chsdbacks Chapter 135 Mechanical Giant Bear
Chapter 135 Mechanical Giant Bear
Lin Yan saw the short, stocky man stand up, take half a step back, move his lips, and say something to the seriously injured man.
The tall, thin man next to him suddenly turned his head, his long sword flashed out of its sheath, and he pressed it against the short, stocky man's neck. He stared at him for a moment, then said something vicious to him.
The short, stocky man's face stiffened, and he didn't speak again. The tall, thin man also put away his knife.
It seems these people aren't really working together as a team.
Next, the five people checked their weapons and medicine pouches. One of them took out a small porcelain bottle from his pocket, poured out a pill for each of them, and then they all closed their eyes and meditated for a while.
Lin Yan shrank further towards the base of the pillar, completely hiding his figure behind the half-person-high base between the pillar and the ground. From this angle, only the back of his head could be seen, and even if those people got up and walked out, they wouldn't notice him at all.
After they had calmed their breathing, the five of them stood up, picked up their weapons, and left the area covered by the fallen bronze beast.
The one who was most seriously injured walked at the front. When he passed the tiger-shaped mechanical beast covered in blood and fragments of internal organs, he glanced down at it but did not stop and continued forward.
The group moved with extreme caution, stopping every few steps to listen to their surroundings and check for any changes in the mechanical bear.
Lin Yan moved back behind the pillar, and when the short, stocky man at the back was almost at the edge of his Qi-gazing perception, he stood up from behind the pillar and drew the Zhenyue Blade from his waist.
He pressed down on the spine of the blade with his palm as it was drawn, without making a sound.
He carried the knife, moved quietly, and followed stealthily.
Several people stood at the edge of the second row of stone slabs, staring at the three bronze bears in front of them and the bronze beasts with human faces in the distance.
Lin Yan found a spot not far from the entrance but not obstructing his view and stood close to the wall, his body huddled between two protruding bricks. From that angle, he could see the entire area between the five people and the three bears.
The five men stood there for a moment, then the one in the middle, whose left arm was in a sling, spoke up, "We've already lost Fourth Brother's life just by passing this first hurdle. These three bears are more than half again as big as those tigers, and there's another human-faced beast behind them that we don't know what it is. It's really difficult to force our way through."
"What do we do if we don't force our way through? Go around it?" the tall, thin man beside him chimed in. "Look, the ground is covered with these blood jade slabs. The inscription clearly states that stepping on them will trigger these mechanical beasts. You think we can get around them?"
"Then we'll fill in the gaps with more people." The speaker was a sallow-faced man who hadn't spoken much until now. "The five of us will attack from three directions simultaneously. Someone will be able to distract the bears, and the rest of us will pass through the middle."
Who will wear it?
"Whoever runs the fastest gets to wear it."
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
"What happens after we get through? What happens to the rest of the people?"
"This level was meant to block our way; it wasn't about killing everyone to get through. Whoever gets to the other side first wins. The rest of you, figure it out yourselves."
After these words were spoken, the atmosphere among the five people clearly changed.
The group remained silent for a while before the man with the sling in his left arm finally spoke: "Then let's do it his way. Three people will lure the bears away, and the rest will go through the middle. Whoever is left at the back is out of luck."
These people were already calculating who would live and who would die before the fight even started.
Lin Yan maintained a distance of forty or fifty paces from the five people, and no matter what method they used to get past, he could quickly follow behind them.
The five people in front have already moved.
The sallow-faced man took his first step, the sound of his foot landing on the blood-red jade slab echoing clearly in the empty hall.
Immediately afterwards, the bronze mirrors on the chests of the three bronze bears lit up simultaneously.
The bear in the center took a step forward, the resounding thud of its bronze paws hitting the ground making the stone slabs vibrate. The two bears beside it also moved, and the three enormous creatures spread out in a fan shape, completely blocking the passage to the giant gate on the other side.
The yellow-faced man had already stepped onto the second row of stone slabs, less than five zhang away from the nearest bear statue.
He turned and yelled behind him, "What are you waiting for! Get in!"
The remaining four people moved almost simultaneously.
The tall, thin man cut out from the left, while the short, stocky man was on the right. The one with the sling on his left arm didn't rush forward; instead, he took two steps back and stood where the sallow-faced man had just been standing.
The bear statue in front of the yellow-faced man lowered its body and slammed its two bronze paws heavily on the ground. A gust of wind carrying gravel rushed towards him. The yellow-faced man dodged to the side, taking three steps back. The stone slab he had been standing on was smashed into pieces by the giant bear.
He seized the opportunity before the bear could raise its paw and took half a step forward, slashing the bear's right wrist joint with his knife.
The blade sliced into the gap in the copper shell, jamming the rotating gears inside and producing a screeching sound.
The bear's movements indeed became sluggish because of this move, and the speed of its right paw swinging decreased significantly.
The lanky man on the left also entangled the second bear. He was much more agile than the yellow-faced man, constantly darting around the bear's legs with his footwork. Each time, he seized the opportunity to slip in and strike with his knife during the gaps between the bear's paws. Although each strike was not very powerful, the frequent and dense attacks made the bear turn around frequently, disrupting its rhythm of attack and making it move more and more sluggish and clumsy.
The short, stocky man on the right wasn't so lucky.
The bear he faced was more ferocious than the other two; its first palm strike made the knife in his hand vibrate and almost break.
He raised his sword to block, and the huge bronze bear paw slammed into the blade. The force traveled through the hilt to his arms, causing the muscles in both arms to tense up simultaneously. A wound tore open at the base of his thumb, and blood gushed down the hilt.
He gritted his teeth, channeled a surge of inner energy, thrust the knife upwards, and rolled away as the bear's paw rose, slipping under its left armpit before turning and slashing at its leg.
The three bears were aroused, their attention focused on the opponent who was constantly harassing them. The clattering of gears and the hum of swords as their bronze bodies turned echoed throughout the empty hall.
The man with his left arm in a sling exchanged a glance with a thin, small man who hadn't said much before, and then took a step forward.
The two of them ran one after the other along the path that had been cleared in the center of the hall.
The stone slabs receded rapidly beneath our feet, and the giant gate leading to the fourth hall drew ever closer, less than twenty feet away.
Just then, the bear in front of the yellow-faced man suddenly stopped chasing him and turned around to pounce on him.
The turn was completely unexpected; the massive bronze body traced a semi-circle on the stone slab, and the bear's paw slammed straight towards the two people passing through the central passage.
"Watch out! Get out of the way!" the sallow-faced man shouted.