Chapter 636: Trapped! Part 1

--AN: A Big Thanks to zguoshe for all the ma.s.sive gifts!--

"If it will help heal her, then I will go." Ako did not care if the place was dangerous or not. She was a rank four divine beast. There were not many demonic beasts who would try to fight with her. Ako carried Kana in her arms princess style and hurried in the direction the little caterpillar gave. Ako was lucky as most of the demonic beasts she saw along the way quickly ran away, not wanting to get involved with her. She was releasing her spiritual pressure as well to make the journey safer. 

"It"s here through these vines." The caterpillar announced as Ako arrived at a large wall of vines. 

The vines were almost as big as her arms. Just seeing the closely stuck together vines caused Ako to frown. She looked at Kana in her arms and then back at the vines and knew she was going to have to place her Master down. "Little caterpillar. Watch over Master while I break through these vines." 

"I will do what I can to guard her." The little caterpillar only had intelligence and was unable to actually fight. It could only hope to warn Ako quickly enough if something did happen. 

Ako also played it safe and only placed Kana less than a meter away,  resting her up against the thick vines. Once she was sure Kana was not going to fall over, Ako went to work prying the vines apart. Her fingers melted into an ooze and slipped between the cracks of the vines before solidifying again. Only then was she able to pull hard on the vines, ripping them apart. While it was difficult for Ako and Kana to enter this place for the little caterpillar, it was a breeze as it could just squeeze into the cracks. But this entrance was highly concealed and had lots of overgrowth. After ripping the vines apart for a while, Ako finally revealed what looked to be a hidden cave of sorts. 

"This place is…?" Ako felt something was off about this cave. While the smell of dense spiritual qi filled the air there was also a scent of blood mixed within.

"I am not sure… The last time I was here, the cave was dimly lit with a blue hue, and there was no b.l.o.o.d.y smell. But how long ago that was, I have no idea." The little caterpillar replied.  It also felt something was wrong. "Maybe we shouldn"t go in."

"But I can smell the spiritual qi that means the spring is still there. If Master can use it, she could quickly heal and even cultivate inside of it." Ako did not wish to give up just yet. A spirit spring would be highly beneficial to Kana. If she was able to use one, it would really strengthen not only her beast core but her human cultivation as well.

"Then we should tread cautiously." The little worm reminded. 

Ako nodded and gently carried Kana in her arms before stepping into the cave. They slowly made their way down deeper into the cave, where it began to open up into a wide room. The thick stench of blood could still be smelled, but from what Ako could see, she was unable to see anything out of the ordinary.  Although the area seemed safe, Ako still couldn"t figure out why she felt so uneasy. 

She made her way to the middle of the room. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dark, and she could see the small spirit spring a few meters away from her towards the back of the rocky cave. The rocks were damp, and a musty smell mixed with the spiritual qi in the air. Ako held Kana in her arms and kneeled down, looking into the spirit spring. It was clear, and she could see the bottom. With one look, she knew it was not all that deep, maybe thigh high at most. She scanned the spring"s rocky floor and did not see anything hiding within. Feeling that it was safe, Ako went to step into the spring but halted her steps when the little caterpillar cried out. "Wait!"

"What is it!?" Ako quickly jumped back and looked around. 

"Don"t go into the spring. I was wrong. This is not a hidden spirit spring!" The little caterpillar body paled. "We need to leave now!" 

Ako did not even try to ask what the little caterpillar meant before heading straight for the cave"s exit. But to her surprise, the cave entrance was getting smaller and smaller. And sharp spikes seemed to be coming up from the ground near the entrance itself! "No way! Is this an ancient beast!?" 

Ako"s bluish face turned a hue lighter as she pushed her speed to the max and ran as fast as she could towards the closing exit. She never thought that she would end up in the mouth of an ancient beast! "To think we ended up inside a mimic!" 

Mimics were ancient beasts that came in all sizes and could pretend to be many things. They would set up a trap and sit and wait. They were demonic beasts that could live forever. They did not need to eat to satisfy their hunger. They only ate things to boost their cultivation. 

As Ako rushed towards the closing mouth of the mimic, worry filled her entire being. She had just met Kana and only spent a few days with her, and now here she had put her Master into danger. She was a failure as a contracted beast. She did not deserve to be with someone like Kana, who befriended her even after she had wanted to eat her. She trusted her from the very start and was very kind to her. But now… 

"We"re not going to make it!" The little caterpillar watched as the mouth closed shut. Ako halted her steps and tried to think of another way out of this mess. "Ako, that spirit spring is real, so for now let"s put your Master into the spring. Mimics will wait for their prey to die and then absorb their bodies as it decays along with the spiritual qi within them. This means we got time to try to figure out how to get out of here." 

Ako could only do what the caterpillar suggested. But when she went back to the spirit spring, she was shocked to see that it was much smaller than before! Ako couldn"t help but frown.  "Let"s hope this will still be able to help heal Master"s wounds!"