Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The commotion caused by the A-level beast was too great; Qinchi had to lure the mother lizard away, or even the aftershock of its tail could easily take out the three young people.

Sun Fushan lay flat on the ground, watching Qinchi's wind-controlling figure disappear into the depths of the forest. He worriedly asked, "Can he do it?"

For an A-level psychic using an A-level energy gun against an A-level beast is like adding wings to a tiger, but for a C-level psychic, it merely gives them a bit more fighting power. To kill a beast above their level is nearly impossible, especially one as highly sensitive and defensive as the mother lizard.

Meng Li, leaning against a tree trunk, directly pulled out a signal flare from her backpack and launched it with one hand.

With a "bang," a bright red smoke burst brilliantly several hundred meters above the trio's heads.

If Qinchi failed, the mother lizard would soon return, and then the "Silence is Golden" team would be wiped out.

Rather than pinning all their hopes on Qinchi, it was better to seek help from the patrol team. If they arrived quickly enough, they might even save Qinchi from the mother lizard's jaws.

Xu Qiao was also worried about Qinchi, but remembering the calm look he gave before leaving and his composed manner when luring away the mother lizard, she felt that Qinchi alone could handle the situation without much trouble.

But this was just a feeling. The threat from the mother lizard was too strong, so she supported Meng Li's decision.

"Captain, keep watch."

Xu Qiao was busy using her mental power to mend Meng Li's broken leg bone and couldn't afford to be distracted, but she didn't forget about the two hidden C-level stone dragons nearby.

The stone dragons' scales were too strong, and once they recovered from the intense heat, they would inevitably continue hunting.

Sun Fushan made an "OK" gesture, then held his breath and focused, not missing any sound or movement around him.

There was no immediate danger for the trio, but the direction Qinchi left kept echoing with gunshots and the sounds of trees being hit and falling, indicating fierce combat.

Meng Li whispered, "Qinchi can control the wind, which is his advantage, but I wonder how long he can keep it up."

The earlier battle with the nine stone dragons had drained both her and Qinchi's psychic powers significantly.

Sun Fushan took out a soil-type core from the C-level beasts they had hunted today, absorbed one himself, and handed the other to Meng Li. His determined gaze conveyed his message: Replenish your psychic power while you still can!

Just at that moment, the sound of beasts running rapidly suddenly came from around them. In the next second, two familiar stone dragons pounced from either side—one straight for the lying Sun Fushan, the other for the severely injured and armorless Meng Li.

C-level beasts possess a certain degree of intelligence. Since Xu Qiao hadn't acted during the earlier battle, the two stone dragons assumed she posed no threat.

Sun Fushan reacted swiftly, using two thick slabs of earth to block the stone dragons' attacks.

After failing to land their pounces and hitting their heads, the two stone dragons landed. Immediately, Sun Fushan's earth cage and Meng Li's fire ring surrounded each one.

With new and old grudges, the stone dragon in the earth cage kept slamming against the walls, causing them to shake. Sun Fushan struggled to maintain his psychic power, beads of sweat rolling down his chubby face.

Meng Li wasn't faring well either. The stone dragon was immune to poison fog and could dodge the fire scorpion's claws and tail spikes with its agility, while also trying to break through the flames. Meng Li could only increase the temperature of the flames, unable to assist the fire scorpion in attacking.

Seeing this, Sun Fushan took out an A-level gun from his storage space and handed it to Xu Qiao: "Kill!"

An A-level energy bullet might not kill the mother lizard, but surely it could take down a mere C-level lizard?

He was rich, but Xu Qiao felt using an A-level energy gun against a C-level beast was wasteful, so she paused her healing efforts on Meng Li.

Meng Li sensed something was amiss and looked over.

In front of Xu Qiao appeared a transparent water arrow, like an ice sculpture.

Meng Li understood and conveyed a thought to the fire scorpion spirit. Soon, the fire scorpion moved several times, forcing the stone dragon in the fire ring to face Xu Qiao.

