BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52 - 52: 52: The Solid Small Treasury
Chapter 52 - 52: 52: The Solid Small Treasury
The once raging insects were now sluggish. With the appearance of the first ray of sunlight, the whole of Xingyuan County quieted down as all the insects fell into a deep slumber.
“Huff, huff!”
Seeing this, Du Gang plopped down onto the ground, huffing and puffing for breath.
From dusk till dawn, he had not rested for a moment, relentlessly leading the Gold Beetles in circles all the while.
In the beginning, when there weren’t many insects, it seemed rather pleasant. But when the insects became a surging mass, he began to feel uneasy and had to resort to his Fatal Strike to kill the ones blocking his path.
As the night drew to a close, physically, Du Gang still felt fine, capable of pushing on for another three days and nights. Yet, mentally, he was quite drained, so tired that he felt like getting a good sleep right about now.
But as his eyes lighted up on the 235 points of Source Energy he had acquired, a brilliant smile broke out on his face.
The Gold Beetles were of a higher grade than the regular Black Beetles. The crystals they produced were orange-colored, which translated into Source Energy, giving at least twenty points per crystal!
And this was only from the crystals that he acquired from killing the beetles. At the moment, a great number of beetles were still lying on the ground, in deep sleep, waiting for him to claim.
“I wonder if they are still alive?”
After resting for a while, Du Gang remembered the people inside the Xingyuan Building.
Suppressing his drowsiness, he hastily got up and walked towards the Xingyuan Building.
The Xingyuan Building was now barely recognizable. Its exterior walls had fallen off, and the glass was shattered. If it wasn’t for the load-bearing walls holding it up, it would’ve collapsed long ago.
As Du Gang ventured onwards, his unease grew.
Unlike his surroundings which were full of Gold Beetles, the perimeter of the Xingyuan Building was littered with Flying Mantises. It was apparent that these insects had launched a frenzied attack on the building while they were awake.
“Chu Zixuan!”
Du Gang shouted out loud at the foot of the building. Other than his own echo, there was no response.
An ominous premonition began to take root in his heart. With but a single stride, he rapidly grew in size before launching himself towards the sixth floor. As he was about to reach his destination, he shrank back to his original size and slipped through the broken window.
As he stepped inside, he saw a decapitated corpse lying in the room. From its clothing, he identified it as Ji Zhiwen.
After a night of fighting, he had learned something about the characteristics of the Flying Mantis.
It was extremely fast, had a needle-like appendage on its tail, and had a liking for human brain matter. If it was hungry, it might even split open its prey’s skull to eat their brains.
The good news was, apart from the brain, this insect didn’t eat any other parts of its prey. If one was killed by it, at least an intact (albeit headless) corpse would be left. If one was killed by a Black Beetle, however, they would be eaten till only their shoes remained!
Clearly, the Flying Mantises that had entered the building were starving. They didn’t just suck his brain matter but also sliced open his skull and devoured his brain!
Du Gang barely stayed in the room for a second before he quickly moved to check other rooms.
The dead were dead. He didn’t have time to grieve. The first order of business was to see if there were any other survivors.
Suddenly, he noticed some scattered remains of Flying Mantises under his feet. He swiftly crouched down to examine them.
An incredibly sharp blade had penetrated through the insect’s head, causing an instant death!
This was a signature move of Chu Zixuan!
Seeing this, he breathed a sigh of relief.
At least, there was still a chance!
His concern had been that Chu Zixuan’s Mental Power might not be able to detect the rapid flight of the insects. But, as it appeared, he could.
He forcefully broke open the insect’s head only to find a red crystal within it. He promptly absorbed it, which increased his Source Energy by two points. It seemed that it wasn’t much different from the crystal of a Black Beetle.
“Chu Zixuan!”
With this thought in mind, Du Gang shouted out loudly once more.
Still, there was no response!
Could it be that he was dead too?!!
A look of discomfort crossed Du Gang’s face. When they had arrived, there were six of them. Was he going to be the only one left when he left?
“Ting! ”
“Ting! ”
Just then, a faint sound of metallic clashing reached his ears.
Du Gang’s ears perked up at once as he began listening carefully.
Soon, he discerned that the sound was coming from the floor below and quickly moved towards its source.
When he reached the first floor, he found a metallic knife that was currently striking a water pipe.
As if sensing his arrival, the knife suddenly halted its action, hovering in the air.
“Chu Zixuan?!!”
Du Gang immediately recognized it. This was Chu Zixuan’s signature telekinetic move. He looked left and right but didn’t see anything.
At that moment, the floating knife in mid-air wagged its butt, turned around, and drifted lightly in one direction.
Seeing this, Du Gang promptly followed.
One man and one knife led the way. They soon exited the Xingyuan Building, moving along some ruins in one direction.
After traveling for several dozen meters, they finally stopped in front of a pile of ruins.
Du Gang quickly surveyed his surroundings. Judging from the dilapidated sign, it was clear that this used to be a bank.
“A bank? Could they have hidden in the vault?”
With that thought, he swiftly transformed into a giant and began to dig.
Guided by the flying knife, he quickly dug a hole that was two meters deep in one spot, finally revealing a metallic wall inside.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Seeing the metallic wall, the flying knife appeared to quiver with excitement as it struck the wall a few times.
Du Gang understood that Chu Zixuan must be inside.
He quickly grabbed the round handle on the metallic wall and pulled hard.
“Bang!”
The dug-up hole was instantly filled again, but now, within his hands, there was a silver metallic cube, three meters in height, width, and length each.
Du Gang carried it to a relatively flat area, placed it down, and began to examine it.
First, he tried to wrench apart the wheel-like object on the block with his hands but failed to do so.
“Cough cough, after all, it is a vault made by the state, it’s not unusual for it to be of good quality!”
Having failed to force it open, Du Gang resorted to turning the wheel.
What happened next left him astonished.
After his transformation, his gripping strength was around three or four tons in each hand. With both hands plus the strength of his body, he could even swing around a ten-ton iron pillar.
But now, after one turn, the wheel that was obviously meant for opening the door only turned by a notch.
“Even a small vault in a small county has such good workmanship?”
Du Gang was shocked. He had used almost ten tons of force to turn it by one notch. But for those who had the key, perhaps a gentle twist would open the door.
After once again marveling at the precision of the state-manufactured vault, he decided to buckle down. He started turning the wheel relentlessly, one turn after another.
After he had turned it numerous times, a ‘clunk’ sound came from the lock inside the door. Immediately after, the door eased up in his hands , and it opened.
On the inside, Chu Zixuan stood at the doorway, his body covered in dried blood.. Behind him, Ma Li was lying on the ground, missing a leg, his life hanging in the balance!