"Coming through, gentlemen!"
As soon as Lin Xi Chen touched down, she instantly performed an acrobatic flip over a large rock before dashing off toward the forest with a wave of her hand, leaving a swarm of drones for them to deal with.
"Damn! How did you guys suddenly appear in front of us?!" Baili Pangpang also saw this scene and was completely dumbfounded.
"Now is not the time to dwell on this!" Shen Qingzhu shouted, quickly changing direction and leaping to the left.
"Coming through, gentlemen!"
As soon as Lin Xi Chen touched down, she instantly performed an acrobatic flip over a large rock before dashing off toward the forest with a wave of her hand, leaving a swarm of drones for them to deal with.
As luck would have it, Lin Qiye also chose the same direction at the same time.
The two groups of people who were originally blocked from the front and the back broke through to the left in unison, followed by a series of missiles whistling through the air!
Two of Shen Qingzhu's three henchmen were shot at the same time. After wailing in despair, they rolled their eyes and fainted to the ground.
Lin Qiye's knife was so fast it was almost a blur as he swiftly carved a path through the jungle, while Cao Yuan, clutching a useless spoon, chased after him with all his might.
Baili Pangpang exclaimed in surprise, dodged behind a big tree to avoid a series of missiles, and then scrambled after Lin Qiye and the others.
The group ran for their lives, managing to traverse the entire rugged old forest, until they reached a relatively spacious clearing. A small stream flowed gently through the mountains, making a pleasant tinkling sound.
Lin Qiye walked a few steps, bent down by the stream, scooped up some water with his hands and drank a few mouthfuls, then wiped his face and let out a long sigh of relief.
Baili Pangpang plopped down on the ground and collapsed.
"Qiye... how far are we from crossing the mountains?"
"It's still early," Lin Qiye said slowly. "From the beginning, the drones have been rushing towards us from different directions, so we had to change direction several times along the way. We've only traveled about four or five kilometers in a straight line from the starting point."
"Is the instructor messing with us? We're going to be chased by drones again, and we're not allowed to fight back..." Shen Qingzhu stood up, kicked a stone into the stream, and said with a displeased expression.
"At this rate, we won't be able to get through the mountains at all." Cao Yuan frowned.
"Actually, I felt from the very beginning that this place was strange." Lin Qiye hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Strange?"
"Haven't you noticed? We've been running for so long, and no matter which direction we go, the sun's position in the sky hasn't changed." Lin Qiye pointed to the sun overhead. "And the mountain path I see keeps changing..."
Everyone was stunned, and at the same time looked up, their faces darkening.
"What's going on?"
"The instructors must have covered this area with contraband; from the beginning, they never intended for us to cross it."
"So what exactly do they want to do?"
"Here, we'll completely drain our energy."
Baili Pangpang's face paled. "So, we're all destined to face that punishment?"
"No," Cao Yuan suddenly spoke up, "those who fainted from exhaustion were not included in the punishment."
"..." Baili Pangpang sat on the ground, utterly dejected, and let out a long sigh.
The drones seemed to know they were nearing their limit and didn't immediately pursue them, giving them a rare chance to catch their breath.
After running for so long, everyone was exhausted and sat down on the ground, and the open space by the stream fell silent.
Only the "soul-searching questions" constantly emanating from their heavy loads echoed through the mountain valleys, occasionally making them laugh out loud.
"Hey, you over there with the spoon." Shen Qingzhu's gaze fell on Cao Yuan. "You're clearly so strong, why didn't you put in your full effort at the beginning of your fight against Masked Team last night?"
"I will not draw my sword unless absolutely necessary; this is a vow I made before Buddha," Cao Yuan replied calmly.
"But you still took action later, didn't you?"
"That's because the time has come when we have no choice but to take action." Cao Yuan glanced at Lin Qiye out of the corner of his eye.
Shen Qingzhu frowned. "What do you mean? He tells you to act, so you act; I tell you to act, so you just sit there and do nothing? Are you looking down on me?!"
"Yes."
"You!" Shen Qingzhu's gaze sharpened.
"A person who can't even control their own emotions will always be a weakling," Cao Yuan said calmly, toying with the spoon in his hand.
Shen Qingzhu stared intently at Cao Yuan, his fists clenched tightly, as if he wanted to rush up and beat Cao Yuan up. After a long while, he finally let go of Cao Yuan's fists.
He stood up, gave him a cold look, and said, "Hmph, whether he's strong or weak, we'll see."
After saying that, he turned and walked in another direction.
Immediately afterwards, the last remaining recruit behind him also hurriedly stood up and followed.
"Damn it, those two have already been eliminated, why are you still following me?" Shen Qingzhu was already furious when he saw this person following him again, and he turned around and cursed.
"Because you're my brother Shen!" A dark-skinned recruit grinned sheepishly. "If you hadn't helped my mother pay off her debts, I'd still be begging on the streets! Let alone be a night watchman!"
"Are you kidding me? I almost killed you all and that Moon Ghost with [Qi Min] yesterday, and you still think I'm Brother Shen?"
"You did that to force him out!" the henchman honestly said. "Besides, if you really didn't care about us, why did you have to throw us into the dormitory before resorting to an air explosion?"
"You..." Shen Qingzhu kicked away a pebble in frustration. "Damn it, I don't care anymore. Since you guys are blind and insist on following me, then so be it."
"Remember this! Don't cause me any trouble!"
Shen Qingzhu turned around and strode away into the distance, with her followers following closely behind.
"Brother Shen, are you carrying a lot of weight? Want me to help you carry some of it?"
"Get lost! I'll carry my own load!"
"Oh..."
After Shen Qingzhu and the other person had walked away, Baili Pangpang shrugged:
"That's really strange. Shen Qingzhu has a terrible temper, is arrogant, and likes to curse... How can anyone actually follow him? Are they really blind?"
"That boy's name is Deng Wei. When he was a child, his father ran away with someone else, and his mother loved to gamble and owed a lot of debt. Later, the creditors came to his door with knives. He had no choice but to borrow money from all over the place."
"Later, he happened to run into Shen Qingzhu, who, for some unknown reason, sold several plots of land in his hometown and lent them to Deng Wei. Later still, the two of them awakened the Forbidden Ruins together, caught the eye of the Night Watchers, and came here."
Cao Yuan briefly recounted what had happened."You know so much about this?"
"That Deng Wei is my roommate," Cao Yuan shrugged. "He also has two other followers, twin brothers, one named Li Jia and the other Li Liang. I don't know why, but they're equally devoted to Shen Qingzhu."
"He's a man with a story, I didn't realize." Baili Pangpang raised his eyebrows.
Just then, the buzzing of drones rang out from the forest again, and Lin Qiye's expression changed slightly as he stood up from the ground.
"Here we go again..."