Chapter 286: What Is So Delicious About Human Flesh?

Qimu Xi felt that she was having a hard time.

After getting on the SUV, she dared not say anything even though she had a belly full of questions. Especially when she looked at this… mm, how should she address him? Boss? Employer? Appearance wise, this man did not appear to be very old. When he spoke, there was a clear tenderness of youth in his voice. Yet, his attitude caused Qimu Xi to feel fearful.

Chen Xiaolian appeared to be driving. However, he was in fact secretly sizing up the extra baggage that he had picked up.

As noon drew close, Chen Xiaolian drove to the edge of the mapped terrain.

If he were to drive any further, he will be venturing into uncharted territory, a place where his present map have no information of.

He looked and saw a canyon before him.

Clearly, this was just one portion of the Grand Canyon in the west part of the US.

The SUV came to a halt at the edge of the canyon. Chen Xiaolian then got down from the SUV and surveyed the area for a bit before coming to the opinion that if he wanted to move forward, using the SUV would only make things impossible. The twists and turns along the canyon were extremely long and he was not able to see the ends of it in a glance. If he were to use the SUV to drive along those twists and turns, who knew how long it would take him.

"Get off the SUV."

Chen Xiaolian rapped the door and Qimu Xi quickly jumped up from the seat of the vehicle.

The three hours she spent in the SUV earlier was the most comfortable period for her since entering instance dungeons. The SUV had air conditioning and the temperature was regulated to be warm so that the cold winds would not bite into her. Additionally, she had already had her fill.

Most importantly, the employer sitting beside her appeared to be someone with some background – he seemed like a fairly powerful fellow. Following beside him, she felt that there was nothing to fear.

Naturally… she hoped that he would not have any malicious intents toward her.

Her brother had mentioned before that although she was still young, some perverted men just happened to like girls of her age.

Err… this fellow should not be that kind of pervert, right?

“May… may I ask, what should I do?” Qimu Xi gingerly walked beside Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian looked at her.

Do what? He was unable to figure out what to let her do.

After thinking about it, he then turned to look at her dirty face and said, “Do you still have any of the water I gave you earlier? Wash up your face first. Seeing your dirty face irritates me.”

“… oh, yes.” Qimu Xi drummed up her courage.

Chen Xiaolian then kept the SUV back into this Storage Watch.

Qimu Xi was shocked to see the huge SUV disappear right before her eyes. There was also a look of envy in her face as she looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian ignored the girl and walked to the cliff edge of the canyon. There, he looked down and inspected the terrain to see where he should go.

After around 10 minutes, Chen Xiaolian walked back and pulled out a set of climbing equipment from the Storage Watch. Among those were a roll of Black Widow spider silk.

As he was busy sorting the items, he suddenly heard footsteps approaching him. He raised his head and saw Qimu Xi timidly walking until she was in front of him. She said, “That… I’ve washed my face. What can I help you with?”

Chen Xiaolian looked at the girl and was unable to help himself but feel shocked. Then, he let out a sigh.

No wonder ah…

…

“So, you dirtying your own face was your brother’s idea?” Chen Xiaolian had the girl tie a rope around her own waist. The other end of the rope was tied around Chen Xiaolian’s waist. When she tightened up the rope around her waist, he was able to see her ant like waist.

“… mm,” answered Qimu Xi, sweat trickling down from her forehead.

Appearance wise… while she could not be said to be highly beautiful, her facial features was very delicate and lovable. In addition, there was the light amounts of baby fat on her face which made her very adorable.

It was clear that she was still young and had yet to cast off her air of innocence.

But…

Chen Xiaolian could not help himself but mumble secretly: Just what did this girl eat while growing up? Or, could it be that all girls these days are so well endowed?

Despite having a childish face, she possessed an amazing pair of…

Mm, Chen Xiaolian recalled the sensation he felt back then.

At least a D!

If Roddy the chuunibyou was here, he would probably be shouting something along the lines of loli X big X.

Oh well… at any rate, just take it as him helping out.

As for whether she could make it out of this instance dungeon alive, Chen Xiaolian had no guarantees.

…

After tightening the rope, Chen Xiaolian brought Qimu Xi to an area that was not as steep as the rest that he found and began his descent down the canyon.

The canyon cliffs of the wasteland were made of rocks. However, after having endured the ravages of time, no small number of them had grown fragile while some others had turned to sand. A light push with their hands was enough for a considerable piece of the rock to fall.

