Chapter 248 - Dead End

Chapter 248: Chapter 245: Dead End"I... I know the way." Zhuang Guo raised his hand, his back drenched in sweat, his face covered in cuts from branches and leaves, but he still persevered, pointing in one direction, "Head towards the northeast... and you should find a river. I remember, by the river, there should be a suspension bridge..."

"A suspension bridge?"

"Yes, that’s the bridge we were sent over on when they brought us here... It’s the only way I can think of to go."

Su Ming’an needed only a moment to think before he started running in the direction pointed out, "Move!"

If there was a suspension bridge, it meant there was a cliff.

Blindly running wasn’t a solution, as they’d eventually be cornered even if they took this trail.

Only by completely severing the connection between the two sides was there a real chance of escaping.

If they could cross the bridge, then destroy it, the cliff would serve as the opportunity to break off pursuit. That must be the escape route the game mechanics left them.

As Su Ming’an thought this through, he saw Mo Yan, carrying Suzune on his back, suddenly sprint ahead.

Mo Yan swung his sword, moving it impermeably to precisely chop down the branches and foliage spilling onto the path, preventing them from hindering the group.

Mo Yan seemed at ease, not only running faster than the rest but also managing to cut down the branches and leaves. His combat power data might not be very high, but his swordsmanship skills, which he brought with him into the game, weren’t something that could clearly reflect in the values.

Just take the current situation: Mo Yan’s circumstances indeed seemed much easier than the others’.

...Those who had practiced martial arts diligently on Zhai Xing indeed possessed combat skills far beyond what ordinary students could compare with.

The six people ran on when suddenly Su Ming’an felt a strong gust of wind from behind.

He ducked sharply and heard something land in front of him. When he looked up, he saw a baton emitting electric sparks.

"They’re catching up!"

Mo Yan shouted.

That thrown baton seemed like a signal for a general assault. At the same time, a series of whooshing sounds rose in sync, and as Su Ming’an ran, he glanced back to see the sky filled with sparking batons falling their way, showering down like a cascade of azure electric nets.

"Damn, these guys even have long-range attacks..." With a swing of his sword, Mo Yan knocked away a baton that nearly hit Su Ming’an. But more batons, like a volley of arrows, were hurled their way. Even though many were blocked by branches, some found their way through the gaps, aimed precisely to land among them.

"Ah—!"

Dong Xue let out a scream, apparently reminded of some extremely bad memory, covering her ears and even forgetting to dodge.

"Big brother, big brother, I can’t look out anymore!" As Mo Yan’s sword light was busy deflecting the batons, he naturally couldn’t spare any effort to clear the way. The layers of branches and underbrush slowed their pace as the surging white figures drew closer; he could even see the red light emitting from their eyes.

At this moment, Su Ming’an couldn’t even use Energy Suppression. His control wasn’t as good as Hui Shuhang’s, and if he used it now, not only the white figures but also the batons in the sky and the branches nearby would all come crashing down instantly.

He watched the scene in front of him and issued a command to Shadow.

Then, he turned back to Mo Yan, "Concentrate on clearing the path. Don’t worry about the back anymore."

He no longer paid attention to the batons being continuously thrown their way, heading in the original direction.

"Hey, big brother, big brother, we can’t just ignore them--" Mo Yan hadn’t caught on when he saw one person in the team deliberately stop.

Mo Yan suddenly realized something.

Without asking further, he secured Suzune on his back and swung his sword with all his might, desperately hacking away at the branches in front of them.

Behind them, not a single one of the myriad batons fell again.

"Boom—"!

Just then, a loud noise erupted, and an extremely strong pushing force suddenly came from behind.

It was as if a pair of invisible hands were pushing at their backs, and they hardly needed to move their feet at all. They were involuntarily propelled forward. Mo Yan charged at the front, swiftly cutting through the branches and leaves ahead to prevent the suddenly increased speed from causing these branches and leaves to scratch them.

He rode the force from behind, fast as an arrow.

