23: Chapter 23

23

As the dust settled slightly, a feline creature with a silver-white body and the size of a medium dog revealed itself.

Its fur stood on end, and its emerald-green pupils stared intently at Jiang Haojie, emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat.

To Jiang Haojie's surprise, he actually couldn't recognize the origin of this monster—textbooks had never recorded a cat with such an appearance.

The only thing certain was that it exuded the aura of a Second-Order monster.

With a thought, Jiang Haojie quietly activated his Eye of Discernment.

Several lines of information immediately surfaced in his field of vision:

[Monster: Taiyu Cat]

[Rank: Second-Order]

[Talent: Space]

[Status: Heavily Injured]

Space-type?

Jiang Haojie's gaze narrowed.

No wonder it's so elusive.

"Meow—!"

The Taiyu Cat's figure suddenly blurred, turning into a silver afterimage as it pounced straight for Jiang Haojie's face.

"Roar!"

Jiang Haojie was already prepared; almost at the same instant it moved, a second Lions Roar Technique surged out powerfully.

The sound waves were like a physical tidal wave, solidly slamming into that silver shadow.

A shrill cat's cry rang out, and the Taiyu Cat was violently sent flying back.

Jiang Haojie didn't hesitate for a moment, pushing off with his feet to give chase at high speed.

Before the opponent could even land, he had already swept to its side, the Mantis Blade in his hand flashing with a cold light as it slashed down mid-air!

Clang!

The blade struck only the ground, sending gravel flying.

At the critical moment, the Taiyu Cat actually vanished into thin air once again.

Escaped?

Just as the thought arose, there was a slight fluctuation in the air to his left.

The Taiyu Cat's figure flashed into existence without any warning, appearing almost right next to his hand.

Without even thinking, Jiang Haojie swung his blade back in a horizontal slash.

The Taiyu Cat clearly hadn't expected that its own space jump would land it right beside this human.

Its pupils shrank suddenly, and a look of terror flashed through them.

Already heavily injured, it no longer had the strength to traverse space again, and could only watch helplessly as the human's blade fell.

Squelch!

The blade light cut through the Taiyu Cat's body, and blood instantly soaked its silver-white fur.

It let out a short, mournful wail, its body falling heavily to the ground, and after a few struggles, it stopped moving.

***

The sound of breaking wind rang out repeatedly.

Vines coiled around like venomous snakes; Jiang Haojie's eyes turned sharp as the long blade in his hand carved out an arc, severing all the attacking branches.

He had spent the entire morning searching for traces of the Snow Fox, and though he hadn't found his target, he had encountered many monsters—he had met ten types of plant-based Mutants alone.

The Creeper before him, which possessed First-Order strength, was one of them.

Unlike animal-type monsters, the probability of a plant truly evolving into a monster after mutation was extremely low, perhaps one in a hundred.

But they had a characteristic: once the mutation succeeded, they were at least First-Order, and there had never been a zero-order plant monster—those that failed to mutate might be considered true "zero-order"

.

With several attacks easily neutralized, the Creeper seemed to realize the danger, and its main vine retracted violently, attempting to flee.

Jiang Haojie wouldn't allow it to retreat; with a swift movement, his figure swept like the wind to the main root cluster perched on the broken wall, and with a flash of his blade, the root system was severed.

The entire Creeper quickly withered away.

A red potion quietly appeared in the System Space.

Jiang Haojie glanced at it, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

So far, he had collected ten potions belonging to four categories: emerald Healing Potions, crimson Stamina Potions, milky-white Recovery Potions, and azure Antidotes.

Unfortunately, except for that E-grade Recovery Potion, the rest were all F-grade quality.

He withdrew his consciousness and turned to leave the ruins strewn with vine remains.

***

At the same moment, in an abandoned factory area within the Fallen Zone.

Monsters were constantly surging in from all directions, surrounding the area layer by layer like a tide.

In the open space amidst the ruins, five figures stood back-to-back—it was Qin Qinglan's group.

At this moment, their clothes were torn, their breathing was heavy, and they bore wounds of varying depths.

"This number... we can't kill them all!"

The fat man wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice dry. "Let's retreat first!"

Their earlier high spirits had been worn down by the dense swarm of monsters before them, leaving only the urge to escape.

"Qinglan, what do you think?"

