Chapter 14：The Cave of Maggots

"Roar!" Yu Xue once again changed back to the form of a giant bear. With Luan Ying following behind, both of them stepped into the cave. As Xiao Ling and Fei Yu were spellcasters, it would be better for them to stand behind both men.

The scene at the entrance of the cave was somewhat grim. Seeing Fei Yu's pale face and shaking hands, Xiao Ling could not help asking with concern, "Are you all right?"

Fei Yu bit her lip and shook her head stubbornly as the two of them followed Yu Xue and Luan Ying into the Cave of Maggots.

Some white maggots had been refreshed in the cave, which were monsters above level 10. With so many abilities up his sleeves, Xiao Ling could handle monsters one or two levels higher than him, but it was still a little difficult for him to deal with those three levels higher. This was when the advantage of joining a team to grind came in. When in a team, one did not have to worry even if the monster's level was five to six levels higher than the average level of the team members. After all, there was strength in numbers.

Luan Ying went into stealth mode and sneaked up on a maggot.

Sap!

The maggot was incapacitated.

"Roar!" Yu Xue rushed over and slapped his thick paw into the maggot's pink flesh.

Corruption!

Shadow Bolt!

Searing Pain!

Xiao Ling cast three spells in a row. Under the effect of Corruption, his Shadow Bolt and Searing Pain could deduct more than 100 points of the maggot's health each.

Under the attack of Luan Ying and Yu Xue, the maggot was killed without even fighting back; their stun skill never allowed it to wake up. Xiao Ling could see that they were quite skillful. Luan Ying had practiced his controlling abilities to perfection, but the rogue's stun skill was difficult to sustain. When dealing with some monsters with a lot of health, the stun effect would wane at some point, but the gap was immediately filled by Yu Xue. After changing into bear form, druids also had an skill that could stun the enemy. Hence, the two of them cooperated perfectly.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ling's spell damage surprised Luan Ying and Yu Xue as well. He was only a level-7 warlock, but his spell damage was already so high. They looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes. Moreover, Xiao Ling even knew the abilities of three warlock specializations, which was unprecedented in the game! Of course, they would not rashly ask questions related to personal privacy.

"How do you allocate your attribute points?" Luan Ying asked.

"I add them all to intelligence."

"No wonder!" Luan Ying nodded and moved on. Spellcasters usually added attribute points to intelligence in pursuit of high damage. However, few people would put all attribute points to intelligence, because that would make the health and defense extremely low, which would lead to a low survival rate, especially players like Xiao Ling who would grind alone. Unless they had great confidence in their own abilities, few people would choose to add all attribute points to intelligence.

With just one question, Luan Ying roughly estimated Xiao Ling's skill level.

"Not far ahead is the nest of poisonous maggots. Have you brought any antidote?" Luan Ying asked.

"No." Xiao Ling was still not very familiar with the game, so he knew nothing about these details.

Luan Ying and Yu Xue felt a little puzzled. How could Xiao Ling come to Zombieland without bringing antidotes? For a moment, they could not figure out whether he was an expert or a rookie. If he were an expert, he could not have failed to notice these details. However, if he were a rookie, he could not have such good abilities.

They guessed that he had never played this game before, but had accumulated good experience in other games, which was why he played so well now.

"This is an antidote, take it! Those poisonous maggots can spray venom. If the venom sticks to your body and you do not detoxify it in time, you'll keep losing health." Luan Ying said as he handed Xiao Ling a bottle of antidote. The colorless crystal bottle contained some pure blue liquid, which looked very refreshing and pleasing to the eye.

"Thanks!" Xiao Ling took the antidote from Luan Ying. He vaguely remembered that a bottle of antidote cost several gold coins. He accepted it for the safety of the team, but also made a mental note of the gesture.

Fei Yu was shivering as she walked beside Xiao Ling, trying to hide behind him and get herself some sense of security. However, she was afraid to get too close as well because she was a bit unfamiliar with him.

'She's such a delicate and piteous little girl.' Xiao Ling did his best to shield her from some of the gory scenes. Fei Yu seemed to sense that and her heart was filled with gratitude toward him.

"Be careful! There are three poisonous maggots ahead. After killing them, we will face the Maggot King. The three poisonous maggots are level-11 monsters, while the Maggot King is a level-15 BOSS." Luan Ying had explored the Cave of Maggots in stealth mode and knew all about it.

With so many forks in the cave, it was really not easy for Luan Ying to remember the path so clearly.

At that moment, Xiao Ling found a heap of ore in a corner of the cave that was giving off pale green light.

"Wait a minute! Let me dig out the ore." Xiao Ling said hurriedly. Higher-grade ores could often be found in the wild, and Xiao Ling could not miss such opportunities.

"You know how to mine?" Yu Xue was surprised. "We'll wait for you then. Ores in the wild are usually worth several gold coins, so don't let them go to waste."

Everyone stopped while Xiao Ling took out his pickaxe and began digging.

Ding! You obtained 1 Malachite.

Ding! You obtained 1 Malachite.

Xiao Ling dug more than twenty times in a row and found five pieces of malachite before the heap of ore gradually disappeared. Malachite was material for jewelcrafting, and each piece could be sold for about five gold coins.

He held the five pieces of bright green malachite in his hand and said, "Let's divide them equally."

Luan Ying shook his head. "You are the one who dug them out. Even if we had seen them, we would not have dug them out. You'd better keep them."

Fei Yu's bright eyes seemed to look at Xiao Ling with a plea. He thought about it for a while and then said, "Well, I'll keep them, then."

The girl's face beamed with joy. Seeing her exultation, Xiao Ling smiled and said, "Let's go!"

When they reached a fork in the road, they could vaguely see three poisonous maggots ahead blocking their way. Yu Xue pondered for a while and said, "I can control one."

"I can control two." Luan Ying thought for a moment and added, "Just barely though."

If the melee players at the front of the team could not control the monsters and caused them to attack the spellcasters, or if the melee players died because the priest at the back did not heal them in time, what awaited them was the decimation of the whole team.