"Besides, we're brothers, and I'm your right-hand man. How could I count as an outsider?"
Fatty Wang shamelessly begged to learn the technique.
Gu Cheng wasn't one to jealously guard his treasures.
The Visualization Secret Slip still had a few uses left.
If Fatty Wang could truly open his heart to him and become a core member of his team, teaching him the Fetal Breathing Method wasn't out of the question.
He wouldn't even mind helping him find miraculous treasures that could increase his true essence spiritual energy.
But right now...
Their relationship hadn't reached that point yet.
They still needed time to build their bond.
"Once we get back, I'll ask my dad and see what he says."
Gu Cheng brushed him off with a casual excuse.
Fatty Wang was about to say more.
"Watch out! Something's wrong outside!"
Hu Bayi suddenly spoke up.
Fatty Wang, Gu Cheng, and Yingzi immediately looked outside, on alert.
But it was pitch-black beyond the cave.
They couldn't see a thing.
"What's wrong, Hu?"
Fatty Wang asked in a hushed voice.
Hu Bayi's expression was grave, his gaze sharp as lightning as he watched the darkness outside and slowly backed away.
"I smell blood!"
"And my eyelid's twitching again. That's my sixth sense warning me."
"Every time this happens, it means there's danger."
Yingzi added, "I smell blood too."
Hearing both Hu Bayi and Yingzi say that,
Fatty Wang immediately shut his mouth.
He grabbed the Mountain-Splitting Axe.
Holding his breath, he watched the entrance.
Gradually, Gu Cheng and Fatty Wang also caught the scent of blood. It was strong!
Perhaps because the Fetal Breathing Method had cleansed his marrow and purified his body, Gu Cheng's eyesight was much sharper than before.
In the darkness, he could vaguely make out what looked like two eerie green lanterns drifting toward the cave.
Huh?
Lanterns?
Gu Cheng froze, then his expression changed drastically!
"Fuck! That Flood Dragon Serpent found us!"
"Run!"
He grabbed his backpack and pulled a burning stick from the fire.
Hearing Gu Cheng's warning,
Hu Bayi and the others instantly went pale.
They grabbed their packs, and Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang each pulled a burning stick from the fire too.
Yingzi took down her longbow instead.
The four of them sprinted deeper into the cave.
As they ran,
Fatty Wang glanced back.
An enormous serpent's head appeared at the entrance.
The serpent flicked his forked tongue.
A pair of eerie green eyes stared fixedly at them, cold and vicious.
"Holy shit, it really is that beast!"
Fatty Wang cried out.
His ball-shaped body had somehow become much more agile, and he even overtook Hu Bayi.
Gu Cheng shouted as he ran, "Yingzi, is there a way through this cave?"
Yingzi said, "At the far end, there's a narrow crack in the rock. Once you squeeze through, there's nowhere else to go."
Fatty Wang said, "What?! Isn't that a dead end?!"
Hu Bayi said, "Forget that for now! Let's get there first. Unless you want to turn around and fight him one-on-one?!"
Fatty Wang said, "Never mind. I'll leave that to you!"
"That beast really holds a grudge! We ran so far, and he still caught up!"
Gu Cheng said, "Fatty, maybe he's just craving all that meat on you. How about sacrificing yourself and treating him to a meal?"
Fatty Wang said, "Piss off! You're the one who stabbed him and violated his body. That's why he can't forget you."
Yingzi said, "Fatty, shut up!"
Hu Bayi said, "You two still have time to crack jokes?! Hurry up and think of something!"
After running for three to five minutes,
the cave grew increasingly narrow.
Dampness, mildew, and marsh gas mingled into a pungent, foul stench.
Compared with that, the little odor on Gu Cheng's body was nothing.
None of them felt like joking anymore.
They focused all their attention on the ground beneath their feet.
Before long,
they reached the back of the cave.
On the right was a crack in the rock just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Gu Cheng tossed his burning stick inside.
By its light,
they could see an enclosed space of roughly eight or nine square meters.
There was no way out.
"What do we do?"
Gu Cheng asked.
Hu Bayi glanced behind them and gritted his teeth. "Get inside first."
Gu Cheng went first.
Turning sideways, he squeezed through.
Yingzi followed.
Fatty was third.
But he was too fat.
He couldn't even get half his body through.
Stuck in the crack, he was on the verge of tears.
"I'm done for, I'm done for! To think that I, Wang Kaixuan, have roamed the world for thirty years, unstoppable and undefeated, only to fall to this beast today."
"Cut the fucking crap! Fatty, where's your axe?"
Hu Bayi demanded urgently.
"My axe?"
"What do you want it for? Are you going to fight that beast to the death?"
"Fight, my ass!"
He snatched the axe from Fatty Wang's hand and hacked hard at the rock wall.
After a few sharp blows,
he actually widened the crack a little.
"Hey, I'm loose! I'm loose!"
Fatty Wang shouted in delight.
Hu Bayi turned his head and saw that the Flood Dragon Serpent had arrived.
"Then hurry up and get inside!"
He kicked Fatty Wang.
The kick actually sent Fatty through.
A bloody stench swept up behind him.
With no time to look back, Hu Bayi turned sideways and lunged.
His whole body shot through the crack.
Thud!
"Ow! Holy shit!"
The cry of pain came from Fatty Wang.
Hu Bayi had landed right on top of him, turning him into a human cushion.
Hu Bayi was drenched in cold sweat too.
He had distinctly felt just how close the Flood Dragon Serpent's jaws had come to him.
Death had brushed right past him!