In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar!

Chapter 79 Mutated Monsters (2/20, Seeking First Subscription)

Wang Yan and Falushan followed the guide deep into the desert.

According to intelligence, this newly discovered site is located more than 20 miles outside Aru Village. It may not seem far, but in the desert, 20 miles is a long journey with undulating sand dunes.

And without a professional guide, twenty miles of sand dunes are enough to make you get lost eight hundred times over.

Therefore, even though Farusan had been to the desert several times, she would still hire a guide and even endure the guide's cold tone.

Time passed little by little.

In the undulating sand dune environment, Wang Yan's speed was really slow. Going uphill and downhill required more physical exertion, resulting in a slow pace.

They walked until noon, when the sun was at its hottest, and had only covered about seven or eight miles.

Guide Fudel looked at the sky, then at the calm Farusan and the panting Wang Yan, licked his lips, and said, "Let's find a place to rest for a while."

He looked around and found a shady weathered rock, inviting Wang Yan and Farusan to rest there.

The two followed him toward the shady side of the weathered rock. The yellow sand under their feet was scorching hot, and they could feel the heat with every step.

The weathered rock has a rough surface, and under the erosion of wind and sand over the years, it has formed natural grooves and shade, just big enough for three people to rest in, avoiding the direct sunlight overhead.

As soon as he entered the shady spot, Wang Yan couldn't wait to take off his backpack and goggles, sit down against the rock wall, let out a long sigh, and then took out his water pouch and carefully took a sip.

Although intelligence indicates there is a water source near the ruins, fresh water is more precious than gold in the desert, so it should be consumed sparingly.

Farusan seemed more composed than him. She took off her sand-proof goggles, wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, but her eyes were still keenly surveying her surroundings.

Fodil did not rest immediately. He first walked around the edge of the rock, carefully examining the sand for any unusual traces.

Although he disliked the scholars at the Confederation of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was still a very responsible mentor.

After confirming that it was safe, he walked to the other side and sat down, took out a hard piece of dry food from his leather bag, and silently began to eat it.

The three of them rested in the shade to recover their strength.

About half an hour later, as Wang Yan was resting with his eyes half-closed, Fudier and Farusan stood up almost simultaneously, their movements so fast that Wang Yan didn't have time to react.

"There's something under the sand!" Farusan shouted, and the cyan-colored Heyao multifaceted avatar instantly flew out of her backpack, hovering beside her, its light swirling.

Before he finished speaking, the surrounding sand suddenly churned, and dozens of ferocious scorpions the size of washbasins burst out of the sand!

Their carapaces glowed with an eerie purple light, their stingers were raised high, dripping viscous venom, and their compound eyes gleamed with menacing red dots in the shadows. Clearly, they were not normal scorpions.

"Watch out, those are mutated venomous scorpions! Protect yourselves!" Fodil roared, drawing his broadsword from his back and charging towards the nearest swarm of scorpions without hesitation.

Candice entrusted the two scholars to him, so that even if he died, nothing could be done to the scholars.

This has nothing to do with whether he hates the people of the Church; it's his promise to Candice.

Farusian had already raised her hand and waved: "Storm Rage! Disperse!"

The multifaceted azure light of He Yao surged, and a solid, fierce gust of wind burst forward in a fan shape, violently blowing away five or six scorpions that were rushing towards it, the sound of their carapaces shattering clearly audible.

But more venomous scorpions emerged from the side, their sharp limbs tearing through the sand, forming an encirclement.

"Support that guy with the crossbow," Farusan shouted coldly.

Wang Yan was now trembling, not from fear, but from the excitement of a surge of adrenaline: "Leave it to me, mentor."

At that moment, Fodil swung his broadsword in a wide arc, the blade flashing and dust swirling as it struck the side of a scorpion, producing a clang of metal striking metal. These scorpions had exceptionally hard carapaces.

