Chapter 42: A Dark Corner

Chapter 42: A Dark Corner

Lyu Jun stared at the message that popped up on his phone screen, stunned for a few seconds.

Not to mention he was well aware of the fact that it was impossible to receive messages on a phone in the land of exile, even if the network communication in the land of exile was somehow restored, receiving a message from his godlike cousin would be the last thing he expected.

Doesn't he know that person well enough?

Cold-hearted and unforgiving, with a fierce tendency to hold grudges. Despite appearing exceptionally gentle and polite, making every action pleasing to the eye, hitting someone was genuinely painful.

Moreover, anyone who crossed him would somehow end up unlucky, except for his cousin, who could still bounce around.

Of course, he's not saying his cousin is bad; all those who provoked his cousin were asking for it! They deserved to be beaten.

His adoration was so great that he always ended up bouncing around, then receiving some 'loving' education from his cousin.

But, Lyu Jun was self-aware. His cousin not disciplining him anymore was already a favor, considering his mother's sake. How could he possibly come to rescue him all of a sudden?

But!

Jun Jun wanted to believe!

This must be the telepathy between their blood relations! His cousin must still care for him in his heart! That's why he specifically came to rescue him!

Others in the land of exile couldn't send messages, but who was his cousin? His cousin definitely could!

So, Lyu Jun, who originally felt utterly exhausted, felt revived.

If his cousin told him to hang in there, he would hang in there no matter what!!

"Aaaah! All of you back off! I, Lyu Jun, will not die before I see my cousin!"

In that instant, an extremely fragrant and enticing tea aroma, along with a faint green light, burst forth from Lyu Jun, repelling the three mid-level devouring monsters that were about to break through their last defense, keeping them outside the tea aura.

To the surrounding exiles' incredulity and surprise, this tea fragrance not only halted the devourers' movements but also provided some enhancement to their physical and mental well-being!

"Wow, Junjun! Did you evolve? The scent of tea has revitalized me; I feel I can hold on a bit longer!"

Nearby, Afei, who was darting around launching sneak attacks, shouted joyfully.

Lu Jun, striving to emit the fragrance of tea: "Of course, I wouldn't want my cousin to find just a cold corpse of me! Everyone, hold on! My cousin is on his way! He'll headshot those monsters in minutes!"

"We can't die before those scumbags, right?! I've always despised deceitful white lotuses the most!"

Although he is tea, his tea spirit is clear and righteous! He won't partake in inhuman deeds! But that woman, she truly deserved to die.

Although it was hard to believe help would arrive at this time, Lu Jun's confidence, coupled with the thought of his cousin Chen Jia, injected a semblance of hope and determination into everyone—

After all, the person coming is Chen Jia! Perhaps he truly could achieve it?

(Text omitted due to irrelevance or error)

Moreover, they weren't ready to die here. If they were to die, they'd take the traitors from the mutual aid society with them!

Suddenly, the three allied Devourers found their imminent prey turned unexpectedly resistant, reigniting their will to fight just when they had been on the brink of giving up.

And hidden aside, dozens from the mutual aid society showed a flicker of unease at this turn of events.

"President, they won't escape, will they? They seem to have regained their spirits?"

Bai Ling turned her head to quietly gaze at the speaker, who then dared not utter another word.

"Do you doubt the array's power?"

"It's merely their futile struggle at the end. They can't possibly get out. Moreover, the trapping array automatically absorbs the life force of those within. The more energy they use, the stronger the array becomes. At the same time, the more energy we can draw from it."

"Once these people are all dead, and the three devourers are also severely injured, a single strike from us after upgrading will allow us to seize the power of both humans and devourers."

Bai Ling's face showed a gentle smile: "Isn't this what mutual aid is all about?"

"But that Lyu Jun said Chen Shijin is coming, and we saw that message too. What if..."

Bai Ling scoffed: "You actually believe such nonsense. Phones receiving messages mysteriously isn’t new; it's just occasional ability radiation.

Up to now, there has been no ability user in the land of exile who can truly connect mobile phones. If there were, they'd surely be hunted and killed by the guiders. So, use your brain.

