Chapter 202: Successful Monster Extermination? The Monster Strikes Back, A Tragic Battle

The Monster seemed to be gathering strength for a counterattack, or perhaps it was trying to shake off the Heavy Crossbow Bolt that had pierced its body; in any case, it did not launch a counterattack while the members of the Tiaofa Dui pushed the second wagon over.

This seemed to be within the expectations of the middle-aged Warrior leading the team. He waved his hand to signal the two wagons on the bridge to launch their attack, while he himself led the remaining men across the bridge, approaching rapidly from the right bank of the river, where there was illumination from firelight.

"Bang—! Bang~!"

Jier provided the sound effects for the tension-powered Crossbows firing from the wagons, while the Shadow Bird crouched atop a large tree, its pitch-black eyes wide open, watching the Tiaofa Dui members quickly approach the Monster's location from the cliff face.

On the way, these Tiaofa Dui members took the Huoyou Guan they carried on their backs and held them in their hands, careful not to let them bump into anything around them. Once they approached the top of the cliff where the Monster was, the middle-aged Warrior leading the team checked the height and distance, deemed it suitable, and waved his hand to signal his companions on the distant wagons to cease their attack.

Someone had been observing the battle from the two tension-powered Heavy Crossbow wagons parked on the bridge. Seeing the middle-aged Warrior leading the team wave his arm, they immediately signaled their companions to stop the attack, but they still cocked the Heavy Crossbows first, without loading any Crossbow Bolts, and then waited for the situation ahead.

Just moments ago, the wagons had fired two more rounds of Crossbow Bolts, and a total of five steel-tipped Heavy Crossbow Bolts were firmly pinning this 【Rot-Mud Monster】 in its lair, unable to move.

At the top of the cliff above the Monster's lair, the middle-aged Warrior saw that no more Heavy Crossbow Bolts were being fired and immediately ordered his men to throw the Huoyou Guan.

This thing was not a dangerous item that would explode into flames upon impact; it was filled with flammable, toxic oil, and as long as the jar did not break, it was relatively safe. At the same time, its use required coordination with an open flame on-site; simply splashing the toxic oil onto the Monster had no effect other than enraging it.

Only then did Jier realize why the Tiaofa Dui had first lit piles of bonfires along their path of attack; it turned out that besides illuminating the battlefield, they also served as sources of open flame to ignite the oil jars.

Whoosh—

At the top of the cliff, a drab-looking pottery jar was thrown down by a Tiaofa Dui member. Presumably due to the darkness and poor lighting conditions at the scene, the oil jar failed to hit the pit at the bottom of the cliff where the Monster was located accurately, instead shattering against the cliff wall.

The pitch-black, viscous, greenish oil splashed out from the broken pottery jar, sticking to the damp rocks of the cliff wall, but fortunately, most of the oil flowed down along the cliff and fell into the pit where the Monster was located.

That seemed to irritate the Monster known as the 【Rot-Mud Monster】, and another gray-white energy wave, smaller in scale than the first, spread out. The Tiaofa Dui members on the cliff were momentarily dazed, and many, because they were too close to the Monster, sat down on the ground in discomfort. Only the middle-aged Warrior in command held high a Divine Power emblem Jier had never seen before, remaining unaffected by the Monster's power. He cursed at his subordinates, personally picked up a Huoyou Guan from a subordinate's hand, leaned over the edge of the cliff, and threw the Huoyou Guan down, hitting the pit where the Monster was located accurately.

The pit was partially submerged in water at the riverbank. After the jar fell, it shattered upon hitting the water, and the splashing oil covered half of the Monster's body.

The Monster was startled, and several pitch-black shadows stuck together on its body seemed to want to split apart and flee.

The next moment, the middle-aged Warrior on the cliff picked up a half-burned piece of firewood from a bonfire and accurately threw the still-burning wood down from the side of the cliff.

"Boom!"

This was Jier providing the sound effects again. He saw firelight flare up in the pit where the Monster was, and thick, pitch-black, greenish smoke rose in large quantities as the oil burned. For a moment, the firelight and thick smoke completely obscured the pit where the Monster was located.