If Qinchi were here, the stone dragon would have been wary of the wind blades, but since he was gone with the mother lizard, the stone dragon, believing it knew all the team's attack patterns, focused solely on biting the fire scorpion. When it successfully bit off one of the fire scorpion's claws and used its hard tail to block the scorpion's tail spike, the stone dragon's eyes widened in triumph!

At that moment, the transparent water arrow pierced through the air and penetrated the stone dragon's deep brown eye.

The prepared fire scorpion clamped the stone dragon's triangular head with its remaining claw and flipped it in the air, piercing its relatively softer belly with its raised tail spike.

Sun Fushan excitedly punched the ground: "Good!"

Xu Qiao covered herself, saying, "Luckily, their eyes aren't well-defended. Otherwise, my water arrow wouldn't have worked."

Meng Li said, "Your water arrow is very solid."

Xu Qiao smiled bitterly, "The cost is high consumption. I can probably make two more."

Meng Li: "That's enough. Captain, let the other one out."

The earth cage suddenly vanished, and the last stone dragon, which had been wildly slamming against the walls, stumbled forward, momentarily disoriented.

Meng Li's fire ring surrounded it, and the fire scorpion spirit, now with only one claw, attacked again.

The stone dragon looked at the other battlefield but only saw its doomed comrade's tail sticking out, its head buried deep in an earth pit.

Frightened, angry, and terrified, the stone dragon chose to escape the fire ring even if it meant getting burned.

As it leaped out of the fire ring, a two-meter-long water curtain descended from the sky. The sudden cool "rain" did not relieve the burning on its skin but instead caused white smoke to rise from its body, and the unexpected pain made it fall to the ground. The fire scorpion spirit seized the opportunity to pierce its tail spike into the stone dragon.

Though it hit the tail, the stone dragon broke its own tail and darted forward.

An earthen ramp rose and pushed the stone dragon into the air, flipping it backward.

The stone dragon fell back to the ground, and the fire scorpion spirit pursued, deeply embedding its tail spike into the junction between the stone dragon's head and body.

After half a minute, the last stone dragon finally died. The exhausted fire scorpion spirit shrank and limped toward Meng Li.

Sun Fushan, relieved, was about to express his gratitude for surviving the ordeal when the coolness in his abdomen suddenly disappeared.

He looked up in surprise to see eleven lotus petals flying back into Xu Qiao's body.

Sun Fushan exclaimed, "Ah, it's over?"

His previously immobile waist could move again?

Only Xu Qiao knew that the lotus spirit was afraid of the fire scorpion and had suddenly accelerated the healing process, fully utilizing its B-level capabilities.

Because there was also an A-level female lizard, Xu Qiao didn't dare to hold back too much. She healed Meng Li's leg in another five minutes and then pretended to be weak from excessive energy consumption, leaning against the side.

The patrol team still hadn't shown up. Meng Li picked up the second A-level gun Sun Fushan had taken out and stood up, saying, "You stay here with Xu Qiao; I'll go find Qinchi."

Sun Fushan: "Wait!"

He took out a set of A-level combat armor from his storage space and said anxiously and stutteringly, "P-put it on; it can fly!"

Xu Qiao, Meng Li: "..."

Two minutes later, the tall and slender Meng Li put on the loose and oversized A-level combat armor, adapted to the flight mode, and quickly headed in the direction Qinchi had left.

Qinchi hadn't gone far.

Unlike the perilous scenarios imagined by his three young teammates, Qinchi was hiding in an old tree halfway up a dense forested mountain, where he could see the positions of Xu Qiao and the others.

As for the A-level female lizard, no matter how much it struggled, it remained enveloped in a gust of wind, crashing into trees one moment and creating deep craters in the ground headfirst the next. Its reddish-brown eyes were filled with disbelief and terror.

The invisible fire dragon roared angrily in Qinchi's mind. Even a small fire scorpion and a clumsy turtle could show off their prowess—why couldn't it be released?

Leaning against the tree trunk, Qinchi seemed to speak to himself, "Professor Wu said you need to cultivate your temperament."

At this mention, the fire dragon became even more agitated. Crimson scales crept up Qinchi's arm but were silently forced back by him.

