Chapter 142: Survival After the Calamity

Suddenly, Ning Feiliu remembered something.

He tucked the Gold Soul Card in his hand back into a treasure pouch at his waist, which did not attract much attention from the scarred, burly man.

The scarred man did not even notice that the Soul Guidance Device Ning Feiliu had just used to take out the Gold Soul Card was completely different from the one he used to put it back.

He said, appearing very embarrassed, "Can a hero's word be trusted?"

This speech, which seemed to truly intend to follow the scarred man's demands, stirred both the scarred man and Ye Lingling.

Ye Lingling let out a cry of surprise, a flash of being moved appearing in her beautiful eyes, yet she shouted loudly, "Ning Feiliu, don't be a fool! Run! Don't worry about—"

"Hmph!" The scarred man exerted force with his palm, tightening his grip on Ye Lingling's neck once more.

Ye Lingling's voice stopped abruptly.

"You little girl, are you looking for death?" he said with a sinister expression.

"Hero, stop! This is a matter between us; there is no need to take my friend's life." Ning Feiliu seemed somewhat anxious, stepping forward and treading on the weeds in front of him, making a "rustling" sound.

But soon, he seemed afraid that the scarred man would do something bad to Ye Lingling because of his step forward, so he immediately retreated with a wary and worried look in his eyes.

"Very good... kid, you also know this is a matter between the two of us." The scarred man looked quite satisfied and said, "So, commit suicide; I will absolutely not harm this little girl afterward."

"Are you really sure?" Ning Feiliu asked, his expression remaining conflicted throughout.

Although a flash of ferocity crossed the scarred man's eyes, he snorted coldly on the surface and said, "I, Hu Da, have walked the Douluo Continent for many years and have always kept my word! As long as your life is used to pay tribute to my two brothers, my great vengeance will be avenged, and of course, I will not harm your beautiful companion in the slightest!"

"I have also never wanted to kill women, but if you do not follow my demands, then your companion will be... a pity."

However, Hu Da sneered inwardly at this moment; all that talk about him walking the Douluo Continent for many years and always keeping his word.

He was no upright gentleman, and his words had never counted.

Moreover, he had already killed many women over these many years; Ye Lingling's final outcome would only be to be silenced by him directly after Ning Feiliu died!

"Then..." Ning Feiliu's eyes seemed to show a trace of struggle, but he still took a small knife out of his Soul Guidance Device and placed it against his own neck, appearing as if he really intended to commit suicide on the spot just as Hu Da had said.

"No... don't..." Ye Lingling's voice immediately choked up. She looked at Ning Feiliu, tears already flooding her beautiful eyes, her exquisite face already tear-stained and pitiful.

Could it be that Ning Feiliu was really going to die because of her?

Ning Feiliu... was so intelligent; with his talent, he would definitely be able to achieve the rank of Title Douluo in the future.

Not only that, with his intelligence and his research into Pharmacology and martial soul, he could spread his research and achievements across the entire Douluo Continent in the future.

Using his pharmacological theories to save countless ordinary people.

But... he was going to die now.

Going to die because of her.

Ye Lingling felt sad, ashamed, and self-reproachful in her heart; what was her life worth compared to Ning Feiliu's?

Yet, it was because of her that Ning Feiliu was being forced to commit suicide.

She wanted to speak up and tell Ning Feiliu to run away himself and stop worrying about her.

But Hu Da gripped her neck tightly, using a subtle amount of force that kept her from suffocating, yet left her too busy gasping for air to speak.

On Ning Feiliu's side, his eyes were filled with terror; the small knife in his hand was placed against his neck, slowly cutting a bloody mark, but... he seemed unable to bring himself to do it.

Because of his fear of death and his thirst for life, he could never bring himself to do it.

However, Hu Da snorted coldly, once again hoisting up the Ye Lingling he held by the neck, and applied force.

Immediately, a painful expression appeared on Ye Lingling's beautiful face once more.

"Quick! Do it! Otherwise, I'll choke her to death!" Hu Da threatened.

