So I quickly moved aside, helping him up from the ground, and asked, "Grandpa, don't be like this, let's just go home..."

Leaning against my shoulder, Grandpa's face was terribly grim, and he softly murmured, "Go home?"

I nodded, saying, "Yes, home. I'll pretend none of this ever happened, and I won't tell anyone about these things. You’ll still be the old professor at the Academy of Sciences, my grandpa, and we’ll live our quiet lives."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa managed a bitter smile and let out a long sigh, saying, "Yes... it is time to go home."

Hearing Grandpa say that, all the things that had tangled my thoughts suddenly cleared. As long as Grandpa could return home and our family could continue our carefree life, that would be my greatest happiness; his secrets could all be set aside.

At this moment, * and Da Xiong also walked over.

Da Xiong patted me on the shoulder and said, "I thought my mighty Xiong Ye would die here today, but I’m actually fine. Truly a blessing from the heavens. Now, let’s figure out how to get the old man back, and then we can reassess everything."

I nodded, squatted down, and lifted Grandpa onto my back, asking Da Xiong, "Then how do we get out?"

Da Xiong spread his palms and said, "How should I know? We’ll figure something out."

I was momentarily speechless, about to scold Da Xiong a bit, when * interjected from the side, saying, "Look, that Kunlun Fetus still seems alive."

I had felt all along that something hadn't quite finished, and now I finally realized what it was.

I looked in the direction * was pointing. The white flames were beginning to die down, and the melted amber had flowed into a pool on the ground. Within this black liquid, a fetus-shaped object was writhing.

Carrying Grandpa on my back, I walked over and was instantly startled by what I saw.

The fetus-shaped thing was not like a normal fetus. Besides having short limbs and a large head, it also had a long tail.

Moreover, it was covered in countless tiny, black scales, each about the size of a thumbnail, looking extremely bizarre, like a human-shaped snake.

Its umbilical cord was long, stretching down to a small hole in the ground, leading to an unknown place.

Seeing such a grotesque thing filled us all with revulsion.

raised the gun in his hand and fired a shot directly at the head of the Kunlun Fetus.

However, unexpectedly, the bullet only sparked upon hitting its black scales, failing to kill the creature at all.

"*’s voice was filled with surprise, "That hard?"

"Let me end this abominable creature’s life!" Da Xiong pulled out the Silver Fish short blade I had given him and fiercely stabbed towards the thing's neck.

Given the sharpness of the Silver Fish, and the fact that the scales on its neck were the smallest, I figured this blow should surely sever its head.

But strangely, the Silver Fish made a crisp ding sound and was actually deflected backward.

Da Xiong frowned and asked, "What in the world is this thing? It’s so tough. Xiao Chuan, what should we do?"

I frowned, saying, "The 'Thousand Li Ride Alone' completed the whole match, and now we’re just short of this final kick. If we don't kill it, there might be endless trouble. Perhaps we should set it on fire again."

shook his head at this, saying, "The great fire triggered by the Qiming Pearl was extraordinary; even that couldn't burn it to death. Fire is useless against it. Think about it: the little girl in white previously said that the Qiming Pearl and your blood are the keys to restraining your grandpa. Do you think it might require your blood to kill this thing?"

I thought that was certainly possible, but I had a nagging question from the start: why my blood? Why not Da Xiong’s blood or *’s blood? Was there something special about me?

On second thought, there probably was something different about me, otherwise Grandpa wouldn't have gone to such lengths to lure me beneath Black Bamboo Gully.

I resolved that once all this was over, I would have to ask my cousin exactly what was going on.

With that thought, I stopped overthinking it. I took the Silver Fish blade from Da Xiong, lightly nicked my finger, and a bead of blood formed on my index fingertip.

I aimed at the Kunlun Fetus on the ground, intending to let the drop of blood fall onto it.

But just then, I turned my head to look at * standing beside me, and immediately felt that something was off.

Because I clearly remembered that when * fought Mu Yun earlier, he had been grazed by a bullet on the shoulder while protecting Da Xiong.

Yet now, the clothing on *’s shoulder only had a tear, and the wound had vanished.

