Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 268: Chapter 124: Suppressing the Disaster Fog_2

”You all didn’t find the Night General?” Yang Chen looked around the team three times, but didn’t see Li Yelai, and couldn’t help but feel his heart sink as he asked.

”At the time of the collapse, the entire team was scattered,” a team leader shook his head. ”It was too chaotic at the time, and we don’t know which way he ran.”

”He’s only at the Third Awakening and can’t use projection to respond to us in the Void Realm. We also can’t get his position,” Ye Boshou said with regret shaking his head, which made it impossible for them to quickly locate Li Yelai.

”I think I saw the Night General get hit by a huge rock...” one teammate said uncertainly.

This made everyone’s faces change color, the recent collapse had been terrifying.

If a Third Awakening Spiritual Ability User were trapped under a huge rock, they likely wouldn’t even be able to leave a whole corpse behind.

”No, I saw Doll go to save him; he might be with Doll,” another teammate said. ”You all know the strength of Doll; she should be able to protect him.”

”But Doll’s own condition wasn’t good either, I saw her helmet continuously dripping with blood. Although her combat strength is strong, she is after all a Five Senses Spiritual Ability User. By now, she must have exhausted her Spiritual Energy.”

”And the Night General... is that curse of ’You Must Meet Strong Enemies’ still triggering?”

This sentence made everyone’s hearts sink again. You Must Meet Strong Enemies!

It was because of the curse ’You Must Meet Strong Enemies’ that the human team was able to find the Flesh Barrier.

This was considered a very useful curse by the officials, but...

Now the situation was different, Li Yelai being smashed by a huge rock would certainly be seriously injured, and with Doll’s Spiritual Energy greatly depleted,

If under these circumstances, even a single high-ranking member of the Insect Race came, they would all be in danger.

And what ’You Must Meet Strong Enemies’ might bring wasn’t just a high-ranking Insect Race, if it’s a Forbidden Army Insect... damned!

”No matter what it is, continue the search and rescue,” Sword Madman said in a deep voice. ”Whether it’s Doll or the Night General, they are the major contributors to this operation. Find them with all our might. Also, split off a team to evacuate the injured.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, immediately divided into teams, one team taking the injured out of the labyrinth, while the remaining teams continued to search for Li Yelai and Doll in the maze.

...

In the eerie Dream Space, Li Yelai, who had witnessed the death of the Insect Master, saw the Insect Master again here. Its body size was even greater than the avatar he had seen before.

It writhed its tentacles from the lower body, flailed its four arms, and struggled and screamed in the mist.

But soon, huge dark tentacles emerged and wrapped around its body.

Its struggle stopped.

It drooped its four pale arms, and that perfect face was filled with terror.

As the chewing sounds started, its arms twitched slightly.

”Wonderful!” Li Yelai showed a smile.

The Insect Master had consumed so many humans, being eaten by Mr. Shadow could be considered revenge.

Afterward, Li Yelai looked towards the figure in the black mist. Mr. Shadow’s figure seemed even more solid, and indeed one of the chains on Him had disappeared.

This was in line with Li Yelai’s predictions; every transaction would undo a chain.

And the remaining two chains were even more taut, as if they were pulling Mr. Shadow into the stars.

Could it be that the world... was rejecting His existence?

Li Yelai pondered, just wanting to inquire what would happen when all the chains were gone,

He then heard Mr. Shadow’s voice coming from the mist, ”We cannot trade again in a short period.”

”Why? Do your trades have a cooldown?” Li Yelai asked.

Then he saw a tentacle stretch out from the black mist and slapped him away.

Seconds later, Li Yelai realized his consciousness had returned to his body.

His vision was pitch black, and he also smelled a strangely pungent stench of blood.

”We’ve already traded once; why are you still so ill-mannered?” Li Yelai muttered to himself, checking his body.

His crushed arm and leg had healed, and his broken ribs were no longer painful.

Indeed, just like the first transaction, Mr. Shadow had healed Li Yelai’s injuries.

Otherwise, Li Yelai would have already been dead by the Skin Stripping’s throat-slash.

Thinking to himself, Li Yelai groped in the darkness, and after some time, returned to Doll’s side.

First, he checked her pulse and found a Lighting Bomb in the coat she was draped in.

He released another Lighting Bomb.

When the light illuminated the pit passage, Li Yelai saw a Blood River.

