52: Chapter 52 Want to leave? Did you ask me first?
On the crimson wasteland, wild winds howled, kicking up dust that filled the sky.
A figure moved like a ghost, weaving through the jagged rocks.
"Hiss—!"
Suddenly, a blue-purple afterimage lunged out from a pile of rubble on the side.
It was a giant python, as thick as a water bucket and ten meters long!
A Rank 3 Ferocious Beast, the Green-Scaled Purple-Eyed Python!
It opened its bloody maw and spat out a cloud of foul-smelling poisonous mist. Two fangs glinting with an eerie blue light snapped toward Lin Fan's neck.
"Perfect timing!"
Lin Fan wasn't startled but delighted. He stomped his foot hard, abruptly halting his forward momentum.
Facing the lunging python, he didn't draw his blade but instead threw a direct punch.
"Boom!"
Bolstered by the Great Sun True Dragon Body, his fist carried golden energy as it smashed heavily onto the top of the python's head.
"Crack!"
Scales as hard as iron instantly shattered, sending red and white matter splashing everywhere.
That majestic Rank 3 python didn't even have time to scream before its head was blown apart like a rotten watermelon. Its massive body twitched a few times before crashing to the ground.
[Killed a Rank 3 Ferocious Beast, evolution points +1500!]
"Too fragile. It didn't feel like anything at all."
Lin Fan shook his head, yet his movements were extremely practiced.
He quickly pulled a specially made large vat from his backpack, drew a dagger, and skillfully began to bleed the python.
"This is good stuff, can't let it go to waste."
Watching the dark red snake blood fill the vat, Lin Fan licked his lips with satisfaction. This was the fuel for his Great Sun True Dragon Body!
After collecting the spoils, Lin Fan opened his tactical terminal and checked the map.
On the screen, a red distress signal was flashing.
[Distress Signal Source: Asura Squad]
[Location: Chiyan Village Ruins (15km from current position)]
[Status: Extremely Dangerous! Captain Liu Cheng confirmed KIA!]
"Liu Cheng is dead?"
Lin Fan's brow furrowed.
Though they had never met, the briefing materials from before he arrived stated that Liu Cheng was a veteran at the early stage of the Origin Sect Realm with extensive experience. If even he was dead, it meant the situation at Chiyan Village was worse than expected.
"Chiyan Village... Heavenly Snake Clan..."
Lin Fan stowed the terminal, his killing intent flaring.
"I hope I can make it in time."
"Boom!"
The rock beneath his feet shattered as he transformed into a streak of light, racing toward Chiyan Village.
Meanwhile.
In the ruins of Chiyan Village, inside the cellar of a half-collapsed bungalow.
The air was thick with a nauseating smell of blood and mildew.
Five people were huddled in a dim corner.
"Cough, cough..."
Leaning against the wall, the burly Ma Chao covered his mouth, trying his best to suppress his coughing, but blood still seeped through his fingers. His left leg had been pierced by some kind of sharp blade, and the wound had turned black; he was clearly poisoned.
Beside him was the thin Chu Jiangping, his abdomen wrapped in thick bandages, his face as pale as paper.
Then there was Zhu Daqiang, built like an iron tower. Currently, his back was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, as if he had been mauled by some wild beast, with wounds deep enough to see the bone.
The only female member, Zhuang Ziwei, gripped a chipped combat knife tightly. Though she was also covered in wounds, her eyes remained vigilant as she stared at the cellar entrance.
In their midst, they were protecting a five or six-year-old girl.
The little girl was named Lingling. She wore a dirty pink dress, and her face was covered in tear streaks, yet she sensibly covered her own mouth tightly, not daring to make a sound.
She was the village's sole survivor.
"Captain..."
Zhu Daqiang looked at the blood-stained dog tag in his hand, his eyes red and his voice choking, "The Captain only... to lure away that Lord-level Heavenly Snake..."
"Shut up!"
Zhuang Ziwei hissed in a low voice. Though her tone was sharp, her trembling voice betrayed her inner fear. "Don't talk. Save your strength. If we're discovered..."
She didn't finish, but everyone understood.
If they were discovered, it would be total annihilation.
