On the Ark.

But once this choice is made, it means giving up everyone in the Fubo Temple halfway up the mountain.

In such a short time, even the Messiah couldn't possibly evacuate all the hundreds of people in the temple. Lin Ye couldn't possibly convince them of the existence of the Nian beast and then risk descending the mountain to evacuate in this weather; that would be tantamount to murder. Although Lin Ye didn't consider himself a great philanthropist, this whole affair was, after all, caused by him, and the Vajra Pestle was broken because of him. If he were to run away on his own, leaving those hundreds of people in the Fubo Temple halfway up the mountain to die, he would never sleep peacefully again.

So he adopted the Messiah's second suggestion: to put the Nian beast back before it broke free of its restraints and fully regained its power.

How do I press it?

None of them know any formations, so the only way to press it down is...

Lin Ye looked at the greatsword behind Skadi and took a deep breath.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the huge gap created by the earthquake.

……

……

Author's note: I feel like I rushed the writing a bit and didn't lay the groundwork properly. But since so many people want to see Nian appear, let's give her a chance. Also, I still owe 122 chapters.

Chapter 531 Are you here to kill me too?

Standing before the massive hole created by the earthquake, Lin Ye's tension was palpable. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Is the Nian beast inside?" Lin Ye asked Messiah.

“Most likely,” Messiah said.

"Then why isn't she reacting now?" Lin Ye asked. "Wasn't her reaction quite strong just now? Did she fall asleep again?"

"I don't know," Messiah said. "Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. I'm here."

Lin Ye thought about it and realized it made sense, so he felt relieved.

"The worst that can happen is death," Messiah said with a laugh. "Anyway, I'm tired of living."

He lowered her down and pulled her up again in less than two seconds, it was as thrilling as riding a roller coaster. He couldn't help but glare at Messiah, wanting to say, "Are you still joking at a time like this?" But then he thought, Messiah might not actually be joking. She was more confident than Warfarin in saying things like "Living too long is also very boring."

So all he could say was, "You've lived enough, but I haven't. I'm only in my early twenties, and I don't want to die young."

Skadi turned to look at Lin Ye and said, "Then you can just wait here. If that big guy really wakes up, I should be able to handle it by myself. If I can't deal with it, then you can't do anything about it either."

Lin Ye felt as if a knife had been plunged into his heart, a knife called honesty. He knew Skadi was right; if even Skadi and Messiah couldn't handle it, then he was even less likely to be able to. But even so, having come this far, watching two seemingly weak women (?) go in and fight for their lives still left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Lin Ye must go in,” Messiah said. “Without him, I dare not risk my life.”

Skadi glanced at Messiah: "Do you really need him by your side when you're risking your life?"

“Yes,” Messiah said with a smile, “Otherwise, who would I be showing off to?”

Skadi was speechless. She shook her head, said "Whatever," and walked straight inside.

Seeing this, Lin Ye looked at Messiah with a helpless expression: "Why do I feel like you're always making her angry?"

“That’s your imagination. Alright, you can go in now.” Messiah smiled first, then her tone became slightly more serious. “I’m not joking when I asked you to come in with us. If the Nian Beast’s strength really exceeds our expectations, then you’ll be our last line of defense.”

"The last line of defense?" Lin Ye was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

“You’ll find out then,” Messiah said, then followed Skadi, who was walking ahead, and together they entered the cave.

And that's what Lin Ye hates most: not finishing what he's saying.

However, Lin Ye was truly helpless against Messiah. He could only pray in his heart that the Nian beast was a weakling before quickly following it. The three entered the interior of the mountain. Lacking any light source, they relied solely on Lin Ye and Skadi's phones for illumination. The light was pitifully limited in its reach, but there was no other way. Who would have thought that less than twenty-four hours after arriving in Yan Kingdom, they would be suppressing the legendary Nian beast? This was a plot only found in lowbrow novels.

"Wow." Lin Ye murmured after taking a look around with his phone, "This space is huge! Has the Nian beast been living in here all along?"

“I don’t know yet,” Messiah said. “I don’t know much about Eastern formations. But judging from the structure, the mountain has such a large space inside, the mountain itself shouldn’t be able to support it, but it only collapsed today, which must be due to the formation. In that case, Eastern formations are quite interesting. If I can get back alive this time, I will try to find a way to study them.”

