Chapter 268: The Tomb (2)

The underwater world of an ocean’s seabed was something a human knew very little about, and there were many mysterious stories of unknown creatures that inhabited it. The shadow above her was one such creature that she’d never seen before.

It looked a lot like a whale, but there was a horn on its head that glowed with a chilling light. Its body was dyed a strange colour of violet. In addition, its body was covered with vine-like decorative designs that were a deep black.

Quiet And Steadfast rushed over to Shen Jingbin’s side and looked up at the mysterious creature that had suddenly appeared.

“Is that the unusual creative that guards the Black Tortoise’s tomb?” Quiet And Steadfast murmured unsurely.

Shen Jingbin shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but if the ‘unusual creature’ really was referring to it, then how would it come in? It’s clearly outside the area we’re in. Don’t tell me it’s going to break into here? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it destroy the tomb?”

“Regardless, we should exercise extreme caution,” Quiet And Steadfast replied.

Shen Jingbin nodded. The next moment, an acute pain shot through her ankle.

She immediately looked down and saw a head sticking out of the ground.

Even someone as calm and collected as Shen Jinbin sucked in a deep breath when she laid eyes on it.

It was a monster’s head for crying out loud!

The head was about the size of an apple and was covered in white fur. Its forehead protruded outwards, while the area where it’s eyes were supposed to be were sunken inwards. A pulsing red light resided in its eye sockets. At present, said eyes were staring straight at Shen Jingbin. The monster had no nose, and just beneath its eyes was a blood red mouth that stretched all the way to its ears. Its opened mouth that made it look like it was smiling revealed a row of jagged teeth that were stained with traces of blood.

Shen Jingbin hurriedly looked over to her ankle. The sight of a small puncture wound with blood seeping out of it was reflected in her eyes.

Looks like this was the thing that had attacked her just now.

She glanced at her health bar and noticed half of it was gone.

What kind of monster was this? How the hell did it take off half her health in one bite?!

Shen Jingbin hurriedly pulled out a health potion and restored her health to full, feeling slightly more at ease after doing so.

Quiet And Steadfast’s eyes narrowed as he looked down and spotted the terrifying head. A cold light flashed across his dagger, and he stabbed at the ferocious monster.

Sensing his killing intent and noticing the light that glinted off his dagger, the monster burrowed back into the ground with a ‘whoosh’. Above them, the weird fish thing had now slowly begun to move, leisurely making its way somewhere else.

After it had left, Quiet And Steadfast helped to support Shen Jingbin. “How are you feeling? Any better now? Was that monster poisonous? Do you have any antidotes on you?” Quiet And Steadfast asked, anxiety written all over his face.

Shen Jingbin motioned for him to calm down and said, “It wasn’t poisonous, but its attack was pretty strong. It took out half of my health in a single bite, and I think they increased the pain settings for it too. That attack really hurt. Don’t worry though, I’m alright now.”

Quiet And Steadfast’s expression went back to normal. “It looks like the unusual guardian that was mentioned is that monster.” He then looked around and continued, “It looks like this monster travels by moving through the ground, making it difficult to defend against.”

As he spoke, a notification rang in her head.

“Warning, your pet’s condition is suffering from an abnormal status!”

An abnormal status?

She opened up her pet window and found a new status called ‘agitated’ next to Mascot’s name. Upon seeing a brand new status that she’d never seen before, she hurriedly summoned Mascot and asked Quiet And Steadfast about it. He had tons of top tier pets, so he would definitely be more knowledgeable than her when it came to these things.

Quiet And Steadfast listened to her as he watched Mascot’s form come into existence. Mascot appeared different this time; it continuously clawed at the ground and appeared a lot more agitated than usual.

“I’ve only come across this status once before. Fuzhu [1. Quiet And Steadfast’s pet, in case anyone has forgotten! XD] had a similar reaction in the past when Next Week Is Unlikely tried to subdue Bifang[2. A one legged red-crowned crane. Said to be the harbinger of ruinous flame, it’s the god of both fire and wood and resides in trees. It doesn’t eat grains like other birds, but instead consumes flames. Here’s a pic of how it looks like:

], but I wasn’t paying attention. Now that I think about it, Bifang’s element is fire, while Fuzhu’s is water. This sort of reaction seems to occur when both elements oppose one another. Mascot’s current state is probably due to its opposing element being nearby.”

The two of them immediately thought of that monster and Shen Jingbin had a sudden flash of inspiration. “Mascot, look for the thing that’s making you feel uncomfortable!”

Mascot released a roar and leapt towards a location that was shrouded in shadows.

The moment Mascot leapt over, a small figure within the ground popped out. Shen Jingbin and Quiet And Steadfast stared on with rapt attention.

The monster which had previously only revealed it’s head was now on full display for them to see.

It was only several tens of centimeters tall and wasn’t even half of Mascot’s height. The entirety of its snow-white body was covered in fine hairs, its forelegs were short and stumpy, and its hind legs were incredibly long. As a whole, its strange proportions made it look both intimidating and bizarre.

When the monster appeared, Mascot became even more agitated and sprang towards it with its mouth wide open. The monster was quick on its feet, and with a burst of power from its hind legs, the monster catapulted itself away from Mascot. It then turned back and grinned at the couple, revealing a row of sharp teeth that made one’s hair stand on end.

A gust of wind blew from behind it and it burrowed into the ground.

Having struck air a second time, Mascot roared in frustration and tried jumping at it from another direction. Then, the monster popped out once again, but burrowed away once more in the blink of an eye.

Although Mascot could accurately detect the monster’s location, Mascot lacked the means to catch it.

As the game of cat and mouse continued, Shen Jingbin noticed the monster only moved within the shadow of the fish above, and the fish in question slowly moved about in the general area they were in.

It looked like both the monster and the fish were really energetic.

And, if this monster really was the guardian, that meant that the Black Tortoise’s tomb was beneath them.

With this thought in mind, she immediately recalled Mascot.

“Mascot, return!”