Leaving

Gu Zheng and the others searched along the lakeshore, but Liu Qing was nowhere to be found.

"Liu Qing's footprints are here!"

Suddenly, the boy holding the Elf Bow called out.

The others looked over.

They immediately spotted a line of footprints in front of him.

But when the footprints reached a patch of sand, they vanished into thin air.

"How could the footprints disappear?"

The boy holding the Elf Bow followed Liu Qing's footprints onto the sand.

But the next instant, the sand beneath his feet suddenly moved.

"Watch out!"

The boy's expression changed, and his whole body abruptly sank. As if it had come alive, the sand spun rapidly, forming a huge whirlpool that held his legs in a crushing grip.

"There's something..." Before he could finish, the sand beneath him exploded, and a huge grayish-brown shape burst out. Its segmented body instantly coiled around his legs.

"A Whirlpool Sandworm!" Zhou Hang's expression changed.

With a fierce shout, he darted forward.

He drew his long saber, and a flash of steel slashed viciously at the grayish-brown shape beneath the sand.

Gu Zheng moved as well. His longsword thrust out, its gleam like a rainbow, driving straight toward the Whirlpool Sandworm's head.

The sandworm writhed violently in pain, but refused to release the young man's legs.

Its mouthparts opened, revealing rings of sharp teeth inside as it hissed.

Zhou Hang struck again, this time hitting a joint in the sandworm's body and nearly cutting it in two.

Murky, sandy-yellow blood gushed out. At last, the sandworm's body went limp, and its coiled segments loosened.

The boy holding the Elf Bow scrambled out of the sandpit, his face deathly pale and his legs trembling.

Gu Zheng seized the opening and delivered several slashes to the Whirlpool Sandworm's head.

The Whirlpool Sandworm's body twitched a few times, then went still.

He and Zhou Hang were both second-order gene cultivators. Working together, they could easily kill a first-order Whirlpool Sandworm.

"I'll pull it out!" Jiang Chen walked over with his huge axe and hauled the Whirlpool Sandworm's massive body out from beneath the sand.

The Whirlpool Sandworm's body was six or seven meters long. Wounds covered its grayish-brown carapace, and murky, sandy-yellow blood pooled across the ground.

Everyone fell silent as they stared at the sandworm's swollen abdomen. It bulged high, with the faint outline of a person visible inside.

Zhou Hang crouched and sliced open the sandworm's abdomen.

Murky liquid spilled out, and a corpse corroded beyond recognition slid free. Most of its clothes had rotted away, and its facial features were impossible to distinguish, leaving only a blurred mass of bloody flesh.

But from the corpse's build and the remaining scraps of clothing, they still recognized who it was.

"Liu Qing!"

Zhou Hang's face was livid, and even the hand gripping his sword trembled.

A student had died-a gifted student who had fused with the genes of a Third-Order Six-Eared Gale Hound, no less. As the teacher leading the team, he could never escape responsibility.

"Why would he come all the way out here alone?" Jiang Chen muttered.

No one answered.

Gu Zheng stood at the edge of the sandy patch, looking at the smooth sand around him, and a thought flashed through his mind.

Ji Zhixing.

He silently repeated the name to himself.

He raised his head.

Chen Wenjie, holding the Elf Bow, and Han Shuang, the girl on their team, were both looking at him.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing the same meaning in the others' eyes.

But none of them said anything.

"Liu Qing came this far alone and even shook us off. He clearly found something and wanted to keep it all for himself." Gu Zheng's gaze swept over the lake.

The emerald water shimmered, revealing nothing.

Stone Lake Town.

After the Otherworld Secret Realm appeared, the military from Rain City Base City quickly arrived.

With the Otherworld Secret Realm gradually stabilizing and otherworld passages no longer appearing without warning, things here finally settled down.

"Twenty-three dead, seventeen missing." The officer's voice was calm as he reported the figures, as though he was already accustomed to numbers like these. "Two teachers have also been confirmed dead."

He Yanbing stood to one side, her face pale.

Her gaze swept over the students in her class, counting them one by one.

Liu Qifan was there, Zhang Haocheng was there, Luo Yongguang was there, and so was Xie Jia. The four stood in a corner. Some were injured, but at least they were all in one piece.

But Ji Zhixing was gone.

Several other students were missing as well.

"Teachers." The officer looked at He Yanbing and the others. "We'll keep searching for the missing students. As long as there's a thread of hope, we won't give up."

He Yanbing nodded, her voice a little hoarse. "Sorry for the trouble."

Afterward, the teachers organized the students of Third Middle School and had them board the school buses.

One bus after another drove out of Stone Lake Town, heading toward Rain City Base City under the escort of several military vehicles.

The bus was quiet. No one spoke.

Liu Qifan leaned against the window, watching the wilderness race past outside.

Zhixing will definitely be fine, he thought silently. His Staff Technique is so good, and he's awakened dual gene apertures. He'll definitely make it back.

Zhang Haocheng and Luo Yongguang sat in the row ahead, their heads tilted back against their seats, not saying a word.

Xie Jia kept her head lowered, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Even now, she was still terrified.

They had suffered far too many casualties in this sudden disaster.

Elsewhere.

I can't go straight back to the base city. I'm not as fast as Gu Zheng and the others. If they find me halfway there, I could cry to heaven and earth, and neither would answer, Ji Zhixing thought as he swam using Frog Stroke.

He planned to go to the other side of Lake Center Island and stay there for a while.

Ji Zhixing kicked rapidly and soon reached his destination.

He poked his head out of the water and looked around. Only after confirming that there was no sign of anyone did he quietly climb ashore.

He found a large rock to lean against and gulped down air.

His heart was still racing.

Calm down. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, slowly steadying his heartbeat.

Gu Zheng and the others can't find me. The sandworm swallowed Liu Qing's corpse, and I cleaned up all the traces. Even if they guess I did it, it won't matter.

He opened his eyes and turned his hand over, taking several items out of his gene furnace and placing them on the ground before him.

There was a small jade bottle containing a milky-white liquid that gave off a faint sheen.

Two Origin Force Gene Potions looked much like the one he had obtained before.

There were also more than twenty Gene Source Stones, all fairly large.

And there was the short saber, its blade still stained with the sandworm's murky blood.

After looking over the items, Ji Zhixing willed the two Origin Force Gene Potions and the Gene Source Stones back into his gene furnace.

This saber...

He picked up Liu Qing's short saber and examined it.

It was clearly a piece of gene equipment, but he would have to refine it before he could learn what abilities it possessed.

I'll take a look when I have some free time. I don't use sabers, but I can sell it for money.

Ji Zhixing put away the short saber and picked up the small jade bottle.

The jade bottle was only palm-sized and felt smooth and warm in his hand. The liquid inside was milky white, like diluted milk.

He gently swirled the jade bottle, watching a faint sheen flow through the liquid.

This is...

As he stared at the liquid inside the jade bottle, Ji Zhixing's heartbeat quickened slightly.