He gripped his short blade tightly and slowly walked toward the source of the scent.
After walking for about half an hour, he saw a stretch of black rocks ahead. The scent was coming from behind them. Lin Taichu hid behind one of the rocks and cautiously peered inside.
Behind the rocks was a massive cave, and a magical beast stood at its entrance.
The magical beast was enormous, over thirty feet tall. Its body was covered in black scales, two sharp horns grew from its head, and its eyes were red. It had its head lowered, as though guarding something.
Lin Taichu was startled. He recognized this magical beast; he had seen it in Sand Country's records. It was a Black Scaled Beast, a high-level magical beast from the depths of the desert. It was immensely powerful, said to breathe fire, and its scales were harder than steel.
The Black Scaled Beast seemed to sense something. It suddenly raised its head and looked toward Lin Taichu. Lin Taichu quickly pulled back, held his breath, and did not dare make the slightest sound.
After a while, there was no movement outside.
Lin Taichu cautiously peeked out again and found that the Black Scaled Beast had lowered its head once more, continuing to guard the cave. He was puzzled. What was this Black Scaled Beast guarding? Could there be some treasure in the cave?
After thinking it over, he decided to observe for a while longer. He hid behind the rock and carefully watched the Black Scaled Beast's movements. It stood motionless at the cave entrance, only occasionally raising its head to cast a wary glance around.
About an hour later, the Black Scaled Beast suddenly moved. It called into the cave, its voice deep and muffled, as though communicating with