Chapter 72 Biting a person in half
The fog at sea is very deceptive.
If Tu Yuqing hadn't informed him beforehand, even with Shan Ran's enhanced eyesight, it would have been difficult for him to distinguish whether what was in the distance was an island or mist.
She was still some distance from the sea, not having crossed the dangerous boundary. Having successfully completed her mission, Shanran didn't want any further complications and just wanted to stay away from the sea monster.
Members of the Silver Wolf Base patrolling nearby would occasionally pass by, and would come over to greet Shan Ran when they saw her.
Shan Ran walked along the dock while observing her surroundings.
The sea is sometimes calm and sometimes turbulent. Some ferocious beasts will often surface to quietly observe the humans on the shore, but most of them remain hidden on the seabed.
The number of sea monsters is far less than that on land, and the number of mist clouds is also less.
Their primary targets are marine life. Some marine creatures, after devouring the monsters, gradually evolve and acquire supernatural abilities.
Most animal superpowers are physical enhancements, with a small number possessing rare abilities such as elemental or even spatial powers, but they are usually not too complex.
After gaining superpowers, animals' intelligence will be appropriately enhanced. Shan Ran once encountered some cats and dogs that had evolved. Their eyes were different from those of the cats and dogs she had seen before, and they were obviously more intelligent.
Only a few survived; many animals did not escape this crisis, and some species have even gone extinct.
The carcasses of the monsters pollute the land, which in turn destroys the plants.
The invasion from another world targets not only humans, but also the native flora and fauna.
The clearing of the mist is not only Shanran's revenge against them, but also a new hope for the world.
She currently possesses a D-level water-based ability, allowing her to remain submerged for approximately two hours without needing to breathe.
If it reaches level C, it should be able to go more than a day without needing to breathe, and maybe then it can even clear away the fog in the sea.
Looking back now, the superpowers she acquired were quite comprehensive, combining offense and defense, being amphibious, incompatible with water and fire, and having an immortal body as a safety net.
While pondering these thoughts, Shan Ran walked to the end of Pier No. 3.
With no road ahead, Shanran prepared to turn back.
Just then, a sudden, inexplicable feeling of palpitation made Shan Ran pause in her steps.
An inexplicable premonition set off alarm bells in her mind, and she immediately prepared to teleport back 15 meters away.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of suffocation struck, and Shan Ran discovered that she could no longer use spatial teleportation; her legs were entangled by something!
This is... a high-level ability suppressing a low-level ability!
Moreover, such suppressive power, even if not B-level, is at least C+.
The high-level monster finally found its opportunity to strike!
Shan Ran could feel something on her legs that made her unable to move, but strangely, she couldn't see where the monster that attacked her was.
The sea in front of her grew increasingly turbulent, as if some terrifying beast was about to break through the surface.
Shan Ran struggled to get away and back away, but her body was pulled towards the sea, the two forces pulling against each other.
She reached out and tugged, feeling something like tentacles tightly wrapped around her.
You can touch it but you can't see it; it's a monster that can become invisible!
She cannot teleport herself, but she can teleport other objects smaller than herself.
The Mo Dao appeared out of the space, and Shan Ran controlled it to teleport to his side. With the tip pointing downwards, it indeed pierced into the invisible tentacles, making a "plop" sound.
Immediately afterwards, blue blood gushed out around the Mo Dao. After being stabbed by the Mo Dao, the beast's previously hidden body finally revealed itself.
Several tentacles, each as thick as a thigh, tightly bound Shan Ran and were dragging her towards the sea.
These tentacles are extremely disgusting to look at, and each one is covered with black hairs.
These hairs were slightly coarse, and rather than hairs, they looked more like black strips of flesh with pointed tips. They were soft yet sticky, moving without wind, and rubbing against Shan Ran's body in a dense mass, giving her goosebumps.
