Tunnel Monster
The old railroad tracks, abandoned for fifteen years, had long since vanished beneath a tangle of weeds — unlikely ever to see daylight again...
How rarely they received visitors today — not a train, but a party of field expedition students from a prestigious academy.
Out in the open fields, the rails were navigable enough. As long as no Demon-Beasts were using them as a bed, the path stayed clear. But once the tracks entered the mountains and threaded through tunnels choked with dense overgrowth, the whole atmosphere became something else entirely.
"I checked the map. This tunnel is two kilometers long. Based on the frequency of Demon-Beasts we've encountered so far, something has very likely taken up residence inside. I recommend we go over the mountain rather than deal with unknown creatures of unknown numbers in a pitch-black cave." Song Xia addressed the group behind her.
"I think you're being overly cautious," Lu Zhenghe shot back. "Whatever's in there, we just push through. This tunnel is two kilometers — do you know how long it would take to cross an entire mountain? We'd be wasting forever."
"No need to be that conservative. Let's just go straight through." Zheng Bingxiao felt that climbing the mountain would waste too much time — and there was no telling whether the mountain itself harbored even stronger Demon-Beasts.
"Fine. We go through." Song Xia gave a brief nod.
"My Rock Golem will take the lead — it can absorb a hit if something happens." Even as Zheng Bingxiao spoke, she drew a Star Trail that shimmered like moonlight across the air, and the Rock Golem materialized before the group.
Summoning complete, Lu Zhenghe eyed the lumbering stone creature and chuckled. "Hasn't even reached the Ascension Phase. You're pretty frugal with resources... but honestly, something this stubborn and hard-headed is exactly what you want at the front."
Zheng Bingxiao scratched the back of her head awkwardly, not bothering to argue.
The Rock Golem stood three meters tall, its body encased in dense, hardened stone. Slow as it was, inside an overgrown, abandoned tunnel it served as both shield and bulldozer — thorns toppled and vines snapped wherever it passed. Remarkably useful.
"Whoever brings up the rear needs to be solid too — can't be a Summoned Beast. In a crisis, an animal can't make a clear-headed decision fast enough," Lu Zhenghe continued.
"I'll take the rear," Song Xia said.
"That kind of danger should fall to us men." Xu Dalong was quick to play the gallant, volunteering immediately to guard the back.
Song Xia said nothing. Xu Dalong's primary element was Earth — he could genuinely provide a sturdy back-line defense.
Leading the vanguard were Liao Mingxuan and Shen Mingxiao, the two Wind Element users who could react fastest in an emergency. Behind them came Zhao Manyan and Song Xia, both wielding the Light Radiance skill — they kept glowing orbs drifting above their heads, illuminating the path ahead...
The cave had clearly been sealed from sunlight for a long time. Every ten meters or so, Zhao Manyan and Song Xia had to cast another Light Radiance spell — partly for illumination, partly to drive back the stale air that had settled in the tunnel.
The air was rank, to put it simply. Whatever was in it couldn't be good for you — the reek of damp and toxic fungi, the stench of Demon-Beast droppings, years of accumulated Miasma with nowhere to go...
"How's it looking up front?"
"Nothing yet. Just strange — there are white fragments scattered on the ground. Looks like bits of stone."
"Probably leftover from the original construction. Keep moving."
......
"Jiao, stay close to me. I can protect you if anything happens." Mo Fan sidled up next to Mu Nujiao, adopting the air of a stalwart man ready to spread his wings over a delicate beauty.
Mu Nujiao wore a form-fitting long shirt that did her figure every justice. In the narrow confines of the tunnel, her subtle fragrance became almost dangerously alluring — even the warmth of her breath seemed to carry some inexplicable, intoxicating pull.
Mu Nujiao gave Mo Fan a flat, unamused look. "Shouldn't you be protecting your *main wife*?"
"Uh..." Mo Fan laughed dryly. *Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut back then? Why did I say that right in front of her?*
Seeing his chagrin, Mu Nujiao couldn't help asking, "How do you even know her?"
"We were neighbors," Mo Fan answered. "Growing up."
Her family's estate had been something like a small castle — grounds, private roads, rows of villas. His own home had been a low, modest house at the foot of the hill. But none of that had changed the fact that they were neighbors.
"She's from Bo City too... no wonder she acted the way she did." Mu Nujiao recalled Mu Ningxue's ice-cold stare at Luo Song and gave a slow, understanding nod.
"Quite the romance you two have going, right here and now," Liao Mingxuan cut in, his tone the practiced drawl of someone who'd seen it all before. "Just make sure you know how you died when the time comes. In my experience, plenty of Intermediate-Level Mages have overestimated themselves and gotten blindsided by Servant-class creatures — or simply dropped dead from poison. Speaking as an Intermediate Hunter: keep your guard up, every second."
"Oh, right — an Intermediate Hunter." Mo Fan grinned. "Very impressive."
Liao Mingxuan reached up and stroked the little silver mouse nestled in his breast pocket, a trace of smug satisfaction spreading across his face. His eyes drifted — perhaps intentionally, perhaps not — toward Mu Nujiao, hoping to catch her reaction.
Mo Fan stifled a laugh. *I'm an Advanced Hunter myself and I haven't said a word. What exactly does he have to brag about?* — especially since his own partner already held the title of Hunter Master.
Ever since that eleven-or-twelve-year-old girl had earned the rank of Hunter Master, Mo Fan had never once dared mention his own Advanced Hunter status to anyone. Way too devastating to the ego.
"Mo Fan," Mu Nujiao said, ignoring the men's petty posturing, "do you feel like something is watching us?"
"Miss Mu, rest assured — with my years of experience hunting Demon-Beasts, there is nothing here at the moment." Liao Mingxuan offered a warm smile.
He'd finally gotten Mu Nujiao to talk to him. Quite satisfying, really...
***Skree skree skree — skree skree skree —*** Without warning, the silver mouse in Liao Mingxuan's breast pocket bristled, every hair standing on end, and let out a sharp, alarmed cry.
Liao Mingxuan's smile froze solid. His eyes cut through the darkness with sudden, cold intensity.
"Zhao Manyan — Light Radiance, that direction." Mo Fan spoke without hesitation.
Zhao Manyan heard his voice and knew exactly where he meant. His hand turned — the Star Trails barely perceptible in their formation — and a sphere of Light Radiance energy materialized.
"Go!"
Zhao Manyan sent the orb sailing toward the tunnel wall beside Mu Nujiao. Golden radiance flooded the space, illuminating the stone surface — and revealing, in stark detail, a dense web of black vines crawling across it in every direction.
Black vines spread like a massive spider's web across the tunnel wall. And within the gaps between those vines — pairs of pale blue eyes, embedded in the stone like cold gems, all fixed on Mu Nujiao, the one standing closest to them. The hunger in that gaze was unmistakable, as if they intended to strip the flesh from her bones.
"Jiao, get behind me." Mo Fan stepped forward at once.
Mu Nujiao was no shrinking violet. Wind rose around her in an instant, flowing into ordered currents that shaped themselves into Wind Trails — her movements sharpened to a razor's edge.
"Fire Burst!"
Mo Fan's hand curled into a half-fist. A rose-colored flame bloomed at his palm, raw and hungry.
He thrust it forward. The rose-hued Fire Burst struck the web of black vines and consumed them in an instant — that entire dense tangle reduced to ash.
The firelight reached places even the Light Radiance had failed to touch, and what it illuminated sent ice through every vein: several hunched, shambling shapes lurching in the shadows, each one clutching a bone club smeared with dried, rust-brown bloodstains.