Chapter 13: Evil Shadow

"Let's go!" Cross's gaze swept over Captain Lei, and his body retreated decisively; Luan Ya and Man Gui, standing to the side, did the same, quickly falling back.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, watching Captain Lei’s figure walk toward the wolf pack, observing the eruption of spiritual energy across his body and the deterrence it formed against the wolves.

He did not move his feet, but slightly raised the iron skewer in his hand, a cold glint flashing across its tip.

"Kid, do you know why Captain Lei is the captain?" Cross, who was leaping away in the distance, sent a voice from afar.

"It’s not just because Captain Lei’s Qi Condensation level six cultivation base far exceeds ours; it’s more about his sense of responsibility and judgment as a captain when facing a crisis."

At the same time Cross’s voice arrived, a boom echoed from where he was.

It was a large tree two hundred zhang away, snapped by Cross using the bow in his hand, crashing to the ground.

Man Gui did the same, and Luan Ya followed suit; tree after tree fell, forming a blocking barrier. After leaving a gap as an exit, Cross and Luan Ya did not pause and sped away again.

Man Gui, with a shield in one hand and a mace in the other, remained in place, leaning against a large tree like a small mountain, standing guard there.

At the same time, Captain Lei’s side also erupted suddenly, his hands shining with blinding light as he charged into the wolf pack.

Wherever he passed, any wolf that touched him would inevitably have its flesh collapse and die in a miserable shriek.

But there were too many wolves, and soon Captain Lei’s figure was submerged within them.

Only the booms and wolf howls continued to ring out; Cross, in the distance, let out a low roar at this moment.

"Kid, come and join us; there will be a time for you to strike!"

Xu Qing judged in his heart that this was the Thunder Squad’s combat plan, so he no longer hesitated and headed straight for Man Gui.

Man Gui grinned and pointed to the gap exit behind him. Xu Qing glanced at him, passed through the gap, and chased after Cross and Luan Ya in the distance.

Soon, he saw Luan Ya, who had cleared an area and used trees to block the surroundings, working busily there.

She took various powders from her person, spread them around, and even bit her finger to draw patterns on the ground with fresh blood that outsiders could not understand.

Upon noticing Xu Qing, she had no time to speak and signaled for him to hurry.

Xu Qing swept his gaze over, did not hesitate, and sped past, until two hundred zhang behind Luan Ya, he saw Cross squatting on a large tree.

This tree was extremely tall, as if it were a high vantage point from which one could overlook the entire battlefield. Cross, squatting there, looked at the rapidly approaching Xu Qing and spoke in a low voice.

"The direction behind me, two hundred zhang away, you are responsible for it!"

Xu Qing nodded heavily, the Thunder Squad’s combat plan now clear in his mind.

He leaped away, and upon reaching the two-hundred-zhang range, he immediately scanned the surroundings. He did not change any of the environment, but instead hid in the mud beneath a bush.

Just like hunting in the ruined city, he remained motionless.

The moment he hid, even more intense booming sounds faintly drifted over from afar.

Obstructed by trees, Xu Qing could not see the scene eight hundred zhang away, but he could feel the intensity of the battle there.

In reality, that was indeed the case. At this moment, Captain Lei’s figure charged out from the wolf pack eight hundred zhang away. Even though he was at Qi Condensation level six, it was hard to avoid looking disheveled when he could not afford excessive consumption.

Fortunately, he was very sensitive to the control of his own spiritual energy and had reserved half of his state, retreating toward Man Gui while being pursued by the Black-Scaled Wolves.

Man Gui grinned ferociously, his mace suddenly raised, and the moment Captain Lei leaped past him, he smashed it fiercely toward the pursuing Black-Scaled Wolves.

Cross, at the high vantage point, also focused his eyes at this instant, suddenly drawing the string of his powerful bow.

Arrow after arrow, formed from spiritual energy, carried a sharp whistling sound, carving out trails of wind as they fell toward the wolf pack to assist Man Gui.

As the miserable shrieks echoed again, Captain Lei had already left the place where Man Gui was and approached Luan Ya. Behind him, Man Gui stood alone, like a mountain descending upon the earth, blocking everything.

Just like this, Xu Qing, hiding in the mud, saw the first returnee: Captain Lei, who whistled past Luan Ya and Cross.

Captain Lei flew past Xu Qing, his peripheral vision sweeping over his hiding spot. He had no time to speak, only nodding, before immediately going two hundred zhang away to sit cross-legged, swallow a white elixir, and rest while preparing for the next round of combat.

This was the Thunder Squad’s retreat plan.

As the strongest, Captain Lei blocked first; Man Gui was the second wave of interception. When he was about to exhaust his strength, he would retreat, and the task of blocking the wolf pack would be continued by Luan Ya, and then Cross.