But Qinchi knew that suppressing it would only increase the spirit's aggression. Noticing the eleven lotus petals flying back into Xu Qiao's body, he smiled and said, "You like lotuses?"

The turmoil in his mind indeed ceased.

Qinchi: "I'll give you one chance. Whether you can see the flowers depends on your luck."

When Meng Li, wearing the A-level combat armor, reached halfway, Qinchi jumped down from the tree and released the wind cage around the female lizard.

The female lizard turned and fled.

Qinchi had to control the wind again to turn the lizard back.

With nowhere to run, the female lizard angrily lunged at Qinchi, seeing the mercenary who had been toying with her actually turn and run. The lizard's sharp claws moved faster on the ground, almost leaving afterimages, and then pounced when close enough.

When Meng Li flew over, she saw this scene: as the five-meter-long female lizard was about to crush Qinchi, a layer of solidified wind appeared behind him. The wind slightly impeded the lizard's momentum, but in the next second, its sharp claws deeply tore through Qinchi's combat suit.

Just as the lizard opened its mouth to bite Qinchi's neck, he suddenly turned around and fired the energy gun directly into its mouth.

The powerful impact of the energy bullet sent the lizard flying. Seizing the opportunity, Meng Li fired three consecutive shots at the lizard's belly as it flipped over.

The second shot penetrated the belly armor, and the third shot caused chunks of flesh and blood to spray out from the bullet hole.

Meng Li did not fire a fourth shot, maintaining distance to confirm the lizard's death before immediately landing beside Qinchi.

Qinchi used one hand to push himself up slowly, sitting upright. Looking at his back, the sharp claws had nearly split his combat suit in two, revealing both the gruesome gashes and the intact areas around his waist. He immediately pulled on a black jacket over it.

Meng Li, who wanted to check her teammate's injuries but saw nothing, thought: ...

Was Qinchi afraid of scaring her or too concerned about his privacy?

Regardless, Meng Li chose to respect him and quickly explained the current situation: "We fired a signal flare; the patrol team should be arriving soon."

Qinchi had already stood up, walking slowly yet calmly toward the dead lizard. "Given our squad's level, killing an A-level beast alone could cause unnecessary trouble. When the patrol team asks, tell them the lizard was only B-level and was scared away by the energy gun."

Meng Li nodded, noticing Qinchi could still control the wind, and followed him back.

While they were explaining the story to Xu Qiao and Sun Fushan, they returned the two A-level energy guns and the A-level combat armor to Sun Fushan. Just as they finished, a patrol soldier in A-level combat armor flew over before Xu Qiao could check Qinchi's injuries.

After a brief understanding of the situation, the patrol soldier left to chase the "B-level female lizard," and the squad fell silent once more.

Xu Qiao wanted to help heal Qinchi.

Meng Li glanced at Qinchi, who had zipped his jacket up to his neck, and tactfully called Sun Fushan to deal with the nine C-level stone lizards.

Once they were far enough away, Qinchi sat down facing away from Xu Qiao and unzipped his jacket.

The female lizard had left a nearly thirty-centimeter-long gash on his back, with the deepest part exposing bone. Because it hadn't been treated promptly, blood covered his entire back, but as it trickled down to his waistline, a gentle breeze carried it away, dropping it to the ground.

Xu Qiao felt the pain just looking at it and knelt beside him, using her water ability to clean the wound and the blood on his back.

Feeling the coolness of the water, Qinchi reminded her, "You've already expended a lot of energy healing them. It's fine if you just stop the bleeding; don't push yourself too hard."

Xu Qiao's fingertips touched the edges of his wound, her voice gentle: "It's a flesh wound; it should heal."

As she spoke, a similarly cool wood ability flowed into Qinchi's wound, and the gruesome injury began to heal slowly as the ability moved along.

Every time a section healed, Xu Qiao's fingertips moved slightly down Qinchi's spine until she reached the end of the wound, near his slim right hip.

Xu Qiao, a professional healer, focused solely on her teammate's injury.

But Qinchi felt a slight itch, a physiological sensation from the healing wound.