Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen lowered his head and did not immediately answer Xuan Ye.
The cooperation between them had been relatively smooth before, but it was based on mutual use. Xuan Ye needed Song Wen's help to obtain snake scales, and Song Wen needed Xuan Ye to guide him.
Now that both parties had lost their value to each other, continuing to stay together was not a good choice. Song Wen was cautious about Xuan Ye's suggestion to seize the Hollow Cicada Wood.
Before Song Wen could respond, Zi Yi spoke up first. She stood up and said,
"Junior Brother, we should leave. This place is too dangerous."
"Senior Sister, but what about your injuries?" Lao Chun asked with concern.
"It's nothing serious. My father's condition can't wait. We must hurry. And as Xuan Ye said, this place is unsafe," Zi Yi replied.
"Then what about him?" Lao Chun pointed at the unconscious Yan Gu.
When he looked at Yan Gu, his eyes showed a trace of killing intent. Yan Gu's earlier distraction had caused much trouble for him and his sister.
Xuan Ye glanced at Yan Gu and said, "His soul has been severely injured. Without a soul-repairing elixir, it's difficult for him to regain consciousness."
"Then we should end his suffering. It's a mercy," Lao Chun said as he leaped forward and smashed Yan Gu's head with a palm strike.
He then took Yan Gu's magic tools and storage bag. Lao Chun said to Xuan Ye, "Friend, since you saw it, how should we distribute the loot?"
Song Wen had no intention of wasting time with them. Before Lao Chun could act, he activated the Blood Escape Technique and quickly left, using the opportunity to distance himself from Xuan Ye.
Xuan Ye looked at the departing Song Wen, then at Lao Chun's storage bag and magic tools. Ultimately, he chose to stay. After all, Yan Gu was a cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage, and he had many resources. It was worth taking.
After a moment, they divided the spoils and moved out.
Not long after, they saw Song Wen returning with a grim expression.
"Friend Guo, what's wrong?" Xuan Ye asked.
Song Wen said, "The exit is blocked by hundreds of bone worms, and they are coming this way."
"Bone worms!" The four of them were startled by the name.
"How did they just happen to appear in this passage?" Xuan Ye frowned.
"They were likely dispatched by the Dwarf Ghost. When we were being chased by the Dwarf Ghost, a group of bone worms followed us. These bone worms were probably bred by the Dwarf Ghost. They were just weaker and fell behind," Song Wen explained.
"Damn it!" Xuan Ye cursed, then asked Song Wen, "Friend, what is the strength of those bone worms?"
"At the lowest, they are at the Qi Refining First Stage, and at most, they are at the Qi Refining Fourth Stage. At least half of them are in the mid Qi Refining Stage," Song Wen replied.
Hearing this, everyone frowned and fell silent.
The sheer number of bone worms made it seem like a challenge to break through. It would not be easy to escape.
Song Wen said, "Everyone, we must act quickly and work together to fight our way out. The Dwarf Ghost has not returned yet. If he does, it will be even harder to escape."
The others understood the gravity of the situation and did not voice any objections.
Zi Yi even took out a corpse bag from her waist, summoning a corpse puppet comparable to a Qi Refining Ninth Stage cultivator.
As soon as the corpse puppet appeared, it startled Song Wen and Xuan Ye, causing them to step back and increase their distance from Zi Yi.
Feeling the overwhelming corpse aura emanating from the corpse puppet, Song Wen couldn't help but click his tongue inwardly. This must be the true reason why Zi Yi and her companions dared to venture deep into the cave in search of the Hollow Cicada Wood.
"Let's go!" Zi Yi took the lead, rushing towards the exit.
"Senior Sister, wait a moment. I have something to say to you."
Lao Chun mustered all his courage and stopped Zi Yi, his eyes filled with affection.
"Senior Sister, I'm afraid if I don't speak now, I may never have the chance again."
"My feelings for you have never changed in twenty years. When I first saw you at fifteen, I fell in love with you. But you liked Senior Brother, which made me too afraid to express my feelings."
"Later, you and Senior Brother became a couple and had a daughter. I could only watch from afar and silently bless you. A few years ago, when Senior Brother passed away, I finally dared to show my feelings, but you remained distant with me."
"This time, with our master gravely poisoned and the other five senior brothers too scared to come into the cave, I came despite the danger, just to tell you that my feelings for you have never changed."
Faced with Lao Chun's sudden confession, Zi Yi was first stunned, then her cold demeanor softened immediately.
Perhaps it was her father's critical condition, or perhaps she was moved by her junior brother's long-standing companionship and deep feelings. Zi Yi said, "Junior Brother, if we both survive this, I promise to marry you."
Lao Chun was overjoyed, his eyes seemingly brimming with excited tears. "Really, Senior Sister?"
Zi Yi nodded.
The sudden depth of feeling between the senior and junior siblings left Song Wen and Xuan Ye a bit dazed.
Song Wen glanced at Lao Chun, thinking to himself that he hadn't expected this person to be a deeply devoted admirer. Just worried that in the end, he might end up with nothing.
...
The four of them used their various skills to fight their way into the bone worm swarm.
The bone worms varied in size from the size of a fist to that of a millstone. They had eight legs and looked somewhat like spiders. Their bodies were gray and covered with a thick, hard layer of bone armor, significantly increasing their defensive capabilities.
Song Wen positioned the corpse puppet in front of him and wielded a Bone Cleansing knife, continuously hacking at the bone worms that sprang from all directions.
From time to time, Song Wen also activated a Fireball Talisman.
The abundance of bone worms allowed the Fireball Talisman to reach its full potential. Weaker bone worms were shattered by the explosions, and even the stronger ones were mostly driven back.
The corpse puppet controlled by Zi Yi, at Qi Refining Ninth Stage, demonstrated terrifying killing power.
The bone worms it faced showed almost no resistance. With a single strike, they were either killed or severely injured.
This was still because Zi Yi, at Qi Refining Seventh Stage, was somewhat strained in controlling the Qi Refining Ninth Stage corpse puppet and could not fully unleash its strength.
Originally, the four planned to work together to break through.
But the sheer number of bone worms, and perhaps the discord among them, gradually separated them.
Zi Yi and Lao Chun, with the help of the Qi Refining Ninth Stage corpse puppet, pushed ahead to the forefront.
Xuan Ye controlled two fierce ghosts and five lesser ghosts. He followed safely, not far behind Zi Yi and Lao Chun.
Song Wen was left behind. His corpse puppet was only at Qi Refining Fifth Stage, making its ability to harm the bone worms limited. The Bone Cleansing knife was merely a low-grade magic tool, and besides being reasonably hard and sharp, it had no other special effects, making it difficult to cause widespread damage to the bone worms.
However, the pressure on Song Wen was also the smallest.
Song Wen looked at the others ahead. The nearest to him, Xuan Ye, was already over twenty meters away, and Zi Yi's group was about to break out of the bone worm encirclement. They faced the most bone worms and endured the greatest pressure.
"It's time to show some real skills. If they manage to escape first, it will only be due to hidden strength that ends up trapping me in the cave."
(End of the Chapter)
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