Chapter 1774 - 1773: Return to the Camp!

Very soon.

Led by Qin Feng, everyone returned to their camp.

The protective Array over the camp had long since been destroyed, so they could directly see the courtyard and other buildings on the mountaintop.

They could also see Qi Ling, Dragon Commander and the others resting in the courtyard and all around it.

As soon as they arrived here.

Qi Ling, Shuiyun Immortal, Heavenly River Taoist and the others, who had been resting, recovering, and healing, the moment they saw Qin Feng return safe and sound, were so excited they burst into tears of joy and all rushed forward to surround him.

Even Dragon Commander, who had one leg seriously injured and was lying down with difficulty, hopped over on his other leg toward Qin Feng.

The originally excited crowd suddenly froze.

Not just them.

Qin Feng was also at a complete loss at this moment.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Qi Ling.

Right now, Qi Ling was clinging tightly to Qin Feng, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face, looking like a demure little woman, completely different from her usual valiant and heroic self.

And... the one crying the hardest here was her!

That sobbing sound from the "private-message rift" tugged at everyone’s heartstrings and made them feel sympathy.

"Hey, hey..."

Qin Feng pushed her blankly.

Qi Ling twisted her shoulders, shook off his hands, then continued to hug Qin Feng, lying against his broad chest and sobbing her heart out, like the Niu Lang and Weaver separated by the heavens.

"..."

Everyone’s expressions grew even stranger.

After quite a while.

Qi Ling also realized there was no more noise around her; the quiet had gone a bit overboard, and something felt off.

She lifted her eyes to look at the crowd around them and found that the way they were looking at her was very strange.

Turning her head to look at Qin Feng again, Qi Ling finally realized what was going on; her face flushed with a "whoosh," redder than a ripe apple. As if shocked by electricity, she hurriedly sprang away from Qin Feng, then immediately dove into the crowd and ran off without looking back.

There was nothing she could do; even she felt this was way too embarrassing.

The reason she’d been the first to throw herself into Qin Feng’s arms was entirely because back in the Time-Space vortex, in order to contact Qin Feng in the Desolate World, she had used the "Heart-to-heart" technique and forcibly fallen in love with Qin Feng.

She was still suffering the "aftereffects" now.

At the instant Qin Feng appeared, deep down in her heart, she loved Qin Feng.

So that embarrassing scene just now had happened.

"No, I can’t keep this up, I have to control myself..." Qi Ling muttered gloomily off to the side.

In the courtyard.

After Qi Ling left, the atmosphere finally eased a little, and everyone started asking about Qin Feng’s situation.

Red Moon walked over and stopped them, saying, "Everyone, don’t swarm them. Those who need to rest, rest; those who need to heal, heal. Also give them some time to recover."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Sister-in-law is right!"

Wang Zanggu said from the side, "Lord Qin and the others are exhausted too, better let them focus on resting."

Bang!

Red Moon clenched her Iron Fist and gave his head a vicious flick: "Who are you calling sister-in-law!!"

Heavenly River Taoist snickered at the side, saying, "Hehe, serves you right! Don’t blame me for not reminding you, Master Hongyue already said she doesn’t like being called ’sister-in-law.’ You just wouldn’t listen, and now look what happened! From now on you should call her ’Master’ instead..."

As soon as he finished speaking.

Bang!

Red Moon gave him another fierce head-flick.

Dragon Commander and the others couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "Alright, everyone, don’t get so worked up. Sit down and talk. Qin Feng and the others look exhausted too."

Only then did everyone sit down one after another.

The five of them with Qin Feng were indeed utterly exhausted; that five-minute sprint earlier had pushed them to their limits, and they’d only held on by sheer willpower.

Right now, never mind a Cultivator—even an ordinary person with military training could solo the five of them. They had no strength left to fight.

"Where are the Inner World people?"

Qin Feng asked.

Although his body was being nourished by the Nine Springs Pearl from Mei Niang, he’d been the main force powering the Array, so he was drained too.

So he was worried the Inner World people would attack.

"We’re still not sure."

At the mention of the Inner World, Dragon Commander’s expression also grew solemn. Clearly, he and Qin Feng shared the same concern. "They might attack at any time, but in our current condition, forget escorting the seriously injured off Vine Dragon Mountain—even those without injuries don’t have the strength left in their bodies to make it through the three hundred li of deadly cloud and mist around Vine Dragon Mountain."

"Then we rest here first and send someone out to look for reinforcements."

Qin Feng said.

Dragon Commander gave a wry smile. "I’ve thought of that too, but right now I really can’t find a single person who can make it through the cloud and mist."

"..."

Hearing this, Qin Feng looked around.

Though smiles still hung on their faces, it was obvious they were completely drained and badly injured. To force their way through three hundred li of deadly cloud and mist—there really wasn’t a single one who could do it.

Including the five of them; they had no strength left either.

"In that case, pick one person and speed up their rest and recovery. Use the best Elixirs." Qin Feng said.

"Yeah, I’ve already arranged it. He’s Refining the Elixir right now; it should take about three more hours." Dragon Commander said.

Hearing this, Qin Feng was a little surprised by Dragon Commander.

He’d always thought Dragon Commander was just a brute who only knew how to fight, but he hadn’t expected that everything he himself had just thought of, Dragon Commander had already considered. Truly worthy of being Director of the Yanhuang Department.

Since someone had already been arranged, they could only wait now.

Qin Feng then asked everyone, "Where’s Xing’er?"

From the beginning, he’d been worried about the Holy Daughter, wanting to know what had happened to her and whether she’d been forced into anything by the Inner World people.

It was just that for the bigger picture, he had needed to talk with Dragon Commander first and understand the current situation.

Only now did he have the bandwidth to ask.

At this moment.

When everyone heard him ask about the Holy Daughter, they all fell silent, one after another, looking a bit ashamed, not daring to meet Qin Feng’s eyes, unwilling to see his disappointment.

Seeing their expressions, Qin Feng turned to look at Ling’er.

Ling’er’s eyes were already brimming with tears.

Qin Feng’s heart lurched; he said blankly, "Don’t tell me... I was too late back then?!"

He turned his head again to ask Mei Niang and the other three, "Did we get the timing wrong? Wasn’t it five minutes? Did we go over five minutes, and that’s why she..."

Three questions in a row; anyone could see he was in a bad state right now.

Mei Niang shook her head at him, meaning that the timing had been exactly five minutes, not over at all. Then she said to him, "Don’t panic yet, we haven’t asked what happened."

Mei Niang looked at Ling’er and asked softly, "What exactly happened?"

Ling’er wiped away her tears and answered, "At the time in the Time-Space vortex, there were Catastrophe Beasts in front and Golden Mountain Inner World people behind. We couldn’t hold out for that five minutes anymore. Then My Lady self-detonated her Immortal Heart and blew up all the Alien Beasts within several kilometers inside the Time-Space Rift to buy a little more time..."

"Self-detonated her Immortal Heart?!!"

Mei Niang, Ni Chang and the others were stunned.

Qin Feng felt as if he’d been struck by lightning; he couldn’t say a single word, even his whole body was trembling uncontrollably...