Hearing Messiah's words, Lin Ye couldn't help but shine the light from his phone onto her face: "Can you please stop making empty promises? Do you really think you're a god and therefore fearless?"

Messiah shrugged, and this time, unusually, he didn't refute Lin Ye.

The three continued walking deeper into the mountains, or rather, deeper underground. Legend has it that the Immortal Fubo used the entire Fubo Mountain Range to suppress the Nian beast, and the Fubo Mountain Range was no small place. No one knew exactly where the Nian beast was or what it looked like.

After walking for about ten minutes, I still couldn't see the end. I wondered if the entire vein of Fubo Mountain had been dug through.

"Speaking of which," Lin Ye said hesitantly, "am I just imagining things? Why does it feel hotter in here than outside?"

Messiah shook his head and said, "This is not your imagination; the temperature has indeed been rising as we've traveled."

"How could this be?" Lin Ye asked. "Isn't the temperature underground usually much lower than the surface temperature?"

"You said it yourself, that's generally speaking."

Before Messiah could finish speaking, Skadi, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and stared straight ahead.

Lin Ye also looked over, and then couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

Where there should have been darkness, a faint red light appeared, like a flame swaying in the wind.

"It seems we've found the reason for the rising temperature," Messiah said softly.

Is the Nian beast there?

“At least that flame contains unusual power.” Messiah glanced at Lin Ye and said, “Haven’t you felt it yet? The surrounding temperature is still rising. I think it must have the power to control flames. That’s not good news for us. In this confined space, it can do so many things.”

Skadi clearly agreed with Messiah's words, and immediately took the greatsword from behind her before slowly walking towards the ball of flame.

“You wait here,” Messiah said to Lin Ye. “Come over when I tell you to. Also, turn off the lights and don’t make yourself a target.”

Lin Ye nodded nervously, turned off his phone, and then watched as Messiah caught up with Skadi, their figures gradually shrinking in the darkness until they disappeared completely. All that remained in his sight was a faint flame, seemingly on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Ten minutes, or twenty minutes?

Because he dared not turn on his phone, he had no idea how much time had passed. But he figured Messiah and Skadi should have arrived there long ago.

Could something have happened?

Just as this thought popped into Lin Ye's mind, a slightly confused voice rang in his ear.

"Are you... here to kill me too?"

……

……

Author's Note: Only one update today. This chapter took me almost three hours to write because my plans were disrupted. Nian shouldn't have appeared so early. I changed my plans, and now I'm having a headache writing this. I need to think carefully about how to proceed. Also, the pacing of this volume is already this fast, and some people are still complaining that I'm padding it out. Well, I really can't help it anymore.

Chapter 532 The Nian Beast (Part 1)

"Are you... here to kill me too?"

Upon hearing those words, Lin Ye's body froze instantly.

It was a woman's voice, but not Skadi's, nor Messiah's. So the question is, is there a third woman nearby besides Messiah and Skadi?! That's why we'd hear a woman's voice; weren't they looking for the Nian beast? Could the Nian beast be a woman? That's such a stupid idea.

At that moment, countless questions flooded Lin Ye's mind, just like the cold sweat that broke out on his body. Lin Ye could feel someone standing behind him, and the breath from the person speaking earlier had touched the back of his neck. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the Nian beast. He desperately wanted to turn around and see what the Nian beast looked like, and why it was making a woman's voice. But he didn't dare, because he had heard since childhood that if you were targeted by a wolf in the wild, you must never turn around, or you'd be bitten in the neck.

Although we don't know exactly what the Nian beast is, it has the word "beast" in its name, so it must be something like that...

As Lin Ye's thoughts were in disarray, he felt something draped over his shoulder.

Is that... a claw? Is the Nian beast about to kill him?

Lin Ye's body stiffened further, but he still placed his hand on the hilt of [Maple]'s sword and held his breath. Although the chance of counterattacking in this situation was extremely slim, he didn't intend to sit and wait for death; he thought he had to fight no matter what. Just then, Youyou's voice rang out again: "Didn't you hear me? I'm asking you, you're here to kill me too... Pfft."

The "Nian Beast" suddenly laughed and withdrew its hand from Lin Ye's shoulder.

Confused, Lin Ye felt the laughter sounded somewhat familiar, so he quickly turned on his phone and shone it behind him, only to see a face beaming with joy.

