novelODS Chapter 11 Cave Exploration
Chapter 11 Cave Exploration
Two days later, in the evening, Benjamin suddenly opened his eyes.
He had been dozing off—at least, Chen Mo thought he was. But the moment the old man opened his eyes, Chen Mo realized he had been on alert the whole time.
"It's starting," Benjamin said. His voice was soft, but every word was as clear as if it had been carved with a knife.
Chen Mo's heart suddenly raced.
He looked in the direction of the cave.
Outside the cave entrance, the patrolling skeletons had stopped moving. They stood frozen in place, their postures stiff and lifeless, as if someone had pressed the pause button. In their empty eye sockets, the two blue lights were still flickering, but much dimmer and slower than before.
From the depths of the cave, a stable, continuous blue halo emanated. It wasn't the flickering, signal-like flashing of the previous light—it was constant, even, as if someone had lit an ever-burning blue lamp deep within the cave.
The air has changed.
The stench had intensified, but mixed with it a new smell—a sharp, tooth-grinding odor, similar to ozone. Goosebumps rose on Chen Mo's skin; not from the cold, but from a more primal, deep-seated alertness.
"Magic overflowing," Benjamin murmured, flipping through his spellbook, his finger lingering on a particular page. "The ritual has entered its core phase. The caster's entire consciousness should be immersed in the ritual. Now is the perfect time to go in."
Chen Mo took a deep breath. His hand rested on the hilt of the sword, and he could feel the sweat seeping from his palms soaking the leather.
"Walk."
The two emerged from their hiding place, crouching low, and moved along the shadows of the hillside toward the cave entrance. Chen Mo walked in front, with Benjamin following two steps behind. Benjamin held his spellbook open in his left hand, while a faint flame was already gathering between the fingers of his right hand.
It is 100 paces from the cave entrance.
The skeletons remained standing there, motionless. Chen Mo could see the cracks in their bones and the dried stains on their tattered clothes. The closest skeleton had its back to them, holding a rusty iron sword, the tip pointing towards the ground.
Fifty steps from the cave entrance.
Chen Mo stopped and crouched behind a clump of withered bushes. He took a short bow from his back and drew an arrow from his quiver. The arrowhead still bore traces of the poison he had previously applied, gleaming darkly in the twilight.
He nocked an arrow and drew his bow.
The bowstring felt incredibly real against his fingers. The bow bent slightly in his hand, gathering power. His gaze followed the arrow shaft, landing on the back of the nearest skull—or more precisely, the gap between the back of the skull and the cervical spine.
That gap.
He can see it.
It wasn't seeing with his eyes—it was a strange sense. That sense told him that was the skeleton's most vulnerable spot. An arrow shot from that angle could sever the connection between the spine and the skull, rendering the skeleton immobile.
His fingers loosened.
The sound of the arrow leaving the bowstring was very soft—a short "whoosh," like a bird's wing cutting through the air.
Then came a crisp cracking sound.
The arrow pierced precisely into the crevice of the skeleton's skull. The arrowhead emerged from its eye socket, bringing with it a cloud of grayish-white bone fragments. The skeleton didn't even have time to react—its body stiffened for a moment, then, like a puppet stripped of all its support, it crumbled apart. Bones scattered on the ground, and the blue light in its eye sockets extinguished the instant it fell, like two candles blown out by the wind.
Chen Mo had no time to savor the joy of success.
Two other skeletons—one on the left side of the cave entrance and one on a more distant slope—simultaneously "woke up."
It was a stress response triggered by the attack; their stiff heads turned, their empty eye sockets scanned their surroundings, and blue light pulsed violently within them.
The skeleton on the slope even raised the wooden stick in its hand, assuming a defensive posture.
But they did not find Chen Mo.
He chose a good spot—the dead bushes concealed his figure, and the twilight light blended his silhouette into the surrounding rocks. Moreover, the skeletons' senses were greatly diminished during the ritual; they could only see things moving within a few feet.
Chen Mo's second arrow was already nocked.
He aimed at the skeleton on the left side of the cave entrance. The skeleton was looking in his direction, but it clearly saw nothing. Its jaw opened and closed with a faint clicking sound, as if warning something that didn't exist.
The arrow leaves the bowstring.
This arrow wasn't as precise as the first—it didn't hit the gap directly, but instead embedded itself in the skull's cheekbone. The arrowhead was stuck in the bone crevice, and the poison seeped into the cracks in the bone. The skull let out a piercing scream, like fingernails scraping against a stone slab, and its body shook violently a few times.
But it did not fall.
The cheekbone isn't a fatal area. It was just injured and provoked.
The skeleton turned its head, its empty eye sockets facing directly in Chen Mo's direction.
Chen Mo's heart skipped a beat.
The third arrow. Nock the bow, draw the string, aim.
This time he didn't have time to aim at the slit. He aimed at the eye socket—the empty, pulsating blue hole.
Let go.
The arrow flew out and struck the skeleton squarely in its left eye socket. The arrowhead emerged from the back of its head, carrying with it a fragment of bone. The skeleton's scream abruptly ceased, and its body, like a wind-up toy, stiffly slumped forward, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.
The last skeleton on the slope finally noticed something amiss. It emitted a sharp, high-pitched hiss—not of fear, but some kind of alarm. It raised its wooden stick and began to move towards Chen Mo.
He drew his fourth arrow, nocked it, and aimed.
The skeleton was moving. Its steps were stiff but not slow, and it was descending the slope, getting closer and closer. Chen Mo could see the cracks in its ribs and the withered tendons remaining on its finger bones.
He waited for a moment.
The skeleton stepped on a loose rock, its body tilting slightly for a moment—
The arrow leaves the bowstring.
The middle of the cervical spine.
Like the first three, the fourth skeleton disintegrated silently. Bones rolled to the ground, and the blue light went out in the darkness.
Chen Mo put down the bow and let out a long breath.
His hands were trembling slightly. Not from fear—but from a temporary feeling of exhaustion after the adrenaline receded.
But he did it.
Four arrows, four skeletons. Not one missed.
Whether it was due to the upgrade or not, his breathing, his heartbeat, and every tiny movement of his fingers were more coordinated than before when aiming. He knew when to release his grip, how much the wind would deflect the arrow, and where the target's trajectory would intersect with the arrow's.
This isn't a superpower; it's a mysterious skill deeply ingrained in the body.
The moment he put down the bow, a strange feeling welled up from the depths of his body.
Something is falling from the sky.
The Radiant Realm responded to him once again.
He could sense that the first star of the bow and arrow system had become a little brighter after he fired those four arrows.
Chen Mo looked down at his hands.
"Let's go," he said, his voice more steady than he had expected. "There's something even more troublesome inside."
Benjamin nodded, opened the spellbook, and his finger hovered over a certain page.
The two men turned and walked into the wolf's mouth.
Outside the cave entrance, scattered skulls gleamed pale in the moonlight. The bones lay there quietly, like forgotten puzzle pieces that could never be put back together.
Deep inside the cave, the blue light continued to shine steadily.
The ceremony is still ongoing.