Chapter 40: Departure

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Departure

Gu Zheng and the others searched around the lake, but Liu Qing was nowhere to be found.

"There are Liu Qing’s footprints here!" the young man holding the Elf Bow suddenly shouted.

The group looked over, immediately spotting a trail of footprints in front of him. However, the tracks vanished into thin air upon reaching a sandy area.

"How could the footprints just disappear?"

The young man with the Elf Bow followed Liu Qing’s footprints onto the sand. The very next moment, the sand beneath his feet suddenly shifted.

"Oh no!"

His expression drastically changed as his entire body abruptly sank. The sand seemed to come alive, spinning rapidly to form a massive vortex that tightly sucked his legs down.

"There’s something—" Before he could finish his sentence, the sandy ground beneath him exploded. A massive, grayish-brown figure darted out of the sand, its segmented body instantly wrapping around his legs.

"A Vortex Sand Worm!" Zhou Hang’s expression shifted. He let out a sharp shout and dashed forward in a blur. Drawing his long blade, he viciously slashed at the grayish-brown figure beneath the sand in a flash of light.

Gu Zheng also made his move. He thrust his longsword, the blade glowing like a rainbow, aiming straight for the Vortex Sand Worm’s head.

The Sand Worm reeled in pain, twisting its body violently, yet refusing to loosen its grip on the young man’s legs. Its mandibles snapped open, revealing ring after ring of razor-sharp teeth as it let out a loud HISS.

Zhou Hang delivered another strike, this time hitting the joint of the Sand Worm’s body and nearly severing it in half. Murky, sand-yellow blood gushed out. The Sand Worm’s body finally went limp, and its segmented grip loosened.

The young man with the Elf Bow scrambled out of the sandpit, tumbling and crawling. His face was deathly pale, and his legs trembled.

Gu Zheng seized the opportunity to strike the Vortex Sand Worm’s head a few more times. The creature’s body twitched before going completely still.

Both he and Zhou Hang were Tier Two Genetic Cultivators. Working together, slaying a Tier One Vortex Sand Worm was a breeze.

"I’ll get it out!" Jiang Chen, wielding a giant axe, walked over and forcefully dragged the Vortex Sand Worm’s massive body out from beneath the sand.

This Vortex Sand Worm’s torso was fully six or seven meters long. Its grayish-brown carapace was covered in gashes, and murky, sand-yellow blood spilled all over the ground.

The group fell silent as they stared at the Sand Worm’s bulging abdomen. It was highly swollen, faintly revealing the outline of a human figure inside.

Zhou Hang crouched down and sliced open the Sand Worm’s belly. Murky liquid flowed out, and a severely corroded, unrecognizable corpse slid from within. Its clothes were mostly rotted away, and the facial features were completely indistinguishable, leaving only a blurry mess of flesh and blood.

However, from the body’s build and the remaining scraps of clothing, the group still recognized who it was.

"Liu Qing!"

Zhou Hang’s face turned livid, the hand holding his weapon trembling. A student had died—and a genius student who had fused with the Tier Three Six-Eared Wind Dog gene, at that. As the leading teacher, he absolutely could not escape the responsibility.

"Why would he run over here all by himself?" Jiang Chen muttered in a low voice.

No one answered.

Gu Zheng stood at the edge of the sandy area. As he looked at the smooth, undisturbed sand around him, a thought flashed through his mind.

"Ji Zhixing." He silently repeated the name in his heart.

He looked up. Chen Wenjie, the young man holding the Elf Bow, and Han Shuang, the girl in their team, were both looking at him. The three exchanged glances, each understanding the unspoken meaning in the others’ eyes. Yet, no one said a word.

"Liu Qing ran all the way out here by himself and shook us off. He clearly found something and wanted to keep it all to himself." Gu Zheng’s gaze swept across the lake. The water was jade-green and shimmering, concealing whatever lay beneath.

Shihu Town.

After the Otherworldly Secret Realm appeared, the military from Yu City Base City quickly rushed over. As the Otherworldly Secret Realm gradually stabilized and Spatial Passages stopped appearing out of nowhere, the area finally settled down.

"Twenty-three dead, seventeen missing." When an officer reported the numbers, his voice was very calm, as if he were already accustomed to such figures. "Two teachers have also been confirmed dead."

He Yanbing stood to the side, her face pale. Her gaze swept over the students from her class, counting them one by one.

Liu Qifan was there. Zhang Haoceng was there. Luo Yongguang was there. Xie Jia was also there. The four stood in a corner; some were injured, but they were at least in one piece.

But Ji Zhixing was gone.

Several other students were missing as well.

"Teachers," the officer said, looking at He Yanbing and the others. "We will continue searching for the missing students. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, we will not give up."

He Yanbing nodded, her voice slightly hoarse. "Thank you for your trouble."

Following that, the students of the Third High School boarded the school buses under the organization of the teachers. One after another, the buses departed from Shihu Town. Escorted by several military vehicles, they headed toward Yu City Base City.

The bus was very quiet; no one spoke.

Liu Qifan leaned against the window, watching the wilderness speed by outside.

"Zhixing, that guy, will definitely be fine," he thought to himself. "His staff technique is so good, and he awakened dual genetic acupoints. He’ll definitely make it back."

Zhang Haoceng and Luo Yongguang sat in the front row, resting their heads against the seatbacks without saying a word.

Xie Jia kept her head down, her shoulders trembling slightly. Even now, she was still consumed by fear. The casualties from this sudden accident were simply too catastrophic.

Meanwhile.

"I can’t go straight back to the base city. I’m not as fast as Gu Zheng and the others. If they catch up to me halfway, I’ll be stranded with nowhere to run and no one to turn to," Ji Zhixing thought as he did the breaststroke.

He planned to go to the other side of Lake Heart Island and lay low there for a while. Kicking his legs rapidly, Ji Zhixing soon arrived at his destination.

He poked his head out of the water and looked around. Only after confirming there was no sign of anyone did he quietly climb ashore. He found a large rock to lean against and panted heavily, his heart still beating frantically.

"Calm down," he thought, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths to let his racing heart slowly settle. "Gu Zheng and his group can’t find me. Liu Qing’s body was swallowed by the Sand Worm, and the traces were wiped clean. Even if they guess I did it, it doesn’t matter."

He opened his eyes and flipped his hand, taking a few items out of the Genetic Furnace and placing them on the ground in front of him.

A small jade bottle containing a milky-white liquid that emitted a faint luster.

Two bottles of Source Power Genetic Potion, which looked similar to the one he had obtained previously.

Over twenty Genetic Source Stones, all of a decent size.

And finally, the short blade, its edge still stained with the Sand Worm’s murky blood.

After glancing over the items, Ji Zhixing willed the two bottles of Source Power Genetic Potion and the Genetic Source Stones back into storage.

"This blade..." He picked up Liu Qing’s short blade and examined it. It was clearly a piece of Genetic Equipment, but he wouldn’t know what abilities it had until he refined it.

"I’ll look into it when I have some free time. I don’t use blades, but I can sell it for money." Ji Zhixing put the short blade away and picked up the small jade bottle again.

The jade bottle wasn’t large—only the size of a palm—and felt warm and smooth to the touch. The liquid inside was milky-white, resembling diluted milk. As he gently shook the bottle, he could see a faint luster swirling within the liquid.

"This is..."

Looking at the liquid inside the jade bottle, Ji Zhixing’s heart beat a little faster.