"Boom!"
After a whirlwind of chaos, the world plunged into darkness before their eyes.
Monts later, a brilliant blue light erupted in the void.
"Ugh..."
Under the glowing blue light, Lin Xiaoi regained consciousness. Shaking off the dizziness, she raised her head to look.
Steel Garuru stood firmly amidst the rubble, shielding everyone beneath its massive fra.
The blue light in Garuru’s eyes intensified, banishing the unknown darkness around them.
She quickly glanced around and found Long Xia and the others were intact, but Qin Shou was nowhere to be found.
"Qin Shou..."
She tried calling out, but there was no answer.
Her voice echoed distantly, and she speculated that they might be inside a cavern.
Not hearing any response, her heart began to sink.
"Could Qin Shou have..."
The thought of a grim possibility sent a wave of sorrow through her.
He sacrificed himself to save us...
"Cough, cough..."
Suddenly, a furious voice erupted from beneath Lin Xiaoi.
"I... cough, cough... who the hell is crushing ?!"
"Ah!!"
Startled by the voice, Lin Xiaoi scrambled off Qin Shou imdiately.
No wonder the ground felt squishy—it turned out soone had cushioned the fall.
But... why was Qin Shou carrying a stick?
Feeling embarrassed, she quickly helped the dazed Qin Shou to his feet and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Qin Shou clutched his aching head and rolled his eyes.
"What do you think?"
"You’re light, but you’re pointy." He grumbled.
Lin Xiaoi’s face flushed awkwardly, and she chose not to respond.
Qin Shou stood up, glanced at the half-buried figures of Long Xia and the others, then gave each of them a firm kick to wake them up.
"Uh... cough, cough... Lao Qin, we’re not dead?"
Long Xia shook the dust off his head and burst out in joy.
"Haha, we’re alive!!" Hong Cong and the others cheered loudly.
Qin Shou curled his lips disdainfully. With Star Power protecting them, and Steel Garuru absorbing most of the impact, how could they die so easily?
Pointing toward the pitch-black cave entrance nearby, he said, "Stop celebrating prematurely! Didn’t you see my Garuru barely holding it together? Get moving!"
The group ca to their senses and sprinted toward the entrance.
Seeing Qin Shou move ahead, Steel Garuru trembled all over, suddenly breaking free from the rubble and leaping to his side.
"Boom!"
Dust clouds surged again as they released bursts of Star Power Energy to clear the air.
Under the dazzling blue light of Steel Garuru’s eyes, they discovered their location—a sprawling underground passage.
The underground corridor stretched endlessly, its diater roughly ten ters wide.
The stone walls were rough, faintly marked with claw traces from monsters, indicating this wasn’t a man-made structure.
It was likely a monster’s den!
Faced with this possibility, Qin Shou felt torn.
If they were to dig back up through the opening they had fallen from, they might run into the spine-eating Gu lurking outside—fatal consequences were imaginable.
However, if they stayed here too long, there might be more monsters within this lair—a nightmare.
Qin Shou hesitated.
Just then, a faint movent erged from the corner of the rubble, and three dirt-covered n crawled out, coughing and spitting out debris.
"Bleh..."
"Cough, cough... where on earth is this?"
"Boss, we survived!"
The trio erupted in bright laughter, then turned to see Qin Shou’s group under Garuru’s radiant light, alongside Steel Garuru’s glowing eyes.
"Beast-shaped cha!" The three gasped.
Sun, the leader of the group, looked thoughtful. Just as he was about to speak, a tremble shook overhead—ice and fire energy began to seep downward.
"Not good, they’re still up there." Sun warned.
Qin Shou didn’t hesitate any longer. Leading everyone, he sprinted deeper into the passage.
Sun and his companions quickly followed suit.
...
The blue light lit up the passage, scattering the penetrating darkness.
"Tap, tap..."
Walking through the broad tunnel, Qin Shou and his group were flanked by Steel Garuru, greedy snake, and King Kong forming a protective triangle around them.
Staring at these three massive creatures, Long Xia and the others finally felt a sliver of safety.
Behind them, Sun and his n followed closely, their faces filled with astonishnt and disbelief.
"Boss, two Dangerous Nine Stars beasts and a beast-shaped cha—these kids are seriously strong!" One of Sun’s n exclaid.
Sun nodded thoughtfully, then stepped forward and called out, "Young man, let’s talk?"
Qin Shou stopped, turned back, and smirked, "About what?"
Sun pointed to himself, "We have three Newborn Nine Stars Beast Ability Masters here. If we join forces with you and your friends, our chances of getting out increase exponentially."
Qin Shou shook his head and motioned Garuru to cast the blue light toward two branching tunnels ahead.
"Uncle, why don’t you take a look and tell us which path we should take?"
Without hesitation, Sun darted past them and examined the passages attentively.
Pointing to the tunnel on the right, he said, "Take this one—you can faintly hear wind blowing from there. It must lead to the surface."
Qin Shou nodded, "Hmm. Well then, sorry—looks like we’re not teaming up. I’m taking the left tunnel."
With that, he set off toward the left without a second thought.
Sun panicked, "Kid, wait! Trust , I’m right!"
"Uncle, that way’s a dead end—why not trust instead?" Qin Shou grinned.
Sun, being seasoned in survival, wasn’t about to trust Qin Shou so easily.
"Kid, I’m doing this for you," he sighed.
Qin Shou remained unmoved, making no sign of changing his mind.
Behind him, Hong Cong looked conflicted, then urged, "Qin Shou, the uncle seems experienced—he’s likely correct. Let’s take the right path!"
Qin Shou paid no heed and kept walking toward the left tunnel.
Long Xia and Lin Xiaoi followed him resolutely.
Fang Bao chuckled softly and fell in behind them.
"Ye Ning, what about you?" Hong Cong asked.
Ye Ning glanced at Sun’s weathered face, hesitated for a mont, then decided to take the right path.
Despite Qin Shou’s mysterious skills, he was still young and inexperienced—this was his first venture outside the city.
But Sun was different; his deanor scread veteran monster hunter. Trusting him seed like the safer option.
"Uncle, can I join you?" he asked.
Sun sighed, glancing at the retreating silhouettes of Qin Shou’s group. "Of course. Your friend is too stubborn."
...
"Lao Qin, they didn’t follow," Long Xia observed.
"Forget them," Qin Shou replied indifferently.
Lin Xiaoi hesitated, "But those uncles seed like good people..."
Qin Shou waved off her concern, "I already warned them. You saw it yourself—they didn’t listen, so there’s nothing I can do."
Lin Xiaoi mulled it over and found his reasoning fair enough.
Beside them, Fang Bao chuckled and asked, "Qin Shou, what’s up with that tunnel? Care to share?"
He hadn’t forgotten Qin Shou’s ability to probe the surrounding area.
"Oh, nothing much. Just a bunch of spine-eating Gu," Qin Shou said casually with a shrug.
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