Chapter 201 - 178: Go Get Chairman Qin
"Chairman Qin, this is bad! Something’s happened!" Zhou Xiaqing came jogging over, her jacket in disarray from her sprint. Panting, she gently patted her chest, trying to quell the surging Life Energy within.
Qin Ziwen stopped shoveling and said gently, "Don’t panic. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and tell me slowly. What happened?"
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Zhou Xiaqing was quite articulate, and she quickly explained the whole situation from beginning to end.
After the sandstorm, the Student Union had dispatched several teams to investigate the situation in the canyon.
Most of the teams had returned, but one remained unaccounted for.
At dusk, others went searching for the missing team and finally found the students on a hillside—they were trapped on a patch of high ground.
The high ground was surrounded by sand dunes, and hidden beneath them was more than one Desert Giant Worm.
Now they couldn’t get down, and rescuers couldn’t get in.
So, Teacher Luo had sent her to get Chairman Qin right away.
"Desert Giant Worms... I see."
A flicker of anticipation flashed in Qin Ziwen’s eyes.
’Come to think of it, I’ve never dealt with the target of a Level 2 Task before!’
’I wonder how many hits from the Giant Crossbows the Desert Giant Worm can take.’
"Alright. Lives are at stake. Wait for me downstairs; I’ll go get my things."
...
"Might as well get ready to die." A young man squatted on a rock, rubbing his numb right leg.
He stared in despair at the sand dunes below.
Half an hour ago, one of their teammates had decided to risk it.
He’d tried to run down the dune, but he had barely made it a dozen meters before a giant Desert Giant Worm lurking beneath the sand swallowed him whole.
"Have you guys written your wills?"
"Wrote them a long time ago. If they ever get a chance to go back to Earth, maybe my parents will get to see it."
An atmosphere of despair settled over the rocks.
The Desert Giant Worm beneath the dunes was very patient, like an experienced hunter.
"I see Old Luo."
They pointed into the distance. Over a hundred meters away, a clearing was crowded with people.
In this area, sand piled up into thick dunes along the western edge of the canyon. Beyond the dunes, the terrain was comparatively clear.
Even though they speculated the giant Desert Giant Worm would only move within the dunes, the distance of over one hundred meters was still an insurmountable chasm for them.
"Ugh, guys, I don’t think I can take it anymore. I’m so thirsty. Instead of waiting to die up here, let’s find an opening. We’ll all run for it and scatter. I refuse to believe that monster can eat all of us at once."
"What if there’s more than one down there?"
"Then I’ll go first and lure it out. It’ll buy you a chance to escape. Get out of here as soon as you can."
"Wait, look! What’s that?" On the rocks, someone pointed into the distance. Two Car-Mounted Crossbows were being pushed into position. Compared to ordinary weapons, the Car-Mounted Crossbows stood out starkly in the wilderness.
...
"So that’s a Car-Mounted Crossbow." Next to Luo Gang, some students who hadn’t seen them that afternoon cast curious glances.
We have the weapons, and we have the target.
"The biggest difficulty now is how to lure it out."
As Qin Ziwen spoke, he surveyed their surroundings. There were raised tracks all over the dunes.
Whereas a snake slithering across sand leaves a sunken trail, these were raised ridges, marks left on the surface by the worm moving underneath.
The Desert Giant Worm wasn’t surfacing, so there was no way to know where to shoot.
"I’ve arranged for some bait; it’ll be here soon," Luo Gang said. "But there’s something I’d like to ask for your help with first."
"What is it?"
"My students are probably hungry and thirsty. I was hoping you could have your pet help deliver some food and water to them."
"That’s not a problem."
Qin Ziwen readily agreed.
The Beaked Eagle grabbed a bag and delivered it from the sky to the people on the rocks.
Receiving the bag and seeing the water and food inside, the students on the rocks were moved to tears.
Another hour passed, and the bait Luo Gang mentioned finally arrived.
It was two fresh animal carcasses, still warm.
Their surfaces were gashed open, with large amounts of blood spilling out.
The carcasses were tossed onto the edge of the desert.
The blatant bait was laid out right in front of the Desert Giant Worm.
Given their anatomy, it was hard to say if they even had brains, but they would never miss out on such an obvious meal.
The Desert Giant Worms, native to this desert, were the undisputed masters of this stretch of the Gobi Desert.
Their lifestyle had them accustomed to moving through sand. While they might have to be wary of some predators in their youth, as adults, they had virtually no natural enemies in the desert.
Soon, a Desert Giant Worm slowly poked its head out from the edge of the dunes.
It had a chrysanthemum-shaped maw, a thick body over a meter in diameter, and its surface seemed to be covered by a dark brown carapace.
It slowly opened its maw, its head swelling to twice its normal size. It swallowed the prey’s head first, then slowly worked its way down, enveloping the entire carcass.
DONG!
DONG!
From the left and right, two sounds rang out like the beating of heavy drums.
The Desert Giant Worm’s head instantly exploded.
splattering yellowish-brown fluid everywhere.
At the same time, its body reeled as if it had been viciously struck by an immense force.
It twisted into an exaggerated arc, and a large splash of yellowish-brown fluid also erupted from its side.
"HRR—"
A ragged, broken hiss escaped the Desert Giant Worm’s massive maw.
Half of its face—if its chrysanthemum-shaped maw could even be called a head—was completely ripped open, torn apart by a thick Crossbow Arrow.
Meanwhile, its body had been pierced through by another Crossbow Arrow.
The heavily wounded Desert Giant Worm thrashed wildly, its massive body erupting from beneath the sand.
Its body, over fifteen meters long, struggled violently on the surface of the dunes. Every thrash kicked up huge clouds of sand.
"Reload! Draw the bows!" Cao Biansheng gripped the crank handles, slowly turning the winch. The Car-Mounted Crossbow’s string was drawn back, bit by agonizing bit.
The thick Crossbow Arrow was nocked once again.
"Faster, faster."
Cao Biansheng muttered to himself, sweat beading on his forehead, staring intently at the distant Desert Giant Worm.
Beside him, Qin Ziwu was also turning a winch, reloading the other Car-Mounted Crossbow with a Crossbow Arrow.
The biggest problem with the Car-Mounted Crossbow was the long reload time after firing—at least eight or nine seconds.
Finally, the two finished reloading their Crossbow Arrows. The Desert Giant Worm was still struggling in the same spot.
Clearly, the wounds from the two Crossbow Arrows were severe.
Holding their breath, they both took aim at the Desert Giant Worm.
"DONG!" "DONG!"
The two Giant Crossbows fired.
One of them grazed past the Desert Giant Worm’s writhing body.
Before anyone could feel a pang of regret, the other Crossbow Arrow struck home!
It struck the Desert Giant Worm’s remaining half-face dead center.
Two thick Crossbow Arrows were now embedded in its head, one on the left and one on the right.
The Desert Giant Worm’s tail shot straight up, rising five or six meters into the air.
It held rigid for seven or eight seconds before crashing to the ground.
It lay still, three huge Arrows pinning its body to the desert floor!
Until a multitude of light motes began to coalesce on the surface of its body.
Above its body, they formed into three floating Cards.
Only then was everyone certain it was dead.
"FUCKING AWESOME!!!"
"That was incredible! They actually killed it!" "You’re my god!"
The students erupted in thunderous cheers.
Cao Biansheng and Qin Ziwu were surrounded by the crowd and thrown high into the air.
Qin Ziwen also received a notification.
Hunting Celestial List Level 2 Task: Hunt an Adult Desert Giant Worm (1/3)!
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