Chapter Twenty-One: The Lair?

Lin Lei carried Wen Xiang on his shoulder, leaving himself no chance to fight back, but Wen Xiang could still retaliate. Wen Xiang sniffled, wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes, and responded with a sobbing "mm," raising both hands high.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Two fiery serpents shot out from his palms, though they were much smaller and dimmer than before, clearly showing he was exhausted. Though Wen Xiang was a bit arrogant, his combat talent was undeniable. He didn't expect the fire snakes to harm the monstrous creature but merely sought to delay it, create a commotion, and buy Lin Lei some time, even throwing out quite a few.

As thick smoke billowed and swirled, visibility around them was completely obscured.

"This kid is actually somewhat useful!"

Seeing the smoke rise, Lin Lei immediately and carefully darted into the haze, slipping away at lightning speed. The monster, losing Lin Lei’s direction, could only roar in fury.

With Wen Xiang still slung over his shoulder, Lin Lei dared not pause for a moment, sprinting for ten minutes before stopping only when he encountered a group of blocking demon ghosts.

With Wen Xiang's help, they easily dispatched the group. Lin Lei didn't dare devour them outright, but instead found a hidden cave nearby, where he and Wen Xiang took shelter.

"Young Master Wen, you really have guts! How could you go after that monster all by yourself?"

Lin Lei teased him bluntly.

Wen Xiang's face flushed with embarrassment, his previous arrogance gone, tears welling in his eyes once more as if he were about to cry.

Lin Lei was speechless.

This kid simply lacked experience, never having faced such situations.

"Rest up for a bit. I’ll go check the surroundings..."

Seeing Wen Xiang in that state, Lin Lei refrained from provoking him further, turned, and left the cave. He returned to the spot where he and Wen Xiang had encountered the demon ghosts, consuming all their corpses.

Then, he deliberately headed toward the area where the third-tier monster was located.

...

In the vast, eerie darkness.

With the [Nightwalker] ability, Lin Lei’s body merged seamlessly with the shadows, his presence completely concealed. Without the burden of carrying Wen Xiang, even the sharp-sensed demon ghosts could not detect him.

He soon arrived at the monstrous creature’s nest.

Pinpricks of orange-red firelight flickered in the darkness.

All remnants of Wen Xiang's abilities.

Many demon ghosts had been reduced to charcoal.

The air was filled with wails and screams, but Lin Lei noticed the gigantic third-tier monster was hunting the other demon ghosts.

Though its size and strength far surpassed ordinary demon ghosts, their numbers and agility made its hunt far from easy. The demon ghosts’ sharp claws inflicted considerable wounds.

Lin Lei’s eyes glimmered.

This was vital information.

The third-tier monster and the demon ghosts were not allies.

In other words, Lin Lei and his companions could leverage the demon ghosts’ power against the third-tier monster.

Roars echoed intermittently.

Whenever it caught a demon ghost, it locked the creature with its four claws and stuffed it in its massive jaws, tearing and devouring it gleefully.

While the giant hunted, Lin Lei circled its nest, consuming one charred corpse after another, accumulating his own gluttonous energy.

Though the burnt demon ghosts were nearly devoid of source energy, to Lin Lei, they still provided a significant boost.

After he had nearly finished with the corpses, the third-tier monster was still hunting.

Lin Lei hesitated, then turned his gaze toward the pitch-black cave behind the monster, thoughts flickering.

"This creature can’t detect my 'concealment.' It never strays far from this cave—there must be something valuable inside..."

Without further hesitation, he slipped inside.

The creature’s den was deep and vast, with only one passage. Lin Lei quickly reached its deepest recesses.

Soon, he heard a sound resembling a cat’s mewling.

"What’s that?"

His curiosity piqued, he followed the sound and soon found himself in a larger hollow at the cave’s end.

"This is..."

Blood-soaked limbs of demon ghosts lay strewn across the floor, alongside numerous white bones.

Two creatures, similar in form to the third-tier monster outside—one about the size of a small human, the other two to three meters tall—were crouched on the ground, tearing at demon ghost limbs with their four claws, then stuffing them into two grotesquely vertical mouths.

From their physiology, it was clear: one male, one female.

Their organs differed subtly.

The smaller one was male, the larger female.

"Could these be the third-tier monster’s wife and child?!"

Lin Lei’s eyes gleamed.

The half-sized creature was obviously an infant.

The slightly larger one was most likely the "wife" of the beast outside.

After all, one usually needs a wife before having offspring.

Of course, unusual breeding methods couldn’t be ruled out—after all, these were aberrations, so perhaps both creatures were spawned by the one outside through some special means.

"This [Forbidden Zone] stipulates only one third-tier aberration. Judging by their sizes, these two must be first and second-tier, not strong enough to threaten me..."

His gaze swept the empty nest, and he quietly drew the alloy knife from his back.

Utilizing [Nightwalker],

He stealthily approached the larger creature.

Seizing the moment while it fed, Lin Lei leapt high, harnessed all his strength, and in one swift motion severed its head with the blade, immediately activating "Plunder."

Then, without delay, he charged at the much smaller creature.

Another leap and a downward slash, splitting it along its vertical mouth into two, and likewise activated Plunder.

Plundering the larger aberration consumed more than seventy points of gluttonous energy—clearly a second-tier.

The smaller cost nearly twenty—much more than a corpse eater, but evidently only a first-tier.

With these, the injuries Lin Lei had sustained rescuing Wen Xiang were completely healed.

Meanwhile, his teeth tingled, an urge to bite something welling up...

The greatest enhancement from these two aberrations was his biting force!

"Seems these aberrations lack any special abilities!"

Lin Lei would have to be mad to use his teeth when he had a blade.

Though their abilities were useless to him, his physical strength and source energy had grown considerably, especially the former.

This second-tier aberration granted him a greater power boost than devouring two second-tier demon ghosts!

Evidently, this type of aberration was focused on physical strength.

After resolving and devouring the two monsters, he wasted no time consuming all nearby demon ghost corpses, then turned and swiftly left!