Although this monster could become invisible, its tentacles were not very defensive. Shan Ran used teleportation again to plunge his Mo Dao into another tentacle, and the gushing blue blood splattered all over Shan Ran's face.
At the same time, Shanran threw a fireball in the direction she was heading.
In this way, the entire tentacle was exposed to her.
The tentacles extended underwater, and as the tentacles burned, the monster emerged from the sea.
Its head is extremely large, somewhat resembling a praying mantis, and is an inverted triangle with a pair of very large eyes on either side and two antennae on the top of its head.
The tentacles are located directly below the head.
Behind the monster, the sea was being pounded by unseen tentacles, splashing up wave after wave.
Although the tentacles are not visible, the density of the waves suggests that it has many, many tentacles.
Sure enough, after Shan Ran pierced the tentacles one after another and burned a group of tentacles, just when she finally had a chance to catch her breath, several more tentacles wrapped around her.
Having gained a brief respite, Shan Ran immediately used teleportation, but unexpectedly, she was pulled out directly by the tentacles!
This was the first time Shan Ran had encountered such an attack. Her teleportation was interrupted, and the opponent was able to tear through space, causing her to fall from the spatial passage.
A moment of stunned silence caused Shan Ran to be dragged a few more meters.
The tentacles have poor defense and average attack power, but the ability to become invisible is too strange. Moreover, the monster was able to detect Shan Ran's teleportation route through air fluctuations and thus pull her out.
This precise control over superpowers was something Shanran had never seen before.
In addition, there is the direct suppression of level, the attack method is very simple and brutal, but it is also difficult for Shan Ran to deal with.
Even so, Shan Ran used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and fire-based abilities to cause the monster to lose several tentacles.
Enraged, the beast opened its mouth wide, obscuring its large eyes, making it appear as if a mouth had suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea.
Its tentacles moved out in unison, wrapping around Shan Ran layer by layer, preparing to completely envelop her like a rice dumpling, preferably suffocating her to death.
Shan Ran swung his sword, and blue blood splattered, splashing onto the tentacles that were lunging at him from the air, making these invisible creatures visible.
Unfortunately, the horned eagle ability cannot be used now, resulting in the loss of a powerful D-rank attack ability.
Currently, only three of the Mountain Dye series—Hawk, Water, and Agility—are graded D; the rest are graded E.
If the little eagle in the spiritual world hadn't been injured, Shanran would never have fallen into such a passive state.
Since the water element is outclassed by the opponent's level, the best way to attack now is with fire.
Shan Ran gritted her teeth, desperately mobilizing the power of the small fireball within her spiritual world, preparing for a desperate fight.
Several tentacles were ignited, and Shan Ran finally revealed her head, but her body had already been wrapped into a ball.
Shan Ran's powers were being depleted very quickly. She threw another fireball at the tentacles while simultaneously manipulating the Mo Dao remotely, trying to slow them down.
Enraged by the repeated attacks, the beast disregarded everything and, despite the burning pain, dragged the despicable human in front of it.
Judging from its appearance, it seemed to be about to throw the mountain dye directly into its mouth.
Just at this critical moment, a cry of surprise suddenly rang out.
"Shanran!"
Shan Ran recognized the voice as that of Nan Guishang.
A giant fireball hurtled toward the monster, but the monster actually used Shan Ran as a shield.
Nan Guishang was shocked and immediately tried to retract the fireball, but the aftershocks still hit Shan Ran.
Fortunately, at the last moment, Shan Ran used her water-based powers to create a barrier in front of her, slowing down the attack.
The water vapor produced by the instantaneous combustion and evaporation was extremely hot, scalding Shanran's exposed face until it turned bright red.
With the tentacles still tightening, Shan Ran's expression was extremely unpleasant.
After being interrupted, the monster quickly continued to pull Shanran forward.
Taking advantage of the moment when the beast paused, Nan Guishang ran ahead of Shan Ran at the fastest speed he had ever seen.
