Individuals with no combat experience could usually maintain order during peacetime, but when catastrophes broke out, this false sense of order would break down in an instant.
Everyone was feeling uneasy as they followed behind Ai Hui.
On the contrary, Fatty, whom everyone previously thought was an useless bum, was holding a huge shield and striding beside Ai Hui while scanning his surroundings with a vigilant look on his face.
“Won’t it be safer if we remain here?” Wang Xiaoshan asked weakly.
“Nowhere is safe,” Ai Hui replied without turning his head while maintaining his walking speed. “If they were the Thirteen Divisions, I would definitely endorse the idea of staying there. However, they aren’t. If the situation turns for the worse, a moment of carelessness will cause them to crumble under pressure. Do you want to know how it feels to be squeezed and trampled on by a panic-stricken crowd? You don’t want to know. Furthermore, they have a lot of people, making them a huge target that is easily targeted by the blood fiends.”
“You’re so confident?” Duanmu Huanghun’s eyes flickered.
Deep down, he already acknowledged Ai Hui’s capabilities, but what Ai Hui just said obviously belittled those guards.
“I think it makes sense,” Jiang Wei agreed with Ai Hui. “The quality of the guards is really low. Even now, they still can’t catch that naked pervert. Reportedly, they were even being toyed with by that boy, causing several guards to be injured. I think it’s better that we depend on ourselves. Eh? Ai Hui, why is your facial expression so weird?”
Duanmu Huanghun’s eyes began to twitch. He felt as if he was being stabbed several times in his heart and bleeding non-stop.
Shi Xueman also thought back to the scene from that night. That was the first time she saw Ai Hui’s swordsmanship. The last sword move that he executed was peerlessly magnificent. That scene was etched deeply in her mind.
When she thought about it now, she could not help but exclaim in admiration.
As for the perverted naked boy, Shi Xueman did not really have a deep impression of him. On the other hand, she was more and more amazed by Ai Hui.
Previously, when she saw Ai Hui using the [Arching Fish Back] during his fight with He Qiuming and his team mates, she thought of her first blind battle. That was the only time she used the [Arching Fish Back] in an actual combat setting and she was subsequently defeated. After she saw Ai Hui’s [Arching Fish Back], she was blown away. If her [Arching Fish Back] was of the same level as Ai Hui’s, she would have obtained victory in that blind battle!
Unfortunately, she had not found that mysterious fighter yet, which left her disappointed and frustrated.
“I only remember that the perverted streaker’s complexion is rather fair…”
Immense shame engulfed Duanmu Huanghun. His face was burning with anger. At this point in time, he wished he could find a hole and hide in it.
“Ai Hui, have you seen this pervert before?” Jiang Wei asked excitedly.
“Yeah, that incident happened right at the alley outside the training hall,” Ai Hui replied. Initially, he did not want to talk much about it, but when he thought of Duanmu Huanghun still owing him 150,000,000 yuan, he changed his mind and continued his insults. “I have never seen such a perverted fellow in my life. He did not have a single piece of cloth on his body. Everyone on the street was shocked at that sight. Numerous eyes…”
Duanmu Huanghun’s face darkened.
Shi Xueman cast a glance at Ai Hui. Since when had this fellow became so talkative? The only thing that surprised her was that Ai Hui had not mentioned his stunning sword move at all. All he talked about was that perverted naked guy.
Not bad, he was not a pompous and conceited fellow after all.
She had encountered a lot of young talents and all of them kept on bragging to her about their capabilities and glorious expertise. She was extremely disgusted by such haughtiness.
She turned around and suddenly noticed that Duanmu Huanghun was looking unwell. She could not help but ask with great concern, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Both of their families had close ties with each other, and both of them knew each other from childhood as well. However, they were not really close friends. Shi Xueman was older than Duanmu Huanghun and she treated him like a little brother.
Duanmu Huanghun froze. After a while, he forced a smile and replied, “Everything’s fine, Sister Xueman.”
At this very moment, a shriek suddenly came from ahead.
“What’s that?”
“Oh my god, it’s a blood fiend!”
“Be careful!”
“Run!”
There were numerous people who were in hysteria on the street in front of them. The crowd ran toward Ai Hui’s group, resembling an incoming flash flood. Many people fell onto the ground and were trampled, but no one dared to stop running. There were also a lot of people who tried to escape through the air, yet these people crashed into each other within a few meters after taking off since there were too many people trying to fly at the same time. Their bodies lost control and fell to the ground.
At this point in time, it would be deadly for people to fall down as they would be instantly drowned by the crowd.
Everyone’s facial expression changed drastically. Without any hesitation, Ai Hui instructed, “This way!”
He was the first one to run into an alley nearby. The others seemed to wake up from a dream and quickly followed him.
Boom!
The sound of the ground trembling, the numerous shrieks and cries, and the surging tide of people whizzed past behind them like a furious tsunami.
Everyone, including Shi Xueman, ran through the alleyway in a hurry. Their faces had turned pale-white. Wang Xiaoshan thought of the question he asked Ai Hui just now and felt a shiver went down his spine. A person is so insignificant when he or she is faced with a tide of hysterical people.
At this moment, it felt like the end of the world was upon them.
They frantically ran through the alley. The wriggling and winding alleyway became the best screen for them, shaking off the terrifying flood of people behind them.
They stopped after running for several kilometres.
Upon seeing everyone’s pale-white faces and the deep fear in their eyes, Ai Hui sighed silently. He clearly understood the rookies’ feelings. The scene today would appear in their nightmares for a very long time.
The fatty simple-mindedly popped a piece of malt candy into his mouth as soon as he got the opportunity. His performed the best in this situation.
