Following the underground path was indeed the best way to find the king stoneworm, but it was also very dangerous.
After some discussion, Shao Xuan, Ao and Ta went down to search. There was no need to go with too many people. It would be inconvenient if there were too many people.
They put a rope down from the cave and slid down. They didn't have long straw ropes, so they tied several straw ropes together. They slid down for about a hundred metres before landing on the ground. This meant that the king stoneworm moved up from here, then retreated down this path. Then, it changed directions and continued moving.
"Which way should we go?" Ao looked at the two paths and couldn't make up his mind. There were two paths after they came down. One was the way the king stoneworm came from, and the other was the way it left.
Shao Xuan looked carefully at the patterns on the stone wall. He touched the stone wall and pointed in one direction. "It went that way, but let's go the other way first."
Shao Xuan wanted to see if the king stoneworm came from that direction. Did it pass by bat mountain? If that was the case, then the movement of the bat leader could be explained.
Ao and Ta understood what Shao Xuan meant, so they didn't object. They followed the direction the king stoneworm came from.
Even though they were underground, Shao Xuan memorized the position on the ground before entering the cave. He had a Universal Eye in his hand.
"It can tell the direction without any sunlight or moonlight?" Ta was surprised.
"Yes," Shao Xuan said. When he was asking the Ya tribesmen about this, he heard them mention that they used the Universal Eye when they were underground. However, only people with high status in the Ya tribe had the Universal Eye. After all, the Universal Eye was rare, so the Jing tribe didn't give it out often.
To prove Shao Xuan's words, under the light of the water moon stone, a line opened up on the Universal Eye in Shao Xuan's hand. It was like a narrowed beast's eye. As the line expanded, the direction became clearer.
Ao and Ta were both good with directions. As long as they knew the approximate position of the sun and estimated the current time, they could determine where bat mountain was.
He continued to walk along the passageway.
"They came from there!" Tower confirmed.
The more they walked, the more certain they were that the passage came from the bat mountain.
Increasing their speed, the three of them soon arrived at the bat mountain.
How did he know that it was Bat Mountain?
In addition to his own estimation, there was an upward passage there, but the passage didn't directly lead to the surface. It only extended from the underground for more than 20 meters.
"Do you think it's because the king stoneworm noticed the bat leader's tracks when it came here? That's why it wanted to go to the ground. But the bat leader reacted quickly and ran away as soon as the king stoneworm moved. Is it possible? "Ao voiced out his speculation.
"That is indeed a possibility," Ta agreed.
"Bat Mountain should be above us. Even if it's not directly below us, it shouldn't be too far away. But why would the king stoneworm come out of its nest? Even if it's because of the Cataclysm, after it came out of its nest, it should have returned after the Cataclysm ended. "Shao Xuan was puzzled.
"Maybe the king stoneworm wanted to change its location?" Ta suggested.
Shao Xuan didn't deny it. "Let's continue walking in that direction."
The three of them followed the direction the king stoneworm had come out of and continued to run in the 100-meter underground cave.
There wasn't enough oxygen here. The further they went from the small mountain, the thinner the air became. This wasn't the king stoneworm's nest, so there wasn't much ventilation. Fortunately, the three of them had a high tolerance for the thin air. If they were beginner or intermediate totemic warriors, they might not have been able to hold on.
Ao and Ta also wanted to know why the king stoneworm was running around after it came out of its nest. However, they soon found out why the king stoneworm didn't run back, but ran in another direction instead.
Not far from bat mountain, there was a fault where the passageway was cut off. Moreover, there were traces of the king stoneworm making a turn here.
"This place should have been like this for a while. Only the Cataclysm last year could cause such changes underground," Ao said.
"That means the king stoneworm might have been shocked by the Cataclysm last year, so it left its nest and ran here in the chaos. However, the underground was also greatly affected by the Cataclysm, so it couldn't find its way back after it came out …" Ta didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Even if the king stoneworm couldn't go back the way it came, it could have gone somewhere else. Why did it continue to run away?"
