Suddenly, the sound of wings flapping became chaotic, accompanied by bursts of strange screeching noises. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was extremely sharp and piercing. Ethan Hill clutched his ears in pain and collapsed, feeling as if his entire brain was about to be torn apart by the noise.

“Brain-Eating Ghost Bats—”

He screamed in agony, finally realizing what was lurking in the darkness. These sixth-rank wild beasts only appeared in swarms at night. Their screeches were especially sinister, penetrating straight into the brain. If one’s cultivation was weak, their eardrums would rupture, and their brain could even turn to mush!

But the flapping of this group of Brain-Eating Ghost Bats sounded a bit off, and their screeches were somewhat panicked.

Suddenly, several gigantic spider legs shot out from the nearby forest, as thick as ancient trees, their tips sharp like spears, covered in black bristles that made one’s skin crawl.

Sss! Sss! Sss!

The Brain-Eating Ghost Bats were pierced one by one, gradually falling silent. Among those spider legs, the bristles spread open, transforming into a bizarre mouthpart. With a single suck, the bats instantly became dried corpses.

Ethan Hill took the opportunity to scramble away, rolling and crawling. He finally saw clearly: up ahead, right where he was about to pass, a massive pitch-black spider web was spread out. Ordinary spider silk was white or transparent, but this web, hundreds of meters across, was as black as ink, faintly emitting a gray-black poisonous mist! If not for the angle and the moonlight, he wouldn’t have seen it at all.

One side of the web was attached to the forest, the other stuck to a nearby mountain peak.

Dozens of dried corpses of Brain-Eating Ghost Bats, each the size of a calf, hung from the web. Its owner, a giant spider a hundred meters long, with eight eyes growing in a ring on its back, slowly walked out from the forest, repaired its web, then returned to the woods to lie in wait.

Judging by the distance, if he had taken seven or eight more steps forward, he would have crashed headlong into that web!

Having brushed past death, Old Hill finally breathed a sigh of relief, but as he turned around, he froze. Not far behind him was a patch of flowers that had been quiet, but now seemed to be attracted by something. In the pitch-black night, the flowers opened, releasing a faint, beautiful pale blue glow. Their stamens were pink, and together they looked dreamily enchanting—if only those petals weren’t lined with rows of menacing, sharp teeth.

Cold sweat once again covered Ethan Hill’s forehead.

……

“Ugh—”

With a roar, Brian Cooper struggled to push away a huge boulder blocking his path, sending up another cloud of dust.

The two of them had been buried in the landslide’s rubble. Eric King was uninjured, but had already lost consciousness. His cultivation method was special, but even so, there was a limit to how much he could endure.

Brian Cooper’s leg was bleeding badly, the bone visible through the wound. He tore his clothes to bandage himself, then dragged Eric King out, fished a porcelain bottle from his chest, poured out a miraculous healing pill, and fed it to him.

He looked around—what a mess. The terrifying Three-Legged Toad Emperor was nowhere to be seen. All around was deathly silence. He breathed a sigh of relief; for now, no wild beasts would dare come investigate.

But unexpectedly, several black shadows suddenly rose from the rubble!

Brian Cooper quickly lay low to hide, but over there someone called out in surprise, “Are you brothers from the Seventh Garrison?”

Brian Cooper was overjoyed and was about to respond when a strange sound came from above. His expression changed, and he hurriedly dragged the still-unconscious Eric King back into hiding.

A swarm of monstrous insects, each several meters long, swooped down in the darkness. Like giant mosquitoes, their long, sharp mouthparts stabbed into those people, lifting them into the air. Amidst their shrill screams, the insects tore them apart and devoured them! The giant mosquito swarm buzzed outside, while Brian Cooper hid in the cave, gritting his teeth and preparing his Thunder of Awakening.

“If I can take one with me, it’s worth it. If I get two, I’ve made a profit!”

In this situation, he had no better plan than to wait in despair for luck.

That chilling buzzing sound swept past the cave several times, making Brian Cooper’s heart leap into his throat. But it seemed his luck was holding; the giant mosquitoes never found the cave. Or perhaps they did, but gave up because they were too big to get inside.

Listening as the buzzing gradually faded, Brian Cooper relaxed and collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 0012: The God-Ash Mountain’s Dead Zone (Part 2)

That chilling buzzing sound swept past the cave several times, making Brian Cooper’s heart leap into his throat. But it seemed his luck was holding; the giant mosquitoes never found the cave. Or perhaps they did, but gave up because they were too big to get inside.

Listening as the buzzing gradually faded, Brian Cooper relaxed and collapsed to the ground.

After a while, he crawled out again and dragged Eric King out as well. The fat man, after being tossed around and with the healing pill taking effect, groaned a few times and woke up.

He asked groggily, “What time is it? It’s still dark… Did we get up too early?” Suddenly, he jolted awake and sat up: “Scholar, we’re still alive?”

Brian Cooper gave a bitter smile. “For now, we’re still alive.”

Yes, for now, they were still alive. The depths of the God-Ash Mountain’s dead zone were unimaginably dangerous. The fact that they had survived this long was pure luck.