Duanmu Huanghun, Jiang Wei, and Wang Xiaoshan were pale faced. Everyone was panting heavily, like a fish that was about to suffocate.
Sang Zhijun and Shi Xueman were the most affected. Sang Zhijun’s eyes were slightly red and her entire body was shivering involuntarily.
Shi Xueman did not look well either. Ai Hui noticed that the hand that she was holding her spear with had turned pale. However, she managed to calm down gradually.
Actually, they performed better than Ai Hui had expected.
Duanmu Huanghun and the other two had been through two battles in the Garden of Life, and as such, their ability to deal with such situations had improved a lot. As for Shi Xueman and Sang Zhijun, they had killed the blood bat with Ai Hui. Therefore, they did not have much of a problem either.
Ai Hui could not help but rejoice over his decision to kick the other six people out of the group.
“We need to find out where we are now.” Ai Hui took a look at his surroundings and felt a headache. He was unfamiliar with his location.
He was actually lost…
Ai Hui wanted to put a stalk of grass into his mouth, but he resisted. He did not know whether or not the blood poison had infiltrated the city.
“This is Amber Lane” The voice belonged to Duanmu Huanghun. Other than his pale face, he looked rather normal.
“Are you sure?” Ai Hui looked at him doubtfully.
“I’m sure,” Duanmu Huanghun replied. For the sake of finding you to bring you back to class, did you know that Brother Huanghun searched through the entire Central Pine City?
Eh? After having an agitated thought like this, Duanmu Huanghun did not seem nervous anymore…
“This place is rather close to the training hall. Go straight, turn left, and walk through Pine Lane. After walking past five streets, we will turn onto Cloud Lane. After walking past another three streets, we will reach the training hall.”
Everyone was stunned by Duanmu Huanghun’s words.
“You’re so familiar with the area?” Ai Hui still remained doubtful.
“I have a photogenic memory,” Duanmu Huanghun replied expressionlessly.
So this fellow has a poor sense of direction! Duanmu Huanghun thought laughingly to himself. I finally found your weakness, Ai Hui!
Suddenly, Duanmu Huanghun’s eyes widened as the image of a jet-black sword tip rapidly magnified in his eyes.
Murder…
His brain could only think of this word before he heard a loud clank. The deafening sound of a collision exploded beside his ear, throwing his mind into a daze.
“Everyone, be careful!”
Ai Hui yelled to warn everyone. A powerful force erupted through the tip of the Dragonspine Inferno and into Ai Hui, pushing him back several steps.
A half-meter tall blood mantis flew up and stood atop a nearby wall. Its dark red eyes were staring coldly at Ai Hui.
Its sneak attack had actually been blocked.
The pair of scythe-like front claws were slicing in mid-air and produced a sound that would make people shiver in horror. With a flap of its wings, it became a red streak and pounced toward everyone.
Shi Xueman suddenly took a step forward and stabbed her snow-white spear into the red streak that was flying through the air!
A snow-white spear glint collided with the two streaks of red-colored scythe glint. Shi Xueman staggered, and before she could react, the demonic red-colored scythe glint appeared before her eyes once more.
The spear in Shi Xueman’s hand abruptly twisted and ts body distorted to block the incoming attack from an impossible angle.
Shi Xueman had underestimated the blood mantis’s strength and speed. She could not control her body in time and flew backward.
The demonic red-colored scythe glint appeared before her all of a sudden.
Her heart sank.
At this critical moment, a black sword suddenly sprung out from under her arm, behaving like a python that lunged out from the underbrush.
Clank!
Ai Hui’s arm was sore and he almost lost control of the sword, but he still managed to block off the incoming attack! He quickly put his left arm around Shi Xueman’s waist and both of them flew backward from the impact.
Before they even landed on the ground, Ai Hui yelled, “Fatty!”
Fatty and Ai Hui were well-coordinated. Like an angry grizzly bear, Fatty roared, raised his shield in front of him, and made a ferocious lunge at the blood mantis.
The blood mantis’s claws began to rain down on the heavy iron shield.
The fatty tightened his core and resisted the torrential attacks with his shield.
At this moment, the others returned to their senses and joined the fight.
Duanmu Huanghun’s [Viridescent Flower] conjured up several vines that shot out from all directions and wrapped around the blood mantis.
Sang Zhijun’s Golden Silk Longbow was shooting arrows at the blood mantis in rapid succession.
However, all these attacks failed to work. Duanmu Huanghun’s [Viridescent Flower] was completely useless. The blood mantis was lightning fast. It could even fly at an extremely low altitude, constantly creating afterimages to confuse his enemies. There were a few times where Duanmu Huanghun’s vines had wrapped around the blood mantis’s afterimages instead of the real body. Sang Zhijun’s rapid fire had been stopped as well.
The usually unavoidable arrows were destroyed with one swing of its claws.
Mantises were naturally gifted in executing sword moves with their scythe-like claws. In the Wilderness, mantises were widely feared. The blood mantis’s strength exceeded everyone’s expectation. From the beginning, it was on the winning side of the battle.
Jiang Wei’s heavy bow and Wang Xiaoshan’s attacks were completely ineffective. They simply could not keep up with the blood mantis’s speed.
Upon seeing that the situation was getting out of hand, Ai Hui made a weird maneuver in the mid-air before landing on the ground. Like a whip, the arm that he held Shi Xueman with swung forcefully, throwing the latter through the air. “Attack it!”
After throwing Shi Xueman into the air, Ai Hui crashed into the ground and groaned.
Upon hearing Ai Hui’s groan, Shi Xueman, who was already embarrassed by the previous exchange, suddenly returned to her senses. A killer instinct arose in her eyes. After she finished adjusting her posture in mid-air, her elemental energy frantically surged into the snow-white spear in her hand!