30 Chapter 29: Return Journey (2/2)
But Du Lang was far from finished. He slowly stalked to the front of the sprawled Ironback Wolf, reared his right hand back, and then thrust it deep into its chest. Spasms ran through the Ironback Wolf's carcass for one last time, nervous impulses sprang into action by Du Lang's sudden strike. I watched, horrified, as Du Lang ripped something from inside the Ironback Wolf's body.
At first I thought it was the Ironback Wolf's heart, but I was mistaken. Instead, cupped inside Du Lang's hand, was a glowing red orb that pulsed with immense amounts of qi. Demonic energy swirled around it, and I could almost see the ghostly form of the Ironback Wolf hovering above the throbbing red sphere.
Well, duh. Ban Zhang mentioned that they were supposed to extract the monster cores from Rank 3 magical beasts, but I had completely forgotten about that because the Ironback Wolf was a Rank 4 magical beast.
Clearly Du Lang was seeking to impress the teachers with his achievements, by going above and beyond what was required.
”Oi, why have you stopped?”
Ban Zhang, realizing that I had braked to a halt to watch the spectacular spectacle, turned back and glared at me, annoyed.
”Oh, no. sorry. Just watching Du Lang.”
Ban Zhang turned and caught sight of Du Lang storing the Ironback Wolf's monster core in his bag. He sighed and shook his head.
”Wow…that guy has grown stronger again. Du Lang never ceases to amaze me. He's already at level 6 of the Qi Essence Stage?”
I shrugged, giving Ban Zhang a blank stare. Honestly, all these levels and stages were completely meaningless to me.
”You…!”
Meanwhile, Du Lang had noticed us. His eyes wide, he advanced toward us quickly, his hands still dripping with blood. I had to dodge him before he got his filthy fingers on my collar and stained my white tunic with magical beast blood.
”Calm down, dude.”
”F…Fei Wu?! How?!”
I grinned and waved at him. ”Hello, Du Lang, it's been a while.”
”Don't 'it's been a while' me! How did you survive?! Where have you been all this while?!”
Du Lang was glaring at me. I scratched my cheek.
”Surviving through Sen Lin Forest, getting lost and being forced to hide pathetically from the magical beasts.'
Du Lang studied me, and must have sensed the change in my qi, for he smirked.
”Hiding pathetically, huh? I'm sure you did more than that.”
I shrugged. ”I did whatever I need to survive.”
”Well, in any case,” Ban Zhang broke in before the conversation could develop further. ”I'll be bringing Fei Wu to Teacher Jiao. We need to report this, and I'm sure Fei Wu needs a rest after being stuck in Sen Lin Forest for so long.”
”Were you really stuck in Sen Lin Forest all this time?” Du Lang asked suspiciously, his eyes scanning my new-looking tunic. ”Then where did you get those clothes?”
”I managed to stumble into a village called Chun Xiang Village,” I explained. Then I pointed vaguely to where I came from. ”It's somewhere in that direction. I was half-dead when they found me, and they were kind enough to provide me first aid, food and accommodation. Then once I recovered, I decided to make my way back to Martial City.”
”Through Sen Lin Forest?” Du Lang asked skeptically. ”Why didn't you contact us when you're in the village?”
”I wanted to, but they didn't have telephones or any signal. They told me to wait until spring, but I wanted to return to Martial City as soon as possible. Besides, I survived in Sen Lin Forest for over a month before arriving in the village. I was confident of making it through the superficial regions of the forest, as long as I avoid the deeper regions.”
”Hmm…”
”Anyway…” Ban Zhang cut in. ”The teachers will decide whether he's the real Fei Wu or not. Let's not waste any time.”
Du Lang nodded, and then gestured for us to go ahead of him. He returned to the carcass of the Ironback Wolf.
”You guys go ahead. I'm gonna skin this fella and cut him apart.”
Ban Zhang nodded in understanding, while I unconsciously heaved my Silverback Wolf pelt bag. From firsthand experience, I knew how useful the various parts of magical beasts could be, and they could be sold for a good price in Martial City, or even in the academy stores.
”Let's go, Fei Wu.”
”Yeah.”
I didn't argue. Following Ban Zhang, we continued running for several minutes, bashing through the forest and surprising magical beasts. We didn't stop, at least until I heard screaming.
”Kyaaaah!”
”Save us!”
”NOOOO!!!!”
It was coming from that direction. Jerking my head up, I quickly made my way there, sprinting. Ban Zhang skidded to a stop and began yelling at me.
”Hey! Fei Wu! Where are you going?!”
”Didn't you hear that?!” I shot back. ”Someone's calling for help! It's clear that somebody is being attacked by magical beasts!”
Ban Zhang ground his teeth in frustration, but he recognized my reasoning. While he wanted to bring me back to the teachers, helping other students in need took priority. He quickly shifted direction and caught up with me.
”Hold your ground! Stay strong! Keep the formation!”
A sharp voice called out, and I recognized the owner as the first disciple of the Green Dragon Sect, Li Chun Long. He and three other guys, plus Qing Xin Xia, were standing firm against an immense magical beast. All around them, at least twenty other schoolmates were scattering about, shrieking and running in panic.
”That's…!”
A Diamondback Crocodile. Already there had been casualties. I saw about ten or so students lying motionlessly on the ground. Most of them were in pieces, and all of them were lying in a growing pool of blood. It was clear that they were all dead, especially when none of them were emanating any sort of qi.
Towering over the Green Dragon Sect members and stretching over ten meters, the Diamondback Crocodile lashed out with its tail. One of the guys parried its tail with his sword, but he was flung across the clearing and into a tree from the sheer force.
”Bei Da Bai!” Qing Xin Xia cried out. He wasn't one of our classmates, so I assumed that he was a fellow disciple of the Green Dragon Sect.