So, I frowned and asked , "? Didn't you get injured on your shoulder? It healed so fast?"

glanced at his own shoulder and said naturally, "Oh, I don't know what happened. After being treated by that white-clad young girl, my injuries healed incredibly fast."

"Oh? Is that so?" I knitted my brows, recalling that * had suffered such a serious injury, and after being treated by the girl, he could indeed move freely and even perform strenuous actions. It had indeed healed quite fast.

However, looking at the gauze stained red with blood showing through his chest, I felt something was definitely wrong.

I intended to retract my finger and question him further, but as I spoke, that bead of blood had already dropped onto the Kunlun Fetus.

With a strange, high-pitched jiji sound, as the blood collided with the Kunlun Fetus, a puff of white smoke erupted. The Kunlun Fetus struggled violently, slowly began to rot, and finally dissolved into a pool of black liquid.

Yet, seeing this scene, I felt no joy at all. Instead, the corner of my right eye suddenly twitched.

I touched the corner of my eye, my brow deeply furrowed.

Seeing the Kunlun Fetus melt into blood, Da Xiong let out a long sigh and said, "Finally, it’s all fucking resolved. Now the remaining tasks are to grab some treasures and find a way out!"

With that, he patted me and asked, "What's wrong, Comrade Xiao Chuan? You don't look happy at all!"

I forced a smile and brushed him off, saying, "This place is radiating terrible ill fortune; I don't think we should linger. Besides, that little girl in white is still fighting the Crab God; we need to hurry and help her..."

and Da Xiong both nodded, but Grandpa on my back said nothing, his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought.

After quickly tidying up the remnants of the scene, the four of us hastened back the way we came.

Along the path, we saw those strange tree pods again, but they were no longer glowing, hanging upside down around us like sleeping bags containing the dead. When the flashlight beams hit them, it gave off an ineffable sense of dread.

Honestly, walking forward through these lifeless tree pods, whose contents were unknown, was an act that kept our nerves taut.

Because I constantly felt that some of the pods in the dark corners were still faintly wriggling, and I could hear a faint rustling, strange sound coming from the darkness.

The oppressive atmosphere silenced us all; we walked with our heads down, and soon we returned to the spot where we had parted ways with the girl in white.

But the surroundings were pitch black, and there was no sound.

The girl in white and the extremely hideous Crab God were both gone, leaving only the shattered limbs of straw figures all over the ground, some still twitching slightly.

From the countless scratches on the ground and the surrounding destruction, it was clear the girl and the Crab God had been through an incredibly fierce battle, yet both had vanished in the end—this was indeed beyond our expectations.

Da Xiong scratched his head and asked me, "What’s going on here? Where’s that little girl? Don't tell me she's dead?"

I shook my head, unable to answer him, and could only say, "Let's look further ahead."

So, the group continued forward, but after ten minutes, right up to the entrance we used to come in, we still hadn't seen any trace of the girl or the Crab God.

Da Xiong stroked his chin and said, "I think there’s only one possibility: the little girl in white and the Crab God fell into that big hole together—the one the Crab God crawled out of. Maybe we should go back and check."

Hearing him say that, * shook his head and said, "Don't go back. Even if we climb down that hole, if we run into the great crab and it’s not dead, we’ll all be in danger!"

I knew * was right, but ever since I noticed the strangeness in his injury, I couldn't help but look at him more closely.

But I found *’s expression as composed and calm as ever; his behavior showed nothing unusual.

So I told myself I was probably overthinking things. If everything was truly over, that would be the best outcome.

Since we were all exhausted, and once we passed this entrance a massive labyrinth awaited us, the three of us conferred and decided to rest temporarily on this open space by the entrance, taking stock of our food and gear to see how many days we could hold out.

After resting sufficiently, we would then discuss how to get out.

Fortunately, when the girl in white saved *, she had brought his backpack back, and since my backpack was still here, we managed to piece together five or six waterproof tarps.

Waterproof tarps are excellent things with many uses. With tents and sleeping bags lost, the insulating property of the tarps could serve as covers and blankets, effectively conserving body heat.