Chapter 161: Echoes from the Underground
The muffled tapping sounds traveled along the concrete pipe walls. It was not the faint scraping of scaled beast claws against rock; it was heavy and slow. With every strike, the entire collapsed pipe network trembled slightly.
Thump... thump... thump...
The rhythm was steady, neither rushed nor impatient. It was like the heartbeat of a giant beast, or perhaps someone using a massive hammer to pound the foundation deep within the rock strata.
The beam of the micro-light tactical flashlight was fixed on the tunnel fork. The pale white light was gnawed away by the thick gray fog, unable to illuminate far ahead. The team members subconsciously huddled closer, their gun muzzles all pointing toward the source of the sound, their breathing reduced to the barest minimum.
"It's not an ordinary scaled beast," Chen Ye said, his thumb pressing against his shock baton, his voice lowered to the extreme. "No matter how heavy a second-tier scaled beast moves, it cannot make a concrete tunnel this old tremble."
Lin Yan slightly furrowed his brow. He released only a wisp of faint perception, probing deeper into the tunnel.
The moment it extended outward, the fissure in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly erupted with sharp pain, as if a sharp piece of stone had fiercely slashed through the wound. A gray-black shadow briefly veiled his vision. He immediately retracted his perception, not daring to probe any deeper. The concentration of the corrosive breath was even higher in the enclosed underground pipes, and the resonance of the illusion web was entwined in every inch of air, continuously gnawing at his origin wound.
"It's something high-tier. Most likely a priest, or a third-tier scaled beast guarding the mother nest," Lin Yan said in a low voice. "It's not heading toward us. It seems to be patrolling the rock strata nodes at the bottom of the rift according to a fixed route. The tapping on the rock layer is to synchronize the psychic resonance of the entire area."
The illusion web of the ancient lizard progeny did not rely solely on the psychic nodes suspended above the wasteland. They had branded the resonance into the rock strata, turning the entire earth into a carrier for transmitting psychic signals. This was why human detection equipment could often only capture surface-level fluctuations, unable to fathom the true layout deep underground.
The team member with the knife scar swallowed hard. "Should we take another fork to bypass it?"
"There are two forks." Lin Yan's gaze swept across the left and right tunnel entrances. "The left is the direction the tapping sound came from, leading straight to the core area of the purple light. The right is an abandoned drainage channel. It's not marked on the map; we don't know where it leads. It's most likely a dead end, or it might take a longer route to flank the side of the rift. But taking a detour means we'll have to lie dormant and wait in the illusion web for at least two to three more frequency windows. We can't afford the time."
His physical strength and Sea of Consciousness tolerance were continuously declining. The pain from the fissure had shifted from intermittent stabs to a steady, burning sensation. He was already very close to the critical red line he had set for himself. The three strong-dose stabilization agents were still in his pocket. He had been holding back, knowing clearly that once injected, although the pain would be temporarily suppressed, the cost was a reduction in his ability to distinguish illusions. In this enclosed underground environment, if he couldn't tell the real from the fake, the entire squad would be buried with him.
The earpiece was filled with continuous crackling static. Zhao Kai's voice squeezed out intermittently: "The spectrum is chaotic. The resonance interference from the underground rock strata is too strong. It's very difficult for me to accurately lock onto the blank windows. I can only give you early warnings for large-scale frequency loosening. Also, the Western Front just withstood a medium-scale beast tide. Gu Shen is safe, but his Sea of Consciousness consumption is massive. The margin for error on the defense line is very low."
Everyone fell silent.
The bastion outside was still gritting its teeth and defending to the death. They didn't have much time left for reconnaissance. The longer they dragged it out, the greater the pressure on the Western Front. Once the defense line collapsed, even if they obtained the intelligence, they would have no way to retreat.
"Take the main tunnel. Move stealthily along the rock wall," Lin Yan finally made up his mind. "We'll stick to the shadows. Turn off the flashlights and use only night vision goggles. Its attention is currently focused on calibrating the rock strata resonance. As long as we don't actively release Sea of Consciousness fluctuations or make loud noises, we have a chance to quietly slip past its outer perimeter. Everyone, remember: no matter what you see or hear, without my order, do not open fire, and do not release your emotions."
"Understood."
Chen Ye turned off the tactical flashlight, and the tunnel instantly plunged into thick darkness. Everyone put on their night vision goggles, turning their vision into a faint layer of green. The six of them formed a single file. Lin Yan took the lead, Chen Ye followed closely behind, and the four assault team members brought up the rear. Pressing against the damp, freezing concrete pipe walls, they moved slowly, step by step, toward the direction of the tapping sound.
The illusions in the underground pipe network were different from those on the wasteland.
The illusions on the wasteland were phantoms spread across an open field of vision. In the enclosed, narrow tunnel, the illusions grew tightly against the walls.