The middle-aged Warrior on the cliff was quite pleased. He pointed at the Divine Power emblem he was holding and said a few words to his Tiaofa Dui subordinates who were languishing on the ground, then waved his hand to signal those who were still in decent condition to throw the Huoyou Guan they were carrying down to add more burning oil and completely burn the Monster to death.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

Three more Huoyou Guan were thrown down, and a massive fire completely engulfed the pit where the Monster was located. Along with the fire came thick, eerily colored smoke, which also seemed to be toxic. The Tiaofa Dui members on the cliff quickly helped each other avoid these toxic fumes and returned along the illuminated path on the right side of the riverbank.

Jier had originally thought that this expedition would end here, as the Monster, while seemingly formidable, was nothing more than that if it only possessed that one troublesome ability. Just like before, long-range Heavy Crossbow Bolts would wound and pin the Monster, and then the others would seize the opportunity to approach quickly and throw lethal Huoyou Guan to burn the Monster to death.

Although the fact that the expedition took place at night caused some trouble, judging by the Tiaofa Dui's practiced methods, it seemed this was not their first time dealing with such a Monster, or at least it was not the first time for the middle-aged Warrior leading the team.

Jier calculated in his heart that after these people returned, he could approach them to learn from their experience in hunting Monsters, especially from this experienced Warrior, to find out what other common, troublesome Monsters existed in this Ke'er Shan Jun, so he could be prepared in advance.

But trouble appeared.

Halfway through their return, while supporting each other, the Tiaofa Dui members began fighting with something in the sparse Shulin by the riverbank, and it seemed there were quite a few of those things.

The raptor-sized Shadow Bird tilted its head, flapped its wings, and flew over.

Upon landing on the tree canopy above the Tiaofa Dui members and looking down, it discovered that for some reason, a large number of Slime Monsters hiding in the humus of the Forest had all crawled out, as if under command, attacking the returning Tiaofa Dui members from all directions.

They crawled out from the damp cracks in the trunks of large trees, extended ten-centimeter-long sensory tentacles to perceive the surrounding scents and vibrations, and then suddenly spat a mouthful of acid at the location of the Tiaofa Dui members.

Although there was not much acid prepared by these Slime Monsters due to the sparse rainfall this year, and its corrosiveness was not strong, and the chaotic situation also made their aim poor, the random acid-spitting from dozens of Slime Monsters that had crawled out from who knows where still caused many of the physically unwell Tiaofa Dui members to suffer some corrosive damage from the acid.

A Slime Monster that got too close to a Tiaofa Dui member was stepped on and crushed by the short-tempered member, but this drew a curse from the middle-aged Warrior in command, because when that reckless guy pulled his right foot out of the crushed Slime Monster's body, his right shoe had already been corroded with a hole, and the corrosive acid flowed into the opening of the shoe, severely punishing the reckless guy.

This member immediately began to cry out in pain while clutching his right foot; even Jier, who was far away in the camp, couldn't help but click his tongue, because just looking at the scene made one feel the pain.

More Slime Monsters surrounded them from all angles. They crawled out from under the fallen leaves of the Shulin, lifted Stone to crawl out from under them, and there were even guys falling from tree branches; falling on people was surprisingly effective, but if they accidentally fell onto a hard spot on the ground, they would unluckily shatter, and the various semi-liquid Viscera inside their bodies would be scattered all over the ground.

The Shadow Bird saw the middle-aged Warrior leading the team with a very annoyed expression, draw his Changdao, and fiercely slash down at an approaching Slime Monster, cutting the slowly crawling Slime Monster in two.

But the Shadow Bird controlled by Jier shook its head; such a seemingly satisfying slash often could not accurately and completely kill a Slime Monster.

If a Slime Monster slashed in two was in its best state, it could even split into two independent individuals because of this. And even for a Slime Monster in a poorer state, after being slashed in two by a sharp blade, if one just drew the blade to attack the next one, the previous Slime Monster would even slowly bring its two halves together and recombine into its original form.