Chen Xiaolian had to bring an extra baggage with him as he descended through the side of the steep canyon. Thus, the journey down to the bottom of the canyon took Chen Xiaolian over one hour.

On their way down, Qimu Xi had staggered and nearly fell down several times. Thankfully, the rope on her body was tied to Chen Xiaolian, allowing him to hold it and stop her from falling.

Even so, the load on her nearly broke her waist. Qimu Xi was barely able to continue breathing but she did not say anything. She dared not complain.

When they finally arrived at the bottom of the canyon, she raised her head to look at the cliff and felt her vision spinning. Her palms stung and two of her fingers were worn to the point of bleeding. The girl maintained her silence and she quietly wiped away the blood before slipping her palms into her sleeve.

The bottom area of the canyon was very wide, as wide as a two-way four lane road.

After checking his surroundings, Chen Xiaolian suddenly smiled at Qimu Xi and said, “Come, test your luck. Choose one.”

“Eh?”

“Choose one. Should we go left or should we go right?” Chen Xiaolian coolly said. “We need to find a less steep place to get to the opposite side. However, we will need to go at it slowly. Do we go left, or do we go right? You choose.”

“Me?” Qimu Xi felt fearful.

“Naturally, we are going to have to split up. Each of us will take a different direction in order to not waste time,” said Chen Xiaolian as he checked the watch. Frowning, he said, “The time for the preparation phase is running out. We only have about four or five hours left. We will need to hurry to the opposite side of the canyon. If I have to take a guess, not many people have gone to the opposite side of the canyon.”

“Really… do we really have to split up? I… I am scared,” said Qimu Xi with a tearful face.

The bottom of the canyon was dark. Additionally, when the winds blew, there would be a rushing sound of sand echoing in the air.

Chen Xiaolian frowned at Qimu Xi. This was not the time for him to be kind hearted.

“Do your work obediently and listen to the orders I give you. I have no interest in keeping someone who cannot work.” Chen Xiaolian said sternly as he knitted his eyebrows. “I am just asking to you to survey the terrain, not fight off some monsters. What are you so afraid of?”

Qimu Xi swallowed her saliva and hesitated for a bit before turning to glance at the bottom of the canyon for a bit.

“I’ll take the left.”

The left side seemed to have some light.

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and said, “Good, then I will be taking the right.”

After saying that, he pulled out a walkie-talkie and adjusted the frequency before handing it to Qimu Xi. “Do you know how to use this?”

Qimu Xi nodded her head.

“If you discover anything, or if something unexpected occurs, call me.” After saying that, Chen Xiaolian turned around and walked toward the other end of the canyon.

Qimu Xi wore a mournful expression as she gripped the walkie-talkie and watched the disappearing back of Chen Xiaolian. She lamented her own fate.

The girl then carefully moved toward the left side of the canyon.

…

Qimu Xi had been walking for around 20 minutes. Although her speed was not that fast, the cold winds of the canyon blew past her, causing her to tighten her clothes around her body.

Although she felt fearful, she did not forget the task that she was given. She carefully assessed the terrain of the canyon to see if there was a place that they could use to climb up.

Her boots brushed against the ground, creating “hualala” sounds. She attempted to climb up the cliff a few times only to fall down miserably. She then saw a huge piece of rock, which she then climbed up to get a better viewpoint.

And so, another half hour went by.

Qimu Xi did not realize that somewhere behind her clumsy figure, a sinister pair of eyes were eyeing her.

…

Ta Wang lay behind a rock. His body form was crouched like a ball making it seemed like he was a mouse hiding within the shadows.

His cold pair of eyes was staring at Qimu Xi’s back. He then stretched out his tongue to lick his lips.

It seems… this is a delicious prey.

Ta Wang carefully listened. There was hesitation in his heart as he bent his waist and crawled across the rocks quickly like some sort of cold-blooded reptile.

This prey of his seemed like a rookie. From what he could see, she appeared very weak. Not only that, she also looked like an idiot. At present, it would appear that she was surveying her surrounding terrain. However…

He wondered if she had any companions.

Ta Wang stalked behind Qimu Xi for a full 10 minutes and he gradually became more confident.

This prey of his was pitifully weak.

Even if someone like her did have a companion, that companion would not be strong.

The world of Awakened ones was extremely cruel and pragmatic. The strong will never choose to become companions with the weak.

He watched Qimu Xi from the side and observed that childish face of hers.

