CHAPTER 88: TRAP

Chapter 88: Trap

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One hour earlier...

Yun Hao’s group, which had split off from the other team, had continued following the main tunnel for quite a while before they finally began to see the end of it.

The path had been long, and they’d encountered several beasts along the way, but none of them had surpassed the peak of the third stage, so they were taken out immediately by Yun Hao’s subordinates, and they pressed on quickly.

Though they stayed on high alert, ready for any possible ambush, they didn’t slow down, knowing they had to catch up with the centipede before it could shake them off completely and try to recover it self.

From the looks on everyone’s faces, it was clear the situation was serious, and not one of them seemed relaxed, so the group’s advance was relatively swift.

Even so, it still took them nearly half an hour to finally reach the end of the tunnel.

When they arrived, they saw another large underground cavern, relatively dark, with the only visible spots being those lit by the torches in their hands.

But even though their sight was limited, their hearing worked just fine, and that’s why the moment they stepped in, every single one of them picked up on strange sounds, like something being crushed and furiously stirred.

They weren’t sure what it was, but none of them dared to get distracted and they all remained alert.

Yun Hao, who was at the front, pulled out what looked like a strange transparent glass orb and immediately infused some Qi into it before hurling it into the air with all his strength.

As the orb, now surrounded by a faint yellow aura, reached a certain height, it burst into a bright flash,

instantly tearing through the darkness and lighting up the entire space inside.

The sudden flash shocked them all, and even seemed to disturb whatever lived in the cavern, since they immediately heard multiple beast like growls echo through the dark.

But it didn’t last long.

They were strong, the strongest of their group, so it didn’t take them long to adjust to the light and finally look inside the previously pitch black cavern.

Unfortunately for them that the scene inside was anything but welcoming.

The moment their eyes landed on it, a chill ran down the spines of several of them, and many couldn’t help but think they would’ve rather not looked inside at all.

But it was already too late for that, what stood before them could no longer be avoided.

"Shit, we’re late," Yun Hao muttered with a grim look, staring at the massive creature they’d been hunting down just moments ago,

now feasting on countless beasts without pause.

It sank its massive jaws into the body of an enormous insect like beast with small transparent wings trailing behind it.

The moment it finished devouring it, a strange glow enveloped its body, while visible chunks of flesh shifted and pulsed, slowly mending the wounds all over its giant frame, now nearly fully recovered.

It was clear the beast was feeding on its own subordinates to restore the energy it had lost, and seeing the speed at which it was doing so, the group tensed up.

Without Yun Hao having to say a word this time, the three fourth stage cultivators sprang forward,

rushing straight in, followed closely by Yun Hao, who charged directly toward the beast, ready to start another fight.

The three shot forward with full force in different directions inside the cavern, trying to form a circle around the area where the beast was,

while Yun Hao, just like last time, held the creature’s attention for as long as needed for the others to set up the formation.

Unfortunately for them, they didn’t get the chance.

The beast, clearly aware of their arrival, didn’t waste a single moment.

With a violent whip of its tail, it smashed the entire area around it, hitting one of the three fourth stage men to the right who had just gotten into position at what should have been a safe distance.

Sadly for him, the centipede seemed to be hiding a trick up its sleeve, as its already huge body appeared to extend unnaturally from the lower end, slamming him full force before snapping back like it was made of rubber.

It was obvious the beast had no intention of falling into the same trap twice.

Yun Hao’s expression darkened when he saw this and realized things wouldn’t be so easy this time, but they couldn’t back out now.

It was clear the beast wasn’t fully recovered yet, so they still had a chance to take it down.

He unleashed his full cultivation and hurled himself at the monster before him, who, just like last time, greeted him head on.

The clash between the two released violent energy fluctuations that made the air around them tremble, but neither seemed the least bit affected.

Yun Hao noticed his sword could barely leave scratches on the creature’s hard exoskeleton, so without wasting time, still in air, he twisted the blade and prepared to launch another slash, but just as he did,

something flashed from the beast’s side and suddenly shot toward him at extreme speed.

’Sht.’

The moment he saw it, a strong sense of impending death hit him.

Without hesitation, he shifted his body mid air, changing the impact point of the strange strike.

In the very next moment, his shoulder was pierced clean through, without resistance.

A searing pain exploded from his left shoulder.

As he tried to see what had hit him, he realized it was the creature’s tongue.

It had an absurdly sharp tip, which had pierced through his armor like it was made of paper.

Gritting through the pain, he tightened his grip on his greatsword and tried to cut off the tongue,

but unfortunately for him, it retracted just as fast as it had struck, exactly like before.

He crashed to the ground but didn’t dare stay there.

He immediately leapt back, putting distance between himself and the beast.

It was clear the creature wasn’t going to give him any easy openings this time.

It was strong, and when it encountered him the first time, it had clearly underestimated him, hence falling into their trap.

But this time it wouldn’t make the same mistake, and its next move made that perfectly clear.

Skreeeech!

It let out a high pitched shriek that almost burst the eardrums of everyone else in the group, just as they’d started to move in to support their leader.

And just as they were all stumbling back, trying to shield their ears with Qi,

they noticed the ground starting to tremble, holes suddenly opening from beneath them, one after the other, as strange creatures began to crawl out.

This time, they were much larger than before, and clearly much more powerful.

Feeling the sheer pressure each of these beasts released upon surfacing, everyone’s face darkened.

Even Yun Hao’s expression turned grim as he clutched at the bleeding wound on his shoulder, sensing the powerful third and fourth stage auras radiating from the beasts now surrounding them.

’Damn it, It got us’

He had already felt something was off the moment he stepped into the room,

but that strange energy constantly interfering with their spiritual sense made it impossible to properly discern the situation.

So all he could do was try to get rid of the centipede as fast as possible,

but unfortunately for him, he never got the chance.

The other side proved to be much more aggressive this time, giving his men no opportunity to set up the formation, and not letting them land even a single powerful strike.

It was clear the beast had stopped playing around and was now dealing with them with all its strength.

Seeing the number of beasts in front of them grow by the second, everyone started to panic,

and some even began to consider the idea of running away immediately from the cave,

but no one dared to do it.

Not with their leader still there.

If they somehow made it out while abandoning him, then the Yun family would be the one to kill them afterward,

and that death would’ve been far more brutal than whatever they could face here.

So they had to make sure, at the very least, that their leader survived.

But looking at the enemies in front of them, none of them could see even a shred of hope.

"M-Master Yun, we should retreat immediately. There’s no way we can take them all on!"

said one of the three fourth stage cultivators, clearly realizing how dire the situation was becoming.

Yun Hao didn’t reply right away. He kept staring at the scene ahead of him,

a conflicted expression on his face as countless thoughts swirled through his mind.

He thought of every possible way to get out of this and kill the enemy in front of him,

but no matter how hard he thought about it, no solution came to mind.

’Shit... to think a group of mere beasts would be enough to push me into a corner like this...’

His fury burned stronger with every passing second.

The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to rip those beasts apart one by one.

But he also knew that no matter how strong he was,

there was no way he could handle this many beasts alone,

especially not when they were all at the third or fourth stage.

Not to mention their leader behind them, who definitely wasn’t going to just sit there and watch.

He was getting angrier by the moment, but even so, he didn’t let his rage cloud his judgment.

He took a deep breath, and with a determined expression, pulled out a yellow jade talisman from his robe, then shouted:

"Retreat!"

As soon as he yelled the command, he threw the talisman toward the group of beasts without hesitation,

then turned and dashed back down the tunnel.