That Lyu Jun has decent abilities, but sadly, he's too disobedient and annoying. His head is full of delusions of his cousin being invincible."

Bai Ling frowned then sneered: "Our leader is at the pinnacle of rulers and hasn’t claimed to be invincible. He's just a newly arrived word spirit user. Does he really think he can be invincible with just his mouth?"

"A silencing field or a Sphere of Silence could kill him."

The president of this mutual aid society’s branch showed a pitying expression: "Just a newcomer to the land of exile, thinking he's smart and has awakened some powerful fantasy psychic power, not knowing the depth of the sky and the earth.

How could he understand how terrifying this endless dark land is, and how many unspeakable horrors lie upon it?"

"Even like now."

A girl in a white dress looking at the struggling, newly deceased group within the trap, smiled: "Even if that text truly was sent by Chen Shijin. In this endless darkness where directions are indiscernible, for Chen Shijin to attempt to arrive in time is nearly impossible."

"Can he appear here instantly just with his mouth?"

Bai Ling was full of conviction.

"He cannot."

"Roar—"

"Chirp, chirp!"

"Screech—"

At this moment, the three giant devouring monsters were thoroughly enraged, roaring and launching their final attack on the remaining hundred or so people.

Bai Ling and the members of the mutual aid society behind her all smiled.

After this strike, they would have completed another act of mutual aid.

However, before the three devouring monsters could swallow their last meal, the dark earth below rumbled like thunder, signaling an impending upheaval.

Right under Bai Ling and her group's watchful eyes, a grey-black earth dragon wearing a bone-spiked shell burst forth from the ground below, accurately positioning itself between the three devouring monsters and Lyu Jun and the other exiles, blocking the sharp teeth and blood-sucking tentacles of the three devouring monsters.

"Freeze to the Core!"

The young man standing on the earth dragon's shell cap extended his hand, and the lead devouring monster was instantly covered in ice and snow, frozen solid from its mouth to its body.

In the next instant, the young man leaped from the bone-spiked shell cap, his left eye emitting a faint silver light, his right hand clawed and forcefully grabbed near the ear of the frozen devourer, precisely three inches below, with a fierce swipe!

"Grrrhhhh!"

The colossal Devourer beast let out a tremendously painful howl, shattering into countless ice fragments.

In Chen Jia's hand, however, appeared a purple Devourer core the size of an apple.

Chen Jia took a bite.

Tasting like taro mochi, one bite was worth five thousand energy points. A single core netted him eighty thousand energy points.

"Ahhh, cousin, cousin, cousin! I knew you'd come to save Junjun! Cousin, you're my god! You're the coolest, ahhh!"

Lu Jun, blown away, screamed in a voice cracking like a screeching chicken.

At that moment, another figure burst out laughing from another direction above the shell hat, launching a massive fireball that lit up the entire darkness. Feng Tianhuo stuffed a fireball into the gaping mouth of a Devourer. As the Devourer panicked, trying to spit out the fireball, Feng Tianhuo stomped down hard:

"Spit it out, my foot! Swallow it!"

The Devourer was then incinerated from within, leaving Feng Tianhuo with a mere thirty thousand in energy points.

By this time, Chen Jia had already frozen a third Devourer, directly seizing its core.

Another sixty thousand in the bank.

Amidst the screams of Lyu Jun and other exiles who found life in a desperate situation, Chen Shijin mused that indeed, preying on others is the most profitable way to earn energy.

A few more such meals and he could upgrade the earth dragon and its attributes.

"This is impossible!"

In stark contrast to the ecstatic hugging and cheering of Lyu Jun and the others, the forty-two members of the mutual aid society nearby simultaneously showed faces filled with terror and disbelief.

The smile on Bai Ling's face had long since frozen; she watched the gigantic creature emerging from the ground with a dreadful premonition.

She then gave a signal to someone beside her, who began to gather a faint light of energy in their hands, preparing to initiate a teleportation skill.

Bai Ling's eyes, gleaming from afar, intensely watched the man standing atop the spiked shell, her expression solemn.

"He will be a great enemy to our leader. Next time..."

