The moment Mu Yun realized who the woman was, we all looked at him with astonishment.

Mu Yun chuckled, saying, "Don't think that just because you look exactly like the Witch of Wei depicted in the murals, you can actually do anything with your current status." The girl smiled faintly and replied, "That's not necessarily true." "Still arguing!" Mu Yun appeared furious and raised his gun to shoot at the girl.

But just as the bullet was leaving the barrel, I saw the enormous Ku Long King beside the girl move its mouth, and a bizarrely long tongue shot out like an arrow, colliding directly with the projectile.

Then, in less than a tenth of a second, the tongue retracted back into its mouth.

With our jaws nearly hitting the floor, the Ku Long King continued to stare ahead with perfect composure, moved its mouth again, and actually swallowed the bullet whole. "Whoa! Did you see that, Xiao Chuan, did you see that!" Da Xiong shook my shoulder violently. "I really want one! If I had that, I’d be invincible." Mu Yun looked down at the Ku Long King crouching on the ground, then glanced at us, his gaze finally fixing on the girl.

After a few seconds, he waved his hand dismissively and said, "Forget it.

Since it's come to this, letting you pass is fine too..." With that, he turned, shrugged helplessly, and walked into the distance. "Wait! You think you can just bail after showing some fear? Do you know who I am, Old Xiong? I won't allow you to just walk away! Stop right there!" Da Xiong was red-necked with anger, striding forward to pursue Mu Yun.

But he had only taken two steps when the girl in white shouted from behind, "Be careful!" Da Xiong froze, turning his head back to look at the girl, and asked, "Wh—" Before the word was even out, the ground roared.

The previously smooth wooden planks suddenly split open into a massive fissure, sending splinters flying and dust swirling into the air, accompanied by a woman’s shriek.

I flinched backward several steps, steadied myself, and then looked up to see two pincers, as thick as overpass pillars, erupting from the ground.

The display of force was terrifying; the sight made our courage crumble. "What...

what in the world is that..." Even *’s usual composure cracked, and his speech began to stutter. "Forget what it is for a second—check if Da Xiong is alright!" I shoved *’s arm.

snapped out of his shock, drew his military knife, and charged forward through the thick dust cloud.

I followed closely behind *, running towards those unbelievably huge claws.

Seeing us rush into such danger, the girl called out from behind, "Get back! It's dangerous! That is the Crab God of the East Sea..." Hearing her words, I finally remembered the mural we had seen in the secret chamber, the one depicting this very East Sea Crab God.

Back then, we had only seen rotten corpses, not the actual monster.

But one thing was certain: it had a pair of enormous pincers.

Although I didn't hold a high opinion of Feng Ze’s combat skills, his team had navigated so many trials to reach this depth, so they must possess extraordinary abilities.

Yet, this nearly elite exploration team had been almost entirely wiped out by the giant claws of this East Sea Crab God, which spoke volumes of its brutality.

Based on where Da Xiong had been standing, he should have been some distance away from where the giant claws burst forth, suggesting he might still have a chance to survive.

As we rushed between the two massive claws, my assumption was confirmed.

Da Xiong was alive, but his situation was far from good.

Because, at some unknown point, a brilliant red flower had bloomed from the palm of Mu Yun’s right hand, which was covered in green thorns.

At the center of the flower were eleven strange mouths, from which stretched a green tongue as thick as a thumb.

The tongue’s tip was forked, writhing like a snake’s dart in the air, and in an instant, it shot out and tightly ensnared both of Da Xiong’s shoulders.

I stared at the bizarre scene for a second, momentarily frozen.

Then Da Xiong roared, "Save me! Damn it, this thing is gripping too tightly!" I saw that the thing was indeed grotesque, wrapping around Da Xiong three times until he looked like a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling), his flesh bulging from the constriction.

Within another second, Da Xiong started sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes back.

If he hadn't been so stout, anyone else would have been crushed to death already.

Seeing this, * snatched the pistol from my hand and raised it, intending to shoot Mu Yun.

I quickly interjected, "Don't shoot him, it'll be wasted effort.

Shoot the tongue and sever it!" nodded; his marksmanship wasn't as erratic as Da Xiong's.

He fired a controlled burst toward the strange tongue dangling in the air.

But almost simultaneously, Mu Yun let out a cold snort from his nostrils.

He yanked his hand, now swollen multiple times due to the green thorns, backward, pulling Da Xiong toward him.

The bullet struck Da Xiong squarely in the backside, erupting in a puff of scarlet.

Fortunately, Da Xiong was semi-conscious from the strangulation, otherwise, he would surely have let out a pig-slaughtering scream.

Mu Yun dragged Da Xiong over, leaving him sprawled in front of him like a dead hog.

Then he looked up at us and said, "Don't rush.

I don't intend to kill him yet; there are more amusing things to do." With that, he pulled another syringe from the pocket of his black trench coat.

A bad feeling struck me—Da Xiong was about to be turned into a monster.

I urgently yelled at * to shoot.

But just as * raised his weapon, the ground thundered, and a head larger than a water vat erupted almost right next to our feet, blocking our view.

The facial features of this gigantic head were grotesque beyond description.

It had shoulder-length hair matted together, a face entirely covered in fatty growths, with jowls and a chin that drooped almost to its shoulders.

A pair of giant eyes, like electric torches, shone with an eerie golden light, their pupils narrow slits like a cat’s.

The entire surface of the skull was black, even the teeth were pitch-dark, covered in sticky mucus, with shreds of unknown rotting flesh clinging between the gaps.

The creature merely exhaled once, and the resulting stench of decay was so foul and overwhelming that it forced me back several steps, nearly causing me to faint.

But what the thing did next was even more atrocious: it unleashed an incredibly piercing, agonizing scream directly at the two of us. "Aaaaah..." It was the shrillest, most harrowing woman's scream I had ever heard, mixed with rolling waves of fetid air and a powerful shockwave that physically blew us both backward.

I covered my ears and flew backward, glancing at the ground below; we had risen more than three meters into the air.

I thought my spine was surely going to snap.

But just then, something black and sticky flashed through the air, wrapping around both of us and reeling us in.

Yes, it was the Ku Long King that saved us from behind.

The Ku Long King’s tongue was incredibly agile, winding us up and depositing us safely back onto its own back.

and I climbed down from the Ku Long King’s back, shaken to our cores.

The girl beside us chided, "I told you not to go over there.

I could have handled rescuing that fat man myself; you just wouldn't listen." Thinking about Da Xiong about to be injected with that strange drug, I couldn't remain calm and panicked.

Ignoring who she was, I blurted out, "Save him, save him...

Well, go ahead and save him then!" The girl stared at me, her eyes widening with a look of slight reprimand, like a junior confronting a senior.

Then, she let out a bitter laugh and a slight sigh, drawing a silver bell from her waist and gently shaking it toward the Ku Long King.

I had no idea what she intended to do, nor did I have the opportunity to observe further.

Because the East Sea Crab God, with its giant pincers and woman’s head, was already struggling to pull itself free from the earth.

Accompanied by the cracking sound of the wooden floorboards, the Crab God’s shoulders first broke the surface.

Then, with a furious roar, two scythe-like crab legs surged out from beneath the ground.

Next, it exerted all its strength and heaved, its entire body emerging from the earth like a radish being pulled from the soil.

At that moment, * and I were dumbfounded, staring up at the monster like wooden statues.