Crisis Erupts

Li Yuan explained earnestly, even making a point of saying that he did not mind.

Xia Zhao looked at the remaining food in her hand, then suddenly stuffed it into Li Yuan's mouth.

She turned back around and put on a serious appearance, pretending to resume her cultivation.

Using those actions to hide the smile at the corner of her lips.

She did not know why hearing that Li Yuan was single made her so happy...

The seventh day passed safely as well.

They rested for another night.

Li Yuan remained the same as before, going out for two hours every day to observe the surrounding environment.

Occasionally, he also brought back some fruit.

He could name every fruit and explain its effects, whether it was poisonous, and so on.

During their conversation that day, Xia Zhao brought up some of the difficulties she had encountered in cultivation.

She discussed the challenging points in both cultivation methods and martial skills with Li Yuan.

In that simple chat, she genuinely received several suggestions from Li Yuan.

She immediately understood one of them.

What had previously confused and stumped her had merely been a matter of her mind failing to make the turn.

With a single prompt from Li Yuan, everything became clear.

As for the other suggestions, Xia Zhao, a Martial Dao genius, actually found some of them difficult to understand.

She felt that those suggestions might be effective, but she could not figure out many situations through imagination alone.

Xia Zhao did not argue or question him. She simply committed them all firmly to memory first.

Once they had a chance to leave this dangerous place, she would verify them through practice.

After trying them out and seeing whether those suggestions worked, the answer would become clear.

As she discussed martial skills and cultivation methods with Li Yuan, Xia Zhao faintly developed a feeling.

A feeling of being outdone.

Ever since she could remember, Xia Zhao had never experienced such a feeling.

Whether within her family or after entering an outside school.

She had never felt that way.

Only others had ever been pushed by her into feeling that way.

Yet Xia Zhao did not feel upset by it. Instead, she was somewhat happy.

Although Li Yuan was currently only Fifth Grade in the Martial Dao.

And from the martial skills and cultivation methods he had learned, it was clear that he most likely had no background and came from an ordinary family.

But with such outstanding comprehension, perhaps the two of them really had a chance...

As they spent more and more time together, they became increasingly familiar with each other.

They both thought the other was quite good.

But good was one thing. They were both adults.

Adults over thirty knew that some things were not suitable to say aloud and were better kept in their hearts.

At the moment, they were still in the midst of danger.

They had not even completely escaped the threat yet. What meaning was there in talking about anything else? It would only waste their already precious energy.

The two of them safely endured until the twelfth day.

By Xia Zhao's judgment, she would need another three days to recover to a fairly good state.

Three days. They only needed to hold on for another three days!

As night was about to fall on the twelfth day.

Li Yuan, who had been checking the situation at the observation point, immediately rose and grabbed Xia Zhao's hand beside him.

"Come with me!"

Xia Zhao had been resting quietly and did not know what was happening, but she did not say a word before immediately following Li Yuan out of the Observation Station.

Night was about to fall. Leaving the Observation Station at this time was not a good decision.

But after getting to know him over this period, Xia Zhao trusted Li Yuan's judgment.

Li Yuan held Xia Zhao's hand with one hand and picked up a branch with the other, using it to cut down some of the surrounding plants.

The two walked roughly three hundred meters southeast.

Then they hid inside a narrow hole, concealed by dead branches and fallen leaves.

And night was about to fall.

Under such circumstances, this was an excellent hiding place.

The two squeezed into the narrow hole and watched as darkness descended.

Only then did Li Yuan begin explaining the reason.

Near the Observation Station, there was a small nest of Fierce Beasts. Li Yuan judged them to be Wildcat Fierce Beasts.

After discovering that nest of Fierce Beasts, Li Yuan did not alert them.

Instead, he treated them as an alarm.

How could humans compare to Fierce Beasts when it came to sensing the aura of Fierce Beasts or detecting other Martial Dao powerhouses?

Just moments ago, that nest of Wildcat Fierce Beasts had fled in all directions like their lives depended on it.

Li Yuan understood that danger had arrived.

Li Yuan went out for two hours every day precisely to prepare in advance for possible crises.

"If we were only facing Fierce Beasts, hiding in the Observation Station would be a good choice.

But if there are vicious people or evildoers, continuing to hide inside tonight would mean becoming turtles in a jar..."

After hearing Li Yuan's explanation, Xia Zhao nodded.

Although it was all still speculation, she trusted Li Yuan's judgment.

The sky gradually darkened, and visibility kept decreasing.

Training in martial arts did indeed improve one's eyesight, including night vision.

But compared to daytime, the difference was still enormous.

Especially in a wilderness like this, without moonlight, the night was practically pitch-black.

The two squeezed into the narrow hole, preparing to spend the night like this.

"You rest. I'll keep watch, then we'll switch later."

Li Yuan made the arrangements.

Xia Zhao nodded and leaned against Li Yuan to rest.

Li Yuan cooperated as well, giving her a comfortable position to lean on.

Then he quietly watched ahead.

From this position, they could easily see the Observation Station.

The wilderness at night was actually quite noisy.

Insect chirps rose one after another.

Every now and then, they could hear sounds made by large animals. Perhaps they were Fierce Beasts, or perhaps just ordinary wild animals.

About four hours passed. It was now two in the morning.

Li Yuan reached out and lightly tapped Xia Zhao. She had been sleeping lightly to begin with.

"Look at the Observation Station..."

Li Yuan spoke in a suppressed, extremely quiet voice.

Hearing that, Xia Zhao raised her eyes toward the Observation Station.

Light shone out from the Observation Station's observation point and several ventilation holes.

It looked like flashlight beams.

The light was not very bright, but it seemed glaring in the wilderness.

Xia Zhao's hand unconsciously gripped Li Yuan's arm.

The appearance of this scene proved that Li Yuan's guess had been entirely correct.

He had predicted it correctly from the very beginning.

The communication signal in this wilderness area had actually been completely cut off.

Signals in the wilderness were indeed poor, but they should not have vanished entirely.

If that had happened, someone could only be pulling strings behind the scenes.

If the two of them had not hidden themselves away tonight, they might very well have lost their lives in there.

"Um... that hurts a little..."

After hesitating, Li Yuan spoke softly again.

This time, it was because Xia Zhao was gripping his arm with a bit too much force.

Given her Martial Dao strength, he could not quite withstand that force.

Hearing him, Xia Zhao hurriedly relaxed her grip.

She reached out and rubbed Li Yuan's arm, hoping to ease the pain there.

The lights inside the Observation Station disappeared about ten minutes later.

It seemed that person had already left.

Li Yuan and Xia Zhao continued hiding in the narrow hole.

They definitely would not go out that night.

Xia Zhao had rested for quite a while, so she let Li Yuan lean against her and rest.

They took turns resting and finally held on until dawn.

After daybreak, the two remained extremely vigilant and continued hiding.

After noon, Xia Zhao suggested that they could try heading toward Qijia Town.