"Tread."
Footsteps emerged from the cave.
Lin Yao stood still, her gaze slightly raised as she looked up at the slightly dazzling Sun above.
She hasn't been out for a long time.
"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for!" a urging voice came from the side.
Lin Yao withdrew her gaze and turned to look in the direction of the cave.
Because of the poor lighting, she couldn't see the details of the interior clearly, only a few figures.
She smiled.
Without lingering, he turned and followed the two Calamity Beast upwards.
Beside it lay piles of rotting remains of Calamity Beast.
This was caused by the Calamity Beast treating their location as a garbage dump, dumping everything there; the rotten smell inside the cave was also due to these things.
However, as they progressed, the skeletons soon disappeared, replaced by Calamity Beast.
The higher you go, the fewer the Calamity Beast there are.
Finally, she reached the highest point of the mountain.
There, a Calamity Beast nearly twenty meters long lay sprawled on a flat boulder.
It was a Calamity Beast covered entirely in dark purple carapace, with a flat head and three deep-set eye sockets on each side.
The Broken Claw Beast, Middle Fifth Tier, is also the strongest Calamity Beast here.
Seeing Lin Yao come up, it sat down and looked at her with great interest.
"How about it? Want to try struggling?" the Broken Claw Beast asked.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yao paused for a moment, then shook her head.
"What? Are you afraid that because you're struggling, you'll order them to bring another person up later?" The Broken Claw Beast asked, tilting its head slightly.
Lin Yao didn't speak, but looked up at the Broken Claw Beast with some confusion.
This was indeed what she feared, or rather, this had already happened.
On two or three occasions before, after the Calamity Beast took someone away, it came down again a while later and took another person out.
The reason is that the person who was just taken upstairs struggled!
So, as punishment, they came down and then took one more person up with them!
But it was precisely because of this that Lin Yao became even more puzzled.
The rules were set by the Broken Claw Beast, so why is it asking this kind of question?
Seemingly sensing her confusion, the Broken Claw Beast's lips curled into a slight smile, and it spoke:
"Actually, that was a lie."
"A lie, to us?..." Lin Yao paused, looking at the Broken Claw Beast with a puzzled expression.
Seeing her reaction, the Broken Claw Beast's grin widened even further, and it spoke:
"Those times, it was because I wanted to eat one more that I brought more people up, regardless of whether they struggled or not. Actually, every time I would give the order to bring one more person up."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yao opened her mouth, looking incredulous, and said:
"Then... why did you tell us that you wouldn't go down to catch people if we didn't struggle?"
"Why?"
The Broken Claw Beast chuckled, its eyes full of amusement as it looked at Lin Yao.
"That's because it's fun, of course. Seeing you all obediently come up to your deaths, seeing your different reactions to this news, seeing you try to struggle but find you can't..."
As it spoke, its expression grew increasingly excited:
"This is so interesting! So interesting!"
Standing there, staring blankly at it, I felt a chill run through my body.
There was no response. Lin Yao stood there, staring blankly at the large and small Broken Claw Beast.
Deception, wit...?
A chill enveloped her entire body.
Seemingly having laughed enough, the Broken Claw Beast stopped, its mouth still grinning as it looked at her.
"So, aren't you going to put up a fight?"
There was no response; Lin Yao stood still.
After a long while, he slowly shook his head.
She didn't know whether the Broken Claw Beast was telling the truth or not. Although it seemed likely based on its earlier statement, she couldn't afford to gamble.
After all, what if the other person has a perverse sense of humor and intentionally guides her to do that?
"Interesting, you humans are truly fascinating!"
The Broken Claw Beast barked excitedly, even raising its forelimbs and hopping twice.
"I love seeing how you humans, faced with the same situation, might make different choices!"
As it spoke, it looked at Lin Yao and said:
"In that case, come here yourself and stand inside my mouth. Don't worry, I'll savor you slowly!"
Lin Yao walked over and stopped.
She looked up and saw the Broken Claw Beast staring at her with satisfaction.
Without paying attention or giving it any further thought, Lin Yao turned her gaze to the distance.
Forests, mountains, sky...
Suddenly, her gaze paused.
In mid-air, a figure stood there, gazing indifferently down below.