Repeating the cycle, this allowed them each to have time to rest.

This was the most suitable method of coordinated squad combat in a forbidden zone with dense foreign matter.

And among them, the most exhausted were Captain Lei and Cross.

The former blocked for the longest time and killed the most wolves, winning a large amount of time for the teammates behind him.

As for the latter, besides having to act as a link in intercepting the wolf pack, he also had to ensure the safety of his teammates' retreat from the high vantage point.

It could be said that everyone’s arrangement was very important, and the most important thing was their mutual tacit understanding and trust!

"So this is a scavenger squad..."

Xu Qing’s eyes revealed determination as he remained hidden. As time passed, he soon saw Man Gui’s panting figure approaching.

A moment later, he saw Luan Ya, clutching her chest, her face pale.

The last one to dash past him was Cross.

His expression was cold and stern, appearing normal, yet Xu Qing could still feel the near-exhaustion of spiritual energy in his body. Behind him, the wolf pack was densely packed, roaring in pursuit.

When passing by Xu Qing, Cross seemed somewhat hesitant.

"I can do it," Xu Qing said in a deep voice, seeing the unspoken meaning in the other party.

Cross did not speak and left in a flash. In an instant, the wolf pack came whistling over.

The wind they stirred up blew across Xu Qing’s face, carrying a foul stench, especially the dozen or so at the very front, their bodies pitch-black and eyes blood-red, exuding cruelty and madness.

Clearly, the Thunder Squad’s first round of combat arrangements had caused them significant casualties. Stimulated by the blood, these Black-Scaled Wolves had become incredibly violent.

At this moment, they seemed not to have noticed the hidden Xu Qing and were about to pursue Cross.

But the moment they arrived, a dagger suddenly flew out, whistling as it approached, piercing directly into the forehead of the leading Black-Scaled Wolf.

The force was so great that it penetrated instantly.

The Black-Scaled Wolf let out a miserable sound and died suddenly. As its corpse fell to the ground with momentum, Xu Qing’s figure turned into a blur and dashed out like a thunderbolt.

The black iron skewer in his hand flashed with a cold glint, fiercely stabbing into the eye of a Black-Scaled Wolf. After piercing through its head, his body swayed, and his left hand balled into a fist, slamming with force into the third wolf that had pounced from behind to ambush him.

The wolf’s head shattered instantly, and blood splattered all over Xu Qing.

Killing three wolves in an instant, Xu Qing’s figure swayed again.

His speed was perfectly revealed at this moment.

His entire person was incredibly agile, like a slaughtering Rakshasa, weaving and shuttling through the wolf pack with cold eyes and decisive strikes.

Following the sharpness of the black iron skewer, the screams of Black-Scaled Wolves before death spread in all directions.

There was more and more wolf blood on his body, and his hands were dyed bright red. Although sticky, the iron skewer he gripped remained firm, and the color of the skewer had now turned crimson.

However, due to the distribution of the wolf pack, some still leaped past him.

And some claws and fangs left wounds on his body.

But with Xu Qing’s speed, the former were barely blocked by him, and as for the latter... his purple crystal’s terrifying recovery power played a miraculous effect in this battle.

All superficial wounds healed rapidly within a few breaths, and even heavier injuries stopped bleeding.

This scene was not clearly seen by outsiders because he was covered in wolf blood.

And compared to the healing of his injuries, the recovery of his physical strength was even more terrifying, giving his overall sustained combat power an astonishing extension.

Thus, gradually, wolf corpses lay everywhere around him, the sharpness in his eyes grew colder, and he persisted longer than anyone else, causing the surrounding wolf pack to show signs of being deterred by him.

Looking from afar, sunlight pierced through the dense leaves, falling sporadically on him, and the refracted light, amidst the blood covering his body, seemed to transform him into a streak of blood-red light.

And this scene was also seen by Captain Lei, two hundred zhang behind him, and Cross at the high vantage point further away.

Both felt waves in their hearts, clearly shaken by Xu Qing’s ruthlessness and tenacity.

"Kid, retreat!" Captain Lei suddenly spoke.

Xu Qing still had strength left, but he also felt the severe depletion of his spiritual energy.

Although the purple crystal could recover physical strength and injuries, the depletion of spiritual energy could not be compensated for.

Fortunately, he was a body refiner, unlike Luan Ya, who could not strike without spiritual energy.

But there was still some impact, forcing him to absorb the spiritual energy mixed with dense foreign matter from all around, and the stinging pain in his arm’s alienation point grew increasingly intense.

So, upon hearing Captain Lei’s words, Xu Qing did not hesitate and immediately retreated.

