An expression of shock and anxiety appeared on her face as her mind seemed to be replaying Ji Min's statement in her head, echoing the words; 'run' and 'away'.
"No way; there is no way I'm leaving you here! Where do you want me to put my face if the entire Southern Family gets to know that I fled for my life and left you here to die?" She blurted vehemently in decline.
"Stupid girl; you won't have any face to save if you die here! Can't you read the atmosphere?!" Ji Min then snapped at her with the little strength and clarity he had left.
He was there when his uncle, Ji Wang, revealed the story that caused a strain between her and her father; thus, he could tell what was going through her head the moment he told her to flee.
He also knew his statement would fail to make her escape with her life, hence the need for the harsh words and furious tone.
Ji Qing was so stunned by Ji Min's cold and furious statement that she had to turn around and look at his face.
Though his eyes looked cold and lethargic, there was a bit of softness and warmth within them that signaled to her that he was simply concerned about her.
Thus, despite expecting herself to vehemently decline once again, Ji Min's show of emotion made her flinch and skip past a few touching emotions.
"Say what you will, but I'm not going anywhere." She finally managed to say with fluttering eyes that reflected the fact that she had just snapped out of a daze.
'How can you expect me to leave you here to die when those old coots made me promise to always be by your side?' She thought to herself with a frustrated sigh as a bead of sweat seep out of her temple.
Then with a newfound resolve, she turned her attention back to the encroaching danger as she whispered.
"I'm not my father; I would rather us leave here together or die here together. Just hang in there for me."
Squeak!
The white rodent once again gave an order as the rest of the group suddenly converged toward Ji Min.
"Hmph! You'd have to step over my corpse to lay any finger on him!"
Ji Qing's expression and tone turned vicious as she snorted coldly at the incoming rodents.
She took a stride to the side, approaching the closest, incoming, air-borne rodent who suffered a vicious punch in the guts.
Immediately after that, she round-housed another rodent who thought it had slipped past her guard, only to end up seeing her heel a little too late.
Her 1-Star Qi Sea stage cultivation burst forth whilst the weight of the chains on her increased the damage her attacks should have dealt.
Another rodent was once again caught in her elusive roundhouse kick, and it was only after it had crashed miserably into its fellow comrades that it realized that there was a pattern to the roundhouse kicks, she was doing.
Ji Qing who was busy executing her 'Dance of the Forest Fairy' technique kept striding from one side to the other.
Punching the guts of some rodents on this side, whilst gifting some other rodents a sneaky roundhouse kick, on the other side.
Realizing that the rodents weren't too intelligent, Ji Qing simply repeated the moves, looping it endlessly as she successively sent the rodents flying.
The rodents were already narrowminded from the rage and bloodthirst that was coursing through them, and thus, never realized the pattern of the technique until they were on the receiving end of the sneak attack.
The more they suffered, the higher the group combat affinity of the technique exalted itself; a technique indeed inspired by a 'forest fairy'.
Then after a few minutes of displaying her technique, Ji Qing began to realize how strong these so-called unintelligent rodents were, and how troublesome they could get.
Unlike Ji Min who packed a Lord Stage punch that could kill them, her own Qi Sea Stage attacks were sorely lacking and could only manage to inflict some broken bones and ribs on them.
Thus, the rodents would simply sustain grievous injuries; and since they were in a berserk mode, they did not feel pain, and would simply lunge at her again; repeatedly, until their limbs were completely unresponsive.
It didn't take long for Ji Qing to run out of her Qi Sea Stage energy; majorly because she had yet to consolidate her cultivation.
Squeak! Squeak!
Realizing that their nemesis was now spent, the white rodents finally decided to move in for the kill.
'I only managed to immobilize a bunch of them, and I'm already exhausted; how did he manage this?'
Ji Qing wondered as she surveyed her surroundings and saw the two-dozen rodent corpse scattered all across the area.
Whoosh!
An abrupt sound of rushing wind reached Ji Qing followed by a wave of goosebumps that caused her to reflexively cross her arms over her chest.
Bam!
Like a bullet shooting out of its barrel, Ji Qing found herself skidding effortlessly across the area, clearing a straight path, and then clattering into a tree trunk which forcefully broke her advance.
Bleurgh!
She threw up a mouthful of blood; and just as she tried to take a deep breath, she suddenly felt her lungs get poked by her ribs prompting her to yelp in pain.
Squeak!
The white rodents gave another command for the remaining rodents to swarm up on Ji Qing whilst they approached Ji Min, looking to settle their grudges.
"Hurry and get out of here?" Ji Min urged once again before looking towards the two white rodents that just arrived by his side.
"Come on... Let's get this over with, you hateful swine!" Ji Min blurted in a lethargic but furious manner.
Squeak?
Squeak-Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
Both rodents suddenly began to communicate in a seemingly conflicting manner; it was almost as if they were deciding Ji Min's fate but were both taking two contradicting approaches.
A few seconds later, the white rodents sorted their disputes as approached Ji Min, bearing their sharp claws that glistened at the touch of any form of light.
Ji Min braced himself for the pain that was to come and even tried to comfort himself by reminding himself of his high pain tolerance.
But the moment the white rodents arrived, they simply rolled him over, planting his face into the dirt, allowing a feeling of uncertainty to surge through his entire being.
Then out of the blue, Ji Min abruptly felt the muscles behind his knee split open like paper sliding out of a shredding machine.
Squirt!
Blood sprayed out of the shredded veins as he felt a sharp pang of pain that sent his consciousness straight to the brink of oblivion.