Chapter Fifty-Two: The Monster in the Cave

This was a perilous and mysterious cavern! All around were stones of various strange shapes, the most common among them being a smooth, polished rock. The pools of water here varied in size, and many places were clean and exposed countless white stones that made a crunching sound beneath one’s feet.

Su Ye first looked up at the opening overhead and saw shafts of sunlight piercing down like sword blades—a truly spectacular sight.

Such places could only be discovered and claimed by powerful organizations like the Martial Alliance; ordinary people would likely never even hear of them.

“Will the Cold Meal Mussel Shells really be here?”

Su Ye reminded himself of his purpose, treading carefully as he scanned the surroundings. Here, not only did he need to find the mussel shells, but he also had to guard against any lurking danger.

No one could guarantee that those terrifying, monkey-like water creatures were truly gone.

He hadn’t gone far when, all of a sudden, he noticed a gleam in a distant pool—a flash of light as dazzling as a reflection in a mirror.

Su Ye hurried over, focusing his gaze to see a sea mussel lying quietly in a crevice between the rocks. Its shell was slightly open, and within, a luminous pearl was exposed without reservation.

This very pearl was the coveted prize for martial artists at the Qi Gathering stage!

Unfortunately, it did nothing for his own body, which had already opened its meridians.

“How lucky can I be!” Su Ye marveled at his fortune in finding a Cold Meal Mussel Shell so quickly.

He was about to reach out and grab it, but halfway there, he suddenly remembered something. Muttering to himself, “When the crane and the clam fight, the fisherman profits! These things aren’t to be touched lightly!”

With that, he picked up a long stone and reached toward the mussel shell. With a snap, the shell clamped shut, crushing the stone with a crisp crackling sound.

“This little thing is so strong? If I’d put my hand in there, I’d have lost a finger—there’d be no pulling it out! Hmm? Is this the aura the Cold Meal Mussel Shell emits? It’s rather unique.”

Su Ye smiled, unceremoniously packed the shell into his backpack, and moved on. For many martial artists at the meridian-opening stage, the aura from the shell was a rare tonic, but for Su Ye, it was of little use. Even the Thousand-Defiance Meridian-Opening Pill no longer had any effect on him, let alone the aura from a mussel shell.

He had just stowed away the mussel shell when he suddenly heard a strange noise. An inexplicable sense of foreboding welled up inside him, and when he glanced around, he was startled to realize that this peculiar cavern was ringed with various tunnels of different sizes.

Some were barely half a meter high, while others were three or four meters tall—large enough for a person to enter without difficulty.

The odd sound had come from one of these tunnels.

What could be inside?

“We’re here! Everyone down, it’s safe!” Suddenly, a rough, booming shout came from above.

Zhou Yuyang, Song Chenxin, Chen He, and the others were sliding down from above as well—someone had evidently brought a rope, for they descended quickly.

“Hmph, Su Ye really is shameless, coming down ahead of us! What if he hogs all the good stuff?” The sound of people jumping down echoed continuously.

More than twenty people had already descended, and more were shouting from above—the second group had evidently arrived.

Mu Xia, wearing a new baseball cap and looking fresh and lovely, landed on the cave floor and hurried over. “Su Ye, when you find a Cold Meal Mussel Shell, don’t grab the pearl directly with your hand or the shell will snap shut on you!”

“Hey!” Zhou Yuyang shouted from afar, calling to Mu Xia, “Why are you telling him? He’s not even in our group!”

Mu Xia shot him an annoyed glare. “I’m cooperating with him. You’d better watch out yourself!”

Su Ye nodded his thanks and continued his search for mussel shells.

With more people, more shells were found, and some even started moving rocks in search of them.

“Ha! Here’s another one!”

“I found one too—quick, bag it! We’ll complete the task this time for sure.”

Su Ye, however, was getting frustrated. After finding his first mussel shell, he hadn’t come across another one. The cave was large but would eventually be scoured clean.

He did find two more by a small pool, which was a pleasant surprise.

Just as he was considering entering one of the side tunnels, he noticed Zhou Yuyang, Song Chenxin, Mu Xia, and the others had put down their packs and were carefully making their way toward the largest tunnel.

The others, puzzled, looked on curiously.

“That thing should be inside. Remember, we only have one chance. We’re all newcomers, so it shouldn’t be able to recognize our scent,” Zhou Yuyang murmured, taking the lead.

Those turning over rocks in the distance were taken aback. A bespectacled youth turned pale and asked, “Brother Yang, what are you doing? Where are you going?”

“It’s none of your business! Mind your own hunt and stay out of ours!” Li Haoxuan snapped, acting every bit the toady.

Zhou Yuyang chuckled darkly. “Last time, they nearly killed it, but it escaped. Every time it smells the same scent, it flees, so we won’t have a second chance. We must succeed.”

Su Ye realized he’d been deceived—there were clearly different missions and goals in play!

The bespectacled youth shouted, “Don’t go in there! My brother told me there’s something terrible in those tunnels—you’ll provoke it if you go in!”

Everyone here was from a distinguished family, and they’d all heard some rumors.

“You’re not seriously going after that monster, are you?” someone asked.

“Is it true there are monsters in the Martial Alliance’s trials? Don’t do anything reckless, Brother Yang!”

Su Ye suddenly remembered the strange noise from earlier and shouted, “Stop! What are you planning to do?”

Zhou Yuyang suddenly pulled up his sleeve, revealing a strange, ancient-looking hand crossbow strapped to his arm, loaded with seven green-tipped bolts. He aimed it at Su Ye from a distance, his voice cold. “You useless trash! Try anything and I’ll deal with you the moment I get out!”

With a sneer, he led his group into the tunnel.

Su Ye furrowed his brow and looked into the tunnel, a chill running down his spine as a sense of danger washed over him. Without another thought, he turned and ran, racing to the steel cable they’d used to descend. He grabbed it and began climbing up the cliff face as fast as he could.

Many saw this and burst out laughing, shaking their heads.

Li Haoxuan was especially gleeful. “Look at that coward! The moment he heard he might get hurt, he tucked tail and ran! Hahaha!”

Su Ye heard their jeers but ignored them, intent on climbing.

He hadn’t climbed more than fifty meters when a tremendous roar erupted below—a savage, bestial sound that seemed to come from the throat of some monstrous creature.

Boom!

Hanging on the cable, Su Ye glanced back and saw torrents of seawater pouring out from one of the side tunnels, sweeping the prodigies below off their feet.

Screams echoed in every direction.

“What is that?!”

“Run! Help! Save me!”

In the surging flood, Su Ye caught sight of a bizarre sea creature—like a giant jellyfish, its head alone more than ten meters across, glowing white.

It seemed enraged, its tentacles lashing out from who knew where, striking wildly as cries of agony filled the cavern.

Taking a deep breath, Su Ye spotted Mu Xia struggling in the water and shouted, “Mu Xia, over here! Hurry!”

Before she could reach him, others closer by were already grabbing the steel cable, scrambling up in a panic. Faced with such terror, none of them thought of fighting back.

In moments, more than a dozen were climbing.

But for some reason, the steel cable suddenly snapped with a metallic twang halfway up.

With a series of thuds, everyone—including Su Ye—plummeted back to the cavern floor...