The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 422 - 318: Too Much Bamboo Shoots

So from the newcomer’s attire, it was clear he wasn’t from the ’Non-human’ team.

That person stood on a building at our nine o’clock direction, waving a piece of red cloth, shouting loudly, clearly trying to alert the large mantises over here.

Who is it? Are they looking for trouble! Can you see someone down below?

The large mantis woke up from its nap, eyes sleepy... hazy?

Before turning to look at the person on the building, it first noticed us trying to escape.

Who let us be right under their noses, it’s hard for them not to see us.

The large mantises all looked at us in unison, Qinghan whispered, "Watch the markers, run!"

We also made markers at the borders of the ’trap’ and ’danger zones’ we passed, so even while escaping, we knew where to step and where to jump over.

An escape from the Ancient City made by us felt like a 3D game, with the mantises rising to twice our height; hitting its head needed the right timing.

Currently, besides Qinghan and I, others could only reach its legs.

As for their legs, I didn’t examine closely, just noticed them reflecting light.

It seemed they had many reflective spots, as if dressed in metal armor; thinking of this, driven by curiosity, I threw a stone from my pocket at the mantis chasing from behind.

The stone hit the mantis’s leg with a dull ’thud,’ sounding indeed like hitting metal.

Who would put armor on mantises?

Perhaps they were super war weapons cultivated by the Ancient City’s ancestors?

After all, there are historical records of humans using animals in warfare.

And the Ancient City, from the signs we’ve found, did have external enemies, so if the large mantises were their ’non-human warriors,’ it’s not impossible.

"Little Leng, what are you throwing at it?" Huang Zaijiang jumped over an acid pit, suddenly closing the distance with me, having seen me throw something at the mantis behind us, probably thinking I had some secret weapon.

"A picked-up stone," I replied truthfully.

"Huh?" He paused, "Oh."

I felt sorry for disappointing him; he just believed I was a hidden master reemerged, perhaps wanting to see me show some tricks like defeating an enemy with one move, yet I just threw an ordinary stone at the mantis, with no cool effect or any damage.

We’re escaping while fighting, not just fleeing, so we don’t have to be too fast.

Doctor Du is a ’long-range’ shooter, with a poison dart gun in hand, firing off a dozen poison darts in quick succession.

Large creatures are best dealt with such weapons, precision isn’t critical, as there’s always a chance to hit, even if it’s not a vital spot.

But Doctor Du quickly found it ineffective; her poison darts hit a layer of armor, and no matter how sharp, the fine needle couldn’t pierce through the iron plate.

Also, the gun firing the darts couldn’t compare in propulsion to a real gun.

Subsequently, Doctor Du voiced the suspicion in my heart, "They’re wearing something."

Dozens of large mantises chased us, yet Qinghan had no intention of holding out; he heard Doctor Du’s words, turned back and leapt up, attempting to slash the pursuing mantis’s leg. The treasure sword could indeed cut off the mantis’s leg, but Qinghan was almost slashed by another mantis.

These mantises’ arms aren’t like scythes; they are scythes.

They could easily split a person in half; their raised forearms felt like a guillotine hanging over our heads.

As they dashed through the streets, stepping on acid pools and insect nests without injury.

The armor enveloped their whole bodies like skin, offering comprehensive protection.

Then, the person on the building shouted again, "Come over quickly? Are you people? Are you alive?"

Look at the way they ask! Gals, are they looking for trouble!

We’re jumping all around here, if we’re not alive what are we, frogs?

Anyway, Doctor Du and the others are alive, that’s for sure.

Huang Zaijiang and the others looked towards Qinghan, waiting for him to decide whether to head towards that person.

Heading into the dark passage wasn’t feasible; maneuvering is hard inside, and the mantises could still chase us in, but without the dark passage, the paths on the surface were unexplored, and any danger was unknown, akin to playing Minesweeper in a minefield.

Qinghan thought for a moment, then nodded; the building where the person stood was not far, just two streets away.

Though Qinghan didn’t say it aloud, I instinctively ran to the front of the group to clear the mines.

Then we saw a corpse, a corpse covered in fur.