The woman in the pale yellow dress looked pale as she turned to Qin Qinglan.

The task was not yet complete; retreating now would mean failure.

Qin Qinglan surveyed the closing shadows and took a deep breath: "Find a breakthrough point and prepare to evacuate."

Though unwilling, she had to admit she had underestimated the danger of the task—and the threats lurking within these ruins.

Initially, she had thought this was just an ordinary job that should be easy for them, but she hadn't expected so many monsters to gather here, including many fierce Third-Order existences.

If they stayed any longer, the entire team might be buried here.

For now, they could only retreat and wait for another opportunity later.

As Qin Qinglan finished speaking, everyone urgently searched for an opening to break through.

"Over here!"

The fat man found a weak spot and hurriedly signaled to Qin Qinglan and the others.

Everyone quickly moved toward him, but the moment they moved, the surrounding monsters surged like a tide, surrounding them once again.

"You guys go first, I'll hold them back."

Qin Qinglan stepped forward, her form suddenly changing—a giant fox with snow-white fur and nine swaying tails appeared.

That was the legendary Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

An eerie purple light glowed in her eyes, and the surrounding monsters pouncing at her were suddenly frozen as if by an invisible force.

This was her unique talent ability.

Seeing this, the fat man and the woman in the yellow dress immediately retreated.

Qin Qinglan followed closely behind, but her talent's effectiveness didn't last long, and the monsters soon broke free from the restraint, roaring as they chased after them.

"Go!"

Qin Qinglan shouted sharply.

The group sped into the distance, with the monsters following like shadows.

The woman in the yellow dress said in a heavy voice as she ran, "We can't keep running like this; let's break out separately."

Qin Qinglan nodded in agreement.

The target would be too large if they stayed together; separating might offer a chance of survival.

The five of them immediately chose different directions and vanished into the depths of the forest.

...

The stream gurgled; Jiang Haojie sat on a smooth stone by the bank, with the carcass of a gray fox lying at his feet.

This was the first time he had encountered a fox since entering the Fallen Zone two days ago, but unfortunately, it wasn't the Snow Fox he was looking for.

Although foxes are not social animals, since a member of the same species appeared here, there might be traces of other foxes nearby.

Jiang Haojie decided to set an ambush on the spot and wait for the white fox to appear.

He hid in the bushes, holding his breath and waiting.

Half a day passed, and let alone a Snow Fox, not even a shadow of a fox was seen.

"Roar—"

Just as Jiang Haojie was hesitating whether to change spots, a beast's roar suddenly tore through the silence.

His brow furrowed slightly.

Had he been discovered? It shouldn't be; there was no monster aura around.

While he was wondering, a giant fox suddenly appeared in his field of vision—nearly eight meters long and over four meters high, with snow-white fur, yet covered in blood and staggering.

A Snow Fox? Jiang Haojie was startled, then caught sight of the nine tails swaying behind it and immediately dismissed the guess.

In a flash of thought, he quietly activated his Eye of Discernment.

The moment the information surfaced, a hint of realization flashed in Jiang Haojie's eyes.

Name: Qin Qinglan

Jiang Haojie's gaze fell on that eye-catching crimson on the snow, and the figure curled up within it.

The white fox—or rather, the woman who once walked under the name of Qin Qinglan—had her nine fluffy long tails spread out behind her, now hanging limply, stained with mud and ice crystals.

Twenty-one years old, Third-Order, possessor of an SSS-Grade Talent, with the Mutant bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox; these halo-like labels were heart-wrenchingly at odds with the scene of her being heavily injured and in critical danger before him.

In the distance, dark shadows loomed, rapidly approaching with a foul wind; the silhouettes of over a dozen monsters gradually became clear in the snow mist, with three of their auras being particularly fierce—they were Third-Order existences.

Jiang Haojie's brow furrowed imperceptibly.

His goal for this trip was clear and simple: hunt the Snow Fox and obtain what he needed.

Qin Qinglan's accidental intrusion, along with the group of uninvited guests behind her, had completely disrupted the silence of this snowy forest and muddied his originally clear plan.

Snow Foxes were naturally alert; with this much commotion, it had likely already vanished without a trace.

He and Qin Qinglan had only met a few times; they couldn't be considered friends, and he had no obligation to act.

Moreover, he was only a First-Order Awakened; the gap in strength was like an abyss.

