Meanwhile, after the vines and branches were carried back, Qin Ziwu tested their fire resistance.
Watching the vine’s surface stubbornly refuse to char under the scorching flames, Qin Ziwu sighed. "This stuff is way too fire-resistant. If Meng Huo’s rattan armor had been this tough back in the day, maybe he would have been the one capturing Zhuge Liang seven times."
Cao Biansheng chuckled. "Fire resistance alone isn’t enough. How flexible is it? If it’s pliable enough, do you think we could make it into rattan armor?"
"Making armor is secondary, really," Yuan Ming said. "We could weave them into large nets. We could trap our prey and then set the nets on fire. What do you think of that idea?"
"That idea’s probably a no-go. These vines aren’t flexible enough," Qin Ziwu said, setting down a vine he had just sliced in two with his knife.
"Then what good are they? Can’t use them for firewood, can’t weave them into armor," Cao Biansheng said, his interest fading.
"There’s no such thing as a useless material, only the wrong way to use it. These vines won’t work as firewood, but these branches will." Qin Ziwu held up a gray branch, which ignited as soon as it touched the flame.
It wasn’t as good as pinewood, but it was serviceable—definitely a combustible plant.
Much better than the vines.
Qin Ziwu said, "I saw quite a few of these shrubs in that underground cave. If we could harvest them all, it would be a sizable haul."
"As long as we can get something useful out of it, this Underground Forest is still valuable."
...
"You have to show your value so we can justify keeping you," Qin Ziwen said, standing before the giant aphid rhinoceros beetle and laying a heavy guilt trip on it. "Think about it. We give you so much food, and you don’t even have to risk your life hunting. Hunting is dangerous! How can you just be a freeloader?"
The giant aphid rhinoceros beetle lay on the ground, looking a little bewildered.
’This... isn’t right?’
’But this is how it’s always been.’
"You need to change your way of thinking. You used to be a carefree bug, but things are different now..." Qin Ziwen droned on, activating his Resonance while sitting on the giant beetle’s back.
Jia Liangcai walked up to the beetle’s side. "Leader," he said, "there’s trouble over at Cyan Stone Castle."
"Trouble again?" Qin Ziwen froze, raising an eyebrow.
He glanced at the giant beetle beneath him. "We’ll continue this later."
With that, he jumped down.
Watching Qin Ziwen’s retreating back, the giant aphid rhinoceros beetle let out a human-like sigh of relief.
As they walked, Jia Liangcai explained what had happened.
He shook his head slightly. "Our new neighbors really can’t catch a break. How long has it been, and they’re already in trouble again?"
"I heard it’s the underground river to the south. A swarm of leech-like creatures has appeared."
"An underground river..." Qin Ziwen mused. "Positionally, their ’south’ should be the same as our ’south,’ right?"
"Most likely. They’re so close, the two bodies of water are probably connected."
"Are there any leeches on our side?"
"No, our side is clean. The patrols have been keeping a close eye on the south, and they haven’t spotted a thing," Jia Liangcai said, shaking his head.
’That doesn’t make sense. We’re so close—they have them, but we don’t. Could something be attracting them over there?’
Jia Liangcai said, "They might not be attracted to something. It’s also possible something is controlling them."
"Let’s go take a look," Qin Ziwen said, turning.
Jia Liangcai bowed. "My lord, their fate isn’t necessarily tied to ours."
"I know. I just want to assess the situation first," Qin Ziwen said, shaking his head to signal that Jia Liangcai shouldn’t read too much into it.
After mustering his men, Qin Ziwen led a team toward Cyan Stone Castle.
Fifteen minutes later, when he arrived at the castle gate,
The sky ahead blazed with fire. A seething black mass swarmed at the base of the fortress wall—a vast shadow of creatures, constantly squirming as they crawled up toward the battlements.
The air was a chaotic jumble of battle cries and desperate screams.
"They’ve been breached so quickly," Du Yu said grimly. "The walls of Cyan Stone Castle are four meters high, complete with crenellations and archery platforms. With enough food, they could hold out against an army several times their number."
Yet under the assault of these monsters, the castle had fallen in no time.
"Sir!" the short young man at Du Yu’s side roared, about to charge into the castle.
Du Yu clapped a hand on his shoulder and yanked him back.
Bai Sanshi’s feet left the ground as he was dragged back to his spot.
"Let me go!"
Du Yu said coldly, "With your skills, if you go in there, you’ll be devoured by those monsters before you can even blink. There won’t be anything left."
Du Yu then looked to the front of the column, waiting for his lord to give the command.
"Attack from the perimeter," Qin Ziwen ordered. "Probe for their weaknesses first."
THWANG! THWANG!
The Car-Mounted Crossbows that had been wheeled into position were fired.
The heavy Crossbow Arrows became black blurs, crossing a hundred meters in an instant.
A giant leech was ripped apart by a Crossbow Arrow!
Its body was torn in half, and the arrow continued on to pierce another leech directly behind it.
For any ordinary animal, such a devastating blow would have been instantly fatal.
But the torn leech was still writhing.
"These leeches have high resistance to physical attacks, but they seem to be afraid of fire," Qin Ziwu said, pointing to a section of the fortress wall. Flames were burning there, and the area around the fire was completely clear of creatures.
"Interesting. Are all underground creatures afraid of fire?" Qin Ziwu rubbed his chin. He recalled that the black-armored beetles had also been afraid of fire. ’It seems like everything that lives down here is weak to it.’
Qin Ziwen suddenly turned his head, looking in the direction from which the leeches had come.
It was pitch-black in the distance, at least three or four hundred meters from Cyan Stone Castle.
He stared for a moment, a flicker of doubt crossing his face, then turned back.
Only after his gaze shifted away did a faint voice echo from deep within the cavern, from a place shrouded in darkness. "His senses are sharp."
"Hmph. You always get the occasional human with strange powers."
"So what? These giant leeches are the perfect counter to humans," the voice’s owner said smugly.
"How much longer do you think these humans can hold out?"
"A quarter of an earth-hour at most. This batch isn’t lasting as long as the last one. They’re too weak."
"What do you mean, ’the last one’?"
"The ones from before..." The voice’s owner trailed off, hesitating. The voice that had just questioned it was unfamiliar, and it seemed to have come from... behind them.
"I have a few more questions for you, if you would be so kind as to answer them." The voice came from directly behind them. A moment later, the two figures standing side-by-side in the dark felt something tighten around their waists and were yanked into the air. Twisting around, they saw a colossal, god-like giant standing where they had just been.
A faint smile touched Mogu’s cold face. "Interesting. From the sound of it, you’re the ones controlling these giant leeches. Now, would you care to tell me about this ’last one’?"
...
...