jdhmnovel Chapter 105 Opening
Chapter 105 Opening
Chapter 105 Opening
Yokoyama acted swiftly and decisively as always. Just one day later, he sent a helper to join the rescue team. Accompanying this helper was a burly man recruited from the pioneering team.
The helper was named Liu Yun, not yet thirty years old, but his martial arts cultivation was already quite profound, reaching the peak of the Martial Student realm. The recruited burly man was named Xu Kuo, whose cultivation was even more formidable, having already broken through the Martial Student realm and barely reached the Martial Warrior realm.
Thus, the six-person rescue team was formed, with Xiao Chong naturally as the leader and the other five as team members. However, in terms of martial arts level, Xiao Chong was not the highest, ranking only ahead of Yin Feng and Situ Mingyue.
Liu Yun was very cooperative in letting someone with a lower cultivation level than himself be the team leader. After all, he came from the town magistrate's mansion and had been warned by Hengshan before coming that he should obey Xiao Chong's arrangements in everything.
However, the other two, Situ Jiannan and the burly Xu Kuo, whose cultivation levels were higher than Xiao Chong's, were clearly somewhat displeased. Situ Jiannan was somewhat better, having already been defeated by Xiao Chong once, so he was more restrained. Xu Kuo, on the other hand, had no idea of Xiao Chong's strength, so his attitude was naturally less friendly.
In contrast, Xiao Chong remained quite calm, completely unconcerned about their attitudes. "I'm here to make money, who has time for idle chatter? As for those who aren't obedient? I'll just find an opportunity to suppress them!"
Early in the morning, after the six people gathered at the Xiao family's barracks, they boarded a small cloud boat and set off into the depths of the southern wilderness.
Because the mission to enter the Southern Wilderness this time was to rescue a team in distress, which required maneuverability and flexibility, the vessel used was a miniature cloud boat, less than one-tenth the size of a regular cargo cloud boat.
However, compared to ordinary cloud boats, this small cloud boat is several times faster. It is a masterpiece created by the Heng family and specially provided by Hengshan.
The small cloud boat sped through the clouds, leaving a white trail of air behind it, which, from the ground, looked like a white ribbon hanging in the sky.
An hour later, the cloud boat was getting farther and farther away from Tiannan Town, and had flown nearly a thousand miles away.
At this moment, the cloud boat was completely silent. Apart from Yin Feng, who was concentrating on piloting the cloud boat, the other five people were also silent, keeping their eyes fixed on the ground, hoping to find out if any business was coming their way.
Women are indeed more observant. After a while, Situ Mingyue suddenly pointed to the side and exclaimed, "Look! There's a small dot over there. It looks like someone is running for their life!"
This shout immediately attracted everyone's attention. Xu Kuo, who had the deepest cultivation and naturally good eyesight, glanced at the crowd and said with certainty, "That's right, someone is indeed running very fast."
"Drive over there!" Xiao Chong gave the order directly to Yin Feng.
"Alright!" Yin Feng agreed and steered the cloud boat headed straight in the direction Situ Mingyue pointed.
The distance was so short that it was over in the blink of an eye. The cloud boat made a sudden stop above the person on the ground, then circled and slowly descended, and all six people jumped down.
The man on the ground was fleeing in a hurry when he was suddenly startled by the sight of six people and fell to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
When he came to his senses, he saw that the six men were already in front of him. He quickly knelt down in the sand, covered his head with his hands, and kept shouting, "Heroes, spare my life! Heroes, spare my life..."
Are they mistaking us for robbers? The six of them stared at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
In the ensuing silence, Xiao Chong stepped forward, pulled the man up, and said gently, "Don't be afraid. We are not bandits, but a rescue team sent by Tiannan Town specifically to rescue those attacked by wild beasts. You ran so frantically, did you encounter any danger?"
"So they're our saviors!" Upon hearing the six people's background, the man immediately kowtowed repeatedly.
"What's got you so terrified? Otherwise, why are you spouting nonsense at this crucial moment?" Xiao Chong gently channeled a wisp of warm Yuan energy into the man's body and asked again, "Tell me slowly, what exactly happened?"
The man felt a surge of heat coursing through his body, and finally calmed himself down. He cried out urgently, "You've come at the right time! My family's mining team is fighting a fierce battle with a group of wild beasts. Please, please save them!"
"Where are they now?" Xiao Chong asked.
"Over there, just behind that hill!" the man said, turning around and pointing to a hillside not far away.
"Who is the leader of your team?" Xiao Chong asked again.
"It is I!" the man replied, somewhat puzzled, but still pointing to himself.
"So you're the one in charge, that makes things easier!" Xiao Chong laughed, "We can save you, but we can't leave empty-handed. We'll take ten percent of the spirit stones you earned as a reward. Do you agree?"
"Saving someone requires...and you have to pay?" The man was clearly taken aback and was immediately stunned.
“Of course! Why would we waste this time? Wouldn’t it be better to mine the spiritual veins ourselves?” Xiao Chong patted the other’s shoulder, his smile unchanged.
"This fee is a bit high, can you lower it?" That person was quite peculiar, actually starting to haggle at this critical moment.
If you don't cooperate, things will get complicated! Xiao Chong's smile vanished instantly, and he turned to say, "It seems the situation isn't as bad as it seems. Let's head back!"
