Chapter 416: Chapter 349: Rune [2]
Instead, he was hiding on a Spirit Realm creature in a region of the Sea of Sumeru, located outside this world.
This way, even if that White King came looking for him,
he wouldn’t be left without an escape route, trapped in that world.
At most, he would only lose a sliver of his essence.
Although this world was powerful, Hu Qi held no hope that it could withstand the power of a True God.
The two of them walked into the distance, one following the other.
All they could see on either side was wilderness and hills. The rain had turned the road muddy and difficult to traverse.
Furthermore, Lu Shan needed to sit down and rest every so often.
As a result, their pace wasn’t fast.
It was a ten-kilometer journey.
The two had just made it about halfway.
Suddenly,
a colossal BOOM tore through the sky!
A blinding, zig-zagging bolt of red lightning, like a monstrous python, spread wildly across the inky canopy, ripping a bloody gash in the dark sky.
Immediately after, it was as if the heavens had burst open.
The once-drizzling rain, spurred on by the lightning, became a torrential downpour.
The already rugged mountain path across the barren wilderness was instantly ravaged by the rain.
Mud churned and surged with the rushing currents.
The pair’s uneven footprints were quickly submerged, turning into murky puddles.
Howling winds carried sheets of rain that lashed the ground, sending up sprays of mud. The entire scene was filled with Chaos and gloom.
An air of desolation and bleak coldness spread.
BUZZ...
Suddenly, a dull, oppressive humming sound rose abruptly above the clamor of the storm.
The sound, carrying a heart-pounding quality, instantly pierced through the noise of the downpour and bored its way into their ears.
Looking toward the sound, they saw on the distant horizon, its edges blurred by the storm,
a large black shadow, flapping its wings at an uncanny and rapid speed as it whizzed past.
The swarm seemed completely unaffected by the wash of the torrential rain.
As the black shadow drew closer, they were shocked to discover that it was composed of countless fist-sized black mosquitoes.
Their bodies were entirely jet-black and glossy.
Their long, slender proboscises were like poison-tipped needles, seemingly ready at any moment to pierce their prey’s skin and greedily suck its blood.
Six spindly legs were curled tightly.
Under the impact of the storm, they showed no signs of being knocked out of the air by the rain.
Their wings were broad and powerful, beating at an extraordinary frequency. Each flap generated a strong current of air that repelled the surrounding raindrops.
Their two blood-red compound eyes looked savage and bloodthirsty against the backdrop of the storm.
A single glance revealed a dense mass of red dots, enough to make one’s skin crawl.
At that moment, they were scanning the ground below, apparently searching for signs of prey.
"It’s Blood Mosquitoes!"
Seeing this,
Lu Shan’s pupils contracted sharply.
Blood Mosquitoes were also a type of Wild Beast, but they always appeared in swarms, making them a much greater threat than Long-eared Wolves.
Just a few of them could suck an adult human dry,
let alone a swarm this large.
In this situation, it was obviously not wise to keep walking.
The two found a nearby cave to take shelter from the rain.
Once inside, they each found a dry patch of ground and sat down.
Lu Shan, for her part, took a dark, dough-like lump from her backpack and lit it on fire.
Instantly, an orange flame ignited from it.
At the same time, the fresh, clean scent of grass and wood began to spread from it.
The smell was invigorating, clearing one’s Spirit.
The cave also grew a little warmer thanks to the flame.
Seemingly noticing Hu Qi’s gaze,
Lu Shan began to explain.
"This is a resin we at the Rotten Leaf Gathering Place extract from a plant called the Blackthorn Tree."
"This resin can be burned for light. It lasts a long time, and the scent it gives off has a refreshing and clarifying effect."
Hearing this,
Hu Qi simply nodded.
"Tell me the details about that Rotten Leaf Gathering Place."
In response to Hu Qi’s question,
wary of his strange abilities and harboring a faint suspicion in her heart,
Lu Shan didn’t hide anything and told him everything.
This gave Hu Qi a general understanding of the place they were heading to.
The Rotten Leaf Gathering Place was a small settlement with a population of over three thousand people.
The reason for its name
was its unique environment, which allowed its inhabitants to cultivate and eat special fungi using the rich soil from Rotten Leaf.
Although this method provided sustenance, a long-term diet of fungi would take a toll on the body.
Therefore, every so often, everyone had to consume a certain amount of meat to maintain their health.
Good health was the foundation of everything; once a problem arose, it could very well mean death in this environment.
And that was why Lu Shan was out hunting.
In this world, there was another name for people like her.
Scavenger.
This brought up
the general situation of this world.
This devastated world was called the Desolate Star.
It was a wasteland, much like one after a great cataclysm, with decay and desolation spreading to every inch of the land.
As for how it came to be this way,
the events had happened too long ago.
’There were no records of it in this body’s memories.’
Lu Shan didn’t know either.
The only certainty was that this world’s environment was extremely harsh.
It was somewhat like a post-apocalyptic wasteland that had experienced nuclear radiation.
Some animals had undergone significant mutations in this environment.
The Long-eared Wolf that Hu Qi had killed earlier was one such example.
