Chapter 431: The Malevolence Crushes the Foxfire Lantern

A tremendous commotion.

It also filled others with terror and unease.

The blood-red hellish scene struck every mind, searing itself into memory, never to be forgotten.

Screeches! Roars! Howls! A cacophony of beastly cries, insect buzzes, and human-like sounds emerged from the surrounding caves.

Some were excited, some relieved, others terrified.

This sudden transformation affected not only Wu Xian and the others, but all the malevolent entities.

Inside the sealed caves, there must have been malevolent entities that tried to escape during the closing process—but the only escape route was blocked by the glow of the palace lanterns.

They could not flee their own caves, forced to watch as their shrinking chambers slowly crushed them, bones snapping, flesh rupturing, blood squeezed out like oil.

Wu Xian licked his dry lips, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"This is bad!"

"I shouldn't have been daydreaming before sleep!"

The mass death of malevolent entities in the caves seemed like good news for Wu Xian and the others, but a moment's deeper thought revealed their chances of surviving inside the caves had grown far worse.

First, their available space had shrunk by a quarter.

This meant they would never again access the resources from the vanished caves.

Moreover, the malevolent entities in other caves would react—these weren't all mindless creatures; those with even slight intelligence could instantly see that when caves collapsed, the Grand Cavern was the critical escape node.

But this escape node was occupied by humans, who lit the palace lanterns to block their escape.

So what would these malevolent entities do to protect themselves?

Kill.

If they killed all the humans in the Grand Cavern, the lanterns would no longer be lit, and this vital hub would no longer be blocked! Many malevolent entities may have once stayed confined to their own territories, but now they would actively hunt humans to secure safety! Furthermore,

Were all the malevolent entities in the sealed caves truly dead?

Suppose a powerful malevolent entity managed to escape the sealed cave and infiltrate another—then the number of malevolent entities in other caves would increase, and the danger of exploring them would rise too! Wu Xian turned to look at the mad woman.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

The mad woman hugged her arms, covering her mouth, her body trembling slightly—the scene made her feel sick.

"I've never seen it. In my memory, the caves have always looked like this."

"How long have they always looked like this?"

The mad woman thought: "At least several dozen days. Beyond that, I can't remember clearly."

Several dozen days! Wu Xian's pupils dilated violently.

How long had she been inside these caves?

For her question, Wu Xian had only speculated before—but now he had concrete proof: no ordinary person could survive this long inside the caves!

Thus, only two possibilities remained for the mad woman's identity.

First, she was an NPC like a Rubik's Cube slave in the underground labyrinth.

Second, the underground labyrinth kept her alive for a purpose. Wu Xian's eyes glinted with murderous intent.

Either possibility meant killing the mad woman here could prevent something even more dangerous from emerging.

But…

Could killing the mad woman itself be the very trigger for greater danger? Wu Xian's gaze grew increasingly perilous; his hand rested on the saw-blade's hilt.

Shing! Just as Wu Xian hesitated,

The palace lantern suddenly and without warning went out! Suffocating darkness once again engulfed the Grand Cavern; the oppressive mental assault struck faster than ever, fear sprouting like weeds in every heart.

In the underground labyrinth,

The palace lantern had always meant absolute safety.

They had never faced danger beneath its light; only malevolent entities arriving from outside feared its glow.

But now,

This sense of security had been shattered. "Is it time?"

"Impossible—I just checked the time; there are still thirty minutes until the lanterns go out…"

"No, now is not the time to ponder why!"

Foxfire Lantern Spell!

Wu Xian flung a playing card; half of it burst into flame, and a pale blue lantern materialized midair, floating skillfully above and to his side.

Behind the lantern, a cute flame-tipped fox tail swayed.

The lantern's gentle glow illuminated the surroundings.

Then they saw—dozens of eyes had suddenly appeared all around! From every cave, malevolent entities had emerged, their faces cold and grim, standing at the cave mouths, staring fixedly at the group, eyes brimming with icy killing intent! Xiong Gang immediately revealed his true form and roared at the malevolent entities.

Fat Tiger joined with a mighty roar.

The bear's and tiger's roars startled the creatures, making them hesitate whether to approach.

But Wu Xian had no time to care for the surrounding malevolent entities.

For a terrifying mouth had already opened directly toward his head!

Wu Xian broke into a cold sweat.

The owner of the mouth was a humanoid creature.

Its body was smooth, slimy, lacking any gender traits; its skin resembled that of a white jade snail, translucent, revealing the bones within.

Most astonishing was its head.

It could not be called a head—it was a monstrous mouth large enough to swallow a whole human head; atop the mouth grew a twenty-centimeter-long antenna.

At the tip of the antenna was an eye! Let this monster be called "Fear-Snail Malevolence."

The Fear-Snail Malevolence lunged at Wu Xian; its giant mouth contained spiral fangs that pulsed and retracted—but its speed was slow.

Wu Xian easily dodged, swinging his saw-blade toward the creature's chest.

Ssshh! The blade cut through slime, spraying a large amount of colorless fluid—but Wu Xian frowned.

"So slippery!"

Due to the excessive slime on its surface, the strike only barely pierced its skin—but fortunately, its speed was too slow; Wu Xian easily circled it, landing several more cuts.

Yet Wu Xian felt something was wrong.

If this Fear-Snail Malevolence was truly this slow, how had it reached him and launched its attack so quickly after the darkness fell?

Wu Xian scanned it carefully, gathering clues—then he noticed the antenna on its head was slowly shifting, its movement pattern seeming to lock onto something.

"Fire!"

Wu Xian's blood ran cold—the Fear-Snail Malevolence's eye was locking onto the Foxfire Lantern! Puff! As Wu Xian realized this, the creature's eye had already fixed on the lantern.

Puff! A massive snail shell suddenly materialized from above, crashing down and trapping the Foxfire Lantern beneath it!

(End of Chapter)