Chapter 2069: Chapter 2132: Mysterious Group of Statues
Xu Shanshan nodded in agreent with Li Yifei’s statent.
The feast continued, countless large fish rolling in the clear stream water, muddying it. But since the stream flows, a little quiet ti can restore it to clarity.
Few red ants drowned; they were often eaten by large fish as soon as they hit the water, swallowed instantly with constant splashing sounds.
No wonder these creatures were so plump; turns out they grew fat by eating these ants.
However, Li Yifei soon thought of a question: How often do these large fish get such a feast? Or perhaps at certain tis, these ant armies co over, either wanting to cross the river or simply take a plunge to their death...
It lasted a full ten minutes. Although so lucky red ants drifted across the stream to the other side, alone they held no power; only a swarm of ants possessed true combat strength.
Li Yifei even noticed that these red ants seed to stagger like drunkards after reaching the shore, lying still not long after.
Dead? Li Yifei bent down, picked up a red ant, and scrutinized it. Indeed, it wasn’t a common ant, the appearance was very different, though the mouth looked similar, entirely red, with seemingly a red liquid flowing beneath its hard shell—whether blood or sothing else, unknown.
Li Yifei picked up a red ant that was lucky to swim to the shore after its arduous journey; initially, it had so strength upon landing, but now it lay there motionless.
"Dead?" Xu Shanshan also ca over to observe, seeing the ant unmoving, she comnted.
Li Yifei said uncertainly, "It seems dead, that’s odd! It died just from soaking in water!"
"Dead is better; this way we’re relieved, and moreover it seems clear why these ants couldn’t cross the stream, making the place where we stayed last night safe," Xu Shanshan remarked.
Oh, no wonder, Li Yifei understood as well, seems these ants fear water—they die quickly after soaking in the stream. Thanks to this, otherwise, if Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan had unwittingly walked into the red ants’ encirclent last night, it could have been dangerous; an unexpected attack might end them in their sleep.
At this point, Li Yifei rembered falling asleep inexplicably last night, if attacked by red ants then, a chill ran down his spine.
Fortunately, last night was lucky enough; Li Yifei flicked the red ant in his hand back into the water—there lies its destiny, eaten by these large fish is a worthy end, benefiting the area.
No wonder these creatures are so plump; Li Yifei saw a few large fish seemingly satisfied, retreating from the fish swarm to one side. But this was rare, most others were still indulging, devouring the red ants.
Yet, Li Yifei’s gaze shifted to several slowly approaching red mounds—what was hidden inside? Was it a structure made by countless ants, or were larger ants inside moving such a mound?
As these creatures approached, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan saw clearly: the mounds were mainly composed of loose leaves, roots, likely dug by red ants to form a mound with gaps filled by leaves. It wasn’t heavy, but under the mounds, densely packed ants moved them, so even up to ten centiters long.
The mounds reached the riverbank but didn’t jump down like the ants; anwhile, the red ants continued charging forward.
After ten minutes, the mounds suddenly turned around, retreating, and without further pursuit, the red ants also retreated.
Xu Shanshan rubbed her face, becoming numb from watching so long, seeing the river surface layered, though big fish were still eating, noticeably less. If continuing, ants might swim across.
Besides, if they’re determined to fill the stream with mounds, they could bridge and cross directly.
Luckily, they’ve retreated, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan were temporarily safe.
"Take a break, no need to rush," Li Yifei chuckled, feeling much more relaxed.
After resting for a while, Li Yifei said, "We can’t stay in the red forest for too long. With those eyes watching us, we can’t go back either!"
They couldn’t move forward, nor could they retreat. There were only two sides; one side was the direction Li Yifei ca from, but a variety of monsters blocked the way there as well, making it difficult to traverse, especially with those troubleso monkeys. They had no choice but to pick the side neither of them had been to.
Without hesitation, they moved, leaving nothing behind in the red ants’ area except for a corpse. It seed those people must have turned back, otherwise more than one body would have been left behind. In such terrifying attacks, the chance of ordinary people being injured or killed was extrely high. Perhaps heading in another direction might uncover clues about those people.
