Zhong Xuezhi's step backward was obvious enough that Mu Yi naturally noticed.
He casually shook his injured arm and looked up. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing." Zhong Xuezhi stepped forward again and put an arm around him. "Let's get back first."
As they darted away, the agitated red weasels followed close behind, swarming around them.
Wenren Jin unleashed his ultimate without hesitation, raising a sturdy protective barrier around both teams.
"Why did they suddenly go berserk? They were fine a moment ago."
Zhong Xuezhi released Mu Yi and backed off two steps before answering, "Something set them off. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
Watching the red weasels batter the barrier nonstop, Wenren Jin shrugged. "That might be easier said than done."
Mu Yi also turned to look outside the barrier. A moment later, he lowered his gaze to his arm, which had been bitten into a bloody mess.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly turned and strode over to Team 403's support specialist.
Zhao Qing lifted his chin high, met his gaze for a few seconds, then sneered. "Aw, can't you even walk properly? You took quite a tumble."
Mu Yi smiled too. Then, still smiling, he abruptly raised his hand and smeared blood all over the front of Zhao Qing's shirt.
Before the bewildered man could react, he lifted his foot and kicked hard. "Off you go!"
Mu Yi gritted his teeth as he delivered the kick, putting so much force into it that he sent Zhao Qing straight out of the barrier.
Zhao Qing flew a good distance with his eyes wide, then rolled twice across the ground like a fat winter melon. By the time he came to his senses, the red weasels rushing toward him had already swallowed him up.
He hurriedly used his energy to fend them off and struggled to his feet, but the red weasels he swatted away lunged straight back, trapping him in a dense pack.
At that moment, Zhao Qing seemed to hold some strange attraction for them, sending them lunging and biting in wave after wave.
With a fierce shout, Zhao Qing flung them all away, and Team 403's tank seized the chance to put a protective barrier around him.
But there was a vast difference between one tank and another. Under such relentless attacks, Team 403's tank could hardly keep his barrier up without interruption.
Before long, Zhao Qing was bleeding from several wounds. He looked to Qi Tianhe for help and shouted, "Captain!"
Qi Tianhe's expression darkened, and he cursed under his breath. "Useless piece of trash."
With that, he sent several jets of flame through the air, burning every red weasel clinging to Zhao Qing into ash, then used walls of fire to carve out a safe passage for him.
Zhao Qing hurried down that passage and scrambled straight back into Wenren Jin's large barrier.
He had only been outside for a few minutes, but he was wounded all over. Even with his high pain tolerance, he couldn't help grimacing.
And Mu Yi chose that very moment to mock him coldly. "Aw, can't you even stand properly? What are you, useless?"
Zhao Qing had never been one to swallow an insult. Having suffered such a crushing loss, he immediately summoned his weapon, looking ready to hack Mu Yi into pieces.
"You're asking to die!"
Zhong Xuezhi stepped sideways to shield Mu Yi. After looking down at Zhao Qing for a moment, he called out, "Captain Qi, you ought to keep your people in line."
Qi Tianhe knew perfectly well what Zhao Qing had done, and this was certainly no time to burn bridges with Team 404.
So he gave Zhao Qing a stern dressing-down. "Zhao Qing, what do you think you're doing? Keep this up and you can get the hell out!"
"Captain!" Zhao Qing was utterly unconvinced. Letting an ordinary person walk all over him was no different from being slapped in the face with the sole of a shoe!
Qi Tianhe's face darkened. He was about to rebuke him again when Zhong Xuezhi suddenly said, "Du Jing, use the Thousand-Mile Vine."
Du Jing froze for a moment, then answered gleefully, "You got it!"
Heaven had finally shown some mercy! For once, their captain was being generous with his energy allowance. He could finally experience the power of the Thousand-Mile Vine again!
Thrilled, Du Jing swiftly pulled out the Thousand-Mile Vine demon seed and tossed it out, afraid their captain might change his mind.
"Rise!"
In an instant, several enormous vines shot into the sky with a swish, then plunged back down, wrapping every member of Team 404, along with Mu Yi, tightly inside.
Then, like an ebbing tide, they plunged back underground with another swish, taking all six of them away without a trace.
Wenren Jin's barrier vanished along with them.
Only when the barrier disappeared did the members of Team 403 snap out of their daze, finding themselves staring at the red weasels that suddenly had nothing blocking their way.
Before the melee began, Qi Tianhe threw back his head and roared, "Zhong Xuezhi! You bastard!"
Of course, no matter how sharp Zhong Xuezhi's hearing was, he could no longer hear that shout.
The moment the Thousand-Mile Vine burrowed underground, it had already teleported to a Resting Place several kilometers away.
As soon as they landed, Mu Yi, who had just experienced the Thousand-Mile Vine's teleportation service for the first time, exclaimed with shining eyes, "What a rush!"
Du Jing flipped the thick braid that had slipped over his shoulder back behind him and answered exuberantly, "Of course!"
Once they were done talking about the Thousand-Mile Vine, the conversation naturally turned to Team 403.
"Hahahaha!" Wenren Jin threw back his head and laughed as though he had been hit with spine celery pollen again.
"Did you see their faces? Every last one of them was completely dumbstruck! Hahaha! Oh, that's killing me..."
Qiu Cai cackled too. "They finally got a taste of being forced to cover the retreat!"
An Beize raised a hand in a thumbs-up. "So satisfying."
Zhong Xuezhi waited until they had laughed their fill before speaking. "All right, it's getting dark. Hurry up and get everything ready for the night."
"You got it!" With much of their pent-up resentment vented, the four were far more enthusiastic about working. They immediately turned and got busy.
That left only Zhong Xuezhi and Mu Yi where they stood.
Mu Yi looked up at Zhong Xuezhi and asked, "Do you have a first-aid kit?"
"Yes." Zhong Xuezhi quickly took off his backpack, rummaged out a first-aid kit, and held it out to him.
Mu Yi didn't take it right away. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Why are you standing so far away from me?"
"Hm? Am I?" Zhong Xuezhi played dumb, then quickly opened the first-aid kit and stepped closer. "I'll treat your wounds."
Mu Yi narrowed his eyes at him and said, "All right."
A little later, they sat facing each other in the stone-bench area.
Mu Yi held out his arm, watching with lowered eyes as Zhong Xuezhi treated his wounds.
Zhong Xuezhi worked deftly, rinsing, drying, applying medicine, and bandaging in one smooth sequence.
Once he was finished, he added with practiced ease, "Keep an eye on how you feel from now on. If you get dizzy or your head feels fuzzy, or if your wounds start burning, tell me right away."
When Mu Yi nodded, he quickly packed everything back into the first-aid kit, then stood and left.
Mu Yi watched his retreating figure with a raised eyebrow, then lifted his arm to inspect the neat knot in his bandage.
Oh? He doesn't even want to tie a big bow anymore. Is he starting to remember?
Doesn't really look like it...
Meanwhile, after leaving, Zhong Xuezhi downed three bottles of mountain spring water in a row.
He suddenly felt very thirsty, and his throat was inexplicably itchy.
Before you continue