Chapter 1152: Body

After being injured, the creature's ferocity was fully unleashed. Its body twisted violently, causing the ground to undulate like waves. The cave began to shake, and various cracks appeared on the ceiling, with sand and debris falling continuously, as if the entire structure could collapse at any moment.

Due to the creature's immense power, Yu Yanluo couldn't hold on and was instantly flung away.

Zu An seized this opportunity, summoned the Poison Dagger, and plunged it directly into the creature.

The monster's body was as hard as armor; the sparks produced by the Paper Bride's attack earlier were clear proof of this.

However, no matter how hard its shell was, it couldn't withstand the Poison Dagger's dark, sharp blade, which cut through as easily as slicing tofu.

One moment, the creature was causing the ground to shake; the next, it convulsed, its entire body went limp, and it collapsed heavily onto the ground.

Kong Qing, watching from a distance, was startled. He knew that although his previous attacks could harm the monster, it was difficult to truly inflict heavy damage, let alone kill it.

How did Zu An manage it?

Just then, a scream rang out. Everyone looked back and saw that the Night Elf, who had tried to seize the opportunity to escape, was bitten by a monster that suddenly sprang out of the wall as he passed the cave entrance.

Although all of this takes a long time to describe, only a few breaths passed from the moment the monster attacked Zu An and Yu Yanluo until it was killed by the Poison Dagger. The Night Elf, who was carefully running out, had just reached that spot.

"There's another one?" Zu An was shocked.

He quickly ran to Yu Yanluo's side to protect her, lest she also be attacked.

Yu Yanluo's face was pale, and she nervously looked at the bitten Night Elf.

Unlike the Poisonous Child of the Viper, who was caught off guard and bitten, the Night Elf had remained vigilant and managed to dodge slightly at the critical moment. Unfortunately, he was injured, making his movements a bit slower than usual.

However, because of his dodge, the monster did not bite his torso, but instead clamped onto his right arm.

The Night Elf struggled desperately, but the monster's pincer-like mouthparts were too sharp, and they instantly bit off his right hand.

The monster's body could be seen writhing as it swallowed his arm whole.

However, for its massive body, a single arm clearly wasn't enough to satisfy its appetite.

It lunged forward, aiming to bite his entire body.

Its attack speed was as fast as lightning, giving the Night Elf no chance to dodge.

The people in the distance wondered if they would have been able to dodge such a fast attack if they were in his place.

However, the monster ultimately bit nothing but air. Its two terrifying mouthparts clashed violently together, producing a metallic clang.

The Night Elf had merged into the shadows in that instant and reappeared inside the cave the next second.

He dared not venture further into the dark mine shaft. The path ahead was full of unknowns and dangers; he felt a bit safer staying near this group of experts.

He quickly sealed the acupoints on his right arm's wound, stopping the blood flow. Losing an arm was nothing compared to saving his life.

He looked up at where the monster had been, wanting to see what the creature that had almost killed him truly was.

But looking around, the monster was already gone from that spot.

"Watch out!" Zu An's warning came from nearby.

The Night Elf immediately felt all the hairs on his body stand on end.

Although the two had been enemies previously, hearing Zu An's warning now, he dared not have a moment's doubt.

His first instinct was to merge into the shadows, but he was still half a step too slow.

With a scream, his waist was bitten, and almost instantly, he was bitten in half.

His lower body was in the monster's mouth, while his upper body fell to the ground, but he still desperately clawed at the ground with his hands, trying to move forward and get further away from the monster.

This scene was truly too gruesome; even Kong Qing and the Paper Bride instinctively recoiled.

Zu An moved. He was worried that Yu Yanluo would also be attacked if he left her alone, so he simply took her with him and charged forward.

It wasn't that he was overflowing with compassion and wanted to save the Night Elf; he was just worried that if the monster retreated underground again, it would be troublesome to find it.

From its brief encounter with the Night Elf just now, it was clear that this creature seemed to be able to teleport underground. Coupled with the fact that most of its body remained hidden beneath the earth, its elusive movements were almost impossible to guard against.

Rather than passively defending later, it was better to deal with it while it was attacking.

Seeing him move, Kong Qing also moved, apparently having reached the same conclusion.

With someone taking the lead, the Paper Bride was not to be outdone, and along with Yu Yanluo, the attacks of several people simultaneously converged on the monster.

