Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 396 (Patreon)

Chapter 396: The Price of Pursuit

The 【Toxic Seeds】 fired by the Zangzi Flower can cause the poisoned person to lose consciousness within three seconds, followed by death without any awareness.

Luo helped them remove the toxins, and when they woke up, they only thought the light red toxic mist from the seed explosion was just ordinary smoke.

No one knows how long the Road of Bones leading to the Millennium Imperial Capital is, but with such dangerous plants at the start, Luo did not believe that the Eagle Group could safely pass through the Road of Bones.

As he said, he could help the first and second times, but not every time.

Undeniably, the physical fitness of the Eagle Group members was above average, but many risks could not be avoided by physical fitness alone.

Seeing Luo remain silent, Ali frowned slightly and solemnly said, "Tam, we are very grateful for your assistance along the way. Indeed, without you, half of the group might not have made it here. But do you think our efforts have been so cheap? Will we retreat in the face of possible danger?"

Saying this, Ali glanced at his teammates and shouted, "Are you afraid of death?"

The Eagle Group did not answer but responded with loud laughter. For a moment, the silent mountain path was filled with the aura created by the entire Eagle Group.

"It was unnecessary of me to interfere."

Luo nodded, let go of the gold bracelet in his hand, and let it fall on the pile of bones with a crisp sound.

His advice to the Eagle Group was correct, but everyone had different positions. He thought continuing deeper would only lead to meaningless deaths for the Eagle Group, but if they were not afraid of death, his advice was pointless.

Ali walked up to Luo, bent down to pick up the gold bracelet, and handed it to Luo, saying, "I heard that long ago, there was a water hole in the Kendia Desert that would appear when it rained. The water was very muddy but filled with fish covered in thick mud."

"People risked their lives to travel thousands of miles to get the fish, even chasing the rain clouds, so I don't understand why you threw it away."

After speaking, regardless of Luo's reaction, he stuffed the gold bracelet into Luo's hand.

He believed that this was the first treasure Luo had obtained since arriving in the Forbidden Zone and should not be taken lightly. Its significance outweighed its value.

"Maybe I don't need it." Luo looked at the gold bracelet in his hand, which he had dug out from the bone pile, to remind the Eagle Group that there was hidden wealth under their feet without taking risks.

"Then you shouldn't have come here."

Ali gave Luo a deep look, unafraid of the dangers lurking in the darkness ahead, and led the Eagle Group forward.

Luo watched their departing backs and sighed softly.

William came to his side and said lightly, "You don't have to take on certain responsibilities."

After speaking, he also walked into the mountain path. The responsibility he mentioned was helping the Eagle Group, including himself, to deal with potential dangers.

Luo silently put away the gold bracelet, called Buhara, and followed.

Geru, gradually recovering from the shock, also followed silently, her eyes fixed on Luo along the way.

The team continued, advancing more than five hundred meters without incident, when a sudden change occurred. An Eagle Group member holding a torch suddenly fell onto the pile of bones.

The sudden incident made the team stop immediately.

The person next to him squatted down to check the situation. By the firelight, they saw that the fallen member's chest was bleeding profusely, and the bleeding area was at the heart.

Ali turned around, pushed through the crowd, and walked over.

The squatting person looked at Ali, shook his head, and said, "He's dead."

The deceased's shirt was torn open, revealing a thumb-sized blood hole in his chest.

Ali clenched his fist, shifted his gaze to the few people around the deceased, and asked, "What happened?"

Those few people looked at each other, and after a moment, someone said, "Beijiu suddenly fell; we don't know what happened."

At this moment, another person fell, seemingly triggering a chain reaction. Every two or three seconds, someone fell, causing the team to panic.

Luo, Buhara, Geru, and William immediately entered a state of readiness, watching the surroundings vigilantly.

"There's something..."

Luo looked into the dark corners beyond the firelight, his gaze deepening.

In no time, the number of fallen people increased to ten, each with a sudden blood hole at their heart, dying silently.

"Form a shield circle."

Ali had no time to deal with the corpses, and at his command, the Eagle Group members moved, forming a circular formation with shield-bearers on the outer edge, watching for any movement around them.

Luo stood on the periphery, covered in nen.

When no one spoke, the mountain path was deathly silent.

Suddenly, Luo reached out and grabbed something in front of Buhara's chest. In the deathly silent mountain path, a sharp squeaking sound suddenly rang out, startling everyone and drawing attention to Luo's action.

Buhara looked at the thing in Luo's hand and exclaimed, "What is this?"

Luo did not answer because the White Smoke font provided no information.

It was a black soft-bodied creature as long as an index finger, with dozens of compound eyes on its surface, making it impossible to distinguish its head.

When Luo caught it, dozens of eyes opened or closed randomly, emitting sharp squeaks.

"Crack."

At this moment, someone else suddenly fell, this time with a hole in the head.

The attack was not limited to the heart, so the shield could not protect the entire body.

Luo exerted force with his hand, crushing the unknown creature, and the sharp squeaks ceased. He then expanded his 【En】, putting himself in a vulnerable defensive state.

Buhara immediately moved closer to Luo, taking on the responsibility of protection.

In his perception, many willow-like unknown objects floated in the air. Each was only the size of a fingernail, differing in size from the black creature he had just caught.

As Luo wondered, one of the fingernail-sized objects suddenly changed, elongating its body. Originally floating slowly, its speed suddenly exploded like an arrow from a bow, piercing straight into a member's head.

"Leave here."

Luo decisively grabbed a torch from a member and said in a deep voice.

The number of the willow-like unknown objects in the air was not small, but fortunately, their attack frequency was slow, and they did not attack in groups.

Hearing Luo's words, Ali gritted his teeth and said, "Go!"

As soon as the words fell, he ran inward.

The Eagle Group members immediately moved, leaving the corpses behind.

"You go too."

Luo, holding the torch, said to Buhara and the others.

Buhara and the others nodded and did so, stopping to look back after a distance.

Luo suddenly retreated dozens of meters towards them, expanded his domain, and then threw the torch into the area filled with the willow-like unknown objects.

"Whoosh!"

The torch seemed to ignite invisible gasoline, bursting into fierce flames that lasted less than a second, burning away the willow-like objects.

After handling the situation, Luo had no time to ponder what those willow-like objects were when screams came from the front of the mountain path.

Luo and Buhara exchanged glances and quickly rushed to the source of the screams, only to see the Eagle Group being attacked by a mass of plants.

They were vine-like plants covered in dense, sharp thorns. The sharp thorns branched out densely, piercing people and threading them like gourds.

In less than a minute, more than thirty members of the Eagle Group were pierced to death by the thorns.

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