The moment the treasure chest was opened, the claws of the winged dragon statue seemed eager to reach up.
But perhaps it was mindful of the agreement with Xu Xin, so it didnāt actually make a move.
Lou FeiāEr glanced at the winged dragon statue stealthily, and then fearfully looked away, beginning to help Xu Xin dump out the gold and silver jewelry from the treasure chest.
Soon, almost all the gold and silver jewelry was emptied out.
Even the still unconscious Yan Haoming was out, but Xiaohong was nowhere to be seen.
"Whereās Xiaohong?" Xu Xin and Lou FeiāEr both wondered aloud.
The winged dragon statue seemed to lose its patience too, and directly used its mouth to grab the lid of the treasure chest monster, lifting and tossing it.
"Ah!" Xiaohong fell out directly from the treasure chest.
He seemed to have been holding onto something inside, preventing himself from falling out.
But under the vigorous tossing action of the winged dragon statue
"Youāre awake?" Xu Xin was quite surprised, not expecting him to wake up at this moment.
In the previous checks, there were no signs of waking up, and even the posture was the same as when he was swallowed by the treasure chest monster.
However, it seemed reasonable to think about it.
Perhaps it was because of the winged dragon statue, wasnāt it?
"No! Donāt let it take me with it!"
Xiaohong, thrown on the ground, looked in terror at the winged dragon statue advancing and pushing the treasure chest monster aside.
Xu Xinās eyes narrowed slightly.
He had previously thought that the winged dragon statue might want to take Xiaohong back for Chang Yin Xuelan.
But from Xiaohongās current behavior, that didnāt seem to be the case.
He clearly recognized this winged dragon statue.
And was very afraid.
"Uncle Xu Xin, save me, donāt let it take me..."
"āā" At that moment, the winged dragon statue let out a soft sound.
Xiaohongās words abruptly stopped.
Then, under the somewhat grave gazes of Xu Xin and Lou FeiāEr, he slowly stood up and walked to the side of the winged dragon statue.
Just like when they were at the edge of the mysterious pit with the Transmission Array, wooden and silent, standing by the winged dragon statue.
His eyes were merely staring straight ahead, neither at Xu Xin nor the winged dragon statue.
Completely transformed into a puppet.
...Was it the winged dragon statue controlling Xiaohong back then too?
Lou FeiāEr hid behind Xu Xin and nudged his back with her fist.
She was asking what they should do now.
Xiaohong obviously didnāt want to be taken by the winged dragon statue, but he couldnāt help but obey its command.
The winged dragon statue did indeed have the ability to command the statues.
Whether it was Xiaohong or those mutant creature statues, they all obeyed its orders.
Xu Xin decided...
Not to intervene.
Thereās no way.
He wasnāt a match for the winged dragon statue at all.
Trying to keep Xiaohong by force was simply impossible.
Moreover, according to Qin Fu, there might be danger beneath the treehouse.
If the winged dragon statue went berserk, he wouldnāt even be able to escape, and the chances of losing his life were high.
Attacking the winged dragon statue here would be the most foolish action.
Sorry, Xiaohong.
Perhaps this winged dragon is taking you to see your parents?
"āā" The winged dragon statue let out another call.
"Hmm..." Lou FeiāEr frowned behind him.
She hid behind Xu Xin, watching the winged dragon statue with great vigilance: "Is it trying to...control me?"
Oh?
Xu Xin frowned slightly.
Can the winged dragon statue also control mutant creatures?
"Hmph, if it were the old me, I might have really been controlled." Lou FeiāEr snorted coldly and whispered in Xu Xinās ear, "This big guy definitely doesnāt have good intentions."
"Since youāve gotten what you wanted, can we consider our business here concluded?" Xu Xin took two small steps back, looking at the winged dragon statue in front of him.
The winged dragon statue was looking at Lou FeiāEr.
It seemed a bit surprised.
Surprised why Lou FeiāEr could resist its control.
Lou FeiāEr met the gaze of the winged dragon statue.
Her red pupils trembled uncontrollably.
The oppression from a high-level mutant creature was still too overwhelming for her current self.
Upon hearing Xu Xinās words, the winged dragon statue withdrew its gaze from Lou FeiāEr.
Under the alert watch of the two, the winged dragon statue didnāt make any unnecessary moves.
It directly grabbed Xiaohongās body with its mouth. Then, its hind limbs and wing-connected forelimbs immediately pushed off the ground, and the gigantic body instantly sprang up and took flight!
It was going to take Xiaohong away directly!
The wings unfolded in the air, with a wingspan of more than ten meters, it was truly breathtaking.
From the viewpoint of Xu Xin and Lou FeiāEr, the winged dragon statue resembled a glider.
It swiftly glided toward the direction of the light column, becoming smaller and smaller, farther and farther away.
Is it returning to the Transmission Array?
What on earth is weird there...
Now that there are no mutant creature statues in the mysterious pit, itās time to check under that iron door.
"Finally! That big guy finally left!" Lou FeiāEr leaned against a nearby tree, her body appearing somewhat weak, "Iām still in my weakened state, facing such a big guy, itās simply terrifying!"
"Ah..." Xu Xin was taken aback, "I forgot about your weakened state."
