"Why hasn't Ghost Snake come out yet?" Sun Ye's tone became anxious.
"Let's wait!" Nie Xiu looked at the time. He felt uneasy, but he did not show it.
The more dangerous the situation was, the calmer one had to be. Otherwise, one would only die faster!
Only Jia Tao, who was standing at the side with his head lowered, had a thought that even he could not believe.
Did Ghost Snake really die in there?
Did he die in the hands of Qi Yuan, a Rank 1?
How did he do it?
Ghost Snake's defense was comparable to a Rank 2, and it had the speed of a Rank 2. Even if it was ambushed, it would not be defeated so easily. How could it die in the hands of a Rank 1?
He did not even fire!
Five minutes later, Ghost Snake still did not come out. Sun Ye could not wait any longer.
He tried to call Ghost Snake a few times, but he did not get any response. He became more and more anxious.
"Something might have happened to Ghost Snake. We have to think of something!"
Nie Xiu frowned. It was not that he did not think that something might have happened to Ghost Snake. After all, the Ice Python was a Rank 2 insect, and its frost breath was terrifying. However, with Ghost Snake's mutated ability and Rank 2 speed, even if something happened, it should not have happened so quickly.
However, Ghost Snake seemed to have suddenly disappeared. It did not come back, did not send a warning, and did not reply. Its strange disappearance was like a stone pressing down on everyone's hearts.
The three of them did not realize that the coldness under their feet seemed to have weakened. It was as if the frozen ground was thawing.
As the coldness disappeared, the black thorns around them seemed to have weakened. They swayed gently with the breeze.
The space around the twisted tree seemed to have shrunk. The black thorns seemed to be eroding this area that they did not dare to cross.
Nie Xiu looked up at the tall twisted tree. A hint of struggle flashed in his eyes. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Let's leave this place first!"
Sun Ye was slightly stunned. He then said unwillingly, "But Ghost Snake is still inside!"
It was difficult for Wilderness Hunters to build trust and friendship. However, once they did, they would cherish this friendship because it was one of the few spiritual sustenance and support they had.
Nie Xiu, Sun Ye, and Ghost Snake were like that. They had known each other for more than ten years. No matter how cruel they were to outsiders, at least they could get along well with each other. They were even willing to make some sacrifices for each other.
Otherwise, the Snake Ghost would not have gone in alone to investigate the situation. Now that the Snake Ghost's situation was unknown and he had to leave, Sun Ye found it hard to accept.
"Ten minutes have already passed, and the Snake Ghost hasn't even responded to your call. Do you really think it's still alive?"
Nie Xiu's voice was somewhat low.
"The Snake Demon is also my brother. I also want to save him, but the danger inside is so dangerous that the Snake Demon can't even warn us. We'll just be sending ourselves to our deaths if we go in."
"Let's leave first. Although we can't be 100% sure that the insect beast inside is an Ice Python, there is an 80% chance that it is. This is enough. This news is enough to bring us great rewards. Let's go find the Black Gold Merchant Guild and ask them to send people over.
Sun Ye was silent. He took a deep look at the black twisted wood, gritted his teeth, and growled at Jia Tao, "You lead the way, go back the way we came!"
When Jia Tao heard this, his body trembled slightly, and a hint of struggle flashed in his eyes. The mechanical arm condensed a scarlet energy blade, but it did not slash the surrounding thorns. Instead, it waved the mechanical arm and hit the trunk of the black twisted wood a few times. Then it raised its head and stared at the two of them with a pair of eyes full of hatred and bloodshot, as if it could attack at any time.
Nie Xiu was not surprised by Jia Tao's reaction. He just stared at him coldly.
"Are you sure you want to turn against us here?
Without my ability, you can't leave this swamp at all. "
Sun Ye raised the revolver in his hand and pointed the muzzle at Jia Tao's forehead.
"Go lead the way, or I'll blow your head off!"
"Do you think you can still leave here alive?" A crazy smile appeared on Jia Tao's face.
"In order to deal with you, I implanted a plasma bomb in the mechanical arm!
As long as my heart stops beating, it will detonate in a second. None of you can escape! "
"Come on, shoot!
Shoot here! "
Jia Tao took a step forward and pressed his forehead against Sun Ye's muzzle.
There was no longer any fear in his eyes, only madness!
Plasma bomb!
Nie Xiu and Sun Ye's expressions changed. They had seen the terrifying power of a plasma bomb before. The blue electric arc that could destroy everything was the epitome of death and destruction. Those with Tier 3 defense and below would not be able to survive the explosion of a plasma bomb.
