Branches led to branches, corners followed corners.
And because they all looked the sa, with no difference at a glance, they could only be vaguely distinguished by the different distributions of moss and occasionally descending ladders on the similar walls.
For an ordinary person entering here, they might easily get lost after just a couple of turns, relying only on luck and survival instincts to find a way out.
Even for soone like Xia Nan, trying to discern their own location and find an exit, might require standing still and carefully recalling their way, and tracing back their steps from mory.
anwhile, at the front of the group, Iron Head, who was leading the way under Wood’s watchful eye, seed to navigate effortlessly.
It was like he was back ho, sohow knowing how to find the direction, moving along without stopping.
If not for the increasing traces of human life along the wall corners over ti, and the graffiti of Gray Badgers on the walls, which assured Xia Nan they were indeed nearing the core base of the Gray Badger Gang.
He might have thought the guide was deliberately leading them astray to stall for ti.
Only then did Xia Nan understand why Wood was acting so cautiously.
In this treacherous place, if the bald man in front ran away.
Even though his straight speed was likely inferior to the two professionals, a few turns in the sewers would easily shake them off.
Without their "guide," even simply escaping the sewers would take Xia Nan and the others quite so ti.
On the other hand, it was sowhat comforting.
During the two-hour journey through the dim underground tunnels, the group encountered no danger.
Not to ntion ferocious and dangerous demons, not even a creature taller than a knee could be seen.
The most they encountered were a few long-haired rats darting from the darkness and so unidentified foul-slling flying insects.
It felt as though Xia Nan and his companions disturbed this underground world, which was particularly quiet and safe...
"Roar!!!"
A high and eerie beast howl ca from a distant part of the corridor.
The long distance made the originally fierce roar sound sowhat distorted and added a hint of chill as it echoed between the walls.
It sounded particularly unnerving.
Almost startling Xia Nan into a shiver.
He couldn’t help but look back.
What t his eyes was an endless abyss of profound darkness.
Only monts ago, they had walked this path, but now, swallowed by the darkness, it seed unfamiliar.
"Don’t mind it too much, sir."
To this, Iron Head, looking accustod, explained.
"The Neum Sewer is very complex, even larger than the entire slum area and has been built over many years, so it’s common to have all sorts of things down here... it’s quite normal."
"There are definitely demons and creatures, but even though the church and the city officials send Knight Priests down every year to clear them out, they can never fully eradicate them."
"For us... at least for soone as ordinary as , it’s very dangerous."
"Fortunately, the sections we’ve been traveling are already mapped out by brothers, relatively safe under normal circumstances."
At this point, the muscular bald man seed to recall sothing and shrank back.
"Although it’s not my place to say, I have to remind you gentlen."
"Without a guide, it’s best not to enter the sewers for safety reasons."
"I know several buddies in my gang who never returned because they took the wrong fork."
Xia Nan didn’t know why the other party would offer such advice when their relationship wasn’t particularly friendly.
But seeing Wood not contradicting and no longer urging the guide to focus on leading, as if he acknowledged Iron Head’s words,
So he secretly noted the information in his mind, to be used when needed in the future.
Ti passed unknowingly.
An hour, maybe two.
With the increase of the badger graffiti on the walls, the three finally reached their destination:
——the underground lair of the Gray Badger Gang.
"Rotten teeth, rotten teeth!"
"Urine pot, co out!"
"That’s strange, where are those guys? Did they sneak out for a drink again? That can’t be it, they were just punished by the boss not long ago, do they have the audacity?"
Iron Head scratched his head in confusion, standing before a makeshift tent set up in the corner of the pipe corridor.
The tent flap was open, revealing a few bundled-up blankets inside.
The charred logs in the fire pit were still glowing with embers, sending wisps of white smoke curling into the cold, damp sewer air, apparently just recently extinguished.
Though a small-to-moderate-sized gang in the West City District, with only a handful of mbers,
it was still a "serious" force controlling a few streets, and people were usually stationed at the entrances and exits of its core territory.
As a minor leader in the Gray Badger Gang, Iron Head naturally knew the two n on duty today, "Rotten teeth" and "Urine pot".
He hadn’t expected these younger brothers of his to be so bold, daring to desert their post when the boss had just reprimanded them a few days ago.
"I’ll deal with them when I get back. Gentlen, it’s just a little further ahead."
The Gray Badger Gang wasn’t a military organization. Its lower mbers were idle city slackers, little thugs.
Such matters were all too common.
But with the Gray Badger Gang’s core base located in a secluded part of the sewer, outsiders rarely found their way here.
So Iron Head didn’t think much of it.
He shouted a couple of tis around him, and seeing no response, prepared to lead Xia Nan and the others deeper inside.
But perhaps his voice was too loud, or maybe for so other reason.
Amidst the echoes of Iron Head’s rough voice fading, an unusual rustling ca from the depths of the dark pipe corridor ahead.
It sounded like raindrops hitting water, as a rapid series of small footsteps quickly approached.
From the darkness suddenly erged two scarlet eyes that flickered up and down with its sprinting body, the wet fur swaying in the air giving away its faint silhouette.
Swish—
The iron-gray sword suddenly cut through the air.
Xia Nan, whose Perception Attribute was strengthened by professional advancent, reacted almost at the sa ti as Wood, the Wanderer.
The Beheading Longsword was already sheathed in front of the Short dagger’s gleaming cold light.
Both hands gripped the sword hilt tightly, his dark eyes focused ahead.
"Squeak squeak!"
The sharp, piercing screech broke the original quiet of the pipeline air.
Its long flesh tail left twisted marks on the dust-covered ground, its gray-black wet fur muddied by the sewer made it all the filthier, and its protruding incisors glistened with a hard sheen in the dim light.
This was a giant rat up to a person’s shin in height while crawling, with a total length of about two ters including its tail!
It moved extrely fast.
By the ti its full figure appeared in their sight, Xia Nan and the others were already within the rat’s attack range.
Its short, muscled legs suddenly exerted force, and the tense, bulging muscles unleashed a burst of power that defied its fat build.
In the blink of an eye, it leapt into mid-air, its two sharp incisor teeth about to stab the fresh at before it.
But, quite abruptly.
In the middle of its leap, clearly not having reached its highest point yet.
The air seed to have an invisible large hand.
Tugging at its ugly naked long tail...
And gave it a strong pull!
"Slash!"
A sudden harsh sound of a blade slicing through flesh resonated in the quiet pipe corridor.
Blood spattered from the wound.
Its body twitched and convulsed, four short legs struggled and flailed in the air, mouthpiece emitted a shrill and agonized wail.
A solid longsword with an iron-gray streamlined design had already pierced through its chest.
It didn’t require much force or angle adjustnt.
Just slightly tilting the sword tip, manipulating gravity.
This gray-skinned rat, which monts ago considered everyone present as a tasty al, was drawn to the sword’s edge, seemingly voluntarily.
Sacrificing its life.
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