Chapter 125: A Glimmer of Fire in the Cage

The night breeze brushed gently, and a fine rain fell heavily.

The chaotic battlefield finally fell silent, yet the city itself did not quiet down; booming sounds echoed everywhere.

"Pfft~"

The physical body of the Barbarian Female Dryad quietly shattered into mist.

Even the blood flowing on the ground transformed into wisps of green smoke.

Only a massive departed soul remained in place, slowly drifting toward Lu Ran.

"Is everyone alright?" Sun Sun Zhengfang hurried forward, asking with concern, "Are either of you injured?"

"I'm fine, what about Lu Ran?" Wei Long placed a hand on Lu Ran's shoulder; seeing no response, he called again, "Lu Ran?"

"Gulp." Lu Ran's Adam's apple twitched.

In his line of sight, the massive soul of the Barbarian Female Dryad "crushed" past Sun Sun Zhengfang, as if it could smash this tiny human body to pieces.

Her pupils remained scarlet, filled with dense killing intent.

Even though she was already dead, the tyrannical aura she emitted still made Lu Ran's heart pound with fear!

"Hiss—"

The Barbarian Female Dryad's face was twisted and ferocious; after her tragic death, her hatred toward the few of them had only intensified.

She extended a huge hand, as if trying to grab Lu Ran's head.

However, the moment her hand approached Lu Ran's face, it continuously contracted and merged into his pupils.

"Scared?" The woman in yellow robes drifted down and strode forward.

Sun Sun Zhengfang and Wei Long retreated at the right moment, hearing Deng Deng Yuxiang's soft call:

"Lu Ran?"

"Ah, Sister!" Lu Ran blinked hard.

"Captain Sun is asking if you're injured." Deng Deng Yuxiang placed a hand on Lu Ran's shoulder, looking him up and down, "Were you startled?"

Lu Ran subconsciously shook his head, then nodded: "Just now... it was a bit harrowing."

Everyone was still unsettled from the shock; fear was the proper reaction.

Deng Deng Yuxiang could not help but feel waves of belated fear, her mind filled with images of Lu Ran dangerously weaving through the arc of Shi Fu's sandy axe blade.

"We'll escort you home," Deng Deng Yuxiang said in a heavy voice.

"No!" Lu Ran refused decisively, "The Barbarian race possesses super-strong physical bodies, but all their talents are invested in their physiques.

Their spiritual strength is below average, and their nature is inherently wild.

Brother Long just told me; I am a perfect counter to this type of evil demon!"

Deng Deng Yuxiang lifted her eyelids and shot Wei Long a sideways glance.

Wei Long remained silent.

As a comrade who had lived and died together, Wei Long was willing to accommodate Deng Deng Yuxiang, but he stuck to his own judgment.

Lu Ran was precisely the counter to this kind of "Berserker"!

After pondering for a moment, Wei Long finally spoke: "Lu Ran can influence the Barbarian Female Dryad to a great extent.

With him in our squad, we can execute our mission more effectively and allow more comrades to survive this campaign."

His words were indeed correct.

How could Deng Deng Yuxiang not know that the Barbarian race's spiritual strength was lower than that of creatures at the same realm?

Lu Ran's Divine Art, the Sound of Sorrow and Fear, would inevitably work every single time against the Barbarian race.

But what was the result?

Every time Lu Ran successfully attracted the opponent's attention, the Barbarian race would immediately unleash their offensive output.

The battle just now had already demonstrated:

The sheer brutality of the Barbarian race's bodies was like muscle memory, reacting faster than their minds!

Lu Ran's strength was merely Stream Realm, Fourth Stage; sending him to face such vicious evil demons at this time was simply too dangerous.

Wei Long looked at Deng Deng Yuxiang and spoke again: "Don't let personal emotions affect your rational judgment."

Deng Deng Yuxiang's expression stiffened slightly.

Sun Sun Zhengfang suddenly spoke: "Since no one is injured, let's depart immediately. Rain Alley Home Community is a disaster zone over there!"

The captain issued the order; everyone immediately set out, setting aside their previous conversation.

In fact, Sun Sun Zhengfang also harbored some hesitation.

The Bureau had clearly stated that, depending on tonight's specific situation, they should be ready at any moment to send Lu Ran to the nearest shelter.

