Chapter 243 - 240: Nine Deaths, One Life
"We have other matters to attend to, so we can't travel with you. Let's part ways here."
Lin Yi didn't agree to take them along just because they had knelt.
Here in Jail City, danger lurked everywhere.
Besides, their cultivation levels weren't high—all of them were between 1-star and 2-star.
Taking them along would just make them a burden.
Lin Yi had no intention of bringing that kind of trouble upon himself.
He then turned back to Wei Shang. "How are you? Is the injury serious?"
Wei Shang shook his head with a smile. "It's nothing. Let me tell you, I was just careless earlier. If my realm wasn't suppressed, I could've crushed it with my bare hands!"
"Yes, yes, I believe you. If you're okay, let's go find Wei Nan and the others."
Wei Shang nodded. "Alright, it's time we regrouped with them!"
And so, the two of them started walking toward the other side of the desert.
Watching them gradually disappear into the distance,
the students who had been kneeling stood up, their brows deeply furrowed.
"What do we do? They look down on us!"
"It's normal for them to look down on us. We're just too weak. We'd only drag them down if we went with them."
"It'll be dawn in a little over two hours. Should we leave now, or keep looking for demonic beasts?"
"Let's head back. We might run into some demonic beasts on the way. We'll kill them if we can, and run if we can't!"
After reaching a decision, the group hurriedly set off in the direction they had come from.
…
Meanwhile, where Wei Nan and Sun Tao were,
the battle had also just ended.
Both of them were wounded to varying degrees.
They were covered in so much blood it was impossible to tell which was their own and which belonged to the giant lizard.
One of them sat on the sand, while the other collapsed onto his back.
Both were panting heavily.
For someone like Lin Yi, killing a 3-star giant lizard might not have been difficult.
However, neither Wei Nan nor Sun Tao had even reached the 2-star realm yet.
To face a 3-star giant lizard and actually manage to kill it
was an incredible feat. If Wei Nan hadn't made that desperate, all-or-nothing gamble,
they might have ended up as the giant lizard's midnight snack by now.
After a long while, Wei Nan sat up from the sand.
Looking at the giant lizard he had slain, he still felt a lingering fear, a chill running down his spine.
"Hurry and store the corpse. The smell of blood will attract other demonic beasts!" Sun Tao said urgently.
"You don't want it?"
Wei Nan glanced back at him.
Sun Tao shook his head. "Whoever kills it, gets it. Didn't we agree on that already? Besides, you nearly gave your life for it. If I took this corpse, would I even be human?"
Hearing this, Wei Nan nodded.
"Alright, then I won't be polite!"
He then stored the giant lizard's corpse in his spatial bracelet.
"Let's go. We need to find Lin Yi and the others first. We can't stay here!"
"This place is even more dangerous than that forest we were in before."
"The demonic beasts here start at 2-star or 3-star, and each one is bigger and more ferocious than the last. They're completely different from the ones in the Old District!"
Wei Nan said with emotion.
They had already had two brushes with death this night.
The first time, they were separated from the group. Luckily, he and Sun Tao found each other.
Sticking together gave them a bit more courage.
The second time, they ran into the giant lizard and almost lost their lives.
Killing it had been a stroke of luck.
Now, they had no energy left to continue hunting demonic beasts.
'No, that's wrong. We aren't hunting demonic beasts right now.'
'The demonic beasts are hunting us...'
All Wei Nan wanted was to find Lin Yi as soon as possible. Only then would he feel safe.
Otherwise, even though the giant lizard was dead, the danger wasn't over.
Supporting each other, the two of them walked toward one end of the desert.
In this vast sea of sand, they had long since lost their sense of direction, no longer knowing which way they had come from.
They could only walk on, relying entirely on luck.
Either they would make it out of here, or they would die here...
Once you sign the death waiver, your life and death are your own responsibility.
That was the purpose of the death waiver.
The two of them dragged their exhausted bodies forward, staggering as they went.
The sweltering desert heat was gradually sapping what little strength they had left.
The ink-black night sky was dotted with countless stars.
Starlight and moonlight intertwined, casting a silvery-white sheen over the endless wasteland.
Their faint silver glow pushed back the surrounding darkness.
Suddenly, something seemed to flash past up ahead.
Wei Nan rubbed his eyes and said urgently, "Did you see that? I think there's something up ahead!"
"Something?"
Sun Tao gave him a strange look.
"I didn't get a clear look, but it's probably another demonic beast!" Wei Nan whispered.
When Sun Tao heard the words "demonic beast," he immediately tensed up as if facing a great enemy.
They were both as jumpy as startled birds now.
Before encountering the giant lizard, Wei Nan had actually been somewhat excited.
He couldn't wait to run into more demonic beasts for him to slay.
But now, both of them were completely exhausted.
They no longer had the strength to fight another demonic beast.
If they really did run into one, the only thing awaiting them was death.
Then, a pair of red lights flashed in the darkness.
Wei Nan and Sun Tao exchanged a look.
They stared as the two red dots of light slowly approached them.
When it got close enough to see clearly, they realized it was a massive spider.
It was about the size of a dog, quite a bit smaller than the giant lizard.
But even so, the two of them were in no condition to fight.
"This is so damn frustrating.
To think we're going to die at the hands of a spider in the end."
Wei Nan let out a soft sigh, exhaling sharply.