Regarding the dream Li Yifei had after mysteriously falling asleep, he still had no leads. If the palace seen in the dream was indeed in the center of this island, it would be quite surprising. Even now, Li Yifei could confirm that this place bore so resemblance to Mount Kunlun, possessing things not seen in the world.
After walking several ters, Li Yifei turned back to see the red mounds had faded into the distance and the large fish in the stream had returned to peace, their bellies round and bloated like huge, inflated pufferfish.
"What could be on this side?" Xu Shanshan suddenly asked teasingly.
Li Yifei responded, "We’ll know once we enter. I hope it’s a bunch of edible things."
Xu Shanshan licked her lips and eagerly said, "You might just be right."
As the two left the red forest and reached the other side, they suddenly froze.
Beyond the red forest wasn’t an endless stretch of forest but rather an open space, an expansive basin, with countless statues within it.
That’s right, statues. As far as they could see, there were at least a thousand statues, so several ters tall, others only one or two ters. The entire platform was particularly vast, and each statue was separated by several ters to tens of ters. From their vantage point, the edge wasn’t visible.
"This..." Xu Shanshan swore she had never seen such a scale of statuary in real life. Even the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors paled in comparison; in fact, the two couldn’t even be compared.
The construction date and era of these sculptures remained unknown, nor was it known how long they had been eroded by the sea winds. So statues were sowhat eroded, but most remained vivid. Li Yifei first saw a statue towering at ten ters high, far exceeding those around it; it was a giant monkey statue. The monkey’s body was muscular and robust, seemingly stronger than a gorilla. Excluding the base, this monkey statue stood seven or eight ters tall, on two legs, with its forepaws extended forward, reminiscent of the monkeys Li Yifei had encountered, with particularly long and sharp claws. From over a hundred ters away, the statue exuded an aura of killing intent.
This giant monkey statue glared with wide eyes, mouth agape, as if intimidating its foes, or perhaps roaring, its sharp teeth exposed.
Beside it was a cluster of smaller monkeys, so standing four to five ters tall, others rely one or two ters, as if they were guarding the giant monkey.
This was the first type of animal, or monster, Li Yifei encountered upon arriving on the island. Next to the monkey group was an unfamiliar creature to Li Yifei, more insect than animal. It was four or five ters long, resembling a praying mantis with long, scythe-like pincers poised to shred any adversary or food before it. Its enormous wings were partly spread, perhaps ready to fly, or simply a scare tactic.
Around it were many smaller mantises, whose abdons were diminutive, unlike mantises with large bellies. Their abdons were covered in protective hard plates, resembling natural armor.
Another powerful and mysterious creature, Li Yifei grinned, while beside him Xu Shanshan also widened her eyes in surprise at the massive statuaries... Unfortunately, they hadn’t brought any photography equipnt; otherwise, they could capture this scene and share it with family at ho, who would undoubtedly be astonished.
"Honey, I think this trip was worth it," Xu Shanshan remarked.
Li Yifei nodded but couldn’t truly relax. Seeing countless statues implied that the enormous island might house various bizarre creatures, categorized by type. Whether they lived here naturally or were created, whether they were long-lost animals or bred by large sects back in the day, remained unknown.
Regardless of the case, having encountered mutant monkeys, bat creatures, giant crocodile-like monsters, elusive and swift shadows, unicorn giant lizards, and ant-like insects resembling moving hills, Li Yifei found it hard to relax. Seventh Brother and Ninth Brother entered this place without knowing the situation; after so many days, the hope of their survival seed bleak...
The place had more than just seen statues. Many others remained unseen, including one with tusks, entirely golden, resembling a wolf, but without fur. Unlike images of saber-toothed tigers Li Yifei had seen online, it sowhat resembled them, yet definitively wasn’t. It appeared to be a species Li Yifei had never encountered, even in fictional fossil records.
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