Chapter 128 - 124: Entering the Cave

Chapter 128: Chapter 124: Entering the Cave

With the decision made, Lu Wei called Marcus and his three companions back over.

The alliance was set, but since the two squads had never worked together before, they needed to discuss their tactics before heading out.

They decided that Marcus, with his knowledge of traps, and Lu Wei, with his high Perception, would scout ahead.

The strong Half-Beastman Urzha and Furen would serve as the party’s front line.

Mirana and the Dwarf Geluo would cover the rear.

Bai Ya and the Archer, Andrew, would be protected in the center of the formation.

Of course, they would have to adapt as the situation required, but this was the general arrangement.

The group of eight rested for a little while longer, then set out for the War Lizardman nest.

By now, the sunlight had softened a bit from its noontime intensity, but the forest was still steaming hot, like a giant steamer basket.

Since Marcus and his companions had already pinpointed the cave’s location, it took less than half an hour for the group to spot a slope covered in weathered rock up ahead in the woods.

At the bottom of the slope, the pitch-black entrance was a full two meters high—much larger than a goblin cave, indeed.

It didn’t have a particularly foul smell, though. The damp, cold air carried only a faint, musty scent.

"The corpse of the War Lizardman we killed this morning is gone."

Marcus’s expression was grim. "It was probably dragged into the cave by the other War Lizardmen and devoured."

Furen looked astonished. "What? War Lizardmen eat their own kind?"

"Yes. They love the meat of any Sub-human Creature, including their own."

"What about humans?"

"Their favorite."

"Uh..."

Furen’s eyes widened in shock.

But his shock quickly gave way to excitement. With a SHING, he drew the longsword from his back.

"Then let’s make these reptiles hiding in their cave feel some pain!"

"Heh heh! Not bad at all!"

The Half-Beastman Urzha shouldered his battle axe, his gaze turning appreciative as he looked at Furen. "Maybe after this is over, we can have a good scrap!"

"Huh?"

Furen froze, not entirely sure if he understood what "scrap" meant in this context.

But before he could figure it out, an exasperated Marcus cut in.

"Alright, Urzha, stop joking around."

"Lu Wei and I will go in first. You all stay five meters behind us."

"No problem!"

Beastmen are fearless, and Half-Beastmen are no different.

Urzha nodded at once.

Marcus and Lu Wei didn’t waste any time. After exchanging a look, they slipped into the cave, one after the other.

A few seconds later, Furen and Urzha followed close behind.

Bai Ya and Andrew went next.

Then came the Dwarf, Geluo.

Mirana glanced back at the forest one last time before being the last to enter the cave.

As her figure vanished into the pitch-black maw of the cave, the surroundings fell silent once more.

Not far away, a pile of rocks concealed the group’s backpacks, along with a fluffy, white Fur Ball.

Obviously, Lu Wei couldn’t have brought Hess into the cave.

So, just before they left, Bai Ya had given it a little wine to drink.

The little creature was now fast asleep, letting out a rhythmic PURRR from time to time.

It seemed to be snoring.

Where its body touched the ground, its fine white fuzz began to slowly lengthen and spread, unfurling what looked like a one-square-meter "mycelial mat" into the soil.

Before long, a large centipede, apparently drawn by the smell of food from the backpacks, came RUSTLING into a crack in the rocks.

It moved quickly at first, but suddenly slowed down the moment it crawled onto the mycelial mat.

A moment later, its chopstick-length body began to twist and struggle violently, as if in agony.

This continued for about seven or eight seconds. Its thrashing gradually subsided, until it finally went still.

Then, its corpse was absorbed, bit by bit, into the mycelial mat.

Until it had vanished completely.

...

...

Unlike the tunnels of a Goblin Nest, the passages in this lair were much more spacious, likely due to the larger size of the War Lizardmen.

However, it was exceptionally damp. Many of the stones protruding from the dirt were coated in slick moss.

The floor was also dotted with muddy puddles of varying depths. Water dripped constantly from the ceiling, splashing into the pools below with a monotonous, irritating echo.

DRIP... DROP...

"War Lizardman nests are always built by expanding upon natural caves."

Marcus cautiously scanned their surroundings, a torch in one hand and his longsword in the other. He spoke in a low voice, "There must be an underground river nearby. That’s why it’s so humid."

"Right... Where’s the trap that injured Geluo?"

Lu Wei also held a torch in one hand and a sword in the other, the flickering firelight casting distorted shadows of them on the cave walls.

"Just ahead."

Marcus stopped and pointed to what looked like a flat puddle of water up ahead.

It was dark and murky, looking like nothing more than an ordinary puddle.

"Unassuming, right? But it’s actually a pit trap."

Marcus crouched down and lowered his torch to the surface, faintly illuminating what lay beneath the water.

Sure enough, it was a pit about a meter deep, its bottom lined with sharp wooden spikes, blackened from being submerged.

Normally, a pit trap like this would be covered by a camouflaged layer of dried mud.

But perhaps because the heavy rain from the last two days had flooded the cave, the current had shattered the mud covering, turning this into a "puddle trap."

Its camouflage was unexpectedly improved, but its lethality was greatly reduced.

After all, the spikes at the bottom of the pit relied on the kinetic energy of a victim’s fall to do any damage.

And the water served to cushion the fall significantly.

"It’s a good thing this water is here. Otherwise, Geluo’s injuries would have been much worse."

Marcus stood up and shook his head, looking somewhat relieved.

Lu Wei observed it for another moment before asking, "So what do we do? Jump over it?"

"Yes, but we need to check the other side first."

As he spoke, Marcus took off his backpack. The supplies inside had long since been emptied and replaced with rocks and dirt.

With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the heavy backpack to the other side of the pit.

THUD!

The backpack traced an arc through the air, landed heavily on the ground, and then rolled forward another half-meter from the momentum.

In almost the same instant, a muffled THUNK echoed from a fissure in the rock wall up ahead and to the side.

Immediately after, accompanied by a series of sharp whizzing sounds, three or four Crossbow Arrows shot out from the fissure in quick succession!

Because the distance was so short, the arrows embedded themselves in the dirt on the far side of the pit in the blink of an eye!

One of them even struck the backpack, piercing the leather bag full of rocks and dirt clean through!

’Holy shit!’

’A compound trap!’

Lu Wei’s eyes widened at the sight. He never would have imagined it would be this dangerous.

’If I’d just jumped over a moment ago,’ he thought, ’it wouldn’t be the backpack that was pierced through!’

’Even with my high Agility, I might have been able to take evasive action, but an injury would have been unavoidable.’

’Wait a second, are War Lizardmen really this smart?’

’Weren’t they supposed to be monsters of average intelligence?!’

Lu Wei stared blankly at the backpack, pierced through by the Crossbow Arrow, his face a mask of shock.

Marcus’s expression was also extremely grave.

He frowned in thought for a moment, then turned to Lu Wei and said in a low voice,

"My apologies. It seems this War Lizardman leader is even tougher than I imagined."

"It might not just be a high-intelligence mutant. It could have even absorbed a Divine Blessing."

"So, do we continue?"

"It’s not too late to turn back."