Chapter 171 - 170: Deformed Creature

Chapter 171: Chapter 170: Deformed Creature

Feng Ling walked over.

This corpse was in even worse shape. Its stomach was torn open, and half a leg was missing. A trail of blood, stark and bright red, was dragged across the ground.

The scene was so gory that both Wu Wei and Wen Xiuyan felt nauseous. They covered their mouths and noses, afraid to even breathe.

Feng Ling crouched beside the corpse and reached out, straightening its coiled proboscis. She saw a soft needle at the tip.

She could almost picture the scene: this thing climbing an Ice Cone, plunging its proboscis into the ice, and feeding on the corpse within.

"These must be the Snow Women," Feng Ling said, standing up and looking at the corpse on the ground. "The blood is still fresh. Whatever killed them can’t be far."

"Could it have been a Hunter?" Liang Jiaqin asked.

Feng Ling shook her head lightly. "Unlikely. If you look closely, you can see signs that the internal organs were gnawed on. No matter how twisted a Hunter is, they wouldn’t eat a Pollution Body, right?"

Liang Jiaqin: "..."

He thought his mental fortitude was already far beyond that of an ordinary person, just for daring to look directly at the corpse. But to observe it in such detail... that was still a bit too difficult.

"The creature has very sharp claws, and the tracks are a mess... It must have more than four legs," Feng Ling said slowly, observing the corpse. "Its bite isn’t great. The teeth marks are small and fine, which means its mouth isn’t large."

Everyone listened to her analysis in silence, not wanting to interrupt her train of thought.

"Such large claws, but such a small mouth... It’s most likely a semi-humanoid Pollution Body. Otherwise, its body parts wouldn’t be so mismatched."

Feng Ling followed the bloody drag marks forward.

Ahead was a slope.

And beyond that, a forest.

The forest wasn’t as large as the one in Area A. Standing on the slope and looking out, one could see that the forest formed a ring with an empty clearing in the middle, like a doughnut.

When this kind of terrain appears on a game map, it’s usually a hint to the player that there’s something in the middle of the forest. It could be a treasure box, or it could be a monster. In any case, terrain is never designed like this for no reason.

Feng Ling did her best to understand the Maze from a player’s perspective.

"Let’s go," she said, heading toward the forest.

Liang Jiaqin, Wu Wei, and Wen Xiuyan glanced at each other before lifting their feet and following.

...

Halfway there, it began to snow.

Although the snow wasn’t heavy, just a fine dusting, the drag marks and tracks on the ground were gradually covered.

By the time Feng Ling reached the edge of the forest, the ground was already covered in a fresh layer of snow. All traces were gone.

Feng Ling stared into the gloomy depths of the forest for a moment, then turned to look at her team members behind her.

Wen Xiuyan immediately puffed out her chest, afraid Feng Ling would question her courage. She declared, "Are we going in? I’m ready!"

Feng Ling: "..."

’Actually,’ she was just thinking of an excuse to make the three of them leave.

Just then, a piercing howl echoed from within the forest.

The sound came in waves, sometimes like the anguished wail of a woman, other times like the roar of a wild beast. It was getting closer, as if it was about to emerge from the woods—and emerge it did.

Feng Ling turned to look. In the dim light, a creature with an incredibly deformed silhouette slowly walked out.

Feng Ling had never seen such a chaotic body.

Its upper body was that of a woman, with messy brown hair that shrouded its face. Its left arm was a normal human arm, but its right was a long, viciously sharp claw.

Its lower body was hard to describe. It had thin, spider-like arthropod legs, a thick Beast Claw like a tiger’s, and numerous other deformed, branch-like limbs that defied description.

In addition, it had a pair of large, brown moth wings.

Seeing this form, Feng Ling’s heart sank.

She suspected this monster was probably Ye Zheng. Otherwise, how could the Maze have spawned a creature with such a deformed shape and structure?

Sure enough, Huangfu Miaomiao whispered beside her, "A Lord Level Boss."

Most creatures in the Maze had a name. The fact that this monster didn’t have one was enough to prove it wasn’t a product of the Maze.

What was left of Feng Ling’s heart turned completely to ice.

’Now I just have to see what it does. If it chooses to attack my team, that means Ye Zheng has completely lost his human rationality, and I won’t hesitate to kill it.’

Feng Ling stood motionless in front of everyone.

The monster watched them, also unmoving.

Behind Feng Ling, Wen Xiuyan and the others didn’t dare to breathe, their eyes fixed on the monster, ready to attack at any moment.

After a silent standoff that lasted for more than ten seconds, the monster moved.

At first, it only took two slow steps forward.

Then it lowered its body, spread the huge moth wings on its back, and suddenly flapped them!

Feng Ling didn’t think those flimsy wings could lift a body whose lower half was covered in deformed growths, but it didn’t need to fly!

It only needed that force to briefly lift itself off the ground and glide forward at high speed! At the same time, it swung its long, spike-like claws, leaving her and her team with no room to dodge!

Everything happened too fast!

Even though Feng Ling was mentally prepared, she never expected it to be so fast.

She had to take the hit head-on, or Li Qing, Wen Xiuyan, and the others behind her would all suffer!

Two Teeth and Claws shot out at top speed, biting hard into the monster’s shoulders and forcefully dragging it from its mid-air glide down to the ground!

The monster tumbled as it fell, then lunged again!

This time, Feng Ling’s Teeth and Claws were a beat too slow, and its sharp claw pierced her chest!

Feng Ling frowned. Her Bone Blade shot up, instantly severing the long claw at her chest!

The monster roared in pain and flapped its wings violently! A dense cloud of scale powder rushed toward Feng Ling’s face!

Feng Ling had seen butterfly scale powder before and knew this stuff was definitely bad news. She turned and ran!

At the same time, she roared at the others, "It’s poison! Run!!!"

The monster seized the opportunity to pounce on her back, pinning her firmly to the ground!

Seeing that Li Qing, Huangfu Miaomiao, and the Hunters had run far enough away, Feng Ling finally unleashed her Spiritual Suppression without reservation.

The monster froze instantly.

Its chaotic mind couldn’t understand why it was suddenly filled with terror. It had clearly pinned Feng Ling, yet all it felt was a horrifying sense of impending death!

It was as if its prey wasn’t a victim, but Hell itself!

It began to tremble, to cower. Its deformed feet took one step back after another, trying to retreat into the deepest part of the forest.

But at that moment, Feng Ling’s nose started to bleed. Her vision blurred, the world looking like a heavily saturated oil painting. It was as if the color saturation of everything had suddenly been cranked up a hundredfold, so bright it nearly blinded her.

She knew this was the potent poison from the scale powder. If the others had been any closer just now, they would probably be bleeding from all seven orifices.

Feng Ling took a moment to recover, then slowly got to her feet.

’Poisonous and mindless. Ye Zheng, you brought this on yourself. Don’t blame me.’

Feng Ling wiped the blood from her nose, her gaze fixed coldly on the monster not far away.

The Bone Blade extended. The Teeth and Claws extended. The cone spikes also extended...

The cowering monster seemed to sense Feng Ling’s killing intent. It spread its wings again and let out a loud roar, trying to intimidate her!

Feng Ling froze. "...You can actually break my Spiritual Suppression? No. You have to die today."

She swung her Bone Blade with extreme coldness, cleaving toward the monster’s head.