Chapter 148: Danger Follows in Quick Succession (Guaranteed Base Chapter 1)

At this moment, An Shenyi had regained his composure and shouted loudly at the people still dazed ahead.

"Everyone get far away from those six corpses! Immediately!!"

Upon hearing this, everyone screamed and scattered—but it was already too late.

Many who ran too slowly suddenly narrowed their pupils, as if encountering something horrifying, then plopped straight onto the ground, just like the earlier Guard Team members.

But among this group, most were villagers, far weaker than the previous Guard Team members. They couldn't even hold on for a few more seconds before bursting into pulp with a loud thud.

Blood exploded outward, causing the crowd to scream again and scramble backward.

"Back! Back! Back! Stay away from all the corpses!!"

An Shenyi continued shouting, and Fang Yue quickly asked: "An Shenyi, you know about this strange ability, right? What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later—first, get everyone out, or we'll all die!"

Even An Shenyi, usually calm in crises, was now flustered, roaring at Fang Yue.

After saying this, An Shenyi kept scanning the surroundings, his gaze darting rapidly, as if searching for something.

Thud!!

While they were speaking, those who had retreated too slowly again had their limbs burst open, crushed into bloody pancakes.

"Don't let anyone near those team members' corpses! All team members' corpses will release another Pressure Circle! Anyone unable to escape the Pressure Circle will be crushed again, turning into pulp—it's a deadly cycle!"

"Yeye, if our people can't outrun the Pressure Circle, you must kill everyone ahead immediately to form a barrier—only those not crushed by the Pressure Circle won't trigger corpse explosions. Ignore the horse corpses; animals won't activate its trigger condition!"

Fang Yue's expression changed.

This was just like a contagious anomaly.

And to strike at our own people…

"Yeye, if you don't act then, you'll doom us all! One corpse equals one Pressure Circle—fail to escape, and a new Pressure Circle forms, expanding further! At that point, we all die! This is a matter of life and death—if you can't bring yourself to kill, I'll do it!"

Regarding survival, An Shenyi's voice grew colder, tinged with unfamiliar indifference.

"An Shenyi, don't rush—I know what to do! But we're not there yet!"

Fang Yue gritted his teeth and immediately rushed forward to summon Luo Xin, directing the villagers and Guard Team squads to retreat.

An Shenyi stared at Fang Yue's back, silent, his cold gaze sweeping over the villagers lagging behind.

"Ye Ge! Ye Ge!! Save us, save us!"

Everyone was sprinting desperately, using every ounce of strength; the sudden horror had shattered the villagers' courage.

At that moment, a familiar voice came from ahead.

Fang Yue looked closely—it was Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu dragging a pale-faced Wei Ba, running toward them.

When the formation collapsed, these two girls, lacking any sense of danger, had ended up at the very front.

Behind them was the last corpse turned to pulp.

The two girls cried out in panic, but Fang Yue hesitated.

That corpse had been there for several seconds—based on previous patterns, it was precisely at the moment before the Pressure Circle would erupt!

Fang Yue didn't know the range of the Pressure Circle; stepping closer might kill him instantly!

This wasn't nighttime—it was broad daylight! If hit by such an attack, Fang Yue had no confidence he could survive the damage.

"An Shenyi! How large is the Pressure Circle's range? How often does it erupt?!"

Fang Yue clenched his fists and shouted backward.

"I don't know! I've only encountered this damn thing twice—look at the ground! There'll be a line—a circle forms, and when the circles merge, that's when it explodes!"

Without Fang Yue relaying it, Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu and Wei Ba had already heard An Shenyi's shout.

They instinctively turned to look back at the corpse—but saw no line.

Looking around, they saw two faint, nearly merging grooves on the ground three hundred meters away, rapidly forming under the sunlight.

Following the grooves outward, they realized these two lines were drawn in a circular pattern centered on the last corpse, now in its final stage of closure.

At that moment, the two girls exchanged glances, faces pale, both thinking the same thing—doomed!

They gritted their teeth and sprinted, but despairingly realized their speed could never outrun the closing circle.

Suddenly—plop!

Wei Ba suddenly tripped and fell flat, breaking free from Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu's grip.

She froze completely.

Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu also froze—a moment's hesitation, then she abandoned Wei Ba and turned to run.

"Wei Ba, I'm sorry! When you log back in, I'll raise you!!"

She ran while crying, as if saying a final farewell, yet her words made it clear this was only a game.

Wei Ba's vision blurred with tears; she wiped them away, waiting for death: "Then let's make a promise…"

Before Wei Ba finished speaking, a rapid clatter of hooves sounded ahead.

"Get on the horse!"

Before she understood what was happening, her body was yanked upward by Supernatural Strength and thrown onto a horse's back.

"Giddyap!!"

Fang Yue roared as he whipped the horse.

"Yeye!"

"Deputy Captain Ye!"

Only now did An Shenyi and Luo Xin notice Fang Yue had charged into the danger zone, and they shouted anxiously.

"Ye Ge! Wu Wu!"

Wei Ba wiped her tears and, in surprise, saw Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu also on Fang Yue's horse, tightly hugging his waist.

"No time for chatter—hold on tight!"

Fang Yue's forehead was covered in cold sweat, his eyes fixed tightly on the two faint lines ahead.

They hadn't closed yet! He could get out! He could charge through!

Fang Yue urged his horse on at full gallop, while the two faint lines were completing their final closure.

And at this moment, the last batch of villagers ahead had only just stumbled out of the Pressure Circle's range, gasping for breath.

The moment they were out of the circle, they all collapsed on the ground, panting heavily, their stamina nearly spent.

This was also the reason Fang Yue had risked entering the circle to rescue Tian Dan Zhi Yuan Wu and the tail.

If those two died, then for the next wave of the Pressure Circle, all the villagers traveling with the group would have to be abandoned — they simply didn't have the stamina to escape the next Pressure Circle's range.

Many of them were the village's stonemason masters; without them, one of the only two important missions of the escort convoy would be declared a failure on the spot.

Without the stonemason masters, no one in the group would know how to pick suitable stone materials, and even the work of repairing the village's Di He would fall badly behind in progress — they were all important technical talents of the village.

"Ye Ge! The circle's almost closed!!"

"Shut up, I know!"

There's still 1 more chapter today.

(End of this chapter)