Chapter 194: Discovering the Bodies of Jiang Yu and Luo Chuan

An hour later, Shi Zhile finally caught up with them.

In the narrow mountain cave, Shi Zhiyi still hadn’t woken up. Wen Bai and Jiang Jing were keeping watch while Sun Ci and Tang Yan slept fitfully.

A sliver of light appeared at the cave mouth. Before she could even get close, a white alpaca squeezed out.

Low voices drifted from inside the cave, followed moments later by Jiang Jing.

Shi Zhile immediately walked over. “Jiang Jing, how’s my sister?”

Jiang Jing froze, his eyes following the voice. He was utterly shocked by what he saw.

He rushed forward. “Zhile, you… You’re injured? What happened to your hair? And your hands?”

Shi Zhile had changed her clothes, but her hair was dripping wet. The strands hanging over her chest carried a burnt smell, and the exposed skin on her hands bore the marks of burns.

She had already drunk water from the Healing Spring Eye, so the burns on her body had healed, but the wounds would still need time to fully recover.

Shi Zhile replied, “Got burned. How’s my sister?”

“She woke up once a little while ago, but she wasn’t in good shape. After some coconut juice and medicine, she drifted back to sleep.”

The two of them entered the cave, and Shi Zhile immediately went to check on Shi Zhiyi’s injuries.

The bleeding had stopped, and her breathing was steady.

Wen Bai tucked the blanket around Shi Zhiyi and whispered, “Her Life Value has stabilized. It’s not decreasing anymore, but she has symptoms of nausea and dizziness.”

Shi Zhiyi’s injury was very similar to the one Shi Zhile had first sustained from the impact. The symptoms were also alike—it was most likely a concussion.

With a concussion, the worst things are shaking, jolting, and strenuous movement. They had to find a place for Shi Zhiyi to recuperate until she was fully recovered.

Shi Zhile had suffered the same injury before; she knew exactly how it felt.

She shared everything she’d learned from her own recovery, then recounted the whole story of burning the puppet and running into Jiang Yuxing.

Tang Yan listened, his heart in his throat. His blood ran cold, especially when he heard that Jiang Yuxing had deliberately extended the Battle Royale mode.

“He’s gotten stronger. He’s moved from the shadows into the open, and he doesn’t care one bit if we target him.

“No, that’s wrong. He’s the one targeting us, and he’s doing it brazenly.”

Shi Zhile felt mentally drained. Her bonded system had vanished again, the enemy was strong while they were weak, and they were completely helpless.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and lay down beside Shi Zhiyi. “Jiang Yuxing said he’ll end the Battle Royale mode after tomorrow, but only on the condition that we get to the grasslands.

“He gave me a set of coordinates. He said he’s prepared a surprise for us there, and that the Battle Royale mode will naturally be cancelled once we see it.”

Jiang Jing sneered. “‘Surprise’? More like a nasty shock!”

Wen Bai looked at Shi Zhiyi, his eyes full of worry. “Zhiyi’s injury is on the back of her head. She shouldn’t be moved and must avoid any jolts. I’ll stay behind to look after her tomorrow. You guys go to the grasslands. Leave early and come back as soon as you can.”

The next morning, the group split up. Shi Zhile, Jiang Jing, and Tang Yan set off for the grasslands, while Wen Bai and Sun Ci remained in the cave to watch over Shi Zhiyi.

The three of them took a shortcut based on the location Jiang Yuxing had provided. The path was overgrown with weeds, and large animals appeared from time to time.

Tigers, lions, leopards, elephants, camels… a new one would appear almost every half hour and frantically attack them.

By afternoon, the trio stood on the grasslands, covered in wounds. But they couldn’t rest, because a pack of spotted hyenas was chasing them from behind.

The other animals could be taken into the Breeding Space, but not the spotted hyenas. Those things were the bane of all other creatures.

