Chapter 659: The Ancestor's Gift (48)

"Du Zhengyi."

A hand grabbed Du Zhengyi's arm, and an invisible force simultaneously struck the Blue Eyes away. Du Zhengyi only vaguely sensed that the one who released it was Clownfish, using some technique he was unfamiliar with; the method was short and forceful, but not lethal enough.

The Blue Eyes tumbled to the ground in the distance, did not charge again, and did not leave; it crouched in the distance like a beast, staring at them viciously.

Du Zhengyi confirmed two things: first, there was more than one Blue Eyes figure, and second, the person beside him was Clownfish, not Luo Qi.

He was laid flat on the ground, and Clownfish quickly checked his injuries; the Medical Magic used was quite methodical—not particularly professional, but very practiced.

"One rib is broken. I can use external force to help you stabilize it, but that is all I can do. My Medical Magic is all self-taught; I don't dare use high-level Growth Magic to accelerate healing, in case it grows back crooked. As long as you don't engage in strenuous activity from here on out, it should be no problem to hold out until a professional Doctor arrives," Clownfish said.

Du Zhengyi nodded slightly and looked again at the few figures observing them from afar. The Barbarian with Blue Eyes had not run away, which meant it still intended to wait for an opportunity to strike again, yet Clownfish had his back to them while fixing his rib, as if he did not care about them at all.

As if seeing what he was thinking, Clownfish, who was currently casting Medical Magic, said, "Their true bodies are not here."

Du Zhengyi glanced at him, waiting for him to continue; the intense pain made him not want to speak, and his peripheral vision was still keeping an eye on those "people."

"No matter how much they look like people, they are just Seal Beasts. Something has occupied their brains and is manipulating them. This brain is very cunning; judging by their appearance, they must have suffered a setback somewhere, and now the brain will only let them ambush, not engage in a head-on fight. Since I am acting as if I don't take them seriously, the brain has become suspicious and, conversely, won't be in a hurry to attack," Clownfish said calmly, appearing to have the sudden situation under control.

He was equally at ease with the emergency medical treatment for Du Zhengyi. "Handle the pain relief yourself; you Battle Mages are no worse than Doctors when it comes to numbing your own pain."

Du Zhengyi indeed had such an ability, but he did nothing. Blocking pain only had positive significance in extreme situations; the price of reducing pain was simultaneously weakening the sharpness of one's nerves. Not being alert enough had already cost him a rib.

He said nothing, calmly caught his breath, and habitually patted his clothing pockets; they were all empty. He thought for a moment, then finally pulled a pack of cigarettes from an inner pocket that he had hidden and Luo Qi hadn't discovered. There really were too many areas where the magic-deficient students were lacking; for instance, this kind of basic yet obscure little magic was something Luo Qi would be as blind as a bat to, which allowed him to keep a little stock for himself during special times.

He put a cigarette in his mouth, used a bit of Magic to ignite the tip, and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke; psychologically, he felt he should be a bit calmer.

Clownfish watched him smoke and asked for one too. He handed over a cigarette and watched the spark light up on Clownfish's cigarette tip; Clownfish's face was blurred, yet one could tell the way he exhaled smoke was very practiced.

They finished a cigarette in silence. When the smoke was about to burn his fingers, Clownfish suddenly threw it away; he must have been lost in thought just now. His "face" turned toward Du Zhengyi, and Du Zhengyi could only rely on instinct to feel that he was staring at him.

"Aren't you worried about the mission failing? Those things will attack us again soon. Since they won't leave, it means they have their eyes on us. Although they aren't willing to act rashly for the moment, they won't give us much time either," Clownfish asked.

"You've already figured out what to do," Du Zhengyi said simply, using an affirmative tone, too lazy to mess around with him.

Clownfish was rebuffed, so to save face, he said offhandedly, "You really do understand me."

Unexpectedly, Du Zhengyi said seriously, "Even when Luo Qi was still a Mage Apprentice, he was never at a loss in a desperate situation."

Clownfish stood up and stared at Du Zhengyi for longer than was appropriate. Du Zhengyi suddenly realized that if one could not see a person's micro-expressions, it was actually very difficult to judge that person's true thoughts.

The vast majority of people were transparent in front of a Mind Mage like Clownfish, but he himself was so cautious that he wouldn't even expose his face; no one could easily infer his true thoughts. He had indeed achieved "no such person" in every respect. Du Zhengyi could not be certain whether the trace of bewilderment he now saw on Clownfish was real; he only instinctively felt that Clownfish was hesitating, though he did not know what he was hesitating about. Clownfish was too complex, unlike Luo Qi; Luo Qi was too simple.

He heard some faint, fragmented sounds—ominous sounds, and even somewhat familiar ones. The Blue Eyes were also triggered; they heard the sound too. Judging by their restlessness, their hearing might be much better than Du Zhengyi's. The restlessness would soon evolve into an attack on them. Du Zhengyi wanted to stand up, and this movement stimulated the Blue Eyes and the brain behind them. They clearly judged Du Zhengyi to be the more dangerous target. Out of the corner of his eye, Du Zhengyi saw the two Blue Eyes' body postures press downward; the attack was at this very moment. He also saw that Clownfish's body posture was extremely relaxed; in such a situation, he even seemed to be lost in thought. Du Zhengyi suddenly realized that he would actually go to save him; this behavior was simply superfluous and ridiculous.

The Blue Eyes jumped up nimbly, but the ceiling suddenly exploded at this moment. A wriggling, giant, grayish-black mass of flesh fell from the ceiling and exploded in mid-air into strips of active, shredded meat. Not shredded meat, Du Zhengyi corrected his judgment—it was snakes. They were old acquaintances; it seemed the order to shut down some of the Seal Beasts earlier hadn't been able to kill these low-level creatures. These snakes had gathered again at some point, contrary to their previously harmless appearance, falling from the exploded ceiling and slithering straight toward the few Blue Eyes creatures to attack them.

The snakes were fast, and these snakes were particularly fierce. The humanoid creatures seemed to have an instinctive fear of snakes. The Blue Eyes let out terrified hisses; they kept crushing the snakes' heads and tearing off the snakes that wrapped around their bodies, but the snakes seemed to be driven by some power to attack them endlessly, dying only to be replaced. The swarm of snakes kept wriggling and wrapping around these "people," constantly gnawing at them, and their screams became increasingly panicked and miserable.

This was truly disgusting.

Clownfish had no reaction; he leaned over to support Du Zhengyi and help him stand up. "Let's go first. We're leaving here; I'm not sure what else will appear in a moment."