Sun Tao nodded as well. "We can only blame ourselves for our low realms and lack of talent. Otherwise, how could we have ended up in such a pathetic state?"
"Think Lin Yi and the others will be able to find our bodies? I doubt it. These things devour people whole, leaving no bones behind!" Wei Nan said with a laugh.
"It's better if they don't. It'll just be pointless grief for them. Even if we're going to be eaten, we can't let it have an easy meal!"
As he finished speaking, a look of grim determination flashed in both their eyes.
They each gripped their long sabers, and just as they prepared to charge the spider for a final, desperate battle...
The spider seemed to sense something as well.
The blood-red light in its eyes flickered, and it slowly lowered its body.
This was the posture for launching an attack.
But at that very moment,
SWOOSH—
an arrow shot through the air.
THWACK! It pinned the spider directly to the sandy ground, killing it instantly.
Seeing this, both Wei Nan and Sun Tao were completely stunned.
They quickly looked around.
From out of the darkness, Shen Mengyi emerged, holding a bow.
Right behind her were Zhou Qi, Feng Lei, and the others.
The moment they saw familiar faces,
the tension that had been wound tight in their nerves instantly snapped.
Their bodies, no longer able to support them, gave way, and they collapsed to the ground.
"Holy shit... You... you guys finally found us.
Otherwise, the next time you saw us, we might have been spider poop..."
Wei Nan lay on the sand, two lines of tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.
At this moment, his heart was a whirlwind of complex emotions.
He had truly walked through the gates of hell and back, only just barely making it out.
But then, just a few steps later, he'd run into another little reaper beckoning him back.
Thankfully, Shen Mengyi and the others had appeared in time, killing the spider and saving them both.
Only someone who had truly experienced it could understand the feeling of surviving such a close brush with death.
"How are you two? How did you get so badly injured?"
Feng Lei and Zhou Qi came closer.
They saw that Wei Nan and Sun Tao were covered in blood.
"Don't even ask. You're lucky you can even see us at all. We almost became lizard poop..." Wei Nan said with a sigh.
Hearing this, Shen Mengyi couldn't help but laugh.
"One minute you're about to become spider poop, the next it's lizard poop!"
"Do you two just really want to be poop?"
Wei Nan: "..."
"Here, drink this. It will help treat your current injuries.
But we shouldn't linger here. We need to leave as soon as possible!"
Feng Lei took out two vials of healing solution and handed them to Wei Nan and Sun Tao.
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
He had a faint feeling that the danger had not yet passed.
Dawn was fast approaching.
After daybreak, the demonic beasts would retreat into hiding.
Therefore, it was highly likely they would launch one last fierce assault before dawn.
If they stayed here any longer, they might really end up as their poop.
Wei Nan and Sun Tao drank the healing solution.
Soon, the bleeding from their wounds stopped.
The pain also lessened considerably, and Wei Nan managed to get to his feet.
His mental state had also recovered somewhat.
"Can you walk?"
Feng Lei glanced at them, and Wei Nan nodded lightly.
"This stuff works great! It took effect right after I drank it?"
Feng Lei nodded. "It's a fast-acting medicine, so it works immediately. But for your injuries, you'll still need to go to the medical office for proper treatment after we leave this place."
"This medicine can only stop the bleeding and reduce the pain."
"That's more than enough. Let's go. We'll find Lin Yi and the others first, and then get out of here together!"
No one had any objections, and the group set off toward another part of the desert.
Time passed, second by second, minute by minute.
The first pale light of dawn appeared on the horizon.
Lin Yi sliced the head off a giant lizard.
He, however, was completely unscathed, without even a drop of blood on him.
Xiaoqi swooped down from the sky and landed on the giant lizard's head, eagerly pecking at its flesh.
Just like before, it took a couple of bites and then stopped, flapping its wings to take to the air again.
It seemed Xiaoqi had grown fond of flying this night.
It kept circling above Lin Yi's head, only landing on his shoulder to rest when it got tired.
Once rested, it would resume circling...
"With Feng Lei by their side, you don't need to worry.
Although his realm is suppressed like mine, he has a wealth of combat experience."
"And even suppressed, he's still at the 3-star level. Unless they run into a Soaring Sand Snake, no other demonic beast can do anything to him."
"Wei Nan and the others will be fine!"
Wei Shang walked over, trying to comfort Lin Yi.
Since killing the Soaring Sand Snake, they had killed no fewer than ten more demonic beasts along the way.
And every one of them was an instant kill.
Although Lin Yi hadn't expressed his feelings, Wei Shang could tell at a glance.
He was unwilling to get into prolonged fights with the demonic beasts, killing them all directly.
From this alone, it was clear that Lin Yi was in a hurry.
"Don't you guys in the Town Martial Department have any way of communicating with each other?
Like a thousand-mile voice transmission? Or tracking marks, something like that?" Lin Yi said, turning his head.
Hearing this, Wei Shang couldn't help but retort, "What do you think we in the Town Martial Department are, immortal cultivators?"
"Thousand-mile voice transmission..."
"Oh, right! Why don't you have Xiaoqi try? Maybe it can find Wei Nan and the others?"
As Wei Shang looked up at Xiaoqi circling overhead,
a glint flashed in his eyes, and he thought of this solution.
Lin Yi also looked up at Xiaoqi and gestured for it to come down.