Chapter 17. Departure from G City, Entry into B...
The flying car quickly crossed the hundred-meter-high bluestone city wall of the capital and drove north from the city gate. After about half an hour, it saw four other flying cars at the rendezvous point.
The four flying cars were parked casually by the roadside, and the four team leaders—Gu Qingqi, Shen Bi'an, Lu Xumo, and Pei Shuyan—stood aside chatting.
Seeing the familiar silver flying car of the Dragon Fang Squad arrive, Gu Qingqi, a cigarette dangling from his lips, waved casually.
The car stopped, and Xiao Weizhi led Lin Xiaoxiao toward where the others were.
Gu Qingqi glanced at the two who were like conjoined twins, exhaled a puff of smoke, and complained, "They take that little girl with them everywhere they go, they're practically kicking her in the waistband! A new team member? You believe that?"
A thoughtful look flashed in Shen Bi'an's eyes, but his smile remained charming: "Wei Zhi didn't say it was a new team member; it was Miss Lin who said it herself."
Pei Shuyan noticed Xiao Wei's previous position out of the corner of her eye and changed the subject with a smile: "They're here, so let's talk about the route to G City."
After all, it would take almost half a month to reach G City if we followed the normal route, but the opening of the secret realm would not wait for anyone, so we had to take a shortcut to catch up.
Lu Xumo took a deep breath, and a few seconds later, the smoke he exhaled obscured the complex emotions in his eyes. He responded in a deep voice, indicating his agreement with Pei Shuyan's suggestion: "Mm."
As soon as Lin Xiaoxiao got close, when they were still three or four meters apart, she couldn't help but cough lightly, her little hands constantly waving in front of her lips and nose.
Her gaze fell on the cigarette butts surrounding the group of four, and she was somewhat speechless. How addicted were they? Luckily, Xiao Weizhi didn't like smoking.
Xiao Weizhi made a few hand seals with his left hand hidden under his robe, and a gust of wind suddenly appeared, blowing all the smoke in the opposite direction.
Seeing Xiao Weizhi's actions, Gu Qingqi immediately threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. He then gave Lu Xumo and Pei Shuyan, who were still smoking, a meaningful look: Stop smoking. Can't you see that Lao Xiao's 'team members' can't stand the smell of smoke?
The other two quickly received Gu Qingqi's signal and swiftly extinguished the small flame at their fingertips.
Shen Bi'an smiled and walked past Xiao Weizhi to greet Lin Xiaoxiao behind him: "Miss Lin, good afternoon."
Lin Xiaoxiao greeted them shyly: "Good afternoon, Mr. Shen, Mr. Gu, Mr. Lu, Mr. Pei."
Gu Qingqi grinned roguishly, craning his neck slightly. When he saw Lin Xiaoxiao's clothes, a meaningful emotion almost overflowed in his eyes. Her taste was clearly...
When Xiao Weizhi saw Gu Qingqi's gaze, he subconsciously took two steps to the left, completely blocking Lin Xiaoxiao's small figure behind him.
Before Gu Qingqi could open his mouth to speak, he spoke first: "How do we arrange the route?"
Upon hearing this, the four people who had originally intended to tease the two of them instantly dropped their playful expressions and switched to work mode.
Pei Shuyan spoke first: "The plan is to cross directly from the northeast. With our five teams combined, the monsters (demon beasts, demon beasts...) along the way shouldn't be a problem."
Shen Bi'an added, "I checked, and the highest-level monsters along the way are only C-rank, so the danger level isn't high. It's just that the road might be a little difficult to travel."
After all, it's a straight line across the mountain range, so the journey is definitely not as comfortable as taking the official road.
While Xiao Weizhi was chatting with them, Lin Xiaoxiao's attention was mostly drawn to the 'rabbit' not far away.
Calling it a rabbit wouldn't be quite right. With its round shape and two long ears trailing behind it, it looks more like a fluffy ball of cotton candy. It hops around when it walks, and its fur flutters freely in the wind, making it look like it's so cute to pet.
Just as Lin Xiaoxiao tugged at Xiao Weizhi's sleeve, wanting to ask if she could take the cute little thing home and raise it,
Then you see the 'rabbit' open its huge mouth, the whole sphere as if it had been cut in half, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and swallow a flower that was not much smaller than its body. Its ferocious appearance was completely different from its previous cuteness.
