NOVEL WEB Chapter 431: Passing the Buck
The voice of the Night Mouse suddenly rang out.
Fang Zhou looked in the direction of the voice and found him standing on the other side of the pit bottom.
The deep pit at the bottom of this square did not appear out of thin air, but is part of a network of underground tunnels, with collapsed pit edges around it, leading into pitch-black entrances, their depths unknown.
The Night Mouse now stood outside one of these entrances, waving at Fang Zhou.
However, this silt monster was convinced that Fang Zhou was the murderer of the beloved crow. It raised its arm high and slapped down at Fang Zhou again.
Fang Zhou instructed Bi An to fly around the silt monster towards the Night Mouse, while he stayed in place, leaping side to side, searching for a gap to evade.
The silt monster's slap hit the ground, creating a violent tremor with a clear handprint.
Fang Zhou jumped out from between the fingers of the silt monster's hand, landed on its back, and raised his hand to shoot an invisible Sword Qi at the silt monster's head.
The invisible Sword Qi shot into the mouth on the silt monster's head, breaking one of its teeth.
This counterattack could barely be considered better than nothing, but it expressed Fang Zhou's indomitable will.
However, the silt monster seemed to be enraged by Fang Zhou, bowing its head to unleash a furious roar at him.
Its palm, which was originally facing down, instantly turned upward, and its hand back became the palm, gripping Fang Zhou standing on it, wrapping him completely in silt.
"Hey?!"
At this sight, the Night Mouse exclaimed, wondering if this guy would drift into his own death.
Shua!
Covered in mud and water, Fang Zhou appeared beside the Night Mouse as if teleporting: "What do you need me for?"
Night Mouse: (〃°ー°)
Was I really calling for you?
Fang Zhou gently shook the Mirage Dragon Robe he wore, letting all the stains and mud-water fall off. In an instant, he was once again a fresh and clean handsome man.
The auto-cleaning feature of the Mirage Dragon Robe perfectly met Fang Zhou's expectations, meaning he'd never have to wash clothes again when going out.
Well, underwear still needed washing.
Seeing Fang Zhou unharmed, the Night Mouse breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as you're okay, let's hurry, this thing can't be killed."
Fang Zhou turned his head to look at the silt monster, which was now bowing its head, pawing at its own hand, searching for the "little bug" it had caught.
The Night Mouse had already turned and dived into the pitch-black entrance, forcing Fang Zhou to follow.
"What's going on, how did this monster emerge?"
The Night Mouse was very puzzled, though muttering to himself, his gaze seemed to question Fang Zhou.
Seeing the blame coming his way, Fang Zhou hurriedly volleyed it back.
"Why are you looking at me? You said if we lured away those Living Corpse Soldiers, we'd be fine. You saw, I didn't attack first."
"Yes, if you kill the Living Corpse Soldiers, then the monster would appear. That's a memory in my mind; I won't be mistaken."
Hearing the Night Mouse mention his own memory, Fang Zhou immediately felt unreliable.
The two couldn't blame each other and ultimately placed responsibility on the suicidal crow.
"How could there be a crow?"
The Night Mouse's expression resembled a crisis of faith: "I've lived here for many years and haven't seen any animals."
"Stop dwelling on it, what's this place?"
Fang Zhou reached out to wake the Night Mouse, by which time the two had been walking deep into the tunnel for a while.
This tunnel seemed very much like a passageway, evidence of manual excavation visible everywhere, winding with no end in sight, with many pitch-black holes on either side like a beehive.
The Night Mouse came to his senses and explained: "This is an underground tunnel, previously used for mining, later for transport and storage. It has three levels—two more below. One is the underground prison for holding prisoners; the other is a cemetery and live sacrifice site. The terrain is incredibly complex. I get lost even when I come down here."
Fang Zhou asked: "Can we reach the Sublime Church from here?"
"Of course!"
The Night Mouse hesitated for a moment: "It might be somewhat dangerous, but we're quite close now; it should be fine."
Fang Zhou turned to him: "The shortcut you mentioned before, is it this underground mine tunnel?"
"That's right!"
The Night Mouse nodded: "The underground mining tunnels connect the whole Black Soul Mountain. There's a shortcut to everywhere, but there are many formidable monsters and traps in the mine tunnels. I usually dare not come down."
"And yet you dared to say you'd take me on a shortcut?"
"I mentioned it was dangerous."
"You specifically said it was only a bit dangerous!"
"..."
The two continued forward, never lowering their guard as they walked, always sensing their surroundings.
Previously, there had been only a plaza's distance from the Sublime Church aboveground, and a straight mining tunnel made it even closer.
Soon, a fork lay ahead, splitting into three tunnels leading in different directions.
Fang Zhou knew without needing the Night Mouse's reminder to take the middle path, as the Sublime Church should be directly overhead.
"Rustle, rustle… rustle, rustle…"
In the silent, pitch-black tunnel, suddenly came rustling sounds, as if something was crawling.
"Cockroach or mouse?"
"No, it's the Maggot People!"
The Night Mouse's face changed slightly: "Quick, hide!"
"It's too late; they're behind us too."
Fang Zhou summoned the Xuanyuan Sword and Bi An: "We're surrounded."
Sounds not only came from the three forked pathways ahead but also from behind where they had passed.
The Night Mouse looked troubled, saying to Fang Zhou: "My body is polluted by this world's Magic Power, only capable of surviving, unable to fight. It's all on you from here."
Saying this, he put on the Clothes of the Dead, hiding directly in a wall-hole nearby.
Fang Zhou: (눈_눈)
As soon as a fight starts, you back down, hiding away to watch like a bystander? That's not fitting, right?
Though Fang Zhou only half-jokingly grumbled, he knew the Night Mouse was neither friend nor kin, and volunteering as a guide was already generous.
Expecting help fighting was indeed wishful thinking.
Fang Zhou refocused, preparing for the imminent battle.
Soon he saw what the Night Mouse called the Maggot People, a sight so revolting it nearly made him retch.
The Maggot People were giant maggots, roughly the size of a bull, with two arms and a wrinkled human face at the head.
A group of Maggot People clumped together surged out of the tunnel, crawling on their large bellies and hands. The scene was overpoweringly shocking. Luckily, Fang Zhou hadn't eaten since entering this world, or he'd surely vomit.
A group of Maggot People also emerged from the tunnel behind them, reminding Fang Zhou of the beehive-like holes he'd seen along the passageways, which must be where the Maggot People crawled out from.
Surrounded from both front and rear, Fang Zhou hurriedly divided the Xuanyuan Sword into sixty-four blades, transforming them into golden sword lights shooting towards the disgusting Maggot People.
The pitch-black tunnel was illuminated in an instant by the golden light.