Fearing that the monster would use Shan Ran as a shield again, he rushed in front of her, burning off several tentacles with his flames, and then turned and pushed Shan Ran away from the sea.
The red-haired youth acted on impulse without calculating the distance between himself and the monster, or considering that he was facing away from it, thus exposing his most dangerous position to the enemy.
He was already within range of the monster's head.
The monster's eyes glowed; it hadn't expected a human of a higher level to arrive, which would provide even more nutrition.
It opened its mouth and bit down, striking the man in the waist.
Bit it in half.
Everything went so smoothly that even the monster found it hard to believe.
It actually brought an end to a Class C superhuman!
However, the next second, the beast felt an indescribable heat and burning sensation within its body.
It tried to roar in agony, but before it could even open its mouth, it was blown to pieces.
Nan Guishang used his own body as fuel to trigger an explosion, which disintegrated the monster from within its body, blasting it into fragments.
Before the explosion, the tentacles that were wrapped around Shanran loosened because the monster was in great pain.
Shan Ran quickly broke free. As the aftershocks of the explosion struck, she used her water-based abilities to create a barrier. At the same time, holding onto Nan Guishang's remaining body, she activated her agility to the maximum and ran away.
Finally arriving at a safe zone, Shanran took out a blanket from her spatial storage and placed the tattered Nan Guishang on the ground.
When an immortal person suffers a fatal wound, the amount of blood loss is much less than when they are injured normally.
Despite this, the situation for the returning merchants still appears extremely dire.
He was left with only his upper body, the wounds were bitten off, the gaps were jagged, and there were even some broken pieces of flesh hanging on them.
A lot of the internal organs had spilled out during the run, so Shan Ran stuffed them all back in and then took out a blanket and placed it directly on the severed waist to prevent the internal organs from spilling out again.
Due to the intense pain, the red-haired youth's complexion was extremely poor, turning ashen white.
Large beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his lips were so white that their original color was no longer visible.
"No, there's no need for that. These internal organs can grow back on their own."
"Don't talk," Shan Ran interrupted the man, panting heavily. "Save your energy for recovery. With me here, you can sleep soundly."
It's unclear which words made Nan Guishang laugh, but he laughed so brightly that without the slightest hesitation, he said "Okay," then closed his eyes and fainted, entering a state of death.
Shan Ran quickly took out her phone and contacted Cheng Liucong, asking him and Wei Qing to drive over immediately.
Then she contacted Meng Xinye, briefly explained the situation, and asked him and Adolf to stay while she took Meng Xinye back to the safe zone.
Meng Xin could tell from the girl's anxious tone that she was alright, and after confirming that she was okay, he didn't ask any more questions and hung up the phone.
By this time, some people had already been drawn to the area by the loud explosion at the dock.
To avoid revealing Nan Guishang's supernatural abilities, Shan Ran covered the man with a thick blanket and stuffed a lot of things into his lower body to make it appear as if his lower body was still intact.
The patrol team from the Silver Wolf base arrived quickly and asked Shan Ran in surprise what had happened.
Shan Ran gave a brief explanation, concealing the crucial details. She only mentioned that Nan Guishang was injured and fell into a coma while saving her, and now needed to return to the safe zone for treatment.
None of them suspected anything.
Cheng Liucong and Wei Qing arrived quickly, both with serious expressions. They didn't say a word, but they could roughly guess what was going on from the scene in front of them.
Shan Ran exchanged a glance with the two, then together they dragged Nan Guishang's body into the car, refusing the help from the Silver Wolf Base members along the way.
After getting in the car, Cheng Liu quickly left the area and headed towards the safe zone.
Kui Qing turned around and glanced at Nan Guishang lying in the back row. Even without seeing under the blanket, he could guess the miserable state of the man.
Because when we were carrying it, there was no weight underneath, only a little bit of filling material.
This young master really manages to give people a heart attack every time he appears.
However, in the past, Shang Shao would always say a few more words to make sure he was on the bus and safe before he could close his eyes and enter the state of death.