Under the encirclement of the black thorns, there was no room for escape. If a plasma bomb were to detonate, the result would be mutual destruction.
Looking at Jia Tao's crazy eyes, Nie Xiu grabbed Sun Ye's right hand and moved the muzzle away.
At this moment, Nie Xiu finally knew that it was just as he had guessed before. The alliance between him and Jia Tao was indeed not an accident, but an arrangement that had been planned for a long time. However, Jia Tao had changed from a smart idiot to an extremely dangerous existence.
Although it was difficult to obtain a plasma bomb, from Jia Tao's crazy eyes, he could be sure that Jia Tao was not lying to him.
It was very likely that his arm had a plasma bomb that could kill him!
"Jia Tao, don't be rash. We can work together to leave this place!"
"If there is any misunderstanding between us, you can say it. I believe that we can resolve it. Why do we have to be so hostile?"
"Misunderstanding!" Jia Tao stared at him with a fierce gaze.
"Three months ago, you invited my sister to hunt Insectoids. In the end, only the three of you came back alive. Tell me, what kind of misunderstanding is this?!"
Nie Xiu's heart sank. All these years, the three of them had done a good job of disguising themselves. When they worked together with others on missions, they could basically come back alive.
However, occasionally, they would kill their companions and take the mission reward for themselves. Because their targets were carefully selected and did not have a strong background, these things had not been exposed. Occasionally, someone would notice it, but because there was no evidence, they would just let it go. They did not expect to meet a victim here.
"We went on a few missions in the past few months. Most of them came back safely. There was only one accident that caused a hunter named Yue Yuhui to die in the mouth of an Insectoid. We don't know if she is your sister, but that was just an accident!"
"That was not an accident!" Jia Tao roared.
"Although I did not find her body, I found the mechanical arm that she left behind. Her mechanical arm has a recording device that recorded the process of her death. She was not killed by Insectoids. She was killed by you guys after you raped her!"
Nie Xiu's expression finally turned ugly. He did not expect that his occasional indulgence would be tricked by a little girl and recorded the entire process with a recording device.
Seeing that Jia Tao's gaze was getting more and more dangerous, Nie Xiu's expression suddenly changed. He pointed behind Jia Tao and shouted,
"Be careful, the black thorns behind you are alive. They are approaching you!"
Jia Tao's expression changed. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly saw that the black thorns behind Nie Xiu and Sun Ye had also come alive and were entangling the two of them.
The three of them noticed that something was wrong behind them at the same time. They quickly dodged the black thorns and tried to get away from the approaching black thorns. However, the range of dodging was getting smaller and smaller, and the black thorns were spreading faster and faster. Soon, they lost all space to dodge.
The few of them did not dare to be entangled by the black thorns. With the toughness of these black thorns, once they were entangled, there was no chance of escaping.
In the wilderness, there were many plants that actively hunted. As long as one was alert, they could basically escape. However, on this small island, they were already surrounded by the black thorns. It was almost impossible to escape!
Jia Tao tried to swing his energy blade to cut off the black thorns that were approaching him. Unexpectedly, the living thorns were not as tough as before. Instead, they were much tougher. When he swung his blade, he could not use any force at all. The difficulty of cutting them off increased exponentially.
Even if one of them was cut off, it would quickly fall to the ground and take root. More black thorns continued to swarm over.
"What's going on? How did these black thorns come alive!"
Sun Ye also realized that the black thorns had become even more difficult to deal with. A flash of fear appeared in his eyes. They had just lost contact with the Snake Ghost, and Jia Tao's threat had not been removed. Now, the black thorns were dangerous again. They were almost instantly in a hopeless situation.
Nie Xiu suddenly realized that the coldness that seeped into the ground was weakening. The soil that was difficult to control due to frost was now controllable.
"Enter the tree hole!"
Nie Xiu roared. His hands suddenly touched the ground. The soil under his feet began to slowly rise, carrying his and Sun Ye's bodies as they slowly climbed up.
Jia Tao, who was left behind, looked up. He did not take the opportunity to attack the two of them. Instead, he waved the energy blade in his hand and snorted.
"How dare you leave me behind. I'll detonate the plasma bomb now. We'll all die together!"
Nie Xiu paused for a moment. Then, he controlled the soil to lift Jia Tao up as well. However, his speed was slower than the two of them.