“She seems very delishh…” Ta Wang secretly sighed to himself. “Although the preparation phase does not allow any killing between participants… capturing her without killing her… she would make for a good toy to pass the time.”

He stuck out his tongue once more to lick his lips. His tongue was a forked tongue!

…

Qimu Xi caught sight of another piece of rock. It would appear that this part of the canyon cliff was not that steep. Thus, she tried her best to jump up the rock. However, just as her feet were about to jump up, she uttered a sharp cry!

She felt her legs being caught and abruptly pulled down, causing her entire person to fall down from the piece of rock.

She fell heavily to the ground. Before she could even struggle up, a hand snaked forward to cover her mouth, cutting off her cry.

Qimu Xi gave a muffled cry as both her hands and feet flailed about. However, a figure had her pinned down on the ground. Next, a cold and hook like hand gripped onto her throat before lifting her up the ground.

A cold voice spoke out beside her ear in a joking manner, “Oh, what have we here? A lost little lamb?”

A hot breath of air blasted Qimu Xi’s ears, causing her hairs to stand on end. She struggled with her all but her body was becoming weaker – with her throat gripped tightly, the more she struggled, the less oxygen she was able to breath in.

Finally, she blacked out and was tossed down the ground. Her body crumpled like mud as she coughed desperately, gasping for breath.

It was only then that she got the chance to see the face of the one standing before her. After seeing the person’s appearance, she became so petrified, she could not even shout out!

This… is this a human or a ghost?!

…

This person seemed like a human. However, his external skin appeared similar to that of reptiles. They were scaly and glowed with a faint green tint. The pupils of his eyes were vertical slit pupils!

Qimu Xi also noticed that the upper limbs of this person were astonishingly long. The length of his arms was almost longer than his legs. With such a type of constitution, he would be able to crawl quickly on the ground.

His fingernails were long and sharp.

At that moment, his one hand was extended to grip Qimu Xi’s chin. His sharp nails poked her tender neck.

“Don’t cry out, all right? That is, if you do not want to be stabbed in the throat.”

Ta Wang snickered as he looked at the little lamb before him. “Now tell me, do you have any companions?”

Qimu Xi was in a state of panic. At that moment however, she was suddenly blessed with a moment of clarity. She bit her lips and answered, “No, no one. I’m alone…”

“Mm, that sounds right. Just look at what a weak little lamb you are. What kind of guild will be willing to take you in?” Ta Wang seemed very satisfied to hear that answer. “So, let me take you in, won’t you?”

He leaned closer and his cold, forked tongue slithered out to gently lick Qimu Xi’s cheeks. Next, he trembled in excitement. “What a young and tender flesh! I love this delicious taste the most!”

Qimu Xi’s eyes were darting all over the place. The walkie-talkie was inside her pocket… all she needed was an opportunity…

The cold tongue then licked her on her neck, scaring her to the point of wanting to faint. She shivered.

“You… you are not going to eat my flesh, are you?” Qimu Xi quavered as she asked.

“Ha ha ha…” Ta Wang laughed in a low voice. There was a glint in his eyes as he said, “Eat humans? My little lamb, what meaning is there in eating humans? Come, let me teach you something interesting…”

After saying that, his sharp nails slashed out and Qimu Xi’s clothes were cut at the arm area, causing her sleeve to fall. Her white skin became exposed and a shining light could be seen within Ta Wang’s eyes.

Qimu Xi was finally unable to hold on anymore. She cried out tearfully and screamed, “Help! Help!”

“Ha ha ha! Go ahead and scream! Scream! We are at the bottom of a canyon! No Awakened would come here. Even if you were to call out until your lungs break…”

As Ta Wang was laughing out maniacally…

A calm and cool voice spoke out from behind him. Hearing the voice caused Ta Wang to shiver all over!

“Oh, when you put it that way, should I be changing my name to ‘until your lungs break’?”

Next, a powerful force struck him from behind and his body was sent flying. His body then hit a piece of rock beside the canyon cliff.

Chen Xiaolian stood behind. He slowly lowered his right leg that was used to kick Ta Wang earlier. He then lowered his head to look at Qimu Xi who was covered in snot and frowned. “Hey! Were you scared to the point of stupidity? If you can still move then go to the side and just watch.”

Ta Wang’s head struck the surface of the rock. However, he did not utter a single sound. His figure suddenly pasted itself onto the piece of rock before slipping down.

