Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 177 (Patreon)

Chapter 177: When the Cicadas Cry

Like a python, a beam of light slowly approached Little Bin's corpse, circling around it momentarily before one of the numerous beams suddenly pierced into Little Bin's chest, wriggling as it began to draw the cooled blood within his body.

The undulating, tentacle-like body pulsed, the fluid within gradually tinting red, then dispersing a red glow.

These light beams, resembling the vines of some kind of plant, were not a whole entity but instead were separate vines each living on its own.

Amid the faint blue light mingled with streaks of red, numerous vines continuously pierced into Little Bin’s corpse, and in less than a few breaths’ time, had desiccated him completely, leaving a flickering red light.

After consuming the blood, the vines of light slowly retracted to their original positions, and as they did, one of the vines curled around Little Bin’s corpse and flung it toward the edge of the platform.

The body flew out, plummeting into the pitch-black abyss below, unceasingly falling.

Below, the darkness was impenetrable, and nothing could be seen, only the sound of flowing water could be heard, with the surface of the water faintly visible.

As the body was about to hit the water, a dark figure burst from the water, catching the body mid-air like lightning, then fiercely plunged back into the water, causing a splash, and soon after, all returned to calm.

The platform to the water's surface below was about three hundred meters high, indicating that the water was also located within the belly of the mountain.

The sound of flowing water suggested that the water was live, but it was unknown where it flowed from, where it was headed, or whether it was in a cycle.

Inside the hall.

Luo and his companions were unaware of what was happening outside, as the stone door automatically closed, they all subconsciously covered their bodies with their aura, always ready to defend.

Silence pervaded the hall, the flashlight beams fell on the floor and distant spots, all covered with a thick layer of dust.

Hiss!

At that moment, faint sounds began to emerge continuously in the darkness, causing everyone to tense up, holding their breath in anticipation of any possible mishaps.

Logically, there shouldn't be any living humans or creatures in the palace, yet the venomous bugs encountered in the tunnel earlier, and the mysterious music that had just sounded, were not something that could be logically explained.

Now, if a zombie were to suddenly appear, Luo wouldn’t be surprised.

After the sounds, several beams of flashlight scrambled around the hall, and suddenly, flames lit up on the stone statues on either side of the walls.

“Hmm?”

The sudden appearance of firelight took Luo by surprise, but he remained calm, quickly turning off his flashlight to conserve battery power.

Several faces in the team twitched slightly, struggling to maintain their composure.

First, the stone door automatically closed, followed by the spontaneous ignition of flames, everything seemed so eerie.

The firelight illuminated the hall, allowing everyone to clearly see everything within it.

On both sides of the walls, every ten meters stood a tall, headless stone statue, and the flames were emerging from the neckless heads.

Near the center of the hall, rows of stone columns lined up on either side, leading straight forward to the end, where a square palace stood, guarded by six three-meter-tall beast-headed human statues at the entrance.

Stone statues, columns, and the palace made up the entirety of the hall, which no one had expected to contain a palace within such an expansive space.

No one spoke, only the sound of irregular breathing could be heard.

“If there’s nothing valuable inside, it would have been a wasted trip,” Martin muttered, tugging at his black jacket adorned with iron rings, gloomily.

“Just look around the ruins outside, even if you find a chamber pot, it’s considered valuable,” Uncle Li glanced at him coldly, “But I prefer treasures to antiques.”

Martin was left speechless, standing beside him were two other Nen users looking expectantly at the palace ahead, sharing Uncle Li’s preference for touching treasures firsthand.

However, as Uncle Li had said, even if there were no treasures in this well-preserved palace, just searching among the debris of the buildings outside could yield items that collectors in the black market would pay a high price for.

That meant their trip had not been in vain, and the palace in front of them was the final treasure chest.

Thinking of the possibility of finding dazzling, enchanting treasures inside the treasure chest made everyone feel a little less apprehensive.

Luo looked at the stone columns and statues in the hall; they were ordinary, with nothing special about them. It was unclear how the stone door had automatically closed or how the statues had automatically ignited.

He had specifically used Gyo to inspect the closed door behind them and the statues that had lit up with flames, but he did not detect any Nen or aura. Moreover, everything had been too smooth on their journey here, and what deserved more attention were the mysterious music sounds and Little Bin's strange transformation.

Thinking of this, Luo suddenly thought of Nen beasts and Martin’s ability to deploy surveillance patterns, both of which could serve as reconnaissance tools to probe the mysteries in the square palace ahead without having to take risks personally.

The group stepped forward, moving towards the palace.

The columns on either side were in rows of twelve, forming a straight royal path.

Their steps were light and slow. Although the journey had been very smooth and they had not encountered any traps, it was always good to be cautious.

This caution, however, proved to be unnecessary.

The group had walked up to about ten meters from the palace when suddenly a surge of intense music from a stringed instrument resonated through the hall without any warning.

The initial sound of the strings was a series of fast glissandos, paradoxically moving from high to low notes, a total of forty-seven notes in just one second, as if plummeting from the clouds straight to hell.

This stark contrast created a palpable sense of descent, causing the hearts of the weaker members like Martin to nearly stop.

After the glissandos, the string sounds hovered back and forth between the lower and middle registers, like vultures circling in the sky above a barren landscape, eyeing the humans below about to take their last breath.

This melody was so oppressively low and heavy, as if the strings were being heavily pressed during the play, resembling ancient tunes played at funerals, mixed with the intermittent sound of cicadas.

Listening to this ever-changing melody, the expressions on everyone’s faces shifted, and they could only stand still, guarding against any potential unforeseen incidents.

Who was playing these strings?

Luo stared intently at the square palace from where the string sounds were emanating. Listening to the sounds, nothing seemed amiss for the moment, but considering what had happened to Little Bin, there was an underlying unease, and the others felt the same.

Suddenly, a vast surge of dark energy billowed out of the palace, emitting a thick ominous aura.

Luo’s face changed as he saw this sudden outpouring of dark energy.

Suppressing the strings, creating a deathly sound!

The billowing dark energy split into a part that transformed into arrows, shooting towards them like lightning.

"Be careful!"

Luo reacted swiftly, warning everyone as he leaped backward, and the others also scrambled to dodge.

Harmonics, overtones!

The arrow-shaped dark energy suddenly transformed into a vast black net!

Seeing this, Luo’s feet surged with aura, propelling him backward, narrowly escaping the black net. The net hit the ground and, like fire meeting water, vanished into thin air while emitting wisps of black smoke.

Meanwhile, the others had almost all successfully dodged the black net, except for the two Nen users standing not far from Martin, who were unable to avoid it and were enveloped by it.

Those who had dodged the net retreated quite a distance.

The sound of the strings continued, clear as water yet played so heavily and depressingly, spreading a sense of despair.

Above the palace, the dark energy surged but did not attack Luo and the others again.

The Nen users trapped under the black net were frozen in their movements, motionless.

The black net transformed into a pitch-black membrane covering the two Nen users.

Watching this scene, a sense of unease surged in everyone’s hearts.

Their first thought was of Little Bin. Could it really be that the string sounds had controlled Little Bin? However, outside the palace, when the string sounds had started, Uncle Li and the others had not sensed any Nen.

The black membrane gradually merged into the bodies of the two Nen users, and then a tumultuous white aura burst out from them.

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