Their Asura Squad had originally come for a reconnaissance mission. Who could have known that as soon as they entered the village, they would run into a large force of the Heavenly Snake Clan?
Those damned cold-blooded beasts were conducting a village-slaughtering sacrifice!
To save Lingling, Captain Liu Cheng had charged into the snake swarm alone, using his life to carve out a bloody path for them.
But even so, they were trapped here.
The four survivors of the Asura Squad leaned against the rock wall, forced into a corner. Before them lay fifteen corpses of Heavenly Snake Clan warriors scattered about, results they had exchanged their lives for.
But the price was heavy.
Ma Chao's left leg had been pierced by a poison blade, the wound appearing purple-black, and his entire pant leg was soaked with pus and blood;
Zhu Daqiang's originally burly frame was now swaying. A claw mark on his back was so deep the bone was visible, the flesh turned outward, and blood dripped down his spine onto the rubble;
Chu Jiangping clutched his abdomen, unable to stop the blood seeping through his fingers, his face as white as paper.
Behind them, Zhuang Ziwei held a knife in one hand while the other tightly shielded little Lingling in her arms. Her originally pretty face was now covered in blood, and she was wounded in many places, yet her eyes remained incredibly fierce.
Five-year-old Lingling huddled in Zhuang Ziwei's arms, her large eyes filled with terror, yet she sensibly bit down hard on the back of her hand. Even though her tears were a deluge, she didn't dare make a single sound of crying.
"Hiss, hiss—"
In the distance, the scalp-numbing sound of friction echoed again.
Nearly ten blue-black figures leaped through the rocks, pursuing relentlessly, their gazes approaching with playful cruelty.
"There's no way out."
Ma Chao glanced at the steep precipice behind them and gave a bitter laugh, his eyes then turning resolute.
He struggled to stand straight, his combat shield thudding heavily onto the ground.
"Daqiang, Jiangping, Ziwei... take Lingling and go."
Ma Chao's voice was hoarse and his tone firm. "This leg of mine is ruined; I can't run. If I stay, I can stall them for a few minutes."
"Bullshit!"
Zhu Daqiang cursed, wiping blood from his face. "I'm the defender! Since when does a cripple cover the rear? If anyone stays, it's me!"
"Stop arguing!"
Chu Jiangping suddenly let go of his abdomen, and his blood-stained longsword let out a clear chime.
"I'm an Agility-type. If I burst out, I can take a few of them down with me."
This usually taciturn man now had a smile of liberation on his face. "Go, don't let the Captain's blood be shed in vain."
After speaking, he didn't give his teammates a chance to object. He kicked off the ground, his whole being igniting as he charged without looking back toward the approaching snake swarm.
"Jiangping!!"
Ma Chao and Zhu Daqiang's eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
"Go!!"
Chu Jiangping roared without turning his head. His sword light was like a rainbow, clashing with the two leading Heavenly Snake warriors in the blink of an eye.
Zhuang Ziwei's eyes were filled with tears, but she knew now was not the time for sentimentality. She scooped up little Lingling and turned to dash toward a narrow path on the side of the mountain hollow.
However.
"Jie jie jie... Want to leave? Have you asked this seat?"
A bone-chillingly cold voice exploded overhead.
"Boom!"
Three dark shadows descended from the sky, forming a triangle that blocked all of Zhuang Ziwei's retreats.
Leading them was a tall Heavenly Snake elite. The scimitar in its hand glinted with blue poison light, and its eyes were full of the cruelty of a cat playing with a mouse.
"Get lost!"
Zhuang Ziwei shouted, her combat knife slashing out with the resolve of certain death.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew.
The Heavenly Snake elite merely swung its blade casually. The immense force caused Zhuang Ziwei's webbing between thumb and forefinger to split, and her combat knife flew out of her hand.
"Puchi! Puchi!"
Immediately after, the two dark shadows on the left and right struck simultaneously. Two sharp blades stabbed deeply into Zhuang Ziwei's shoulder and thigh, blood spraying.
"Ugh!"
Zhuang Ziwei let out a muffled groan and fell heavily to her knees. But even so, she remained hunched over, using her back to shield little Lingling in her arms.