Ning Feiliu hurriedly said, "Alright... alright, I will end my life right now, hero, please don't hurt my friend!"

A trace of despair appeared in Ye Lingling's beautiful eyes, but at this moment, she saw a flash of triumph and cunning in Hu Da's eyes.

Suddenly, she realized one thing...

"He will absolutely not let me go in the end."

That's right, how could a despicable villain like Hu Da, who would launch a sneak attack on two Soul Elders like her and Ning Feiliu despite his own Soul King cultivation, ever keep his word?

After Ning Feiliu died, she would likely not escape his poisonous clutches either.

Therefore... she could not let Ning Feiliu sacrifice himself in vain!

A flash of determination crossed Ye Lingling's eyes, and then she feigned an expression of continued pain, her hands gripping Hu Da's arm tightly, but her right hand was poised and ready from the Soul Guidance Device ring on her left hand.

She was going to... take a dagger out of the Soul Guidance Device and fight back with all her might; when the time came, she would let Hu Da kill her in his agitation, and then she would let Ning Feiliu escape.

If it was destined that only one of them could escape, then let Ning Feiliu be the one to escape.

Ning Feiliu was also continuing to look terrified at this moment, as if trying to muster up his courage; he took a deep breath, but the hand holding the small knife continued to tremble, looking as if he could never bring the blade down.

A flash of determination immediately crossed Ye Lingling's eyes: Do it!

But just at this moment...

A green shadow suddenly shot out from the bushes behind Hu Da!

It landed on the right hand Hu Da was using to choke Ye Lingling!

"Ouch!" Hu Da immediately felt as if his right hand had been pricked by a needle, and his arm went numb in an instant!

"Lingling, dodge!" Ning Feiliu's voice, calm to the extreme, reached her.

But at this moment, Ye Lingling took a dagger out of her Soul Guidance Device and directly stabbed Hu Da's right hand several times with all her might like a madwoman.

Hu Da felt as if his right hand had completely lost the ability to exert force; his right hand had already turned a deep purple-black, vaguely appearing as if it had already necrosed.

So much so that Ye Lingling stabbing his right hand with the dagger didn't even make him feel anything.

Instead, it was Ye Lingling who rolled onto the ground because his right hand had lost all sensation.

"What on earth is going on?" Hu Da was both shocked and angry; sensing that something was wrong, he wanted to use his left hand to grab the rolling Ye Lingling again.

But just at this moment...

A beam of extremely intense light suddenly appeared in front of him.

Ye Lingling also felt a sense of crisis in her heart for a split second and immediately rolled to the side in a disheveled manner.

And the next moment...

A beam of light with a diameter of half a meter instantly rushed toward Hu Da, piercing through... his head and chest!

This beam of light lasted for only a single second, yet that extreme high temperature and destructive power spread for quite a while and splashed out a full five or six meters!

Ye Lingling opened her eyes, only to find that the vicinity was still a sheet of white light; after looking for a few seconds, she felt her eyes could not take it, and tears continuously welled up.

It was not until another full ten seconds had passed that she discovered the white light seemed to have receded.

She gradually regained her vision at this time, first looking toward the location where Hu Da had originally been, but she only saw...

In the place where Hu Da had originally been, two-thirds of a person was lying there; that's right, just two-thirds of a person.

Looking at the clothing on the lower half of this two-thirds of a person, it was very obvious that he was Hu Da.

It was just that his head and the body above his chest had now completely disappeared; his two hands—one normal and one poisoned black—that had lost their shoulders also fell directly beside his feet, while the "wound" at his chest was charred, and instead, not a single drop of fresh blood flowed out.

"This is..." Ye Lingling could not help but curiously look toward the opposite side... at Ning Feiliu.

She saw that he was already squatting on the ground, panting heavily, except that in his right hand, there was a strange, cute little snake.

The little snake's body was almost transparent, about five inches long, with swirling green light flowing inside, and a pair of small, crimson eyes that looked exceptionally cute.

On its green body, there were a total of nine bamboo-joint-like horizontal stripes.

