Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 591 - 58 The Best Dining Venue_1

Chapter 591: Chapter 58 The Best Dining Venue_1

"Come over, it’s safe now." The narrow tunnel echoed Pannis’s voice from the other end, much like a sound-enhancing trumpet. "I guess Vivian’s fire was too intense. They probably have never encountered such a disaster before, leading all the locusts to flee. None remained. But prepare yourself emotionally; the scene here is rather disturbing."

"Mr. Ike, you go first," said Catherine after a thought, "The three of you follow in the middle, and I’ll go last. Since Pannis says it’s safe over there, we’ll crawl over a bit faster. It’s not good to let him wait for too long by himself."

The girls entered the low tunnel again. The further they went, the narrower the tunnel became. Under the illumination of a headlamp, the surrounding rock walls blurred into a mysterious mix, shrouded in darkness. As they groped their way through the darkness, they felt the rocky walls closing in on them, making it hard to breathe. Despite understanding that it was just an illusion triggered by the darkness, it still managed to create a severe psychological pressure.

At the end of the tunnel, a bright light suddenly shone through the darkness, as if throwing a lifeline to those trapped at the bottom of a well. The girls quickened their breath and pace in response. Catherine, who was last in line, felt the tremendous pressure. A warm wind blew from behind, making her feel as though someone was breathing down her neck. This feeling threatened to overcome her strong will multiple times, making her want to look back. But she knew that turning around was pointless and dangerous. Firstly, the feeling was just an illusion. Secondly, even if there were creatures behind them, turning around would only expose her vulnerable neck and possibly provoke them due to the light. In such confined spaces, it is better to find a place to stretch and then deal with the enemy. As for what to do if the enemy attacks on the way? Catherine activated her shield in response to the doubt in others’ minds.

Luckily, after minutes of crawling, they managed to exit the narrow tunnel, located in the middle of a rock wall section, which led to a relatively open subterranean cavern. As soon as each girl was out of the tunnel, they quickly distanced themselves from it, as if something was chasing them. It was only after Catherine rolled out of the tunnel that they noticed the Falcon Shield already on her back, and her expression looked a bit tense.

"You’ve had a tough time." Catherine, who crawled out of the tunnel, regulated her breath, looked at the now black tunnel with complicated eyes, and suddenly walked over to Pannis and patted his back comfortingly, "Thank you."

"Huh?" Pannis sounded vague, "What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly thanking me? Did something happen?"

"Nothing, just that when you experience it first hand, you can better understand the psychological pressure. So, I can’t help but thank you for that," Catherine gave a bright smile, like a blooming flower in this dark underground world. Her smile froze when she saw what Pannis was eating, "What are you eating?"

"Ah, you didn’t really eat it, did you?" Lina exclaimed in shock, while the other girls looked terrified, "Those locusts, you didn’t really give into the temptation, did you?"

"Of course not, even though they smelled delicious, I couldn’t stomach their appearance. Moreover, I don’t even know if these are different from their distant relatives outside, and no one tested them for toxins or harmful substances, how could I eat them." Pannis shook the pack of biscuits in his hand, "But I really am a bit hungry, replenishing food is a good idea."

The girls chuckled awkwardly, looking around the spacious cave and eying him curiously. Their reactions were justified because everything here was far from being suitable for dining. The cave was small, probably covering an area of three to four hundred square meters. It was a typical semi-spherical shape, with an upper narrow part and a wider base. The rock walls were littered with inward protruding stones, which made them uneven. Some aging plants clung to the walls, due to the lack of sunlight, their colors had faded to white or black, losing their vibrant green.

The firewall that Vivian created before left traces on the cave walls. The fire was merciless, probably burning for three to four minutes. Pannis had conveniently lit one high-energy consumption lamp, allowing everyone to clearly see the burnt marks on the wall. The fire-licked parts were still warm to the touch despite the time that had passed. The few remaining ash remnants were a testament to the moss and lichens that once thrived on these rocks. Save for the traces of the fire, the sight was indeed disturbing.