"What if it couldn't tell the direction?" Shao Xuan suggested a possibility.
Ao and Ta fell silent. A king beast couldn't tell the direction? Shouldn't the higher the level, the smarter it was?
"We … can't rule out this possibility," Ao said in the end.
Shao Xuan sensed the surroundings. "The stone walls here are much thicker than the other parts of the passageway. Maybe the king stoneworm stayed here for a longer time."
The longer the king stoneworm stayed in a place, the more petrified that place would be. Shao Xuan could sense that the surrounding stone walls were different from the stone soil underground. It was a special kind of stone that the king stoneworm had petrified.
"Maybe the king stoneworm left its nest during the Cataclysm last year and ran here in a panic. It might have stayed here for a long time, or it might have fallen asleep. When it woke up, the original path had been cut off by the changes underground, so it continued to move forward?"
Shao Xuan didn't want to think of the king stoneworm so badly, but this was the most likely possibility.
If that was the case, the three of them could only sigh. This intelligence …
"No matter what the truth is, let's keep looking."
Since they had reached the end of the passageway, the next step was to search in the direction the king stoneworm had left.
Hopefully, it wasn't in the direction of Yanjiao. The three of them were hopeful.
They returned to the hill and told the others what they had found. After a short rest and some food, Shao Xuan and the other two continued to search along the passageway.
A hundred meters below the ground, the three of them ran along the same passageway.
Along the way, the three of them found another hill that was similar to the one they had seen before. This proved that the king stoneworm had appeared here before.
"It should have happened within the past two days." Shao Xuan looked at the petrified trees around the hill. Even the roots of the trees had been petrified, but the leaves on the treetops were still green and vibrant. The branches and leaves weren't wilting either. Based on his understanding of the forest, this wouldn't have happened more than two days ago.
"Let's keep looking." Ao was getting more and more anxious. Although they weren't heading directly towards Yanjiao, they weren't far off.
Please don't head towards Yanjiao, please don't! Ao kept repeating these words in his heart.
However, the further they searched, the heavier their hearts became.
Shao Xuan looked at the Universal Eye in his hand and sensed their surroundings.
"This is … the Flaming River?"
"How is this possible?!" Ao and Ta exclaimed at the same time.
Were they already at the Flaming River?
But how could it be the Flaming River?
Wasn't the Flaming River filled with water?
That wasn't right either. Before the disaster, the river was more than a hundred meters deep. After the disaster, the river wasn't that deep anymore. At most, it was a few dozen meters deep. Of course, some parts of the river might be even deeper, but now wasn't the time to think about this.
Ao gathered his thoughts and pointed above his head. He asked Shao Xuan, "Are you sure this is the Flaming River?"
"Most likely. There aren't any hard rocks not far from here, so it should be muddy water. Further away, there's water. " Shao Xuan couldn't tell the exact distance but he could sense that there were muddy water and muddy water above them. Compared to rocks, muddy water and muddy water didn't affect his senses as much.
Plus, if they kept walking in this direction, they should be near the Flaming River, upstream of where Yan Jiao's headquarters were. In the past, when Shao Xuan was free, he would let Chacha carry him upstream for a while.
"So that means the king stoneworm has already crossed the river?" Ta asked.
"That's right."
Although the king stoneworm wouldn't have crossed the river towards Yan Jiao's headquarters, the three of them were slightly relieved. However, the Flaming River Trading Point was also on the other side of the river. If that place was attacked, it would be a huge loss for Yan Jiao.
"Let's keep going!" Ta was so worried he wanted to pull his hair out. They had been on guard for so long but they didn't see anyone from the other side. They also didn't see the troublesome "Bandit". They thought the bat leader was already a big problem but they didn't expect an even bigger problem. If it weren't for their strong mental fortitude, they would have panicked too.
No matter where the king stoneworm went, the three of them would continue to search along this path.
"If we find anything strange, we'll retreat immediately," Shao Xuan said.
Tracking the king stoneworm was important, but his own life was more important. He couldn't afford to lose his life because of this. That was a king beast they were talking about!
