Chapter 456 – Stop Running Around

“Strange, why did it stop moving?”

Ling Mo turned his head in confusion, looking in the direction where the psychic light cluster had halted.

The artificial lake was overall elliptical in shape, with the corridor as its diameter and Huxin Island as its center. It was narrow and long on the sides, while taking up most of the area at the front and back.

Simply put, the shape of the lake resembled an enlarged egg, albeit irregular and quite peculiar.

The mutation panda had fled to the other side of Huxin Island.

This was equivalent to escaping from the top of an egg to its bottom.

And on that side of the lake, there wasn’t even a single piece of wood in sight, let alone a corridor.

To intercept the mutation panda, Ling Mo and his team had to cross the corridor, return to the shore, and then chase along the lakeside…

The mutation panda’s movement was in a straight line, while Ling Mo and his team could only follow the curved shoreline…

With this pursuit and escape, the distance between the two parties would undoubtedly widen, making it far from easy to catch up.

“The designer must have had their head slammed in a door when they left! What use is this shape other than increasing the visitors’ burden and exhausting their energy?”

Ling Mo had already prepared to go all out, even starting to gather his strength, but unexpectedly… it stopped on its own!

“What, suddenly feeling a surge of courage and want to turn around and fight us?”

Seeing that it hadn’t moved for a while, Ling Mo cautiously approached: “Heh, didn’t expect you to have some backbone. No wonder you’re a National Treasure, not running away easily… Good, I like that. After chasing you for so long, it’s embarrassing to see you run away as soon as you realize you can’t win, whether you’re human, zombie, or beast…”

Although Ling Mo was babbling nonsense, his actions were extremely cautious.

This babbling, to some extent, also helped ease his tense nerves, allowing him to make more rational judgments.

A string pulled too tight will snap, and the string in his mind was no different.

Besides, he already knew how formidable this crazy panda was.

Maybe its current behavior was actually a trick?

“Just like some fish, playing dead as bait, only to devour the prey whole once it bites…”

As Ling Mo drew closer to the mutation panda’s location, his mood grew increasingly tense.

From a distance, the water’s surface seemed calm, but up close, one could see bubbles continuously rising from the bottom.

At first glance, it looked like the mutation panda might be in trouble down there.

“Feigning suffocation to lure me in for a closer look, then jumping out to bite my head off with its gaping maw, right?”

Ling Mo extended a psychic tentacle downward but took two steps back, away from the shore.

“So it is down there… Now that you’ve drawn me in, what will you do? Abandoning the Nine-Section Whip… no, the mutation python, and jumping out to fight me with Tai Chi skills?”

Ling Mo was on the shore, guessing the mutation panda’s intentions and guarding against a potential sneak attack from the National Treasure.

Meanwhile, underwater…

“Gulu Gulu!”

The panda’s usually listless eyes had never been so wide open.

Through the lake water, it vaguely saw the fleeting figure on the shore and couldn’t help but extend a paw in a swiping motion: “MeGu… Gulu!”

A string of bubbles immediately escaped from between the claws of its other paw, and it quickly retracted the first paw.

Even with both paws covering its mouth and nose, the mutation panda’s round, chubby cheeks indicated that it was nearing its limit…

At this moment, its upper body was writhing desperately, but its plump waist was stuck somewhere, causing the air stored in its body to be continually squeezed out…

The inlet of this artificial lake was actually fitted with an iron grille.

Although it had become quite corroded after prolonged submersion, breaking the grille completely underwater against the flow was still unlikely.

The mutation panda was in a hurry while escaping.

With its powerful hind legs, it made a hole in the grille and eagerly squeezed through.

Even for a panda, its legs were slimmer than its waist.

As soon as its hind legs slipped into the waterway, the mutation panda felt as if it had glimpsed the dawn of victory…

“Gulu!”

The mutation panda was stunned the moment its waist got stuck.

When it regained its senses, it made a move that it would regret for the rest of its life.

It actually… tried to squeeze further in.

Just like some people who think they can zip up their pants if they just suck in their stomachs a bit more, the mutation panda, having consumed too much Zombie Gel, thought the same.

Its belly was too big, but if it could just squeeze through, everything would be fine…

But the mutation panda didn’t realize that this squeeze would trap it in a deep abyss…

“Gulu?”

Although there was no sound of fabric tearing, the mutation panda quickly found itself… stuck!

It tried to squeeze further in but failed.

And pulling back out was also unsuccessful…

This waterway seemed like an evil trap; once stuck in, there was no way out!

The mutation panda panicked and began to struggle, and with the pressure, the air stored in its powerful lungs was rapidly depleting…

As a very smart mutation panda, it quickly realized it was doomed!

At this moment, Ling Mo appeared on the shore…

Even though the other party was just prey in its eyes, the mutant panda still couldn’t help but extend its paw…

But reality was cruel, not even giving it a chance to struggle…

The mutation panda soon rolled its eyes, and more bubbles continuously emerged from between its claws…

“Gulu Gulu…”

Ling Mo had been waiting on the shore for a full five minutes by this time. Not only him, but Ye Lian and the others had also gathered around the shore for a while.

Lucy, on the other hand, had a head injury and, after chasing for so long, was now resting on a large rock not far away.

“Wh-what exactly are we waiting for?” Ye Lian squatted on the side, resting her chin in her hands, staring at the water in confusion.

“This panda sure can hold its breath. It’s still completely motionless…” Ling Mo rubbed his chin, a conflicted look crossing his face.

Xia Na stepped forward and suddenly plunged her Scythe into the water. “Come out!”

The blade sliced through the water, sending up a spray.

“Gulu Gulu!”

Hearing the commotion above, the mutation panda’s eyes bulged even more as it wriggled harder.

“It sounds like there’s something down there…” Yu Shiran suddenly said.

Seeing Ling Mo look her way, the zombie Loli immediately snorted, patting Black Silk. “It said that.”

“Black Silk?”

As a mutation beast, Black Silk naturally had a keen sense of smell and hearing.

But down there… which “down there”?

“Underwater, it seems to hear something,” Yu Shiran said impatiently, pointing to the water.

“Could it be that the panda is finally losing its patience?” Ling Mo asked.

“No…” Yu Shiran frowned, racking her brain for a way to describe it.

She gestured for Ling Mo to watch her, then pinched her nose, puffed out her cheeks, and exhaled forcefully.

“Hu-huff… huff…”

After exhaling deeply twice, she released her nose, panting exaggeratedly.

Finally, she pressed her stomach, wriggling her waist to mimic a struggling motion.

“Like this… and then like this…”

Under Ling Mo’s dumbfounded gaze, the zombie Loli finally finished her performance with satisfaction, clapped her hands, and proudly raised her head. “How about that? Got it? Hmph…”

“Hmph…” Ling Mo stared at her for a moment, then weakly reached out and flicked her forehead. “Who could understand that!”