Chapter 14

The noise created by the A-class beast during its attack was too loud; Qin Chi had to lure the mother lizard away, or else even a casual whip of its tail could wipe out the three young people.

Sun Fushan lay flat on the ground, watching Qin Chi’s figure disappear into the depths of the forest, worriedly asking, “Is he going to be okay?”

An A-class ability user using an A-class energy gun against a beast of the same level is like adding wings to a tiger. But for a C-class ability user, it would at most give him a little more resistance. Killing a beast of a higher class is still exceedingly difficult, especially for a high-sensitivity, high-defense beast like the mother lizard.

Leaning against a tree trunk, Meng Li quickly pulled a signal flare from her backpack and fired it with one hand.

With a loud “bang,” a brilliant red smoke burst forth several hundred meters above their heads.

If Qin Chi failed, the mother lizard would soon return, and then the “Silence is Golden” team would be wiped out.

Rather than placing all their hopes on Qin Chi, it would be better to seek help from the patrol team. If the patrol team arrived quickly, they might be able to rescue Qin Chi from the mother lizard’s jaws.

Xu Qiao was also worried about Qin Chi, but remembering the calm look he gave her before leaving and his composure when drawing the mother lizard away, she had a faint feeling that he might be able to navigate the danger on his own.

But that was just a feeling; the threat from the mother lizard was too strong, and she supported Meng Li’s decision.

“Captain, stay vigilant,” Xu Qiao urged

Busy piecing together Meng Li’s shattered leg bones with her mental energy, she couldn’t afford to be distracted, but she hadn’t forgotten that there were still two hidden C-class stone lizards nearby.

The stone lizard’s entire body had powerful defense due to its scales. Once it recovered from the discomfort caused by the high temperature, it would inevitably continue to hunt.

Sun Fushan made an “okay” gesture, then held his breath and focused, not letting any rustle of grass or wind go unnoticed.

There were currently no enemy threats on their side, but gunshots and the sounds of trees crashing and falling could be heard continuously from the direction Qin Chi had gone, indicating an intense battle.

Meng Li whispered, “Qin Chi can manipulate wind; that’s his advantage. I just don’t know how long he can hold on.”

The earlier chaos with the nine stone lizards had drained a lot of their abilities.

Sun Fushan dug out an earth-type crystal nucleus from the C-class beasts they hunted today, absorbed one for himself, and handed one to Meng Li, his determined gaze conveying his intent: take the opportunity to replenish their energy while they still could!

Just then, the sound of rushing beasts suddenly echoed around them. The next second, two familiar stone lizards lunged at them from either side—one aimed directly at the lying Sun Fushan, and the other charged at the injured Meng Li, who wasn’t wearing armor.

C-class beasts had a certain level of intelligence. During the previous chaos, Xu Qiao hadn’t made a move, so the two stone lizards had assumed she posed no threat.

Sun Fushan reacted quickly, using two thick earthen spikes to block the stone lizard’s attack.

With the attack thwarted, the two stone lizards crashed to the ground. Sun Fushan’s earth prison and Meng Li’s fire ring quickly surrounded one of them.

Old grudges and new enmities emerged; the stone lizard inside the earth prison continuously slammed against the walls, making them tremble, while sweat dripped down Sun Fushan’s chubby face as he struggled to maintain his ability.

Meng Li wasn’t doing any better. The stone lizard wasn’t afraid of the toxic mist and could avoid the fire scorpion’s pincers and tail stinger with its agility while also trying to break through the fire’s encirclement. Meng Li could only control her ability to increase the temperature of the flames and had no time to assist the fire scorpion in its attack.

Seeing this, Sun Fushan took out an A-class gun from his space and handed it to Xu Qiao, saying, “Shoot!”

One A-class energy bullet couldn’t kill the mother lizard; surely it could take down a C-class little lizard?

He was generous, but Xu Qiao thought using an A-class energy gun against a C-class beast was excessive and paused her treatment of Meng Li.

Noticing the change, Meng Li looked over.

A transparent water arrow, resembling ice sculpture, appeared in front of Xu Qiao.

Meng Li understood, sending a thought to the fire scorpion spirit. Soon after, the fire scorpion moved a few times and quickly forced the stone lizard in the fire ring to face Xu Qiao.

If Qin Chi were here, the stone lizard would be cautious about the wind blades that might come at any moment. However, that guy had already been taken away by the mother lizard, and the stone lizard, assuming it knew all the attack methods of this small team, was solely focused on biting the fire scorpion in front of it. Therefore, when it successfully bit off one of the fire scorpion’s pincers and used its hard tail to block the fire scorpion’s tail stinger, the stone lizard’s eyes widened in delight!

