"Hesitating over everything. Such cowardice. What if another sect shows up and takes the Purple Ginseng? Delay, and we lose it." A round-faced archer scoffed.
"Then you go ahead. I'm not coming." Leo turned and walked away without another word. Sothing about the corpses in the cave had bothered him, and seeing the Purple Ginseng untouched only made him more certain.
"You—Senior Sister Vera, he's disobeying orders." The round-faced girl, helpless to stop Leo, turned to Vera.
"Hey, Junior Brother Leo, are you really leaving?" Solon tried to grab him, but Leo was already gone, slipping back into the tunnel they'd co through.
As Leo erged from the cave, he spotted over a dozen figures moving swiftly toward him. His eyes narrowed. Good thing he'd left when he did. There was definitely sothing guarding that Purple Ginseng—otherwise, it would have been taken long ago. With demon beasts ahead and cultivators blocking the cave behind, Vera's team was in for a rough ti. And judging by their speed, these newcors were likely the ones who had left those Star Palace disciples dead in the cave.
Before they could reach him, Leo disappeared into the forest.
"That Leo has no idea what he's doing. If we hadn't saved him from those white spiders, he'd be dead. Running away like a coward—good. One less person to split the Purple Ginseng with." A tall, hot-headed disciple scoffed. "Senior Sister Vera, let's go. Grab those plants and get out of here."
"Junior Brother Xan, Solon, Angus—you three take point. Archer squad, stay ready to cover them. Watch the pond—sothing might co out. Everyone else, with ." Vera made the call. She sensed the sa danger Leo did, but her team was eager, and her squad was strong. With proper preparation, even if sothing attacked, they could retreat to the cave and hold their ground.
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Solon and Angus exchanged glances. Vera was powerful, but she lacked experience. Neither of them had Leo's nerve to simply walk away. Since they couldn't leave, they followed orders.
The two kept their distance from the mist-shrouded pond. Xan, however, strutted right up to it, casting a smug look back at them.
Solon's lips twisted. He looked away. Xan's smirk hadn't even faded when—
Whoosh! Sothing burst from the pond. Then another, and another.
Dozens of black, foul-slling liquid blobs shot toward them from the mist. Prepared, they raised their shields.
The liquid hissed against the shields, eating away at them, white smoke rising. The shields flickered.
"Poison! It eats through the shield!" Angus and the others paled, retreating.
Before they could react, over a hundred winged black snakes, each a few feet long, burst from the mist, their screeches grating. Most were second-grade, but dozens were third-grade, so peak third-grade. Individually, they outmatched the cultivators.
Hundreds of wind blades slashed toward the nearest. Xan's shield shattered after a few hits, and the blades tore him apart.
Solon and Angus, further back, fled faster. Even so, their shields collapsed, and they were cut and bleeding.
"Black-Scaled Winged Wind Serpents!"
Thwip, thwip. The archers fired. A dozen snakes dropped, but their deaths only enraged the swarm. More poured from the mist—hundreds now.
"Senior Sister Vera, there are too many! We don't have enough arrows." Quiver called out, signaling the archers to stop. If they used up their arrows now, they'd lose their greatest strength against other cultivators.
"Back to the cave!" Vera ordered, but the snakes were furious. They chased, spitting venom and wind blades into the tunnel. The last cultivators' shields were failing.
Vera's face hardened. Her red flying ring split into seven. She thrust them forward. They spun, slicing dozens of snakes in half. The swarm paused, then surged forward again, more furious than before.
"Senior Sister Vera, go!" Quiver grabbed Vera, whose face had gone pale, and pulled her back. The ring was powerful, but it drained her fast. Even mid-grade spirit stones couldn't keep up.
"Out! Get out!" The disciples scrambled back through the tunnel.
The passage was narrow in places, then would open into wider chambers. Just then, the lead disciple reached one such opening and scread. Blades from all sides cut him down. He didn't have a chance—ambushed by several enemies at once, he was hacked to pieces.
"Ambush!" Angus shouted. Snakes behind them. Cultivators ahead. Trapped. The enemy had chosen the wide chamber, where several could attack at once. But the tunnel leading in was narrow; only two could exit at a ti, easy pickings. And behind them, the snake swarm grew louder.
"Now what? Can't go back, can't go forward. Snakes behind us, those Evil Valley bastards ahead. No way out. Senior Sister Vera, you're talented, strong, but you've got no real experience. Should have listened to Junior Brother Leo. We'd be out of here—alive, even without the Purple Ginseng." Solon's mouth ran, panic creeping into his voice.
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