Chapter 40: The Special Treasure Chest

Ye Da not only had to wield his axe to cut through the grass and forge a path, but he also had to remain vigilant for snakes, insects, rats, and ants that might dart out from the undergrowth at any moment, all while paying heed to the uneven terrain beneath his feet.

Some places were truly astonishing; at first glance, they appeared to be level ground. Yet, when Ye Da hacked away the grass, he would discover a ditch or, perhaps, the dry bed of a small river—one of those depressions that dropped a meter or two below the surrounding earth. Remarkably, on top of these dips, grass and plants would grow as tall as anywhere else, perfectly camouflaging the hazard. At a glance, nothing seemed amiss. But if one was careless...

“Awooo~”

Little White let out another mournful howl. The creature, inattentive again, had misstepped and tumbled down into the ditch.

Ye Da couldn’t help but laugh, though a sense of gratitude welled up within him for the two wolf cubs. Without their constant scouting and timely removal of threats, Ye Da might have already suffered injury.

The most perilous moment had come when Ye Da nearly stepped on a snake—a serpent ringed in alternating bands of black and white. Though uncertain of its species, its appearance screamed venomous. He’d nearly planted his foot upon it, but Little Grey had spotted the snake first, darted forward to bite its tail, and flung it aside, rustling the grass and drawing Ye Da’s attention. That was how Ye Da escaped death by a narrow margin.

“Thwack!”

With a swing of his axe, Ye Da smashed a spider the size of his palm, and a glowing orb burst forth from its body.

Delighted, Ye Da exclaimed, “Who would have thought this mottled spider would yield a beast core!”

Along the way, Ye Da had slain countless insects and small snakes, but most of them never produced glowing orbs. It was likely because they had not formed beast cores within their bodies, their flesh was inedible, and their skins too small to be useful. In short, they were utterly useless. Thus, nothing ever dropped from them, and Ye Da had come to assume that insects simply did not possess beast cores.

But to his surprise, as he neared the wild boar’s territory, this large spider had given him an unexpected gift!

The beast core within the glowing orb seemed barely half the size of a giant bear’s core, but every little bit counted—better than nothing!

“Snap!”

The moment Ye Da grasped the beast core, a warm current surged from his palm, spreading throughout his hand. Instantly, his entire right hand completed its petrification.

Previously, the stone skin had only enveloped the back of his hand and palm, resembling fingerless gloves. Now, however, the gray-black stone skin covered his entire right hand, including fingers and nails.

Though a thick layer of stone enveloped his hand, Ye Da felt no heaviness or inconvenience; instead, it was as if he wore a layer of hardened calluses, granting him a profound sense of security.

“Tap!”

Ye Da, curious, pressed his stone-covered fingertip against a tree trunk. His fingertip pierced the wood with uncanny ease, slipping in without resistance.

Moreover, if Ye Da so desired, he could push his finger deeper, sinking his whole hand into the trunk.

But the most wondrous aspect was not the hardness of the stone skin, but its touch. Ye Da had expected the sensation to fade or become less sensitive, but he could distinctly feel the chill at his fingertips, the prickle of wood fibers, and the vibrant life force pulsing within the tree. He even sensed a portion of the tree’s vitality slowly seeping away through the hole he had made.

“Could this be a new ability granted by the stone skin?” Ye Da mused in astonishment.

Alas, his current test subject was a tree; if only he could experiment on a living creature, the results would surely be more direct. Of course, Ye Da meant a living monster.

“Woof woof!”

“Woof woof woof!!”

Little Grey and Little White suddenly began barking furiously, dashing ahead. Ye Da assumed they had found the wild boar and hurried after them.

Instead, when he parted the waist-high grass, a wide black river appeared before him. The water itself was not black, but the riverbed was so dark that the surface looked like a black ribbon winding through the green meadow. Much of the river was swallowed by the grass, resembling a subterranean stream—no wonder it was called the Undercurrent.

Ye Da glanced at the Undercurrent, listening for the wolf cubs’ barks. Following their cries, he saw...

“Woof woof!”

“Woof woof woof!”

The two wolf cubs were barking at a black iron treasure chest.

A black iron treasure chest, here?

He’d found it so quickly? Such luck!

Ye Da’s eyes sparkled and he moved forward to open the chest, but as soon as he approached, the cubs barked even more fiercely. Little Grey tugged at Ye Da’s pant leg, anxious but unable to speak.

“All right, all right, I won’t go any closer—let go, let go!”

Afraid his only pair of sweatpants would be ripped, Ye Da hurriedly calmed Little Grey. Yet the cubs’ unusual behavior made him realize something was amiss. After all, these two wolf cubs were hardly foolish. If they attacked lifeless objects for no reason, they’d be like mad dogs, rampaging at every flower and tree.

Unless...

The chest was not what it seemed.

[Treasure Chest Monster: It often disguises itself as a regular chest. When someone opens it, it springs out like a jack-in-the-box clown, then opens its gaping maw to swallow its prey whole!]

Ye Da was utterly speechless at the prompt.

The analysis glasses had analyzed nothing but nonsense! A treasure chest monster, described as a special chest? This world truly had no shortage of bizarre creatures.

“Thank you,” Ye Da said, rubbing the heads of the wolf cubs. Without them, he would have been attacked by the chest monster already.

“Thud!”

Ye Da threw a stone at the chest monster; it remained motionless, as if it were a real chest.

But with the analysis glasses and the wolf cubs’ warning, Ye Da was not about to fall for the chest monster’s trick. Now, he contemplated how best to kill the creature that had nearly killed him. Ye Da was not one to let a grudge go unavenged.

“Shhhh!”

“Shhhhhh!”

As Ye Da pondered whether to drown the chest monster in the river or roast it over a fire, a rustling sound rose from the grass behind him. The noise grew louder and closer—something was approaching.

“Whimper~”

“Whimper whimper!!!”

The two wolf cubs stared intently at the thing in the grass, their hackles raised, growling low and fierce as if confronting a deadly enemy.

Was there a monster lurking in the grass?

Why were the wolf cubs reacting so strongly?

All along the journey, both Little Grey and Little White had shown themselves fearless and valiant, never shying from danger. Especially Little White—whenever it spotted prey, it would dash out to hunt without so much as a warning to Ye Da.

But now...

Whatever lurked in the grass, Ye Da could sense a faint, creeping menace.