Somewhere in the Collection Zone.
Ren Zhong followed close behind Luo Beichen.
The two arrived at an uninhabited area.
Luo Beichen smiled. "You did well."
"Even something as difficult to obtain as Phoenix Tail Sunflower—you managed to get it."
"As expected of my brother."
"After we get back, I'll put in a word with the group."
"At the beginning of next month, I'll have your brother come work at the group."
Ren Zhong hurriedly said, "Thank you, Brother Luo."
Then he snorted and said, "That bastard Luo sure got lucky."
"I never thought Wu Renfan had switched his backpack, yet that bastard Luo still survived. He's got one hell of a life."
Luo Beichen said calmly, "It doesn't matter. Although he survived, he was injured."
"That has to affect him during the Death Match."
"My odds of winning will be even greater."
Ren Zhong chuckled. "Even if that bastard Luo knows now, there's nothing he can do to us."
"It's just that after we go back, I wonder if the Academy will report this to the Old Master?"
Luo Beichen's expression darkened. "Report it? Does he have evidence? Don't forget, Wu Renfan is already dead."
"Besides, my father doesn't want me to lose this match either."
"My death wouldn't matter."
"But he'd lose face."
"Besides, this is already a Death Match."
"Until one of us is dead, anything goes."
"Who would naively think that this fight to the death only begins on the day of the match?"
"When that bastard Luo agreed to the match, this fight to the death had already begun!"
Ren Zhong seized the opportunity and gave him a thumbs-up. "Brother Luo is wise."
The two gradually disappeared into the distance.
A moment later.
A figure suddenly appeared at the place where they had just spoken.
In the blink of an eye.
It was evening.
Luo Beichen and Ren Zhong were heading back.
Ren Zhong carried a military pack on his back.
The pack was bulging.
It was stuffed full of all kinds of medicinal herbs.
"There shouldn't be any more collection missions tomorrow."
As he walked, Luo Beichen said, "I've had you carry things these past two days. Sorry for the trouble."
Ren Zhong's shoulders had already been aching from the weight of the pack.
But when he heard that, he hurriedly said, "It's no trouble, no trouble."
"What's this little bit of work? It's nothing."
Just then.
A glass bottle flew over their heads.
Whoosh!
A stone shot over from somewhere.
It struck the bottle.
The bottle exploded.
A mass of blue-green powder scattered from inside.
The wind caught it.
It drifted through the air.
Flying toward the two of them.
Luo Beichen reacted quickly enough.
The moment he saw the bottle shatter, he performed a sideways roll.
Putting some distance between them.
Only a small amount of the blue-green powder landed on him.
Ren Zhong had been too busy currying favor and reacted a beat too slowly.
He was hit head-on.
His head, face, body—everywhere was covered in the grass powder.
Even a pinch had gotten into his mouth.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey."
He spat out all the powder in his mouth.
Looking around, he shouted, "Who did that? How vicious!"
"Get out here right now!"
But there was no one in sight.
Luo Beichen shot out like a leopard, pouncing toward the spot where the bottle had come from.
But aside from a patch of scattered rocks, there wasn't even a ghost of a figure.
He frowned, finding it inexplicable.
Returning to Ren Zhong, he asked, "Are you all right?"
"No."
Ren Zhong brushed the grass powder off his body and sniffed hard. Then he said in confusion, "That's strange. This smell seems awfully familiar."
Unexpectedly.
The moment he said that, Luo Beichen's expression changed drastically.
"What's wrong, Brother Luo?"
Seeing Luo Beichen's expression change, Ren Zhong couldn't help stepping forward.
"Stop right there!"
Luo Beichen shouted and even raised his rifle.
Ren Zhong jumped. "Brother Luo, what are you doing?"
Luo Beichen quickly brushed off the small amount of grass powder that had gotten on him.
"This might be powder ground from Phoenix Tail Sunflower."
Luo Beichen looked at Ren Zhong and said, "Stay here. Don't move. I'll go back to the camp for help."
As he spoke.
Perhaps it was an illusion.
Luo Beichen felt that the plants in the distance seemed to be growing blurry.
As if mist had appeared?
When Ren Zhong heard that it was Phoenix Tail Sunflower, he exclaimed in alarm, "No way. Where would Phoenix Tail Sunflower come from?"
Then he shouted, "Luo Yan?"
Ren Zhong hurriedly added, "Brother Luo, I'll go back with you. The camp isn't far from here either. If we run, we should make it back before dark."
Luo Beichen didn't think so.
They were actually quite far from the camp.
They probably wouldn't make it back before nightfall.
If Ren Zhong followed him along the way,
wouldn't he be in danger at any moment?
After all, Ren Zhong was now covered from head to toe in Phoenix Tail Sunflower powder.
He was like a beacon in the night.
He could attract the attention of that Overlord Level giant beast at any moment.
Luo Beichen suddenly lowered the muzzle of his rifle and shot Ren Zhong in the leg.
Bang!
Amid the muffled gunshot, a jet of blood spurted from Ren Zhong's left thigh.
His expression was blank.
He clearly hadn't expected Luo Beichen to shoot him.
Only then did he let out a scream and collapse onto the ground.
Ren Zhong raised his head, his eyes instantly bloodshot.
"Why?!"
"Didn't you say this morning that I was your brother?"
"Is this how you treat your brother?"
Luo Beichen said coldly, "It's precisely because I consider you my brother that I shot you in the leg."
"Otherwise, that bullet would have gone into your head."
"Same as I said before."
"Wait for me."
With that, he turned and ran.
He didn't spare Ren Zhong a glance.
Ren Zhong roared, "Luo Beichen, you bastard!"
"May you die a horrible death!"
"Die a horrible death!"
"I curse you to be killed by Luo Yan!"
Gasping for breath, Ren Zhong suddenly saw
mist spreading at the corner of his eye.
At some point.
The surroundings had already become a vast expanse of white.
He suddenly sensed something and shuddered.
He turned around.
He saw the sunset, not yet fully set, dyeing the thick fog orange-red.
Within that hazy red glow.
In the dense mist.
A massive figure was crouching silently.
It looked like a cat.
Suddenly, three tails rose behind the shadow.
"Ah..."
Ren Zhong had just let out a scream
when a shadow suddenly surged through the mist.
A tongue covered in countless fleshy spines.
It swept across his body.
Half of Ren Zhong's body was instantly stripped down to white bone!
The camp.
Luo Beichen rushed in and fell flat onto the ground.
He was drenched in sweat.
He had finally made it back to camp before dark.
Everyone who passed by pointed and whispered about him.
Luo Beichen ignored them.
He rushed into Luo Yan's tent.
Inside the tent.
Luo Yan and Zeng Shan were discussing something.
The moment Luo Beichen entered, he lunged at Luo Yan.
Zeng Shan immediately blocked him. "What are you doing?"
Luo Beichen's eyes nearly spat fire as he pointed at Luo Yan and shouted, "It was you! You threw the bottle! You scattered the powder!"
His shouting attracted Wei Fenghua and a group of students.
Luo Beichen shoved Zeng Shan aside and grabbed Wei Fenghua's hand. "Teacher, arrest him."
"Arrest him!"
"He ambushed us."
"He scattered Phoenix Tail Sunflower powder over me and Ren Zhong. He wants to kill me!"
The corners of Luo Yan's mouth lifted slightly.
"You say I wanted to kill you."
"You, do you have evidence?"
P.S. I updated nearly ten thousand words again today. Please vote and bookmark, handsome guys and beautiful ladies!
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