"Then, um... what do we do?"
Atuna asked.
Blazing Flame snorted and said, "Is that even a question? He definitely wants to abandon us!"
"Well."
Atuna glanced cautiously at Li Qing, then at Lie Yan, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
On one side is Li Qing, their savior.
On one side is the butcher's daughter.
He's not someone to mess with on either side.
Li Qing said, both amused and exasperated, "Of course you can come up too, just don't cause me any trouble."
Then, she specifically asked Lieyan, "Since you've been injured, can you climb up with us? If not, I can carry you."
Lieyan frowned slightly, glared at Li Qing fiercely, walked past Li Qing quickly, came to the tree, touched the trunk with both hands, and pushed off with her long legs.
But just as she arrived, her body suddenly swayed on the tree trunk, and she almost fell to the ground.
"Blazing Flames!"
Atuna called out in concern.
The flames suddenly turned around.
Upon seeing the blazing gaze in his eyes, Atuna was startled, shrank back, and stopped speaking.
"This girl is quite stubborn," Li Qing thought to himself. He knew that Lie Yan didn't want others to see her vulnerable side, so he pretended not to see anything, put his hands behind his back, and stared blankly at the sky.
Anyway, even if I offered to help Lieyan, given her personality, she probably wouldn't agree.
Meanwhile, Lieyan felt a wave of dizziness. She shook her head and felt a weakness in her limbs, knowing that her body was not fully recovered. In particular, recalling the scene of Li Qing "teasing" her earlier made Lieyan feel extremely resentful.
I'm a level three warrior! In the past, if someone like Li Qing dared to joke around with me, I would have crippled him long ago, let alone a tree of this size!
Lieyan gritted her teeth, unwilling to let the three people behind her see her make a fool of herself. Without using all her strength, she bent her hands into claws and gripped the tree trunk tightly, roaring softly as she climbed upwards.
Whoosh, whoosh, the flames could hear their own breathing, like the sound of an old bellows.
Damn it, I'm already this tired after climbing just this little bit? Where is that strange bird? Blazing Flame looked up at the sky and cursed angrily.
"How about it? If it really doesn't work, you can wait downstairs."
Li Qing asked.
"Stop...stop talking nonsense!"
"Damn it, you're making us wait down there because you want to abandon us and sneak away. I won't let you get away with it!"
"Fiery Flame stubbornly said."
Sighing, Li Qing rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on, and said helplessly, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll spank you."
"you!"
"...You bastard, you scoundrel! Once I recover, I'll beat you to a pulp!"
Lieyan's face turned bright red. He never expected that Li Qing would still tease him, and... this was in front of Atuna! How could he face anyone after this?
"Okay, stop setting ambitious goals, hurry up and don't waste our time."
Li Qingdao.
We're in a hurry.
"Why don't you just climb up?"
Lieyan stretched his left hand upwards, trembling as he grabbed the foothold above him. Sweating profusely, he looked down at Li Qing and the others.
"Sigh." Li Qing shook his head. "Forget it, let's go ahead. If we follow behind you like this, we don't know when we'll reach the end."
...
high.
Very high.
Aside from that, Li Qing didn't have any other particular feelings.
They've climbed so high, yet there's not a breath of wind; it's incredibly strange.
Below was the land, and above was an endless expanse of long tree trunks. There wasn't a single bird in the sky, not even a cloud. It was higher up, further away from Li Qing and his companions. This environment made the climb much smoother, without worrying about external influences. But it also gave Li Qing a sense of "no hope," like walking in a desert, surrounded by endless yellow sand and a sky that seemed so far away. The surrounding environment was so monotonous, so despairing.
It seems that living here is not a very interesting thing; there is nothing but lush green plants.
Li Qing looked up and asked Li, "Approximately how far is it?"
“We’re almost there,” Li said to Li Qing as he stopped climbing. “We’ll be there in about two hundred more breaths.”
"That's good."
Li Qingdao.
Do you often climb like this?
Li replied, "I've come here sometimes, mainly hoping to help that strange bird as much as possible, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to communicate with it on several previous occasions."
Li Qing nodded. To be honest, he was a little tired after climbing for so long. Fortunately, there was Dahei next to him, whose energetic appearance gave Li Qing renewed motivation.
Especially with Flame and Atuna following closely behind him, their stamina was far less than Li Qing's, yet they still kept up. This made Li Qing tell himself that he absolutely could not lose to them.
As Li Qing climbed upwards, he could see the scenery on land. He didn't know how long he had been climbing, but he could tell by the sky above. The sky was completely dark, and only the starry sky still shone on the land that had just experienced a disaster—there was no sense of mystery, but only a sense of desolation.
"Chief... are they alright?"
"Um?"
"Ah. It's nothing."
Li shook his head.
Continuing to climb, after about another hundred breaths, Li's voice suddenly became more tense as she said, "We've arrived."
Above Li Qing's head was a single, towering branch, large enough to accommodate three people standing side by side.
Li climbed up first, then reached out and pulled Da Hei up, and finally Li Qing.
Li Qing steadied himself, one hand holding onto the tree root, the other reaching downwards, and said to Lie Yan, "Hurry up and get up."
Ever since Li Qing said he would spank Lieyan, Lieyan seemed to have developed a strong aversion to Li Qing. She glared at Li Qing fiercely, then forcefully slapped away his hand, gritted her teeth, and climbed up, grabbing the tree branch with one hand.
Her body swayed in the air several times, and despite her repeated efforts, Lieyan still couldn't get her other hand to grab the branch. She seemed frustrated with herself and let out a reluctant cry.
"You shouldn't be so stubborn."
Li Qing shook his head and simply grabbed Lie Yan's hand that was holding onto the tree trunk, pulling her up.
Seeing the look on Lie Yan's face that seemed to want to devour him, Li Qing laughed and said, "What, aren't you going to thank me?"
Blazing Flame spat and said, "I never said I wanted your help!"
"What a disobedient little girl."
Li Qing walked behind Lie Yan with a stern face, then suddenly slapped Lie Yan's upturned buttocks with his right hand, his five fingers together. "It seems I have to bring your father along to teach you a lesson."
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