"Here we are—is this the cave?" Two hours later,
"It doesn't look all that special!" Han Li didn't rush headlong inside. Instead, he carefully surveyed the surroundings for a while. Even though time was tight, he couldn't afford to put himself in danger through carelessness!
According to the documents, this secret cave was quite unremarkable from the outside—it looked exactly like the several wild mountain caves he'd passed along the way, with nothing at all to draw the eye. He had no idea how the original discoverer had found this place, and he couldn't help but feel a measure of admiration for that.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Han Li finally confirmed that no demon beasts or people were lying in ambush nearby. Only then did he approach the cave mouth with caution.
The entrance was entirely natural, composed throughout of pale blue-green mountain stone, without a single trace of artificial chiseling. The moment Han Li stepped inside and glanced at the cave walls on both sides, he reached this conclusion.
Then, his figure flickered as he slipped silently deeper into the cave. But after only a dozen or so steps, Han Li stopped again—after one or two bends, the surroundings had gone pitch black.
Han Li frowned, reached into his storage pouch, and produced a Moonlight Stone the size of a chicken egg. The moment the stone appeared, its soft white glow lit up everything nearby with crystal clarity. Han Li saw this and shook his head with a resigned look.
His original intention had been to infiltrate the deepest parts of the cave without a sound, to check whether any demon beast was guarding the place. If there was one, he would deliver a fatal strike from the shadows and spare himself unnecessary trouble. But now, with the Moonlight Stone out, he had turned himself into the most obvious target imaginable. So much for a sneak attack!
Han Li cradled the softly glowing Moonlight Stone in one hand, hesitated for a moment, then slapped an earth-attribute protective barrier onto his body with his other hand before continuing forward, stepping carefully over the uneven ground.
The inside of a mountain cave was nothing like the open outdoors—high-speed movement was inevitably restricted here. It was more reassuring to have a layer of protection on his body. True, this greatly reduced his agility, but Han Li understood perfectly well that one couldn't have one's fish and bear's paw at the same time, so he had nothing to complain about.
The cave was extremely long and narrow. After a full quarter of an hour's walking, Han Li still saw no sign of it ending. This set his mind to worrying, and he couldn't help but wonder whether he had come to the wrong place—what if this turned out to be the lair of some top-tier demon beast?
Fortunately, after walking another several dozen zhang, his view opened up around a sharp bend, and his concern was finally relieved. From around that corner, several threads of white light were faintly visible, meaning the target was right before him.
Delighted, Han Li quickly tucked the Moonlight Stone away and crept forward as silently as possible. Since there was already light ahead, and the location was around a bend, it seemed his original plan could still proceed!
When the furtive Han Li slowly poked his head around the corner, the sight before him first filled him with joy, but then he silently groaned.
Ahead was indeed the end of the cave—a spacious natural stone chamber. Not only were there numerous glittering stalactites growing everywhere, but on a small section of purple stone wall at the very back, three or four small, pale green plants with single stems and several leaves had taken root.
Each plant was about an inch tall, and their several petals all curled oddly in the same direction, combining to form unique shapes that, from a distance, looked like several comically amusing little monkeys hanging there. It was truly a wondrous sight!
"No need to ask—these must be the 'Purple Monkey Flowers.' Even though their stems and leaves are green, that's almost certainly because they haven't matured enough!" The moment Han Li saw them, his mind filled with delighted speculation.
But when his gaze shifted downward to the ground beneath the purple stone wall, his expression turned bitter. There, a giant centipede several feet long lay sprawled across the floor. Its body was covered in pitch-black, gleaming armor plates, it possessed antennae several feet in length, and its overall appearance was hideous and terrifying. Before Han Li had even made a move, his skin was already crawling.
He had never killed a venomous insect-type demon beast, but he had long heard plenty about their fearsome reputations.
According to what others said, venomous insect-type demon beasts were far more troublesome to deal with than ferocious beasts or avian demon beasts of the same tier. Most of them knew rather esoteric and devastatingly lethal poison techniques—just one lapse could land you with a fatal toxin and send you to your death. So unless absolutely necessary, it was best to steer well clear of such demon beasts!
The centipede before him was enormous. At minimum it had to be a mid-tier demon beast, and it was entirely possible it was even upper-tier. At this thought, Han Li couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath, his face twisting for a good long while.