Even with half her strength, sheās still much stronger than an average survivor, so he subconsciously overlooked it.
"How could you forget!" Lou FeiāEr was quite displeased, and at the same time defended her performance today, "If I werenāt in a weakened state, I definitely wouldnāt have been so scared today!"
She indeed felt completely powerless against the winged dragon statue.
But if she wasnāt in a weakened state, she might have still been able to participate in the counterattack, rather than hiding behind Xu Xin all day, unable to move.
Thinking about it is quite a humiliation...
"Next time, I certainly wonāt be like this." Lou FeiāEr stated firmly, "This time, itās definitely because of the weakened state!"
"Letās hope so."
Xu Xin once again looked toward the direction where the pterosaur statue had disappeared.
The pterosaur statue was nowhere to be found.
"Hmm?" Xu Xin furrowed his brow slightly.
Just vanished?
Has it already reached the light beam over there?
A dozen kilometers, and it got there so quickly?
Itās been less than a minute, hasnāt it?
Forget it, since the pterosaur statue has left, this matter is considered over.
Xu Xin twisted the bracelet on his wrist, couldnāt help but smile.
Speaking of which, the pterosaur statue really did him a huge favor.
It not only temporarily incapacitated the outrageously powerful Zeng Tao, but also made Qin Fu abandon his escape attempt, opting for self-preservation by entering the bracelet.
Additionally, thereās now the still-lying-on-the-ground Yan Haoming.
His mission for today was accomplished!
He thought he would at least have to run to the snow mountain over there.
Well done, pterosaur statue!
Lou FeiāEr then crouched beside Yan Haoming, turning him over.
"Ewā" she uttered with a bit of disdain.
Xu Xin looked towards Yan Haoming.
His face was smeared with dried blood stains from his forehead, and around the wound were dark-colored abscesses.
Wow, these injuries are quite serious!
Almost forgot, this guy wasnāt just smashed once by Lou FeiāEr.
He had his head pressed down and smashed several times!
Heavily injured.
So itās normal that he hasnāt woken up yet.
Lou FeiāEr reached out to check Yan Haomingās breathing.
"Ah, this guy... seems to be dead?" Lou FeiāEr said with some surprise, checking his pulse again, "Thereās a weak pulse, but... itās almost gone. Without giving him pills, he wonāt survive for long."
"...Did you just smash him to death?"
"Ah haha..." Lou FeiāEr laughed awkwardly twice, "At the time, I thought this guy might be really powerful, and I was in a weakened state, so I smashed him a few more times, didnāt realize he couldnāt take the hits..."
Canāt take the hits, huh...
Xu Xin thought of the scene at the time.
Lou FeiāEr grabbing his head and hitting it "bang bang" against the ground, even the ground trembled...
If it were him being caught, without head protection, heād probably end up like Yan Haoming in front of him.
Truly tragic.
Xu Xin had the treasure chest monster transform shape, collecting all the gold and silver treasures into the chest, and put it away.
"So, what about him?" Lou FeiāEr kicked the Yan Haoming on the ground.
Xu Xin first ignored him and asked instead, "In the bracelet, those two people, how are they?"
Lou FeiāEr should have stayed with them just now.
"Nothing special." Lou FeiāEr shrugged, "Since theyāre unfamiliar faces, once inside, they were almost held down by Mimi Silver King and Axue, but I stopped them. These two circled around in that space and then started petting the big cats and dogs."
Petting cats and dogs?
Quite a good mindset.
"They arenāt worried about anything?"
"I asked them too, they told me that things have become like this anyway, and you wouldnāt kill them, so what to worry about."
These two really have a go-with-the-flow attitude.
But it makes sense; in this world, following them as explorers might offer better survival guarantees than on their own.
Of course, they wouldnāt think itās a bad thing.
"Zeng Tao just came over to ask me about the mutation pills, asking about the feelings after mutating. But, before I could say anything, you pulled me out." Lou FeiāEr added.
Xu Xin nodded.
Based on what he previously said, these two surely know they too will become mutants like Lou FeiāEr.
"Next..."
Xu Xin glanced at the still unconscious Yan Haoming lying on the ground, and took out a pill.
"...Are you going to revive him?"
Lou FeiāEr saw his actions, frowned.
"Donāt, this guy is too disgusting, do you really want to let him join us?"
Xu Xin gave her a look: "Didnāt you also want to kill me back then?"
"But... but I wasnāt this disgusting!" Lou FeiāEr kicked Yan Haoming, "Wouldnāt it be better to let him die?"
"He canāt die yet."
Xu Xin certainly wasnāt trying to save Yan Haoming.
The things he did, explorers couldnāt stand him.
But he wanted to know why Yan Haoming could become the fourth in District 187.
From the treehouse system, nothing could be seen.
But that doesnāt mean he has no special abilities.
Just like his identification and map capabilities couldnāt be seen from the treehouse system.
Moreover, he needed to find this guyās treehouse location.
If possible, heād like to rescue the woman tortured by Yan Haoming.
After all, she was once part of District 188, and because she sought asylum with explorers, she ended up...
From a rational perspective, if she could be rescued, then their explorersā reputation would surely be elevated.
Of course, he certainly wouldnāt go himself.
For such matters, itās best to leave it to Lou FeiāEr with Axue; his hands are too full.