The danger level of the races participating in this Night of Wandering Ghosts had indeed exceeded the standard.

The squad could seek out other teams to find a colleague possessing spiritual-type techniques and join forces against the enemy.

For instance, Nuosha Believers, Huanggu Believers, Curse Master Believers, and so on; all of these were experts at spiritual output!

The Barbarian race was obviously strong, but their weakness was equally prominent.

To deal with this type of evil demon, one could start from the spiritual aspect and crush them!

In short, Sun Sun Zhengfang's central idea was: Lu Ran absolutely must not come to harm!

This special youth possessed a future that sparked endless speculation.

He would inevitably become a great human expert; it was only a matter of time!

However, what none of the squad members, including Sun Sun Zhengfang, knew was—

Lu Ran was precisely the colleague they were looking for!

His spiritual techniques included not only the Divine Art, Sound of Sorrow and Fear, but also the Xie Fa, Fire in the Cage!

In that battle just now, Deng Deng Yuxiang had acted too quickly; the storm swirling with rainwater had caused the battlefield to become utterly chaotic.

Lu Ran failed to meet the Savage Female Ba's gaze.

Just as his wailing began, drawing the enemy's attention, the first thing the Savage Female Ba cast his way was not her eyes, but her great axe.

"Something's wrong!" Deng Deng Yuxiang suddenly spoke, her expression grim.

At the crossroads far in the distance, yellow sand piled up, surging like ocean waves.

"Don't fling wind!" Lu Ran immediately shouted.

Lu Ran's vision grew clearer; he saw the intersection shrouded in darkness, the streetlights long shattered and buried who knew where.

Amid the surging yellow sand, Lu Ran faintly made out several broken human hands!

Were those the hands of the Moon-Watchers?

And right in the center of the sand sea, atop a high dune, a Savage Female Ba stood proudly!

A cruel smile played on her face, her scarlet eyes looking down upon the scene below.

Those Moon-Watchers who had been buried alive were clearly not dead yet, still struggling to crawl out.

Yet hidden currents surged within the sand sea, constantly burying and crushing the humans within.

"Haha! Hahahaha..."

The Savage Female Ba laughed wildly, tormenting the pitiful and weak human race.

Furthermore, a thin current of sand coiled around a Moon-Watcher who was struggling most violently, pushing him toward the Savage Female Ba's feet.

Judging by the posture, did she intend to personally crush her prey underfoot?

"Stop!"

Deng Deng Yuxiang roared in fury, flinging out a series of wind blades with great speed.

At the same time, wielding her Slash-Night Great Saber, she shot forward like an arrow.

Such a cruel scene made everyone's hearts tremble.

Deng Deng Yuxiang indeed dared not unleash the Divine Art: Lord Bei Feng Howl; with the added density of the sand grains, her tornado might truly shred their comrades inside!

"Hmm?" The Savage Female Ba lifted her head, gazing into the distant night sky.

Vaguely, she saw a figure flying over, and also saw the wind blades rushing toward her.

"Heh." The Savage Female Ba smiled disdainfully as sand currents surged beneath her feet.

A human head was actually pushed up by the sand flow, propping against her war boot, slowly lifting her foot upward.

People always say the Savage Clan is rampant and arrogant.

At this moment, these two words found a concrete manifestation.

The Savage Female Ba simply stood in the sand sea, stepping on a human's head, raising her battle axe high, waiting for Deng Deng Yuxiang to fight.

"Ugh-ah!" Seeing such a scene, Deng Deng Yuxiang's rage erupted.

It also made Lu Ran's blood boil with fury!

He did not recognize that particular Moon-Watcher, but that was Lu Ran's comrade, and moreover, his fellow human!

To others, the Moon-Watcher trampled under the Savage Female Ba's foot was of unknown life or death.

But to Lu Ran, the other party was not yet dead.

Because no soul had fled out yet!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The wind blades arrived first; the Savage Female Ba was already ready, gripping her Sand-Stone Axe tightly in her palm.

"Baa~~~"

In that instant, suddenly a sound of a sheep's bleat struck.

The killing intent in the Savage Female Ba's heart surged up with a "whoosh"!

