Absolute Death Game

Chapter 149 - 133 Flock of Beasts Galloping

The swaying of the forest grew closer and closer, and everyone’s tension rose accordingly. Suddenly, with a loud crack, a burly figure smashed through several small trees and violently charged out from the woods. Almost instinctively, several arrows and a fireball from the firepower group flew straight towards it.

However, Zhang Yaoyang was taken aback when he saw the true appearance of the figure—it was a bald warrior clad in iron armor wielding a large hammer. "Cease fire, stop shooting!"

He yelled out urgently, but it was too late. A volley of ranged attacks hit the bald warrior solidly, but due to his high defenses and health points, it only reduced his health by less than a tenth. The man did not immediately charge to attack but instead took up a defensive stance. Following his lead, several others rushed out from behind him, including six people.

Among them was a spellcaster holding a magic wand crackling with dazzling thunder, wearing a pointy hat.

A hunter with a bow and arrows on his back, accompanied by a drooling bulldog, and that warrior woman... Cao Shuai...

The group looked somewhat ragged, but they didn’t seem intent on assigning blame. They glanced over but didn’t stop, hurriedly passing by the Pioneer Corps’ formation and running off.

(Thank heavens, at least it didn’t lead to a diplomatic conflict. But why are they running?) Zhang Yaoyang wondered curiously. He wasn’t the only one puzzled; Xiao Buli was also scratching his head. (Could it be that they saw our numbers and feared being ambushed? But where did they come from just now?)

As Xiao Buli pondered, he glanced in the direction from which they had come, and his pupils tightened instantly. Not only had the disturbance in the forest not subsided, but it had also become more intense. And it wasn’t just one area—the entire expanse of forest was shaking non-stop, with faint sounds of trees snapping as if some colossal ancient beast was charging towards them.

Then the ground itself began to tremble.

Holy shit, how many monsters are there? Zhang Yaoyang was horrified. What should we do? What should we do? Even with his extensive experience leading teams, he was now in a panic.

Xiao Buli quickly assessed the situation and immediately decided that they should not linger. Whatever was coming, this clearing was not a suitable place for defense.

"Everyone, leave the clearing and head south!" Xiao Buli shouted, but no one moved. It was then he remembered he wasn’t the leader. (Damn it, I really hate this feeling of being powerless. It’s too late now!)

With a resounding crash, trees were snapped apart as a massive beast burst from the woods—a gigantic black bear at least three meters tall and four to five meters long, charging forward like a demonic god.

The Demon Mountain (Demonized Giant Bear), with its golden name indicating it was a high-level boss creature, roared intimidatingly as it faced the group. Its fierce presence was so overwhelming that everyone involuntarily stepped back, each person’s morale dropping by fifty percent due to a debuff.

Morale was an attribute Xiao Buli had never encountered before. What exactly did it account for? He wondered but instantly understood as he glanced at his companions. They were trembling, some beginning to retreat and others looking around as though seeking an escape.

"Don’t panic, tanks go in and draw its aggro!" Zhang Yaoyang gritted his teeth and ordered. No one moved; at this moment, whoever moved would die.

"Tanks, go take on the beast!" He shouted again, but still, no one budged. The giant bear was charging straight for them, and Gao Lianyu was the first in line. Just moments ago, in a show of bravery, he hadn’t taken cover behind the rock golem, and now he regretted it. Facing the oncoming sweep of the Demon Mountain, Gao Lianyu instinctively raised his shield.

Boom! He was sent flying by the impact, his condition unknown.

With a sudden wave of his magic wand, Du Yibo summoned a giant stone figure that knew no fear, charging at the Demon Mountain and delivering a fierce straight punch that made the bear shake its head. But the bear did not stop its assault and rammed into the rock golem.

The rock golem stumbled backwards, its body made of stone and dirt cracking and on the verge of collapse. Hold on! Everyone shouted in their minds, watching as the rock golem pressed down on the Demon Mountain’s shoulders, struggling in a fierce grapple, managing to withstand the charge.

However, it was clear to everyone that it was only a matter of time before the golem would be destroyed. Suddenly, the Demon Mountain broke free, looked back with an unwilling roar, and ran off, bypassing the people.

It hardly lost any health; why did it run off? Could it be that behind it there’s—

The group looked towards the woods, and in the next instant, numerous beasts charged out, all kinds of creatures apparently panicked and sprinting. Then they realized, the Iron Blood Brotherhood wasn’t just scared of the Demonized Giant Bear; it was the entire horde of beasts.

"Run for it!"

