Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1313 - 67: Meeting on a Narrow Path

Chapter 1313: Chapter 67: Meeting on a Narrow Path

An Fei glanced at the door to the Crystal Room, tightly shut without even a ventilation vent, the air seemingly solidified, quiet enough to hear her companions’ breathing, creating an oppressive atmosphere.

Corpses of monsters littered the ground, leaving blood everywhere, the stench of decay spreading all around. Yet, aside from Xu Biyun occasionally casting a glance at the bodies, no one else seemed to care.

Bai Guo, her face smeared with blood, leaned against Qin Yan, her head resting on her knee, having passed out. Her right arm had been severed, and the flesh on her left thigh had been blown off, exposing the bone beneath the bandages.

Qin Yan looked affectionately at the naturally stupid girl, wiping her forehead with a damp paper towel, occasionally coughing up blood. The goddess’s injuries were not minor; her internal organs had shifted, and over half her ribs were broken. If not for the emergency first aid kit and the Demon Reagent given by Tang Zheng, she would have died long ago.

Xu Liangmao sat in a corner, staring blankly at his twin daughters’ photo, occasionally a smile gracing his lips as he probably reminisced about their childhood mischief.

"Have something to eat," Shen Qingshuang opened a can of canned food and passed it to Dantai. "We can’t go on like this; we need a plan. At the very least, lift everyone’s spirits."

After an unsuccessful attempt to contact Tang Zheng, Shen Qingshuang sat cross-legged on the ground, replenishing his protein, refusing to be broken by adversity and instead actively seeking to survive.

"Are you an optimist now? I can’t find anything to laugh about!" Sha Ou spat out, wiping his spiritual power bullets, only by touching the cold steel shells could he reassure himself that he was still alive, still had the power to struggle.

Jing Xiang lay on the stretcher, unconscious. Because of Catwoman’s abilities, she and Bai Guo were scouts, always the first to confront monsters during their escape, hence both girls were severely injured.

Li Xinlan wasn’t faring any better; she had been wounded by a clone of Mu Nianqi when using Ice Age to control the battle and block enemies, only surviving by luck.

"Have you guys noticed, when we were fighting the monsters and clearing the room, I felt my strength return," Lu Fan started the conversation, hoping to boost morale. "I’m sure Uncle must have killed some BOSS, lifting that halving strength restriction."

Little Lolita guessed correctly, the real team had killed the Dark Little Red Riding Hood, and the clone Tang Zheng had slain the Frog Prince; after destroying a total of four BOSSES and using the team exemption card, the penalty bestowed upon them had been lifted. After all, this was the great cleansing theme; if it had been a normal scenario, they could have returned by now.

"Snow White must be the final BOSS. Tang Zheng’s team is so efficient; they’ve already reached here. I believe it won’t be long before we can all meet," Dantai sighed. This battle had been quite a disgrace for him; other than being chased in a pathetic flight by the clone, he hadn’t accomplished much.

Mentioning Tang Zheng seemed to inject a dose of strength into the team, restoring confidence, the atmosphere becoming decidedly livelier.

Cough, cough, Jing Xiang came around, vomiting a few mouthfuls of blood, with Lu Fan and Xu Biyun rushing over.

"How do you feel? Where does it hurt?" Seeing Jing Xiang’s painfully contorted cheek, Lu Fan knew the anesthesia had worn off and quickly injected another dose into her vein.

"I’m okay," Jing Xiang shook her head, her voice hoarse, almost painfully scraping against the eardrum.

"Don’t worry, even if we die, I’ll be there with you," Li Xinlan was woken up by the noise, took a breath, and struggled to sit up.

"Don’t move, be careful not to tear the wound," Dantai came over, as the deputy group leader, he had to take care of these matters, others also looked at them with concern.

Boom, boom, a sudden explosion interrupted everyone’s reassurance, eyes all fixated on the door, knowing it was Dantai’s bomb trap that had been triggered.

"I hope it’s Tang Zheng!" Xu Biyun muttered, looking at Dantai, "What should we do?"

"Qing Shuang, let’s go check it out, everyone else be on guard!" Dantai picked up the Heavy Gravity Gun.

"Okay!" Shen Qingshuang didn’t waste words, leading the way. Their small squad had left behind plenty of blood stains, with no time to cover their tracks. If they didn’t go out now, once the enemy used traps to block their escape, it would likely lead to even greater losses if they tried to force their way through.

"Be extremely careful!" Xu Liangmao put away the photograph and also ran to the door.

"It’s okay, keep on sleeping!" Qin Yan comforted the awakened Bai Guo, picking up the Tang Sword, ready for battle.

Dantai didn’t rush out, releasing the Demon Viper instead. Unfortunately, the creature had barely snaked into the corridor when a thick Golden Arrow came flying over, forming into a huge dragon, crashing into the viper.

Boom, the viper was damaged, falling to the side.

"It’s Mu Nianqi!" Shen Qingshuang’s expression darkened. He was all too familiar with this kind of attack from being hunted down.

"Come out, I recognize this snake," the fake Mu Nianqi stood in the passage, thinking it was easy prey having been chased like a dog by Tang Zheng, she was furious. Faced with these people who had stumbled into her muzzle, she wouldn’t simply kill them. "Don’t worry, I won’t just kill you. How about turning you into human sculptures? Or maybe skin you and stick you on the walls?"

