Chapter 136 - 129: The Curtain Falls

Chapter 136: Chapter 129: The Curtain Falls

The moment she threw the grenade, the Blood Butterfly appeared in Xia Yu’s hand.

BANG.

BANG.

The moment the explosions rang out, shrapnel flew everywhere.

It was incredibly fast.

Fortunately, Xia Yu was quite far away. Only one piece of shrapnel flew toward her, and she, already prepared, easily knocked it out of the air.

BOOM.

The crooked-neck tree shuddered violently but, surprisingly, wasn’t blown over.

Xia Yu narrowed her eyes and saw the baby boy, who had gone still high up in the air, suddenly fall.

WHOOSH.

The oars moved, propelling the boat forward at high speed.

The dust settled.

Xia Yu saw that a large crater had been blasted where the crooked-neck tree met the ground. The entire tree was teetering on the verge of collapse. A large number of its underground Roots had been destroyed, and even deeper Roots were now exposed.

It was a gruesome sight.

"It’s a tough one,"

she said coldly, her eyes focused.

Large-scale destructive Weapons were very effective against Mutated Plants, and they also saved her the Crystal Cores in her possession.

After all, she didn’t have many Crystal Cores to begin with.

WHOOSH.

The next instant, Xia Yu leaped up and landed steadily on the ground.

The rapidly moving boat abruptly slowed down, then smoothly came to rest on the bank.

This demonstrated the precision of Xia Yu’s control.

After landing, she gripped her Blood Butterfly and charged straight for the crooked-neck tree. She had to take advantage of its severe injuries to deliver a fatal blow.

WHOOSH.

...

The crooked-neck tree seemed to sense the danger of death. Despite its grave injuries, it desperately mobilized its branches and Roots to attack Xia Yu.

Unfortunately, it could barely muster any branches or Roots at this point.

And they posed no threat to Xia Yu whatsoever!

Because of this, it was powerless to deal with Little Nannan and the others underwater.

Underwater.

Little Nannan firmly believed the older girl would save her. Since she couldn’t struggle free, she decided to save her strength.

Soon.

A massive explosion roared.

Shrapnel even shot into the water.

This lifted Little Nannan’s spirits. She held her breath with all her might, waiting to be rescued.

An unknown amount of time passed.

She began to feel dizzy and her focus blurred. Eventually, a sharp pain stabbed at her heart, and her chest felt like it was about to burst.

’If I survive this, I’m definitely going to practice holding my breath.’

Little Nannan tried to distract herself, using the thought to overcome the fear of suffocation.

The next instant.

All the Roots binding her fell away, the feeling of being constricted vanishing.

Overjoyed, Little Nannan frantically thrashed her limbs, swimming upward.

It was a good thing she had taken off her down jacket; otherwise, she definitely wouldn’t have been able to swim up.

Soon.

HUFF! HUFF! HUFF!

She broke the surface of the water, gasping for air as the feeling of suffocation dissipated.

It felt so good to be alive!

"Little Nannan."

Xia Yu appeared before her. Green liquid was still dripping from the Blood Butterfly in her hand. She reached out, pulled Little Nannan up, and asked, "Where’s Little Ai?"

SPLASH.

Then, before Little Nannan could answer, the Snake Man surfaced, holding Little Ai.

"Is she dead?"

Xia Yu’s brow furrowed instantly. She stared intently at the Snake Man and demanded an answer.

The Snake Man flinched, not even taking a moment to catch his breath before stammering, "Sh-she’s not dead... just... fainted from lack of oxygen. She’s fine."

He was out of strength and reached out a hand, hoping Xia Yu would give him a pull.

But to his surprise,

Xia Yu didn’t move an inch.

The Snake Man, looking slightly awkward, used his last ounce of strength to finally climb onto the bank.

Xia Yu went over to Little Ai’s side. After confirming she was still alive, she finally relaxed. Then, she calmly took off her own down jacket and had Little Nannan put it on.

Although it was cold, only a few degrees above zero, for a First-grade Spirit Transformer like her, wearing just a thermal shirt wasn’t cold.

Little Nannan, on the other hand, couldn’t stop sneezing.

But Xia Yu didn’t pay it much mind.

It was just a fever.

Such things were all too common in the Apocalypse. You basically had to rely on bringing the temperature down physically and toughing it out with your own constitution. One just had to get used to it.

「Ten minutes later.」

"Run, huh? Go on, I dare you to keep running!"

After Little Nannan shot the little monkey in the tree dead, Xie Shaokun walked up and kicked it a couple of times, cursing as he vented his frustration.

With that, all the Mutated Beasts were dead.

As for Xia Yu’s group...

Xia Yu had only broken a few ribs.

Xie Shaokun was covered in blood, a gruesome sight, but his injuries weren’t actually serious.

Little Nannan’s palm had been pierced through, her body was covered in ligature marks, and she was running a fever, but her hand had already been bandaged.

Little Flower looked more severely injured, with multiple puncture wounds and scratches on its body. Yet, it acted as if nothing was wrong. In fact, because it had just absorbed a great deal of resentment, its power had even improved.

The Snake Man was gravely injured and completely drained of energy. He still hadn’t recovered.

Little Ai’s thigh was pierced, she had fainted from lack of oxygen, and had also started to run a fever—a high one. Her soaked clothes had been changed for a dead person’s down jacket, and her wound had been simply bandaged to stop the bleeding.

Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan could rapidly absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power and would soon recover without any lasting issues. But as for the Snake Man and Little Ai...

Xia Yu noted that the Snake Man’s natural physical talent wasn’t weak, reaching a middle level. He would survive.

Little Ai’s physical talent was weaker, only at the Middle Lower Level. She wouldn’t die if this dragged on, but it was basically impossible for her to wake up anytime soon.

"Rest where you are,"

Xia Yu commanded. "After that, start collecting Crystal Cores."

With that said, she sat down cross-legged and began to focus on absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power to temper her body.

Although her current power level was still far from that of a Second-grade Spirit Transformer, practice makes perfect, and she wouldn’t miss any opportunity to cultivate.

"Yes!"

everyone responded in agreement.

Seeing this, the Snake Man secretly breathed a sigh of relief. ’They didn’t kill me. Thank goodness.’

He had been constantly worried that Xia Yu would just kill him outright.

Although she had no reason to do so, he always felt that Xia Yu’s group was dangerous. Besides, he had offended Xie Shaokun, so who knew if they wouldn’t just kill him as a matter of convenience?

After all, you didn’t have to take responsibility for killing someone out here!

「An hour later.」

Xie Shaokun and Little Nannan got up one after the other and began collecting Crystal Cores without needing to be told by Xia Yu.

Little Flower, however, stood motionless.

Little Ai’s condition had also improved slightly, but she was still running a fever and remained unconscious.

Most of the Snake Man’s injuries had also healed, and much of his strength had returned. This baffled and shocked him, making him realize more and more that the situation he’d stumbled into was anything but simple.

Seeing Xia Yu and the others acting as if this was all perfectly normal, a glint flashed in his eyes. ’These people definitely know something. Will they try to silence me later?’

At this thought, he grew worried all over again.

Another half an hour passed.

Xia Yu opened her eyes, gathered everyone, and said, "We have ten minutes before we have to leave. I’ll make the arrangements."

Xie Shaokun and the others tensed up, listening intently.

Just then, Xia Yu looked at the Snake Man.

"Don’t kill me!"

"I’m willing to join you!"

The Snake Man’s face paled. He threw his hands up and shouted.