Dudian slowly opened his eyes a little. By the faint light of the fire, he saw that the hunched old man was dragging him forward into the darkness with his back to him.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he gave up the idea of a sneak attack. Throwing sand at the opponent's back would have no attacking effect and would instead lose this only chance of a sneak attack. He had already been dragged two or three meters away and couldn't reach the stones by the fire pit. Moreover, even if he could reach them, the stones by the fire pit were burning hot. He had to throw them instantly as he did before, otherwise, his palm would be scalded.
"I can't go to his lair," Dudian knew that he was in great danger at the moment, and his mind was racing. He had to find a way to escape before entering the opponent's lair. After all, no one knew how many people were in the opponent's lair. He couldn't even deal with the one in front of him. If he was taken to the lair, he could only become fish on the chopping block, let others slaughter!
At this time, the hunched old man dragged Dudian to the place where Mekin had been about to urinate earlier, bent down, and picked up the dagger that had fallen on the ground.
Dudian was overjoyed. His eyes fell on the stone he had thrown earlier. He immediately quietly reached out to touch it. The heat preservation effect of the stone was average. Although it was still hot at the moment, it could be barely tolerated. He grabbed the stone, looked at the back of the hunched old man's head, and suddenly exerted force with his abdomen, using the strength of his upper body to throw it hard.
With a bang, the stone didn't hit the back of his head but hit his back. After all, he was lying down. Although the distance was extremely close, the angle was still off.
Dudian's face looked ugly, but he didn't have time to be annoyed. He quickly pushed with his feet and broke free from the opponent's hand.
The hunched old man was hit on the back and let out a painful cry. He almost stumbled and fell. He looked back and immediately saw Dudian getting up and running away. He couldn't believe that he had fallen twice in a row at the hands of a child. He was so angry that his chest was about to burst. He said ferociously, "I'm going to kill you!!" Suddenly, he raised his hand and threw it. An incredible scene appeared. From his wide sleeve, a very long black shadow suddenly shot out.
With a bang, it hit Dudian's back.
Dudian immediately fell to the ground. Intense pain shot through his back, and he almost fainted from the pain. But his heart was filled with confusion. With his speed, the opponent shouldn't have caught up so quickly. Could it be a thrown stone?
He reluctantly looked back, and his pupils suddenly constricted.
He saw a scene that completely exceeded his imagination. From the sleeve of the hunched old man, a snake-like tentacle extended. It was about as thick as a baby's wrist and three or four meters long, completely stretching open his black sleeve. Under the flickering firelight, Dudian could see extremely clearly that the root of this tentacle was actually connected to the opponent's shoulder!
The most terrifying thing was that on the hunched old man's withered arm, there were blood-red veins, like blood vessels bulging on the surface of the skin, full of weirdness and ferocity.
This made four words emerge in Dudian's mind: "Biochemical transformation!"
Born into a scientific family, Dudian knew that biochemical transformation really existed. However, in the old era, it was a taboo experiment. Any biochemical human experiment was illegal. It only appeared during World War II and was used as a war weapon at that time.
These were things he heard his father and his sister talking about. He never expected that at this moment, in this world where technology hadn't even entered the steam age, he would see this incredible scene!
Crack!
While Dudian was shocked, the hunched old man let out a painful groan. The root of the tentacle on his right arm grew a few centimeters abruptly. The newly grown section was still covered with a lot of smooth tissue fluid, and the hunched old man's right arm became a bit more shriveled.
The hunched old man gritted his teeth and stared fixedly at Dudian, saying ferociously, "Kid, I won't kill you so easily. I'll cut you up bit by bit and turn you into my experimental subject!" After that, he walked towards Dudian with big steps. The tentacle on his arm wriggled and entered his wide black robe through the sleeve on his shoulder. If this section of the sleeve hadn't been torn open, from the outside, it wouldn't have been possible to see anything unusual at all.
