Chapter 1003: A Sky Full of Fireworks (5)

Zhuang Ya frowned and pointed ahead.

"I heard a lot of muffled sounds, they seemed far away, but I've looked all around and haven't spotted any enemies at all."

"Muffled sounds, and very far?" Gu Qing turned her words over in her mind.

Gu Qing had also caught some movement, but it was very faint.

She looked up—only birds and tree branches, nothing in the sky either.

"Right." Zhuang Ya frowned and listened carefully: "It feels like something is blocking the sound, I can't hear it clearly, and I can't pinpoint the exact location."

Zhao Chi said: "It doesn't matter, everyone stay alert, once we break out of this stretch of woods we'll see what's ahead—full speed ahead!"

"Yes!"

Not long after, the group burst out of the woods.

Before them lay an open expanse, nothing but a carpet of green grass.

Where were the magical beasts?

Everyone was looking around.

Zhao Chi suddenly recalled the man-eating mage they had encountered before.

Gu Qing thought of it too and quickly warned: "My lord, do you remember that man-eating mage who could turn invisible last time? Could it be another invisible magical beast?"

Zhao Chi shook his head: "Not sure. That man-eating mage probably wasn't a low-level magical beast, by all rights it shouldn't have been assigned here. It might be some other invisible magical beast. Su Qin, have you found anything!"

Su Qin also shook her head: "I'm stumped too. Everyone form up in formation first, don't get ambushed."

Zhao Chi shook his head: "No need for that yet. Everyone be silent immediately! Don't move! Don't speak! Listen carefully to the sounds around you, watch the light and shadows nearby!"

The instant the order was given, everyone quickly halted where they stood.

The female elves opened their narrow eyes, pricked up their long ears, and earnestly took in every movement around them.

The female soldiers also concentrated fully, staring at anything suspicious nearby.

All was quiet around them, only the sound of wind.

Suddenly, Zhuang Ya turned to look at the woods.

There was nothing there.

She immediately dropped to the ground, pressing her ear flat against the earth, paying no heed to the dirt at all.

The instant she lay down, she sprang right back up: "Everyone scatter! It's right below us!"

The words had barely fallen when a black shadow burst out of the broken earth.

It charged straight at Zhuang Ya.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three sharp cracks rang out, and several deep claw marks appeared on Zhuang Ya's iron armor.

Before the others could react, that black shadow had burrowed back into the earth and vanished.

Only the brown dirt left on the green grass, and a hole in the ground.

"Rat-men!" Zhao Chi shouted.

Although its figure was fast, in that fleeting instant Zhao Chi still caught sight of its features.

"Everyone scatter, watch for attacks from underground!" Zhao Chi swiftly ordered.

Su Qin immediately pointed at the trees behind them and shouted: "Up into the trees, stay on guard!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh!

At the same instant the two gave their orders, mounds of earth bulged up across the ground.

One black shadow after another burst out.

Huge amounts of sandy soil were kicked up, scattering everywhere in a swirling cloud.

Worse than a sandstorm—all coarse, damp grains of sand and dirt, making it very hard for anyone to keep their eyes open.

They only felt that the smell of earth was very strong.

Mingled with a damp, foul stench.

The ground beneath Zhao Chi's feet also bulged and split open.

This scene was very familiar to him—he saw it every day.

What should come next was a fair arm breaking through the soil, then a lovely face and a perfect figure.

Instead, what appeared was a rat's face caked with dirt, covered in grey fur.

At the front were enormous rat teeth, on either side sharp rat claws.

Zhao Chi pressed his shield up to block, still issuing orders: "Counterattack head-on!"

Immediately after, the shield took a heavy blow, and several piercing scraping sounds rang out from it.

The next moment, the rat-man dropped to the ground and burrowed back into the earth.

"Where do you think you're running!"

Zhao Chi jabbed a finger out.

A flash lit the sky, and lightning came crashing down.

Crack!

"Squeak! Squeak squeak—!"

That rat-man howled as it burrowed deep into the earth.

It seemed it wasn't dead.

Lightning's damage wasn't reliable.

At the same time, cries of varying sizes came from the women.

The rat-people's screams were also plentiful.

Purple light scattered as Tang Ruan burned through most of her spiritual power in a single breath.

After completing their first strike, the large group of rat-people did not burrow back into the ground; instead they shrieked and charged at Tang Ruan, clawing wildly.

Tang Ruan was completely buried under the rat-people.

But she stood rooted in place the entire time, not taking a single step.

But the tip of her spear had already begun to glow.

"You little rats are so noisy — eat my spear! Thrust!"

Whoosh!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Tang Ruan's body shot forward, sending over a dozen rat-people flying.

Blood dripped from the spear tip.

Three rat-people were pierced through, strung in a row on the steel spear.

The rat-people were scattered by the charge, then once again shrieked and closed in.

Tang Ruan smiled: "Good, come again — Thrust!"

Another skewer of rat-people appeared.

Qi Yue did not use Moonblade Slash.

That skill was too easy to mis-hit allies in a crowd.

Her normal attacks were more than enough against these rat-people — one slash per rat, even several at once.

Rat-people burst from the ground; Qi Yue lightly tapped her toes and swiftly dodged.

"Whirling Dance!"

Her long Phoenix-Cry Blade swept out, carrying the sound of tearing air.

Puff puff!

Two rat-people were still mid-air when Qi Yue split them clean in two.