Gu Hanâs eyes were tightly shut and his face was pale. Meanwhile, Liu Ying wore a look of leisure.
Fatty laughed miserably. âEven if thereâs no hope left, I donât want to die like this...â
Just as he was about to succumb to despair, Liu Ying spat out a mouthful of blood, as if struck by lightning. She was sent flying several dozen zhang, landing on the ground motionless.
Fattyâs eyes widened. âW-what happened?â
Soon, he discovered the mountain-like pressure on him had vanished. Gu Hanâs eyes snapped open, and his back was completely soaked with sweat.
Too dangerous!
If Liu Ying hadnât been overconfident and recklessly entered his consciousness space, he and Fatty would have been done for.
Fatty quickly ran over to Gu Han, full of concern. âBrother Gu, are you alright? Sheââ
Gu Han was still shaken. âLetâs go. She should be seriously injured. Letâs leave while sheâs still unconscious!â
Fatty was stunned, then laughed viciously. âInjured? Brother Gu, wait! Iâll give her a few good hits. Damn it, this is the first time Iâve suffered such a big loss. If I donât prove myself, you would really think Iâmââ
Gu Han shot back. âLike hell you will! If you wake her up, neither of us will be able to leave!â
Fatty Instantly broke out in a cold sweat. âYouâre right... Letâs go, letâs go! I donât ever want to come to this damned place again.â
Then, he gritted his teeth and desperately used his potential once more. He grabbed Gu Han and vanished without a trace.
***
After an unknown amount of time had passed, Liu Ying slowly opened her eyes. She spat out another mouthful of blood. Having lost a part of her soul for no reason, her injury was immense.
She seemed oblivious, laughing almost neurotically. âWhat a pity, he actually didnât take the bait. Gu Han?â
Extending her jade-like finger, she dipped it in a trace of blood, slowly putting it into her mouth. Intoxication bloomed in her face. âSuch an adorable little brother. Still, it is your fate not to escape from my grasp.â
***
After escaping alive, Gu Han immediately started cursing at Fatty, âFucking Fatty! If you bail on me me again, Iâll fucking end you!â
Fatty felt somewhat guilty. âBrother Gu, those are some hurtful words... Think about it, when you were about to be eaten by that savage beast, didnât I save you? Just now, when you said to leave, didnât I take you with me? Think more about my good points, and stop dwelling on those trivial matters.â
Couldnât be bothered with Fattyâs bullshit, Gu Han just laughed coldly. He had seen Fatty for who he truly was: unreliable.
After seeing Gu Han fall silent, Fatty secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
A moment later, both of them felt something was wrong. They hadnât even heard the faintest roar of a demonic beast, let alone seen one along the way.
Fatty instinctively stopped. âWhere are we?â
âThe Wild Forest.â
âThe specific location?â
âNo idea.â
The two stared at each other, wide-eyed, and fell silent. They were lost.
***
At the Trial Grounds.
Elder Wu gloomily stared at the several instructors, each bearing injuries. âHave they all been sent out?â
Han Fu clasped his fists. âYes, but the casualties are too heavy. Those remaining are less than a third.â
Elder Wu fell silent. They had rushed back and arrived at the trial grounds half an hour ago. Using all their strength, they held back the beast riot. Still, by that point, the losses were too great to recover from.
Elder Feng gave a bitter smile. âThe Great Qi Martial Academy is likely to completely decline with this loss.â
A sharp glint flashed in the usually good-tempered Elder Wuâs eyes. âCompared to that, I want to know where those two boys have gone. Why did those three scoundrels have the audacity to attack them?!â
In his heart, the greatest loss for the martial academy wasnât the two-thirds of the students, but Gu Han and Fatty. The combined worth of everyone else in the Martial Academy couldnât compare to these two.
He suddenly turned, staring fixedly at Commander Zhou. âYou need to give us an explanation for this!â
Commander Zhou remained expressionless. âExplanation? It was just a coincidence.â
Elder Wu laughed in anger. âCoincidence?! That scum Yu Hua and the others
just randomly
violated the rules and publicly attacked students?! Moreover, the timing of their attack just happened to be after you lured the two of us away.â
Yet Commander Zhou was unfazed. âDo you have any evidence? If you canât produce any, I must beg your leave. The princeâs fate is unknown, I still need to search for him. Farewell.â
Having said that, he soared into the sky and left directly, without looking at their expressions.