As they walked, human figures began to emerge on the pipe walls on both sides. They were reconnaissance team members who had previously died within the curtain. Their faces were blurred, and they waved at them silently through a layer of fog. The puddles at their feet reflected images of the bastion collapsing and countless refugees being devoured by scaled beasts. Whispers continuously mixed into their ears, persuading them to stop, to turn back, saying that there was only death ahead, and that no one could return if they went any further.
These illusions had no violent impact; they were a silent, permeating infiltration.
A young team member's footsteps hesitated slightly. In his night vision goggles, he saw his deceased younger brother standing in the puddles, reaching out to him. His finger tightened slightly on the trigger, and his mind wavered.
"Hold steady. The illusion web is grabbing your memories," Lin Yan warned in a breathy whisper, turning his head. He didn't use his Sea of Consciousness barrier to dispel them, but simply awakened the other's rationality in a low voice. "Do not make eye contact with the illusions. Stare at the back of the person in front of you."
The team member suddenly came to his senses, squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and continued to follow the squad, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
The tapping sound remained steady. Thump, thump, thump. The distance was closing bit by bit.
Turning a collapsed breach, Lin Yan suddenly raised his hand, signaling the entire squad to stop and press tightly against the wall.
The tunnel ahead suddenly widened into an early underground pump room. In the green-tinted night vision field, a giant beast, far larger than a second-tier scaled beast, stood in the center of the pump room.
It was nearly seven meters long, its scales a dark purplish-black. A row of bone spurs on its back connected to semi-transparent psychic tentacles, which trembled gently, constantly pressing against the surrounding rock walls. It was precisely a third-tier scaled beast.
It was not searching for prey everywhere. Its head was bowed low, its forehead pressed against the rock strata. Every time its head lightly struck the rock wall, that heavy tapping sound would ring out. The tentacles stretched outward, completing the resonance synchronization with the nodes buried deep within the rock strata.
It was a guardian beast on the outer perimeter of the mother nest.
Its psychic perception range was far greater than that of a second-tier scout. Any life fluctuations in the area swept by its tentacles would be captured and synchronized to the ancient progeny priests deep within.
At this moment, it was less than twelve meters away from the breach where the squad was hiding.
"Slowly take half a step back. Do not stir up any air currents," Lin Yan's voice was as light as a breath. Under the wash of the psychic field emitted by the third-tier scaled beast, the burning sensation in his Sea of Consciousness fissure suddenly surged, and waves of dizziness rushed upward. "Its tentacles are scanning this pump room. We are right at the edge of the scan."
The tentacles of the third-tier scaled beast slowly swept toward the breach.
Invisible psychic waves washed over the bodies of the squad members. Everyone held their breath desperately, even deliberately slowing their heartbeats. Lin Yan pressed that wisp of perception down to near nothingness. Simultaneously, he circulated the ancient martial arts mental technique, gathering and concealing his own psychic fluctuations, trying to blend in with the dull resonance frequency of the surrounding rock strata.
This was the breath-concealing method taught to him by his master, and it was his only cover now.
The tentacles paused in front of the breach for two breaths.
Lin Yan clenched his fists. The agonizing pain from the fissure was almost about to break through his tolerance threshold, and his vision darkened in waves. He had even touched the tube of the agent in his pocket; he was just one step away from injecting it into his vein.
A moment later, the third-tier scaled beast seemed to have not captured any clear anomalies. It retracted its tentacles, its head lightly striking the rock wall once again. A thump of trembling spread out. Then, it slowly turned around and walked leisurely toward the tunnel on the other side of the pump room. The heavy footsteps gradually faded, and the tapping sound drifted bit by bit toward the depths of the rift.
Only when it had completely disappeared from their field of vision did the group dare to slowly exhale, their chests aching from holding their breath.
Chen Ye turned his head to look at Lin Yan. In the faint light, he saw his pale face and cold sweat dripping continuously down his forehead. "Can you hold on? Should we lie dormant here and rest for a while?"
Lin Yan slowly shook his head, raising a hand to press his brow, suppressing the surging, burning pain in his Sea of Consciousness. "We can't stay long. This is a patrol point for a third-tier scaled beast; it will circle back. Hurry up, wait for the next window, pass through the pump room, and continue forward."
He knew his state was already nearing its limit. He was only at the third tier. The long path of cultivation toward the ninth tier had just begun, and this unhealing fissure brought deeper torment with every step closer to the mother nest.
Suddenly, Zhao Kai's voice rang out urgently in the earpiece: "Frequency loosening! A large-scale window, estimated duration nine seconds! A rare opportunity!"
"Go!"
Lin Yan hesitated no longer. He took the lead in rushing out of the breach, striding quickly across the empty pump room.
At the end of the tunnel, that halo of pale purple light was already within arm's reach.
