Rustle, rustle, rustle...
The ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled slightly, accompanied by a rustling sound-as though something were moving underground.
"Watch out!"
The old miner's expression changed abruptly. He yanked the young miner beside him behind his back. Before anyone could react, a grayish-brown monster nearly two meters long burrowed out of the tunnel wall, its sharp claws sending stone fragments flying as it lunged at the nearest miner.
"Shield, come!"
While the miners panicked, Chuan Wenwu calmly pointed a hand. A spiritual energy shield glowing faintly blue materialized in an instant, blocking the monster's charge head-on and stopping it as firmly as a rock.
Then he strode over, holding the Shield of the Hero, and hammered the foolish monster with the same technique used to pound meat for Chaoshan beef balls. Soon, a notification of +123 experience points arrived, which meant that this monster, whose appearance had been so fleeting, was presumably well and truly dead.
"Everyone, don't worry. It's taken care of."
Chuan Wenwu nudged the monster's corpse with his foot, allowing the unsettled miners to calm down and cautiously gather around to inspect it.
The dead monster was covered in hard, scale-like armor, its eyes so small they were almost invisible. Only its claws gleamed coldly. Now, however, it was in a miserable state, with blood seeping between its scales. It had clearly died from severe internal injuries.
It was a Mole Monster.
It was neither particularly strong nor particularly weak. By adventurer level standards, it was roughly in the twenties. However, its species' exceptional burrowing talent allowed it to move freely through rock, making it an enormous threat to miners working underground.
The Mole Monster also had hard, smooth scales that ordinary blades could barely damage. Yet this one had only just emerged to launch