The correct approach was to, after slashing the Slime Monster open, take advantage of the momentum to flick one of the two sides of the Slime Monster's body away, keeping them a certain distance apart, so the Slime Monster would have no chance to repair its body.

Actually, it was best not to use Heavy Cleave techniques to hit them; with the Slime Monster's soft body, just slashing them a few more times to break the key Viscera inside their bodies would kill the Slime Monster.

Although that was said, these Slime Monsters only brought some trouble to the dozen or so Tiaofa Dui members. If it were daytime and the Tiaofa Dui members were in better condition, simple things like Slime Monsters would not cause them any trouble.

But things always take a sharp turn for the worse in unexpected places.

Jier's Shadow Bird could ignore the dark environment and see a field of vision that ordinary people could not, so it saw the 'master' driving the Slime Monsters behind the Tiaofa Dui members ahead of them—that 【Rot-Mud Monster】!

That guy's volume was more than half smaller than before in the pit under the cliff; previously it looked like several pitch-black rotting shadows stuck together, but now there were only two rotting shadows stuck together randomly.

And even so, two Heavy Crossbow Bolts were still stuck through the Monster's peculiar body, and toxic fumes from the burning Huoyou were drifting from its body.

It was unknown how this thing had broken out from under the cliff, or how it had rushed out of the lethal burning Huoyou and climbed onto the riverbank?

But clearly, this Monster was about to launch its revenge.

The Shadow Bird, controlled by Jier, flew down from the tree, first flying in front of the middle-aged Warrior who was dealing with the Slime Monsters and cursing his subordinates, then attracting this person's gaze to fly toward the direction the 【Rot-Mud Monster】 was approaching, trying to get him to discover this crawling Monster approaching under the cover of the bushes on the riverbank in advance.

It was unknown if Jier's trick worked, but the next moment, gray energy ripples spread out from the 【Rot-Mud Monster】. The power of this thing was much weaker than when it was first released against Jier and the others, but because the distance was too close this time, the Shadow Bird's vision wavered, and it crashed from the air to the ground, taking a long time to recover under Jier's increased supply of shadow Divine Power.

When Jier controlled the Shadow Bird to look back again, he discovered that the battle on the riverbank had already turned into a mess.

The 【Rot-Mud Monster】 had eaten two people, its body swelled up, and it was chasing the remaining fleeing people. Two unlucky guys had half of their bodies swallowed into the Monster, with the other half of their bodies still hanging on the Monster.

One guy had his upper body swallowed into the Monster's body, leaving only his lower body and two legs kicking wildly, but as time passed quickly, the person's struggle gradually weakened.

And the other guy, it was unknown whether he was lucky or unlucky; his lower body and two legs were grabbed by the Monster and swallowed into its body, so his upper body was still hanging outside the Monster, his face full of terror, his mouth screaming something, seemingly calling for his companions to save him.

But to be honest, anyone who saw him like that and heard his shrill cries for help would be scared to death. This person was still holding a Cleaver, but no matter how he swung the weapon in his hand and slashed at the Monster's body, it was of no use, only splashing bits of disgusting rotting black mud from the Monster's body, and he could only despair as he watched himself being sucked into the Monster's body bit by bit, feeling the terrifying sensation of his body being squeezed and swallowed by the Monster.

The surrounding Slime Monsters also gathered in greater numbers, constantly spitting corrosive acid at the Tiaofa Dui members, causing the Tiaofa Dui members who were frantically dealing with the 【Rot-Mud Monster】 to be hit by the acid if they were not careful, causing excruciating corrosive pain.

Firelight suddenly flared up; it was the middle-aged Warrior in command who snatched a Huoyou Guan from the back of a panicked subordinate, threw it with his right hand toward the location of the most dangerous 【Rot-Mud Monster】 at that moment, and with his left hand, not fearing burns, forcibly grabbed a piece of burning firewood from the illuminating bonfire and threw it together toward the location of the Huoyou Guan.

