Chapter 77 Waterfall, Enemy, Cliff, Danger.
In the blink of an eye, seeing the mechanical claw whistling as it hurtled toward the blade, Chen Mi ignored the stinging pain in his foot and lunged at it.
With another tumble, covered in mud and fallen leaves, she barely managed to bring Blade to the ground. The grappling hooks grazed their heads before slamming heavily into the grass beside her, creating a piercing sound and sending dirt and debris flying. Much of it landed on Chen Mi's back. She pressed herself against Blade, breathing heavily, the only sounds in her ears the thunderous pounding of her heart and the whistling wind.
In Ren's eyes, the moment Chen Mi lunged at him, the mechanical claws almost grazed her hair, and the sharp "fingers" left a deep mark on the ground.
"Are you crazy? Run away yourself!" Ren said through gritted teeth, and seeing her dazed look, he hurriedly pushed and pulled her up from the ground.
Chen Mi gasped for breath, his voice trembling slightly: "That grappling hook was aimed at you. If you had been half a second slower—"
Before Shen Mi could finish speaking, another move came.
The mechanism above the golden man's head made a soft "click" sound, and almost at the same time that the blade caught a glimpse of that cold light, a set of metal nets suddenly fell from above.
Blade reacted with lightning speed, grabbing Chen Mi in a swift movement and pulling her into his arms as he crouched low. The metal mesh grazed their backs as it crashed down, its openings embedding themselves deep in the soil, wedging them in place with a dull thud.
The two were so close that Shen Mi could almost feel the vibration in Ren's chest.
"Run!" he hissed sharply.
Before she could finish speaking, Chen Mi's legs had already instinctively started moving forward. She almost stumbled as she started, and as soon as she regained her balance, she was pulled forward at breakneck speed.
The sound of a metal mechanism activating again came from behind her. Blade followed closely behind, ducking slightly to narrowly avoid a steel cable that swept out horizontally. The cable had a hook at the end and grazed his hair, making a piercing sound as it cut through the air.
"To the left!" Ren shouted in a deep voice. He caught a glimpse of the golden man approaching their right side. He quickened his pace, pushing Chen Mi to a safe position with one hand, while maintaining his original speed. When the golden man got close, he punched the mechanical device the golden man used for aiming.
"Bang--!"
A dull metallic clang rang out as Blade's fist struck the golden man's head precisely. The powerful impact numbed his own hand bones, but it also successfully deflected the golden man's grappling hook off course, causing it to bite into the ground and leave a trail of sparks.
The Jin man's aiming was damaged, and all his ranged attacks were paralyzed, which bought Shen Mi and his group time to escape.
With a push of his foot, using the force of the golden man, he leaped backward, flipped and landed, instantly creating distance between them.
He approached Shen Mi's side, listened to Shen Mi's heavy breathing, and asked in a deep voice, "Can you still run?"
Chen Mi, panting, nodded vigorously: "Yes."
"good."
Before she could finish speaking, the blade had already swept to her side like a shadow. She spun around and grabbed another hook that was slashing down at Chen Mi from above—the Jin reinforcements had arrived.
Shen Mi kept running and running, not daring to look back even for a moment, for fear that if he looked back he would see the golden man so close at hand.
She was running almost instinctively—stumbling, yet gritting her teeth and continuing. The footsteps behind her, the clanging of metal, and the sharp whooshing of wind through the air mingled together, making her scalp tingle and wishing she could disappear into the ground.
"Head down, run to the right, don't look back," Blade suddenly spoke, his voice as cold as a blade.
Startled, Shen Mi quickly lunged to the right. Almost simultaneously, a silvery-white claw swept across the spot where she had just been, raising a cloud of dust. She didn't even have time to regain her balance and could only roll forward using inertia before awkwardly pushing herself to her feet.
"Ouch..." My knee is scraped and burning.
She gritted her teeth and kept charging forward, but then she heard Ren's voice come from behind again: "Just keep running forward, I'll cover you."
Shen Mi didn't dare turn around, but she knew that Ren must be blocking her way. She could almost picture the man, his body radiating murderous intent, slashing down the mechanical hook with his blade. But even if Ren was strong, he was still just a mortal. Unlike the Jin people whose bodies were made of iron, there were more and more Jin people. Their mechanical metal feet pounded on the grass, the sound muffled like the drumbeats of an execution, each beat closer than the last.
After running for a while, Shen Mi looked back and saw a black figure gathered with a group of golden men behind him.
Her heart tightened.
In the deep darkness of the night, amidst a chaotic jumble of lights and shadows, only that dark figure remained rooted to the ground, unyielding and unyielding. Its form was as immovable as a mountain, yet in the next instant, it suddenly moved, like an arrow shot from a fully drawn bow, plunging into the crowd, its cold blade flashing and lightning crackling.
Shen Mi stopped, feeling as if something was choking him, and his legs felt like they were filled with lead, making it impossible for him to move.
The blade was almost completely obscured by the golden figure in her vision. His movements were fierce and frenzied; the knife he had picked up from somewhere was swung with reckless force, as if he were throwing his own blood along with it, just to stop the surging tide. His body was already covered in wounds, and now new wounds appeared, the blood spreading like ink.
She finally realized what was happening and turned around, intending to rush over.
Through the gaps between the densely packed golden figures, Ren saw the clown-green figure getting smaller and smaller. Just when it seemed he was about to escape, the figure unexpectedly turned back.
In that instant, Ren almost laughed in anger. He gritted his teeth, his rage bursting from his eyes. He slashed three times at the joints of the golden man in front of him, and shouted coldly, "What are you doing back here!"
