Chapter 96 Soul-Eating Dark Beast

Diwuyuan turned around when he heard the voice and grabbed the corner of Qi Huan's clothes in a hurry.

The young master wanted to hold him back, but the difference in their sizes and weights was too great, and not only did he fail to hold Qi Huan back, he fell in as well.

Yao Yao, who was standing next to him, stepped over and barely managed to grab hold of Diwuyuan's straps, but he couldn't withstand the momentum of two people falling and was also dragged down.

Jiufang Yu turned around the low wall and saw three people rolling into a deep pit on the ground, one after another, like countless pearls. He quickly stepped on the ground and jumped in without hesitation.

It was pitch black at the bottom of the pit and nothing could be seen clearly. Qi Huan could only feel the wind whistling in his ears and his body falling rapidly. He seemed to hear faint and shrill screams of panic.

He waved his hands wildly, trying to grab something, but the walls were all soft sand, and they collapsed as soon as he touched them, and the sand and mud fell down with him, and he couldn't get any strength at all. In the end, he could only close his eyes and bend his arms to protect his head and neck, trying to endure the severe pain of falling to the ground.

At the critical moment, the expected pain did not come, but there was an extra pulling force on the back.

Qi Huan opened his eyes and vaguely saw Jiufang Yu, the goddess of justice, holding up a scale with her left hand, grabbing the back of his collar, and holding Yao Yao's belt with her right hand. Diwuyuan was dangling in the air between the two of them, holding the corner of his clothes in his hand, and the straps of his jeans were tightly held in the hand of Yao Yao next to him.

Yao Yao's treasure-hunting rat named Luo Luo stood on the ground with its two short paws raised anxiously, as if it wanted to catch them. It would run to whoever was shaking the most, and frantically went back and forth under the few people.

Saved! Seeing Jiufang Yu, Qi Huan subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

After letting the three people land and stand firmly, Jiufang Yu opened his personal terminal and adjusted it to bright light mode, and checked the conditions of the others.

Qi Huan had two fingers rubbed raw when he was grabbing the wall of the pit, Diwuyuan hurt his elbow, and Yao Yao was fine, only the sleeve of his clothes was torn.

With the help of the light from Jiufang Yu's side, they could see that they were now standing on a pile of sand, about twenty or thirty meters from the ground. The left side was buried by the pile of earth, and the right side was a huge square space like a metal underground palace. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made of metal, and there were many strange triangular cone-shaped metal pillars standing there, surrounded by dark shadows.

Perhaps due to the high amount of water vapor, at a glance, this metal underground palace was already corroded and rusted beyond recognition.

The walls and ceiling were uneven, many metal plates were curled and deformed, the ground was littered with peeling dark red debris and sand that had seeped through the cracks. Some pillars had simply collapsed or broken, and the metal plates above had lost their support and could not withstand the pressure of the earth and rocks. They were directly brought down by the earth and rocks and pressed underneath, forming a conical mound similar to the pile of sand under their feet.

The area above those mounds of earth is basically empty.

Qi Huan took a deep breath and looked at the shaky metal plate above his head. He estimated that he fell because he stepped on one of the similar 'empty' points that lost support.

There were two faint spots of light not far ahead, one of which should be where the black ball jumped down.

Among the three, Diwuyuan was the most seriously injured. The young master was usually spoiled and had never suffered any physical pain, but he was too embarrassed to cry out in pain in front of the three of them, so he could only bite his lips and hold it tight. Jiufang Yu shook his head, took out the mini treatment cabin and planned to treat his injury first, and at the same time signaled Qi Huan with his eyes to treat his hand as well.

Qi Huan waved his hand carelessly, indicating that it was no problem. Although he also had a mini treatment cabin in his storage bag, it was really unnecessary for such a minor injury.

Suddenly, there was another low roar of "Xingqiba" from the front, causing the surrounding sand to fall down.

Luo Luo jumped onto Yao Yao's shoulder and looked ahead with half excitement and half fear.

"Let's go over there quickly, Xiaobai and Xiaoba are in trouble." Sensing Xiaobai's growing fear, Diwuyuan anxiously interrupted Jiufang Yu's action of opening the treatment cabin and released the pile of mini bears.

The mechanical bears quickly built a movable square protective shield channel that looked like a container to protect the four people inside to prevent them from being hit or buried by falling earth and rocks.

"Can you hold on?" Jiufang Yu glanced in the direction where the voice came from, and his eyes moved between Qi Huan and Diwuyuan.

"It's okay, let's go." Diwuyuan took a step forward and was about to run first, but Jiufang Yu grabbed him back and put him behind him.

Qi Huan and Yao Yao stood on the left and right tacitly, protecting the youngest Diwu Yuan in the middle, and also adjusted their personal terminals to lighting mode. In fact, other modes could not be activated except lighting mode.

