lichun? Mo Li vaguely remembered swimming to the shore and then losing consciousness. Who had brought him here? Had the rescue team found them?

"Let me out of here! Help me!" Just as Mo Li was pondering the situation, a girl's shout suddenly came from his right. Hearing the voice, Mo Li froze for a moment, then turned his head to look.