Dudian's face was pale. At this moment, he naturally already knew that this was definitely not a Scavenger's test but real danger. He wanted to get up, but the severe pain in his back made it impossible for him to stand. Moreover, the green mist that the hunched old man had taken out earlier, although he had tried his best to hold his breath, after a long time, he still smelled a bit of it. Just smelling a little bit of the strange smell made him feel weak all over.
"Still want to run?" The hunched old man looked at him ferociously, grabbed Dudian's hair with his big hand, and dragged him away.
Dudian held his wrist tightly in pain. Before long, the hunched old man suddenly stopped. It was dark all around, but by the faint starlight in the sky, Dudian saw that there was a deep pit here.
"Get in!" The hunched old man kicked Dudian.
Dudian immediately rolled down. Along the way, he felt that he was hitting the stairs. His back, wrists, and arms hurt extremely from the bumps on the stairs. He rolled for about seven or eight meters before reaching the bottom. He reluctantly opened his eyes and immediately saw a faint yellow light in front of him. This was an underground secret room.
At this time, the hunched old man climbed down the vertical ladder.
Dudian looked up. Above the wooden ladder was a wooden board that sealed the hole above. He immediately understood why they had met this hunched old man in this vast desert. It turned out that the shelter they had chosen happened to be not far from the place of this hunched old man. Most likely, when they were moving around here during the day, they had already alerted this hunched old man.
He smiled bitterly in his heart. Thinking about it, it was true. The desert plants here were lush, and it was the place with the richest water source nearby. It was indeed a suitable location for a shelter.
After the hunched old man came down the stairs, he ignored Dudian and quickly came to a workbench not far away. He took out a small bottle from the drawer inside. There were scarlet pills in the bottle. He poured out a few and took them all at once. He poured out hot water from a metal bottle next to him and drank it.
Dudian couldn't help but look around this underground secret room. He immediately saw some things that made his face look ugly. On several cabinets next to him, there were some large glass bottles. Inside were some terrifying things. Some were human palms, some were women's heads, and some were lungs and hearts.
"Kid, stop looking. Later, I'll find a big container to put you in," the hunched old man noticed Dudian's gaze and said sinisterly.
Dudian's face looked ugly, and he said, "You're the one the Holy See of Light said sold his soul to the devil, right?"
The hunched old man sneered and said, "The devil? The Holy See of Light just uses the Creator and the devil to deceive the world. When I complete my experiment, I will be the Creator!"
"What experiment?" Dudian asked. Naturally, he didn't really have the intention to care about this. He just wanted to use talking to buy some time. When his physical strength recovered a little, he would find a way to escape.
The hunched old man sneered and said, "You won't understand even if I tell you. Poor fools enslaved by the Holy See of Light. After I take a rest, I'll send you to meet your Holy God. Don't think about trying to leave. See this?" As he spoke, he took out an object from the drawer. It was actually a small crossbow.
Dudian's face changed, and he felt a chill in his heart. But he didn't give up. He gritted his teeth and said, "You call yourself the Creator, yet you still use such a thing to kill people. Ridiculous!"
"Hmph, the wisdom of the Creator is beyond your understanding," the hunched old man sneered. "The great alchemy will create immortality. You're very lucky to be able to become the material in my experiment."
"Alchemy?" Dudian was taken aback.
When watching the super chip, he happened to see some introductions about "Alchemy". It could be said that this was the early prototype of chemistry, originating from Egypt. It mainly aimed to transform base metals into gold. Once an alchemist could achieve this, he would immediately become a national treasure-level figure and be able to do whatever he wanted.
And the ultimate goal of alchemy was to create the "Philosopher's Stone", a treasure that was said to be able to make people immortal!
In history, many great figures had engaged in the study of alchemy, including the famous physicist Newton, who was an enthusiastic lover of alchemy.
"Are you an alchemist?" Dudian looked at the hunched old man in surprise and doubt. "Isn't alchemy about making gold?"
The hunched old man narrowed his eyes and said, "I didn't expect you to know so much. However, our alchemy is divided into two factions. One faction studies basic substances and tries to create the 'Philosopher's Stone' to achieve immortality. The other faction, like me, studies life substances and creates 'life' to become the Creator!"