The power of the fake Mu Nianqi was undoubtedly strong. Even wounded from fighting Tang Zheng, she was not someone they could confront.

"Don’t panic, she’s playing mind games!" Dantai gritted his teeth, glancing at the three severely wounded women. If he didn’t take them with him, he might have a way out, allowing most to escape.

"Forget about us, just run!" Li Xinlan leaned on a curved knife and stood up. "We’ll try to buy you time."

Jing Xiang held back her tears despite being afraid, and didn’t speak a word against it.

Bai Guo tried to stand up but failed.

"I’m not running anymore, even if it means dying in battle!" said Qin Yan expressionlessly, her words ringing with determination and resolve.

"I’m done running, screw it all!" Sha Ou cursed loudly, his fighting spirit alight. What was the point of living on if it just meant running away?

"Don’t be impulsive, think of a strategy!" Lu Fan said with furrowed brows, crouching beside him, poking the ground with the Wisdom Sword, "What would Uncle do in this situation?"

"Alright, then let’s fight!" Dantai sighed deeply, casting aside all distractions, deciding on a do-or-die battle that, by eliminating some of the severely wounded, would actually lighten the team’s burden.

The false Mu Nianqi didn’t wait for them to get ready. Based on the bloodstains on the ground, she attacked fiercely with her longbow, shattering the crystal door.

Dantai threw out several smoke bombs, Qin Yan had already charged out in the lead, the honest beastified man followed closely, not even considering holding back.

"We can’t lose face either!" Sha Ou roared as he rushed into the corridor, unleashing a barrage of gunfire towards the direction of the noise.

Dantai’s Mental Impact spread out in a fan-shaped blast, covering a range of five hundred yards. He was ready to strike first and then adjust his tactics on the fly. However, An Fei grabbed him.

"Wait!" An Fei wiped his cracked lips, listening to the gunfire outside, his expression resolute, "Got any of those mini nuclear bombs? Give me one!"

"You thinking of self-destructing?" Naturally, Dantai would have such things prepared. He had considered having the severely wounded team members self-destruct to take out the enemy, but he couldn’t bring himself to voice that plan.

"I’m the weakest in the team, probably won’t make it through this time." An Fei was also injured, and he didn’t want to die meaninglessly. Moreover, if he self-destructed, he might just move one of the Conquerors and perhaps even be revived.

"That’s gutsy!" Lu Fan had already prepared a method for self-destruction, so he wasn’t surprised. He crouched and entered the corridor to join the firing line.

"Mu Nianqi, today is the day you die!" Little Lolita yelled loudly, trying to distract the enemy in any way she could.

"Take care!" Dantai handed over a Mechanical Nuclear Bomb to An Fei, only to see Shen Qingshuang spewing blood, flying past the door and crashing far away, leaving a trail of fresh blood on the ground.

Mu Nianqi inflicted a horrifying wound on Xu Liangmao and broke through Qin Yan’s defense, appearing at the door with a fierce gaze scanning the area.

"Dodge!" Dantai darted to the side as the Mental Impact aimed at the false Mu Nianqi.

Raging required focus; unfortunately, the Special Agent’s will was strong, but with so many thoughts, it was prone to failure. Anger as a path also failed; Dantai was naturally a person whose rationality outweighed his emotions, even if Tang Zheng died right before his eyes, he’d first consider the enemy’s situation.

An Fei wanted to dodge, but it was too late. The false Mu Nianqi activated the Northern Wind Ring, visibly condensing the air around her into air blades that sliced toward him.

An Fei’s equipment was poor, and he immediately burst into a spray of blood, flesh peeled away as he was knocked to the ground.

"Just as I guessed." The false Mu Nianqi laughed triumphantly at the sight of the three grievously wounded women, launching air blades and a clone to finish them off.

Dantai chased after, Xu Liangmao was too straightforward, thinking less, which was exactly why he was able to rage every time, fiercely attacking the false Mu Nianqi.

From Li Xinlan’s wristwatch flowed water, freezing the ground, and like a porcupine, she shot ice spikes out.

The Mu Nianqi clone dodged and was about to kill Li Xinlan when suddenly, countless Energy Gun Stings erupted from the ground, piercing her body.

Qin Yan gasped for air, her upper body emerging from the ground.

"I’m going all out!" An Fei, dragging his injured body, stood up. Seeing Xu Liangmao and Qin Yan desperately pushing the false Mu Nianqi out of the room, he chased after her and dived into her embrace.

The false Mu Nianqi delivered an axe-like chop, kicking at An Fei’s head, who immediately crawled toward the ground. Yet, bearing the pain, he clung to her left leg and pressed the button on the Mechanical Nuclear Bomb.

"Get away!" An Fei yelled, but he had underestimated the false Mu Nianqi’s strength. Once Hero Mode was activated, her Curved Knife swung down, severing his body.

Of course, the false Mu Nianqi recognized the nuclear bomb; she kicked open a nearby door and booted his torso inside.

Boom, the entire Crystal Palace seemed to shake from the blast, the shockwave and flames billowing out. This kind of self-destruction, unless it was unexpected like with Cheng Cheng, buried within the heart, it wouldn’t work; the power gap was too significant.

An Fei died, without even scratching the false Mu Nianqi who then cut off Xu Liangmao’s arm and charged into the room to kill the three injured women first.

.....

PS: Got writer’s block, sorry, one update today, will make up with three updates tomorrow, teary eyes! (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation.)