At that moment, the transparent water arrow shot through the air, piercing through the deep brown eyeball of the stone lizard.

The fire scorpion, having anticipated this, used its remaining pincer to grab the elongated triangular head of the stone lizard and flipped it over in mid-air. The raised tail stinger plunged deeply into the stone lizard’s relatively soft belly.

Sun Fushan excitedly punched the ground, shouting, “Good!”

Xu Qiao covered for herself, saying, “Fortunately, their eyes aren’t well-defended; otherwise, my water arrow would have been useless.”

Meng Li replied, “Your water arrow is very solid.”

Xu Qiao smiled bitterly, “The cost is high consumption; I could probably make two more.”

Meng Li said, “That’s enough, Captain. Let the other one out.”

Suddenly, the earth prison disappeared, and the last stone lizard, which had been crazily banging against the walls, lunged at nothing, steadying its four paws. When it lifted its head, it was still a bit dazed.

Meng Li’s fire ring closed in, and the fire scorpion spirit, now with just one pincer, re-entered the battle.

The stone lizard glanced at the other battlefield but only saw the exposed tip of its unfortunate brother’s tail, with its head deeply embedded in a pit of earth.

The stone lizard was startled, angry, and afraid; it would rather be burned by the flames than stay in the fire ring.

Just as it jumped out of the fire ring, a water curtain two meters long fell from the sky. The sudden “rain” didn’t alleviate the high temperature scorching the stone lizard’s surface; instead, it caused white smoke to rise from its body. The unexpected and intense pain made the stone lizard fall to the ground, and the fire scorpion spirit seized the opportunity to strike with its tail stinger.

The stinger pierced its tail, but before the fire scorpion could apply more pressure, the stone lizard unexpectedly broke its own tail and surged forward.

A wall of earth shot up from the ground, instantly propelling the stone lizard into the air before flipping it backward.

Half of the stone lizard fell back to the ground on its back, and the fire scorpion seized the opportunity to pursue, driving its tail stinger deep into the junction of the stone lizard’s head and body.

After half a minute, the last stone lizard completely lost its life. The exhausted fire scorpion spirit shrank in size and limped over to Meng Li.

Sun Fushan felt a wave of relief wash over him, but just as he was about to express his gratitude for surviving this ordeal, the cool sensation in his abdomen suddenly vanished.

He looked up in shock, only to see eleven lotus petals eagerly flying back into Xu Qiao’s body.

Sun Fushan exclaimed, “Ah, is it done?”

His previously immobile waist regained movement?

Only Xu Qiao knew that the lotus spirit had become frightened of the fire scorpion and suddenly accelerated its healing speed, fully unleashing its B-class power.

Knowing that there was still an A-class mother lizard, Xu Qiao didn’t dare to hold back too much. She spent another five minutes healing Meng Li’s leg and then pretended to be weak and exhausted from the energy consumption, leaning to the side.

The patrol team still had not shown up. Meng Li picked up the second A-class gun that Sun Fushan had brought out and stood up, saying, “You watch Xu Qiao; I’ll go find Qin Chi.”

Sun Fushan said, “Wait!”

As he spoke, he took out a set of A-class combat armor from his space and hurriedly stammered, “Put it on! It can fly!”

Xu Qiao and Meng Li exchanged glances, speechless.

Two minutes later, the tall Meng Li had changed into the loose-fitting A-class armor. After adapting to the flight mode, she quickly rushed in the direction where Qin Chi had left.

Qin Chi hadn’t gone too far.

Contrary to the dangerous scenarios imagined by his three young teammates, Qin Chi was hiding in an old tree in the dense forest halfway up the mountain, perfectly positioned to see Xu Qiao and the others.

As for the A-class mother lizard, no matter how hard it struggled, it was always wrapped in a gust of wind. At times, it would crash into a cluster of trees; at other times, it would slam headfirst into the ground, creating a deep pit. Its reddish-brown beastly eyes were filled with disbelief, terror, and despair.

The fire dragon, unable to manifest, roared angrily in Qin Chi’s mind. Why could a small fire scorpion and a clumsy turtle showcase their might, yet it was kept contained?

Leaning against the tree trunk, Qin Chi seemed to be talking to himself: “Professor Wu said you need to cultivate your character.”

At the mention of this, the fire dragon became even more agitated. Its golden-red scales silently crept up Qin Chi’s arm, but he silently forced them back down.