"I don’t know who shouted," the entire formation suddenly collapsed, no one cared about luring the beasts anymore. People scattered, running like hell. Those with climbing skills found a thicker old tree and swiftly scrambled up, those who knew Qinggong leapt onto rock piles, the faster ones dove into the forest, desperately trying to avoid the paths of the beast swarm.

Everyone unleashed their life-saving skills, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each displaying their divine skills.

Xiao Buli hesitated for a moment among his several life-saving skills, then pressed without hesitation on the Earth Escape Skill, and his entire body immediately sank, buried beneath the ground.

The perspective of the Earth Escape Skill was quite peculiar, the screen in front of him turned into a coffee-colored, liquid-like substance. Xiao Buli moved his mouse, discovering he could move underground, the movement was a bit like swimming in water, but the speed was extremely slow, probably only about half the speed of swimming.

The vibrations from above ground continued to be transmitted down, causing his screen to tremble incessantly. The sounds of screams and shouts kept coming through his headphones; it was unclear if anyone else was in this situation.

Xiao Buli didn’t dare show his head; he felt very much like he had narrowly escaped death. The Earth Escape Skill was indeed a miraculous ability; no matter how dangerous it was on the surface, staying underground meant he would not be injured.

However, the crisis was not over; he thought about where these wild beasts had come from and why they were running so madly, while he looked around, trying to find an exit in this underground world.

The subterranean world was not entirely made up of that coffee-colored liquid; there were white chunky objects and clusters of green things, which he guessed were stones and tree roots, respectively. The reason for such appearances was probably that he himself was not in a physical form at the moment.

Unable to recognize directions underground, without the display of coordinates or a mini-map, he was pondering how to find a way out when suddenly his pupils shrank. About twenty or thirty meters away from him, a vague figure was slowly approaching his direction.

At first, the figure was very blurred, the black figure in the coffee-colored underground was not conspicuous. Xiao Buli once thought he was seeing things, or it was a person-shaped stone, but as the figure gradually got closer, he realized it was not his illusion. Discover more stories at empire

("What is that? Could it be that there are living creatures in the soil of this game?") Xiao Buli thought with some alarm, ("Could it be that those wild animals on the surface are fleeing from this thing? It seems quite likely.")

He suddenly remembered the legend of Tai Sui. There are many explanations about Tai Sui, one of which is that people who are buried alive at a place where Yin Energy converges would transform into a kind of malevolent ghost that lurks in the soil to harm people.

Once someone disrupts the soil above them, it will bring misfortune, which is the origin of the saying about moving the earth on Tai Sui’s head.

Could that thing be the legendary Tai Sui? What level of monster could that be? Could it be from the Undead class? He had no idea if he could fight it. While thinking, he glanced at his skill bar and found that most of his skills were unusable in such a state.

("Damn it, better run first," he thought.)

He didn’t dare to linger; he hastily began to move slowly back in the direction he had come from. The figure seemed not to move fast, only a bit faster than him, but it was moving towards him determinedly without pause. Xiao Buli grew increasingly anxious; moving through the soil felt like swimming in syrup, utterly slow.

He kept turning back to check, hoping that the black figure would change its mind and leave halfway, but every glance back was a disappointment—the figure was still following him.

In his panic, he suddenly couldn’t move. Looking forward, he realized that he had unknowingly entered an area of impassable white rock. This truly was a dead end.

Xiao Buli turned around in panic, and the figure seemed to be getting closer.

Looking up, it was also white; he couldn’t even escape upwards. He might as well brace himself! A wave of despair crossed his mind. He checked his skill bar and found that he had one usable skill left, the newly learned Palm Thunder, probably because lightning could travel through soil.

("Maybe that isn’t Tai Sui but the Earth God, who not only won’t harm me but might even give me a task to do,") he comforted himself while preparing to make a last stand.

Seeing him stop, the figure seemed to hesitate. It didn’t burrow in after him but stopped right there.

Xiao Buli wondered what was happening. Could it be waiting for him to come out on his own, or did the figure not dare to come in? He looked around at the white stones, could it be that the thing was afraid of rock?

If that’s the case, you should just leave, Xiao Buli thought. We have no quarrels; why keep chasing after me?

After a tense standoff, finally, the figure started to move again, slowly approaching.

("FUCK, it’s still coming! Looks like I have to fight!") Xiao Buli thought, as he placed his finger on the skill key for Palm Thunder. "Come on, let’s see how powerful Mysterious Gate Taoist Magic is!" His eyes fixed on the figure, and finally, as it drew close, Xiao Buli’s gaze tightened, now or never—(To be continued.

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