The three of them fought back as they ran. In the end, Shi Zhile just pulled out her Water Gun and used the water from her space’s spring to blast the hyenas to death.

They were still halfway to their destination, but everyone was covered in wounds. Shi Zhile summoned an SUV and took the Wish Drifting Bottle from her backpack.

“My wish for today: may this car have an inexhaustible supply of gasoline.”

The wish card vanished. A golden light circled the vehicle before finally entering the fuel tank.

Jiang Jing took the wheel, with Shi Zhile in the passenger seat. Tang Yan sat in the back, keeping a constant watch on their flanks.

Half an hour later, another group of animals appeared on the grassland.

This time it was a herd of horses. But unlike before, these horses were actively chasing them.

The herd behind them seemed to have gone mad. Their eyes were bloodshot and murky, the ground trembled under their charge, and their hooves kicked up clouds of dust that obscured the view.

The thundering of hooves grew closer. One or two horses even caught up, galloping alongside the SUV at the same speed.

Shi Zhile shouted, “Jiang Jing, get closer to the horses! I’ll try to capture them in the Breeding Space!”

“Got it!” Jiang Jing yelled back.

“It’s too dangerous!” Tang Yan protested. “These horses are insane! With the lions and tigers we just captured in the Breeding Space, if we put too many in, they’ll start a riot!”

Shi Zhile took a deep breath. “Every animal we’ve met since this morning, whether it was in a pack or alone, has followed the same rule: we can only get rid of them by capturing them in the Breeding Space or by killing half their number.”

The tigers and lions from this morning had blocked our path. The three of us had to fight with all our might just to injure them enough to capture them in the Breeding Space.

We had to kill and injure countless leopards just to get away from that pack. By that logic, this herd of horses has to either be killed or captured in the Breeding Space. Otherwise, they’ll never stop chasing us.

The half-hour mark was almost up. They’d be facing the next wave of animals soon.

If they got pincered between two groups of animals, they’d be dead for sure.

The SUV slowly edged closer, and Shi Zhile seized the opportunity to capture the horses on one side in the Breeding Space.

But there were too many of them. In the end, they had no choice but to shoot the rest.

Three more hours passed. Battered and bruised, the three of them finally arrived at the location Jiang Yuxing had given them.

By then, the sky was completely dark. In the glare of the SUV’s headlights, they could just make out two figures lying on the empty grassland.

Once the SUV came to a stop, the three of them got out one after another. Bathed in the headlights, they finally got a clear look at the two people on the ground.

“Jiang Yu!”

Jiang Jing ran over and knelt beside Jiang Yu, his hands trembling as he checked for a breath and a pulse.

At the same moment, Shi Zhile and Tang Yan reached them.

Blood had soaked into the grass, and the stains on their clothes had turned black. The flesh on their necks was peeled back, revealing incredibly deep wounds.

Their main arteries had been pierced. With wounds like that, exposed to the air, you didn’t need to check for a pulse to know the answer.

Shi Zhile couldn’t help but remember the first time she had met Jiang Yu and Luo Chuan.

The image in her mind shifted; the vibrant people she remembered had become cold, lifeless bodies. Even though she had grown accustomed to death, seeing familiar people lying before her still brought a strong, unsettling discomfort.

Shi Zhile was suddenly overcome with grief. ‘In a world where you can die at any moment, where you can fight to survive and still end up dead… what’s the point of living at all?’

Shi Zhile knelt and felt for Luo Chuan’s pulse. The skin beneath her fingertips was ice-cold. There was no breath, no pulse.

She then reached for Jiang Yu, but Jiang Jing grabbed her hand.

“Don’t bother trying. She’s gone!”

Jiang Jing slowly lifted Jiang Yu into his arms. He took out a clean handkerchief and began to gently wipe the blood from her face, bit by bit.

“Jiang Yu, I’m sorry. I was too late. I will avenge you. No matter the cost, I will get revenge for you.”