ryethenovel Chapter 981 The Rock Rhinoceros Being Eaten
Chapter 981 The Rock Rhinoceros Being Eaten
That sense of resonance was remarkably similar, on a certain subtle frequency, to the vibrations he sensed in the heart of the sleeping behemoth at the foot of Black Mountain.
"This is..." Qingya's voice was dry, "What is this thing?"
Ying did not answer. She walked to the edge of the shimmering crystal, squatted down, and reached out to touch the small crystal clusters embedded in the rock, but Kuishan grabbed her wrist.
"Don't touch it." Kuishan's voice was low, carrying an unusual wariness. "The crystals in this area might be strange. The beasts that went berserk in the training grounds before were affected by the aura emitted by these crystals. You don't have source energy protecting you, and direct contact might contaminate you."
Ying withdrew her hand, but did not back down. She took out the harmonic sensing stone that Mo Yuan had given her from her bosom and placed it near the crystal. As soon as the sensing stone approached the fluorescent blue crystal cluster, its surface immediately burst forth with a dazzling light, as if it had been ignited.
Ying's expression changed completely: "The harmonic concentration has reached the edge of the warning line. We haven't even entered the mountains yet, and it's already this high."
"This means that the scope of the Bone Tower's mutation is larger than Lord Mo Yuan estimated." Yun Yin spoke slowly, his voice finally carrying a hint of solemnity. "Moreover, judging from the distribution of this crystal, it may not have been created after the Bone Tower's mutation. It may have always been here, but it remained dormant because it hadn't received enough stimulation before."
His words were like a stone, striking everyone's heart.
If Yunyin's assessment is correct, it means that the area they are about to enter may be more dangerous than expected.
Kuishan remained silent for a long time, then released his grip on Ying's wrist and said in a deep voice, "Continue forward. But maintain the highest level of alert. Disarm all weapons and be ready for battle at any time."
The six of them bypassed the shimmering cluster of crystals and continued forward.
This time, everyone's steps were heavier than before.
Half an hour later, they finally stepped into the outer edge of the Canggu Mountain Range.
A dark mountain range, like the spine of an ancient behemoth lying diagonally on the earth, stretches from the horizon to both sides, with no end in sight. There is no vegetation on the mountain, only exposed black rock layers and scattered broken fossil bones. These fossil bones have been weathered and eroded for countless millennia, some of them having merged with the rock layers, leaving only blurred outlines.
But what's most unsettling isn't the scale of the skeletal fossils, but the battle marks scattered across the ground. There are knife and axe cuts, deep craters blasted open by powerful forces, and dried, blackened bloodstains. These marks vary in age; some are weathered beyond recognition, while others retain distinct traces of primal energy—these were made recently.
"Was there... a battle here?" Qingya's voice was noticeably lowered, as if afraid of alerting something.
"It wasn't just one battle." Shadow crouched beside a carving, measuring its depth and width with his fingers. "Each carving here represents a different fighting style and different weapons. It's at least four or five different battles, ranging from several months ago to just a few days ago."
She paused, looked up into the depths of the mountains, and said in a voice so low it was almost inaudible: "And those who participated in the war... are at least at the level of human deacons."
Kuishan's knuckles were white as he gripped the greatsword. After a moment of silence, he forced out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Keep moving. Maintain formation, don't break apart."
The six of them moved forward again, their footsteps making a crisp yet dull sound as they stepped on the black rock.
The deeper one goes, the thinner the surrounding layer of ashes becomes, replaced by exposed black rock and clusters of small, fluorescent blue crystals embedded within it. These crystal clusters are several times more numerous and denser than those on the outer edge of the mountain, resembling some kind of parasitic fungus that spreads and grows along the cracks and fissures in the rock.
The vibration that resonated with Lin Qiye became increasingly clear. He could feel that the vibration did not reach his ears through the air, but rather penetrated through layers of rock and ashes, directly entering his bones and internal organs, forming a subtle resonance with his heartbeat.
The others clearly didn't feel the resonance, but their condition was also noticeably affected. Qingya's breathing had become heavy, and sweat streamed down his face. Kuishan's steps remained steady, but his gaze was deeper than before, and his grip on his greatsword tightened and loosened repeatedly. Yunyin squinted, as if trying to discern some extremely minute impurity in the air's source energy. Ying's expression remained relatively calm, but her hand remained on the hilt of the short dagger at her waist, ready to be drawn at any moment.
This feeling wasn't like being suppressed by anything tangible; it was more like something unseen gently plucking a string in the deepest part of everyone's heart, putting everyone's spirit in a state of extreme sensitivity.
The only exception is Lin Qiye.
He remained relatively calm.
He could feel the resonance, and even sense it deepening with each step he took. But he felt no fear; instead, he felt the resonance was calming his spirit, like an ancient, deep call, trying to establish some kind of connection with him.
He kept this feeling to himself and didn't tell anyone.
The six continued deeper into a winding canyon. The canyon walls grew increasingly steep, cutting the greyish-white light from the sky into a narrow slit. More and more fluorescent blue crystal clusters appeared on the ground.
Just then, a huge dark shadow blocked their path in an open area in front of the canyon.
It was the silhouette of a massive creature, crouching on the ground, its entire body covered in a layer of dark gray bony carapace. Its head hung low, as if it were gnawing on something on the ground. Its thick, long tail, covered with layers of bone spikes, dragged slowly, leaving a shallow groove in the ground.
It is a rock rhinoceros.
But it's much bigger than the one in the breeding farm.
Adult wild rock rhinoceroses are as large as a gladiatorial arena. The one blocking their way was like a small mountain, its entire body covered with thick carapace, which was covered with dents and cracks left by attacks. There was a fresh crack on the carapace of its left forelimb, stained with blood.
It didn't look up and continued to gnaw on the things on the ground.
Then, Kuishan's expression completely changed.
The armored rhinoceros wasn't devouring food, but rather a mangled corpse. Judging from the tattered clothing and scattered weapon remnants, the body must have been a gladiator—or at least had been.
The rock rhinoceros had clearly spotted them, but it did not attack immediately.
It slowly raised its head, revealing fangs stained with blood and bits of flesh, its dark red eyes fixed on the six people, and a low, dangerous gurgling sound came from its throat.
The sound was like the final warning issued by a wild beast after being disturbed while feeding.