Shattered leaves flew from the back to the front, passing through his field of vision, and the sound of trees collapsing violently behind him, the rustling and scraping of broken leaves was incessant.

"Big brother, big brother, are you okay, big brother..." Mo Yan turned his head and asked Su Ming’an behind him.

Su Ming’an’s pace was much slower than his, almost even with Zhuang Guo Dong Xue.

Behind him lay the fallen trees, tree bark curling, leaves fluttering in the sky like snowflakes, the air just calming down from a boiling state.

Spatial vibration.

A tremendously strong spatial vibration.

It was this spatial vibration that caused the trees to block the footsteps of the white figures, the electric rods in the air shattered into fragments glittering with blue light, falling among the broken leaves.

Beneath the pale sky, those glittering fragments were like daytime meteorites.

"I’m fine." Su Ming’an said, "Shadow is not dead."

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of white light passed by, and Shadow’s figure reappeared.

The command Su Ming’an had given just now was for Shadow to initiate the spatial vibration and then teleport back.

In this manner, they should be able to create some distance from the white figures.

If he and Shadow took turns like this, they should be able to make it through this part safely.

He still dared not switch to Bright State.

Though he had exited White Sand Paradise, he did not feel that joy of being delivered from despair.

On the contrary, a sense of crisis still loomed in his heart.

His Sanity points were now at 60, as his direct confrontation with Flax significantly reduced this value.

Dark corners in his vision were still flashing their presence, reminding him that all of this was not yet over.

He pondered, turned his head back, and saw that those guys were catching up again.

In the hands of those white figures, electric saws had appeared out of nowhere.

Some sawed through trees, others were climbing over from above, like wriggling maggots.

The red light in their eyes flickered, the scent of blood growing ever closer, seeming like it could engulf them at any moment.

...These people were truly like beasts deprived of rationality, left only with the thought of not letting them escape.

"You all keep moving forward." Su Ming’an said, stopping in his tracks.

"—Big brother, you must catch up!" Mo Yan shouted back.

Even though Mo Yan kept chopping at the branches, there were still misses. Moving the fastest, Mo Yan now had numerous small cuts on his face, even his right eyelid sported a terrifying gash that nearly blinded him.

Behind him, Suzune was completely unharmed, protected most securely.

Dong Xue also turned back, glanced at Su Ming’an, and then without any hesitation continued to charge forward with Mo Yan.

She showed considerable trust towards Shuhang.

Zhuang Guo had been charging nonstop; he appeared to be the most exhausted among them, with his body drenched in sweat and his calves trembling. In such a state, he didn’t even have the energy to glance back.

Su Ming’an no longer watched these people.

He turned around, facing the surging white torrent.

At a glance, there were at least thirty or forty of them. Following their footsteps, the white figures had charged all the way here. Since none of the white creatures were clearing the path, their lab coats were drenched in their own blood, thick masks torn with gaps from which blood dripped onto the weeds.

Yet, despite this, they unceasingly pursued, like a pack of wolves driven by starvation.

Su Ming’an stretched out his hand, beginning to gather energy.

After a period of use, he gradually got a hold of the Spatial Vibration. It was like shooting; releasing Spatial Vibration while moving could easily go off target and the force was unstable. However, standing still and building up energy could make the aim more accurate and the inflicted damage more concentrated.

Players with Magic Series Skills discussed some insights on the World Forum strategy posts.

It was said that when a player releases a Magic Series Skill, the more concentrated their attention and the steadier their heartbeat, the greater the damage could be, and the critical hit rate of Magic Series Skills would increase accordingly.

Magic Series players, like Physical Series players, have their own unique techniques. This was among the combat techniques that were more widely shared.

In his gradually stabilizing vision, the white wave surged toward him.

He held his breath and focused, keeping his gaze on the very center of the torrent, maintaining a significant concentration of attention.

At that moment, he suddenly felt calm.

