Chapter 421: What Are These?

The cave was utterly dark—you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Li An took out a luminous stone, illuminating the path ahead. In its faint light, they discovered a thin mist drifting through the cave, with strange symbols and patterns covering the ground.

"What are these?" Guo Yao asked curiously, her eyes fixed tightly on the symbols and patterns on the ground. The symbols and patterns looked extremely ancient, seeming to contain some mysterious power.

Li An crouched down, carefully observing the symbols and patterns. His brow furrowed tighter and tighter—he had never seen these symbols and patterns before, but he could sense they were closely connected to that mysterious power.

"I don't know either, but these symbols and patterns must be hiding some secret," Li An said, his fingers lightly touching the symbols and patterns as he tried to find some clue from them.

Just then, suddenly, a faint sound of footsteps came from deep within the cave. Li An and Guo Yao immediately grew alert, pressing close together, their eyes fixed intently on the direction from which the sound came.

"Who's there?" Li An shouted loudly, his voice echoing through the cave, sounding especially resonant.

No one answered, but the footsteps drew closer and closer. Li An's heartbeat quickened involuntarily—he could feel a danger approaching them.

"Careful!" Li An suddenly shouted, pulling Guo Yao to dodge to the side. The instant they had just dodged away, a black shadow burst out from deep within the cave, slamming directly into the spot where they had just been standing.

In the light of the luminous stone, they saw the true face of that black shadow. It was a humanoid creature, but its body seemed to be made of smoke—illusory and ethereal, impossible to make out clearly.

"What is this thing?" Guo Yao cried in terror, her body trembling ceaselessly. This mysterious creature filled her with boundless fear; she had never seen anything so bizarre.

Li An did not answer; a hint of gravity showed in his eyes. He knew this mysterious creature was one of the sources of that mysterious power, and its strength was not to be underestimated.

The mysterious creature let out a low, deep roar, then charged at them again. Its speed was extreme—in an instant it was right in front of Li An. Li An swiftly drew his weapon and blocked the mysterious creature's attack..

"Guo Yao, find a chance to hide!" Li An shouted to Guo Yao while fending off the mysterious creature's attacks. He knew this battle was extremely dangerous, and he could not let Guo Yao get hurt.

Guo Yao nodded, quickly turned around, and searched for a place to take cover. Just then, the mysterious creature suddenly unleashed a powerful force, blasting Li An away.

"Li An!" Guo Yao cried in terror, running toward him without a care for her own safety. Just as she was about to reach him, the mysterious creature suddenly changed direction and charged toward Guo Yao.

"Not good!" Li An's heart jolted. Ignoring the pain in his body, he scrambled up quickly and charged toward Guo Yao. He absolutely could not let Guo Yao get hurt, even at the cost of his own life.

Just as the mysterious creature was about to strike Guo Yao, Li An finally arrived in time. He used his own body to block the mysterious creature's attack, and a mouthful of fresh blood spurted from his lips.

"Li An, how are you?" Guo Yao threw her arms around Li An, tears streaming down without stop. Her eyes were filled with despair and agony—she could not accept that Li An had been hurt protecting her..