Elder Wu snorted coldly. âThis isnât over. The upper sect and the Qingyun Pavilion definitely wonât let them off!â
âEnough. We can discuss these matters later. The most important thing now is to find those two. Iâve seen the injuries on Yu Huaâs body. They were undoubtedly caused by that kidâs sword. Unfortunately, by the time we returned, the qi they left behind was scattered by the demonic beasts. Finding them now probably wonât be easy.â Elder Feng shook his head, full of regret. â
Ah!
To fight a Spirit Profound realm expert at the Acupoint Unsealing realm, and even counter-kill. Such talent... if he is lost here, we would be committing a monstrous sin!â
Elder Wu gritted his teeth. âStart looking! Even if we have to turn the Wild Forest upside down, we must find those two.â
After a long silence, Han Fu suddenly said, âIâll go too! One more person means more hope.â
Mei Yun also quickly stepped forward. âMe too! Iâll stay too!â
Han Fu was startled. âNo! Youâ
ahem,
your injuries are not light, yes. You should go back and rest properly.â
Mei Yun was deeply moved. âInstructor Han, thank you for your concern! These minor injuries donât matter. If I donât find those two, how could I have the face to go back?!â
Elder Feng sighed. â
Ah...
Fine, you can come with us. One more person means more hope after all.â
Apart from Han Fu and Mei Yun, the remaining few kept silent, clearly having no intention of staying.
Elder Wu was somewhat disappointed. âFine. All of you, return for now. You donât have to worry about anything. The responsibility for this incident will be borne by us entirely.â
The few people breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and quickly took their leave. âUnderstood.â
Elder Wu didnât spare them another look. âLetâs go. The Wild Forest is full of dangers. Letâs hope they donât run into any trouble.â
***
Elder Wuâs worry was clearly unfounded. In fact, having shaken off Liu Ying, Gu Han and Fatty were much safer than before, especially with no demonic beasts harassing them. Of course, it would have been even better if they hadnât gotten lost.
Looking at the listless Fatty, whose speed had drastically reduced, Gu Han was extremely dissatisfied. âHurry up! At your speed, when will we ever get out?!â
Fatty complained, âI canât go any faster! I really canât hold on anymore this time. My injuries might be a bit lighter than yours, but I canât stand running for my life like this either.â
Gu Han disdainfully stared at him, then shouted, â
Aaah
! Liu Ying is here!â
Fattyâs face changed dramatically. âWhat?! Where?!â
His faint, almost invisible golden light intensified again, and his speed instantly increased several times over.
Only after running a great distance did he realize heâd been tricked â
Huh?
You bastard! You tricked me!â
âHow is it tricking you? I was just
motivating
you!â
âBullshit! If you dare make fun of me again, Iâll ditch you!â
âYou dare?! How many times have I saved you, havenât you kept count?!â
âLikewise, without me, you would have been eaten by demonic beasts eight times over!â
The two argued as they moved forward. Soon, they didnât even have the strength to argue anymore.
Fatty was so tired his eyes nearly rolled back. âWhy havenât we arrived yet? I was clearly... clearly heading north. In theory... we should have arrived by now.â
Gu Han stiffened. âFatty, werenât we heading west?â
Fatty frowned slightly. âWe were? It was clearly north!â
Gu Han also became a bit uncertain. âHow would I remember it was west?â
The two stared at each other, feeling somewhat unsure. After running for most of the day, they hadnât even figured out the direction.
With a helpless look on his face, Fatty plopped down on the ground. âIâm not running anymore! Until we figure out north and west, even if you kill me, I wonât leave this spot!â
Gu Han didnât press him because blindly running wasnât very wise either. If they were lucky and got out, fine. However, if they were unlucky and ventured deeper, he didnât dare think about what would happen.
Thinking of this, he also sat down with great effort. Much time had passed, and the backlash from the Blood Spirit Art had long since subsided. Regardless, his body was in shamblesâriddled with holes and extremely frail. Not only that, even recovering his cultivation was extremely slow.
Fatty was secretly happy. âThe taste of being crippled isnât good, is it?â
Gu Han felt like hitting him again. âFuck you man! You seem very happy that Iâm crippled.â
âSlip of the tongue, slip of the tongue! It just came out. I didnât mean anything else...â Fatty laughed awkwardly. After seeing Gu Hanâs face still dark, he also felt a bit bad. âActually, thereâs a solution for your current condition.â