Chapter 154: Heavy Loss (1/10, Autumn Subscription)

Fang Yue's pupils shrank slightly, his expression darkening.

He still held a good impression of Luo Xin.

Though this Deputy Captain was a bit talkative, that was a sign of responsibility—he dared stand up to Divine Doctor An himself for the villagers' safety, truly devoted to his duty.

Before departure, Fang Yue had thought Luo Xin was specifically assigned by Lin Ling, and he should take extra care to ensure he didn't die on the road.

But now…

"Ye Ge, look ahead!"

Fang Yue, face grim, followed Niu Niu's pointing direction and immediately saw numerous escort team members' corpses scattered ahead.

They looked as if they had rushed out to cover the retreat, fighting the weirdness, and died horribly.

Their bodies were all twisted in the same grotesque manner as Luo Xin's—bones forcibly snapped and contorted into unnatural shapes, dumped on the ground.

"It must've been that Void Weird that killed them! When the Cave Girl chasing me was dragged away, she looked exactly like this!"

Niu Niu hesitated whether to keep moving forward—the danger ahead was clearly immense.

But Fang Yue ignored him, stepping past him and sprinting ahead.

Seeing this, Niu Niu froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth and followed—he had no real choice. If he broke away from the main group, he had no chance of surviving to reach any human settlement. Even leaving Fang Yue, whether he could survive the night was uncertain—nighttime was when the weirdness was most active!

The two pressed forward and soon found numerous scattered small supply crates along the road, seemingly dropped in panic, and ahead they spotted a horse's corpse—its legs ripped off and shoved directly into its head, a gruesome sight.

Most importantly, from the direction the supplies had scattered, the main group had deviated from their original straight route and fled deeper into the forest.

Tall trees blocked the sunlight; tangled branches and shrubs resembled gaping, bloodied maws in the darkness, terrifying to behold.

"Ye Ge, they… seem to have fled this way."

"…"

Fang Yue said nothing, seeming to hesitate—then he sniffed, catching a faintly familiar fragrance entering his nostrils. Following the scent's source, he saw a thin streak of pale pink liquid lying beside the horse's corpse, shaped like a barely noticeable arrow.

And this direction slightly deviated from the path leading deeper into the forest.

"This way!"

Fang Yue's eyes lit up; he sprinted without hesitation along the direction indicated by the pink liquid, while Niu Niu followed at a slight distance, wary of some weirdness suddenly emerging.

Fang Yue paid him no mind; along the way, he spotted three more pools of pink arrow-shaped liquid—all perfectly quiet, no signs of struggle.

Judging from the last pool's freshness, it had been made very recently—meaning their pace was faster than those ahead.

If it were just a small group, or merely Divine Doctor An's team of Blood Hunters, they wouldn't have moved so slowly.

If nothing unexpected happened… the real escape route of the main group lay ahead!

As Fang Yue was thinking this, he suddenly stepped on something—*whoosh! *—a rope snapped around his right foot, yanking him upside-down into the air.

Fang Yue didn't hesitate a moment—he drew his blade and slashed backward at the rope, dropping to the ground.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow burst violently from the nearby undergrowth, clearly aiming to attack him while he was trapped.

Fang Yue's eyes flashed with malice; he gripped the hilt with both hands and stabbed straight down!

"What the—!"

"Deputy Captain Ye?!"

Two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

*Ssssh! *

The next instant, blood splattered the ground!

The cold moon blade plunged deep into the earth, slicing through the man's cheek, leaving a deep gash.

Yet the man trembled violently, too terrified to move.

"N-Night Deputy Captain… it's me, leader of the seventh escort squad, Gao Kai…"

"... Lucky you shouted fast—if you hadn't, I couldn't have stopped that blade."

Fang Yue softened his expression, sheathed the cold moon blade pulled from the ground, and extended a hand: "Are you alright? Where are the others?"

Niu Niu, lagging behind, finally reacted.

Fang Yue's swift, fluid movements had genuinely startled him.

If it were him, caught in the trap, he wouldn't have reacted in time—let alone cut the rope and counterattack.

But he could see now: Ye Ge was furious inside—was this the legendary tale of a man, in extreme rage, sliding through a trap and counter-killing?

As Niu Niu was lost in these thoughts, he suddenly heard footsteps gradually surrounding them.

"Ye Ge, something's wrong! There's something around—"

Niu Niu stopped mid-sentence.

Because he saw people.

Divine Doctor An, Blood Hunter, Weiwei, Wu Wu, three Deputy Captains, villagers—everyone from the group was here!

"Yeye!"

"Deputy Captain Ye!"

"It's Deputy Captain Ye!"

"Thank heaven! Deputy Captain Ye is alive! Waaah!"

Many people burst into tears, deeply moved—Fang Yue felt a quiet pang; unconsciously, he had become the soul of Gu Yue Cun, a pillar of stability—so long as he was present, villagers and team members felt safe.

"Deputy Captain Ye, you found us because of the Blood Hunter's piss marks, right?"

Blood Hunter and Divine Doctor An approached, faces bright with relief.

"Yes, but…"

Fang Yue frowned: "Why are so many missing from the group? After I was blasted away by the weirdness, what exactly happened?"

Blood Hunter and Divine Doctor An exchanged a glance, both sighing; others' expressions dimmed.

Finally, Divine Doctor An spoke.

"Yeye, although you were blown away earlier, you still bought us a little time—the Heavy Deception Flower suddenly shrank its ground at that moment, dodging the Void Deception's attack and vanishing."

"I've never seen anything like this before. This Heavy Deception Flower's behavior is completely different from what I read in the books. Perhaps the Blood Hunter is right—my books are already outdated, unable to keep pace with the Deception's mutations. We can no longer predict their movements based on textbook knowledge."

"With the Void Deception now without a target, it naturally turned its attention to us. We didn't dare stop—we turned and ran, quickly catching up with the main group."

"But the Void Deception's speed… you know it well. Our entire team could never outrun him."

"In desperation, we brought up the old idea of splitting up to escape, but Luo Xin refused. Since the event is over, I won't hide it from you—I proposed splitting the team precisely to sacrifice a group as decoys, luring the Void Deception away—this is the easiest and most effective method for avoiding Deception pursuit in the wild."

"But Luo Xin strongly opposed it, insisting everyone survive. In the end, he rallied a group to hold the rear. I don't know what happened to them."

"However, given that the Void Deception has now caught up with us again, they were almost certainly doomed."

(End of Chapter)