Chapter 207 ·There’s Something

“Creak—”

Bulara, who was walking at the very front, suddenly stopped without any warning, nearly causing Lilia, who was following behind, to slam straight into her back.

“What is it?”

Lilia braked in time and casually grabbed Xiao Hong, who was still wobbling behind her, preventing this fool from rolling into the eerie darkness ahead due to inertia.

She was already in a bad mood.

Bulara didn’t turn around, as if she were listening to something inside the rocks.

After about three seconds—

“Nothing.”

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to dismantle this broken puppet and use it as firewood. “Big sis, in a horror movie setting like this, you suddenly stopping like that is really scary, you know? Can you at least give a heads-up?”

It was like being in a haunted elevator where the lights flickered twice, and then your companion calmly told you they just blinked.

Pure psychological torture.

Bulara slowly turned her head back, those lifeless purple artificial eyes staring at Lilia for two seconds, seemingly processing the logical definition of “scary.”

“Understood.”

She glanced back once.

The light outside the canyon was being swallowed by the black rocks, and the sound of insects scraping still echoed in their ears, like ten thousand fingernails scratching a chalkboard, making one’s scalp tingle.

“Move it. I feel like this place is even creepier than those bugs outside.”

Lilia pushed Bulara.

The three finally stepped into the narrow gap.

It was really narrow.

Even at its widest, it could barely fit two people walking side by side.

The rock walls on both sides weren’t ordinary stone—they were pitch-black and glossy, covered in chaotic scratches. Some looked like they were left by the claws of some gigantic beast, while others resembled desperate marks scratched out by humans before death, uneven in depth and horrifying to look at.

Walking inside felt like being trapped between two massive tombstones. The air was damp and cold, carrying a mixed scent of aged rotten soil and rust.

Xiao Hong practically curled herself into a ball.

“M-my lady… I have a bad feeling…” Xiao Hong’s voice trembled with a sob, her originally fierce beast-like eyes now filled with fear. “It feels like something in here is watching us…”

“Shut up.”

Lilia slapped away her claws. “If you dare wrinkle my skirt, I’ll throw you out to feed the bugs.”

Though she said that, Lilia herself wasn’t much better.

If not for that “traitorous” puppet still walking ahead with a fearless stride, Lilia would have already turned around and run, even if it meant parkouring with the insect swarm outside—it would still be better than suffocating in here.

After walking for about ten minutes—

The kind of silence that even swallowed echoes made one’s sense of time blur.

Suddenly, the light ahead grew slightly brighter.

The rock walls pressing in from both sides began to expand outward, and the suffocating pressure that felt like it could crush a person into paste finally eased a bit.

“Phew…”

Just as Lilia was about to sigh in relief and celebrate escaping this hellish place—

“Screech—”

Bulara stopped again, this time even producing sparks from the friction between her feet and the ground.

Lilia nearly failed to stop and almost smashed into her.

“What now?!”

This time, Lilia truly exploded, veins bulging on her forehead. “Are you trying to scare me to death because you think I live too long?!”

She swore that if this puppet dared to say “nothing” again, she would definitely use the authority given by the boss and have Hera directly send this thing back to the furnace for reconstruction!

Xiao Hong was so frightened that she collapsed onto the ground, clutching her head. “Don’t eat me! My meat is sour! It doesn’t taste good!”

This coward had probably already imagined a hundred evil ghosts blocking the path ahead.

Bulara ignored Lilia’s outburst and didn’t turn around like before.

She even lowered her body slightly, assuming an extremely rare defensive posture.

Her right hand, already mutated into a sharp bone scythe, lifted slightly and pointed straight toward behind a massive rock ahead.

“There’s something.”

Bulara’s voice was very low. “Very dangerous.”

Impossible to assess?

Lilia’s heart skipped a beat.

She instantly drew both short blades and held them in reverse grip.

The life energy within her surged wildly, ready to activate Time Stop or bolt at any moment.

“Where?”

Lilia narrowed her eyes and looked in the direction Bulara pointed.

The path ahead had indeed widened. This place looked like a natural cavern in the middle of the canyon, with jagged rocks scattered across the ground and black stalactites hanging from above like fangs.

Behind a black rock about half a person’s height, a shadow faintly moved.

There was also a “crack, crack” sound coming from there.

Like bones being chewed.

Lilia swallowed and signaled to Bulara.

Bulara didn’t move.

“…Fine. You’re amazing, you’re noble.” Lilia gritted her teeth and decided to go herself.

Better rely on herself than others—especially when that “other” was a puppet that kept failing at critical moments.

She lowered her body, activating Shadow Step under her feet, silently approaching the rock.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

The chewing sounds grew clearer, even accompanied by a strange “gurgling” noise.

Lilia held her breath, fingers tightening around the dagger handle, and suddenly peeked out from the edge of the rock—

“Die, you mon—”

The imposing opening line got stuck in her throat.

Lilia froze in that peeking posture, her hand holding the blade suspended midair. The ferocity on her face instantly turned into confusion, then settled into an extremely complex expression.

This?

This was the high-energy creature that Bulara deemed “impossible to assess”?

Behind the rock, there was no ferocious magical beast nor any soul-devouring evil spirit.

There was only… a small grayish creature.

About the size of a house cat, its body covered in gray-brown scales resembling rock, with a short thick tail and a round head.

It looked… like an enlarged lizard.

And the kind that looked especially crude and silly.

At this moment, the little thing was sticking its butt out, its two short front claws frantically digging through a pile of rubble, scattering stone fragments everywhere.

It seemed completely unaware of Lilia’s presence, fully immersed in its excavation work.

“Gurgle gurgle…”

It made a sound like boiling water, then suddenly stopped, digging out a fingernail-sized shiny object from the rubble—something that looked like a mineral crystal.

Then it opened its mouth.

“Crunch.”

With a crisp sound—

That obsidian crystal, as hard as steel, was crushed and swallowed like a crunchy fried bean.

After eating, it burped in satisfaction and stuck out its pink tongue to lick its nose.

Lilia: “…”

She turned back to glance at Bulara, who looked like she was facing a great enemy, then at Xiao Hong, who was still trembling on the ground.

“Bulara.”

Lilia pointed at the little creature still searching for another rock to chew on, her tone filled with doubt about the world. “Is this what you were talking about?”

Bulara maintained her defensive posture, not moving an inch.

“I think your program is seriously broken.”

Lilia sheathed her daggers and walked over with a speechless expression.

In a godforsaken place like this, what kind of threat could there be? At most, it was probably some kind of rock-eating beast adapted to the environment.

“Hey, little guy.”

Lilia crouched down and poked the lizard’s round head with a finger. “Are you the road bully here?”

That touch…

Was indeed a bit hard.

The lizard paused when its head was poked.

It slowly—very slowly—turned its head.

Tilting its head, it looked at Lilia, seemingly thinking about whether this two-legged creature was edible, or perhaps some kind of new rock.

“Pfft…”

Lilia couldn’t help but laugh.

That look was exactly like the husky she had before transmigrating—full of “wisdom.”

“Alright, stop being so tense.”

Lilia stood up and waved at the two behind her. “It’s just a little rock-eating beast. Looks kinda unique. Let’s go, don’t waste time.”