It was currently obediently... acting coquettishly in Ning Feiliu's hand?

"Thank you, you really were a huge help." Ning Feiliu panted, smiling as he stroked the little snake's head.

The little snake, with great human-like intelligence, used its head like a puppy to turn and nuzzle the pad of Ning Feiliu's index finger.

It was precisely the Exotic Beast venomous snake, the best of the bamboo green snakes, that Dugu Bo had previously gifted to Ning Feiliu—the Nine-Section Jade.

Nine-Section Jade; once poisoned by it, one would turn into pus and die within a short time. Although it looked small in size, it was one of the most venomous snake species.

Moreover, it was itself harder than refined steel, and sharp blades could hardly injure it.

Ning Feiliu had just feigned putting away his Gold Soul Coin card, but he had actually released this little fellow from his Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch, and he had specifically created a cover to let the Nine-Section Jade circle around to Hu Da's back in the grass, taking the opportunity to bite Hu Da's right hand.

He had also once researched the venom of the Nine-Section Jade; this type of highly venomous snake venom itself also presented as a mixture of neurotoxicity, hemotoxicity, and cytotoxic speed.

It could be said to be the same type of toxin as the Jade Phosphor Snake Poison passed down in Dugu Bo's family.

Furthermore, the poison acted extremely quickly; although it would only cause death in a short time, the toxins were not just lying dormant during this time, waiting for the poison to take effect to kill the poisoned person.

Instead, it would cause pain and paralysis in the affected area of the poisoned person from the very beginning, and after another period of time, the poisoned person would develop symptoms of dizziness and nausea.

Then the symptoms would further worsen, until finally, the toxins would spread throughout the poisoned person's body, causing death.

It was just that while waiting for the Nine-Section Jade's snake venom to take effect and kill Hu Da, Hu Da would not have been sitting idle during this time.

He might have thought about disregarding everything to strike at Ning Feiliu or Ye Lingling, dying together.

And for Ning Feiliu, when dealing with an enemy, one must thoroughly kill them; as for those on the verge of death, in his view, an enemy who wasn't dead yet wasn't a good enemy!

But Hu Da had made him retract his martial soul early, which meant that for him to summon his martial soul again and release a soul skill would also take a little time; originally, the time required for this might have only been one second.

But in a life-or-death battle, especially a battle between Spirit Masters, a delay of one second could lead to Ye Lingling, who was not far from Hu Da, falling into danger again.

Therefore, Ning Feiliu... chose to vent, without any reservation, that Sun Destruction Power he had absorbed and accumulated from the brilliance of the sun since he had been practicing the Sunlight Breathing Method during this period!

This Sun Destruction Power had been accumulating for nearly half a year, ever since he had been able to practice using the Moonlight Breathing Method during the day due to absorbing the Blazing Apricot Delicate.

So the accumulated power was also quite terrifying.

It was just that Ning Feiliu still hadn't expected... this power to be so terrifying!

He saw that behind Hu Da's corpse, the tree trunks within a range of nearly six meters had all been destroyed.

Fortunately, Ning Feiliu hadn't aimed this impact beam at the ground, but rather at Hu Da's absolute vitals—his head and chest—otherwise, he feared a deep furrow would have been plowed into the ground.

The Nine-Section Jade that had been behind Hu Da at the time would likely have suffered as well.

This instantaneous destructive power... was absolutely comparable to an offensive soul skill released by a Soul Emperor.

After all, it was the Sun Destruction Power accumulated and absorbed from the sunlight...

However, Ning Feiliu still felt a bit of regret; he had originally planned to use this accumulated Sun Destruction Power to forge a special "Soul Guidance Device" using Ornn's craftsmanship after he finished being busy with this period.

Now it had been wasted on Hu Da instead; what a pity, what a pity...

"Feiliu... are you alright?" Just at this moment, Ye Lingling slowly composed herself, came before Ning Feiliu, and asked.

"I'm fine." Ning Feiliu continued to tease the Nine-Section Jade and said with a faint smile.

Although releasing that terrifying destructive beam made him pant a little heavily.