Xiao Weizhi turned her head and saw Lin Xiaoxiao with her mouth agape, looking completely stunned. Following her gaze, she saw the white, round beast and asked in confusion, "What?"
Lin Xiaoxiao remembered that the little thing was a relatively well-known low-level magical beast, and stammered a little, "No, it's nothing, I just thought the Tuan Tuan Beast was quite cute."
Xiao Weizhi instantly understood Lin Xiaoxiao's thoughts. Many female professionals had been captivated by the adorable appearance of Tuantuan Beast when it was young and had considered raising one.
But that thing is only cute for seven days after it is born. Once it passes its infancy, it will become hideous.
The person who initially raised the TuanTuan Beast never imagined that the two fist-sized little furballs would grow into a hairless meatball over 3 meters long, looking disgusting, eating and defecating a lot, and having low combat power.
He frowned slightly and whispered a reminder: "Tuan Tuan Beast won't be like this when it grows up."
Lin Xiaoxiao shook her head gently. From the moment she remembered what kind of magical beast it was, she had no intention of raising it.
After this minor incident passed and the travel plan was agreed upon, several flying cars rose to 20 meters and lined up to head northeast.
Lin Xiaoxiao sat in the car and looked down through the window. Below were dense, lush green forests, with figures of all sizes moving through them. The car occasionally passed over some strange-looking flying monsters (demons), as if she were in a bizarre and fantastical world.
She leaned back in her chair, her pupils unfocused, lost in thought.
But my mind kept replaying descriptions of this world:
Thousands of years ago, the world suddenly underwent a cataclysmic change. Countless monsters descended, accompanied by entrances to mysterious realms that twisted like black holes. The initial countless humans perished in the monsters' jaws.
For the sake of their homeland and survival, the ancestors of humanity were forced to repeatedly venture into those secret realms. Ultimately, amidst near-death traps, they brought back a game-changing artifact from one of these realms: the Sacred Stone of Job Change… From then on, humanity, with its job-based character classes, began a millennia-long struggle against demonic beasts and secret realms…
{Secret realm instances will appear intermittently. If a certain special energy within the realm overflows, the boundaries will be broken, allowing the monsters (demons) within to break free and descend into reality…}
Therefore, all powerful professionals are very enthusiastic about pioneering, firstly because of the responsibility, and secondly because of the high rewards...
A loud 'bang' rang out, and the flying car was forced to stop in mid-air.
Just as Lin Xiaoxiao was lost in thought, the flying car directly hit a group of flying monsters and birds with invisible properties.
They look very much like vultures, but are much smaller, only about 25 centimeters in size. Their feathers are white, and their bodies are in a mysterious state of sometimes hiding and sometimes appearing.
Li Junxuan slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration: "Boss, there are too many Hidden Birds ahead, we can't get through."
Several flying vehicles were surrounded by a dense swarm of hidden birds, whose sharp beaks kept pecking at the vehicles' shells.
Although it's impossible to damage the flying car made of special metal, the constant knocking sound can be irritating and cause a buzzing in the head.
Xiao Weizhi turned off the communicator and instructed in a deep voice: "Chen Feng, Wang Hao, you two come out with me and quickly clear out this batch of Fallen Birds. The rest of you wait in the car."
"Got it, boss." Chen Feng*Wang Hao replied.
Li Junxuan pressed a red button on the flying car. The flying car shook a few times, and a 2*1.5 metal plate extended from below the door. Then the flying car door slowly rose.
A few hapless birds flew in, and Jiang Tao casually threw out a few darts, stringing all the birds that had entered the car together. The darts carried them outwards, exploding in the air about 5 meters away, forming a small ball of fire.
Xiao Weizhi flicked a shield to protect the others in the car, then turned and led Chen Feng and Wang Hao out quickly.
They exchanged glances. When did their boss become so considerate? Didn't he always let them handle things themselves before?
When their gazes swept over Lin Xiaoxiao, who was sitting obediently in her seat, they exchanged knowing smiles.
Cheng Cheng turned around, leaned back on the chair, and poked his head out, smiling at Lin Xiaoxiao, "Don't worry, it's just a minor problem. The boss and the others will be back soon."
Hearing this, Lin Xiaoxiao relaxed her tense back a little: "Okay, Sister Cheng."