"Follow me, everyone. Don't rush around without my permission. OK?" Jiufang Yu frowned and warned the three people seriously.

Although Jiufang Yu usually doesn't show much expression, he rarely gets so serious.

The three guides and the treasure-hunting rat standing on Yao Yao's shoulder nodded obediently. In terms of combat effectiveness, all of them combined were not even a fraction of the one in front of them.

Several people carefully avoided the rubble and metal fragments on the ground and walked quickly in the direction where the sound had just come from. The square formation of mechanical bears supporting the protective channel also followed their footsteps and moved quickly.

"Can't Xiaobai be taken back?" Yao Yao asked Diwuyuan as they walked.

Diwuyuan shook his head worriedly.

Something was not right. Logically speaking, if a spirit body encountered danger, it could immediately "escape" back to its original body. Yao Yao frowned and glanced at the treasure-hunting rat on his shoulder. The little guy was jumping around excitedly on his shoulder and back, but his eyes were always fixed on the front. The anticipation and excitement seemed to have far exceeded the fear.

Qi Huan didn't interrupt, but glanced at the metal pillars and walls passing by.

There was a thick layer of dust on the pillars, but when you got closer, you could vaguely see strange, totem-like spiral patterns engraved on them.

What is even more strange is the location of these columns. Under normal circumstances, although supporting columns are inevitable when constructing such a large building, the overall layout and traffic flow must be taken into consideration, leaving room for the main area.

The pillars of the underground palace in front of me are arranged densely, in no horizontal or vertical rows, as if there is no order at all. Coupled with the sand and metal fragments on the ground, it is very inconvenient to walk.

"Have you seen these patterns?" Qi Huan used his personal terminal as a spotlight to shine on the pillar he had just passed, and asked Yao Yao and Diwuyuan to look at the patterns on the pillars. He knew little about the "common sense" here, and wondered if the two could recognize what it was.

The two of them took a quick look and shook their heads to indicate that they had never seen it.

The black ball's low roar was heard from the front again, mixed with the sound of ping-pong, which was similar to fighting. The expressions of several people changed, and they quickened their pace at the same time.

After going around the last two pillars that were in the way, they finally saw that there was a big hole in the metal wall in front of them, and the sound came from the hole.

Along with the sound came a chilling chill.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The treasure-hunting rat on Yao Yao's shoulder suddenly shouted excitedly.

Qi Huan was so shocked that he almost wanted to cover his ears. He finally understood why Yao Yao called the treasure-hunting mouse "Luo Luo". This baby, wearing gold and silver and with shiny fur, actually had a hoarse voice that could refresh the mind.

The four of them walked quickly forward and shone the light through the hole in the wall. They saw a dark stone cave behind the wall. The cave was full of jagged rocks and seemed to be larger than the metal underground palace they were in. They couldn't see the end of it. The light hit the stone wall, splashing refreshing green light. It looked like a mine.

Zhou Qiba has grown to the size of a lion and tiger, and is shuttling between a dozen black vines. On one of the vines is Xiaobai, who is folded like a paper butterfly. The little guy seems to be stuck in the translucent mucus secreted by the vine and cannot move.

In order to avoid the mucus thrown out by the vines at any time, Xingqi Ba did not dare to engage in close combat with them. He could only rely on flexible movement, and occasionally seize the opportunity to use his horns to emit golden light to break the vine that tried to approach him.

It wanted to find an opportunity to break the vine that was wrapped around Xiaobai, but the opponent was obviously also very smart and had been hiding the vine at the end, and the two sides were in a stalemate.

Feeling Diwuyuan's presence, Xiaobai struggled hard twice, but was entangled even more tightly.

"Xiaobai!" Xiaobai's wailing voice echoed in his mind. Diwuyuan was so anxious that his eyes turned red and he almost cried.

"You three wait here, I'll go rescue them." Jiufang Yu frowned and glanced at the half-broken lines next to the metal hole. He resolutely drew out the white halberd and stepped into the hole.

As if they realized that the person approaching now was more dangerous, three or four vines attacked Jiufang Yu at the same time.

He swept his spear horizontally, a strong wind arose, a red light flashed, and several vines broke in the light.

The broken vine twitched a few times as if in pain, and five or six vines came over again, crackling and throwing out several balls of mucus. Jiufang Yu leaped up, dodged flexibly, and seized the opportunity to swing his halberd, cutting off three or four more vines.

The remaining vines trembled twice in unison, and with a "swish" they carried Xiaobai back into the depths of the cave.

Monday immediately chased after him.

Feeling Xiaobai's' pain', Diwuyuan screamed and covered his head. Qi Huan and Yao Yao hurriedly supported him.

