Chapter 21: Underground River
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In addition to Han Sen, Son of Heaven and his gang were also joined by a few thugs they paid to come along. The group left Steel Armor Shelter and marched into the mountains.
Although they expected nothing good to happen, they still wanted to take the chance for the sake of the generous reward.
In the past, if Han Sen had not been blocked by Qin Xuan and Son of Heaven, he might also have risked his life for the bounty.
Now Han Sen had no reason to take such risks, but it was clear that Son of Heaven and Luo Tianyang wanted to use him as a stepping stone, which made him want to kill them both.
Han Sen quietly followed them, guessing what they were about to do. When recruiting people, the gang had said they were hunting a mutant creature, and it was only because there were also many ordinary and primitive creatures that they needed more hands.
Han Sen of course couldn’t take this seriously. To kill a mutant creature, the regular gang was more than enough. The dozen people around Son of Heaven could all kill a mutant creature on their own, let alone Son of Heaven himself. The extra hands were completely unnecessary, according to their story.
Luo Tianyang and others casually killed the creatures they encountered along the way, and gave the meat to the hired people casually, which made everyone quite happy.
The group had been going for six or seven days, and the gang still had no intention of stopping. On the eighth day, they halted at a mountain pass.
Very far from the shelter, there was no human activity. They encountered many different creatures. Son of Heaven and his gang had killed a lot of primitive animals on the way and kept some of the flesh as food.
"It seems that we are almost there. What on earth are they up to?" Han Sen had not heard anything, but judging from the grave look on their faces, this couldn’t be a simple operation.
They rested for a day at the campsite and crossed the mountain pass the next morning. After hiking a dozen miles, they saw a gap in the canyon so deep and dark that no one could see the bottom.
Everyone lit a torch. The gang sent the hired people as the vanguard and followed them into the gap.
The hired ones all knew it was time to put their life on the line, so they were dawdling.
"Why are you going so slowly, bitches? Do you still want the rest of the money?" Luo Tianyang whipped a few people in the back and shouted.
The thugs could only speed up going down.
Han Sen was among them. It was not too difficult to walk down, and nothing happened along the way until they reached the bottom. The thugs were relieved and started to talk and laugh again.
It was very dark at the bottom of the gap, and the group had to rely on the torches. There was an underground river running through the huge space.
"Cross the river and go into the cave on the other side." Luo Tianyang pointed his whip to the other side.
"Luo, I cannot swim. This river is too wide," said a young man who had been recruited.
"Who told you to swim? We have inflatable boats. Just row across." Luo Tianyang opened the parcel on the back of his mount, and there were indeed inflatable boats in there. After they inflated the boats, each one could sit four to five people.
The group started to row the boats across. The speed of the water was not fast, and there was no risk of being rushed downstream. Two boats soon reached the center of the river.
All of a sudden, with a splash, a dark creature emerged from the water with half of its python-like body exposed. Its body was wider than a bucket and covered with shiny black fine scales. Its mouth was so large that it could fit a cow.
But it wasn’t a cow that was swallowed, rather someone on the boat. The giant body then put its full weight on the boat, which exploded with everyone on it falling into the water.
Everyone was shocked and trying to row the boats back. Those who hadn’t gone on the boat just dropped their boat and started to run back.
With a glint of cold steel, the two running the fastest were beheaded by Luo Tianyang and another gang member. Luo Tianyang pointed the knife with blood on it at the rest and cried ruthlessly, "There is but one monster, so whoever reaches the other side can live. And I’ll kill anyone who took the money and tries to run away. To live or to die, it is up to you."
Everyone was intimidated by Luo Tianyang’s vicious act and started to row towards the other side.
"Assholes, you just want to feed the monster with humans," Han Sen cursed in his heart. Those who fell into the water before were trying to swim to the other side but were suddenly pulled into the water by something.
It was so dark that no one saw what happened to them, but their fate could be imagined from the thick scent of blood.
The hired boys dared not move forward, and Luo Tianyang used his knife again to force them. They didn’t want to stay in the river, so they had to row hard.
Han Sen lit the surroundings with his torch while rowing the boat. In case the monster came out of the water, he had to summon sacred-blood beast soul armor at once to save his life.
The monster again collapsed a boat, and everyone on it was screaming. Then what could be heard was only the waves rolling.
"Row harder if you want to live!" Han Sen yelled at the two on the boat with him who were petrified as he was rowing his heart out.
"F*#king heartless bastards!" He swore quietly.
The two men were revived by Han Sen’s shout, and started to row desperately. From time to time there were screams and splashes. Countless men must have been buried in the snake belly.