The silhouette of Rift No. 79 finally revealed a ferocious glimpse of itself in the darkness.
End of Chapter.
Thump... thump... thump...
The rhythm was steady, neither rushed nor impatient. It was like the heartbeat of a giant beast, or perhaps someone using a massive hammer to pound the foundation deep within the rock strata.
The beam of the micro-light tactical flashlight was fixed on the tunnel fork. The pale white light was gnawed away by the thick gray fog, unable to illuminate far ahead. The team members subconsciously huddled closer, their gun muzzles all pointing toward the source of the sound, their breathing reduced to the barest minimum.
"It's not an ordinary scaled beast," Chen Ye said, his thumb pressing against his shock baton, his voice lowered to the extreme. "No matter how heavy a second-tier scaled beast moves, it cannot make a concrete tunnel this old tremble."
Lin Yan slightly furrowed his brow. He released only a wisp of faint perception, probing deeper into the tunnel.
The moment it extended outward, the fissure in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly erupted with sharp pain, as if a sharp piece of stone had fiercely slashed through the wound. A gray-black shadow briefly veiled his vision. He immediately retracted his perception, not daring to probe any deeper. The concentration of the corrosive breath was even higher in the enclosed underground pipes, and the resonance of the illusion web was entwined in every inch of air, continuously gnawing at his origin wound.
"It's something high-tier. Most likely a priest, or a third-tier scaled beast guarding the mother nest," Lin Yan said in a low voice. "It's not heading toward us. It seems to be patrolling the rock strata nodes at the bottom of the rift according to a fixed route. The tapping on the rock layer is to synchronize the psychic resonance of the entire area."
The illusion web of the ancient lizard progeny did not rely solely on the psychic nodes suspended above the wasteland. They had branded the resonance into the rock strata, turning the entire earth into a carrier for transmitting psychic signals. This was why human detection equipment could often only capture surface-level fluctuations, unable to fathom the true layout deep underground.
The team member with the knife scar swallowed hard. "Should we take another fork to bypass it?"
"There are two forks." Lin Yan's gaze swept across the left and right tunnel entrances. "The left is the direction the tapping sound came from, leading straight to the core area of the purple light. The right is an abandoned drainage channel. It's not marked on the map; we don't know where it leads. It's most likely a dead end, or it might take a longer route to flank the side of the rift. But taking a detour means we'll have to lie dormant and wait in the illusion web for at least two to three more frequency windows. We can't afford the time."
His physical strength and Sea of Consciousness tolerance were continuously declining. The pain from the fissure had shifted from intermittent stabs to a steady, burning sensation. He was already very close to the critical red line he had set for himself. The three strong-dose stabilization agents were still in his pocket. He had been holding back, knowing clearly that once injected, although the pain would be temporarily suppressed, the cost was a reduction in his ability to distinguish illusions. In this enclosed underground environment, if he couldn't tell the real from the fake, the entire squad would be buried with him.
The earpiece was filled with continuous crackling static. Zhao Kai's voice squeezed out intermittently: "The spectrum is chaotic. The resonance interference from the underground rock strata is too strong. It's very difficult for me to accurately lock onto the blank windows. I can only give you early warnings for large-scale frequency loosening. Also, the Western Front just withstood a medium-scale beast tide. Gu Shen is safe, but his Sea of Consciousness consumption is massive. The margin for error on the defense line is very low."
Everyone fell silent.
The bastion outside was still gritting its teeth and defending to the death. They didn't have much time left for reconnaissance. The longer they dragged it out, the greater the pressure on the Western Front. Once the defense line collapsed, even if they obtained the intelligence, they would have no way to retreat.
"Take the main tunnel. Move stealthily along the rock wall," Lin Yan finally made up his mind. "We'll stick to the shadows. Turn off the flashlights and use only night vision goggles. Its attention is currently focused on calibrating the rock strata resonance. As long as we don't actively release Sea of Consciousness fluctuations or make loud noises, we have a chance to quietly slip past its outer perimeter. Everyone, remember: no matter what you see or hear, without my order, do not open fire, and do not release your emotions."
"Understood."
Chen Ye turned off the tactical flashlight, and the tunnel instantly plunged into thick darkness. Everyone put on their night vision goggles, turning their vision into a faint layer of green. The six of them formed a single file. Lin Yan took the lead, Chen Ye followed closely behind, and the four assault team members brought up the rear. Pressing against the damp, freezing concrete pipe walls, they moved slowly, step by step, toward the direction of the tapping sound.
The illusions in the underground pipe network were different from those on the wasteland.
The illusions on the wasteland were phantoms spread across an open field of vision. In the enclosed, narrow tunnel, the illusions grew tightly against the walls.