However, the moment he landed on the ground, he heard a tiger like roar coming from right beside him!

Two paws clad in metal belonging to a Four-Eyed War Cat swung forward. One of the paws pressed down on Ta Wang’s chest while the other paw slammed down quickly toward Ta Wang’s neck!

Considering this Four-Eyed War Cat’s strength and the sharpness of his claws, if this paw were to hit home, this fellow’s neck would likely be cut off on the spot.

However, something strange happened!

Ta Wang’s body seemingly became enveloped in a layer of grease and Garfield’s paws slid across his neck without injuring him. Ta Wang then used the opportunity to shrink backward. Next, he quickly rushed out through the side!

There was something similar to transparent viscous liquid on his skin!

“Eh? What skill is that?” Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat as he looked at the weirdo with scaled skin.

Although Ta Wang managed to rush to the side, his heart sank when he realized that there were three identical Four-Eyed War Cat positioned around him. He was trapped in the middle!

Chen Xiaolian stretched out his right hand and a resplendent looking European knight’s sword suddenly appeared in his grip!

With the Sword in the Stone in his hand, Chen Xiaolian then strode toward Ta Wang who was on the ground. He asked, “Do you want to die? Or live?”

Ta Wang’s heart trembled. His instinct warned him that the knight sword in this fellow’s hand was extremely dangerous!

Seeing Chen Xiaolian walk toward him, he gave a peculiar scream before falling on the ground. Then, he pounced toward Chen Xiaolian!

Chen Xiaolian raised the Sword in the Stone and slashed down with it!

The edge of the sword slashed toward Ta Wang’s shoulder but he did not appear to mind. Rather, there was a trace of pride at having attained success in his eyes!

He did not execute any attacks. Instead, he rushed past Chen Xiaolian.

The edge of the sword slid harmlessly across the layer of viscous liquid on Ta Wang’s body…

Ta Wang rushed forward and reached Chen Xiaolian’s back. He then laughed out. “Goodbye, you fool!”

With all four limbs on the ground, he moved like a reptile, jumping quickly onto the rocks as he quickly made his getaway…

…

[The Sword in the Stone’s ‘Killing Blow’ unleashed!]

Chen Xiaolian did not panic because he had received this prompt from the system.

He simply watched as the weird monster run over tens of steps away. A few seconds later, the sounds of laughter that he was shouting suddenly became cries of misery!

As he was jumping in the middle of the air, his left arm was suddenly cut cleanly from the upper arm down!

His cut off limb flew out and blood sprayed everywhere!

Ta Wang screamed wretchedly and curled into a ball on the ground.

Chen Xiaolian carried his sword with him as he walked toward Ta Wang. He saw Ta Wang howling in pain with a contorted expression on his face.

The cut off area on his upper arm did not only flow with blood. Copious amount of viscous liquid also flowed out to quickly cover his wound, stopping the bleeding.

“How… how is this possible…” Ta Wang watched in panic as Chen Xiaolian walked over with the sword in hand. “You, what kind of weapon are you using?”

Chen Xiaolian walked until he was beside Ta Wang. After he called out, two Garfield doppelgangers charged forward. One on the left and one on the right, they pressed Ta Wang down, allowing Chen Xiaolian to move closer and place the tip of his sword on Ta Wang’s chin.

“You are not in any position to be asking questions right now.” Chen Xiaolian looked at Ta Wang with narrowed eyes. “I am someone who gets very into it when it comes to protecting my weak link. Just now, you bullied my follower and touched her with both your paws, didn’t you? In that case, let’s cut them both away.”

“He also used his tongue to lick me just now!” Qimu Xi who was standing behind suddenly shouted out.

Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian laughed and said, “Ah? His tongue licked you? What a pervert! All right. In that case, we’ll cut off his tongue as well.”

Ta Wang was aghast and he quickly shouted, “Don’t!”

He looked at Chen Xiaolian and quickly said, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! As long as you don’t kill me, I am willing to tell you a very important secret!”

Chen Xiaolian pursed his lips to the side as he put on a disdainful smile.

Seeing the look of disdain in his face, Ta Wang knew that he was doubting him. However, in order to preserve his life, he could only continue with a look of confidence. “It is a secret pertaining to the punishment instance dungeons! This instance dungeon has a secret that will give you a great deal of benefits!”

“Mm?”

Chen Xiaolian’s heart skipped a beat. He lowered the Sword in the Stone and frowned at Ta Wang.

Instance dungeon’s… secret?