Chapter 258 - Egg
"...Run!"
Hao Xuan heard Ensis's explanation but still couldn't understand what he was talking about. What was this "divine sense" he was referring to?
Nevertheless, the current situation didn't allow him to be curious for much longer.
He summoned Bai and contacted Ensis and Monk again, "Hurry up!"
"Coming!" x2
While he waited for them to arrive, a very faint pressure appeared in the cavern.
At the start it felt like there was a lack of oxygen in the area which made it harder to breathe, but as the second's ticked by it became stronger and stronger.
Small beads of sweat appeared around Hao Xuan's temple's and slowly crawled downwards.
He looked around worriedly and once again the grey blood from the dead beast caught his attention.
Even though he was worried about the incoming creature, his body still reacted to its presence. He unconsciously licked his lips that had dried up at some point and gulped down.
"Maybe...just a little...." he murmured, almost entranced by it. It was like he had been running through a desert a for months without water and now an oasis had appeared in front of his eyes. How could he possibly ignore it?
Making up his mind he waved his hand and took out a small the size of about 10 inches in length. The bottle had shimmering engravings floating around it and it seemed to be made out of a metallic material.
This bottle was one of the hundreds of things he had bought from the "Den's" website. It was used to store any fluids that had some special characteristics, given that they weren't too strong in nature.
He bent down and held the bottle's mouth to the bubbling grey liquid and started flowing inside it on its own.
The bright engravings that were moving up and down the bottle sped up. The more liquid entered into the bottle the brighter they became.
Even though the bottle's own size wasn't that big, it could still hold about 4 liters of liquid. In less than 10 seconds it was filled to the brim. Hao Xuan quickly closed it and put it away.
The amount he had taken was so small that it didn't affect the mini-lake at all. Its level basically remained the exact same.
"Let's go!"
Monk's voice came from afar, waking Hao Xuan from his stupor. He looked around and saw two streaks running towards him from the opposite side.
Hao Xuan jumped and landed on Bai. Ensis and Monk reached a few seconds later and joined him.
"Let's go!"
The pressure was already strong enough that they felt like they were in walking in shallow water, but that still wasn't enough to hinder Bai's movements. The muscles on his legs expanded and contracted like the beating of wings, shooting him towards the tunnel they had come from. With just a few leaps he was already running back up through it.
*Krrrrrr*
"What the hell?!"
Monk who was the very back suddenly felt every hair on his body stand straight up. Even the ones on his head stood up straight like needles and small sparks of electricity moved in between them like miniature snakes.
*Bzzt*
Ensis and Hao Xuan both felt a jolt of electricity pass through their bodies and then to Bai.
"What's going on? The hell did you do?!" Hao Xuan turned around and shot Monk a glare.
"I....I..." Monk looked guilty as he started stuttering.
"SPEAK!"
In his anger, Hao Xuan used the constitution's power to order him.
"I picked up an egg from a small cave down there. It was just laying there...." he explained.
The vein above Hao Xuan's right eye throbbed as he felt the oncoming headache.
"You f*king idiot! We were in an Ether Beasts layer and you just picked up a random a*s egg like it belonged to a chicken?!"
Monk looked away, ashamed.
"I-I can just drop it now..."
"We're already dead. The f*ck is that going to achieve?" Hao Xuan retorted furiously.
They were simple trespassers before but now they had become thieves and probably kidnappers....again...
Hao Xuan looked at Ensis, "Can you do something to cover our tracks? Hide us from that divine sense or whatever?"
Ensis closed his eyes for a second before opening them again. He looked at Hao Xuan and nodded, "I can try, but I'm not sure how long it will work."
He waved his hand, summoning the black sword.
*Kuelch*
And stabbed it straight through his own heart. Several drops of black blood dripped out which he gathered in his hand.
He pulled out the sword and stored it away once again. His complexion paling by several degrees.
"Master....this, put it on your forehead.." he extended his hand towards Hao Xuan.
Although Hao Xuan had several questions he didn't waste any time pondering.
The pressure was already so intense that he was having trouble breathing. He dipped his finger into the black blood and made a horizontal line on his forehead.
The feeling of being watched instantly vanished but the black blood on his forehead started sizzling and evaporating.
At its current rate, it would disappear within a few minutes. Ensis leaned towards Hao Xuan and spoke in a light tone. It sounded like each word was taking a lot of effort to come out of his mouth.
"Please send us back to your mind palace and use the blood yourself. It will hide you!"
Hao Xuan looked at him doubtfully, "Are you sure?"
Ensis nodded weakly, "Yes. It will work. No doubt about it."
"Okay, you rest then," Hao Xuan took the remaining blood before recalling him back to the mind palace.
He then glared at Monk who looked back at him with a rueful grin, "I really didn't know..."
Hao Xuan glanced at him once before turning away. He extended his hand, "Give me the egg."
Monk hesitated for just a second before unwillingly taking out a black scaled egg from his shirt. It was about twice the size of a basketball, completely round, weighing much less than Hao Xuan expected.
There were black cracks all over the egg which occasionally glowed with a blue light.
Hao Xuan waved his hand again, sending Monk back to the mind palace as well.
In his left was the black blood and in his right was the egg.
The blood on his forehead was already half gone by the time Bai stepped out of the tunnel coming from the cavern.
"Find the nearest cave, don't go too far!" Hao Xuan ordered while looking around cautiously.
The blizzard was still raging but now the sky was covered with pitch-black clouds.
Lightning crackled between the dark clouds, threatening to explode out any second. (Author notes)
Bai obeyed and ran straight to a small cave they had passed by on the way over. Hao Xuan jumped down and recalled him as well.
He walked to the very edge of the cave and put down every type of formation he had left in inventory and sat in the middle. Then he dipped his fingers into the blood once again and made a straight line on the egg, covering it just in case as well.
Now all that was left to do was wait.
***
Back at the cavern, the pressure was so intense that one by one the small beasts started exploding like balloons until there was nothing left.
The black clouds that had been festering with lightning suddenly exploded.
A single streak of black lightning fell, tearing through the thousands of meter large mountain and straight into the cavern.
*BOOOOOOOOM*
A black cloud appeared where the lightning had fallen. It coagulated and curdled like it was alive. A pair of bright blue eyes with vertical pupils opened up. Every now and then a long scaled tail would show itself for just a second.
The eyes stared at the dead rock-like beast and then where Hao Xuan had disappeared to.
The cloud flew out, following their exact footsteps while leaving a layer of frost wherever it passed by.
It appeared outside once again under the cloudy sky. As if in response to its arrival, the intensity of the lightning increased by several dozen folds, flashing a few times every second.
The eyes looked left and right with uncertainty. An invisible wave spread outwards from the cloud in all directions.
As the wave passed by Hao Xuan, just as he had expected the blood on the egg started sizzling and burning as well. It was being tracked, or at least someone was making an attempt to.
Hao Xuan swiftly replaced the blood on his forehead and the egg as it threatened to run out.
***
After a few seconds of waiting for a response, the black cloud exploded, turning into a streak of black lightning and shot forward in a random direction.
Hao Xuan sat in the cave, hugging the scaled egg while cold sweat ran down his back like raindrops. He didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
Even though the creature couldn't track him but just the pressure from its arrival was enough to make his blood flow slow down. A cold chill started seeping into his body...
****
Authors Notes:
Clouds: https://urlzs.com/xzFyA
Lightning: https://i.gifer..com/BQS7.gif