“Lord Wind Master, we’d better move faster. This place…”
Just then, a loud, bizarre rumbling sound reverberated around them.
The noise crashed in, the entire tunnel shook, and small blots of mud pitter-pattered down from the tremors. The two exchanged a look, and without a word, they sped off in the opposite direction of the noise.
Yet that enormous sound and the massive tremors were thundering their way, going faster than them, pushing closer by the second. The two of them moved arduously, one step shallow and the next step deep, scrambling through the twisting tunnel without an end in sight, not even a ray of light. And not just that, but the direction they were running toward also reverberated with those same thunderous tremors!
They were blocked both front and behind, and the two had to stop. Along with the rumbling, the sound of a massive, heavy body hurtling through the mud whammed past.
Two humongous earthworms wiggled in and appeared before Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan.
The two worms were swollen and large, their bodies a bruised purple, their skins slightly translucent. The bodies of these worms were segmented with no heads or tails—the two heads were nothing more than meat stumps. What else could they be if not incredibly large worms?
That stone door had opened and dropped them into these earthworm monsters’ nest!
Xie Lian raised an arm to guard himself, Ruoye at the ready, while Shi Qingxuan drew out his Wind Master fan from out of nowhere. Unfortunately, in this narrow tunnel, it was impossible to start any gusts, and any crazed winds would only recoil back at them, making that spiritual device difficult to use. In that moment, Xie Lian remembered that worms were afraid of light and heat, and he shouted a command.
“Lord Wind Master, please lend me some spiritual power! And intensify the palm torch!”
Shi Qingxuan followed his directions and clapped Xie Lian’s hand with his own left hand while the flames in his right palm burst dozens of centimeters higher. Xie Lian also swiftly started a bright palm torch. Sure enough, the two giant worms felt the heat and shrunk back, pulling a few meters away. Using the flames, the pair continued slowly on their path, forcing the giant earthworms to keep their distance and praying for an exit.
But the tunnel was narrow, and with such large flames burning, soon enough it wasn’t only the worms feeling the heat. Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan themselves were sweating profusely as if they were baking in an oven, miserable and wretched. And the more horrifying thing was that Shi Qingxuan couldn’t keep burning through his power to keep the flames alive, and the fires grew smaller and smaller. They also noticed that although the giant earthworms were still evading them, they weren’t as fearful.
After a few more steps, Xie Lian could feel his breathing grow difficult. He said, “Lord Wind Master, the palm torch won’t last. The mud here may be moist and loose, but we’re still deep underground. Soon we’ll run out of air, the fire will die, and we’re going to faint.”
Shi Qingxuan gritted his teeth. “Then we can only use the Teleportation Array.”
Although neither of the two had a free hand to draw an array and the current environment wasn’t exactly ideal, there was no other way.
“Let me find somewhere flat,” Xie Lian said.
Just then, he felt a small plate beneath his steps—not moist and spongy, but more like a stone tile. A thought struck Xie Lian, and he immediately crouched down to check. Just as he suspected—it was another stone door!
It also had an image of a little person rolling dice on it. Shi Qingxuan stepped onto the tile with him, overjoyed.
“Quick, quick, quick! Roll the dice and open it!”
Xie Lian was just about to roll the dice when he suddenly thought, But what if I roll a worse outcome and open an even more horrifying place?
Xie Lian passed the dice to Shi Qingxuan. “You do it!”
Without a word, Shi Qingxuan grabbed the dice and tossed. Rattle, rattle. This time it was a three and a four. Xie Lian picked up the dice readily, and the two stood together on top of the door tile. The palm torch in Shi Qingxuan’s hand shrank by another inch; the two giant worms were squirming and ready to approach. Xie Lian stared intently at the drawing on the tile as it slowly dissolved then gradually transformed into another picture. It was a forest, with a number of oddly dressed little people dancing in circles around another figure in the center.
Just then, one of the worms finally stopped holding back—it charged toward them with its mouth open a slit, dragging its heavy body.
Thankfully, when the worm was only a mere meter away from them, the stone door opened!