"Iron-eating beast!" Lin Ye roared, "What the hell are you doing?!"

The iron-eating beast clutched its stomach tightly, clearly having been holding back its laughter for too long and now it was a little sore.

"Hahahaha, that's hilarious," said the Iron-Eating Beast. "You're such a coward! You dare to try and kill the Nian Beast?"

Lin Ye retorted angrily, "What's it to you? And why are you here?"

Iron-Eating Beast managed to stand up straight, wiped away the tears of laughter, and said, "How could I not come and see something so interesting? You told me to stay up there, and I actually stayed up there? How stupid! As soon as you left, I followed you out under the pretext of going to the toilet. I originally wanted to see what you were doing here, but I didn't expect you to actually come in. By the way, aren't you Ursus people? Why do you believe in the legends of Yan Kingdom so much?"

Lin Ye really didn't want to deal with the Iron-Eating Beast anymore. If it weren't for the fact that it was a national treasure and looked quite formidable, he would have really wanted to teach it a lesson. But since he didn't have the chance right now, he simply turned off his phone and said impatiently, "What's it to you? Just consider us here for sightseeing. Hurry up and go back, aren't you afraid an aftershock will kill you?"

The Iron-Eating Beast said, "If you had said this to me a few months ago, I would have taken it seriously. After all, I valued my life back then. But things are different now. How could I miss something this interesting?"

"You're making it sound like you have a terminal illness," Lin Ye said irritably. "But if you want to come, then come. Nobody can stop you. What do you mean by coming here to scare me?"

"Hey, this is interesting. Seeing you standing here all alone, not moving at all, I thought you were possessed." In the darkness, Lin Ye felt the Iron-Eating Beast nudge him. "Hey you, weren't you here to suppress the Nian Beast? Why are you so timid? You're too scared to move because of a woman's voice."

"Leave me alone?"

"No, I was just asking because I found it interesting," the Iron-Eating Beast said. "The reason you were so scared just now was because you thought it was the Nian Beast that came to find you, right? Did you think the Nian Beast was a girl?"

"You're so annoying, can you shut up?"

“Don’t shut up,” said the Iron-Eating Beast. “I’ve already come all this way, did I come here just to stand in the dark as punishment? Don’t be silent, keep talking.”

Lin Ye felt the Iron-Eating Beast nudge him again. He was truly speechless, thinking, "Isn't this woman afraid at all?" So many signs had occurred right before her eyes: the Vajra Pestle breaking, thunder and rain, an earthquake, and even a huge space being created. Anyone with eyes could sense something was wrong, but the Iron-Eating Beast showed absolutely no reaction. "Truly, she's a national treasure," he thought, "her heart is bigger than most."

"Hey, say something!" The Iron-Eating Beast nudged Lin Ye again. "Where are those two women who were with you earlier? They've disappeared. Are you sending them to suppress the Nian Beast while you stand here as punishment? That's too boring."

Lin Ye finally couldn't help but sigh, and then said in a very helpless tone, "I'm begging you, please be quiet. Let's talk about it after we get out of here. Don't you really feel anything is wrong? Do you think a normal cave would have such a large space?"

The Iron-Eating Beast then realized something and said, "Oh yeah, I didn't even notice until you pointed it out. This mountain has such a large space, is there a mine here? It's been hollowed out, no wonder it collapsed. Those unscrupulous black coal mines deserve to die."

Lin Ye really didn't want to deal with the Iron-Eating Beast anymore; he felt that this national treasure's thought process seemed a bit off.

The iron-eating beast nudged him again: "By the way, don't you feel it getting hotter and hotter?"

Lin Ye pretended not to hear.

"Really?" The Iron-Eating Beast nudged him again. "Why is it getting hotter and hotter? Can't you feel it? I'm even thinking of taking my clothes off."

Lin Ye, unable to bear it any longer, said, "If you want to take your clothes off, then take them off. What does it have to do with me? It's so dark, even if you take them all off, I won't be able to see you. But can you please stop pushing me?"

"I pushed you?" The iron-eating beast asked, puzzled. "When did I push you?"

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Ye felt the Iron-Eating Beast push him again. He quickly reached out and grabbed the Iron-Eating Beast's body.

"You still won't admit it? Look at yourself... huh?"

Lin Ye sensed something was wrong; the texture in his hand felt strange.

It was hard and stiff, like the corner of something.