Even she, at the Third-Order, had been pushed to this point; what could he do? A sliver of indifferent calculation crossed his mind, only hoping she would leave quickly so as not to cause further complications.

However, a cold and mechanical sound rang out without warning deep in his mind:

"Ding!"

"Random Task Triggered: Hero Saves the Beauty."

"Task Objective: Ensure Qin Qinglan's survival."

"Success Reward: Choose any one Internal Skill or Martial Art to increase by one level."

"Failure Penalty: Choose any one Internal Skill or Martial Art to decrease by one level."

The moment the voice fell, the air seemed to freeze.

Jiang Haojie's eyes suddenly became deep.

***

On the snowy plain, Qin Qinglan's breathing was broken and hurried, every breath dragging with it a burning pain in her chest.

The source had already run dry to the bottom, and the remaining trickles were rapidly evaporating.

The majestic power brought by the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox form was rapidly receding, and her bones and muscles emitted an overburdened wail.

She knew that her limit was approaching.

Her mind drifted for a moment, and her foot suddenly stepped into empty space.

The feeling of losing balance was brief but intense, followed by a heavy impact as the cold, hard snow swallowed her last bit of strength.

Struggling was futile.

As if some string maintaining life had suddenly snapped, the radiance around her body rapidly dimmed and contracted.

The nine giant tails turned into points of light and dissipated, her beastly features quickly fading to reveal the woman's fragile original body.

Her clothes were torn, revealing pale skin and trails of blood.

Human form.

At this moment, she was not much different from an ordinary woman, perhaps even weaker.

A Mutant's power was rooted in transformation; once their energy was exhausted, they fell from the clouds into the dust.

A foul wind blew in her face, and the hideous silhouettes of the monsters rapidly enlarged in her field of vision, their claws and fangs flashing with a cold light.

Despair flooded her last bit of consciousness like a tide; her eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly closed her eyes.

The darkness of waiting for death did not descend as expected.

Instead, a roar tore through the silence of the snowy plain.

"Roar—!"

That sound didn't come from a monster; it was low, thick, and possessed some indescribable penetration, feeling somewhat... familiar?

Qin Qinglan suddenly opened her eyes; where her gaze reached, a figure had already stood still not far away.

A translucent phantom lion head faintly emerged above the person's head; the roar that had just shaken the surroundings came from this.

The violent sound waves swept out like a tide; before the smile on Qin Qinglan's lips could bloom, she was caught in this indiscriminate impact.

Fortunately, she was not the direct target of the sound waves, so the shock she felt was slightly lighter; even so, it still felt like a heavy hammer had slammed into her chest, and a sweetness rose in her throat as blood splashed onto her lapel.

The surrounding monsters that were originally pouncing toward her, however, suffered.

The First-Order monsters all died in the sound waves, leaving only ten Second-Order monsters and three ferocious Third-Order existences in the field.

Qin Qinglan was about to see how that person would show their great power, only to see the other's figure flicker, turning into a faint shadow as they sped to her side.

"Not leaving yet?"

Before she could respond, her wrist was firmly grasped, and the surrounding scenery instantly blurred into streamlines flying backward.

"Roar—"

The monster pack suddenly woke up, roaring as they chased after them.

Jiang Haojie didn't look back, carrying Qin Qinglan as he fled forward at full speed.

He originally had an advantage in speed, but it wasn't much when facing Third-Order monsters; now that he was carrying another person, even that slight advantage vanished.

But he had no choice—the task delivered by the system was to save Qin Qinglan.

If he didn't want his Martial Arts to be downgraded, he had to give it his all.

Even so, while the Second-Order monsters were gradually left behind, those three Third-Order monsters remained hot on their heels.

Jiang Haojie rushed into a patch of broken walls and crumbling debris, put Qin Qinglan down, and turned to face the three hideous figures that had already caught up.

Qin Qinglan's voice was low and raspy: "You should go... don't worry about me.

With me, no one will get away."

She was already immensely grateful that this mysterious person would risk showing up to save her, and at this moment, she was even less willing to become a burden.

"Drink them."

Jiang Haojie didn't leave; with a flip of his hand, three potions appeared in his palm.

One for healing, one to supplement stamina, and one to recover energy—though all were of F-grade quality and not enough to return Qin Qinglan to her peak, they could at least allow her to recover some combat strength.