"You two, what are you muttering about back there? Hurry up and catch up." Ye Shikai turned around and said impatiently, Soul Destroyer was on the verge of tears—indeed, when the Boss gets angry, it’s always the underlings who get hurt.
"I’ll go to the back." At this moment, Ji Qian spoke coldly and moved to the very back of the group, ushering Soul Destroyer and the Demoness back to the front...
"Everyone, pick up the pace, let’s get quickly through this area." Ye Shikai shouted loudly. In fact, with the help of the Storage Ring, they could avoid many dangers outdoors, like not worrying about food and water supply, not needing to carry tents, not worrying about the fire source getting damp, and even stowing a vehicle inside the Storage Ring. However, due to the special magnetic field of the area, the group could only rely on walking.
Seeing Ye Shikai’s stern face, Soul Destroyer dared not to rub him the wrong way by asking about the discord between the two, thinking it would pass soon since they were all adults.
"I remember there was a movie today about a couple in a cold war, just because neither of them would lower their face to apologize to the other, leading to a breakup." Not sure if it was because she could read minds or something else, the Demoness suddenly said to Soul Destroyer.
"Are you talking about Boss and the Moon God?" Soul Destroyer subconsciously glanced at Ye Shikai and responded softly.
"What else do you think?" The Demoness rolled her eyes and said annoyedly.
"But the Netherworld Empress is not the Moon God..."
"What kind of brain do you have? In this situation, if they do something, who would know? Moreover, Boss and the Moon God used to have that kind of relationship." The Demoness kept talking, labeling Soul Destroyer as "straight male".
"Our Boss isn’t that kind of person."
As the two were arguing intensely, two cold voices rang out simultaneously—it was Ye Shikai and Ji Qian...
"Hehe, see? What a mutual understanding they have," the Demoness murmured softly.
..........................................
"Thump, thump, thump."
"Did you hear any sound?" Ye Shikai gestured for everyone to stop.
"It sounds like the ground is vibrating." Soul Destroyer directly laid on the ground, listening to the noises from the earth.
"Pfft, you’re too paranoid."
"Boss, look at this." Soul Destroyer pointed at a puddle on the ground where the calm water suddenly rippled. In such a tranquil place, even a slight vibration could be magnified infinitely. More crucially, this vibrating sound was emitted at a frequency, with a sound every two seconds and the sound seemed to be getting louder.
"What’s going on, could it be an earthquake?"
"Everyone, spread out and be on alert." Ye Shikai shouted the command. Currently, thick fog engulfed the surroundings, reducing visibility to less than twenty meters. Even cultivators could only see outlines from around fifty meters away.
"What’s happening?" Ji Qian approached to ask. Now, in the face of a crisis, even if there were differences, they needed to get past this emergency first. The vibrating noise was intensifying—initially, it was faintly perceptible, but now Ye Shikai could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet and could even hear the muffled vibrations.
"I’m not sure, it seems like something is approaching us." Ye Shikai grabbed Ji Qian’s hand tightly and then shouted loudly, "Zi Yun, come inside!"
"See, the cold war between these two is just a facade, easily broken with just a prod," the Demoness said with a laugh.
"Behind us!" Ye Shikai roared. Everyone turned around and aimed their guns towards the back. Ye Shikai could vaguely see a silhouette through the fog, towering four to five meters high.
The outline grew larger, and the rumbling noise intensified, as if a heavy hammer was pounding the ground. Ye Shikai could feel the ground beginning to sway up and down. Watching the silhouette in the smoke slowly move towards them, Ye Shikai hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat.
"Damn, it’s an elephant, spread out!" Ye Shikai’s pupils constricted, and he shouted as he pulled the trigger of his gun.
"Bang." Accompanied by Ye Shikai’s gunfire, a huge elephant trunk swung out from the fog like a whip, sending a Hidden Guard flying like a baseball, with a body length of five to six meters and a height exceeding five meters, essentially like a massive wall. The elephant’s foot heavily stamped on the ground, causing severe trembling—the vibrations were indeed caused by the elephant’s footsteps.
"Everyone, scatter!" Ye Shikai shouted loudly, instinctively pulling Zi Yun behind him, and charged forward with his rifle, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the elephant. However, it was as if the elephant was clad in iron armor—bullets penetrated but drew no blood.
"Bang, bang, bang." Bullets flew wildly, the group emptied their magazines, and the elephant let out a sharp cry. Its front legs stomped fiercely on the ground, lifting its trunk above its head and swinging it forcefully.
"Bang." Another Hidden Guard was struck by the elephant’s trunk. In front of the enormous body of the elephant, everyone seemed too trivial. Moreover, though the elephant appeared clumsy, it was actually very fast. It had long legs and caught up with another Hidden Guard in a few steps, trampling him directly onto the ground.
"Where did this elephant come from?" Ye Shikai cursed. Moreover, judging by the size of this elephant, it was even larger than an African elephant—perhaps due to this rainforest.
"Spread out, quick!" Ye Shikai shouted. The elephant, like a tank, charged into the crowd, impossible to dodge or kill.
"Aim for the eyes of the elephant." Ye Shikai noticed that the whole body of the elephant was covered in a mud-like substance which, when hardened, formed a natural armor in addition to its thick flesh, making it impervolatile. However, there seemed to be no protection around the eyes.
"Ah!" Someone seemed to have hit near the eye socket of the elephant, angering it, which quickened its pace toward the densely populated area.
"Smoke grenades, take the wounded, into the forest!" Ye Shikai shouted loudly. The area around was just grassland with no obstacles; the elephant moved unimpeded. Meanwhile, the forest beside was dense with branches and leaves, which would hinder the elephant’s movement and provide good hiding for everyone.
"Smoke grenades." Soul Destroyer pulled a smoke grenade from his belt and tossed it toward the elephant’s feet. Other Hidden Guards did the same; the environment was already foggy, and with these few smoke grenades, the elephant was completely unable to locate anyone.
"This is a good time to try this thing out; I haven’t used it for a long time." Ye Shikai also took out a "big thing" from his Storage Ring, a "Javelin" anti-tank missile, and forcefully hoisted it on his shoulder, slowly aiming at the elephant.