Outside the flying vehicle, Xiao Weizhi waved his staff, and hundreds of ice spikes appeared out of thin air, flying towards the flock of fallen birds. All the fallen birds that touched them would quickly freeze, turning into ice blocks that fell down.
Wang Hao held the gun with both hands and fired repeatedly. With each shot, several more birds fell to the ground.
Chen Feng's task was to stand beside Xiao Weizhi and Wang Hao, and slash down all the birds that approached them, preventing them from harming them.
Professionals also came out to help clean up the other four flying cars.
A dozen minutes later, the five flying cars continued flying towards their destination.
For the rest of the journey, five flying cars were on the road continuously, with drivers constantly changing. From time to time, they encountered groups of monsters. Several teams cooperated tacitly to clean up, get on the car, and continue on their journey.
Finally, after ten days, they crossed a mountain range of 10,000 kilometers and successfully arrived at the entrance of Ghost Stone Fortress in G City.
During the time when the car was passing through several places, Lin Xiaoxiao's mission item: [A bag of special seeds] lit up several times and was marked as available for collection.
Because the flying car was moving very fast, it only lit up for a few seconds each time before going dark again.
As a result, Lin Xiaoxiao did not realize at first that she had actually missed several opportunities to complete the task.
The flying cars of each team stopped at the entrance of a dark and gloomy valley. The sky above their heads was blocked by huge tree canopies and dense vines, blocking all sunlight.
Many energy lights hang at the entrance, and the incandescent light reduces the gloom of the environment.
A staff member wearing a black helmet, black combat uniform, and orange reflective vest reached out to stop the flying vehicle and bent down to ask in a low voice, "Ordinary flying vehicles are prohibited from entering here. Please show your pioneering order."
The flying car moved forward a little, the window rolled down slightly, and Xiao Weizhi took out a bronze pioneer order made of metal that could be folded like a greeting card and handed it over.
The staff member took the land reclamation order with his left hand, while his right hand flashed with light.
The Pioneer Order slowly emitted a blue light, within which the names and numbers of all members of the Dragon Fang Squad could be vaguely seen.
After checking, the staff put away the pioneering order and gestured sideways: "Open the gate and let us go."
Turning to the Dragon Fang team inside the flying vehicle, he shouted, "Thank you for traveling all the way to G City to help with the land reclamation. I wish you all a bountiful harvest and a safe return!"
The flying car traveled 5 kilometers and successfully arrived at the entrance to the dungeon that emitted a gray-black light.
After retracting the car, Lin Xiaoxiao stared at the entrance that exuded an ominous aura, subconsciously reaching out to grab the corner of Xiao Weizhi's robe, and swallowed hard.
And mentally hypnotize yourself: Just think of it as going to a haunted house, it's not scary at all, it's all experience, it's all money.
Xiao Weizhi felt the tug on his robe and subconsciously took two steps closer to her.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, everyone arrived and entered the B-level copy secret realm: Ghost Stone Castle.
After a brief period of tumbling, the group of over sixty people landed safely inside the secret realm.
In the pitch-black darkness, accompanied by the stench of decay and the foul smell of earth, the howling wind sounded like the cries of a baby.
When the light illuminated the surrounding environment, Lin Xiaoxiao subconsciously moved closer to Xiao Weizhi.
They were in a large graveyard, surrounded by countless mounds of graves of all sizes, with withered yellow grass growing in the gaps, and a few crooked trees with only dry branches in the distance.
Dilapidated tombstones stand crookedly in front of some graves. Some graves without tombstones have wooden plaques inserted in front of them, but most of these plaques have been corroded to the point of being almost invisible.
In some of the black soil, there were some white and whitish worms wriggling and crawling, and you could vaguely see a corner of tattered cloth mixed in.
Some of the soil even contained bits of white bone that had been turned upside down, and some of the bones had insects crawling on them.
Standing on this land, people often have the illusion that the ground beneath their feet feels strangely sticky.
Cheng Cheng swallowed hard, gripping the holy book that emitted a faint white light tightly in his hands, his voice a little strained: "This secret realm seems like it's going to be very exciting."
[Holy Codex: A spellcasting equipment exclusive to Holy Light Priests. Effectively counters all ghost-like monsters and monsters, and provides a 10% skill boost to the caster in dark environments filled with ghosts and monsters.]