"I've come to pick you up."
"No need!" Ren said coldly. "Just protect yourself."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a golden figure lunged at Ren. Ren reacted swiftly, inserting his dulled blade into the golden figure's movement module.
Finally, he effortlessly demonstrated to Chen Mi how well he knew the enemy.
Having finally managed to tear open a crack, he temporarily distanced himself from the golden figures behind him. Blade knew that dragging things out like this was unsustainable; the golden figures were relentlessly closing in, and his stamina would eventually run out. After all, this was how he had been captured in the first place; escape was the best course of action.
The two ran one after the other through the dense forest. They ran for an unknown amount of time, but the trees grew taller and the terrain became uphill.
"Where are we going?" Shen Mi asked, catching his breath.
“Leave this woodland.” Blade paused. “I remember there’s a river ahead. Cross that river to the edge of the dense forest. Maybe that will lead them to you.”
Shen Mi's heart skipped a beat: "So, there's hope of getting in touch with Jing Yuan and the others?"
Ren hummed in response, but said nothing more.
They continued onward. The night grew heavier, a cold wind crept into their collars, and all around was so quiet that the only sounds were their footsteps and the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Finally, a tremendous roar of water came from ahead, as loud as thunder.
Chen Mi's eyes lit up: "It sounds like water!"
Blade stopped in his tracks: "Be careful, they have thermal sensors. You can't shake them off by running like this."
"Then what should we do?"
"Jump down."
After a brief exchange on their next course of action, Chen Mi learned that Ren wanted to use flowing water to get rid of them.
The trees ahead were becoming increasingly sparse, as if a new road had been opened up for them.
Suddenly, Shen Mi heard a low "humming" sound behind him.
She turned around abruptly and saw a faint red light in the woods not far away—like some kind of electronic device scanning.
"They're here," Ren said in a deep voice. Almost the instant his voice fell, a loud "bang" came from afar, and the sound of trees being snapped by a heavy object echoed through the forest.
Shen Mi's pupils shrank sharply: "They caught up so quickly?"
"Don't look, let's go!" Ren grabbed her hand and practically dragged her forward.
Something was rapidly approaching from the woods behind them, the sound of metal colliding with the earth pounding against their hearts.
Chen Mi gritted his teeth, desperately following in Ren's footsteps, praying silently as he ran—
Run faster, you dead leg! Faster! Faster! Faster!
Footsteps suddenly approached from behind, sharp and swift, as if they could engulf them in the next instant. Shen Mi's hand was gripped tightly by the blade, her knuckles turning white from the force. She glanced back, and through the bushes, she could vaguely see the figures of the pursuers and the flashing blades, less than ten feet away.
Before Shen Mi could finish speaking, he was pulled forward by a force.
At the end of the woods, there is a waterfall cliff.
The wind howled against the cliff, and the mist swirled. In the distance, the mountains piled up like inkstones, like silent barriers. Underfoot were slippery blue stones, and near the cliff edge, moss covered everything. One wrong step and you would be plunged into the abyss, shattering into pieces.
Shen Mi suddenly stopped, but before he could speak, his foot slipped, and he staggered, tilting violently toward the edge of the cliff.
Suddenly, her waist tightened; it was Ren who, with lightning speed, grabbed her and pulled her back.
His movements were swift and decisive, but he did not slow down. Instead, he seemed to disregard the cliff and continued to pull her forward toward the edge.
Chen Mi's heart pounded, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. After a night of running around and experiencing danger, he finally couldn't help but blurt out, "Damn it, how come it's a cliff!"
The bottom of the cliff was pitch black, and the depth of the water was almost impossible to see. Only the cold wind swept through the valley, creating a howling sound like the wailing of ghosts. The words "Are you out of your mind?" flashed through Shen Mi's mind, but then Ren's voice came again, lower and colder than before, and even more unquestionable: "Jump."
Shen Mi gritted his teeth; he had no other choice.
Behind her, the mechanical searchlight drew ever closer, accompanied by mechanical prompts such as "Target locked" and "Prepare to attack," like a countdown, bringing her step by step to the edge.
Chen glanced at the height and was almost so frightened that he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that she was so frightened that she lost her composure, Ren said to her, "Hold on tight to me."
His voice was hoarse and low, almost torn apart by the wind, but it still carried a reassuring firmness, which brought Shen Mi back to her senses.
"Jump," Blade whispered.
The moment he finished speaking, he had already jumped down with her.
A cold wind swept over her face, and a sharp whistling sound pierced the air. The world seemed to turn upside down in an instant. Shen Mi kept her eyes tightly shut. The feeling of being suspended in mid-air was terrifying. She instinctively clung tightly to the blade, her heart pounding in her chest. Her body flipped slightly in the air, turning her back to the impact surface below.
A moment later, the icy lake surface opened up as if swallowing something whole.
Bang--
The lake water rushed towards them, carrying a bone-chilling cold, and instantly swallowed them both. Shen Mi's consciousness suddenly froze, and he was plunged into the silent underwater world.
No sound, no light, no air.
The lake bottom was unfathomably deep, and the icy cold felt like countless needles piercing her skin. Chen Mi struggled to breathe, but only managed to inhale a mouthful of water, choking her and making her internal organs feel as if they were convulsing. Just when she was about to give up, a hand gripped the back of her neck.
Ren held her tightly in the water, swimming forward with almost all his might. He held his breath, his long, wet hair tangling around Shen Mi's shoulders, his fingers gripping her clothes tightly.
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Author's Note: Guess what will happen in the next chapter!!! [doge][doge][doge][doge][kiss][kiss][kiss][kiss][kiss]
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