The leader glared at Lu Chen and turned around to leave. He waved his hand and the rest of the group also followed him, walking away from the battlefield together and in order.

Fang Yuan and Geming walked at the back and for the first time, they felt as if they were on the wrong side of the exchange.

Fang Yuan especially turned to look at a certain someone repeatedly before leaving along with the rest. As they parted ways today, he wasn't sure if they would ever meet again.

But clearly, he was the one who was overthinking as the other person was already busily chatting with her friend about something.

"Whatever. At least she will be safe I guess." He muttered and left too.

Everyone silently watched the troops leave. Lu Chen couldn't tell outrightly if anyone indeed regretted their decision, but such a thing was difficult to pinpoint.

Only time can tell the difference between trust and loyalty and blind faith.

…

…

…

Meanwhile, Qin Hua returned back and there were about a dozen plants and leaves stuck in between her paws. 

She was not sure if anyone else was poisoned but she got all the herbs that she could find irrespectively.

[Woof? Why is everyone so quiet?]

She looked around here and there, her eyes simultaneously darting to each and every single person, inspecting their status and making sure everyone was in good condition.

As she did, she also noticed something weird and new. Unexpectedly, every single person in their group had the 'loyal' tag in their status.

[Woof! Not bad!] Qin Hua grinned, but this was also nothing surprising to her. Everyone has gone through a lot together so a bond of comradery and loyalty was not too out of the ordinary.

[Woof! Alright. Enough wasting time. I should bring everyone down to the good stuff. Resting there should be better than resting here.]

Woof! Woof! Woof! 

Qin Hua ran over to Lu Chen and barked near him, licking his neck reluctantly. He looked like he needed a pick me up so she wasn't too stingy and gave him a couple of licks.

[Follow me! Woof!] She wagged her tail and waited.

Huh? Lu Chen looked at her in confusion. He was in deep thought about what to do next and where to go next when the dog or rather the wolf demanded his attention.

"You want me to pet you?" He asked in a puzzled tone. Maybe she needed some love and attention? After all, the powerful beast in front of him was still a young puppy.

Though it was becoming increasingly difficult to remember this fact as her looks were only becoming more and more feral and ferocious every passing day.

He nuzzled his head against the big black furry wolf whose wounds had already disappeared and hugged her tightly.

Qin Hua became speechless! If she gave an inch, this guy was taking a mile! 

But it did feel somewhat nice and comfortable…

[Ahhhhh…]

[Ooo….]

[Woof! Damn it! I am not a dog!]

[I don't want any petting. Just follow me, you stinking human!] 

The big docile wolf suddenly leaped back and started barking once again, a slight blush invisible blush covering his black snout.

A few minutes later… 

Qin Hua strutted down to one of the huge craters on the ground and silently jumped in. 

Lu Chen and Alex followed behind her, Alex tagging along only for the purpose of lighting their way in the middle of the darkness of the silent night.

Luo Zu, Guan Ye, Xu Meilin, and Qin Hua's clone remained behind with the group of survivors who were still resting. They were not going too far away, so Lu Chen didn't see a point in dragging everyone along.

Qin Hua was too tired to explain everything so she decided to first show everyone the goods and later on allow them to decide for themselves what to do and how to proceed.

"Where are we going little white?" Lu Chen looked around, his sharp black eyes scanning everything around them. 

He knew that they were not going to someplace dangerous but he was still curious as to where the dog might be bringing them.

He didn't expect such an elaborate tunnel network under the ground, right below where they were sitting, which they had been completely unaware of all this time.

Who even built these tunnels? He couldn't help but wonder when a frightening thought popped into his mind. Perhaps the centipedes built these tunnels and were using them to move around!

The fact that the beasts could be capable of something like this implied the extent to which their intelligence and brain had mutated along with their bodies which was rather a more terrifying piece of information.

The bits and pieces of skin and acidic gunk he saw he and there only confirmed this suspicion. 

Alex was just as shocked as him to see everything and the two of them silently followed the dog unable to believe their eyes.

They walked for a couple more seconds when Qin Hua suddenly stopped and used her paw to point inside a small opening, something that looked like a cave.

"What is this little white?" Lu Chen asked and he peered in curiously. Everything was covered in sizzling acid and the overwhelming pungent smell still hung heavily in the air.

Both Alex and Lu Chen could also clearly see the numerous corpses strewn across the cave's floor and the entrance, indicating that a bloody battle had taken place here just like the one they had fought above.

However, just as they were taking in these smaller details, suddenly something bright and gleaming caught their eyes.

Lu Chen's shoes had already melted away and he was walking on bare feet, but despite that, he still couldn't help himself and walked on the acid to go near this bright crystal sort of thing that was protruding from the ground.

He could feel the strong and powerful energy wafting out of it. It was nothing like he had ever seen before!