But just then—
The crocodile’s tongue kept trying to curl up, but no more green liquid came out. As if exhausted, it turned to Chen Fan, pawed a hole in the ground with its forelimb, and kept nudging its head toward the canyon.
He understood.
It meant... it was out of liquid and needed to go home to replenish its supply.
"Go on, then."
However, the crocodile didn’t move. Its belly rippled slightly, and it once again spat out the starfish-shaped stone from yesterday before swallowing it again.
"Alright, fine."
Chen Fan laughed helplessly and swung himself onto his horse. "You lead the way. I’ll go with you to your home and have a look."
The creature was still determined to give him a toy as a reward. In truth, the rewards he’d already received were more than enough, but the creature didn’t seem to think so. Although he didn’t need these toys, he decided to follow along so as not to spoil its mood.
Its eyes filled with excitement, the crocodile quickly scrambled toward the canyon, glancing back from time to time to see if he was keeping up.
「Soon.」
The man, the crocodile, and the horse arrived at the foot of the mountain at the canyon’s exit.
It seemed the crocodile’s home was at the summit.
But the Skeleton Horse couldn’t climb mountains.
The crocodile obviously realized this too. It wriggled on the ground, shaking its head back and forth, all but plastering the words "ride on my back" on its forehead.
"..."
After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Fan dismounted and climbed onto the crocodile’s back. He lay flat, pressing himself against its rock-like carapace, and secured his grip by digging his hands into the gaps between its rough Scale Armor.
The next moment!
He felt an explosion of pure power.
The enormous body beneath him charged toward the summit in a seemingly clumsy but incredibly savage manner. Trees along the path all toppled over; this was clearly a trail that had been forged long ago.
With every stride the giant crocodile took, he could feel the ground-shaking impact.
The scenery on both sides blurred past, and startled birds took flight.
He turned to look behind him, his breath catching in his throat.
’It’s even faster than the Skeleton Horse.’
The sting of the rain and wind whipping against his face kept him exceptionally alert. He even felt that this crocodile could take a direct hit from a Mourning Ghost chieftain’s lantern and then rip the Mourning Ghost to shreds!
The sheer sense of pressure and security from its massive body was immense.
The ascent was incredibly fast.
He felt as if only a few dozen seconds had passed. Lost in thought, he hadn’t realized how much time had gone by, only that they had quickly reached the summit. The crocodile brought him to a stop beside a cliff at the top.
"..."
Chen Fan walked to the cliff’s edge and looked down. The square Celestial Pit at the bottom was his main base. This was the first time he had looked down on the Celestial Pit from this angle. Through the hazy rain and mist, he could vaguely see Zhou Mo and the others moving about at the bottom.
"HEY!!!"
He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled down at Zhou Mo and the others in the Celestial Pit.
However...
His voice was completely drowned out by the rain and wind. The people below didn’t hear a thing.
Instead, the crocodile beside him tilted its head, looking at him in confusion, as if wondering why he was yelling at it so loudly when it was right there.
"It’s nothing."
Chen Fan smiled, pulled his gaze back, and looked at a hollowed-out boulder nearby. "Is this your home?"
The boulder was fused with the ground. The crocodile had dug an entrance into its side, which sloped down into the earth. The opening was slightly elevated from the ground.
The crocodile wagged its tail happily and crawled toward the entrance to lead the way.
The entrance looked a bit crude.
But the space below was like an underground palace.
The crocodile had dug out many chambers along the main tunnel. Every time they passed one, it would stop and wag its head, encouraging him to inspect it closely, just like a child showing a new friend their secret base.
Chen Fan played along, offering the appropriate reactions. And he was, in fact, genuinely surprised.
He’d never imagined a crocodile could keep its home... so neat and orderly.
"Is this your food pantry?"
Chen Fan saw a chamber filled with Ghost Corpses. Among them were many cooked ones—the very batch he had roasted. Apparently, the creature had moved all the roasted meat from their last feeding back to its lair to save for later.
"You have plenty of food here. Why were you in such a hurry the first few times we met? You acted like you were starving."
The sentence was too complex.
The crocodile didn’t understand.
It just tilted its head in thought for a moment before continuing deeper along the main tunnel.
"Another food pantry."
"Three."
"Four."
"Five..."
"Buddy, you’re really afraid of going hungry, huh?"
Chen Fan followed silently behind the crocodile. He had already seen five food pantries along the way, storing at least several thousand Ghost Corpses. He didn’t know what method the crocodile used, but the temperature inside the storage chambers was low, and there were no signs of decay.
On the walls of the main tunnel and inside the storage chambers, stones that emitted a faint yellow glow were embedded every few steps, providing light.
He didn’t recognize them.
「Finally.」
After passing through several more food pantries, the view suddenly opened up.
They arrived in a huge cavern, the end of the main tunnel. One corner was covered with dried grass and Ghost Object pelts, clearly a soft bed the crocodile had made for itself. In another corner was a large pile of... miscellaneous items.
Or rather, toys.
Among them were the starfish-like stone, a large and nearly complete fish skeleton, a hoe, and... a rusty Big Saber, among other things.
All sorts of things.
Some of them were probably found in the ruins of the village.
It seemed that anything remotely Rare on this mountain had been dug up and moved into its lair by this creature. It was now wagging its head, guiding him over to the pile of toys, inviting him to pick one.
"I really like this hoe. How about I just..."
Chen Fan smiled helplessly, preparing to just take any old toy so as not to disappoint the creature. But he stopped mid-sentence. His gaze fell upon several glowing Exotic Treasures in the pile of toys, and he froze on the spot.
Novel Full