Chapter 00226: The Man Eating Stones
# The Man-Eating Stones
Chapter 226
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 226 The Man-Eating Stones
The fork in the road was not important, nor was the dense fog.
What was important was where the people ahead of them had gone.
The Thunder Mountain Treasury opened once every twenty years, a tradition that had lasted for several hundred years.
While one could not say its environment had been completely figured out, it should at least be mostly understood.
This was especially true for the disciples of the Heavenly Absolute Palace.
This Thunder Mountain was practically their backyard; they might even have a map.
Originally, when Li Chengxi saw the Heavenly Absolute Palace disciples following Yang Yiyi, he had considered finding an opportunity to trail them in turn.
But after the disturbance with the poisonous creatures just now, he had completely lost them.
“Brother Li, which way should we go?”
The fog grew thicker and thicker.
They could only see indistinct shadows in the distance, but could not make out any specifics.
At most, they could see footprints nearby.
And these footprints went in every direction.
Which of the four entrances had the Heavenly Absolute Palace disciples taken…
This was a bit of a problem.
Before Li Chengxi could answer, Yang Yiyi heard a series of footsteps behind her.
The others who had been a step slower had also caught up.
When this group saw the four entrances formed like a hand pressed into the ground, they too were stunned for a moment.
Some hesitated in place like Yang Yiyi, while others ran forward without a second thought, with people entering all four openings.
Seeing this, Li Chengxi said:
“Just pick one at random. If it does not work out, we can just come back.”
This fork in the road seemed to be a way to split the crowd.
After all, nearly a thousand people had squeezed in.
If everyone stuck together, they could probably take down a pack of dinosaurs and turn them into soup.
The main thing was that the palm-shaped rocks at this fork were too regular.
They looked like they had been artificially constructed, not a natural formation.
If the Heavenly Absolute Palace really did this, it meant they did not want the people who entered to crowd together.
As for their purpose…
That was harder to guess.
He had heard this sect was somewhere between righteous and evil, so it was hard to say what they were up to.
In any case, if they continued to linger at the fork, the poisonous creatures might catch up to them again.
‘Just pick one at random’ was actually the hardest choice.
Hearing this, Yang Yiyi paused for a moment, saw which entrance had the most people going in, and then quickly followed.
Everyone had come with the hope of finding some Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure or a Divine Technique and Secret Art.
And it seemed that more than finding anything themselves, they were afraid of others getting there first.
In a strange place like this, one should proceed with caution, step by step.
But Li Chengxi saw that everyone around him was running forward.
The scene was like a horde of zombies breaking loose.
But strangely enough, as Yang Yiyi ran along with the crowd, the farther forward she went, the thinner the fog became, as if it were confined only to the area near the entrance.
As visibility improved, Yang Yiyi saw that she was surrounded by jagged, strange rocks.
Some rocks connected to form barriers, while others stood alone, jutting from the ground like sculptures.
By her estimate, there were about twenty or thirty people around Yang Yiyi.
As for where everyone else had gone, they were now completely out of sight.
After going a little further, when the fog had thinned even more, she realized she was actually in the middle of a vast rock forest.
Huge rocks, as if carved by blades and axes, were arranged densely before her eyes.
It was a natural labyrinth.
When the others around her saw this scene clearly, they also grew a little flustered.
Although a stone forest was a spectacular sight, if one were to get lost deep within it, they could very well be trapped to their deaths.
For a moment, everyone around her hesitated, unconsciously slowing their pace.
Yang Yiyi also slowed down.
She whispered to the Jade Tablet in her arms:
“Brother Li, what do we do now?”
“Do not panic. Take out the compass I gave you and have a look.”
Knowing Yang Yiyi was entering Thunder Mountain, Li Chengxi had specifically bought a compass online for her.
“Is it still working normally?”
“Yes, the compass is not broken.”
“That is good, then. At the very least, we can find our way back.”
With that assurance, Yang Yiyi felt much more relieved.
Just as she was about to continue walking, she heard a scream from not far away.
The others nearby were also startled.
They turned to look and saw blood suddenly spurt from the neck of a man leaning against a rock.
He desperately clutched his neck, but it was no use; blood still gushed out as if it were free.
Someone not far away cried out in terror:
“It is the stones! The stones are eating people!”
“Do not be ridiculous! How can a stone eat people… Ah!”
This time, the crowd saw it with their own eyes.
The rock next to the man who had just spoken suddenly twisted, opened a bloody maw, and in one bite, tore off half of his head.
White brain matter and the foul stench of blood filled the air in an instant.
The crowd, like startled birds, immediately scrambled away from the surrounding rocks.
But as mentioned before, this place was like a stone forest, densely packed with strange rocks.
There was hardly any place to hide.
For a moment, screams rose one after another.
Some, unable to bear the terror, ran forward in a reckless panic, but their screams soon followed.
These martial artists all knew some skills to protect themselves and were not afraid of feral beasts like lions or tigers.
But against an unseen monster, what use was the three-foot green blade in their hands?
For a moment, the crowd descended into chaos, panicked amidst the screams.
Yang Yiyi was no better than the others.
Like a frightened rabbit, she looked left and right, up and down, even covering her neck with both hands, terrified of being bitten herself.
“Are demons eating people? Are there really Stone Spirits?”
Li Chengxi pressed the Alt key to take a look, then said into the microphone:
“They are not demons, they are a type of chameleon.”
“Dragon?”
“Just think of it as a big lizard that can change color to camouflage itself… There is one a few meters to your left.”
Hearing this, Yang Yiyi looked over and could only see a large rock lying on the ground.
But the advantage of this girl's obedience became apparent; without hesitation, she took the Crimson Python Whip from her waist, and with a flick of her wrist, lashed out with it.
As a result, when the whip struck, it was not repelled like it would be from an ordinary stone.
Instead, with a sharp crack, it left a bloody gash.
At that moment, Yang Yiyi rubbed her eyes and finally saw the ‘stone’ writhe in pain, revealing the shape of a lizard as tall as she was.
It let out a hissing, low roar.
The human eye is actually very easy to deceive.
We see three dots as a face, which is similar to the preview image that appears when viewing a picture on a computer; the human brain preloads it.
But conversely, as long as the outline is broken, the human eye has a hard time recognizing it.
This is also why digital camouflage replaced traditional camouflage uniforms; its effect on breaking up the human silhouette is more pronounced.
An ordinary chameleon does not have such a strong camouflage effect.
This can only be described as a creature unique to Thunder Mountain; it has practically become a monster.
The others around also heard the piercing whistle of the whip cutting through the air, and they all saw the chameleon that had been revealed by the lash.
Now they were no longer afraid.
Fear comes from the unknown.
Once the trick was revealed, these were just rather slow-moving big lizards.
For a moment, everyone drew their weapons and started striking at suspicious-looking rocks.
And wouldn't you know it, they managed to hit quite a few by chance.
“Let me, Gu Tao of the Thunderclap Sword, see what you beasts are made of!”
It seemed a very familiar voice had appeared again…
(End of this chapter)