When Qin Xun woke again, it was once more a sharp pain that roused him.
Qin Xun no longer wanted to look at Xu Chao's hand gripping his gunshot wound.
"We're safe."
Those were the first words Xu Chao said to him.
"Why did you knock me out?"
"You wouldn't have left Dazhuang behind." Xu Chao looked at Qin Xun with certainty. "Although I've only known you for two days, you're a lot like Brother Shui. You're practically identical."
"Where's Dazhuang?" Qin Xun was anxious, even though he had only known Dazhuang for two days.
But in his heart, it was as though an invisible thread already connected him to Xu Chao and Dazhuang.
He didn't want anything to happen to Dazhuang!
"He'll meet up with us in Zone 96."
Xu Chao reached back and pulled three black feathers from his upper back.
Once he pulled them out, the feathers turned into wisps of black smoke and dispersed in the wind.
"Will he be all right?"
"Don't worry. Dazhuang is pretty strong. Even if he can't beat them, he should be able to run. He'll be fine."
As Xu Chao finished speaking, pain crossed his face.
Only then did Qin Xun notice how deathly pale Xu Chao was.
"What's wrong?"
"It must be those feathers. I was so busy carrying you away that I didn't even notice three feathers were stuck in my back!"
"Poison?"
"Just a neurotoxin. It's weak. That guy probably only just developed this effect. It doesn't affect me, but in case they catch up again, we have to keep running. We can't stop for a moment!"
It wasn't just the neurotoxin.
They had been running through the Misty Forest for hours on end, resting for only a few minutes along the way.
Even as a Psionic Power user, his body was struggling to keep up!
"How long have we been running?"
Qin Xun raised his head. Through the light streaming down between the leaves, he could clearly feel the heat of the sun.
It had been daybreak when Xu Chao knocked him out. Now the light was so bright that at least three or four hours had passed.
Xu Chao raised his wrist and glanced at his watch. "It's noon. If we keep running, we'll be near Zone 104 in three hours at most."
A blue light lit up on Xu Chao's forehead, and he said urgently, "Danger. Let's go!"
"Help... Help..."
From behind a thicket nearby, a middle-aged man stumbled out with a little girl in his arms.
The girl looked about twelve or thirteen, roughly the same age as Qin Ling. She wore a red dress and had her hair in twin tails, and her face was filled with terror.
The man was in his early forties, covered in dirt and wearing a torn black leather jacket.
Xu Chao shielded Qin Xun behind him.
The lights on his and Mengmeng's foreheads flashed continuously.
The man carried the girl up to Xu Chao, his head covered in sweat and his face full of terror, as though he had just escaped from the hands of death.
"Run! Run! Ghost Wolves, so many Ghost Wolves!"
"How many?" Xu Chao asked.
"A lot, a lot! At least twenty!"
Whoosh!
Xu Chao struck without warning, his hand shooting toward the man's throat!
Qin Xun didn't see Xu Chao's movements clearly, nor did he see the man and the little girl's movements.
All he saw was the man retreating several meters away in the next instant.
The little girl in the red dress was also standing on the trunk of a tree more than ten meters away.
"You'd even attack a cute little girl like me? You have a cruel heart!"
The girl planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks.
"Your acting is terrible!" Xu Chao's chest rose and fell as he panted. He was already severely exhausted.
"He actually said our acting was terrible." The little girl looked at the middle-aged man. "I told you to make it more convincing."
"It wasn't that our acting wasn't convincing enough. This guy's an old hand! He's no greenhorn who just came out of the thatched cottage! He only attacked to test us!"
Xu Chao took a biscuit from his pocket to replenish his strength. "You caught up so quickly. The Dark Pavilion sent out quite a few elites, didn't it? Which squad are you from?"
"Night Raven! I'm the leader of Group One. Bet you didn't expect a cute little girl like me to be a group leader!"
The little girl blinked her big, watery eyes. Her voice was childish and sweet, with a hint of pride.
"Ma'am, who knows how old you really are? Stop pretending. The sight of you makes me sick."
"How dare you call me an old woman!" The little girl knitted her brows, her face filled with rage. "Then I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The little girl raised her right hand high, and a strange light flashed through her eyes.
A few seconds later, rustling sounds came from all around, accompanied by the low growls of beasts.
Ghost Wolves emerged from the bushes on all sides.
Ghost Wolves were monsters of the Misty Forest.
They were not mutated monsters, but had followed the Demon Clan from the Demon Realm.
They were pack monsters. Every adult Ghost Wolf stood one meter tall and measured two meters long, not counting its tail.
Their eyes glowed an eerie green, as did their fur, and their two rows of fangs were as sharp as steel nails.
If an ordinary person ran into even one, there was absolutely no escape!
Xu Chao gave them a quick glance.
