Crossing mountains and rivers
“Hey…Hey?”
As if struck by some strange spell, Morina's cheeks quickly heated up and turned red, almost as red as her hair.
"Why are you saying this all of a sudden?!"
Although she was very obsessed with Xi Mu's offense before, after experiencing the experience of being rescued from danger, she felt that both sides were even, so this matter was tacitly revealed.
As a result, it was suddenly brought up again, and the other party acted so seriously. The girl, who had long since given up on it, was hit by an indescribable sense of shame on the spot, and had to keep talking to ease the embarrassment.
"I'm not such a petty person. I've forgotten about that little thing a long time ago! - No, but you really should apologize. Don't do this again. Fortunately, I'm easy to talk to. If it were someone with a bad temper, I would definitely have a fight with you! Don't you know what's going on with you? Keep a low profile, okay? If you keep acting so recklessly, I'm afraid I won't be able to save you in time..."
I don't know why I started mumbling.
But she didn't express any dissatisfaction this time. Maybe she accepted the apology?
Ximu tilted her head, not understanding why, but still put on the earrings obediently.
The moment it came into contact with her skin, a wave of warmth flowed through her limbs and bones, visibly soothing her unconsciously tense mental state.
At this moment, a buzzing sound of flapping wings came from far away and became louder and louder.
The two of them looked up at the same time, and saw a swarm of silver insects gathering from all directions, like rivers flowing into the sea, and then condensed into a huge sphere in an orderly manner in Ruixia's palm.
The black-haired boy sat on the tree, holding up the swarm of insects with his hands, just like a magician summoning his familiars.
This number is really shocking... Did he have so many flying insects hidden on his body before?
Although somewhat surprised by the scale of this, Ximu had seen Ruixia use a mechabeast after all, so he wasn't too surprised. However, it was Morina's first time witnessing such a scene, and she subconsciously dropped her jaw.
"My gods... Is this the 'insect swarm' you mentioned earlier? This is magnificent!"
Unlike the priestess girl's simple sigh, Ximu obviously thought more deeply.
"Why did you take it back? What happened?"
Seeing that their private communication seemed to be over, Ruixia slid down from the tree swiftly, and some insects that had not yet returned to the group followed him, like a long ribbon.
"This area is causing significant interference to detection and positioning equipment. Those that were released later are still fine, but some of those that got farther ahead have already started to lose their response... Fortunately, the surrounding terrain has been largely mapped out. To extend our flight time, we'll refine the remaining areas as we go."
After saying that, Ruixia took back part of the insect swarm and released the other part again, then pulled out several screens out of thin air and carefully began a series of calculations and adjustments.
"What is he doing?"
Moli Na, who had just arrived, didn't know what he was doing, so she naturally asked Xi Mu who was standing beside her.
The latter couldn't explain any professional theories, and could only tell her the most direct conclusion: "Just wait. When he's done, we'll know where to go."
"oh……"
The priestess nodded in confusion and simply sat down to wait, curiously pointing at the mechanical bugs that had not yet completely flown away.
"Oh, Ximu, I almost forgot...you can use this first."
In the midst of her busy schedule, Ruixia seemed to remember something. She freed one hand, took something out of her bag, and threw it over casually.
...Doesn't this bag have a bottom?
The complaints in his mind flashed away, and Ximu raised his hand and held it accurately.
It was a short knife that was longer than an ordinary dagger. It was made of an unknown mineral. It was dark purple in color, with a slightly curved blade. The handle and patterns were all made of magical materials, and it seemed to have some amplifying effect.
"This was originally a spare weapon I prepared for my assassin companions on the team. It's not a top-tier piece of equipment, so you can use it first."
After carefully examining the weapon in his hand, Ximu couldn't help but have a new impression of Ruixia's wealth.
Are the magic weapons made of special minerals just spare parts for teammates?
This person is really generous to his friends...
Morina came over to take a look at the new weapon and seemed to have the same feeling. She was at loggerheads with Ximu not long ago, but now she was leaning over and whispering in her ear.
"Who is this guy? Is he some royal from some country, trying to experience life?"
Ximu shook her head: "I don't know, we just met."
The red-haired girl glanced at the two of them suspiciously, with words like "Impossible, I don't believe it, are you kidding me" floating all over her body.
It is normal to have such doubts. After all, judging from the level of tacit understanding between the two during the battle, it doesn't seem like they just met.
But in fact, many times, especially for those temporarily formed adventurer teams, there is no way they can have too much time to get used to each other - and in Ximu's opinion, Ruixia's tactical skills are actually very average.
