After Ma Lu and Mai Mai dealt with the runaway, they turned around to see Boggy's fight had also ended.
The knife-wielding Hunter couldn't withstand the pincer attack from Boggy and Sadie, and was quickly turned into a hedgehog.
Boggy actually didn't like fighting among Hunters; she much preferred hunting wild beasts in the desert.
But she was well aware of Black Horn's style of conduct and knew what fate awaited those they targeted. The blood scent emitted by her own kind nearby still instinctively made her feel a bit uncomfortable.
anwhile, Ma Lu had already started eagerly rummaging through the bodies.
"What are you looking for?"
Ma Lu tossed a black brooch shaped like a rhino horn to Boggy, "This is yours."
Boggy imdiately understood what Ma Lu intended, "Are you planning on going down to find Jinjian?"
"Mhm, these guys must have been summoned by Jinjian. If they lose contact for too long, Jinjian will definitely beco alert. Staying outside in ambush won't make sense anymore, and he might call for even more people. It's better to head down directly."
"But Jinjian should know these people. Even if we disguise ourselves as them, we won't be able to fool him," Mai Mai said.
"It's okay, this is just a precaution. If we bump into him by accident and he sees these brooches, Jinjian will probably hesitate for a mont, giving us the chance to strike first," Ma Lu said.
The Hunting Clothes used by the Hunters provided good coverage, and with goggles and face masks on, it was hard to recognize anyone from a distance.
This was probably why the Hunting Groups all made brooches—to easily identify their own.
Boggy didn't say anything else, removed the Twin Sunflower brooch, replaced it with a Black Horn one, and the others did the sa.
Seta then commanded the Sand Soil Puppet to pull open the stone slab door, revealing a narrow path, winding downward.
"I'll go first." Boggy created seven small Water Shields with the water from a newly found water skin, floating them in front of her chest, and then she proceeded down first.
Little Grey followed closely behind, then Seta and Sadie, with Ma Lu and Mai Mai still at the end of the line.
The air below was not as murky as expected; there must be ventilation connecting with the outside, or perhaps Jinjian's team included a Psychic Power User with the ability to aerate the space quickly.
Wary of an ambush, the five of them didn't walk fast.
This place seed to be a natural cave, but unlike ordinary caves, the rock walls around were fiery red, probably containing a high amount of trivalent iron elents, which indicated that water might have been present here millions of years ago.
Shaped by both water and wind erosion, many rocks had bizarre forms.
So resembled fierce beasts, others sharp blades, and so even had features similar to that of humans, which frightened Sadie enough to huddle closer to her brother.
As everyone continued forward, the light grew fainter, and soon they could barely see the path ahead.
Fortunately, they found flashlights on the bodies of the Black Horn Hunters who ca to support Jinjian.
However, the light also risked exposing their position, and Boggy realized why Ma Lu had been collecting brooches from the bodies.
They walked a little further, only to co across a three-way fork in the path, causing Boggy to stop and frown slightly.
Ma Lu said, "Look around for marks. Jinjian is also new to this place. If there are many forks and it's easy to get lost, he would have left so signs to help later reinforcents find their way."
Boggy humd in agreent, lifted her flashlight, and after searching around, indeed found an arrow mark on a rock.
"This way." Boggy entered the rightmost path and after walking for a while, her foot stepped on sothing that made a crisp crack.
Boggy looked down to see a bone, thinner and longer than a human's, belonging to so unknown animal.
And as she moved her flashlight forward, she soon found more bones.
"Be careful, there should be wild beasts living here."
"What exactly is this place?" asked Seta.
"A treasure burial site, but just like in those fairy tales, treasures of inestimable value are always guarded by powerful protectors."
The response didn't co from soone within the squad but a voice that was magnetic and slightly cunning from up ahead.
"You've arrived. Follow , and once we've dealt with that remaining Mother Spider, we'll get the treasure."
"Vice Captain Jinjian?" Ma Lu called out tentatively.
"Hmm, what about it?" the person replied offhandedly.
The five mbers of the Twin Sunflower Hunting Group quickly exchanged glances and each gripped their weapons tighter.
Boggy shone his flashlight in the direction of the voice.
A figure stood beside a rock pillar not far away, and the sudden strong light made the person squint instinctively.
Sadie had already extended her right hand and shot out seven Thorns in one breath!
However, the seven Thorns ultimately only embedded in the rock pillar, while the figure had disappeared.
Jinjian was craftier than they had imagined. Although he initially mistook them for reinforcents, when he realized sothing was off at the last mont, he also fled quickly.
"Chase!" Boggy didn't waste words and imdiately charged forward with his chanical Spear.
As Jinjian ran, he tried to warn his people ahead, but as soon as he opened his mouth, four more Thorns whizzed by, narrowly missing his scalp.
So he also learned to be wise and rely fled headlong without another word.
The five Hunters and a wolf closely pursued him, but Jinjian clearly knew the terrain of the cave better than they did, managing to escape using the oddly shaped rocks each ti they were about to catch up.
But after running another seventy steps or so, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and spoke again.
"Did Chief Sanrew send you to kill ? If he wants the treasure here, he could have just told , and I would have given it to him with both hands."
"Sure, then Vice Captain, you surrender first, and I'll take you to the Chief for you to explain to him," said Ma Lu.
"That's not how you negotiate," Jinjian shook his head. "You have to show so good faith as well."
"What good faith do you want?"
"For instance... how about having your people stop aiming at ?" Jinjian said leisurely.
The next mont Sadie shot out Thorns again towards Jinjian, but they were blocked halfway by sothing.
Then, a rustling sound ca from the rock wall.
Boggy pointed the flashlight upwards and saw a creature over one ter in length with spines on its legs, reminiscent of both a spider and a scorpion. It was the one that had just blocked Sadie's Thorns.
Just as the scanning cooldown ended, Ma Lu received a new notification.
— Ding! Congratulations on discovering a 3-star ingredient, the Spiked Leg Tailless Scorpion. The Spiked Leg Tailless Scorpion encyclopedia entry has been unlocked.
"Have a good ti with my little treasures," Jinjian laughed.
Apart from above them, there was a Spiked Leg Tailless Scorpion on the rock walls to their left and right, each crawling towards them. At the sa ti, Jinjian's subordinates, alerted by the noise, rushed over, resulting in an encirclent of the five Hunters.
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