"Ah!!"
A pitiful scream came from afar. Shen Qingzhu, Deng Wei, and Li Liang, who had split up to search, were all stunned at the same time, and then quickly ran towards Li Jia's direction!
In the dark jungle, Li Jia's cry lasted only a moment before fading into deathly silence.
"Li Jia, Li Jia! Where are you?!"
A sense of foreboding washed over Shen Qingzhu. He rushed toward the direction from which Li Jia's shouts came and yelled loudly to those around him. Deng Wei and Li Liang followed him, their faces filled with anxiety.
A ray of light pierced through the dark jungle, and vaguely, a burly figure emerged from the woods, walking unhurriedly toward the three.
The man, shirtless, with a giant axe slung over his shoulder in his right hand and a bloody head in his left, appeared before the three with a simple, honest smile.
"Let me see which kids are making that noise!"
When Shen Qingzhu and the other two saw the head in his hand, their pupils contracted sharply, and Li Liang collapsed to the ground, his face deathly pale...
Deng Wei stood there dumbfounded, staring at the scene with disbelief in his eyes.
Shen Qingzhu's body trembled uncontrollably. He stared intently at the grinning man in front of him, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.
The man glanced at the three of them and burst into laughter:
"Good, good, three more ripe heads, time to pick them!"
"I'll fucking stab your mother!!!"
Shen Qingzhu roared and charged forward!
...
"Something's wrong!"
Lin Qiye, who was sitting under the tree with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes, stood up abruptly, and his face was full of solemnity.
Baili Pangpang, standing nearby, was startled. "What's wrong?"
"Besides us, there are other people in the mountains!" Lin Qiye ran quickly towards the dilapidated house in the village and found Instructor Hong.
"What's wrong?" Instructor Hong asked, frowning at Lin Qiye's expression.
"There are enemies in the mountains, and more than one!"
Instructor Hong's expression changed. "Explain in detail."
"Just now, I was trying to mobilize the nocturnal creatures around to the mountain where Yaya's parents disappeared, hoping to find their trail, but instead I encountered some strange people."
Lin Qiye frowned and continued, "So far, I've discovered four people. Judging from their mental energy fluctuations, three of them should be at the 'Chuan' level. The third person's mental energy is too strong for me to estimate, but if he's not at the peak of the 'Chuan' level, he must be at the 'Hai' level!"
"Three 'river' realms and one 'sea' realm?" Instructor Hong's expression changed instantly.
At this moment, this sudden rescue operation finally revealed its hideous side: a mysterious mudslide, the disappearance of Commander Yuan Gang, and a mysterious powerful figure appearing in the forest...
"Where are they now?"
"One is very close to us, right in the direction Shen Qingzhu and the others are heading. Two others are further away, seemingly looking for something. As for the one suspected to be in the Sea Realm, they have been sitting on a mountainside, not knowing what they are doing." Lin Qiye answered truthfully.
"Lin Xi Chen is running far beyond my line of sight; it looks like she is being pursued by a large number of enemies...."
Boom—!!
As soon as Lin Qiye finished speaking, a muffled explosion came from afar. Everyone turned to look, and it was in the direction where Shen Qingzhu and the others had left. Due to the mountain blocking the view, they could not see where the explosion came from, but they could vaguely see a corner of the sky illuminated by firelight.
"It's Shen Qingzhu, they've run into trouble!" Lin Qiye said, frowning.
Instructor Hong immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie and shouted loudly.
"This is Rescue Team 1. There are three enemies in the 'Chuan' realm and one suspected 'Hai' realm nearby. Some trainees have already been attacked. Requesting backup! Repeat, requesting backup!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone responded immediately on the other end of the walkie-talkie.
"This is the temporary rescue headquarters. Upon receiving the request from Rescue Team 1, we will immediately relay it to the other rescue teams and dispatch instructors to provide support. The other trainees will remain in their respective villages and are not allowed to act without authorization."
"However, Instructor Hong, because your location is so deep inland, it will take the instructors at least three hours to get here from other villages. Please be sure to hold on for this long."
Immediately following was a series of shouts.
"This is Han Li from Rescue Team 3. We're not far from here, and I'll head over to provide support right now," Instructor Han's voice came through the walkie-talkie.
"This is Wang Feng from Rescue Team 5. We're heading to provide support."
"This is Rescue Team Number 2..."
"..."
A series of responses came through. Instructor Hong gripped the walkie-talkie tightly, and said with some annoyance, "Three hours! Three hours and it'll be too late! Damn it..."
Instructor Hong put away the walkie-talkie, and without the slightest hesitation, slung the black box containing the Star Blade over his shoulder, turning to Lin Qiye and the others, and said:
"You all wait here. I'm going to rescue Shen Qingzhu and the others. Don't wander off."
After saying that, he was about to run into the mountains.
"Wait, Instructor Hong!" Lin Qiye quickly called out, stopping the hurried Instructor Hong, who turned around and looked at Lin Qiye with a puzzled expression.
"Things aren't that simple." Lin Qiye shook his head. "The commander is missing, the enemy has appeared—there's clearly some unknown conspiracy hidden behind this rescue operation. Since they're here, they must have their own purpose."
"What is your purpose?"
"It's still unclear, but one thing is for sure: they weren't after these survivors." Lin Qiye turned to look at the ruined house behind him, and the survivors and victims lying inside.
"You mean..."
"Why did they appear here of all places? Near Village 1? And judging from their movement, their destination is very clear: this place." Lin Qiye took a deep breath.
"To be honest, in this Village No. 1, only I could attract so many powerful individuals at once..."
"Their target is you?" Instructor Hong frowned. "But how did they know we were coming for disaster relief? And how did they know you were in Rescue Team Number One?"
Lin Qiye's eyes narrowed slightly. "Perhaps there's a traitor among the Night Watch's higher-ups..."
Instructor Hong's face immediately darkened.
"In short, if their target is me, I absolutely cannot stay here, otherwise it will definitely affect these survivors," Lin Qiye said calmly. "Conversely, as long as I let them know I'm not here, I can change their original direction of travel and avoid this village."
"What do you want to do?" Instructor Hong asked.
"Now, we cannot act blindly. We must ensure the safety of the survivors while rescuing Shen Qingzhu and the others. Most importantly, we must not allow other enemies to participate in the rescue of Shen Qingzhu, otherwise the situation will definitely get out of control."
Lin Qiye's eyes flashed. "So, this is my plan."
"Instructor Hong, take Baili Pangpang to rescue Shen Qingzhu and the others. With this guy's forbidden items, it might save you a lot of trouble."
"Molly, Wen Qingqing, you two should lead the survivors to other hidden places outside the village to prevent other enemies from coming here and causing unnecessary casualties."
"And I…"
Lin Qiye took a deep breath and looked down into the dark and silent mountain forest.
"I will be the one to lure away the other enemies."