"Token, you say? If you knew what happened, you wouldn't speak so lightly. So, before the final round of the competition began, the Ma clan elders felt that…,"
Jun Haru began narrating his firsthand experience.
They were running and didn't stop just as Yang Zhai had instructed them, the others were listening to him.
"Really!!!" Li Na couldn't believe what Jun Haru said.
"Yeah, and also… huh?"
Jun Haru was about to say something but stopped in his tracks.
"At least warn us before you stop!!" Si Yu shouted.
Because of Jun Haru's sudden stop, he smashed into him and couldn't stop in time.
He was still shouting when his eyes widened.
"Wha, what!!" He said with disbelief.
"Run!"
Jun Haru turns around to run but stops again, and his eyes widen a fear visible in his eyes.
"We can't run; we're trapped!" Mah Qi said, assuming a fighting posture.
"We should form a circle, covering each other. If we split up, we'll be surrounded and eaten alive. Don't separate unless absolutely necessary."
All four of them formed a circle, facing outward with their backs to one another.
Around them were hounds—a lot of them—growling and baring their teeth, seemingly ready to attack. They are each about two feet tall and quite fat. Their eyes are yellow, and their fur is black, as are their entire bodies, except for their eyes. Even some of their teeth are black.
Li Na and the others didn't attack first. They were hoping that these hounds would leave without doing anything.
However, that wasn't the case: a bark is heard, and many of the dogs charge toward the four.
A fight begins. The four start to attack the hounds.
As the hounds are only rank 2 and aren't that strong, the four are managing somehow.
Jun Haru summons a gust of wind and it passes through three hounds, killing them.
Mah Qi is constantly summoning roots from the ground to pierce the hounds from below. Meanwhile, Si Yu uses needles and leaves made of light to attack, while Li Na employs pitch-dark fog to kill the hounds.
If any of the hounds manage to get close, Li Na and Si Yu would use Red Poison taught by Yang Zhai to attack.
"Wow, you two know this technique as well! You two are really lucky. If I am not wrong, even a rank 1 of this technique is enough to damage rank 2 and even rank 3 cultivators. It can come in extremely handy when dealing with situations like these!"
Jun Haru shouted, he couldn't completely focus on his conversation in the continuous attacks of the hounds.
Impressive, this technique is extremely dangerous and piercing, and you are telling me instead of being high rank, even rank 1 can injure rank 2 and even rank e cultivators: Stunned, Mah Qi couldn't believe Jun Haru.
Of course, she had read before that techniques like these existed, but they were extremely rare, and seeing them firsthand was still shocking.
Of course, Si Yu and Li Na were being careful and didn't recklessly use the Red Poison. A technique like this would surely leave highly negative effects on one's body, even though they are not as severe as those of other top-notch techniques.
A hound pounced at Si Yu from behind another hound he had just killed. He was taken by surprise and managed to bite Si Yu's left leg.
Ahhhhhh!!!!!!
Jun Haru, who was on the left side of Si Yu hurriedly killed the hound and said,
"Si Yu, stop screaming and stand up if you want to survive, you will get us all killed. You didn't come this far just to get killed, right?"
Jun Haru was trying to handle Si Yu's side as well. Si Yu was screaming from pain because of the bite. However, he barely managed to stand up when he fell to his knees again.
"Stand up already, you indolent fool." Jun Haru shouted again.
"Let me help you!" Li Na was about to turn around to help Si Yu, but couldn't because of the constant attacks.
"Li Na, stop!! You will get us all killed. If you really wish for Si Yu to survive, then fight!! Fight till you aren't able to anymore!!! If you leave your position, Jun Haru and I won't be able to handle all four sides and we will get overwhelmed by these hounds."
When Mah Qi heard what Li Na said, she hurriedly stopped her. When Li Na heard Mah Qi, she suddenly realized what foolish deed she was about to do and said,
"Sorry…, I was being reckless. Si Yu… endure it for now. Endure it until Brother Fen arrives. You have to believe in him."
Si Yu manages to stand up on his feet with difficulty. Even he realized what he had to do.
It's the hardships that make a child grow into an adult, not peace and comfort. Even a fully grown adult can be a child, while a six-year-old child can become mature.
Si Yu could not focus completely because of the pain. He was panting from the pain.
"Uh…"
A hound managed to strike Mah Qi's right arm with its claws.
"Sorry, sorry, I couldn't stop the hound in time…" Li Na said worriedly after seeing this.
She was positioned to the left of Li Na and the right of Si Yu. The hound that attacked her came from her right side, Li Na's side.
"No, no, no need to worry, it wasn't your mistake!" Mah Qi said and thought,
Damn it, it was clearly my mistake, not Li Na's. Even though the hound attacked me from the right side, I was too focused on my left side and gave it the chance to strike.
Right after Mah Qi was attacked, two hounds managed to bite Jun Haru's left side of the body: one on his waist and the other on his ribs. The first one even took a mouthful of flesh from his waist.
AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!
Jun Haru shouted because of the pain. However, he tried to endure the pain and focus on the hounds.
"Sorry, I am really sorry, I couldn't hold the hounds. I… I…," Li Na apologized to Jun Haru, panicked.
"No, no, it wasn't your mistake. I was a little too focused on Si Yu's side!" Jun Haru answered in a hurry.
Darn, I forgot that Li Na is still a kid and not even twelve years old. I was too reckless and focused on Si Yu's side more instead of balancing both. How am I going to survive like this, damn it? I left my right side completely to Li Na: Jun Haru reflected angrily on himself.
"I am sorry, I truly am sorry. Please forgive me." Li An said again.
Her attacks were starting to miss. She was starting to use Red Poison more frequently now. Her both arms were turning black and, along with black and purplish marks appearing on her face as well.
She was panicking.
"Take hold of yourself, Li Na!!!"
Mah Qi shouted after seeing the situation.
Not good, she is starting to panic. At this rate, we won't be able to last until Yang Zhai arrives: Mah Qi thought anxiously.
Jun Haru also noticed this and tried to focus on his left side now.
All four of their inexperience was beginning to show. They were making basic mistakes and struggling to maintain even a simple tactic.
Si Yu's left leg was bitten by a hound again. Not just Li Na, but all of them were starting to panic now.
There was no end to the number of hounds attacking them. They had already killed many, but there was seemingly no end to these hounds. They kept on coming.
All four of them were not just ordinary disciples.
Two were the children of two higher rank cultivators, not just in their clans, but also in their cultivation ranks. So, from a very young age, Mah Qi and Jun Haru didn't have any shortage of resources.
They were also trained by the best and had plenty of practice to back them up. However, in real life, these backups didn't matter. Here, the survival of the fittest mattered.
Being the fittest didn't only mean having physical strength; it also required mental and experiential strength. A bull might be strong, but that means nothing to those experienced in hunting. A skilled predator would almost always hunt it.
Someone was looking at this from far away, with indifference. That person just watched as Jun Haru and the other were slowly getting bitten and eaten.
/!*****!*****!/