Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Barely Took It Down 2

This time, Wei Yun Xi pulled out the talisman stock she had saved specifically for herself – low-grade Second Rank talismans, with two or three mid-grade Second Rank talismans mixed in.

She had drawn those during an unusually strong burst after breaking through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining. If not for the enemy being one realm higher than them, she would not have taken them out at all. Even so, she stayed cautious and kept two mid-grade Second Rank talismans in her hand as a final backup.

The scene when all kinds of talismans exploded was spectacular. And because they were Second Rank talismans, even the low-grade ones still had real killing power.

The Second Rank sand rat likely never expected these four ants to still have the ability to fight back. It was blasted onto its back, and its golden fur became patchy – black here, white there, gold there. It looked ridiculous.

But none of them dared to relax. No matter what, the sand rat was still Second Rank. Demon beasts were usually thick-skinned and tough. As long as they were not hit in a vital spot, they still had the power to strike back.

Using the brief gap while the talismans detonated, Senior Brother Zhao stuffed two pills into his mouth as fast as he could. He quickly circulated spiritual energy to dissolve the medicinal power and replenish his nearly dried-up dantian.

At the critical moment, Wei Zong Hao did not drop the ball either. He chopped down the last first-rank sand rat, ran while shoving pills into his mouth, and after reaching Yun Xi, he tightened his grip on his spirit sword and stared hard at the Second Rank sand rat lying on its back.

Hua Xuan Zi also took the chance to swallow a Nourishing Spirit Pill. In a fight, the biggest taboo was running out of spiritual energy, because that made it easy to get counterattacked. After swallowing the pill, she raised her hand and formed seals. Brown vines on the ground immediately coiled around the Second Rank sand rat. She knew it would not truly restrain a Second Rank beast, but at least it could buy a little time.

Yun Xi’s spiritual sense had already covered the sand rat, searching for an opening. She discovered the sand rat was playing dead. It was badly hurt, but not dead. It was waiting for them to deliver themselves right to it.

[Tsk, so sly. It even knows how to play dead!]

Yun Xi complained inwardly, but she did not say it out loud. She kept observing, sweeping her spiritual sense around the sand rat’s upturned body, and she really did find a flaw.

She nudged Hua Xuan Zi, then mouthed the words “playing dead” without making a sound.

Hua Xuan Zi understood at once. She turned and passed the message to Senior Brother Zhao. In the next moment, all four of them knew, and Wei Zong Hao immediately said loudly, “Senior Brother, we killed this sand rat, right?”

Senior Brother Zhao cooperated perfectly. “Even if it’s not dead, it’s seriously injured. It should be knocked out by the talismans. We’d better go up and finish it, so it can’t recover and counterattack us.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

The two of them spoke back and forth and then edged closer with their swords, acting extremely cautious.

With the help of the top-grade Nourishing Spirit Pill, Yun Xi had already refilled her dried-out dantian. Now she sealed a mid-grade Second Rank Thunderburst Talisman inside an ice needle, quietly held it in her hand, and moved toward the sand rat’s butt.

The instant the four of them carefully closed in, the Second Rank sand rat broke free from the thorny vines and flipped over from the ground like a carp. Its tail swept out and smashed all four of them flying.

At nearly the same time, the transparent ice needle in Yun Xi’s hand shot soundlessly toward the Second Rank sand rat’s little butthole.

As the sand rat’s tail swept over, Yun Xi rode the momentum and flew out, not letting the tail hit her. It looked like it would have hurt like hell.

The other three, however, took the tail sweep head-on and were flung far away.

Yun Xi saw the timing was perfect – the others would not be caught in the blast. She spat out a single word, “Break!”

The next second, the Second Rank sand rat’s body jolted, and then it began rolling wildly on the ground. This time, it was not acting.

Its shrill “squeak-squeak” screams made the other three clutch their heads and collapse to the ground. Only Yun Xi was in the best condition. Because the spatial wood plaque protected her, she was the only one whose sea of consciousness was not affected.

But Yun Xi did not want her special situation to be discovered. She only wanted to lie low, so she pretended she had been hit by the sand rat’s dying sound-wave attack too. She clutched her head and fell to the ground, but her spiritual sense stayed extended the whole time, watching the sand rat.

The sand rat’s insides had been blasted into meat paste by the Thunderburst Talisman. Combined with its external wounds, it rolled harder and harder. After flattening the one-meter-high shrubs nearby, its aura gradually weakened.

Once the sand rat stopped screaming, the four of them immediately felt their minds clear.

Senior Brother Zhao was more experienced and reacted fastest. He shouted, “Xuan Zi, Junior Sister Wei, collect the Second Rank sand rat’s corpse. We need to leave, now.”

“Yes!”

Yun Xi and Hua Xuan Zi exchanged a look. They both understood why Senior Brother Zhao was so urgent. The two of them moved forward while covering each other. They each stabbed the sand rat in the eyes one more time to make sure it was truly dead, and only then did Hua Xuan Zi store the corpse.

Wei Zong Hao did not go forward, but he immediately moved to Senior Brother Zhao’s side. The two of them guarded the surroundings. As soon as their teammates stored the dead sand rat, they left the battlefield at once.

Sooner or later, someone would come over to check this place. The most urgent thing was to get away.

Zong Hao asked, “Where do we go now?”

Senior Brother Zhao’s face was still pale. He frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “We’ll hide in the Second Rank sand rat’s old lair. It’s dead, but the smell hasn’t dispersed yet. As long as we aren’t discovered by other fellow disciples, we should be able to rest properly for a day.”

“Alright, we’ll listen to Senior Brother Zhao.”

No one objected. They were all at their limit. If they returned now, the chance of getting robbed was high, and none of them wanted to hand over their gains for nothing.

All four of them knew the location, so they quickened their pace. Hua Xuan Zi even carefully erased their tracks so no one later could follow their trail to the four of them.

A quarter of an hour later, they reached the Second Rank sand rat’s lair. Once they entered the cave, Hua Xuan Zi tossed out a formation plate and concealed the entrance. Only then did everyone breathe easier.

Wei Zong Hao dropped down on the ground with a thump, looking like he had only just come back to his senses. “That was way too dangerous.”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for Senior Brother Zhao’s talisman treasure, the four of us would probably have died there,” Yun Xi said, rubbing her face.

Senior Brother Zhao smiled faintly and shook his head. “If we didn’t have Junior Sister Wei’s talismans helping us, and Junior Brother Wei killing the first-rank sand rats that kept disrupting us, I couldn’t have held on that long either. This time, taking down that Second Rank sand rat was everyone’s achievement.”

After speaking, he sat down cross-legged.

Hua Xuan Zi sat down cross-legged beside Senior Brother Zhao and asked, “Junior Sister Wei, what did you shoot into that Second Rank sand rat at the end?”

She had been knocked flying and only saw Yun Xi form seals, then a cold flash – and then she herself was sent flying.

Wei Yun Xi smiled awkwardly and said, “I sealed my trump-card mid-grade Second Rank talisman inside an ice needle, then shot it in through the sand rat’s butthole… hehehe!”