After saying that, he turned and left, and the six of them also stepped towards Yunzhou in understanding.
Hey, hey, hey, you're not really leaving, are you? You guys were asking for an outrageous price just now, I was just trying to negotiate on the spot as usual, everything is negotiable!
Seeing that the rescue team was really going to leave without a care, the man became anxious and gritted his teeth, saying, "One percent, one percent! As long as you can drive away the wild beasts, I'll pay you back immediately!"
"Let's get started!" Xiao Chong's smile returned as he turned and waved to the other five people.
After turning past the hilltop the man had mentioned, the six of them stood on a hillside and looked out, only to be met with a horrifying, bloody scene.
Nestled in a mountain valley, there was a small mine. Beside the mine, a dozen or so people were surrounded by a swarm of ants, desperately trying to break free from their frenzied attack.
These ants are not ordinary ants; each one is as large as a large bowl, and their abdomens are covered with blood-red stripes, making them look exceptionally ferocious.
In addition, the sheer number of ants, stretching as far as the eye can see, makes one feel a chill down their spine.
The group of people who were surrounded were also of very ordinary martial arts level, mostly just beginning their martial arts training, and some were even miners with only a rudimentary understanding of martial arts. With their level of cultivation, they couldn't possibly cause much damage to the ants.
Around them, twenty or thirty mutilated corpses lay in pools of blood, their flesh torn apart by ants crawling on them, some reduced to bare white skeletons.
"What kind of ants are these? How can they be so big?" Xiao Chong asked the Situ siblings beside him, looking at the dense swarm of ants in front of him.
Both siblings shook their heads. Situ Mingyue said with a look of fear on her face, "I've never heard of such a sinister fellow before."
"Has any of you seen it?" Not getting an answer, Xiao Chong turned his head to the other people.
Liu Yun, being from the powerful Heng family, did have some knowledge. After hearing Xiao Chong's question, he pondered for a moment and replied, "Although I haven't seen them before, judging from their appearance, they should be the blood-striped ants described in the book, which are very difficult to deal with."
"Sounds impressive, doesn't it? But I wonder if its abilities match its name?" Xiao Chong's heart skipped a beat, and he asked again, "What's so special about these Blood-Striped Ants?"
While pondering, Liu Yun said, "Blood-striped ants aren't very strong in individual attacks. They secrete an acidic substance in their mandibles that paralyzes the nerves after biting a person. As long as you're careful not to get bitten, there's not much danger."
However, the carapace on their backs is as hard as iron, making it difficult for ordinary martial artists to harm them with swords; even seasoned martial artists need to expend considerable effort. The reason they are so difficult to deal with is that they all fight in groups, making them virtually impossible to eliminate.
"Do they have any weaknesses in their bodies?" Xiao Chong asked calmly.
“Yes,” Liu Yun replied, “In the middle of the thickest blood stripe on their abdomen, there is an abdominal navel, which is their fatal spot.”
"As long as there are weaknesses, that's fine." After hearing Liu Yun's explanation, Xiao Chong felt a little relieved. He glanced at the other five people and was about to make an offensive and defensive plan.
Before he could give any orders, Xu Kuo, who was already getting impatient, suddenly burst into laughter: "They're just a bunch of ants. I can crush them all with one finger. Is it worth being so careful?"
After saying that, he deliberately glanced at Xiao Chong, curled his lips in disdain, and jumped down the hillside with a loud shout.
This is because they're unhappy with me being the team leader and want to show off so they can establish their authority! But this isn't bad either; I'll give you a chance to suffer a bit first, so you won't get confused about who's boss.
Xiao Chong chuckled inwardly, but remained outwardly calm as he said to the remaining four, "Since ordinary martial arts practitioners can't harm the Blood-Veined Ants, let's divide the work."
"Just tell me how you want it arranged," Liu Yun replied at the opportune moment.
Xiao Chong nodded and said, "Yin Feng, since your cultivation is not high enough, you and Miss Mingyue should not fight the Blood-Patterned Ants. You only need to take care of supporting the mining team below."
The three of us were left to split up and clear the ant colony from three different directions, giving them a good fight.
Liu Yun and Situ Jiannan both nodded in agreement, and Yin Feng naturally wouldn't object to Xiao Chong's arrangement either, but Situ Mingyue was unhappy.
"Aren't you also a Martial Apprentice? Why don't you come with us to support the mining team instead of being like my brother and the others?" Unable to fight the Blood-Patterned Ants directly, Situ Mingyue expressed her confusion with regret.
Unfortunately, Xiao Chong had no intention of being a good answerer. He merely glanced quickly at Situ Mingyue's chest, his mind filled with unspoken reasons.
Who am I? How can I be the same as you? I'm a man with deep thoughts and feelings! You may have your own thoughts and feelings, but they're on your chest.
One is profound and unfathomable, hidden within; the other is superficial and mere outward appearance. In comparison, isn't the difference in quality immediately apparent?
But he couldn't say that! Xiao Chong was struggling to hold it in.
Left with no other choice, he could only pretend to be casual and say to Situ Mingyue, "You know, on the way to the Southern Wilderness, I defeated someone in the Martial Life Realm with a single sword strike."