Lily's exclamation in front immediately made everyone rush forward. Hao Ren instantly thought of the kind of underground tentacles encountered by huskies and bats when they were investigating information last night. That's right, the cave beneath the Blood Lake is connected to the root system of the Twisted Woodland!
With this in mind, he put up his shield and ran ahead, ready to deal with a fierce battle and cover the retreat of others: According to Vivienne and Lily, those tentacles will actively attack foreign enemies!
But after he ran to Lily's side, he realized that there was no enemy attacking in front of him.
"This is..." The bearded man followed closely behind Hao Ren. With his concentration as an ascetic monk, he was still shocked by the spectacular scene in front of him. "Could this be the underground part of the legendary Twisted Woods? This cave Is it connected to them?"
I saw a huge cave at the end of the cave, which was slightly smaller than the place with the water pool before, but still vast and amazing. And the most shocking thing in the cave is the countless giant roots poking down from the rock above!
The smallest of those huge roots is one meter in diameter, and they meander in an unknown geometry. They protrude from the rock formation above the cave, grow wantonly in the air, criss-cross, and twist to form a structure like a large net of thorns. This "big net" almost covers three-quarters of the cave roof, so that the original rock formation can only be vaguely seen from the gaps in the roots. A large number of roots grow irregularly, a small part of which hangs down to the ground, and even penetrates deeply into the ground of the cave, while a large number of roots cling to the walls of the cave, gradually spreading and merging into those seemingly extremely hard in the rocks.
The entire upper part of the cave is covered with these huge tree roots. Hao Ren looked up, and felt an indescribable majesty and magnificence from those huge black roots—of course, there was also the psychological pressure that hit his face. Almost frightening.
"... This is the real body of the Twisted Woodland..." Hao Ren muttered to himself. Although he had made various guesses before, he still didn't expect to see the underground part of this ancient plant so thrilling. "This should be only a small part... Perhaps this whole system of subterranean caverns is meant to contain these roots!"
The bearded man's face trembled a few times, and finally he could only put his hands on his chest and mutter silently: "Goddess has mercy..."
The young monk next to him was more open-minded: "It doesn't matter. These are all created by the goddess, according to the sacred scriptures. All the goddess creations are brothers and sisters with us, and the Twisted Woodland is the oldest sacred creature. We believe in pious. In the It's safe here."
Betsy burst into tears immediately: "Goddess... you made big brother too ugly..."
So the four ascetic monks immediately glared at the mercenary girl who had nothing to say.
"They don't seem to move at all," Lily calmed down at this moment. The experience of being hunted down by the tentacles last night made her very frightened and lost her composure. Now as soon as she calms down, she immediately stands up straight and pretends to be an expert . "Well, it seems that there are many kinds of tentacles, and the tentacles buried in the deep layer probably won't move."
Vivienne glanced at her: "Stop pretending to be a wolf with a big tail, the hair is still blown, you smooth the hair down first."
Lily flicked her tail, this time she didn't mention her theory of "big tail is good", but ran into the cave to observe those roots closely.
"Why don't the roots here move?" Hao Ren was thinking about this question seriously. He looked at Vivienne, "Are you sure this is the kind of thing you encountered last night? Could it be that you met last night?" Are they not roots at all?"
"It is indeed these things." Vivienne was very sure, and she took out the sample fragments she had taken earlier from her bosom, "We can compare them."
After comparison. The results were unmistakable. These huge roots in front of me were the tentacles from the 300-round battle between bats and huskies last night. But these in the cave obviously have different functions, they don't move.
"The life form of the Twisted Woodland has already surpassed the plants in the general sense." A group of people walked carefully in the cave occupied by roots. Vivienne analyzed thoughtfully while walking, "Maybe its roots still There are many types, some are used for exploration, some are used for absorbing nutrients, and some can even be used for combat, the one I met with the big dog last night should be the one responsible for exploration."
"Have you ever encountered these roots?" The bearded man only noticed what Vivienne meant at this time.