No, that must be the insect swarm’s reversed biomass? It seemed to contain some kind of vigorous life force.

Just the scent it emitted had invigorated Li Yelai’s spirit. His physical strength recovered even faster.

The insect swarm devoured everything, transforming it into biomass, which was then used by the Insect Master to propagate a new swarm.

Yet Mr. Shadow was capable of directly reversing the insect swarm back into biomass.

What kind of power was this?

Moreover, when Li Yelai traded with Mr. Shadow, he even struggled at one point to distinguish who he really was.

Was Mr. Shadow influencing him?

Li Yelai pinched the bridge of his nose. Indeed, one must never trade unless absolutely necessary.

”Let’s consider this later. For now, we need to find a chance to escape from here.” Li Yelai looked around. ”Otherwise, Doll and I might die of hunger or thirst here. Uh, if the biomass blood river could be drunk... maybe just die of hunger? It’s a shame, should have left a few members of the Insect Race behind. Roasted, they might have helped us hold out longer.”

He sized up the boulder above him, wondering if he could smash the rock without using the Face.

With the use of Xiang Yu’s Face, it wouldn’t be difficult.

Not considering the risk of being crushed by the shattered stones, Li Yelai could have broken the boulder barehanded using Xiang Yu’s Face with Weakness Perception.

But he... dared not use the Face recklessly.

The Insect Master was dead, but the insect swarm had not been completely eliminated.

If he was unlucky and attracted a higher-ranking member of the Insect Race or a Forbidden Army Insect, that would be bad.

But without using the Face, Li Yelai had no means of attack.

His First Awakening ability was the Face, which attracted creatures and couldn’t be used lightly.

The second ability was Virtual Realm Beast Language, which was useless now; aside from Li Yelai and Doll, there wasn’t even a single insect here. The Insect Race had even snatched up and eaten earthworms!

The third ability was Mimicry·Abyss Dragon Scale. A defensive ability, it required charging to deal high damage.

And there were no enemies here... Surely Li Yelai couldn’t just activate the Abyss Dragon Scale and tumble from the entrance of the tunnel to the bottom, counting on falls and hits to stack up damage to the Scale Armor?

If he did that, Li Yelai’s Spiritual Energy would likely deplete before he finished stacking.

”If I reach the Four Awakenings, I must choose an offensive ability,” Li Yelai thought. If he had Mimicry·Dragon Claw, even scratching little by little would carve out a path. He wouldn’t be so passive.

At that moment, Li Yelai heard a faint sound behind him: ”Xiao Ye...”

Li Yelai turned around and saw that Doll had awakened.

She opened her eyes, lying there weakly, but a sense of closeness and a smile appeared in her eyes when she saw Li Yelai: ”Are you okay?”

”I’m fine.” Li Yelai moved closer to Doll, propping up her back and helping her sit up: ”How are you feeling?”

”Just a bit tired, a bit thirsty...” Doll replied softly, her complexion still pale. To rescue Li Yelai from the rubble, she had expended a great deal of Spiritual Energy. She even lost her ever-present billboard.

Looking at the weakened girl, Li Yelai felt a profound sense of guilt.

”If you’re thirsty... There’s only...” Li Yelai glanced at the biomass blood river, hesitated for a while, and helped Doll lean against the wall.

Then he quickly walked towards the biomass blood river, scooping up a handful of blood and tasting it directly.

Hmm, as expected, it tasted awful, with a strong taste of blood, but it was bearable.

And it seemed to have an effect in restoring physical strength and satiety.

Anyway, it was good that it could be drunk.

Li Yelai was pleased, then his face flushed with embarrassment.

He realized he had no container to hold the water, and scooping it by hand would lead it to quickly slip away.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Yelai walked back to Doll.

Doll had also noticed Li Yelai’s predicament. Truthfully, a Spiritual Barrier could temporarily seal the gaps between fingers.

But she didn’t remind him, because she suddenly thought, if there was no container, then for Li Yelai to give her water to drink, it would mean...

Imagining a certain scenario, Doll felt a bit nervous.

When Li Yelai approached her, even Doll’s pale face flushed with a hint of color.

Then, Li Yelai picked Doll up.

”There’s no cup, so I need to carry you there to drink.” Li Yelai said as he lifted Doll carefully and walked towards the biomass blood river.

”...Oh.” The corners of Doll’s mouth curved slightly.

>_