Her eyes turned blood-red; following the direction of the cry, she viciously flung the great axe in her hand.

A series of crisp sounds rang out as the great axe collided heavily with the wind blades.

The force was so fierce that it forcibly knocked away a string of wind blades, yet the Sand-Stone Axe did not lose momentum and continued flying toward Lu Ran's direction.

"Die!!"

Deng Deng Yuxiang's tone was colder than ever before.

It was clear that the sight of the Savage Female Ba stepping on a human head had made Deng Deng Yuxiang feel insulted!

Deng Deng Yuxiang did not even dodge.

Successive layers of the Divine Art: Lord Bei Feng · Shattered Wind Armor and a set of Water-Flow Armor clad her body.

She brushed past the Sand-Stone Axe, collided with and deflected several wind blades with her own body, and like a javelin, her figure stabbed straight at the Savage Female Ba.

What Deng Deng Yuxiang did not expect was...

She had already gripped her Slash-Night Great Saber and was infinitely close to the Savage Female Ba.

Yet the Savage Female Ba before her eyes was still swinging her axe toward Lu Ran's direction, and then, inexplicably, grabbed toward the right side?

But that place was empty; where was any enemy?

In the Savage Female Ba's line of sight, or rather, in her world, there was indeed an enemy at her side.

Moreover, it was precisely "Lu Ran," who had suddenly teleported there!

"Slash!"

Deng Deng Yuxiang stabbed down diagonally from the night sky, brushing past the Savage Female Ba.

The Slash-Night Great Saber left a long blade mark, instantly beheading the enemy!

"Whoosh~"

The Savage Female Ba's massive head flew high into the air.

Only her tall, headless torso remained standing amidst the yellow sand dunes, spraying copious fresh blood from her neck.

"Hmph."

In the distant night sky, Lu Ran's horizontal pupils were dead and lifeless.

What no one knew was that within those chillingly cold horizontal pupils of his, a wisp of black fire burned faintly.

Black Lamp Xie Fa: Caged Fire (Illusion)!

Ever since the Barbarian Nüba had been drawn by the bleating of the sheep and hurled her battle axe, her gaze had naturally followed.

It was precisely from that moment onward that the scene before her eyes began to flicker continuously!

Lu Ran's pitch-black pupils finally met those scarlet eyes in a blazing stare!

The sheep's bleat dragged out its trailing tone, holding the Barbarian Nüba's attention.

She swung another battle axe, yet the frenziedly switching scenes before her eyes finally ceased flickering, as if returning to normal.

What was not normal, however, was that the lamb, which had just been wailing in midair, actually knew the Shun Yi Zhi Fa?

And it even dared to Shun Yi right beside her?

You! Are! Tired! Of! Living!

The Barbarian Nüba's face twisted in distortion; she snatched out with one hand, yet her massive palm passed straight through the illusion, grasping nothing but air.

At that same moment, in the real world.

A sharp Zhan Ye greatsword slashed directly through the Barbarian Nüba's head.

"Whoosh~"

Wei Long, carrying Lu Ran, landed steadily upon the sand dune.

The corpse and bones of the Barbarian Nüba quietly shattered into mist.

Along with it, the yellow sand covering the ground transformed into thick fog and rapidly vanished.

Only the four Moon-Gazing people, their lives hanging in the balance, lay unconscious on the ground, covered in copious blood with their limbs twisted.

"Hold on! Hold on!"

The Wei brothers and Deng Deng Yuxiang hurried forward to render aid.

Sun Sun Zhengfang immediately extended branches from the Two Two Biwu tree, receiving each unconscious colleague one by one.

Only Lu Ran stood silently in place, watching the wandering soul of the Barbarian Nüba drift gradually closer.

Her entire being radiated a violent aura that seemed poised to tear Lu Ran apart!

Yet this time, Lu Ran felt no further panic.

He merely wore an expressionless face, gazing coldly at the Barbarian Nüba.

One day, your clan's battle axes will cleave through gods and demons on my behalf.

By then, do not lose this ferocity you display today.

Your heavy battle boots must also trample upon their heads for me.

"Whoosh~"

The massive wandering soul of the Barbarian Nüba constantly contracted, gradually merging into Lu Ran's pupils.

Begging for some monthly tickets.

(End of Chapter)