”Xin Xia!” Li Chun Long snapped. ”Don't break formation! Otherwise all of us will die!”
”Ah…yes!”
The Green Dragon Sect members were generating a blazing field of yang qi to form a forcefield-like barrier against the enormous Diamondback Crocodile. Gritting his teeth, Li Chun Long stepped forward and thrust with his sword, but his fiery blade clanged uselessly against the crocodile's armored scales.
”Kuh!”
Li Chun Long gnashed his teeth in frustration and slashed ineffectually again, with similar results. The Diamondback Crocodile lunged forward to catch him in its deadly jaws, but Xin Xia and the other two schoolmates rushed forward to yank him out of the way in time. There was a flash as their swords blocked the Diamondback Crocodile's teeth, but the lot of them were thrown back from the sheer force.
”Kuh!”
”Kya!”
They slowly rose to their feet, shaky from the blow. However, the Diamondback Crocodile wasn't kind enough to allow them to recover. Darting forward at a blistering pace that belied its immense size, the mighty alpha predator closed in on them, its jaws wide open.
”Get up! Seven Star Draconic Defense Formation!”
Even as Li Chun Long shouted that, it was clear that it was going to be too late. Even the Four Star Constitution cultivator himself wasn't able to get to his feet on time before the Diamondback Crocodile's jaws closed around them.
The fangs never bit into human flesh.
Wham!
”?!”
The Green Dragon Sect members stared up in surprise when the Diamondback Crocodile's jaws suddenly snapped shut, a few inches just shy of them. Above, I was standing atop the Diamondback Crocodile's snout…having kicked it down to slam its jaws shut.
The force of my Shadow Kick rammed the Diamondback Crocodile's head against the ground, causing a mild explosion and clods of soil to fly up. The Diamondback Crocodile thrashed about wildly, trying to throw me off, but I pinned its head to the ground, shutting its jaws for at least half a minute more. Knowing that I couldn't restrain it for much longer – the Diamondback Crocodile's superior physical strength threatening to throw me off its head and its tail whipping dangerously closer – I yelled at the stunned Green Dragon Sect members.
”What are you waiting for?! Get up! Run!”
They didn't need me to tell them twice. The four of them got to their feet and joined Bei Da Bai, who had recovered after breaking his way through the tree that had fallen on him. They fled further into the forest just as the Diamondback Crocodile finally dislodged me from its head.
”Whoa!”
I barely managed to jump away, flipping my body in midair to barely dodge its deadly tail that lashed out. Landing on the ground, I allowed my momentum to send me skidding backward to widen the distance between us. The Diamondback Crocodile growled before lunging at me. I straightened and waited for it to approach before diving right at it. Twisting my body below the ground, I kicked the Diamondback Crocodile's chin and rammed its jaws shut again before spinning around to deliver a kick into its abdomen.
The enormous creature flew back into the swamp.
”Oi! Fei Wu! Are you all right?!”
Ban Zhang finally caught up with me, having been left behind when I ran ahead. Apparently, thanks to my running thirty kilometers everyday prior to the first training mission, as well as my experience in Sen Lin Forest during the past two months, I had become a lot faster than him.
”Huff…huff…”
I dropped to my knee, panting heavily. The Diamondback Crocodile was at least a Rank 4 magical beast and was in some ways even more dangerous than the Ironback Wolf that Du Lang had defeated. While it was somewhat slower and less agile, those armored scales were pretty tough. I had ended up injuring myself by kicking it with everything I had, and most likely I had only dealt minimal damage to the creature.
Ban Zhang ran to my side and helped me up, concerned. I forced a smile to assure him.
”Yeah, I'm all right.”
”You don't seem all right!”
”Kuh…”
Ban Zhang was right. I winced from the pain as I struggled to stand up. The Diamondback Crocodile would be emerging from the swamp, more enraged than before.
”U…um…!”
I glanced back. It was Qing Xin Xia, and she had returned to help me. Li Chun Long and the other schoolmates didn't seem very pleased.
They also seemed to have completely forgotten who I was. other than my good friends, did the rest of my classmates and schoolmates forgot that I was supposed to have gone missing in Sen Lin Forest about two months ago?
Qing Xin Xia didn't realize it was me, and she leaned past an annoyed Ban Zhang to check on me.
”Are you all right?”
”Yeah. But you should go.”
”Eh…? But you can't fight the Diamondback Crocodile on your own! It's a Rank 4 magical beast! You need to be at least the fifth level of Qi Essence Stage to fight it!”
”I'm not intending to. We'll run away once all of you are gone.”
”So hurry up and run,” Ban Zhang added impatiently, his eyes on the swamp as he waited for the Diamondback Crocodile to burst out.
”They're right.” Li Chun Long grabbed the protesting Xin Xia and pulled her away. ”We'll only get in the way. Let's go.”
”W…wait!”
”Hurry!”
Not listening to her objections, Li Chun Long hauled Xin Xia away, with the other schoolmates in tow. Ban Zhang and I didn't bother to watch them leave, instead turning to face the Diamondback Crocodile. As I expected, the furious beast had emerged from the swamp, bellowing vengefully.
I felt cold perspiration drip down my face as the full force of its ferocious qi washed over me. Gulping, I forced myself into a defensive stance and waited for the creature to charge at me.
”You ready for this?” I asked Ban Zhang. The class representative shook his head as he gave me a resigned smile.
”No…are you?”
”To be honest? Not really. But we've no choice but to do it, right?”
”If I get killed, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life. Or haunt you in hell if you die with me.”
Despite our situation, I chuckled. ”Well then, I'll do my best to make sure neither of us get killed.”
Unamused, the Diamondback Crocodile roared before it lunged at us.