Inside the cave.
Since Lin Yao was taken away, this place has returned to its former tranquility.
Many soldiers would occasionally glance at Zhao Lei, who was slumped against the wall, before silently looking away.
There is no need for comfort.
Just like Lin Yao said, they will all have that day.
suddenly.
"Bang--"
A tremendous roar erupted from above.
The mountain shook, and many people fell to the ground because they lost their footing.
One by one, figures looked up, gazing in bewilderment at the shaking mountainside.
Before they could react, the terrified roars of the Calamity Beast echoed from outside the cave.
Suddenly, the roar stopped abruptly.
Only that lonely, rumbling sound remained.
However, this situation did not last long, and the roars rang out again.
This time, the voice was filled with ferocity and violence.
Ferocious and violent roars rose and fell in waves.
But, the next moment.
"Buzz--"
Everyone sat inside the cave, feeling a throbbing pain in their heads.
Fortunately, the pain only lasted a short while before it ended, followed by the continued rumbling sound and the constant shaking of the mountain.
The vibrations stopped shortly afterward.
The surroundings became completely quiet.
There was no sound, absolutely no sound.
The group sat there, looking out of the cave in a daze.
After a long silence, one of the soldiers finally spoke in a low voice:
"What... did you just do?"
Silence. No one replied.
After a pause, the soldier spoke again.
"Could it be that Lin Yao ran away, and then the Calamity Beast was chasing after her and caused this?"
Still no...
No, someone moved.
A figure sitting in the corner suddenly stood up and walked out of the cave.
That's Zhao Lei.
Everyone stared blankly at Zhao Lei, unsure of what to do.
So they stood there, gazing at him, until they reached the cave entrance and stopped.
There was a moment of silence inside the cave.
Then the soldier who had just spoken gritted his teeth and walked out.
But most of them remained in place, sitting there blankly.
The soldier ignored them and continued to bravely walk away.
Finally, he stopped outside the cave.
Then, like Zhao Lei, they stood still.
One after another, the Calamity Beast lay silently on the ground.
And so they stretched all the way from here down the mountain, and then from the foot of the mountain back up the mountain...
Night fell, and a campfire burned.
One figure after another sat inside the cave.
Unlike during the day, the environment here is much better; there is no unpleasant stench, and the feeble roars are gone.
However, there are also similar ones...
Shen Heng walked back to the cave entrance from outside.
Then, looking at the blank faces that stared at him one after another.
He paused for a moment, then said:
"I've set up an open-air bathhouse for you about two hundred meters to the left and right. The hot water is already heated. Go and take a shower."
"Also, men should be on the left and women on the right."
After he finished speaking, no one in the cave took any immediate action.
They sat there, stunned, as if unable to grasp the meaning of words like "hot water" and "bathhouse," until one of the soldiers stood up...
One soldier after another stopped at the cave entrance and bowed.
Then they started walking outside.
Shen Heng just stood there, watching them.
Only after the last figure disappeared into the woods did he turn around and walk into the cave.
The Calamity Beast was taken out and roasted by the campfire.
Shen Heng then slowly returned to the cave entrance.
The forest at night is quiet, with only the moonlight shining down on it.
He stood there at the cave entrance, silently watching everything before him.
This wasn't the first time he'd encountered a scene like today, but it was certainly the one with the largest number of people he'd met so far.
Thinking of those numb eyes, Shen Heng sighed softly.
He was paying attention to the sounds around him.
The sound of blades piercing the water could be heard, followed by a deathly silence.
Without making a sound, Shen Heng stood still, listening silently.
The silence continued, just like that.
After a long silence, Shen Heng sighed softly.
He seemed to have made a decision, but...
Suddenly, a suppressed sob rang out from the bathhouse area.
Shen Heng paused for a moment, then continued listening.
Then, after a pause, a second sound was heard, then a third sound...
The sobs blended together and grew louder!
I could vaguely hear someone shouting something over there.
But Shen Heng had already stopped paying attention.
He leaned back against the rock wall.
He looked up at the sky, at that thing radiating moonlight, with a half-smile on his lips.
a long time.
He sighed softly.
He leaned against the rock wall, listening to the gradually fading sobs until only the sound of the wind remained.