It was a black, gigantic creature. About five times larger than Qin Meng. Its eyes glittered with a vicious glint, and nostrils flared, releasing fire every time it exhaled. The tail was like a wipe embedded with hundreds of spikes as it burned with fire, and its entire frame was covered in muscles. Its gait was arrogant as it sniffed the blood container but did not even lick it. The blood was not fresh. Not worthy enough to become its food.
Qin Meng knew he would not live if the beast found him. He had no time to think. He looked in the distance where the group of bandits was hiding. Then he curled his lips and rushed towards them.
"How did he untie himself?" grunted the leader in outrage.
"I tied him perfectly, boss. I swear," said Yao Ying, with a crying face. "He even drank the Elixir of Paralyzing. He could not even use his Martial Spirit."
"Then how did he get free?!" snapped the one-eyed leader. Yao Ying had no answer. He could only lower his head in shame.
"Shit!" one man said. His eyes widening in terror.
Everyone looked towards Qin Meng and the beast, and their expressions changed. The creature had found the boy they had kidnapped—the boy was rushing towards them. If they let him continue, the monster would find them sooner or later.
"Shoot him!" commanded the leader.
"But—"
"No if or but. We can come back again if we are alive," said the leader.
The gang members nodded and knocked the arrows on their bowstrings and pointed towards the frantically running boy. The monster was just seven hundred meters behind him. It was just a matter of time before it caught him.
Qin Meng ran with all his might. He didn't want to die. No one did. However, at this moment, he felt a sense of danger coming from in front of him. He eyed in the distance, finding a deluge of arrows pouring at him. He cursed, and without a single thought, he changed his direction, avoiding the attack.
After running just ten meters, however, he realized he had arrived in front of a deep chasm. There was no path in front of him. He could find only stone boulders and yellow sand down below, hills and mountains and more sand in the distance.
He glanced behind and found the creature was just three hundred meters away from him. The arrow attacks had stopped. The gang was rushing in the distance on their horses. Not even looking behind. They escaped as soon as they attacked Qin Meng. The beast already knew about their existence. It was the ruler of a region for a reason. Staying any longer would be courting death.
Qin Meng gritted his teeth and looked down the chasm and then at the creature, which was just a few meters away from him. He took a few steps back and rushed towards the ditch.
However, before he could jump down, he felt strong waves coming from behind him. He turned around, only to find a colossal python coiling around the panther. The python was a hundred meters long, had blue skin that was covered in scales, and its green eyes shone with ferocious intensity.
Both of them were struggling to gain an advantage over the other. He had no idea from where this python had come. Maybe it was hiding under the ground, waiting to catch the panther off guard.
Anyway, he canceled the idea of becoming a cripple—if he survived the dive into the chasm—and rushed in the distance. He had no interest in watching the epic battle between two deadly creatures. Curious people die first, and he did not want to die. Not that he thought curiosity was bad or something, but you needed strength to back it up, which he lacked.
He arrived behind a large boulder, the same one, behind which the group of bandits was hiding previously. He tried to find them. There was no trace. Then he turned towards the ongoing battle between the panther and the python.
The panther tore the scales off the python with its powerful jaws, and the python dug its long fangs into the neck of the panther. Neither of them wanted the other to leave alive. It was a deadly battle. Fight to death. Kill or be killed.
The destructive breath of fire discharged from the panther's mouth, burning the python again and again, while the python had the deadly poison, making the panther miserable.
The panther had the speed of the wind and the python had a long tail by which it could restrict the panther. None of them could overcome the other, but neither of them wanted to admit defeat.
As the battle continued, Qin Meng's gaze fell upon the cave. He realized that the bandits weren't after the panther as its strength was way out of their league. They wanted to take something from the cave. He was just a way to distract it for some time.
As he thought about it, his heart raced. He licked his lips and eyed the two creatures. He could tell that the battle won't conclude soon. "Curious people may die early, but only curious people can change history." He gritted his teeth and rushed towards the mouth of the cave.
None of the monsters spotted him.
After arriving at the entrance, he again looked at the creatures, still struggling. After making sure that everything was fine, he entered the den of the beast.
It was dark, but after his eyes adjusted accordingly to the light in the cave, everything became clear. He looked around. There was nothing, so he went deeper. After walking for fifteen minutes, he arrived in front of the pool, filled with red liquid. A large red stalactite hung on the ceiling from which the drops of red liquid fell in the pool now and then.
Qin Meng eyed the red liquid and hurried towards it. He touched it with his finger and felt a burning sensation. However, he did not care about it at the moment. He sniffed it and then licked it with his tongue. "Spirit Liquid!" said Qin Meng with an excited look. "And it is grade four Spirit Liquid at that."
The Spirit Liquid was the essence of heaven and earth that had compressed together, taking the form of liquid. There were all kinds of Spirit Liquids in this world, and this was the fire type. "If the Spirit Liquid is grade four, then the stalactite must be of at least grade five," he said as he stared at the ceiling.
Suddenly, he felt as if the ground were trembling. He turned around and looked towards the entrance of the cave and spotted two ferocious eyes staring at him.