The whispering that had been lingering in his ears since the beginning of the Sixth World, the eerie dripping of water, the crisp shattering of leaves in reality, the noisy sound of people walking through the underbrush... At that moment, all these sounds slowed down.

It was as if he was in a space that had been carved out, an independent realm, and everything he saw was like a painting unfolded before him; he looked at this highly dangerous scene as though watching a thrilling movie.

...as if he was gradually detaching himself from it.

He slowed his breath, looking at the scene unfold, while a white halo emerged on his hands. Those approaching people, like evil wolves, became like a slowly stilling colorful photograph before his eyes.

"Boom—!"

Countless blood-red numbers danced on the bodies of the people, coupled with the sudden gust of wind that arose, freezing their running figures in place, with ripples undulating horizontally and vertically on their bodies.

Leaves that were originally fragmented were now violently shredded into bits, falling like stars. Sharp branches freed from the trees’ hold crackled against the people. Two of the white creatures had their necks severed by this strike.

The experience points that suddenly burst forth filled Su Ming’an’s experience bar, bringing him within a step of reaching the Third Rank.

...At this moment, Su Ming’an seemed to have found an odd route for slaughtering these monsters.

The opponent’s neck seemed especially vulnerable. Although the sharp branches in the strong wind were almost as deadly as a sword, the fact that it could cause such high fatal damage showed that the opponent’s neck could be severed.

In the game world, life points are judged in this way, no matter how many health points a player has left, as long as a vital spot is struck, it results in immediate death without any room for negotiation—except for some Combat Continuation skills that can prolong the inevitable for a short while.

It’s impossible for someone who’s had their head chopped off to continue fighting; after all, data is still data and reality factors still apply.

And it’s the same for bosses. As long as they have a vulnerable spot, there is a possibility of an instant kill. Take Flax, for example; she still has vital spots on her neck and heart, and if her head is severed she will die, if her limbs are slashed off she will be immobilised, but the problem is her high combat power makes it hard for others to get close enough to strike at her vital spots.

But in reality, vital spots do exist.

This discovery felt incredibly valuable to Su Ming’an. The white creature could die from a slit throat which meant that it still fell within human parameters; a severed neck meant death.

The dangers of the escape line inevitably come with opportunities—if he could take this chance to kill all those white creatures...

Gradually, Su Ming’an’s thoughts began to shift.

From "escaping from this group of people" to "annihilating this group of people".

...This was his opportunity.

Su Ming’an took one last look at the group of people frozen in place and used Spatial Displacement to return to the main troop.

He wanted to wipe out that group, but not now.

The task of protecting Dong Xue and taking her out fell under the category of a Perfect Pass, and the priority of a perfect game completion was above all else.

With Dong Xue’s survival ensured, he might be able to "hunt" this group of white creatures.

He successfully made it back to the troop, and after a moment, Shadow, who had regained a bit of mana, stopped again to face the pursuing white creatures.

This back and forth didn’t last long.

Spatial Displacement could only be used three times within an hour, after which he had to wait for it to recharge.

After Shadow stopped for the third time, Su Ming’an didn’t look back anymore.

He knew that this time, Shadow would not return.

"How much further?" he asked, looking up at Zhuang Guo beside him.

Zhuang Guo was sweating profusely, gasping for air, barely able to speak.

Su Ming’an frowned, about to speak, but suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

His running figure froze instantly, and without any warning, he fell to his knees on the ground.

The agonizing pain of Cloning’s death hit him. He coughed a few times and before Mo Yan could turn back to help him, he quickly got up, wiping the fresh blood from his lips.

"...How much further?" he asked, forcing the words out as the sound of pursuit grew closer behind him.

"Big brother," Mo Yan suddenly stopped. "We’re here."

Su Ming’an raised his head.

In front of him was a babbling brook, water flowing over smooth rocks; the rhythm of bamboo and pines echoed through the mountains.

Through the gradually thinning trees, he could see across to the ax-hewn cliffs with a suspension bridge hanging above.

The suspension bridge was broken.