Looking at the Soul Beast's corpse before her, Zhang Lexuan had almost no strength left. She sank to the ground and gasped for breath.
When she saw the bodies of the students on the ground, her eyes grew wet. They had all been fine when they set out, each one warmly calling her "Senior Sister." How had things ended up like this...
But she couldn't lose herself in grief just yet. She hurried to search nearby for the seriously injured team members who had lost the ability to move. Apart from Zhou Qing and Chen Yao, three others were still alive, but they were all being consumed by the Magic Flame, just like Chen Yao. It was only a matter of time before they died.
"What should I do..."
Zhang Lexuan broke down and wept helplessly. Their only healing-type Soul Master had been burned by the Magic Flame at the very beginning, leaving no body behind. Even if that Soul Master had survived, there was no way to deal with this Magic Flame, which clung like a maggot to the bone... Just as she fell into despair, a clear voice reached her ears.
"Don't worry. It's only the Magic Flame."
Zhang Lexuan immediately grew wary. Then she recalled the strange pair of wings behind Zhou Qing just moments ago and realized that the voice probably belonged to the person who had come to help. She let out a breath of relief.
She turned toward the sound and saw two... children emerge from the bushes. One of them had his eyes closed, and the two were holding hands. His sister must have been blind.
But what were two children doing in a place like this?
"How about you absorb the Soul Ring first? Leave these injured people to me."
Su Qing wore a warm, sunny smile. His handsome face, paired with his gentle expression, made it impossible to feel wary of him. But Zhang Lexuan's attention was fixed on what he had said earlier: "It's only the Magic Flame."
"You have a way to deal with the Magic Flame?!"
Zhang Lexuan excitedly grabbed his other hand. Su Qing was used to communicating with gestures, and now both his hands were restrained. He felt uncomfortable for a moment and tried to pull free, but Xiao Xiao refused to let go, while Zhang Lexuan had excitedly grabbed both his hands.
"Mm. The flames I control burn hotter than the Magic Flame. I can burn it all away completely!"
Giving up on communicating through gestures, Su Qing answered confidently.
"Won't you burn the students to death?"
Zhang Lexuan was worried. The Magic Flame was already deadly enough. If his flames burned even hotter, what would happen then?
Seeing that she doubted his ability, Su Qing immediately snapped back:
"Do you think my own flames could escape my control?!"
"Sorry. I'm just a little worried. Could you show me how you get rid of the Magic Flame?"
Zhang Lexuan looked at him apologetically and explained, embarrassed.
"Sure, but could you let go first?"
As he spoke, Su Qing shook the hand she was holding. Only then did Zhang Lexuan notice that she had grabbed it so tightly in her excitement that his hand had turned slightly red.
"Ah? I'm so sorry!"
Su Qing waved it off and led Zhang Lexuan to the two team members who had been most severely consumed. A mass of blazing red fire appeared in his hand and, guided by him, split into two separate flames that flew toward the two students, who had nearly lost consciousness.
Crackle—pop—
As the blazing red flames touched the Magic Flame, they made a sound like burning firewood. The Magic Flame on the students' bodies was burned away completely the instant it came into contact with the red flames. But once the Magic Flame was gone, torrents of blood poured from the horrifying wounds it had left exposed. With no effective way to stop the bleeding, he had no choice but to freeze the wounds for now.
"If they stay frozen like this, the wounds will become necrotic. They need treatment as soon as possible."
His calm purple eyes turned toward the heartbroken Zhang Lexuan. He actually wanted to know when Xuan Zi would arrive, but couldn't say so directly, and could only hint at it. Unexpectedly, Zhang Lexuan's mind seemed to short-circuit. She said she would take them back immediately.
"You're giving up on a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring? What a waste."
Su Qing looked at her in surprise.
"I'd rather go without a Soul Ring than get one at the cost of my teammates' lives."
Her voice trembled. If she hadn't turned her head away, Su Qing might even have seen the hot tears on her cheeks.
"All right. But you can absorb the Soul Ring first. How about leaving them in my care?"
Su Qing asked tentatively. Zhang Lexuan was just about to answer when another surge of Soul Power came from nearby.
"Who's there?!"
She was so jumpy that every rustle made her think danger was near.
Before long, a young couple emerged from behind the bushes where Su Qing and the others had just appeared. They were Xiao Xiao's parents. Thanks to Su Qing breaking off branches as he walked to leave a trail, they had been able to find their way here.
"Xiao Xiao!"
Before answering Zhang Lexuan's question, they spotted Xiao Xiao first. Seeing this, Su Qing waved to her to show that there was no danger. Only then did Zhang Lexuan relax again. Her nerves were still stretched taut.
Xiao Xiao's parents were startled by the carnage around them. But when they saw Xiao Xiao safe and sound, holding Su Qing's hand, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief. That child didn't look like a bad person, and they were quite content to have Xiao Xiao by his side.
Besides, Su Qing seemed dependable. After all, Xiao Xiao still had her eyes closed, and they understood almost immediately why. He simply didn't want her to see such a cruel scene. He had protected their daughter so well that they couldn't thank him enough.
Truthfully, they also felt guilty, thinking they shouldn't have left Xiao Xiao behind. But that Soul Beast was powerful, and the two of them had only barely managed to handle it together. Under those circumstances, they couldn't spare a thought for Xiao Xiao. Looking back, leaving their daughter where she was while they lured the Soul Beast away had been far too rash.
"We brought plenty of healing pills with us."
Seeing the injured people scattered across the ground, they finally remembered that they had prepared quite a few pills before setting out.
"That's wonderful! Thank you!!!"
Hearing this, Zhang Lexuan was so excited she nearly dropped to her knees before them. Now her teammates could finally survive.
"Now you can absorb the Soul Ring without worrying, right?"
Su Qing asked helplessly. This girl was really stubborn. Given the situation earlier, these people would have had a hard time returning to peak condition whether she absorbed the Soul Ring or not.
"Thank you!!"
Her gaze lingered longest on Su Qing. She clearly remembered that without this little fellow, she wouldn't have been able to fight the Magic Flame Lizard without any worries, and Zhou Qing owed his survival to him as well. At the thought, her normally cool gaze softened at once. But before she could say anything else, Su Qing shoved her toward the Magic Flame Lizard's corpse.
"If you don't absorb it soon, it'll be gone. Hurry up!"
"Mm."
With that, Zhang Lexuan sat cross-legged where she was and began absorbing the Soul Ring...
"Uncle, Auntie, let's move the injured together."