A Way

"Brother, what do we do?"

Lin Qingxuan bit her lip lightly as the rustling of the insect sea gnawing at the spirit array echoed beside her ears. She looked at Lu Changsheng beside her, several traces of despair showing in her eyes.

Everyone looked up and saw the hemispherical spirit array's barrier covered densely with dark gold insects, like a layer of flowing metallic rust. Their tiny mouthparts opened and closed, while the array patterns visibly dimmed and crumbled away, like thin paper hollowed out by termites, ready to shatter completely at any moment.

"It's over, it's over. We're really done for this time." Shi Jingtian plopped down on the ground, ignoring the blood still seeping from his arm. His bald head drooped, and his face was utterly devoid of hope. "Those bugs will probably gnaw us until not even our bones remain, leaving behind not a single scrap. This Old Shi was wise his whole life, but I never thought I'd end up feeding bugs..."

"Tch." Tu Jiao hugged the Primordial Dragonbone Whip and shot him a sidelong glance from beneath her short hair. With a cold snort, she said, "Baldy, weren't you all tough just now? Didn't you say the path of martial arts was paved through thorns and over corpses, and that you weren't afraid of death? What, scared already?"

"Who's scared?!" Shi Jingtian sprang up with his neck stiffened, immediately protesting,

"I... I'm... I'm strategically concerned! Do you understand? Hair short, knowledge short too!"

"Who are you calling ignorant?" Tu Jiao's brows shot up, and the Dragonbone Whip cracked against the ground, scattering sparks.

"You, obviously! You tomboy!"

"You're itching for a beating!"

The two bickered back and forth, actually starting another quarrel at this critical moment between life and death. Murong Taxue pressed a hand