More than twenty minutes later.
The time was about to reach the six o'clock deadline he had set.
Suddenly, a burst of heavy, slightly disordered footsteps came from ahead.
Soon, two small figures appeared in the forest before him.
Qian saw the two of them, and they saw him too.
And when they saw there was no one beside him, both their eyes lit up.
At the same time, they also faintly let out a breath of relief.
Qian naturally knew what they were thinking, but he did not point it out.
The two held on with their last breath and stumbled to his side, gasping as they said, "T-Teacher, we... we made it."
"Mm."
Qian replied flatly.
After that, he said nothing more. He simply stood there quietly with his arms folded, his gaze fixed on the direction they had come from, as if waiting for something.
The two followed his gaze and immediately understood what he meant. Their hearts could not help but grow uneasy.
Time passed, second by second.
Soon, another half an hour went by.
At last, a third figure appeared.
Nariya Daishi walked out of the forest. Looking at Qian standing ahead, as well as Uchiha Qinghua and his other teammate beside him, both of whom had already recovered a little strength, his footsteps could not help but halt.
Although he had guessed this might be the result as early as when he fell into the trap, he still felt somewhat unwilling to accept it, which was why he had forced his body onward and rushed here.
But now that everything was settled, the breath he had been holding gave out. His legs went weak, and he was about to collapse to the ground.
However, the instant he fell, a figure abruptly appeared and grabbed