At this moment, Zhang Qiling was proceeding at the bottom of a deep cliff.
He had indeed fallen into an abyss.
Fortunately, the lower part of the cliff face was densely covered with protruding rock spikes, allowing him to land with some semblance of stability, even after losing his Black Gold Ancient Saber, by relying on the grappling hook at his waist and the dagger strapped to his leg.
The grappling hook snapped under the immense downward force. The once smooth metal handle of the hook, under this incredibly violent impact, abruptly transformed into a sharp instrument, drawing a bloody gash across Zhang Qiling's palm.
He had intended to wrap his wound with the bandages from his small pouch, but the swarm of blackness that suddenly dispersed around him upon landing dispelled his thought of bandaging.
...The bottom of this cliff was actually covered, layer upon layer, with poisonous insects.
The ground before him was completely obscured by all sorts of crawling creatures. The obsidian shells of the arthropods, peeking through the gaps between the writhing, colorful worms, revealed glints of sapphire blue.
Zhang Qiling silently observed a segmented, crimson worm just inches away. The white, dotted fuzz surrounding its body was being torn apart by a viridian centipede, its internal white and green viscous innards slowly oozing out and staining the ground.
His flashlight had already been lost to the impact of the water, but among the shifting piles of insects on the ground and the side walls, bright blue or glowing yellow points of light appeared intermittently, like strings of colored lanterns hung in the darkness.
These lights from the poisonous insects illuminated this world, a world that belonged entirely to the insects.
Zhang Qiling stood still for a moment, contemplating trying to climb up with the dagger he had left.
However, he glanced down at the dagger, which had developed several dents from the impact, and with a slight sigh of disappointment, abandoned the idea.
...He needed to find a way back.
Zhang Qiling lowered his arm and slowly took a step forward.
The Qilin blood in his palm emanated its aura. The insect pile a meter ahead froze for a moment under this deterrence, then instantly transformed into a fleeing ocean.
Countless insects contorted their bodies and climbed upwards frantically. The layers of insects on the side walls instantly thickened several times. The rustling sounds rose and fell, as grating as a mudslide.
Zhang Qiling walked step by step through the narrow path that had been carved out of the insect swarm, proceeding along the cliff in the flickering luminescence.
This place, referred to as a cliff, was more akin to a canyon in the outside world.
Looking up, the cliff faces on both sides above almost pressed tightly together, revealing only a faint, almost imperceptible gap. It looked as if he had fallen into a cage enclosed by mountains.
The Insect Valley, which should have been a death trap, held no intimidation for Zhang Qiling. He calmly stepped over a pile of worms that had been too slow to escape due to their lack of legs and gently pulled down his hood.
The powdery substance from the poisonous insects flying above drifted down with the beating of their wings, quickly covering his hood with a thin layer. The air here was saturated with toxins. As Zhang Qiling breathed, he could clearly feel the surge of his blood detoxifying.
He decided to follow the canyon to its end first.
Although hidden mechanisms and secret passages might lie within the stone walls on both sides of the canyon, finding them amidst the current dense infestation of poisonous insects would be a formidable task.
While Zhang Qiling wasn't as fastidious as Xie Yuchen, he also had no desire to meticulously feel his way along stone walls that had just been covered in insects. These creatures exuded a sticky mucus, leaving gooey traces on every path they traversed.
His short boots now made a sticky, squelching sound as they landed on the ground.
Fortunately, this forbidden land wasn't so utterly depraved.
After walking for about two hours, the stone walls at the end of the canyon disappeared, revealing an extremely open vista.
Zhang Qiling stood at the edge and looked down. Below, a magnificent underground forest was spread out in quiet repose. The towering trees had a peculiar iron-gray hue, making the place resemble a city of steel.
He leaned down and gently picked up a gray leaf. He distinctly felt the softness of life; the plants here were all living things.
After a brief observation, Zhang Qiling took a slight step back and in an instant leaped onto a nearby treetop!
The tall trees now served as excellent climbing frames. With a few leaps and bounds, Zhang Qiling silently landed on the soft ground covered with leaves.
Except for a single insect resting beneath the leaves, startled by the slight tremor, everything else remained undisturbed.
Forests have always been cradles of life, and even in this perilous forbidden land, that had not changed.
Within seconds of Zhang Qiling getting up, he spotted human-faced birds flying nearby and sensed strange rustling in the grass, suggesting that a food web composed entirely of bizarre creatures had already formed here.
This area was vast, filled with trees everywhere, and consequently, Xiao Zhang's exploration encountered a slight problem.
...He didn't know which direction to head next.
In the gray world, only scattered, glowing insects flitted about, illuminating patches of the area. Zhang Qiling instinctively reached for his Black Gold Ancient Saber, but upon finding it gone, he came back to his senses and gripped his dagger instead.
Suddenly, a sound of tearing through the air struck!
It was the sound of immense wings beating, carrying wind and dust. The surrounding leaves rustled in dense waves under the impact, and for a moment, Zhang Qiling felt as if he were caught in surging ocean waves.
...A bird, two meters long.
Zhang Qiling closed his eyes slightly. The sounds by his ears were instantly captured with clarity. Sidestepping, his right hand shot out like lightning, and at the instant the giant bird swooped past, he seized it by the neck.
With a "crack," the bird, before it could even react, had its neck twisted. Its massive body slumped to the ground instantly, only its feathers still trembling slightly in the residual wind.
The time from this bird's appearance to its disappearance was less than a minute, a speed of death as swift as lightning.
The grass around Zhang Qiling, which had been rustling and stirring, suddenly became still. Perhaps, after comparing their own strength with that of the bird, they had gained a clear sense of self-awareness.
A few insects emitting a faint yellow glow slowly drifted over, illuminating the dead bird beneath Zhang Qiling's hand.
And it was at this moment that Zhang Qiling saw that the bird's sharp talons were still tightly clutching something furry.
The object was covered in blue fur and appeared to be small in size.
Suddenly, a pair of long ears sprang out from beneath its body, twitching slightly.
...A blue, rabbit?