The crystal energy lamp shone brightly, illuminating about thirty to forty square meters of their surroundings. The floor of the room was covered in burnt insect carcasses. Many detached heads and hind legs were scattered around, creating a horrifying scene. Although the roasted locust carcases gave off an unusual meaty fragrance, the sight was simply unbearable. The burnt bodies were crunchy on the outside but still juicy on the inside. As they stepped on the ground, their shoes were stained with yellowish body fluids and even pieces of torn intestines from the dead insects. Given the size of the insects, the scattered internal organs and bodily fluids were overly notable. Plus, there was a slight fishy smell mixed with the scent of roast meat, which was probably why the smell of roast meat was off.

Over the years of their adventures, the girls had seen all sorts of corpses, handled countless guts of magical beasts, and even slept on top of piles of bodies. They had become accustomed to these unsettling scenarios. But they had never seen such a massive number of dead bodies posed in such a peculiar way. The sight before them was unbearable even for the girls who were experienced with such horrors, inducing an incessant feeling of nausea and discomfort enveloping their chests and abdomens.

"This isn’t their nest, it looks like they were just resting here temporarily," Pannis, the only one among the six girls who managed to keep her cool, crammed a biscuit into her mouth and mumbled, "Do you guys want some? We’ve been up for hours, I bet everyone’s hungry."

"Thanks, but we’re not hungry. Not at all." Catherine forcefully shook her head, her face pale, "Go ahead, enjoy it yourself... We... we will just watch and stay here."

Shrugging, Pannis began to roam around the cave, crushing the underside of the giant locusts echoing their insides spilling out. Whenever she came across a still barely-alive insect writhing around, her movement would cause it to wriggle for several more seconds. The consecutive squelching noises, sounding akin to footsteps in mud, caused the girls to finally break. Freya whimpered, "Please Pannis, stop pacing around, if you see anything, just say so. Let us leave this place as soon as possible. Can we just accept we’ve lost? I really can’t take this."

"Oh, there’s actually nothing special to discover. I just want to determine the cause of the uncontrolled fire." Pannis spoke calmly and enthusiastically, "What? Don’t you like it here? I think it’s great. The space is quite large, a pleasant change after emerging from such a narrow crevice. It’s a pleasant place for a mood adjustment. Why don’t you like it?"

Bending down, Pannis flicked a ruptured locust with her one-handed sword, picking up with the sword tip the locust’s curled up black intestines for a closer look. Perched just below the exposed intestines was the charred, quivering corpse, "Looking at their guts, they don’t seem any different than their smaller relatives. Why have they grown so large? Or is the question, what made their smaller relatives shrink? Hmm, smaller ones are definitely better. Imagine if outside were filled with these big bugs. Geez, most people would probably break down crying."

"I’ve figured it out." Pannis’s behavior finally exhausted their last patience. Catherine, gritting her teeth, muttered resentfully, "This guy, from the beginning, has been doing this on purpose."

"Yes, I’ve noticed, Catherine." Lina abruptly took out a pair of glasses from her pocket and put them on. Her face turned from pale to flushed, she spoke calm and cool, "Clearly, he did this deliberately."

"Huh? Why did you all of a sudden change your way of speaking? Lina always calls me older sister, only others call me Catherine." Vivian was taken aback by Lina’s sudden shift, "Is Lina okay?"

"She couldn’t bear it and left." Lina calmly replied, "I am not bothered by these, I have dissected countless beasts for research purposes. Even eating in these conditions would not phase me. But she couldn’t, she had me come in her place for revenge."

"I also feel revenge should be served." Freya took out her Crystal Energy gun, replacing the Crystal with the most energy. A fierce look on her face reflected, "Since he seems to enjoy it here so much, why don’t we leave him here forever with these corpses?"

"Hey hey, calm down, you guys." Pannis, growing pale, stepped back and waved his hands, "I... I was just kidding, just trying to lighten the mood. Hahaha, I was just kidding."

"Such a shame, it’s too late." Catherine drew her one-handed sword and gave a chilling smirk. The four girls slowly closed in on Pannis from all directions, their faces displaying an indescribable gloom. (To be continued. If you like this story, do support it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Please visit m.qidian.com to read more on mobile.)