In this deep, half-sealed space, even the slightest sound could draw attention—let alone the increasingly loud chorus of gecko-like cries.
Serena could even hear a few faint hissing noises mixed in...
"We've got trouble." Serena stuffed her food into her mouth at top speed, chewed twice, and swallowed it down with water. "If I'm not mistaken, we've run into snakes—snakes love damp, shadowy places like this."
"Throw the food tub farther away so it doesn't get in the way if we have to fight." Serena quickly drew her pistol, ignoring the slimy, snakeskin-like feel of the rock wall as she pressed herself tightly against it.
There was no helping it—in this cramped, narrow space, they had very little room to move, while the snakes had far more freedom.
"Snow Wolf, climb up." Prince Nolan pointed at the top of the rock wall, signaling for the Snow Wolf to climb and position itself in the middle, while he and Serena guarded each side.
The Snow Wolf's sharp claws showed their power at this moment—thick moss that even a dagger couldn't pierce was easily gouged apart by its swipe, leaving deep grooves. With a few quick moves, its forepaws and hindpaws braced on each side, the Snow Wolf climbed up above Serena and Prince Nolan's heads in no time.
The view from up there was great. The Snow Wolf felt a bit intoxicated—there weren't many who could stand on top of Prince Nolan and Serena's heads.
"Go forward a bit, see what's ahead." The weak beam from the flashlight strapped to the Snow Wolf's head was enough to illuminate the attack range.
The Snow Wolf gave a little grunt and obediently moved forward, but after just a few steps, it stopped, let out a howl, and rapidly slid back down, scattering moss everywhere with its claws.
Coughing, Serena waved the moss fragments away from her face. Looking up, she saw the Snow Wolf with a lizard in its jaws—its color exactly matching the moss. If the wolf hadn't caught it, Serena would never have noticed it was different from the wall.
"Chameleon—this just got complicated." Serena's head throbbed at the sight, but she was also relieved: ordinary lizards are usually non-venomous, and unless they were extremely unlucky, there was little risk of being bitten by a poisonous one.
"Awoo..." The Snow Wolf swallowed the lizard in one gulp. Used to braised beef, the wolf found the lizard's taste repulsive, but wasting food was wrong, so it reluctantly choked it down.
"Go further, see how many there are." For such small creatures just seeking food, with little killing power, Prince Nolan had no intention of fighting them.
It would be a pointless waste of energy.
Acting as a temporary scout, the Snow Wolf crawled forward again. Its huge body was lucky to be able to stretch out with forepaws and hindpaws at different heights, so it didn't have to curl up in the middle—otherwise, it would have been miserable.
Serena and Prince Nolan stayed put. Though lizards weren't very dangerous, if there were too many, they'd still be in trouble—the old saying about "enough ants biting an elephant to kill it" applied here.
The Snow Wolf moved fast—back in the blink of an eye—but its expression was off, as if something had frightened it.
As long as it wasn't too complicated, Serena and Prince Nolan could always read what the Snow Wolf wanted to say from its eyes.
"Looks like our luck is pretty good," Serena joked, showing how steady her nerves were.
Come on—even Ethan Xiao managed to get out alone. The two of them couldn't be that unlucky; these lizards were probably drawn by the scent of food. If it came to it, they could just sacrifice some provisions.
No matter what dangers lay ahead, Prince Nolan refused to let Serena take risks. He pointed at the Snow Wolf: "Sit on the Snow Wolf's back."
The Snow Wolf understood the seriousness of the situation and dropped down, signaling for Serena to sit. Serena knew her close-combat skills weren't strong, and fighting lizard-type creatures up close was unrealistic, so she obediently climbed onto the wolf's back, ready to shoot from above.
The hissing sounds grew louder, but they weren't quite like snakes flicking their tongues. Serena frowned, sensing something was off—her impression was that lizards weren't particularly dangerous fighters.
Just as Serena was about to warn Prince Nolan, a shadow matching the moss's color suddenly shot out, lunging at him: "Hiss..."
The figure seemed like part of the rock wall, pressed so close that not a trace of its presence could be detected. If not for its blood-red eyes, even Serena and Prince Nolan, with their keen eyesight, wouldn't have spotted it.
"Lizardman!" Serena cried out in shock. They hadn't run into a swarm of lizards, but a Lizardman—a whole different level of threat.
"Careful!" Serena shouted, aiming her pistol at the Lizardman and firing.
Bang—the bullet shot out of the barrel...
They were so close—the Lizardman was fast, but not faster than a bullet. Crack—the shot pierced his scaly armor, and bright red blood spurted out. At the same moment, Prince Nolan's flexible longsword struck, coiling around the Lizardman like a water snake, leaving him no way to escape.
Seizing the moment, Serena fired her Tiger Claw Grappling Hook, suspending herself in midair: "Snow Wolf, drop down!"
She didn't need to say more—the Snow Wolf understood instantly. As it dropped, its claws aimed at the Lizardman; when it was just a palm's length away, it slammed him against the rock wall, pinning him with its forepaws and hindpaws so he couldn't move at all.
There wasn't enough space for the Lizardman to fight back. Even if he could, he was no match for the Snow Wolf. Panic flashed in the Lizardman's eyes; he opened his mouth to summon smaller lizards, but as soon as he managed a syllable, Prince Nolan's sword was at his throat. Terrified, he didn’t dare make another sound and struggled to speak: "No, no, don't... kill me."
His words came out haltingly, the voice strange—like someone who’d just learned to speak.
"You can talk?" Serena raised an eyebrow in surprise, letting out the Tiger Claw Grappling Hook's cable to slowly land on the ground.
"Me... human." The Lizardman had very few words at his disposal and could only gesture. His blood-red eyes brimmed with mist, tears streaming down as he stared unblinkingly at Serena and Prince Nolan.
The Lizardman's body was covered in dark green scales, but his hands were human-like—five fingers, flexible and dexterous, though the nails were long and hard, like a beast's claws, easily able to tear prey apart.
"You were originally human, but turned into this after staying here too long?" Prince Nolan remained silent, so Serena took over the questioning.
The Lizardman nodded vigorously, eyes full of excitement and hope. He pointed to his stomach and, with great effort, managed to say, "Hungry."
He'd come out to search for food only because he smelled something delicious. He hadn't tasted food meant for humans in over a decade—the temptation was simply too great.
"Help... help me... sword, sword." The Lizardman pointed excitedly at Prince Nolan's sword, his eyes shining: "I... I..."
Wait—was he saying he was a swordsmith, and that Prince Nolan's sword was his work?
Serena glanced at Prince Nolan for confirmation. He hesitated, then slowly nodded...
It seemed their luck was holding—this Lizardman was almost certainly the master swordsmith from Xiao Sword Manor. Finding the Heaven-Son Sword might not be so hard after all!