Chapter 183: Mystery

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The appearance of the insects was only the beginning. Many other mutated beasts started to appear sporadically.

These mutated beasts were either huge and terrifying, or daft and docile. However, they all had one thing in common. They run very fast, so they could remain ahead.

They were either sprinting in the wild or the isolation belt, but very rarely would any of them pass by the giant lizard. Most of the time, the beasts went about their business, not bothering one another.

After all, the giant lizard was neither weak nor gentle. Its enormous size and the exerting aura of its nearly light green level were strong enough to deter all other beasts, especially the most docile ones, and the herbivores. When they saw the lizard from afar, they would all quickly change direction to avoid running into it.

The current beast migration covered a large area, including almost all parts of the coast, the beasts heading in all directions. Considering the size of the migration area, the density of this wave of beasts was considerably lower and thus could not be compared to the previous wave of beasts. Therefore, they could now have their pick of a safer destination to migrate to.

Of course, those beasts that dared follow or even provoke them usually had terrifying abilities. Such an example was the insects, which most likely were of a dark blue rank.

By then, the tremors had gotten incredibly strong. The cracking sounds of the broken trees and branches as well as the howling of the mutated beasts could be seen and heard from everywhere. As more mutated beasts rushed to the area, the tussocks on both sides of the road were in a state of turmoil, and the local mutated beasts fled in disorder, the air filling with a raw smell.

The atmosphere was rather oppressive, and the darkness further encouraged it. Everyone felt their hearts throbbing, which almost drove them out of their minds. They wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

However, the giant lizard slowed down after only about ten minutes of crawling.

“What’s going on?”

“It seems that there is a giant rock up ahead blocking the way,” Lin Xiaoji said.

“F*ck, it’s a landslide,” Huo Dong could not help swearing when he took a closer look. He looked depressed.

“What can we do? If we change our course, we’ll have to go around this mountain,” Wang Xiaguang said, going as white as a sheet.

“Wait here while I go check it out.” Luo Yuan had frowned before he jumped off the giant lizard. Mountains from all sides surrounded the road, and the highway went past the mountains horizontally.

For the safety of the transportation system during the apocalypse, both sides of the road have had the hillsides cemented and were supposed to be strong and stable. However, one of the mountain peaks had collapsed for unknown reasons, and the fallen stones were currently blocking the entire highway.

What was worse, a huge rock about 20 meters tall had fallen right in the middle of the road and covered almost all of it.

Most mountains in the Jiangnan District were low in elevation, and thus could only be called hills. If the whole mountain had collapsed, then the rock’s height would have been more than 20 meters. Although the elevation of the hill might not be high, its range was not small. If they were to go around it, they would have to walk more than 10 kilometers, and the path would not be as smooth as the highway. It was a forested area, so they would have to extend their journey and would not reach Hucheng City by the next morning.

Luo Yuan wandered around impatiently. When he saw the giant lizard, he got an idea. Maybe he could let it try to crash the giant rock and dig out a path. He checked and realized that the part of the road that was blocked was only about 30 meters long. It would be nothing for the lizard.

Luo Yuan returned and explained his idea to the others. Then he let everyone jump off the giant lizard and get far away from there so that the spattering gravel would not hurt them.

After instructing them to be careful, Luo Yuan led the lizard towards the giant rock.

“What does he want to do? Have that lizard crash the giant rock?” Zhou Yicheng said in surprise after being put on the ground.

“It’s a giant lizard,” Wang Shishi corrected with a serious look on her face. “The giant lizard is was incredibly strong. It won’t be a big deal for it to crash that rock.”

“But... that rock is as high as a six-floor building.” Zhou Yicheng did not seem able to conceive it.

“It can still crash it. It can crush even bigger rocks. Its bones are harder than steel,” Wang Shishi explained patiently.

“Shishi, don’t lose your focus. Please concentrate on the safety of our surroundings,” Huang Jiahui reprimanded.

“He’s the one arguing with me,” Wang Shishi complained as she glanced at Zhou Yicheng.