Thinking of this, Wei Qing glanced at Shan Ran, who was taking care of things beside him.
He clicked his tongue inwardly, sighing to himself that this was the power of love.
Shan Ran sat next to Nan Guishang, carefully supporting his body to prevent him from being thrown off the vehicle by the bumps.
After all, he only has half of his body left, so he can't even wear a seatbelt.
She frowned, never expecting that Nan Guishang would not hesitate at all, and would turn his back to the monster in such a dangerous situation in order to push her away.
They simply don't value their own lives.
He reached the shore then. The two of them clearly had other tactics that could have been used to cooperate and get them rescued. Together, they could have killed the monster, and the only cost would have been minor injuries.
The two had cooperated before; the man was clearly learning the correct way to fight, instead of always risking his life.
But just now he had forgotten all his fighting skills and only thought about risking his life.
It really is...
madness!
Shan Ran looked at Nan Guishang with disappointment and wanted to give him a good scolding.
But the red-haired man had his eyes tightly closed and looked lifeless, so cursing him now would be useless.
This was the second time Nan Guishang had risked his life to save her.
Although she knew this was the opponent's unique fighting style, Shanran still felt uneasy.
After all, she had seen people die for her several times, and each time the deaths were extremely tragic, so she still felt a little guilty.
"Captain Shanran."
Shan Ran looked up and saw Wei Qing in the passenger seat in front of her.
The other person handed me a towel, saying, "Wipe your face, it's covered in blood."
All along the way, Shan Ran was so focused on returning to the south that she didn't even have time to check her own appearance.
She wasn't in much better shape either. She had fought the monster several times before, and then was scalded by steam, with a lot of blue blood splattered on her face.
"Thank you." Shan Ran took the towel from Wei Qing, wet it with her water-based supernatural abilities, and gently wiped her face.
She can't use too much force, or she'll get a scrape.
Once you return to the safe zone, just have someone with healing or light magic abilities check on you; these injuries aren't serious.
Shan Ran sighed softly as she wiped the stain.
Once the Southern Return to the Shang Dynasty has recovered, she will definitely find a way to correct the opponent's flawed fighting style.
Consider it repayment for the several times he saved my life.
Cheng Liu drove very fast all the way without stopping, and returned to the safe zone in four hours.
On the way, Shan Ran contacted Chandel and informed him of the situation of the Nan Gui Shang.
So when everyone arrived, everything was already prepared.
Lu Wenrou was busy and couldn't come, but Nan Guijianghai did.
This was his first formal meeting with Shan Ran.
He smiled, extended his hand, and greeted them politely, "Captain Shanran, hello, I am Nan Guishang's father, Nan Guijianghai."
Shan Ran politely shook hands in return, "Hello Mr. Nan Gui, I am truly sorry that this time, in order to save me, you caused Young Master Shang to fall into a state of death."
Nan Guijiang smiled gently, his tone very kind, "Captain Shanran, you don't need to apologize. I know A Shang's personality better than anyone."
Even if it weren't for saving you, he'd still be in the same boat fighting the monsters. I've seen him die countless times already.
Hearing Nan Guishang's father say this, Shan Ran didn't know what to say and could only smile awkwardly.
Then, Nan Guijianghai added meaningfully, "Of course, if it's for Captain Shanran, I believe Ashang would be even more willing to do so."
Yamaran: .......
Before Shan Ran could say anything, Nan Guijianghai continued with a smile, "Captain Shan Ran, our A Shang trusts you a lot. He has a bad temper, and that's all my fault. I spoiled him too much when he was little."
He used to rush into missions recklessly and always came back in this state. But since you came, he's started learning how to use his powers properly. As his father, I'm truly grateful to you. If it's not too much trouble, I hope you can help teach him a lesson.
Not to mention that Nan Guishang died twice for her sake, the safe zone sheltered her for a long time, and Lu Wenrou was also a decent district head. Since Shan Ran had accepted her kindness, she would definitely repay it.