As they walked, human figures began to emerge on the pipe walls on both sides. They were reconnaissance team members who had previously died within the curtain. Their faces were blurred, and they waved at them silently through a layer of fog. The puddles at their feet reflected images of the bastion collapsing and countless refugees being devoured by scaled beasts. Whispers continuously mixed into their ears, persuading them to stop, to turn back, saying that there was only death ahead, and that no one could return if they went any further.
These illusions had no violent impact; they were a silent, permeating infiltration.
A young team member's footsteps hesitated slightly. In his night vision goggles, he saw his deceased younger brother standing in the puddles, reaching out to him. His finger tightened slightly on the trigger, and his mind wavered.
"Hold steady. The illusion web is grabbing your memories," Lin Yan warned in a breathy whisper, turning his head. He didn't use his Sea of Consciousness barrier to dispel them, but simply awakened the other's rationality in a low voice. "Do not make eye contact with the illusions. Stare at the back of the person in front of you."
The team member suddenly came to his senses, squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and continued to follow the squad, his back already soaked with cold sweat.
The tapping sound remained steady. Thump, thump, thump. The distance was closing bit by bit.
Turning a collapsed breach, Lin Yan suddenly raised his hand, signaling the entire squad to stop and press tightly against the wall.
The tunnel ahead suddenly widened into an early underground pump room. In the green-tinted night vision field, a giant beast, far larger than a second-tier scaled beast, stood in the center of the pump room.
It was nearly seven meters long, its scales a dark purplish-black. A row of bone spurs on its back connected to semi-transparent psychic tentacles, which trembled gently, constantly pressing against the surrounding rock walls. It was precisely a third-tier scaled beast.
It was not searching for prey everywhere. Its head was bowed low, its forehead pressed against the rock strata. Every time its head lightly struck the rock wall, that heavy tapping sound would ring out. The tentacles stretched outward, completing the resonance synchronization with the nodes buried deep within the rock strata.
It was a guardian beast on the outer perimeter of the mother nest.
Its psychic perception range was far greater than that of a second-tier scout. Any life fluctuations in the area swept by its tentacles would be captured and synchronized to the ancient progeny priests deep within.
At this moment, it was less than twelve meters away from the breach where the squad was hiding.
"Slowly take half a step back. Do not stir up any air currents," Lin Yan's voice was as light as a breath. Under the wash of the psychic field emitted by the third-tier scaled beast, the burning sensation in his Sea of Consciousness fissure suddenly surged, and waves of dizziness rushed upward. "Its tentacles are scanning this pump room. We are right at the edge of the scan."
The tentacles of the third-tier scaled beast slowly swept toward the breach.
Invisible psychic waves washed over the bodies of the squad members. Everyone held their breath desperately, even deliberately slowing their heartbeats. Lin Yan pressed that wisp of perception down to near nothingness. Simultaneously, he circulated the ancient martial arts mental technique, gathering and concealing his own psychic fluctuations, trying to blend in with the dull resonance frequency of the surrounding rock strata.
This was the breath-concealing method taught to him by his master, and it was his only cover now.
The tentacles paused in front of the breach for two breaths.
Lin Yan clenched his fists. The agonizing pain from the fissure was almost about to break through his tolerance threshold, and his vision darkened in waves. He had even touched the tube of the agent in his pocket; he was just one step away from injecting it into his vein.
A moment later, the third-tier scaled beast seemed to have not captured any clear anomalies. It retracted its tentacles, its head lightly striking the rock wall once again. A thump of trembling spread out. Then, it slowly turned around and walked leisurely toward the tunnel on the other side of the pump room. The heavy footsteps gradually faded, and the tapping sound drifted bit by bit toward the depths of the rift.
Only when it had completely disappeared from their field of vision did the group dare to slowly exhale, their chests aching from holding their breath.
Chen Ye turned his head to look at Lin Yan. In the faint light, he saw his pale face and cold sweat dripping continuously down his forehead. "Can you hold on? Should we lie dormant here and rest for a while?"
Lin Yan slowly shook his head, raising a hand to press his brow, suppressing the surging, burning pain in his Sea of Consciousness. "We can't stay long. This is a patrol point for a third-tier scaled beast; it will circle back. Hurry up, wait for the next window, pass through the pump room, and continue forward."
He knew his state was already nearing its limit. He was only at the third tier. The long path of cultivation toward the ninth tier had just begun, and this unhealing fissure brought deeper torment with every step closer to the mother nest.
Suddenly, Zhao Kai's voice rang out urgently in the earpiece: "Frequency loosening! A large-scale window, estimated duration nine seconds! A rare opportunity!"
"Go!"
Lin Yan hesitated no longer. He took the lead in rushing out of the breach, striding quickly across the empty pump room.
At the end of the tunnel, that halo of pale purple light was already within arm's reach.
The silhouette of Rift No. 79 finally revealed a ferocious glimpse of itself in the darkness.
End of Chapter.