Zhou Yicheng awkwardly shut his mouth and stopped arguing with the stubborn girl. He felt that his alertness had been reduced, even though he had been staying with them for less than a day. Compared to evolved people, he felt that they, the soldiers, were the ones who needed protection. The soldiers seemed like ordinary people instead of warriors ready to fight at any time.

This little girl, who was about seventeen or eighteen years old, seemed insignificant and immature, yet she was a terrifying evolved person. Though he had not seen her in battle, based on her ridiculous flying shuttle, which did not even look like a decent weapon, and the serious attitude Luo Yuan and the others treated her with, she did not seem like someone that needed protection.

Suddenly, a loud noise interrupted Zhou Yicheng’s thoughts.

There was a cloud of dust about 10 meters ahead of them, and gravel was shooting in all directions like bullets. Fortunately, the smog dispersed quickly.

The giant lizard had hit the rock and created a large hole about ten cubic meters in size on it. Cracks were filling the rest of its surface like spider webs. The giant lizard, however, did not look good. Its head was bleeding profusely, dying the ground red with blood, and it was shaking its head as if it was feeling dizzy.

After the lizard had rested for a while, Luo Yuan tried to have it knock into the rock again, but the lizard whined and retreated pitifully. No matter how much Luo Yuan berated it, it dared not do it again.

Luo Yuan was looking at the cracks on the giant rock. It looked like it was about to collapse and needed only another strike or two. How could the giant lizard give up at such a critical moment?

When Luo Yuan had first caught it, he had beaten and kicked the beast to tame it. However, the lizard had grown in strength so using violence was no longer effective. Quite the contrary, if he did use any force, its loyalty might drop and make the lizard rebel against him.

Therefore, all Luo Yuan could do was try to tempt it. He took out a food cube from his pocket and moved it up and down before the lizard. The tempting smell caused the beast’s eyes to move accordingly before Luo Yuan pointed at the giant rock.

The lizard hesitated, but at the end of the day, the temptation of the food cube was too strong.

It hit the rock again, whining painfully. However, its strength this time was obviously weaker than the first time. It was not effective enough. It had only created a few more cracks.

The lizard turned and looked at Luo Yuan pitifully. It looked very miserable, its head already soaked in blood.

However, Luo Yuan remained indifferent to its light trauma and pointed at the giant rock again.

As the giant lizard realized that it would not get any sympathy from him, it had no choice left but to turn back and face the giant rock once again. The beast had grown smarter, though. It did not hit the giant rock like it had the first few times. Instead, it walked towards it, flexed its throat and then opened its huge mouth and shot out a burning hot flame, bombarding the giant rock directly.

A large part was blown off the rock creating a big hole as the flame was still burning fiercely. The giant rock could not withhold the stress of such a difference in temperature and finally collapsed.

Luo Yuan was a bit taken aback by the intelligence of the lizard, but he did not duel on it any further.

He threw the food cube in front of it, and the giant lizard caught it quickly, wagging its tail.

Suddenly, its actions became very rigid, its scales rising and its tail moving like a giant sawtooth while it growled in distress.

There was a scream from afar that sounded like Zhao Yali.

“Something’s going on.” Luo Yuan was shocked as he sprinted to where the rest of them were waiting.

In the dark, some unknown beast had confronted Lao Huang.

In fact, it was not a confrontation. Lao Huang was merely whimpering while it retreated.

Suddenly, it was hit by something, and its enormous body started to roll intensely. The next moment, it hit the rock on the side of the highway hard, convulsed a few times, and went still. Nobody knew whether it was dead or alive.

That’s when they heard a gunshot.

Nobody knew whether it had hit its target, as there seemed to have been nothing in its way. An intangible fear made their hearts throb, causing them to have difficulty breathing.

“What’s happening? Did you see what it was?” Soon, Luo Yuan had reached the others, the giant lizard following him.

As they heard Luo Yuan’s voice, they all felt relieved.

“No, we didn’t see anything. We were on alert as soon as we realized that Lao Huang was acting strange,” Wang Shishi said breathlessly, her face pale. She was obviously frightened.

“The bullet seems to have missed the target. It’s as if nothing was there,” one of the soldiers said breathlessly. He had not met such an enemy before.

