Chapter 17: Silence
Bubu Wang slammed hard into the crystal layer. Thanks to his extensive experience with 'car accidents,' he got up as soon as he landed and charged 'forward.'
"Wrong way!"
Su Xiao shouted. A somewhat bewildered Bubu Wang saw Su Xiao rushing toward him and immediately executed a 180-degree turn.
Bang!
Su Xiao kicked Bubu Wang right on the rear, giving him a boost. The force of the kick was exquisitely precise, and Bubu Wang's forward speed instantly increased.
Crack, crack, crack...
The sound of crystal shattering approached from behind, accompanied by terrifying heat. Amu, running at the back, had his rear end smoking from the heat.
A corner lay ahead. Maha, carrying Alluka, was the first to round it, but the next moment, he suddenly slammed on the brakes, sending crystal debris flying from under his feet.
Su Xiao also rounded the corner, and what met his eyes was a sea of pink.
"Shh."
Maha made a silencing gesture and quickly walked forward, trying his best to avoid making any sound.
Their current location was a cavern, about a thousand square meters in size and five or six meters high.
Su Xiao and the others all entered the cavern. Amu, at the rear, also lightened his steps.
Molten ash billowed behind them. Strangely, the ash didn't surge into the cavern, as if blocked by an invisible barrier. Upon closer inspection, one could see the ash flowing upward, which was why it didn't drift into the cavern.
Temporarily safe, Su Xiao began to observe the cavern's interior.
Hundreds of sharp, conical stalagmites stood upright on the cavern floor, all of them a pinkish hue. From the cavern ceiling hung a dense mass of pink tendrils, a thick, tangled web filling most of the space.
These tendrils resembled the roots of some plant, about as thick as a finger, translucent, soft to the touch, and gently swaying like willow branches.
A pink liquid dripped from the tendrils onto the stalagmites below, which was how they were formed.
The entire cavern was filled with a sweet scent, a cloyingly sweet smell.
Su Xiao pointed at the tendrils and looked at Maha, asking what they were.
Maha made the silencing gesture again and pointed at the tendrils, roughly meaning they absolutely must not make a sound or touch them.
Maha's answer was vague, so Su Xiao tried to use the Apostle's Eye to detect the origin of these tendrils.
[Detecting...]
[Detected enemy as plant/creature. Rank assessment in progress...]
[Assessment complete. 82% of enemy data obtained.]
Data as follows:
Name: Yabaye
Category: Plant/Animal.
Health: 100%
Mana: None (No mana in plant form)
Strength: 21
Agility: 86
Stamina: 83
Intelligence: 13
Charm: 5
Skill 1: Potent Paralytic Toxin (Active) – Yabaye's tendrils can secrete a potent paralytic toxin.
Skill 2: Independent Consciousness (Passive) – When Yabaye is in plant form, it operates as a collective consciousness. If it transforms into animal form, it will gain individual independent consciousness.
Skill 3: Photosynthetic Decomposition (Passive) – Yabaye can wrap its tendrils around prey and initiate a judgment. If the judgment passes, it will decompose any object/creature/plant it has wrapped, converting it into nutrients.
Note: If the prey is paralyzed, the judgment for Photosynthetic Decomposition (Passive) will always pass.
Skill 4: Sound Sensitivity (Passive) – Yabaye is a sound-sensitive plant/creature. It can determine the location of prey through external sounds.
Skill 5: ???
Skill 6: ???
...
Su Xiao frowned. From the data alone, it was clear that this plant or creature was troublesome. Being entangled by it would have severe consequences.
Was it enough to just not make a sound? Of course not. If they wanted to proceed, they would have to find a way to deal with Yabaye or use a clever method to pass through.
The entire cavern was occupied by Yabaye. Its tendrils hung about a meter above the ground, with large stalagmites below.
Passing on the ground seemed unlikely. The ground was covered in a layer of pink, viscous substance, which was likely the potent paralytic toxin secreted by Yabaye.
Su Xiao took an iron rod from his storage space and tried to touch the pink liquid on the ground with it.
Hiss~
The pink liquid instantly corroded the iron rod. This stuff had strong 'corrosive' properties.
The hissing sound wasn't loud, but the surrounding pink tendrils suddenly curled up. Noticing this, Su Xiao immediately threw the iron rod away.
The moment the rod hit the ground, it was wrapped by the extending pink tendrils, tightly encased within.
Two seconds later, the iron rod was corroded into slag, its surface rough, like chewed-up sugarcane.
A few tendrils reached toward where Su Xiao had been standing, the source of the earlier sound. After failing to find anything, they gradually retracted to their original length.
"Gulp~"
Killua swallowed his saliva. He had a very intuitive feeling: if he were caught by these tendrils, he would be instantly decomposed, absorbed, and reduced to a pile of bone fragments.
According to Maha's earlier description, the last time he had ventured deep into Kukuru Mountain, he was stopped right here. As for how he left the inner Kukuru Mountain, the answer was simple: he went back the way he came.
The crystal cave behind them was already broken, but it would gradually regenerate. As long as molten ash was present, the crystal cave would reform in about a week. The gas Yabaye released outward, when combined with the molten ash, produced that light red crystal. As for the shape of the crystal cave, that was up to fate.
The last time Maha entered here, he was trapped for a full month. Fortunately, he had brought plenty of food and managed to hold out for a month.
Maha pulled a notebook from his large backpack and handed it to Su Xiao, gesturing for him to look through it.
The contents of the notebook were Maha's research on the semi-plant 'Yabaye.' When he left last time, he had risked obtaining a segment of Yabaye's tendril.
Yabaye had three weaknesses.
Fear of Fire: An instinctive fear, though in reality, fire posed little threat to Yabaye.
Fear of Sunlight: When exposed to sunlight, Yabaye would be in great pain and quickly begin to transform into its animal form.
Fear of Sharp Weapons: Yabaye was extremely tough. Tearing or pulling caused it little damage, but it was very vulnerable to slashing attacks from sharp weapons.
Seeing Yabaye's third weakness, Su Xiao understood something: why Maha had cooperated with him. Setting aside the fact that Maha didn't trust him, the mere fact that he was willing to pay 8 Soul Crystals had puzzled Su Xiao for a long time.
Before arriving here, Su Xiao had thought Maha might turn into an old schemer at any moment. Now, it seemed that possibility was low.
Maha had probably been stuck by 'Yabaye' many times, judging by his familiarity with entering the volcanic crater.
Su Xiao pointed at Maha, then at the Dragon-Slaying Flash at his waist, and finally at Amu.
Maha thought for a moment and finally nodded.
Su Xiao's meaning was that he would be responsible for attracting Yabaye's attention and cutting a path through its dense tendrils. During this time, everyone else must stay away from him.
When Su Xiao found an exit, Amu would throw the others over, avoiding contact with the ground. Maha would take the lead, responsible for observing the situation on the other side of the exit. If it was safe, Amu would continue throwing the others over.
Given Yabaye's numbers and scale, brute force was clearly not an option. As for completely killing this thing, the possibility was really slim, unless they used large-scale thermal weapons. But this was a volcano; who would dare use large-scale thermal weapons here?