The 9 survivors of the calamity of that night in the Rock VIllage all felt the same burning hatred and desire for revenge against the Bandit King Jerome. They had to get revenge for not just their whole village anymore, but their fallen brothers and sisters as well. Still, they were far too lacking right now to storm the lair of the bandit king. Their opponents were far too numerous, and backed by a Heaven Rank 9 expert. Even if Yu Han and Wang Jun combined effort, they would still lack the strength to deal with someone so terrifying.
"What should we do?" Sun was going to rise over the horizon soon and the Bandit King would be made aware of what had happened here if he hadn't already. They had to seek refuge somewhere!
"We need to find a safe spot to regroup and call home. The surface world will be far too dangerous!" Yu Han spoke. "We don't even know the extent of Jerome's abilities,"
The truth was, none of them were even knowledgeable on exactly what kind of an existence a Heaven Rank even was. With just an [Incomplete War Formulae], the knowledge that Hanzo imparted on them all was far too limited. They would need to hide!
"I agree, But where can we go where that damned Bandit King can't find us?" Wang Jun asked, visibly worried over their fate. The territory around the Bandit King's mountain was relatively safe to live in, partly because of the Bandit King himself, that no other Wild Beast of his equal would casually enter. And what small threats that existed in thickets and caves were all manageable.
"Well, standing here and talking isn't going to help us!" Yu Han took the initiative. But before leaving, they made sure to loot all the bandits for what they were worth. Wang Jun even found the gem that the Bandit King was after, and pocketed it along with many other items of worth.
This was their first time experience the wilds of the terrain around the Bandit King mountain, and despite the lingering anger and hatred, the 9 of them still experienced a sense of freedom. No mere human could run like them, even if they were all Foundation 1 experts all with developed Fate Palaces. Even the weakest Generic Qi users at Foundation 1 could reach speeds over 300 miles an hour, with the likes of Yu Han managing to reach 1000, but he went slow so as to not seperate himself from the group.
As for Wang Jun, if he utilized his 100 Fate Palaces, he was confident he could hit speeds of up t0 1500 miles an hour. They were all like flashes of raggedly clothed boys and girls that skipped from tree tops, across lakes and hills. And they ran like this until they had reached the edge of a terrifyingly vast catacomb.
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Supposedly, these catacombs belong to a deceased expert whose grave was then built on top of it. No one has ever been able to completely traverse its depths, and the further down it you go, the more dangerous it became. Famously the Bandit King Jerome once sought to conquer this Catacomb but did not manage to fully do it.
"I think we should make its outer levels our home for now...perhaps the Bandit King would not know to look for us here!" Yes, Wang Jun and Yu Han could hope for this.
Still, the catacombs had a frightening aura that could put anyone in unease. It was as if, the very structure absorbed sunlight, giving it the pale blue look of its walls. This 400 feet structure which served as the only visible portion above ground was built to represent a cathedral, surrounded by almost 500 meters of graves.
One look at the graves and you could immediately tell how many people were buried there! Before they could reach the ominous looking entrance, a scream startled them, with only Wang Jun managing to stay calm by sheer virtue of the overflowing energy within his dantian. They looked around and spotted a 20 feet tall spider! It seemed to be raising itself from under the Earth.
This wasn't just any regular spider. It had the face of a human! "ITS A JOROGUMO!"
Jorogumo: A 1000 year old spirit beast said to dwell in catacombs and caverns always ready to prey on hapless travellers. The Jorogumo in particular, is at least a foundation level 3 beast, and due to it being a spirit, is quite a bit harder to deal with than regular Wild Beasts.
"On the surface?" Both Yu Han and Wang Jun asked in unison, looking at each other before bringing out their fate palaces; Yu Han with his twin palaces and Wang Jun with his singular pure white palace.
Yorogumo liked to hunt in dark places, and it has never been seen on surface either. The reason for this was perhaps the fact that the environment around the catacomb was special, dark.
I have to reserve my Qi...who knows what awaits us inside the building. This was Yu Han's thoughts, as he charged at the Jorogumo, side by side with Wang Jun. He diffused one of his fate palaces, and clenched his right hand into a fist before hurtling it at the spirit beast.
With the Jorogumo's cultivation and intelligence, it could tell exactly the level of these two humans and laughed. "You think you can defeat me with your puny strength?" It spoke with its glutorrous feminine voice, displaying movement like the wind itself as it casually avoided Yu Han's swing, and after having raised two of its claws, launched a purple colored net made of spider web at both of them. The intent of the Jorogumo was not to kill, but to bind, and eat. "I'm going to enjoy eating your entrails." It spoke, Saliva dripping from its mouth.