Hao Ren then gave a brief account of all the information he discovered last night. At present, they have only told Ophra about these things, but the four bearded people belong to their own people more than Ophra. So it's more natural to tell them this.
"Heretical!?" The four ascetic monks reacted even more when they heard the heresy, and the older nuns even gritted their teeth, "And they also slandered the teachings of the goddess, and even created a false god themselves!?"
"And any fool can see that it's an evil god," Hao Ren spread his hands, "Even if you put aside your beliefs, you can't let those dangerous guys jump down. The giant brains they summon are extremely dangerous, and the entire religious ceremony is too dangerous." Insane, I'll take care of it."
Elson took a look at Hao Ren, and felt that his words were a little exaggerated. An ordinary mercenary leader could say so carelessly in front of four ascetic masters that he would take care of heresy, but the bearded man They didn't think so, they knew Hao Ren's identity, so they just nodded indifferently when they heard the words: "That's the best, I'm glad to see you have this kind of heart, but it's best to let 'us' solve this matter. It's a question 'over here'."
He deliberately strengthened the tone of the words "we" and "here". Obviously, even though he was forced to remove his account in the Dream Plane like Becky, he still regards this place as his first hometown in his bones.
"Of course, we've already reported this to Marshal Ovra, and soon the head of the parish will know. The next step should be a large-scale hunt for heretics. The rituals of those cultists are very cruel, requiring a lot of flesh and blood, and they will Monsters will be summoned, as long as you search carefully, it will not be difficult to find."
The bearded man nodded, and suddenly looked worried: "I just didn't expect that there would be corrupters in the Kingdom Knights and the church... The depravity is shocking. I really don't know how long they have been developing in secret. I am afraid that the rector of Gelton You have to take a lot of responsibility for that.”
The bearded man sighed with emotion, but Hao Ren didn't know Gordon well, so he didn't reply, but continued to walk towards the opposite side of the cave.
At the same time, he asked the data terminal in his mind: "Where are we now?"
The data terminal immediately sent an image to Hao Ren's mind: "I have just left the area of the Blood Lake and have not yet entered the Twisted Forest area. In addition, the roots we encountered are only a small part of the Twisted Forest. I scanned it with high power, and found that there are more roots spreading directly to the depths of the lake."
Sure enough, the really huge part of the Twisted Woodland is underground, and its body has penetrated into the Blood Lake, so Hao Ren is absolutely sure that there must be such a "root cave" under the Dragon's Back Mountain Range!
If you have a chance in the future, you may use this channel to explore the Longji Mountains...
Thinking so, Hao Ren asked the data terminal to record the spatial coordinates of this cave.
The old werewolf Elson has been keeping a high level of vigilance since he entered this huge cave. Whether he is a former mercenary or a current soldier, he has kept the most malicious speculations about any strange place: "Be vigilant, It is said that a group of dwarf miners dug too deep in the mountain and accidentally dug out a twisted woodland root, and they all went crazy—according to the guess of the blood lady, these roots have many functions, so be careful when encountering someone with Roots that release nerve poison or produce mental attack capabilities."
Female members in the team should beware of tentacle monsters—Hao Ren silently added this sentence in his heart, but he doubted who would be afraid of whom if the gang of tougher girls in his team really encountered tentacle monsters... even now The little mermaid sleeping in the portable space is not necessarily afraid of these roots, at least not in terms of mentality: Doudou will 100% regard this place as a fairy tale fortress full of food aromas, similar to the candy house...
Hao Ren just walked forward while thinking wildly, and when he was about to leave the cave occupied by huge roots, a strange feeling suddenly hit him, which made him shiver subconsciously.
That feeling was like an invisible spy coming from all directions, with countless pairs of eyes staring at him, fleeting but extremely clear.
Hao Ren looked around in horror. He vaguely remembered the same feeling he had when he first walked in the Twisted Woodland.
Could it be these roots? ! They are thinking? ! (to be continued~^~)