In the eerie wind, accompanied by the rustling sound of insects crawling, the ground at Lin Xiaoxiao's feet bulged slightly and then receded, as a dark shadow slowly approached her ankle.
Initially, the dark shadow approached Lin Xiaoxiao's prosthetic right leg. Mistaking it for an insect, she even kicked it several times.
Until her left ankle was suddenly grabbed by something cold and sticky, like a hand. Her heart stopped beating for a second, and then started beating wildly again, as if her heart was about to jump out of her throat.
Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't help but scream in terror: "Ah—"
The next second, her jumping ability was fully increased. She jumped up like a koala, hugged Xiao Weizhi's neck tightly with both hands, wrapped her legs around his waist, buried her head in Xiao Weizhi's shoulders, and kept kicking hard with her left foot, trying to kick the thing on her left ankle away.
Xiao Weizhi first felt a soft warmth, then subconsciously reached out to support her bottom, holding her tightly in his arms. His expression was unusually dazed, thinking it was an enemy attack, and he quickly shouted, "Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!"
The entire Dragon Fang squad instinctively drew their weapons and assumed a fighting stance.
A few seconds later, Gu Qingqi burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, Weizhi, your new team members are too timid!"
Xiao Weizhi turned his gaze and saw the still-moving ghost hand hanging on Lin Xiaoxiao's left ankle, and he understood why she had suddenly been frightened.
Jiang Tao swung the dagger, a silver light flashed, and the ghost hand that was tightly grasping her ankle was instantly split into two halves.
Lin Xiaoxiao felt the grip on her ankle disappear, and she shakily raised her head. Realizing her current movements and the sensation on her buttocks, she instantly blushed with embarrassment.
She loosened her legs from around his waist and whispered awkwardly in his ear, "Let me down."
Xiao Weizhi's ears felt slightly hot, and he was about to let go and put the person on the ground.
Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to ripple, and in an instant, countless ghosts crawled out from the ground and graves, howling at them.
Xiao Weizhi didn't put her down; instead, he hugged her even tighter, pressed Lin Xiaoxiao's head onto his shoulder, and whispered, "Lie down, don't look, it'll be over in a bit."
He then held Lin Xiaoxiao in one arm, his steps light and agile, dodging the ghostly hands that occasionally reached out from his feet. His movements were completely unrestricted, and he skillfully wielded his staff with his right hand.
Dozens of light arrows appeared out of thin air and shot towards the horde of ghosts. The ghosts that came into contact with the light arrows melted into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye, just like dry ice, and fell onto the black soil.
Gu Qingqi, standing not far away, witnessed this scene and said in a high-pitched voice to Shen Bi'an, who was not far away beside him, "Lie down, don't look! Ugh~ How could Lao Xiao say such disgusting things?"
Shen Bi'an wielded two broad, thin swords, moving them rapidly up and down. A white-gold skill in the shape of a cross flew forward and exploded quickly.
He smiled and unleashed a clever tactic: "You were pretty much the same when you first got together with Fei Fei."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingqi's face flushed red, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Bullshit! Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
Lu Xumo held an ice-blue bow and arrow that looked like it was carved from ice. As he walked, he pulled the bowstring, and with each pull, a semi-transparent arrow would condense and shoot out.
When it lands on the monsters, it creates a 2x2 meter explosion radius, and the surrounding 3-meter area freezes into an ice surface, freezing the monsters on it into sculptures.
In the darkness, a skeleton swiftly threw a broken, rusty sword at Lu Xumo's back, near his heart.
Xiao Weizhi swung his staff, and a bubble-like protective shield appeared out of thin air beside Lu Xumo, blocking the fatal blow for him.
Lu Xumo drew the bowstring again: "Thanks."
Xiao Weizhi remained calm, using his staff as a hammer to slap away a ghost that had silently approached, its face rotten to the point of being half-dead and the rest of its body just white bones: "You're welcome."
Just as everyone was locked in a chaotic battle, a pair of purple eyes in the dark night sky were fixed on Lin Xiaoxiao, who was being held in Xiao Weizhi's arms.
The eyes disappeared from mid-air just as the battle was about to end.
A note from the author:
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Xiao Weizhi [with a slightly smug expression]: Hmm, my wife asked me for a hug. Should I hug her, or should I hug her? [mischievous grin]
.
Gu, Chen, Pei, and Lu [with indescribable expressions, speaking in unison]: Disgusting!! [Cracks open]
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