There were more than twenty Ghost Wolves.
Ordinary Ghost Wolves were manageable, but the three-meter-tall Ghost Wolf King would be somewhat difficult to deal with.
Especially since, besides the Ghost Wolves, there were also two Psionic Power users from the Dark Pavilion!
"Psionic Power that can control monsters?" Xu Chao didn't believe anyone could tame Ghost Wolves.
Even the Demon Clan might not be able to tame monsters like Ghost Wolves.
Much less have them tamed by humans!
"That's right. My Psionic Power can control these monsters, and it can also grant them even greater strength!" The little girl was all smiles, but her eyes were vicious. "Don't worry, they all listen to me. I'll make sure they tear you limb from limb!"
"Attack! Bite it to pieces!"
More than twenty Ghost Wolves pounced on Xu Chao from every direction at once.
Xu Chao raised his fist, poured spiritual power into it, and smashed it at the Ghost Wolf closest to him!
Blood sprayed from the blow, and half the Ghost Wolf's head was smashed apart.
But after struggling on the ground for a moment, the wolf he had sent flying actually stood back up.
Xu Chao was stunned!
"Half its head was smashed off, and it's still fine!"
"I told you, I gave them greater strength! They're my puppets now. Do you know what a puppet is? As long as their bodies are intact, I can use them!"
The man didn't attack for the time being. Like Xu Chao and Dazhuang, they had pursued them for hours without rest, and their stamina had long since been exhausted.
While Xu Chao was dealing with the Ghost Wolves, the man quickly steadied his breathing!
A blue light lit up on Xu Chao's forehead as he realized how troublesome the situation was.
He was ordering Mengmeng to take Qin Xun and leave first!
He knew full well how difficult these two Psionic Power users were to deal with. The twenty Ghost Wolves alone would keep him busy for a while.
If the middle-aged man attacked as well, he most likely wouldn't be able to fend them off!
"Whine! Whine!" Mengmeng raised its head and howled twice, clearly disagreeing with Xu Chao's order.
"You won't even listen to me?" Xu Chao roared.
"Whine! Whine!" The light on Mengmeng's forehead flashed continuously.
It was warning Xu Chao: "Danger! Danger!"
The more than twenty Ghost Wolves that had become puppets no longer feared life or death, and couldn't even feel pain.
They surged at Xu Chao from every direction and soon swallowed him up!
Even with half their heads smashed off or fists punched through their bodies, they didn't retreat in the slightest!
It was as though, just as the little girl had said, they wouldn't stop unless the Ghost Wolves' bodies were smashed apart.
One Ghost Wolf sank its teeth into Xu Chao's shoulder.
Xu Chao had no time to deal with it, because another Ghost Wolf was already lunging for his head!
"What a cute little dog..." The little girl sat on the tree trunk, her chin propped in her hand as she watched Mengmeng whine. Her eyes were full of childish innocence. "I want one too. How about I turn it into my puppet?"
Unlike Dazhuang, Xu Chao was not a combat-type Psionic Power user to begin with!
His Psionic Power was mostly used for reconnaissance!
"Whine! Whine!"
Mengmeng's anxiety was written all over its face.
Watching its master being bitten by more than twenty Ghost Wolves, it tried to go forward several times, only for Xu Chao to shout it back each time!
"Take Qin Xun and go first! How many times do I have to say it? If you still won't listen, I won't keep you anymore!"
Xu Chao punched through a Ghost Wolf's head.
But the Ghost Wolf still didn't stop biting. It tore a chunk of flesh straight from Xu Chao's shoulder!
"How touching. I've been thinking: if I kill your dog right in front of you before I kill you, wouldn't that be more fun?"
When the little girl finished speaking, her gaze fell on Qin Xun, and her eyes suddenly widened!
"He... What's wrong with him?"
At that moment, Qin Xun was on his knees, one hand clutching his head!
The sound of chains scraping against one another echoed through his mind.
Intense pain swept from his brain through his entire body!
His gaze trembled, and his whole body felt as though it were being torn apart!
He could no longer hear the sounds outside, or even sense what was happening around him.
Clatter!
Clatter!
Gradually, his eyes turned blood-red!
In his mind, nine chains wreathed in flames appeared once more!
"What's going on?"
The little girl sprang to her feet, staring in utter shock at a circular ring of fire that had appeared in midair!
Sparks flew from the ring of fire!
When it first appeared, it was only the size of a fist.
But as it spun, it gradually expanded, growing larger and larger until it was big enough to swallow a truck!
Inside the ring of fire was pitch darkness, as though it were a passage to another world!
"Ah!"
Qin Xun could no longer endure the pain and cried out.
With his cry of pain, a chain wreathed in flames and burned red-hot emerged from the ring of fire!