But the moment he retreated, a Black-Scaled Wolf in the pack, whose eyes were not entirely red but had a single black eye, leaped up and pounced toward Xu Qing.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes, and the iron skewer in his hand turned into a blood-red streak, suddenly piercing through its skull. His body was just about to continue retreating, but at this moment...

Under the dappled sunlight, he didn't know if it was an illusion, but the shadow of this falling Black-Scaled Wolf corpse seemed to twist.

It actually spread rapidly on the ground toward Xu Qing.

The sunlight here was only sporadic, not dense, so this made it impossible for him to be certain at first. The next instant, that shadow touched his body.

Xu Qing’s body shook violently.

An indescribable sense of evil was about to invade his entire body in an instant.

But at this very moment, the purple crystal buried in his chest, which had never shown any movement other than recovery from the beginning,

suddenly vibrated at this moment, and a cold current erupted from within.

With the eruption, the feeling of being invaded by evil vanished instantly.

And this cold current came fast and disappeared just as fast; in the blink of an eye, it was gone without a trace, and the purple crystal returned to normal, remaining motionless as before.

Xu Qing was stunned, but there was no time to think too much. After his body recovered, he sped away. The scene just now happened in an instant, so neither Captain Lei nor Cross in the distance noticed anything at all.

As Xu Qing retreated, Captain Lei stepped forward to meet him, a lingering sense of shock in his eyes.

"You did very well; go to the rear and rest quickly."

"Black-Scaled Wolves living in the depths of the forbidden zone like places with dense foreign matter, and the outer areas have much less foreign matter than the depths. So, regardless of why they appeared, they don't like it here. As long as they fail to take it after a long attack, they will inevitably leave on their own."

After speaking, Captain Lei’s spiritual energy erupted, and he took large strides to charge toward the Black-Scaled Wolves pursuing behind Xu Qing.

Man Gui’s figure also arrived quickly; clearly, he had waited for a long time in the back and was anxious due to the length of time. Seeing Xu Qing covered in blood and the countless wolf corpses nearby, he also gasped, stepping forward to support Xu Qing.

"It's fine." Xu Qing did not let the other party support him, looked back at Captain Lei, and finally, under Man Gui’s respectful gaze, walked away quickly.

Passing by Luan Ya, she seemed to have received the news as well. Seeing Xu Qing, her expression was filled with shock. After thinking for a moment, she took a leather pouch from her person and threw it to him.

Xu Qing caught it, felt the shape of the elixirs inside, and knew in his heart what it was. He thanked Luan Ya and, under her gaze, sped away until he saw Cross.

Shi Zi remained silent atop the tree crown, nodding toward Xu Qing with clear approval in his eyes.

Xu Qing did not speak either, nodding slightly in acknowledgment; when he reached the very back, he found a spot to sit down, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and took out three Bai Dan to swallow.

As the elixir melted, he began to absorb the spiritual energy from his surroundings to recover.

Time passed, and half an hour later, Xu Qing opened his eyes; his mental exhaustion had been buffered, but a look of confusion appeared in his eyes as he discovered that the foreign substances within his body seemed... not to be very numerous.

He then rolled up the sleeve of his left arm to look, and the confusion in his eyes instantly turned into shock and suspicion.

The alienation point on his arm had actually... decreased by one!

Yet his cultivation base was clearly still at the second level of Body Refining, and after experiencing the previous slaughter, it had not weakened; on the contrary, with his recovery at this moment, it seemed even more advanced than before.

In particular, he remembered very clearly that during the previous slaughter, because he had passively absorbed spiritual energy, both alienation points on his arm had felt a strong, stinging pain.

As for the Bai Dan, it was not as if Xu Qing had never taken them before, and the effects would not be this astonishing, but at this moment, there seemed to be no other explanation.

Except for... the matter of the purple crystal's cold current erupting in an instant.

"The shadow, the sense of evil, the crystal erupting with a cold current..."

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, recalling that eerie scene from before.

He was certain that what he saw—the shadow touching him—was absolutely not a trick of the eyes, nor was it an illusion caused by scattered sunlight.

He then carefully recalled the scene of the crystal erupting with the cold current; it seemed that in that instant, the sense of evil invading him was swept away by the cold current and sucked into the crystal.

"It ate it?" Xu Qing guessed with some shock and suspicion.

I haven't logged in for a long time and felt very unfamiliar with it, to the point where I didn't know how to operate it; seeing you all talking about character cards and volume titles, I fiddled with it for a long time before I finally figured it out... I've added the volume title.

Volume One, Awakening of Insects.

Awakening of Insects reflects the phenomenon of natural organisms being affected by rhythmic changes, appearing to sprout and grow.