When his first strike failed, Fodil rolled to the side to avoid being pierced by the stinger of another scorpion. The spot where he had been standing was instantly corroded by the venom, emitting hissing white smoke.

"The weaknesses are in the joints and compound eyes!" Farusan quickly reminded.

Wang Yan took a deep breath and aimed the crossbow at the compound eye of a scorpion that was lunging at Fudier's back.

Boom——!

A bluish light flashed past, precisely piercing its eye socket. The scorpion hissed mournfully, tumbling and collapsing limply.

"Good arrow!" Fodil shouted in the midst of the chaos, changing his slashing technique to a thrusting one, and stabbing it into the junction of the tail and body of another scorpion, causing purplish-black fluid to spurt out.

Wang Yan's expression grew increasingly cold. He was completely focused, and the crossbow in his hand automatically cocked itself. He aimed at a ferocious mutated scorpion and gently pulled the trigger.

The crossbow string vibrated, and the rune-enhanced bolt shot out, instantly piercing the scorpion's compound eye. The scorpion struggled violently, then gradually fell silent.

With Wang Yan's firepower support, Fudier was no longer in such danger, wielding a large knife and fighting against four or five poisonous scorpions.

On the other side, Farusan is the main force, and she has completely let loose.

The multifaceted He Yao was like a cannon platform, unleashing gusts of fierce wind that sent the scorpions flying.

At the same time, Farusan also had an extra bow and arrow in her hand. It wasn't a special weapon, just an ordinary recurve bow.

In Farusan's hands, this recurve bow was like a sniper rifle; every arrow fired pierced the carapace of the mutated scorpion, pinning it directly to the sand.

Keep in mind that just now, Fodil couldn't even cut through the mutated scorpion's carapace with a single strike.

However, Wang Yan also noticed that every arrow that Farusan shot had very faint traces of wind element runes on it.

Her arrows, like his crossbow bolts, must have been imbued with runes.

Just as the mutated scorpions that had attacked were about to be completely eliminated, a hissing sound suddenly came from the depths of the desert.

The mutated scorpions, which had been attacking furiously, paused for a moment before burrowing into the sand and retreating quickly.

Fudir, wielding a large sword, his blood boiling, shouted: "Retreat...retreat?"

Farusan reached out and retrieved the He Yao Multifaceted Body, then walked to the side of a poisonous scorpion corpse and began to examine it.

Seeing this, Fodil did not disturb Farusan and came to Wang Yan's side: "Thank you for your help earlier."

He was a little embarrassed.

He hadn't been very nice to Wang Yan and Farusan before, but if it weren't for these two scholars, he probably wouldn't have fared well in the battle just now.

Hearing Fudeer's words, Wang Yan shook his head: "You are our guide, we are on the same side, there's nothing to thank me for."

"A bunch of idiots—" Fodil muttered, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry before, I thought you were the kind of scholars who just talk big—oh well, from now on you're my friends, Fodil's friends—"

"We'll talk about my friend later," Farusan interrupted him. "Has anything unusual happened in this area lately?"

"Something's wrong? Nothing, right?" Fodil was taken aback and asked, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

In his view, there are plenty of monsters in the desert, and although mutated scorpions are rare, he has encountered them before.

"Generally speaking, mutated monsters usually develop elemental mutations after living in an environment with accumulated ley lines for a long time," Farusan explained. "But when I examined these scorpions, their mutations were not caused by long-term exposure, but rather by a rapid transformation in recent times."

Fodil blinked, the honest-looking man looking slightly confused: "What do you mean?"

"It means that something has happened in this area, causing these monsters to appear in large numbers. If it's not resolved, it might affect Aru Village," Wang Yan explained to him.

Upon hearing that it might affect Aru Village, Fudier's expression immediately changed.

He tried hard to recall, carefully recalling, and finally frowned as he looked at the two scholars: "Speaking of recent events in this area, it seems that only the new site you are going to has been opened."