At first, there was only a faint whistling sound, and it was very vague. It was even easy to confuse it with the sound he had heard in the other tunnels. But soon, the whistling sound became clearer.
Shao Xuan remembered that Lang Ga had told him that there was a king stoneworm in this mountain. He did not believe it before. After all, so many warriors in the tribe had passed by, but none of them had seen the legendary king stoneworm. Even the stories passed down by their ancestors were just guesses.
There was indeed some whistling sound in the tunnel, which was the sound of the air flowing in the wind. But now, Shao Xuan was sure that it was not the sound of the wind, and that the whistling sound was coming closer.
Shao Xuan's body tensed up, and he moved his legs gently to climb up the steep slope. The wall on this side of the cave was more slippery than the path the hunting group had taken, and it was harder to climb. Shao Xuan did not dare to use the stone knife, for he was afraid that the sound would alarm the king stoneworm. Mai and the others had told them to be as quiet as possible in the cave, and they had their reasons.
The whistling sound was getting closer, and it was much faster than Shao Xuan had expected. In the blink of an eye, it was already very close.
It was a little damp in the cave, and there was a smell similar to lime in the air, which was getting thicker and thicker. Shao Xuan could clearly feel that the humidity in the cave was rising, and there was a layer of tiny water droplets on the wall he was climbing, which made the wall even more slippery and difficult to climb. Shao Xuan's feet slipped a few times before he could steady himself.
He could not climb anymore!
He could clearly feel the layer of slippery liquid between his palms and the wall, and it was the same under his feet. It was not easy to stay in one place, and if he relaxed a little, he might slip down again.
It was inexplicable!
It was incomprehensible!
The wall was fine just now, although it was a little slippery and steep, but with Shao Xuan's ability, it was not difficult for him to climb up. But how long had it been? The wall had changed so much!
However, there was no time for Shao Xuan to think too much. Rhythmic cheers could be heard from below.
The place where he fell was relatively flat, but after a few more steps, he could see the tunnel that continued to extend downwards. Shao Xuan could only see a small part of the tunnel that he was in. He did not know if there were other tunnels or how many tunnels there were. If it was really the king stoneworm, what should he do? What would he do if the king stoneworm came to where he was?
Shao Xuan clenched his five fingers, and his fingertips almost dug into the cave wall. However, that was all he could do. The stone here was very hard, and he might be able to dig a little deeper if he used his totemic power. However, Shao Xuan didn't dare to use it carelessly. Some high-level beasts were very sensitive to totemic power, and none of them used their totemic power when they were walking in the cave.
Shao Xuan maintained his posture of clinging to the wall. He was too nervous, and his whole body was stiff. He didn't know if it was sweat or water droplets that had gathered on his face because of the humidity in the cave.
The cave was not hot or stuffy. On the contrary, Shao Xuan felt that the cave was getting colder and colder. He didn't know if it was because the cave was cool or if it was just his imagination. The lime-like smell in his nose was getting thicker and thicker.
He looked up, and the scene in his field of vision was also changing.
In Shao Xuan's field of vision, the water droplets were white, which was different from the gray color of the surrounding cave walls. However, the white color soon covered the gray cave walls, and it quickly spread upwards along the cave walls. This meant that the cave walls above were all the same as the one Shao Xuan was clinging to.
Whoosh … whoosh …
The sound was getting closer and closer, and it was coming from below.
Accompanying the whooshing sound was the sound of something slithering, as if some creature was squirming.
Shao Xuan quietly clung to the cave wall, carefully controlling his breathing and heartbeat to reduce his presence. It was as if he had merged with everything in the cave. Even if Lang Ga and the others were standing here, they might not be able to notice Shao Xuan clinging to the cave wall.
Listening to the sound coming from below, Shao Xuan thought that if the thing below really came this way, he would have no choice but to go all out. If his fingers couldn't hold onto the cave wall, then he would use his saber! If a saber wasn't enough, then he would add a spearhead! That way, he would be able to climb up, right?
Although he was dragged over by that unknown insect, he still had his equipment. Even if the sound alarmed that thing, there was nothing he could do. Escaping was the most important thing.
In addition to the whooshing sound, there was also the sound of a heartbeat.
Thump … thump … thump …
The sound was not loud, but it felt like his heart was being hammered, again and again, and it shook his chest until the blood in his body was surging.
It was like the sound of a drum on a quiet battlefield, and the quiet cave seemed to be shaking with this rhythm.
The pressure came with it.
Or, it could be called the aura.
It was like layers of thick dark clouds were pressing towards him. Shao Xuan felt that it was extremely difficult to breathe. Without the help of totem power, his body was still weaker.
Just when Shao Xuan heard the sound approaching, and was about to use his totem power to climb up, the whooshing sound and the thunder-like thumping sound gradually faded away.
It seemed that there were other forks at the end of this path. Fortunately, the king stoneworm did not come this way.
When the sound gradually faded away, Shao Xuan's muscles all over his body relaxed. In order to survive that short moment, Shao Xuan had used up almost all of his strength.
He did not fight, he did not fight, he did not do anything. He just leaned on the cave wall, but he was even more tired than when he fought against the Thorn Black Wind. Because of this, Shao Xuan could not control his hands, and his whole body slid down the cave wall, back to the place where he rolled down.
Shao Xuan could hear his heart beating like a drum, and it took him a while to calm down.
As if he had sensed something, Shao Xuan turned around and looked at the cave wall that he had been leaning on. In his special vision, the cave wall was originally covered in a layer of white, but now the white was gradually fading, and it was gradually changing from the distance to the top of the cave. It looked like the white that had spread to the top of the cave was shrinking back.
The humidity in the cave gradually returned to its original state, and it was no longer so humid. Even the strong smell of lime was gradually disappearing.
Feeling a little itchy on his face, Shao Xuan raised his head and touched his face. A layer of powdery rock came off, and his palms were also covered in a layer of hard rock. He moved his palms and felt a layer of rock falling off.
Thinking of something, Shao Xuan climbed to the top of the cave. Without that layer of sticky liquid, climbing became much easier.
After checking the cave wall carefully, Shao Xuan found that the fingerprints he had left on the wall when he was climbing up were all gone, as if he had never climbed there.
No wonder the people in the hunting group would leave marks in the cave, and the next time they walked in, those marks would disappear. It seemed to be similar to what he had just encountered.
The cave returned to its original state, as if no living creature had ever been here.
Shao Xuan did not go down, but climbed up along the cave wall. He wanted to see if he could return to the path that the hunting group had taken.
Finally, he climbed up along the cave wall. Looking around, Shao Xuan was dumbfounded.
He should have cut off the antennae of the insect that dragged him here. But now, there were no antennae, no other insects, and no eyeless spiders. There were no other sounds, and there were no signs of a struggle or a drag in the surroundings.
Everything in the cave seemed to have been restored!
In front of Shao Xuan, there were three cave entrances, which looked exactly the same. There was no trace of other living creatures, so he could not tell them apart.
Which cave had he been dragged here from?
Thinking carefully, Shao Xuan found that he could not remember at all, nor did he know which cave he should enter from.
Taking a deep breath, Shao Xuan clenched his fists, and cursed in his mind, "Fuck!"
+++++
Sorry, there is only one more update for tonight. Good night, everyone.
Thank you for your April Fool's Day tips, and thank the first chief of this book for looking at money and earning more!
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