"It's too dangerous here. You all should leave immediately and go up to ask the owner for help." Jiufang Yu looked at Qi Huan and instructed.

The problem now is very tricky. Those guards outside Yao Yao will just die if they come down. We have to ask the shop owner and No. 2 to come over to help.

Qi Huan nodded, understanding what Jiufang Yu meant. He was about to take Diwuyuan out, but Diwuyuan broke free from his arms and looked into the depths of the cave with tears in his eyes, "I won't leave."

Diwuyuan looked at Jiufangyu stubbornly, "I'll wait for you here, don't move."

The two of them were in a stalemate for a few seconds, and Jiu Fangyu sighed, "Then let's send a mechanical bear out to send a message for help. If I don't come out within ten minutes, you guys will leave here immediately, understand?"

Jiufang Yu looked at Qi Huan and Yao Yao solemnly, and when he saw them nod, he rushed towards the depths of the cave without hesitation.

To be on the safe side, Qi Huan asked Diwuyuan to release five little bears at once to crawl out of the hole to "report the news".

Diwuyuan covered his head with his hands, tears welling up in his eyes from the pain. Xiaobai must be feeling very uncomfortable too. Qi Huan took out the mini medical capsule in his hand and tried to use it on Diwuyuan, which relieved the pain a little.

In the distance, muffled sounds of fighting could be heard faintly. The breath wafting from the cave was like ten-thousand-year-old ice, chilly and chilling. The cold air seeped into the bodies of the three people standing at the entrance of the cave inch by inch along their muscles and bones, making them feel heart-piercingly cold.

Qi Huan took out the shield and gold-removing dagger that Jiufang Yu had given him and held them in his hands, looking around vigilantly.

The ground was covered with slippery mucus, and several broken vines were still twitching.

Yao Yao half-knelt down, and shone the light in his hand at the broken vines on the ground, looking around. The light shone through the broken ends of the vines, and they actually glowed with golden light.

"Could it be a soul-eating dark beast?" Yao Yao muttered to himself.

"What soul-eating dark beast?" Qi Huan looked at Yao Yao in confusion.

“It is said that there are strange creatures living in the top gem mines. They can move freely in the gem mines like a flowing shadow, so they are called dark beasts.

There is also a saying that the dark beast is a high-level stone beast.

They do not need things like sunlight and air. They only like to devour the energy in the minerals. They regard high-level minerals as their own property and do not allow others to covet them. Anyone who approaches will be killed by them.

Legend has it that a mine owner once organized high-level sentinels to clear out the ore, but the sentinels' soul beasts were all devoured by them, so these dark beasts are called soul-eating dark beasts. No mine owner dares to approach them. I used to think that this was just a story circulated on high-level ore planets. After all, there has been no similar accurate record in the past two or three hundred years. "Yao Yao explained, touching his chin.

Qi Huan took a deep breath. There is usually a mythical beast guarding the treasure. There are many similar legends on Earth.

"So what does it mean now?" After using the medical cabin, Diwuyuan regained some energy and looked at the treasure-hunting rat squatting on Yao Yao's shoulder.

The white-haired squirrel stood upright, excitedly clenched its two short paws, swung its tail, stared intently at the depths of the mine, and from time to time excitedly ran around Yao Yao's shoulders, causing the pendants on its body to make rustling sounds.

Yao Yao followed his gaze and turned his head to look at the treasure-hunting rat on his shoulder, with a bit of confusion in his eyes, "Excited and scared at the same time. To be honest, I've never seen it in this state before."

Qi Huan frowned, "What level are the gem mines it has discovered before?"

"The gemstone mine that can arouse its interest and make it appear must be at least a B-level gemstone mine, not to mention A-level and S-level deposits. The higher the level, the more excited it will be. So..."

Yao Yao paused and didn't continue.

Diwuyuan and Qi Huan understood at the same time and said in unison, "So, this could be an SS-level mine?"

"That's my guess." Yao Yao spread his hands, "If the one fighting Jiufang Yu right now is the Soul-Eating Dark Beast, then it's almost certain."

Wait, Qi Huan's face turned slightly grim, and he suddenly thought of another thing. If there really were SS-level gems in the mine in front of him, what level would the soul-eating dark beast inside be?

S-class? Or SS-class?

If it is SS level, wouldn’t Jiufang Yu be too dangerous?

He was just thinking about asking Diwuyuan to send another mini bear into the mine to warn Jiufang Yu, when he suddenly felt a strange breath coming from the front, and the ground beneath his feet seemed to be shaking slightly.

Qi Huan decisively opened the protective shield in his hand and blocked the hole in the wall. The next second, two black shadows rushed out from the ground and pounced straight towards where they were!