Qin Chi knew that merely suppressing it would only intensify the spirit’s resentment. Noticing the eleven lotus petals flying back into Xu Qiao, he smiled and said, “Do you like lotuses?”

The turmoil in his mind indeed came to a stop.

Qin Chi continued, “I’ll give you a chance; whether you can see the flowers depends on your luck.”

When Meng Li, wearing the A-class combat armor, found him halfway, Qin Chi jumped down to the ground, releasing the wind cage binding the mother lizard.

The mother lizard turned and fled.

Qin Chi had no choice but to control the wind and bring the mother lizard back.

With nowhere to escape, the mother lizard angrily lunged at Qin Chi. Seeing that the mercenary who had toyed with it for so long was now running away, the mother lizard’s sharp claws clawed the ground faster, almost creating an afterimage, and then it leaped forward when it was close enough.

When Meng Li arrived, she saw this scene: the five-meter-long mother lizard was about to land on Qin Chi when suddenly a solidified layer of wind materialized behind him. The gust slightly impeded the mother lizard’s momentum, but the next moment, its sharp claws still deeply slashed through the combat suit on Qin Chi’s back.

Just as the mother lizard opened its mouth to bite Qin Chi’s neck, he suddenly turned around and fired his energy gun directly at the mother lizard’s beastly mouth.

The impact of the energy bullet sent the mother lizard flying. Seizing the opportunity to finish it off, Meng Li fired three consecutive shots, hitting the mother lizard’s exposed underbelly as it flipped over.

The second shot penetrated the armor, and the third shot sent chunks of flesh spraying out along with bright red blood from the wound.

Meng Li did not fire a fourth shot; instead, she kept her distance to ensure the mother lizard was dead before landing beside Qin Chi.

Qin Chi propped himself up with one hand and slowly sat up. He glanced at his back, noting that the sharp claws had nearly torn his combat suit in half, revealing both jagged wounds and intact areas around his waist and abdomen. He quickly pulled out a black jacket and put it on over himself.

Meng Li, who had wanted to check on her teammates’ injuries but hadn’t had the chance, was left wondering: was Qin Chi trying to avoid frightening her, or was he just very private about his body?

Regardless of the reason, Meng Li chose to respect his privacy and quickly explained the current situation: “We fired a signal flare; the patrol team should be here soon.”

Qin Chi had already stood up and was walking slowly but calmly toward the dead mother lizard. “Given our team’s level, killing an A-class beast alone could lead to unnecessary trouble. If the patrol team asks, we’ll say the mother lizard was only B-class and that it was scared off by the energy gun.”

Meng Li nodded. Seeing that Qin Chi could still manipulate the wind, she followed him back.

As they approached Xu Qiao and Sun Fushan, they discussed their story while returning two A-class energy guns and an A-class armor to Sun Fushan. Just as they finished, a patrol soldier in A-class armor flew over before Xu Qiao could check Qin Chi’s injuries.

After briefly understanding the situation, the patrol soldier left to pursue the “B-class mother lizard,” and the team returned to a quiet state.

Xu Qiao wanted to treat Qin Chi’s injuries.

Meng Li glanced at Qin Chi, who had zipped his jacket up to his neck, and tactfully called for Sun Fushan to handle the nine C-class stone lizards’ bodies.

Once the two had moved away, Qin Chi turned his back to Xu Qiao and sat down, unzipping the jacket.

The mother lizard had left a nearly thirty-centimeter gash on his back, the deepest part exposing bone. Since it had not been treated in time, blood had smeared all over his back, but as it trickled down to his waist, a gentle gust of wind swept it away, leaving it on the ground.

Xu Qiao winced at the sight and knelt beside him, using her water abilities to help clean his wounds and the blood on his back.

Feeling the coolness of the water, Qin Chi reminded her, “You’ve already used a lot of energy healing them. I just need help with stopping the bleeding; you don’t have to push yourself too hard.”

Xu Qiao gently pressed the tip of her finger against the edge of his wound and said softly, “It’s just a flesh wound; it should heal.”

After saying this, a refreshing wood-type ability surged into Qin Chi’s injury, and the gaping flesh wound gradually healed as the ability flowed through it.

With each area that healed, Xu Qiao’s fingertip moved slightly down along Qin Chi’s back until it reached the end of the wound, which was on his slim right side.

Xu Qiao was a professional healer; she only focused on her teammate’s injury, completely absorbed in her task.

However, Qin Chi felt a bit of itching, a physiological sensation from the healing process.