They seemed to be working in perfect harmony. On the one hand, it was because she had rich combat experience and could react quickly no matter what the situation was. On the other hand, Ruixia had a precise ability to seize the opportunity and almost no mistakes. That was how they got through many critical moments together without any danger.
A mechanic, a priest...their current configuration is still too simple.
I don't know if Ruixia had thought about this, or if she felt that it was pointless to dwell on things that couldn't be changed. After working for a while without distraction, he finally completed the final touches and presented them with a more accurate topographic map.
"Okay, let's get ready. For safety's sake, Ximu will be in the front, Molina will go in the middle, and I'll cover the rear. How about that?"
Both of them nodded. In terms of their respective combat capabilities, this position was indeed more stable.
"Then... let's go!"
Thanks to the previous series of experiences, their subsequent exploration was actually much smoother than expected.
With the monitoring and analysis of the "swarm", they connected the safe points they had passed before and those they would go to next. While ensuring their foothold, they moved away from the center and advanced to the periphery as quickly as possible.
They soon discovered that the further they went, the sparser the trees became. The coverage of the unknown magic circle also became weaker, and the monsters' perception of them became slower. Sometimes they would run for a long time without hearing any footsteps of pursuit.
But just as the joy of "maybe we can leave here soon" arose, reality suddenly took a turn for the worse and dealt them a heavy blow.
"Wait a moment."
Xi Mu, who was leading the charge, suddenly stopped and said, "I think I've been here before."
Upon hearing this, Ruixia immediately confirmed her position, then widened her eyes and exclaimed in disbelief: "No, we were clearly there just now! How did we end up back in the middle?"
Looking at the location he pointed to on the map, their current location was very far away from where they had been before, as if they had been teleported back in an instant.
"Well...it seems like something is chasing us."
Morina's expression was twitching, and it was obvious that she was still traumatized by the monster that had taken her away earlier.
After listening carefully to determine the direction of the footsteps, Ximu looked at Ruixia, who understood and immediately adjusted direction, running to the other side.
"Let's get to a safe place nearby and avoid this wave of pursuit first! As for what exactly is going on, I'm afraid we'll have to try a few more times."
The three of them hurriedly crossed the mountains and hills. As the necks behind them stretched, the sharp sound of cutting through the air became closer and closer. The moment the silver tree came into view, they were all racing for life and death. Except for Ximu who finished gracefully with a sliding tackle, Ruixia and Moliina rolled and tumbled, and fell into the shade of the tree in a mess.
Fortunately, the shelter at the safe point was still effective. After everyone arrived, the monster lost its target again. After staying for a while, it left again with confusion on its head.
"I, I'm telling you, when I get back, I'm definitely going to sign up for our semi-annual Temple Games... With this amount of exercise, I'm sure I can win the championship for our Life Temple!"
Before Morina could get up, Haoyan had already jumped out in a long stream of cool words.
But her optimism obviously had a very positive infectious effect. The tension of surviving the disaster quickly subsided. Ruixia was amused and smiled. After Ximu habitually confirmed the safety of the surroundings, he slowly relaxed his body and sat down under the tree behind him.
"Speaking of which...are any of you feeling thirsty?"
After resting for a while, Morina turned over and sat up from the ground, and suddenly asked this question.
"No."
This was indeed unusual. Ximu and Ruixia looked at each other, and each saw a hint of solemnity in the other's eyes.
They had been running back and forth in the forest for a long time since the time in the dungeon. Normally, with such a large amount of exercise, even with amazing physical strength, water loss was unavoidable, and it was natural for people to feel thirsty.
But now, no matter how strenuous the exercise, they could recover as normal after a period of rest. Forget thirst, even hunger hadn't even arisen in the slightest during such a long period.
"This place is truly strange. From a physical perspective, the night should have passed long ago... but aside from the rising and falling fog, the starry sky above remains unchanged, as if..."
It's like it's fake.
Perhaps because she was afraid of causing panic among her companions, Ruixia did not say the following words, but just took out her pocket watch to check the time.
As expected - it stopped.
Since arriving here, all devices related to time and positioning have failed. Even the "swarm" released on the scene cannot stay in the surrounding environment for too long, otherwise they will gradually become disabled.
"Yeah, and I always feel like this place seems to have some kind of negative effect on people. I get dizzy and my head hurts after a while, so I have to keep casting spells to clear my mind and wake myself up."
After saying that, Moliina tapped her eyebrows and muttered something. A green light seeped into her, and her whole body relaxed instantly.
"Why?"
Ruixia uttered a questioning exclamation about this, and Ximu beside her was also a little confused. She blinked, and the two of them looked at Morina together.
"Dizzy? When did it happen?"
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