We must kill him!

Just as Bai Ling was ready to be teleported away, the young man standing at the pinnacle suddenly turned his head towards their direction. Then, Bai Ling saw him slightly open his mouth.

A cold voice then resonated in her ears.

"Did I say you could leave?"

"No one is going anywhere."

Then, Bai Ling heard the person beside her who had activated the skill cry out in horror: "President! I can't use my skill!"

It wasn't just about using skills; right after Chen Shijin spoke those words, the other forty members of the mutual aid society who felt threatened and were trying to flee suddenly found their feet nailed to the ground, standing motionless like machines that had run out of power or wax statues.

Truly, no one could leave.

At this moment, Chen Shijin and his group descended from the earth dragon fortress, and Lyu Jun threw himself at them, wailing: "Brother, ahh, brother, sob sob sob! Cousin, they all bullied me when you weren't here, sob sob sob!

That white lotus pretended to lead the way but actually brought us to a pit we couldn't escape from. That malicious woman wanted your dear cousin dead, ahhh!

Cousin, you must kill her!"

Chen Shijin dispatched the green tea [betrayer] with a word, then narrowed his eyes at the forty-two members of the mutual aid society: "Mutual aid society?"

"What kind of 'mutual aid' is this, care to explain?"

Bai Ling's eyes showed a cold, mocking look, her lips sealed tight.

But the people from the mutual aid society beside her began to blurt out everything, unable to stop themselves.

"It's about finding a small gathering spot to enter, safely spending a month or two together, then finding the right moment to claim the discovery of low-level devouring monsters to lure the large troops into hunting."

"Then, at a prearranged location, we set up a trap formation and mid-level devourer bait. Once both exiles and devourers enter the trap, we watch them kill each other and then absorb their energy!"

"The trap formation is the place you all just emerged from, marked by a hexagram! Each tip of the star has an energy collection stone that gathers energy!"

"We've already wiped out six gathering spots. Hehe, I leveled up from one to two in just three months."

"Too bad we didn't succeed this time; otherwise, I could have advanced from level two to three. Ah! Stop, it hurts, don't hit me! The president said you all are going to die sooner or later anyway, so what's wrong with giving us your energy for our upgrades?

Every day, exiles from different worlds fall into the land of exile. Instead of letting you suffer here, it's better to let you transcend early, right?"

Bear Brother, with one arm broken, couldn't bear it any longer and slapped the speaking mutual aid society member, sending them flying.

"How about I send you off to escape this suffering first, huh?! I thought the devouring monsters here were disgusting enough, but now I realize you people are even more revolting than the monsters!"

"Mutual aid society? Pah! You're nothing but a Trash Society!"

Their original group of five hundred and fifty now only had about one hundred and forty survivors.

Four hundred lives and their energy were exchanged for six energy stones.

Indeed, the saying is true, humanity's greatest enemy is always itself.

Chen Shijin, looking at Bai Ling who had been controlling herself from speaking, asked: "Who is the leader of your mutual aid society? Where is he? Tell me."

Bai Ling didn't want to respond to Chen Shijin's question, but soon she found she couldn't resist; even with her lips tightly sealed, they slowly opened.

She felt an immense anger mixed with a bit of regret and fear.

"The leader is named Risque... uh, he's in the Golden Sun Dark... Sea, ahhh I can't say, I can't betray my master! I want you all to die! I want you to join me in death—"

As Bai Ling spoke the last word, blood uncontrollably spilled from the corners of her mouth, while a small whirlwind of energy burst forth from her.

It was an irresistible aroma of bread.

But it was also a scent that made higher-level, even top-level devourers drool.

Suddenly, a terrifying oppressive force that chilled the heart descended from the sky.

Along with Seal Heaven Fire's curses, Chen Shijin heard the world announcement in a very strange tone.

"Damn, she's attracted a dominator-level devourer!"

[You have been locked on by a devourer!]

[Power assessment: Impossible to escape, difficult to overcome.]

[You will be forcibly taken to the devourer's world in three minutes.]

……

[You have been devoured by a devourer!!]

[Welcome to "City of Beauty".]