246: king?

“How do you open this thing? Should I just stick my hand in?”

Guttri said, and without thinking, he was about to reach in to try.

However, before his hand could even touch the hole, Li Yang forcefully pulled him back.

“Even if this thing really is a keyhole to open the door, it’s definitely not something we can just stick our hands into and open. Everything here is strange; who knows what danger might happen if we put our hands in.”

Li Yang said with a serious expression, his eyes revealing vigilance and caution.

“How about… we try using the no-collision mode again to see if we can pass through directly?”

Hill pondered for a moment and then quietly suggested.

His gaze shifted back and forth between the door and his teammates, trying to find a feasible solution.

Seeing this, the others nodded, thinking Hill's method might work.

After all, the no-collision mode had played an important role when they faced the Blood Person horde earlier.

Just as they were about to activate the no-collision mode and attempt to pass through the door, a faint yet hurried sound of footsteps came from behind.

The footsteps were exceptionally clear in the silent underground passage.

The group was startled and quickly stopped their actions, turning to look behind them.

Fortunately, they had kept their stealth mode on, so they didn't have to worry about being discovered by the Flesh and Blood Creatures. But even so, unknown danger still followed them like a shadow, instantly tensing their nerves.

As everyone's nerves were taut and they vigilantly stared behind them, a tall and slender Blood Person appeared, walking quickly with peculiar and hurried steps from the back of the passage.

The Blood Person's body was like stretched rubber; with every step, its muscles rippled like waves. In the dim light, its dark red skin gleamed with a wet luster, as if it had just been pulled from a pool of blood.

The Blood Person went straight to the door and, without hesitation, extended its arm into what Vivienne had guessed was the keyhole.

In an instant, a low humming sound arose, and the door began to tremble slowly, its flesh-like texture twisting as if alive.

The door slowly opened, and a gust of foul-smelling wind blew out, causing everyone to frown.

Seeing this, Li Yang and the others exchanged glances, reaching a silent understanding, and slipped in stealthily the moment the door opened.

“It really was a keyhole?”

Hai An couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, his eyes full of surprise.

He had initially thought that opening this mysterious door would be extremely complex, but he hadn't expected it to be so simple and direct, only requiring a specific “key”—the Blood Person's arm.

“I didn’t expect to get in so easily.”

Vivienne echoed, but her tone carried a hint of unease.

After all, in this place full of strangeness, things progressing too smoothly made it feel somewhat unreal.

As soon as they entered, they immediately looked around cautiously.

However, all that met their eyes was a circle of dim lights emitting a faint glow. The lights were flickering and dim, as if they could go out at any moment, plunging them completely into darkness.

The entire space was eerily silent, with no sign of life, including the Blood Person who had just opened the door, as if it had vanished into thin air.

Looking at the eerie atmosphere, a strong sense of foreboding welled up in Li Yang's heart.

His intuition told him that this place was not as calm as it seemed on the surface. In this seemingly empty space, it felt as if pairs of eyes were hidden in the darkness, watching their every move.

Just as everyone was enveloped by the eerie silence and their unease grew stronger, dense, sharp roars suddenly erupted from all around.

The sound was piercing and ear-splitting, like countless blades simultaneously scraping across glass, causing their eardrums to ache. The previously dim lights flickered violently amidst the roars.

Accompanying the roars, strange and grotesque Flesh and Blood Creatures emerged like specters from the darkness, appearing all around.

These Flesh and Blood Creatures quickly surrounded Li Yang and his group, forming an impenetrable circle.

“Damn… how did we get discovered!”

Hill’s face instantly turned ashen. Looking at the dense, terrifying Flesh and Blood Creatures surrounding them, his body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on his energy gun.

Li Yang's expression was equally grim at this sudden turn of events.

He secretly pondered, although he didn't know how they had been discovered, now that they were exposed, the stealth mode was clearly useless.

So, Li Yang decisively turned off stealth mode and stared intently at the surrounding Flesh and Blood Creatures. The others, seeing this, also followed Li Yang's example and unhesitatingly deactivated their stealth.

Since they had been discovered, there was nothing to fear; they would just fight with all their might!

As for activating no-collision mode to escape... Li Yang knew that it consumed a lot of energy, and last time they passed through Blood People who were just standing still.

But now, they faced numerous Flesh and Blood Creatures that would actively attack and move flexibly.

Under such dense attacks, the energy consumption rate of no-collision mode would be extremely fast, and it probably wouldn't sustain them long enough to escape successfully.

After everyone had revealed themselves, the surrounding Flesh and Blood Creatures seemed to receive some command and slowly parted, creating a path.

Three Blood People walked forward slowly from this path with heavy, deliberate steps.

These three Blood People were larger and more robust than the other Blood People, exuding a more powerful sense of oppression.

“Are these… their leaders?”

Hai An watched the three Blood People vigilantly, his eyes full of caution. His hand slowly reached for his waist, gripping the hilt of his light sword, ready to draw it and face the enemy at the slightest movement.

“You… are… invaders… for… the… King!”

The Blood Person at the very front made a strange sound in its throat, like a rusty machine struggling to operate, and spoke these broken words.

Seeing this, Li Yang and the others were stunned. They never expected that these seemingly savage and primitive Blood People would actually speak, and in the Imperial Standard Language at that.

This unexpected situation left them momentarily at a loss, their minds going blank for a brief moment.