Chapter 176 - 175: The Last Chance

Chapter 176: Chapter 175: The Last Chance

’I’ll give it a try.’

Feng Ling made her decision. "Get back, both of you," she said to Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing.

Li Qing asked nervously, "What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to let her go. Stay back so you don’t get caught in the crossfire," Feng Ling said.

Huangfu Miaomiao and Li Qing quickly backed away, retreating twenty or thirty meters until they were inside the forest.

Feng Ling looked at Ye Zheng and thought, ’This is your last chance. Whether you live or die is up to you now.’

She unwound her coiled, serpentine body and released all the limbs wrapped around the Pollution Body.

The Pollution Body shot out almost instantly!

Feng Ling kept her eyes fixed on the bulge on its back.

At the first sign of any explosive flames, she would strike first and kill it.

After breaking free, the Pollution Body’s first instinct was to flee.

Feng Ling lashed out with her limbs, mercilessly whipping it! It then charged back like an enraged lion, roaring as it attacked her, full of primal, bestial rage!

However, against Feng Ling in her second form, the Pollution Body’s attacks were as futile as an ant trying to shake a tree.

Feng Ling didn’t know why it wasn’t transforming into its giant second form again. ’Maybe it doesn’t have enough energy after healing its injuries? Or has all its energy been channeled into the flames inside its body?’

The Pollution Body frantically tore at Feng Ling’s scales, undeterred even as its own fingernails and gums started to bleed!

Feng Ling felt a pang of disappointment as she looked at this version of "Ye Zheng".

’So just removing one Card really wasn’t enough?’

’In that case, there’s no reason for it to live anymore...’

Feng Ling raised one of her cone spikes and, aiming at the Pollution Body as it lunged at her for the umpteenth time, thrust it straight forward!

The cone spike pierced through the Pollution Body’s chest, hoisting it into the air.

Severely wounded, it finally lost all its strength. Its head drooped limply, like a dead fish on a line.

Fresh blood gushed from its body, flowing down the limb with the cone spike and staining the silvery-white scales red before dripping onto the ground. DRIP. DRIP. DRIP.

Feng Ling extended one of her Teeth and Claws, using it to grab its hair and lift its head.

Beneath the messy hair was a human face, with narrow, upturned eyes that held a natural air of arrogance.

Ye Zheng wasn’t dead yet.

Her eyes were bloodshot and she was coughing up blood. As she gasped for breath, she mumbled a few indistinct syllables.

Feng Ling couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she was still taken aback.

’The fact that she can speak means she’s getting better. It’s a huge improvement over just roaring like a wild animal.’

"What are you saying?" Feng Ling asked, pulling her closer.

Even on the verge of death, Ye Zheng’s eyes blazed with hatred as she was brought near Feng Ling. She spat out a single word through a mouthful of blood, "...Kill!"

"Kill?" Feng Ling tilted her head in thought. "Who do you want to kill?"

"Kill... Pollution Bodies..." Ye Zheng coughed up more blood, speaking in fits and starts. "I’ll kill... kill them all... Kill!..."

"..."

Feng Ling fell silent.

She looked down at her own form.

’Could it be... because I look too much like a Pollution Body, it’s agitating her and preventing her from regaining her sanity?’

Though she felt it was a bit absurd, Feng Ling couldn’t rule out the possibility.

She pulled out her cone spike, dropping Ye Zheng to the ground. She felt a mix of melancholy and an urge to laugh.

"Why don’t you take a look in the mirror yourself?"

Grumbling aside, Feng Ling released her second form.

Maintaining that giant form was strenuous, and it consumed a great deal of energy.

Feng Ling reverted to her human form but, needing to stay warm, she didn’t get rid of the layer of scales covering her skin.

She walked over to Ye Zheng and, clinging to a final shred of hope, said to the Pollution Body lying in a pool of blood, "Ye Zheng, I’m a Hunter recruited by the Inspection Bureau. If you still have your human reason, I’ll get you out of here. If you’ve been polluted beyond saving, I’ll give you a quick end. Do you understand?"

Ye Zheng lay on the ground and weakly opened her eyes. She saw the vast, gray sky and the snowflakes drifting down.

"I’m going to ask you three questions. If you can answer all of them, it proves you still have your human reason. If you can’t, I’ll kill you," Feng Ling said, standing beside her. "That’s fair."

Ye Zheng’s vision was blurry from blood loss. The snowflakes that fell into her eyes felt cool. She couldn’t make out Feng Ling’s face, only vaguely discern a human silhouette.

’A Hunter recruited by the Inspection Bureau...’

’Does that mean the assessment mission is over?’

’What about the Alien Species?’

’The Alien Species that ambushed the assessment team... have they been eliminated?’

"First question—" Feng Ling leaned down and asked, "What’s your name? Answer me."

Ye Zheng thought that was a very good question.

If she didn’t even know who she was, then there really was no reason for her to live.

She coughed up a mouthful of blood and slowly replied, "My name is... Ye Zheng..."

Feng Ling hadn’t held out much hope, so she froze when she heard Ye Zheng say her own name.

A few seconds later, she snapped out of it and immediately waved to the person in the trees behind her. "Little Skeleton! Quick, over here! Give her a shot!"

On the ground, Ye Zheng curved her bloody lips into a sneer. "Aren’t... you going... to ask... the rest...?"

"No need." Feng Ling was ecstatic. A huge sense of accomplishment swelled in her chest, and she was overcome with excitement!

She had succeeded!

She had pulled Ye Zheng back from the brink of death!

After the Alien Species resorted to such a despicable tactic with the Squirrel, after Ye Zheng had been polluted to the point of losing her humanity, she had finally managed to restore Ye Zheng’s sanity!

This was even more satisfying to Feng Ling than killing the Alien Species would have been!

Huangfu Miaomiao came running over, materialized a syringe, and knelt on the ground to give Ye Zheng the injection.

Ye Zheng suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist—the one holding the needle—and demanded, "...Alien Species?"

Huangfu Miaomiao yelped in fright, quickly transformed into a Ghost Shadow, and zipped behind Feng Ling with a WHOOSH.

Ye Zheng stared menacingly at Huangfu Miaomiao and said slowly, "I’ve seen an Alien Species pull a syringe like that out of thin air. Why would a Hunter be with an Alien Species?... Who... who are you people?"

"That’s not important. I’ll explain later," Feng Ling, still in a good mood, said to Ye Zheng with a smile. "The injection is to help your injuries heal faster. Your Pollution Value is still very high right now. Once you’ve recovered, I’ll take you to another Maze to find a Divine Statue. We just need to remove one more Card, and your Pollution Value should return to a safe level."

Ye Zheng kept staring at Huangfu Miaomiao, muttering, "All Alien Species should die... Every last one of them should die..."

Ignoring her injuries, she struggled to get up, her eyes filled with a hateful glare that looked as if it could skin Huangfu Miaomiao alive!

"I’ll kill you!... Alien Species, Pollution Bodies, all of you should die... Kill! Kill them!..."

Seeing Ye Zheng like this, Feng Ling blurted out in astonishment, "What’s wrong with her? Is she crazy again?"

Li Qing, who had rushed over, said from behind her, "Her Pollution Value is at 48%. It’s a miracle she can even speak a few coherent words!"