71: Chapter 71 The Missing Little Boy

Looking at the flower in the center of the lake, Nie Ning rubbed his chin and began to think about what to do.

Going to the center of the lake himself definitely wouldn't work because although his physical cultivation was impressive, he wasn't good at underwater combat.

If he were dragged into the water, he might not even have a chance to escape.

After a moment's thought, Nie Ning released the Jerky Bear Head.

The Jerky Bear Head circled in the air once, then charged straight toward the center of the lake.

But suddenly, Nie Ning felt something was wrong.

Turning his head, he discovered that the pupils of the residential compound's residents were as black as ink, and they were staring at him intently.

The surroundings were silent; Nie Ning felt his hair stand on end from the staring.

While Nie Ning was wondering whether to throw these residents into the water, the Jerky Bear Head had already arrived near the Lake Center Island.

Just like before, the island showed no other reaction to the arrival of the Jerky Bear Head.

Nie Ning casually controlled the black soil on the ground to trap the nearby residents, then began to control the Dried Meat Bear to come beside the red flower.

The Dried Meat Bear reached out its withered branch-like arm to grab the red flower.

To Nie Ning's surprise, the Dried Meat Bear actually caught the flower!

He didn't stop to think why it could be caught; since it could, it was a good thing, and he didn't need to waste any more effort.

Thinking this, Nie Ning continued to manipulate the Jerky Bear Head, pulling the flower out of the soil bit by bit.

But then Nie Ning's expression suddenly changed, as if he had seen something shocking.

When the flower was pulled out, it wasn't roots that followed, but a Little Boy connected to the flower's stem, as if the flower had grown into the Little Boy's head.

At this moment, Nie Ning felt a chill down his spine because he realized that the Little Boy was Mrs. Terry's missing child!

No wonder he couldn't find him; to think he was hidden in the middle of the lake.

The Little Boy seemed to be startled awake, slowly opening eyes whose pupils were also entirely black.

As the Little Boy opened his eyes, the entire world suddenly changed color; a dim, Deep Blue Moon appeared in the sky, and the entire forest seemed to be draped in a thin blue veil.

Sensing that things had changed, Nie Ning immediately controlled the Jerky Bear Head to bite the Little Boy.

But then the lake water began to bubble, and several black water columns blasted the Jerky Bear Head away.

The Little Boy floated a few centimeters off the ground and then slowly drifted toward Nie Ning.

While the Little Boy moved, the nearby residents began to approach Nie Ning.

The residents remained expressionless, still staring at Nie Ning with their pure black eyes.

Nie Ning's heart tightened; he raised his foot and kicked away an approaching resident, and the residents who were hit fell like dominoes.

Seeing that the residents' bodies were still weak, Nie Ning couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He feared a group of people with Elementary or Intermediate stage strength would come; with his current strength, he wasn't enough to handle hundreds of people unscathed.

Watching the Little Boy get closer, Nie Ning waved his hand and summoned several Earth Spikes.

The Little Boy didn't dodge, but a Water Curtain rose from the black water below, blocking the attack of the Earth Spikes.

Then the Jerky Bear Head arrived before the Little Boy again, its massive bear head biting directly at the Little Boy's head.

But the black water swirled up, pulling the bear head into a Black Water Vortex; for a moment, the Jerky Bear Head could only struggle incessantly in the black water.

The black water in the lake surged violently, kicking up a wave that rushed toward Nie Ning.

Seeing this, Nie Ning kicked away a few residents and quickly retreated, leaping onto a large tree.

The lake water didn't stop, sweeping all the residents into it.

But when the lake water receded, the residents didn't disappear with it; instead, their bodies were covered in black water, and they rushed toward Nie Ning's position at extreme speed.

"Their strength has increased..."

Looking at the residents running below, Nie Ning couldn't help but frown.

Nie Ning tried to attack with Earth Spikes.

The residents' various stats had increased significantly; they could actually withstand the Earth Spikes' attacks.

Moreover, after the Earth Spikes pierced their bodies, their bodies were no longer flesh and blood but had become like asphalt.

Nie Ning immediately felt the situation was tricky.

"It seems I can't hold back anymore."

Originally, Nie Ning wanted to see if he could save these residents, but now he hadn't found the Little Boy's weakness; continuing to hold back would only harm himself.

With this thought, the long sword in Nie Ning's hand slowly turned red, and the scorching temperature even began to distort the air.

Nie Ning jumped down from the tree and sliced one of them in half at the waist.

Although the resident still didn't die, the areas scorched by the flames turned gray, like the ashes left after wood burns, and the healing speed was greatly reduced.

Facing a group of residents who only had increased strength but hadn't reached the Elementary Stage, Nie Ning cut down dozens of them in the blink of an eye.

Scanning the Little Boy who had already reached the shore, Nie Ning kicked away a resident who rushed up, then activated his Strange Beast Body and charged toward the Little Boy.

To catch the bandits, first catch their leader!

The Little Boy looked similar to a Human-Faced Balloon; destroying his physical body should be able to suppress his abilities.

Nie Ning was very fast, breaking through the residents' encirclement to reach the Little Boy.

As Nie Ning's long sword slashed toward the Little Boy, the Little Boy dodged Nie Ning's attack as lightly as a leaf.

The Little Boy reached out to grab Nie Ning's chest; seeing this, Nie Ning could only place his long sword in front of his chest to resist.

But the Little Boy's strength exceeded Nie Ning's imagination; as the long sword bent, Nie Ning was pushed back several steps by a massive force.

Nie Ning's expression was grave as he looked at the top of the Little Boy's head, then he unleashed several streaks of Flame Sword Qi at the Little Boy.

The Little Boy was agile and easily dodged the sword qi.

However, Nie Ning's goal had been achieved.

The Flame Sword Qi flew into the distance, striking exactly into the vortex binding the Jerky Bear Head.

As the sword qi exploded, the vortex was also blown apart by the force, and the Jerky Bear Head took the opportunity to escape and charge at the Little Boy.

For a moment, it became a two-on-one on the field.

As for those residents, their strength was far inferior to Nie Ning's, so in a short while, a pile of crawling black corpses appeared on the ground, but they caused no substantial damage to Nie Ning.

Under the pincer attack, the Little Boy still seemed to handle it with ease.

To this, Nie Ning said nothing, silently waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

At this time, the Jerky Bear Head came behind the Little Boy, opening its bloody maw to bite at the Little Boy's head.

The Little Boy shifted left to dodge the attack but ended up near Nie Ning.

With a wave of Nie Ning's hand, the soil on the ground writhed and then swallowed the Little Boy's legs.

However, due to the Little Boy's appearance, Nie Ning's control over the elements had clearly dropped very quickly; in an instant, signs of cracking appeared in the soil on the ground.

But for Nie Ning, this was enough!

The long sword in Nie Ning's hand swept toward the top of the Little Boy's head, the sharp blade slicing the red flower in half.

At this moment, nothing unusual happened to the Little Boy; instead, he struck Nie Ning's chest with a palm, sending Nie Ning flying.

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