Chapter 8: Nightmare! Sand Monster!

Oh no! That bull-headed orc is still outside

After hesitating for just a moment, Hua Tianxing gritted his teeth and decided to take this risk

Hua Tianxing, still shaken and unable to calm his tumultuous emotions, suddenly noticed a series of "hissing" sounds coming from the sandy ground around him. Numerous areas resembling swirling quicksand began to appear. Notably, in a location over a hundred meters to his left rear, there emerged a massive quicksand vortex, astonishingly the size of a basketball court.

At that moment, a piercing scream, as sharp and unpleasant as a metal spoon scraping the bottom of a pot, suddenly emanated from the giant quicksand whirlpool, which was at least the size of a basketball court— "Jiiiii!"

As soon as his feet touched the ground of the fiery red forest, he violently hurled the minotaur and the orc woman forward, losing his balance in the process. He staggered forward for more than ten steps before crashing hard into the nearest large tree. The impact was quite severe, yet he rolled over as if nothing had happened, gasping heavily while staring with a pale face at the nightmarish sandy ground ahead.

Damn! These cursed man-eating bugs! This damned primitive jungle! Hua Tianxing felt a shiver run down his spine, not daring to show any signs of slackness, and immediately sprinted towards the fiery red forest area with all his might!

His face instantly turned pale. In a moment of panic, he glanced over at the large wooden box—what had originally been a box with only one side cracked open had now completely collapsed and shattered! The splintered wood mixed with several corpses slowly sank into the sand, and from time to time, a few jets of blood spurted out from the sand—clearly, something underground was gnawing at the bodies!

Hua Tianxing had already estimated the approximate distance and angle by sight—like a gust of wind, he dashed to the side of the bull-headed orc. With a swift motion of his right arm, driven by inertia, he seized one of the orc's horns at its base! Immediately, he exerted force from his waist and abdomen, making a sharp turn, pulling the horn and sprinting towards the fiery red forest area a hundred meters away!

The once tranquil sandy ground has now transformed into a terrifying hellish scene—hundreds and thousands of monstrous insects are writhing and crawling in the sand, eagerly making their way towards the wooden crates and corpses!

Even though Hua Tianxing possesses exceptionally strong psychological qualities, upon encountering this nightmarish and terrifying creature, he was immediately struck with fear, causing all the hair on his body to stand on end

Initially, I thought that dragging these several hundred pounds of large objects and * pictures * would be extremely laborious. To my surprise, once I got started, it was unexpectedly effortless! Hua Tianxing felt no strain at all; instead, it felt as light and casual as flying a kite!

Hua Tianxing pressed his head tightly against the inner wall of the box and looked outside, and the scene before him instantly stunned him—previously lying quietly on the sandy ground, the minotaur was now completely sunk in the sand up to its lower body, and it was slowly sinking further down, as if some mysterious force beneath the ground was continuously pulling it downward! The sand within a radius of ten feet around his body was flowing in a very strange manner, constantly emitting a soft "hiss, hiss" sound! Now, its lower body was completely sunk in the sand, and it was slowly sinking further down, as if some mysterious force beneath the ground was continuously pulling it downward! The sand within a radius of ten feet around his body was flowing in a very strange manner, constantly emitting a soft "hiss, hiss" sound!

***

Before he could take a few steps, a powerful and deep roar suddenly echoed from outside

Upon thinking of this, he immediately considered abandoning the Minotaur and making a run for the edge of the fiery red forest. However, upon hearing the Minotaur's deep, painful, and continuous roars, he felt a twinge of reluctance—could he really just stand by and watch him die? He still wanted to gather some information about this otherworld from him! Moreover, the creature was not severely injured and was robust and strong; if he saved him, having such a powerful ally by his side would greatly increase his chances of escaping this terrifying primeval jungle

As soon as it landed, the strange insect let out a sharp "chirp," its body writhing, and in an instant, it burrowed into the sand, disappearing without a trace

I can't believe it! He suddenly let out a fierce roar, tightening his grip on the horn with his right hand, almost instinctively swinging it around, executing an overhead throw. The innocent bull-headed orc was thrown by his erratic motion, tracing a dazzling arc in the air before crashing heavily onto the sandy ground several dozen meters away. The monstrous insect clearly could not withstand the tremendous force of Huatianxing's throw, and was immediately flung off the bull-headed orc's body, flailing its limbs as it flew out and gently landed on the sand on the other side.

Something strange is happening underground! Hua Tianxing's expression instantly became serious. He decisively stood up, tightened his grip on the orc woman on his shoulder, and cautiously leaned against the inner wall of the box, slowly moving towards the crack.

Hua Tianxing had never seen such a hideously terrifying creature before—this thing was over 2 meters long from head to tail! It had a grotesquely large head resembling a deformed tumor, covered with dozens of blood-red eyes of various sizes, reminiscent of the repulsive back pouch of a toad. At the front, it had two furry, dark brown pincers. As the bull-headed orc was dragged back and forth by Hua Tianxing, the pincers could not reach their target and could only flail about wildly, producing a horrifying "crack crack" sound! Below the head was a body as menacing as a centipede, yellow-brown in color, covered with small tumor-like bumps, and adorned with countless tentacles and claws. The legs, densely covered with fine black hairs, were much longer and thinner than those of a centipede, with the two furry, dark brown pincers at the front unable to strike their target due to the erratic movements caused by the bull-headed orc being dragged around.

Quicksand? Or is there some monster lurking beneath this sandy ground? The mere thought of a monster sent a chill down Hua Tianxing's spine, causing him to draw a sharp breath. From the moment he awoke by the swamp until now, none of the creatures he had encountered were gentle or endearing. Fire-breathing birds, giant worms, spiked-tailed ground dragons, and the white-furred fruit weasel possessed by Bi Fang, all of them were nothing but trouble!

To save a person is to save them completely; to send a Buddha is to send them to the West! I will do my utmost to try and save him! Whether he can be saved depends on his fate! He is also considering the practical situation—this bull-headed beast weighs at least two to three times more than him. Fortunately, this area is flat sandy ground, which is suitable for dragging... In the face of the unknown peculiarities beneath the ground, there is only one way: to drag him with all my strength and run wildly towards the fiery red forest area!

Behind him, the minotaur had a deep and long gash on his left calf, blood gushing profusely! A gigantic creature, resembling both a centipede and a millipede, with a mottled yellow-brown body, was clawing and writhing around his left calf!

Having come from a background as a special reconnaissance soldier, he possesses an excellent physique and runs very quickly. However, this time was undoubtedly the fastest he has ever run in his life—he completed the remaining seventy to eighty meters almost in the blink of an eye. Even the action of bending down to pick up the bull-headed orc was executed with remarkable precision and effortless grace

He was suddenly filled with great joy, running desperately while turning back to say: "Big guy, hold on a bit longer, we're almost there..." Before he could finish his sentence, his expression changed dramatically!

At this moment, the waist of the bull-headed orc was already sunk into the sand! The "Curved Bone Blade" was too thick, and Hua Tianxing decisively discarded one of them, biting the other horizontally in his mouth. He tightly embraced the orc woman with his left arm, while his right arm hung slowly by his side. Suddenly, with a burst of strength, he shot towards the bull-headed orc several meters away!