"Could someone be lying in ambush for us?"
Gu Dongfeng was startled too and immediately replied to Mo Chen through voice transmission.
"That's right, but don't panic. This one's on my side. Just be ready to back me up."
Gu Dongfeng acknowledged him without stopping what he was doing, pretending to be oblivious just like Mo Chen.
Mo Chen took another step in that direction, keeping up the motion of gathering herbs. His Divine Sense had already established a link with the Strife Iron Armor, ready to deploy it the instant anything happened and block the sneak attack.
Just as Mo Chen's hand was about to reach that clump of Black-Leaf Senna, the hidden assailant struck, exactly as he had anticipated.
A streak of silver shot out from the roots of the Black-Leaf Senna, fine as a hair and swift as an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Raise the shield!
The thought had barely formed before Mo Chen reflexively deployed his shield.
The Strife Iron Armor flew out at his command, its palm-sized surface precisely intercepting the silver streak.
A metallic clang rang out as the two collided.
A silver needle fell to the ground, its tip still trembling.
Seeing the silver needle with its bent tip about to rise and stab at him again, Mo Chen spat out a wave of fire without hesitation, melting the needle, which had already lost much of its spiritual potency, into useless slag.
"So what if you blocked it? You're still going to die!"
A low voice sounded from the shadows. Before the speaker had finished, two more silver needles shot out from the same direction, one high and one low, cutting off Mo Chen's avenues of escape.
Mo Chen pushed off with his toes and flipped into the air, spewing a vast