Plus, they were almost a hundred meters underground. The terrain was advantageous for the king stoneworm. If they really fought, the three of them would be crushed.
As Shao Xuan and the other two continued to track the king stoneworm, in a forest outside the Flaming River Trading Point.
They were quite a distance away from the Flaming River Trading Point. After Yan Jiao expanded their patrols outside the trading point, some robbers had no choice but to retreat from their "hunting" area. They wanted to rob and get something but they didn't want to go against Yan Jiao.
"What do you think those Yan Jiao people are thinking? What a busybody. Our robbery has nothing to do with them! "A person sitting on a tree said as he played with a dagger made from animal bone.
"Who knows? I don't like them anyway. I won't go into the Flaming River Trading Point." A muscular man with a full beard and unkempt hair said in a low, muffled voice.
A voice came from the thick grass nearby. "The last time I went there, those Yan Jiao guards almost burned a hole in me. Tsk, do they think I care about the things in their trading point? Even if they invite me next time, I won't go in! "
"That's right, I won't go in no matter what. We'll just rob outside! Haha, we won't have to face those annoying Yan Jiao people, haha! "Another person sitting on the tree said as he slapped his thigh.
They were a group of robbers outside the Flaming River Trading Point. There were more than 20 of them hiding here. Originally, there were about 50 of them, but they were in other places. If they found any 'prey', they would be notified.
When they robbed, they would only choose those traveling teams that had fewer people and seemed easy to bully. They would not risk robbing those who were obviously not to be trifled with. Robbing also depended on one's eyesight. Those who did not have good eyesight would not even know how they died, not to mention robbing. The robber who was torn to pieces a few days ago was one of them. He didn't have good eyesight and robbed a weirdo who looked more like a beast than a Yan Jiao. He deserved to be torn to pieces!
As for the person who said he was almost burned a hole in his body by the Yan Jiao guards when he entered the trading point, it was actually because a Yan Jiao patrol outside the trading point encountered them. They even killed a few of them. Luckily, they ran fast enough and weren't caught.
Not long after that, they decided to enter the trading point to take a look and see if anyone had good stuff. They would wait for those people to leave the trading point before making their move.
The Yan Jiao guards felt that their auras were familiar, so they kept staring at them. They were so nervous that they almost ran back. However, after that incident, they never entered the trading point again. They were worried that they would be caught by the Yan Jiao guards. They hated the Yan Jiao guards who stopped them from robbing.
The few of them were spitting spittle as they criticized the Yan Jiao guards. Suddenly, one of the people in the tree looked at them sharply. "What's going on?!"
An extremely dangerous aura filled the air, but he wasn't sure where it came from. He looked around and didn't see anyone else. Yan Jiao patrols wouldn't patrol here.
"Who's here?!" The others stopped talking and went on alert.
The forest suddenly became eerily quiet.
Only then did they realize that something terrible had happened. Before, they could still hear the chirping of birds, but they didn't pay attention to it. Now that they stopped talking, they noticed the change.
The first person to notice that something was wrong had cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
He still couldn't find the source of the aura. It seemed to be coming from all directions!
Moreover, the feeling was getting stronger and stronger. Even the slowest person in the group felt a chill that made his scalp feel like it was going to explode. His hand holding his knife was shaking uncontrollably.
Generally speaking, when they didn't know what was going on, they would quietly hide and observe. However, this aura that shook their minds made it impossible for them to remain calm.
Where?!
Where was it?!
Everyone held their breaths and observed their surroundings. Even the movement of a flying insect would be detected by them.
Nothing!
Still nothing!
Where did that aura that made them unable to even muster the courage to resist come from?!
There was no one around, not even a bird. Even the insects seemed to have disappeared at this moment. It was dead silent. Even the wind seemed to have frozen.
Crack, crack, crack, crack —
A faint sound came, stimulating their nerves.
It was the sound of movement coming from beneath their feet.
When they finally looked down, everyone was so scared that their souls almost flew out of their bodies.
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