Chapter 356 (1/2)

Rumbling could still be heard underground like rolling thunder. It sounded as if a beast from the abyss was moving through the rocks and soil. Lily carefully peeked through the shaft, her eyes glowing in the dark. But, all she saw was a faint shadow moving past her. “I think we’ve lost it. Looks like that thing can only move in a straight line.”

With a flap of her wings, Vivian shapeshifted back into her human form, then she threw one of her bats back into the shaft. Under the bat’s glowing lightning, Vivian and Lily could now clearly see the situation beneath them: a coarse, giant, brownish-black tentacle was moving swiftly. It moved so fast that even Lily’s super vision had a hard time catching a glimpse of its true face. The tentacle obviously did not realise there was a shaft there and it just kept going forward. Perhaps it was just as Lily said, the dang thing could only move in a straight line.

A moment later, the tentacle stopped. It had probably reached the end of the tunnel. After a momentary pause, the tentacle slowly backed up. As it retreated, it left behind a slightly larger, smoother tunnel.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief. Lily threw her butt on the ground and patted herself on the chest in a self-comforting manner. “Now that was scary. I think it’s already backed up.”

She rubbed her eyes before glowering at Vivian. “Your overly bright Lightning Strike almost blinded my dog eyes.”

Vivian was confounded by her choice of words; was it an exaggeration or just a matter-of-fact statement?

“What was that thing?” Lily got to her feet. She looked at Vivian curiously as she dusted herself off. “Being as knowledgeable as you are, have you ever seen such a thing?”

Vivian shook her head. “Nope. It looks like some kind of subterrainean life form. Probably, the tentacle of some large creature. But, its wrinkled skin did not look like that of an animal’s, more like a plant’s. Unfortunately, it was too dark to have a better view. Anyway, I’ve managed to get some samples—”

She waved a large piece of black tissue in her hand. She had earlier summoned a bat to scrape it off from the tentacle as she ran out from the tunnel. Lily curiously approached Vivian, her eyes glowing under the moonlight. The black piece of tissue was wrinkled with cracks evenly distributed across its surface like the bark of a tree. The edge was a little hard in texture, but still flexible enough. Turning it over, the back of the tissue sample had peculiar lines, which were characteristic of plants.

“It looks and smells like a plant.” Lily sniffed. “This definitely does not smell of meat. Battie, what do you think?”

Vivian looked thoughtfully at the Gnarled Grove not far from her. “…Legend has it that a large part of the Gnarled Grove is actually underground. It has a root system that extends all the way to the centre of Beinz Blood Lake underneath Dragonspine Ridge. Judging by the location and the shape of the tentacle… it could very well be part of the Gnarled Grove’s root system.”

Feeling goosebumps on her body, Lily said, “Are you kidding me? I mean, how could a root chase people?”

Vivian tucked away the black plant tissue before turning around and walking towards the Gnarled Grove. “It’s just a guess, but it’s quite possible. After all, the world is a strange place with strange things. I already had a really strange feeling about this forest from the very beginning. I don’t think it’s just as simple as a plant…”

Lily followed Vivian. “What are you doing? Are you going to dig another hole in the forest just to prove it? What if the tentacle comes out again?”

Vivian shook her head and said, “Of course not. I’m not taking that risk. I’m just comparing the trees with the ‘black tissue’ to see if they match.”

She was silent for a moment. Her mind was working hard as she spoke to Lily, “Besides, don’t you find it strange? Let’s assume that the tentacle is part of the Gnarled Grove’s root system; according to legend, the root system is buried very deep underground and the locals think that it’s just a myth—they’ve been living here for thousands of years, yet they’ve never been attacked by similar tentacles. The only reported sigthing of a similar tentacle was by a group of dwarfs, who were mining underground. But, there’s no evidence to back up their claim…”

Lily was as quick-witted as she was naive. “You’re saying that those tentacles a.k.a roots only travelled to the shallow ground recently?”

Nodding solemnly, Vivian said, “The Gnarled Grove has been in existence for 10,000 years. The tentacle—regardless of whether it’s a root or not—has to be very ancient. The fact that the residents of Beinz have never seen them suggests that those things live at great depths. But, the tunnel under the outpost is just 10 m or so under the surface, so I suspect the tentacle is planning to come to the surface.”

Cold sweat trickled down Lily’s back as goosebumps sprouted all over her skin. “I think I better go home! That’s creepy!”

“There are scarier things than this; like monsters from the Mythological Era. That could destroy they way you see the world. Wouldn’t you be even more frightened?”

“Who told you that? Don’t underestimate me. A werewolf is brave! And, I was just feeling disgusted.”