Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 784 - 785

Chapter 784: 785

Song Xiaodong hugged Sun Yiyi, gently patting her back, and said, "I have some bad news to tell you."

Sun Yiyi lifted her head, her eyes already filled with tears, and said, "As long as you’re not dead, all other news is good news."

Song Xiaodong shrugged his shoulders and said, "But this really is bad news, the crocodile has made off with our backpack, and now we’ve lost everything, except for a dagger."

"So what if it’s gone," Sun Yiyi didn’t care at all.

"Without our things, we can’t tell directions now, we don’t have any food, and we don’t have a tent to sleep in."

Sun Yiyi lifted her chin and declared, "Then consider this a true wilderness survival test. Could it actually stump the two of us?"

"You’re right about that, we’ve got to keep on living."

Sun Yiyi looked at Song Xiaodong and asked, "You rascal, how did you manage to escape just now?"

"That crocodile thought there was something tasty in my bag, so it bit onto my backpack first, then I quickly cut the straps, and when those crocodiles started fighting over the backpack, I took the chance to escape."

Sun Yiyi said, "Phew, thank goodness the backpack served as a scapegoat. It’s a worthy loss."

Song Xiaodong said, "Right, now we have to hurry and follow those people, otherwise, we’ll get lost."

Sun Yiyi hastily agreed, stepped back, and untied the rope around her waist. The rope was an important tool for the two of them, so she quickly rolled it up, but upon seeing the end of the rope, she looked up at Song Xiaodong and said, "You cut the rope, I thought it was bitten off by the crocodile."

Song Xiaodong chuckled and said, "It’s not easy to escape with you in tow, but luckily, I’m quite clever."

Sun Yiyi stared at Song Xiaodong, then suddenly grinned and said, "Yeah, you’re really smart." She knew all too well that Song Xiaodong had cut the rope to prevent her from falling victim to the crocodile. Some things are best understood without having to be said out loud.

Song Xiaodong also put it simply; he alone knew how dangerous the situation was.

When the first crocodile bit his backpack, he swiftly cut the rope, then quickly severed the backpack’s shoulder straps, but the crocodiles were not completely ignorant; they understood that Song Xiaodong was the real treat, not the backpack.

So, the other crocodiles immediately started closing in on him.

Once free from the backpack, Song Xiaodong, no longer burdened by its weight, became much more agile in the water, but the murky river made it impossible to see anything beneath its surface. At this moment, to survive, his vital energy and spirit reached their peak.

In the two battles with Sun Zhentian, Song Xiaodong was also forced to overexert himself, but even if he took some hits then, it wasn’t certain he’d die right away; it seemed like his potential wasn’t fully squeezed out.

But now it was different; if a crocodile bit him, Song Xiaodong was doomed without a doubt.

Under the pressure to survive, Song Xiaodong truly unleashed a powerful ability, especially in terms of his mental sensory power. The flowing water slipping past him, the variations in pressure, all stimulated his skin, then fed back to his brain, which rapidly analyzed why the current was changing.

Three crocodiles charged at me, the one on the far left was the fastest; its mouth was already reaching for my thigh.

The other two, one on the left and one behind, were just a beat slower, probably half a second behind the left one.

Song Xiaodong’s brain was operating like a high-speed computer at that moment, analyzing the movements of the crocodile before he swiftly made his decision and reacted.

His body shrank, and just as the crocodile on the left lunged to bite, Xiaodong’s legs were already pulled in, then he thrust them out fiercely, striking the crocodile that had just snapped its jaws shut on empty air.

Propelled by the reaction force, Xiaodong shot to the right, avoiding the other two crocodiles. He didn’t surface, as that would have greatly reduced his speed.

This brought a sense of wild joy to Xiaodong’s heart, a sensation he had never experienced before, but he had no time to get excited now. To him, his eyes were useless at this moment, even less accurate than relying on this new perception underwater, so he swam vigorously below the surface.

The crocodile chased after him again, but Xiaodong repeated his trick, once more adeptly dodging the crocodile’s attack and using its pursuit to boost his escape.

Sensing the water currents not only allowed him to determine the movements of the crocodile but also helped him discern the direction; he was able to head towards the shore while avoiding the crocodile.

After several such attempts, he finally reached the shore and successfully leapt out of the water.

However, by then, he had been carried downstream by more than thirty meters; Sun Yiyi had been watching the original spot and hadn’t seen him emerge.

Song Xiaodong was actually very grateful to Sun Yiyi. Without the stimulation and torment of the past two days, his Mental Willpower wouldn’t have increased so much, nor would he have been able to experience that marvelous perception in a desperate situation.

Without this perception, he would definitely have fallen prey to the crocodiles today, so all of this seemed like a case of good karma. Had he not restrained himself and had something happened with Sun Yiyi, he wouldn’t have had the chance to be standing here.

Both of them could be considered to have narrowly escaped death, and after the shock, other matters seemed less significant; they seemed to relax all of a sudden.

They then walked upstream and quickly found the route the little devils had taken.

With someone having cleared the path, the two of them relaxed again and followed the tracks. Before nightfall, they caught up with the group.

Those people had found a clearing to rest; tents were set up, a fire lit, and they were sitting around eating together.

Song Xiaodong and Sun Yiyi reached the edge of the clearing and climbed a large tree. Hidden by the branches and leaves, they looked over at the group.

"Shameless," Sun Yiyi spat disdainfully, immediately turning her head away.

Among these people, a few had stripped off their tops, wearing only shorts possibly because they had been walking all day and their clothes were wet, so they wanted to dry them by the fire.

"I’m hungry," Sun Yiyi nudged Song Xiaodong and whispered.

Song said, "Wait until they are asleep; I’ll steal some food for us."

Yiyi muttered, "Okay, fine. But I really want to take a bath now; I feel so uncomfortable."

"I can’t help you with that..."

"I was just saying. What were they talking about?"

Song Xiaodong sighed softly and said, "They didn’t say exactly where they are going, but they mentioned that the place is full of snakes, probably the place you mentioned."