This suddenly ignited toxic flame scared off the 【Rot-Mud Monster】. Even though there were still an unknown number of Slime Monsters obstructing them, it allowed the middle-aged Warrior to gather the scattered Tiaofa Dui, and regardless of everyone being mentally dazed, physically unwell, and supporting each other, they quickly retreated from the riverbank Shulin in a manner close to a panicked escape, scrambling and running toward the bridge.

The middle-aged Warrior seemed to shout something, and the anxious and nervous Tiaofa Dui members on the bridge immediately adjusted the direction of the tension-powered Crossbows, loaded Heavy Crossbow Bolts into the pre-cocked Crossbows, and fired two powerful Crossbow Bolts directly at the place where the fire had started in the riverbank Shulin.

They then continued to re-cock the Crossbows to cover their companions' retreat and deter the 【Rot-Mud Monster】 in the Shulin.

But when they saw at least five of their companions' limbs hanging on the Monster by the light of the bonfires on the riverbank, they were still terrified; a member immediately vomited on the tension-powered Crossbow, and his hands suddenly lost all strength.

Yes, the three Tiaofa Dui members who had been pinned down by the Slime Monsters or had their legs corroded in the riverbank Shulin, because they could not escape in time, were also swallowed into the Monster's body. At this moment, they were wailing on the Monster's foul-smelling, disgusting body, but could only let themselves die on the Monster bit by bit.

The Shadow Bird controlled by Jier saw all of this and felt anxious, but he could only control one Shadow Bird at this moment and could do nothing at all. Seeing the Slime Monster that had swallowed several members of the Tiaofa Dui seemingly blocked by the torsion crossbows at the edge of the Shulin by the riverbank, unable to advance for the time being, he tilted his head and decided to investigate how the Monster had escaped and turned the situation around.

Thus, the Shadow Bird flew back to the place where the Tiaofa Dui members had just fought the slime monster, starting from the position where the Slime Monster appeared, and followed the clear trail left by the heavy, rotting mud on the ground, flying back along the route the creature had taken.

Only then did Jier discover that the Monster had not climbed up from the visible position watched by the torsion crossbows on the bridge, nor was there any secret passage in the pit under the cliff where the Monster had been; it had simply climbed up from a steep riverbank a bit further downstream, following a route that was barely climbable, hugging the steep riverbank.

This riverbank had a steep angle of nearly seventy or eighty degrees; if the Monster were still its original size and weight, it obviously would not have been able to climb up from this place. But as it happened, or rather, the Tiaofa Dui members were unlucky; in order to escape the desperate situation of being pinned by Heavy Crossbow Bolts and scorched by fire oil in the pit, it had—whether actively or passively—abandoned most of its body. After escaping the fate of being burned to death, it was washed over a hundred meters downstream by the turbulent river water before it grabbed onto the steep hillside of the riverbank and climbed up from a place that would have been impossible to climb before.

After figuring out how the Monster had escaped, Jier controlled the Shadow Bird to fly back toward the bridge. In the air, the Shadow Bird saw that the battle situation had changed.

That Slime Monster had actually utilized the few wooden huts of the bridge keepers on the right side of the bridge to crawl out from the Shulin on the riverbank and advance all the way to a position right next to the bridge.

"Oh no!"

This was the first thing Jier thought of, because he had already anticipated what was about to happen.

Sure enough, just as Jier had expected, after using the bridge keepers' wooden huts near the bridge to block the shooting of the torsion Heavy Crossbows on the bridge, because the distance between the two sides in the battle was no more than thirty meters, the Monster launched its ability once again after swallowing a few people.

At extremely close range, gray-white energy ripples spread out from behind the bridge keepers' wooden huts; the grass withered and became brittle as if its life force had been scattered, turning directly into fragments, while the surrounding large trees shed their leaves one after another, their branches drying out slightly, though they were much stronger than some shrubs and grass; it seemed the large trees were not very afraid of this move by the Monster.

As for the Tiaofa Dui members, they were miserable.

?? Sorry everyone, the updates have been a bit sluggish these past two days, haha. Sorry, sorry.