But this was not Exploding Ring to release a soul skill, but rather venting the power accumulated within his own body.

It was like shouting to vent when feeling depressed, burping after eating too much, or releasing when sexual desire arises.

It belonged to the category of being a bit tired after releasing, but feeling very comfortable after venting, feeling completely refreshed as if there was no burden.

"What is this in your hand?" Ye Lingling asked with some curiosity.

It seemed like it was this little fellow that bit Hu Da just now, causing his right hand to go numb and let go of her?

However, she was still a bit afraid of this kind of snake and didn't dare to get too close.

"This is a little... partner that Teacher gifted me, called Nine-Section Jade." Ning Feiliu said with a smile, "Thanks to it, I was able to find a way to save you, Lingling."

The Nine-Section Jade was very human-like; the main thing was that Ning Feiliu didn't know that, in fact, the Nine-Section Jade was only human-like toward him.

If the Nine-Section Jade could speak, it would definitely say that Ning Feiliu was the only human who could understand its meaning and know what it wanted to do.

This naturally came from the Wandering God series of quests, the active sense of closeness Ning Feiliu gave to intelligent life, and then the Nine-Section Jade naturally grew close to Ning Feiliu and began to gradually understand his meaning.

"Is Nine-Section Jade its name?" Ye Lingling said curiously.

Now that she was out of danger, she slowly sat down beside Ning Feiliu and began to chat with him.

"Uh... no, right, Lingling, you've reminded me." Ning Feiliu was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile, "I had almost forgotten to give this little fellow a name."

The Nine-Section Jade had been a huge help this time; he shouldn't treat it as a tool snake anymore.

At the very least... he had to pick a name.

"Tell me, do you like the name Xiao Jiu or Xiao Cui?" Ning Feiliu said to the Nine-Section Jade with a smile.

"Can it understand what you are saying?" Ye Lingling asked with some curiosity.

"Actually, I only have a vague feeling about it," Ning Feiliu said with a dumbfounded smile.

But just at this moment, the Nine-Section Jade let out a "hissing" sound.

"You mean... the first name sounds better?" Ning Feiliu said curiously.

For some reason, he seemed to have also understood the meaning of the Nine-Section Jade a little.

Suddenly, the Nine-Section Jade actually nodded, and once again let out a "hissing" sound.

"Then I'll call you Xiao Jiu from now on," Ning Feiliu said with a light chuckle.

However, his expression suddenly became a bit strange; three times three is nine... was this another hint at his dear San Ge?

"Xiao Jiu... this name also sounds quite nice," Ye Lingling said, a hint of a smile appearing at the corners of her eyes.

Ning Feiliu smiled, suddenly lying back on the ground, a relaxed and comfortable expression appearing on his round, oval-shaped face.

Surviving a disaster... he now had an indescribable feeling of wanting to let his guard down.

Seeing him lying on the ground, Ye Lingling suddenly felt something strange in her heart; she suddenly wanted to lie on the ground just like Ning Feiliu.

So, she cautiously imitated Ning Feiliu and slowly lay down on the ground, the prickly sensation of the grass and the rough feeling of soil particles coming from behind her.

This was something she, as the young lady of the Nine-Heart Ye Family in the past, would never have done, but now she felt a unique sense of comfort.

Especially... with the faint, elegant scent from Ning Feiliu's body mixing with the healing fragrance of sunlight, yet there was a deep, quiet, and tranquil feeling when beside him.

That was the scent on his body, a mixture of the aroma of the Qiluo Tulip and the Sunlight Breathing Method he practiced year-round, while that deep, quiet, and tranquil feeling came from the moonlight aura brought by his Moon Stone martial soul and the Moonlight Breathing Method.

The two people and one snake just lay on the ground like this, feeling an indescribable sense of comfort.

However, not far from them, the headless and chestless corpse of Hu Da, and one of his right hands, which was gradually turning into pus and blood as the poison of Xiao Jiu took effect, seemed to be vaguely saying—

"You are amazing! You are noble!"

(End of this chapter)