"Horror-level monster?" Long Xia was startled.
Lin Xiaomei nodded gravely, pointing to the distant forest where birds and beasts were fleeing in chaos.
"Take a look. If it's not a horror-level monster, it wouldn't cause such a huge commotion."
Indeed, as everyone gazed into the distance, they saw flocks of birds and beasts frantically escaping into the skies, among them dangerously strong nine-star bird beasts.
"This place is not safe. We need to get back to the city as soon as possible!"
Qin Shou said resolutely, as a burst of blue Star Power erupted around him, transforming his figure into a streak of blue light that vanished instantly.
"Lao Qin, wait..."
...
The group headed towards West City but discovered that sightings of skeleton giant lizards along the way had significantly increased.
An hour later.
"Roar!"
Near a giant stone, under the constriction of the greedy snake, the tenth skeleton giant lizard let out a mournful cry before collapsing to the ground and being stored into the Space Gate.
Qin Shou glanced towards the territory of the winged dragons, once again pulling out a purple coat and draping it over himself.
"I sense something ominous; we need to pick up the pace," Qin Shou said, his brows furrowed tightly.
Earlier, he had thought that the skeleton giant lizards would only appear in limited numbers, a convenient source for farming synthesis points.
But now, it was as if their numbers had multiplied several times over, and there might be even more ahead.
If not for the abundance of powerful bird beasts in the skies, Qin Shou might have considered riding the greedy snake straight back to West City.
That gnawing sense of foreboding in his gut grew increasingly stronger.
The others also sensed something was amiss and quickly draped their purple coats over themselves, moving toward the winged dragon territory.
"Screech!!"
High above, the winged dragon group seemed particularly irritable today.
A dangerous level-eight winged dragon swooped down with incredible speed, and the next instant, the mournful wails of a skeleton giant lizard echoed.
"Even the winged dragon territory has skeleton giant lizards!"
Qin Shou furrowed his brows. This area was constantly under the watchful eyes of the winged dragon group; if they encountered a particularly strong skeleton giant lizard, they'd have no choice but to unleash the greedy snake to fight.
But doing so would risk drawing the attention of the winged dragon group, which could lead to dire consequences.
"Listen up, everyone. If you're attacked by a skeleton giant lizard, don't fight back. Just focus on getting away," he warned.
Lin Xiaomei nodded, "That's right. As soon as a skeleton giant lizard shows up, the winged dragon group will respond quickly, giving us a chance to escape."
The others nodded in agreement and quickened their pace.
"Screech..."
Moments later, a dangerous level-eight skeleton giant lizard emerged from underground, blocking Qin Shou and the group's path.
In an instant, the skeleton giant lizard turned its head to glare at them, letting out a fierce roar, spewing disgusting saliva everywhere.
Qin Shou halted for half a second before sprinting to the left with no hesitation.
The other four followed Qin Shou's lead, escaping to the left without giving the skeleton giant lizard a second glance.
"Screech..."
Just as the skeleton giant lizard was about to give chase, several massive winged dragons swooped down from the skies, surrounding the creature tightly.
...
After hours of frantic running, the group finally left the winged dragon territory, narrowly avoiding another skeleton giant lizard.
"Phew... I can't keep this up. Running like this is draining way too much Star Power," Long Xia gasped heavily, leaning on his knees.
Ye Ning and Hong Cong didn't look much better, their faces pale and clearly drained of Star Power.
As for Lin Xiaomei, being a Beast Ability Master, as long as she didn't use the Three-tailed Fire Fox genes, her Star Power could sustain her for much longer.
Among the group, Qin Shou's Star Power was the weakest; he was already so exhausted that he collapsed to the ground, drenched in sweat.
"Lao Qin, are you okay? Can you still walk?" Long Xia ran over to ask.
Qin Shou rolled his eyes.
If I, Qin Shou, could run, I wouldn't be walking; if I could walk, I wouldn't be lying down...
Lin Xiaomei, noticing Qin Shou was at his limit, said, "Let's all rest here for a bit. There's still quite a journey ahead of us, and we—"
Qin Shou waved his hand, cutting her off, "No time. I'll summon the greedy snake to take us back to the city."
"No!" Lin Xiaomei exclaimed urgently.
"The skies are too dangerous. If anything happens, the consequences could be unimaginable."
Qin Shou chuckled, "Don't worry. The situation has changed—low-altitude flight shouldn't be an issue."
Just as he was about to open the Space Gate, his gaze froze on the distant grayish-white mountains.
"What is that?"
Qin Shou pointed ahead.
Long Xia pulled out his binoculars and took a look. His body stiffened, his face instantly as pale as a sheet.
"I-it's... skeleton giant lizards..." he stammered, trembling.
Qin Shou grabbed the binoculars and stared at the Black Mountain. What was supposed to be grayish-white mountains wasn't mountains at all—it was...
An enormous horde of skeleton giant lizards!
Countless skeleton giant lizards!
Qin Shou's face darkened as he handed the binoculars to Lin Xiaomei and the rest.
After seeing it, despair spread across their faces.
"It's over... It's too late. With so many skeleton giant lizards grouped together, there's no way we can make it back," Ye Ning said hopelessly.
Hong Cong sat down on the ground, looking defeated and sorrowful.
"Who would have thought after raising skeleton giant lizards for so many years, I'd end up dying in their jaws."
Lin Xiaomei's expression shifted into deep thought, and suddenly her face lit up as if she'd found an idea.
"Don't despair, everyone. Even though the skeleton giant lizard horde is spreading towards us, there's still a chance for survival!"
Qin Shou nodded, "That's right. We won't know if there's no hope until the very end."
I'm not sure about any hope for you guys, but one thing's for sure: I won't die.
Skeleton giant lizards have a poor sense of smell, and with Rein Jia'er's invisibility ability, I could easily sneak through the horde.
But...
Qin Shou glanced at the pale-faced Long Xia.
Doing that would mean abandoning Long Xia... and Lin Xiaomei too.
Lin Xiaomei was incidental; she was just tagging along.
But Long Xia had been trailing after him since the age of six, from kindergarten all the way to now—for nearly twelve years.
If Qin Shou were to abandon Long Xia, he couldn't see himself being that cold-hearted.
He wasn't cultivating some immortality or practicing emotionless detachment, after all.
So, he decided to see if Lin Xiaomei had any ideas.
Upon hearing Lin Xiaomei had a solution, Hong Cong and the others were overjoyed and quickly pressed her for details.
"Lin Xiaomei, what's your plan?"
Lin Xiaomei pointed westward, her tone serious, "There's an Old Era city ruin over there. If we flee in that direction, we might still have a chance."
"Old Era city ruin?"
Qin Shou raised an eyebrow, "What's so special about that place?"
Lin Xiaomei explained, "My teacher mentioned before that an Old Era city ruin lies dormant with a nightmare-level creature. There's no way the skeleton giant lizard horde would dare step foot into the city ruin."
"A nightmare-level creature?"
The group was stunned.
"But what if we awaken that nightmare-level creature while escaping there..."
Before Hong Cong could finish, Long Xia interrupted him, "Don't overestimate us. If the likes of us nobodies could awaken a nightmare-level creature, it wouldn't deserve its title."
Qin Shou nodded, "In that case, let's head for the city ruin. It's better than dealing with this endless wave of skeleton giant lizards."
"Exactly," Ye Ning agreed.
Hong Cong, seeing no other option, reluctantly nodded.
With the group in consensus, Qin Shou opened the Space Gate, releasing the greedy snake.
Everyone climbed onto its back, Qin Shou standing on its dragon head, commanding the greedy snake to fly low towards the west.