Luo Yuan stared into the darkness, but it seemed like they were right. There was nothing there at all. And yet, he could feel a malicious intention up ahead. It made him shudder and caused his hair to stand on end. It was pure instinct. Although he could not see, Luo Yuan knew that something was out there. His heart throbbed fast. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Wait for me here. I’ll go take a look.”

“No, maybe it ’s already gone. Please don’t go again,” Huang Jiahui said worriedly. An unseen enemy was even more frightening, and she did not want Luo Yuan to take the risk.

“Yes, Little Yuan. Please don’t overexert yourself. It’s too creepy, you shouldn’t go over there,” Zhao Yali said in fear as she held onto Luo Yuan, her body shivering all over.

“Whatever it is, it’s targeting us,” Luo Yuan said absentmindedly, “Please move further back.”

Luo Yuan slowly moved Zhao Yali’s hands away and attempted to sense the surroundings thoroughly. He felt nothing, so he slowly pulled out his Zhanmadao and walked forward.

Meanwhile, a terrifying aura was emanating from him, slowly growing stronger.

The air started to get restless. The gravel on the ground was vibrating, and a mysterious power was stirring up an invisible air current.

As Luo Yuan’s fully exerted his aura, everyone retreated, their faces going white as a sheet of paper. Although they had moved more than ten meters away, they were shocked to feel their hearts still beating at a maddening pace.

Under the exertion of the oppressive aura, the opponent could no longer hide. The scenery had twisted slightly, and Luo Yuan’s Sensory Perception quickly caught it, making him act immediately. He tiptoed, crouching almost at ground level, and launched himself forward fast, like an arrow leaving the bow.

His terrific speed produced a cyclone of dust directly behind him. The ten-meter distance was very close, and he reached it in only a second. The Zhanmadao was radiating a sharp glimmer that pierced through the air in that direction, twisting like lightning. The delusive surrounding scenery abruptly collapsed, exposing a seven-meter tall giant covered in green hair.

When Luo Yuan saw the giant, he was slightly shocked. His shock, however, lasted for only a second before he quickly retrieved his knife so he could use it again.

The ferocious face of the giant looked panicked. It seemed like it could not react to the sudden attack. Within seconds, its blood-red eyes had suddenly brightened.

Seeing the light, Luo Yuan felt a throb in his heart. He doubted that a sheer layer of Will could defend him against this mysterious attack. Therefore, he moved and turned nimbly towards the giant’s back, holding the Zhanmadao with an underhand grip and pulling as he targeted the giant’s thigh.

The skin of the giant was so tough that when the knife cut into it, it got sandwiched between layers of muscles, making it difficult to move it any further. However, the cut was sufficient to cause the creature pain.

The giant howled in anguish and fear, the red light in its eyes no longer visible.

The fight had just started. Luo Yuan moved around the giant briskly, swishing his knife around and cutting off pieces of flesh. In just a second, Luo Yuan had cut the giant more than ten times while simultaneously dodging its moves. The legs of the giant were already bleeding profusely.

The giant was not slow, nor did it have slow reflexes. It was its body size that limited its movement. It was like a man wanting to catch a rat, but not being able to do anything.

The giant screamed and howled fearfully while both of its legs stepped violently on the ground. Soon the highway had become bumpy and rough, gravel spattering as if the giant was trying to stomp an annoying rat to death, but to no avail.

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Finally, it tried to escape, but Luo Yuan got to it and chopped off the tendons on its legs, causing the creature to fall to its knees, shaking the ground.

Before it was able to stand up again, Luo Yuan kicked it hard at the back of its kneecaps, and it fell back down.

Even though it was kneeling on the ground, it was still about two meters tall. Luo Yuan trod upon its kneecap once again, his strong force preventing the giant from standing up. Luo Yuan jumped onto its back and moved to its head, holding its hair and pulling it so the giant was looking upwards before he aimed the glimmering point of the Zhanmadao at its temple.

The next moment, he stabbed it, his sword piercing through the giant’s head.

The giant trembled intensely for a moment. The red light from its eyes hit the ground and stirred up the dust before it slumped down on the ground again, breathless.