Killing the Wood Puppet Monster definitely has immense benefits.
When Xia Hong first heard about Yang and Li’s affairs from Shi Qing, he only had some initial guesses.
But after seeing Yang and Li with his own eyes, forming an impression of them, his illusions about Beishuo Town shattered, and Xia Hong was almost certain.
These two, clearly, are not good people, nor do they seem like warm-hearted individuals.
They wouldn’t risk their lives to kill monsters without expecting any reward, just for the sake of irrelevant people around Redwood Ridge.
With their personalities, they would never do such a thing.
So, the only explanation is that killing the Wood Puppet Monster has benefits.
Moreover, Xia Hong also noticed Luo Ming’s change in expression just now.
No surprise, Luo Ming is also aware of this.
While Xia Hong was contemplating, Yang and Li had already climbed onto the Wood Puppet Monster’s head.
Yang Ning raised the silver longsword in his hand and frantically stabbed at the already fragmented head of the Wood Puppet Monster, almost turning its interior upside down.
The silver longsword proved effective; with each stab, the massive body of the Wood Puppet Monster trembled incessantly, obviously in great pain.
The Wood Puppet Monster could no longer scream; it was extremely weak, clearly reaching the end of its strength.
"Kekeke, I’m going... I’m going... even if I die, I won’t let you have it easy, kekeke..."
Everyone’s faces changed drastically; no one expected that the Wood Puppet Monster, whose head was almost half burnt away, could still speak.
Its voice was extremely weak, yet the venom and hatred in its tone sent shivers down everyone’s spine.
"Die, die, come die with me..."
The Wood Puppet Monster roared to the sky, stirring the surrounding smoke, instantly causing the entire sky over the valley to change color, the earth trembling without end.
Yang Ning and Li Hu, the closest to the Wood Puppet Monster, had already sensed something was wrong and frantically fled towards the rock wall on the right side of the valley.
"Stick to the wall, retreat, run outside, quickly!"
Luo Ming turned and shouted to the large group of people on the west side of the valley, then led Shang Ping and the others to flee towards the left rock wall.
The large group on the west side of the valley, about a hundred people, included ordinary people previously rescued from the wooden house by Luo Ming and Xia Hong, as well as people from the camps of Huang Zhaohong and others.
Upon hearing Luo Ming’s shout, the hundred-odd people immediately split into three groups by position, running towards the left and right sides of the valley and the western valley entrance.
The debris pile at the valley entrance had just been chopped open by the Wood Puppet Monster, revealing the entrance.
Xia Hong and the others were just on this western side, so they also ran towards the entrance.
Boom...
Unfortunately, just as they hadn’t run far, the Wood Puppet Monster exploded.
Its more than twenty meters high body was filled with corpses from Rogel Camp.
With the explosion, all the broken bodies turned into a rain of flesh, scattering across the valley floor.
Even the walls were stained blood red.
The power of the explosion imbued the flying flesh with terrifying force, killing many ordinary people who were too slow to dodge, even catapulting some from the Logging Realm over ten meters away, leaving them coughing blood endlessly.
The Wood Puppet Monster’s dying blow left cries of anguish throughout the valley once again.
At the west side entrance, Xia Hong, hiding behind a large rock, glanced back at the five from Yuan Cheng, finding only Qiu Peng and Yue Feng slightly injured, feeling grateful.
Then he stood up, looking at the now completely disappeared massive body of the Wood Puppet Monster, finally able to breathe a true sigh of relief.
"This Wood Puppet Monster, it could self-destruct?"
Before Xia Hong could fully process this confusion, two voices interrupted him.
"Self-destruct? Monsters can self-destruct?"
"This beast, it even had this trick up its sleeve!"
Yang Ning and Li Hu, who were the first to reach the Wood Puppet Monster’s self-destruct location, were rummaging through the remnants, looking extremely grim and slightly angry.
Xia Hong was stunned, immediately furrowing his brow, deep in thought.
Even they didn’t know that monsters could self-destruct?
Xia Hong certainly wouldn’t doubt them; in terms of understanding monsters, Yang Ning and Li Hu were undoubtedly far superior to people like himself.
"Let’s get out first; the smell inside the cave might take a long time to clear."
"The mountaintop seems to be shaking; we can’t stay in here."
"Yes, let’s get out quickly, or falling rocks could kill us!"
...
No, wait!
Xia Hong suddenly lifted his head, looking behind him; not only those who had just fled to the cave entrance, but also those hiding by the rock walls on both sides, were all heading out of the cave entrance.
"We can’t leave, no one can leave the valley!"
Xia Hong shouted, causing the hundred or so people already inside the passage, about to leave the cave, to stop immediately.