Chapter 421 - Dust to Dust (1/2)

Mei Kingdom, South East border.

A stretch of wilderness ungoverned and uninhabited by humans.

Two people were currently running through this thick forest at full speed. They were covered in wounds, both shallow and deep.

*Huff*

*Huff*

”Run!” the one at the back shouted. He was in relatively better condition than the one in the front, who had a 4 inch wide cut along his abdomen, leaking greenish blood everywhere.

*Huff*

*Huff*

”Faster! They're right behind us Eighth brother!” Jun yelled again as he fired a volley of dark red arrows at the twenty plus people chasing them.

”Y-Yeah,” eighth replied absentmindedly.

Behind them the arrows intertwined with one another in mid-air and turned into a flaming web that set everything it touched ablaze.

A wave of red flames surged into the air, blocking their pursuers.

”Quick! Go around it, don't let them get away again!” one of them shouted and they dispersed in different directions, trying to find a way through.

If Hao Xuan were here he would immediately recognize the two that were being chased. The one in the front was the eighth brother, the slightly chubby one that didn't interact with him a lot. And the one behind was the teenager named Jun, the Sixth brother.

”There, along the sides of the gulley! They won't be able to catch our scent through the water,” Jun pointed towards a certain direction.

Eighth was already tired and had lost too much blood so he could barely keep his eyes open. He followed Jun's orders and jumped straight into a fast-flowing stream of water that was cutting through the forest.

Jun jumped in right after and swam up to him swiftly, grabbing Eighth's collar and pulling him to the side. They stayed in the water for five minutes or so. The water flow was becoming too much to handle. The gulley started widening and became deeper and even faster.

Because of Eight's open wound, several small beasts came up to them but were killed by Jun's arrows. But there was no end to them and the longer they stayed in the water, the higher the chances that a stronger beast would find them.

”Let's get out here Eighth brother,” Jun pointed at a small cliff a few meters above the water level. Eighth barely had any strength left but he still managed to grab ahold of a rock and pulled himself up just enough that Jun could pull him the rest of the way.

Jun laid back against the wet rock wall, breathing heavily.

”I think...I think we should be safe here for a little bit,” he mumbled.

There was a 6 inch long cut on his left shoulder that started bleeding profusely, spilling bright red blood everywhere.

”Hehe, this one's going to leave a mark,” he chuckled and took out a needle and a thread and started sowing himself up.

”Who would have thought...that I would be...using these mortal tools...one day...eh?” he mumbled jokingly while closing the wound.

Eighth propped himself up against the wall and examined his own wound as well. He scoffed after one look. It was turning green and grey, clearly infected and the poison didn't help either.

'That whore...I knew we shouldn't have trusted her from day one...' he cursed inwardly before closing his eyes.

At this speed they were still several days away from their destination. They had no healing potions, no elixirs, no magical ointments that could save his life. This was the end...unless

He took in a deep breath and stabilized his breathing before looking towards Jun.

”Sixth brother, come here,” he gestured with his eyes.

With a grunt, Jun got up and slowly waddled over. Now that they had time to relax in a relatively safe place, all the pain and exhaustion was hitting him head-on but he still didn't let it show.

He was the youngest of the group and because of that everyone treated him like they would their own younger brother. He was taken care of and protected much more so than others and now it was his time to care for one of his older brothers.

Eighth reached into his shirt and took out a spirit band.