Seeing that Shanran agreed, Nan Guijianghai once again expressed his gratitude.
He then went to the bedside and inquired about his son, who was a light-elemental ability user.
Nan Guishang's condition this time is much more serious than last time. Although his waist was also severely injured last time, at least there was still some skin and flesh connecting it.
This time, the monster's head was blown off along with it.
Looking at the mangled body of the red-haired youth on the bed, Shan Ran suddenly had some strange associations.
If she were dragged away and swallowed by the sea monster, wouldn't she still be inside the monster's belly after she was resurrected?
Then it is corroded and dies by the various substances in its abdomen, and then it is revived after a period of time.
Wouldn't that be a form of torture where you can neither die nor live?
Shan Ran couldn't help but shudder and put away such a terrible thought.
She would never allow such a situation to happen to her and Nan Guishang; she had to become stronger!
The next day, Shan Ran took on an even more distant mission, wanting to hone and improve her skills through real combat.
Her injuries were not serious and she had fully recovered after treatment, so she left the safe zone early in the morning, thus missing the chance to meet Meng Xinye who had returned.
This time, it was predicted that the death of the Nan Gui Shang would last for about 5 to 7 days, so Shan Ran first accepted a four-day task.
Upon learning that Shan Ran was not in the safe zone, Meng Xin had no intention of staying behind.
He changed his previous idea of just being a virtuous wife and now wanted to get stronger and improve his superpowers as quickly as possible.
We can't just stand by and watch Shan Ran face the threat of the advanced nightmare beast alone.
So when Shan Ran returned to the base on the fourth day, he didn't see Meng Xinye. He had taken on several missions in a row and hadn't given himself any time to rest.
When she returned this time, Nan Guishang woke up.
The kiss with Shan Ran last time enhanced Nan Guishang's superpower. Combined with the recent battles, his superpower has reached C+, and he has already touched the bottleneck of B-level.
Therefore, his resurrection time was shortened.
However, the injury was too severe, and it will take several days for the body to fully recover.
Nan Guishang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Shan Ran approaching.
"I'm glad you're alright."
Before Shan Ran could speak, she was stunned for a moment upon hearing the man's words.
Thinking back to what she said about returning to the south and the sea last time, Shan Ran had some strange thoughts in her mind.
But she remembered that on that night at the Silver Wolf base, Nan Guishang personally denied having feelings for her.
Shan Ran is quite sensitive to other people's feelings, but that doesn't mean she'll be presumptuous.
For a moment, she thought Nan Guishang liked her, but he denied it without hesitation.
Not only did he deny it, but he also brought up old grievances, questioning her about why she suddenly kissed him.
It was obvious that he didn't like kissing her.
Given this, Shan Ran naturally wouldn't make any further connections, lest she become a laughingstock.
If it's not love, then it must be friendship.
Could it be because she was able to change the way the Southern Merchants fought that they regarded her as a good partner who was both a teacher and a friend?
From this perspective, returning south to the river and sea that night also meant the same thing.
When Shanran and Nanguishang teamed up before, Shanran only got injured and didn't risk her life. I believe Nanguishang would be relieved to know this.
Now that Nan Guishang has woken up, Shan Ran decided to rest for a few days and take turns caring for him with Nan Guishang's younger brother.
Ah Jie has now upgraded to F-level superpower, and can throw four small blood leeches at once, each of which is larger than before.
"Sister Ran, thank you for comforting and guiding me. I'm becoming more and more accepting of the Blood Leech ability. Look, my level has even increased!"
Ever since Shan Ran praised his special ability, A-Jie has started absorbing crystal cores and applying to go out on missions. Although his leveling up is relatively slow, he has already made a lot of progress compared to before.
As A-Jie spoke, he tried to demonstrate his special abilities.
"There's no need for that..."
"Ah Jie! Stop!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com