Urban Martial Saint

Chapter 1924 - 1924: Man-Eating Monsters

The monster long-haired human lifted the corpse from the ground onto its shoulder and started walking back along the same path. It seemed like it had come specifically to take the corpse away.Ye Qing hid in the shadows, watching the monster long-haired human walking away, and his heart was racing. The appearance of this monster long-haired human made Ye Qing even more curious and shocked about what was happening inside this cave. What exactly was hidden in this cave, and why were there so many strange things?

With doubts in his mind, Ye Qing gathered his courage and stepped out from around the corner, quietly following the direction where the monster long-haired human had gone. The footsteps of the monster long-haired human were very heavy, especially clear in the silent stone corridor. Therefore, Ye Qing could easily follow the monster long-haired human without worrying about losing track of it.

The length of this stone corridor was unknown. Initially, it followed the water path, but eventually, it began diverging from the waterway. The underground stream entered another cave, which was so shallow that the water nearly submerged the entire cave. Even if someone managed to float on the surface, breathing would not be easy. It seemed that the only path traversable by people was the one the monster long-haired human took.

This stone corridor extended another thirty or so meters before it branched into three paths. The monster long-haired human went straight into the leftmost path without even glancing at the other two.

Ye Qing approached these three paths with a slight hesitation. At this point, should he continue following the monster long-haired human, or choose a different path? Choosing another path might involve traps, but following the monster also brought uncertainty. Who knew if the path it chose might harbor more of its kind?

After contemplating for a moment at this crossroad, Ye Qing decided to follow the direction the monster long-haired human went. Of course, he became much more vigilant, keeping a safe distance, and carefully observing the surroundings. If there were any danger ahead, he intended to retreat immediately and not proceed further.

The stone corridor was quite long and dark. To avoid drawing the monster's attention, Ye Qing refrained from using his flashlight. Fortunately, after spending some time in the corridor, his eyes adjusted enough to make out the surroundings.

After walking a distance of about one or two hundred meters, the footsteps of the monster long-haired human stopped. Ye Qing immediately halted and pressed his back against the wall, cautiously observing the situation ahead, worried that the monster discovered him.

Luckily, there was no further movement for a long time, indicating that the monster long-haired human hadn't returned. This reassured Ye Qing a bit, and he continued cautiously to see what lay ahead.

The distance between him and the monster long-haired human was around thirty meters. Ye Qing carefully walked about twenty meters forward, arriving at a corner. From there, he could hear chewing sounds accompanied by crunching noises, as if teeth were gnawing on bones, which was particularly unsettling to hear.

Ye Qing dared not rush forward. He cautiously peeked around the corner, and the first thing he saw was a spacious stone chamber. Inside, there were a dozen or so monster long-haired humans, identical to the ones he had seen before. These creatures were squatting in various spots, each gnawing on something. Scattered on the floor of the stone chamber were several articles of clothing, which Ye Qing recognized as belonging to the corpse that the monster long-haired human had dragged over. Strangely, the corpse itself was nowhere in sight!

Ye Qing scrutinized the scene and suddenly, to his shock, noticed that one of the monster long-haired humans was holding a human hand as food!!!

Witnessing this scene made Ye Qing's heart race again, despite his normally courageous nature. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, and looked at the other monster long-haired humans. Observing the body parts they were gnawing on, it was clear they were from the corpse that the other monster long-haired human had carried over. Evidently, these creatures were eating the dead body!

The sight made Ye Qing feel nauseous and terrified by these creatures whose origins were unknown. If they noticed him, there was no doubt he would perish. These monsters eating human corpses were horrifying. What was the purpose of this cave? It couldn't have been left by the Doomsday Sect Leader. How could he have left such monstrous man-eaters?

Taking a deep breath, Ye Qing dared not disturb these monster long-haired humans and retreated quietly, intending to leave the stone corridor. Even with the Metamorphic Iron Dagger in hand, he wouldn't stand a chance against so many monster long-haired humans if they attacked. Getting eaten by these creatures would be a pathetic end.

As Ye Qing was withdrawing, he suddenly heard urgent footsteps behind him. Judging by the weight of the steps, more monster long-haired humans were rushing in his direction.

Hearing this, Ye Qing felt despair. With a dozen of those creatures in the stone chamber ahead and now some coming from behind, he was trapped with nowhere to run. If these creatures surrounded him, he wouldn't stand a chance.

As the footsteps got closer, Ye Qing had no choice but to frantically claw at the nearby stone wall, attempting to climb up. Fortunately, the wall was uneven, with many protrusions, allowing Ye Qing to grab onto some rocks and climb a bit. But climbing further was impossible as there were no more handholds.

Ye Qing had clambered about two meters high, an insufficient distance to hide. If he could climb a bit higher, he might have been slightly safer, as the monsters might not notice him if they didn't look up. But without any more handholds in reach, he was in trouble.

Thinking quickly, Ye Qing remembered the Metamorphic Iron Dagger in his hand. Without hesitation, he stabbed it into the stone wall. The dagger could cut through Mysterious Iron with ease, let alone a stone wall. The wall yielded to the dagger, and Ye Qing hurriedly carved a handhold into the rock.

The footsteps were even closer now, apparently near the corner. Ye Qing couldn't waste any time after creating the handhold. He bit the dagger between his teeth, grasped the handhold tightly, and heaved himself upward, climbing to a height of about three meters and finally avoiding the monsters' line of sight.

Ye Qing had just climbed up when a group of monster long-haired humans rushed around the corner, similar to the ones he had seen before. Moreover, this group was large, numbering about a dozen, though some appeared injured, limping as they ran. Who knew what had happened?

The monsters did not notice Ye Qing clinging to the stone wall and quickly ran through the corridor, charging into the stone chamber. From the chamber, Ye Qing heard howls. As he prepared to descend and leave, the footsteps returned — the monsters were coming out of the stone chamber again.

At this moment, Ye Qing dared not try to outrun these creatures. He climbed further up the stone wall just as the monsters dashed out of the stone chamber. They seemed anxious, rushing out in hurry without noticing Ye Qing on the rock face, allowing him to avoid detection.

Watching them leave, Ye Qing realized that the new group had called the others from the stone chamber away. After the monsters were gone, Ye Qing descended from the rock face, circled to inspect the stone chamber, and, as he suspected, all the monsters had left.

Ye Qing had no idea what was happening outside to cause the monsters to suddenly depart. Still, he didn't plan to check outside but rather wanted to explore the stone chamber. Evidently, it was a stronghold for these monsters, and they wouldn't normally all leave together. Such an opportunity was rare, and he didn't intend to waste it.

The stone chamber was quite large, approximately the size of two basketball courts, an unusual size for a stone chamber. Yet, it was surprisingly tidy, without a trace of mess despite the monsters inhabiting it, as if the creatures cleaned it regularly.

Ye Qing was puzzled by the scene. These monsters even ate humans and seemed to be uncivilized, so how could they know to tidy up? Moreover, what about the bones left from the humans they ate and such cleanliness?

This thought made Ye Qing's heart skip a beat, recalling the heaps of white bones he had seen in the canyon, scattered and mostly dismembered, a mystery he had pondered over. Now it seemed those bones might well have been leftovers from these man-eating monsters.