They were all top experts of their time, and under such surprise and fear, they showed no mercy in their attacks. Soon, the monster was struck until green fluid exploded from it, its entire body swayed, and it finally crashed to the ground, clearly lifeless.

"Huh?" Kong Qing and the others looked surprised, clearly not expecting to kill it so easily.

At this moment, the Night Elf's faint voice came: "Boss Kong, help... help..."

Before he could finish speaking, he drew his last breath, his eyes wide open, clearly unwilling to die.

Kong Qing knelt down beside him to examine him, noticing the pitch-black blood flowing from his waist; even his internal organs had turned black. He said in a deep voice, "Given his cultivation, he might have survived even being cut in half, but unfortunately, the monster's mouth contained a potent venom. He couldn't be saved."

Zu An mused that it was no wonder the Poisonous Child of the Viper had lasted longer earlier. Besides his higher cultivation, he was also skilled in poison attacks, which allowed him to somewhat resist the monster's venom.

He walked over to the monster and only then got a clear look at its appearance.

It had two mouthparts several meters long, and inside were spiral-shaped, serrated teeth.

There were no eyes on its head; it was even hard to tell if it had a distinct head.

All that could be said was that besides its sharp mouthparts at its front, it also had seven long tentacles, likely used to sense surrounding smells and vibrations, and perhaps even perceive the environment with its spiritual sense, like human Grandmasters.

The monster's body was segmented, with each segment covered in hard, armor-like scales. This was likely why it previously made those strange scuttling sounds; its body moved through the earth, and the scales rubbed against the sand, producing the sound.

What stood out was that this armor-like covering was colorful, even somewhat beautiful, making it hard to associate with the ferocious monster it had been.

Zu An reached out his hand, and Yu Yanluo was startled, quickly pulling him back.

"Don't worry, this thing is dead, and I'll be careful," Zu An said, patting her small hand.

Kong Qing's expression was strange as he noticed their intimate gestures. He thought, "This Lady Yu seems to have a truly unusual relationship with him. The Princess might not be able to compete with her."

At this moment, Zu An had already gripped one of the scales and slowly pulled the monster out of the ground.

He pulled for over ten meters before he could fully extract its entire body. The other parts were almost identical to what had been exposed earlier; even its tail resembled its head, except for the absence of the sharp mouthparts.

Zu An then went to pull out the one that had initially attacked him. That one was over twenty meters long and a third thicker, so it was no wonder it felt harder to deal with during the fight.

"What is this thing, a dragon or a snake?" the Paper Bride asked, coming closer with surprise.

"It's definitely not a snake," Yu Yanluo said, clearly a bit displeased that she mistook it for a snake.

"It's not a dragon either," said Kong Qing, who, as a demon, was naturally more familiar with dragons. "It looks like some kind of worm."

"A Bobbit worm!" Zu An blurted out. Seeing their confused looks, he gave an embarrassed laugh. "It's a strange worm from my hometown, but this one seems to be magnified dozens or even hundreds of times."

After speaking, he looked at Kong Qing with some doubt. "Although this thing is powerful, it couldn't have swallowed the Azure Wolf King and severely injured you all, could it?"

He recalled the situation just now. This creature's biggest advantage was its elusive movements, its every sudden attack making it impossible to guard against, and its sharp mouthparts could instantly incapacitate its target.

However, both the Poisonous Child of the Viper and the Night Elf were human-shaped, even smaller than average humans, so it was difficult to survive being hit by such an attack. But the Azure Wolf King's true form wasn't much smaller than this monster; how could it have been swallowed whole?

Kong Qing's face was grim. "Although they look very similar, the ones we encountered before weren't these two worms. The one we faced was a hundred times more terrifying than this."

As if to confirm what he said, no sooner had he finished speaking than another strange, soul-piercing cry echoed from a distance. Everyone's hair stood on end.

"That's... that's the one!" Kong Qing's voice trembled slightly.

Zu An's expression was grave. Yes, the terrifying pressure he had felt earlier, even more fearsome than a Grandmaster, belonged to this creature.

Moreover, compared to the initial sound, this time, the cry seemed filled with rage and brutality.

"Can these monsters communicate in some way? Does it know its subordinates were killed by us?" Zu An asked in surprise.

Kong Qing's face was grim. "I'm afraid they're not just subordinates. According to common sense among demons, these are likely its offspring!"