After ascending two meters, Nie Xiu looked down. The black thorns had already surrounded the black twisted wood, and they were climbing up around it.
"They seem to be able to track the scent of flesh!"
Nie Xiu's face became more and more unpleasant. There were unknown dangers hidden in the tree hole. There were also black thorns outside. There was also a plasma bomb that could explode at any time. The hope of escaping was getting slimmer and slimmer.
The soil under their feet continued to rise. Nie Xiu and Sun Ye exchanged a look and quickly approached the top of the twisted wood.
Seeing that they were about to touch the edge of the tree hole at the top of the twisted wood, Jia Tao's feet suddenly went soft. The soil stairs that extended up suddenly collapsed.
Having lost his footing, Jia Tao fell on his back. He crashed into the black thorns and was drowned by the twining thorns.
Nie Xiu looked down vigilantly. Seeing that Jia Tao still did not detonate the plasma bomb, he immediately cursed.
"He tricked me. This idiot doesn't have a plasma bomb in his hands!"
"Get ready to enter the tree hole. Be careful of the Ice Python's sneak attack!"
Nie Xiu roared. He directly controlled the soil to send himself and Sun Ye to the entrance at the top of the tree hole.
Just as the two of them arrived at the entrance of the tree hole, Sun Ye suddenly saw a black muzzle pointed at his forehead. There was a familiar face behind the muzzle.
Sun Ye was stunned for a moment and subconsciously called out the person's name.
"Qi Yuan!"
Qi Yuan smiled faintly.
"Correct. I'll reward you with a bullet!"
"No!"
Under Sun Ye's angry roar, Qi Yuan decisively pulled the Butcher's trigger. An armor-piercing bullet with Annihilation Warhead blasted out.
Bang!
Sun Ye's head shattered like a watermelon, exploding into a scarlet blood rain that dyed the squirming black thorns below red.
"Sun Ye!"
Nie Xiu's eyes instantly turned red. He tried to reach out and grab Sun Ye's falling body but he only caught air.
Boom!
Under Nie Xiu's rage, the soil under his body suddenly rolled and spread up along his body. It was like a soil armor that wrapped Nie Xiu in layers and turned into a large terracotta soldier.
"Qi Yuan!"
The terracotta soldier roared. Its huge body that was more than four meters tall suddenly stood up and looked down at Qi Yuan who was clinging to the tree hole.
"I'm going to tear you apart with my own hands!"
Nie Xiu roared and reached out his right hand to grab Qi Yuan.
The huge palm was like an umbrella that covered Qi Yuan's head. Before it could touch him, a dull sound came from the tree hole!
Bang!
The palm made of soil shattered with the sound. A gray bullet followed the soil arm all the way up, penetrating a deep bullet hole and finally coming out of the shoulder.
Although the shot was successful, Qi Yuan was not out of danger. The soil giant's arm quickly healed and reached out again.
"Oh no, Annihilation Warhead's main ability is to break through the target's defense and cause effective damage to the enemy. Against such a huge soil giant, it can only cause limited damage and can't kill the target at all."
Qi Yuan's gaze swept across the soil giant's body, trying to find where Nie Xiu's main body was hiding.
The soil giant took the opportunity to grab Qi Yuan's right hand and pulled him out of the tree hole.
In front of the huge soil giant, Qi Yuan who was less than half its height looked extremely small.
"I said, I'm going to tear you apart!"
The soil giant roared and reached out its other hand to grab Qi Yuan's left hand. It pulled with both arms, trying to tear him apart.
Kacha!
Under the force, obvious cracks appeared on the thick soil arm. Qi Yuan who should have been torn apart was not damaged at all.
"You —"
Seeing Qi Yuan's fearless expression, a look of shock appeared on the soil giant's face.
The Earth Body's massive body gave Shi Feng a strength close to Tier 2. Although the Earth Body that Shi Feng had condensed in a hurry was not strong enough, it was more than enough to tear apart a Tier 1 Hunter with Strength and Defense. Shi Feng had never imagined that it would be unable to do anything to Qi Yuan.
"You don't seem to be strong enough!" Qi Yuan smiled.
"You can't escape from me!"
Nie Xiu roared. The soil giant stopped tearing at Qi Yuan and instead clasped its hands together, pressing him into its palms. The soil churned and merged into the shape of a coffin, trying to completely seal Qi Yuan and suffocate him to death.
Seeing that Qi Yuan was about to be sealed in the soil, he suddenly raised his head and exchanged glances with the soil giant.
"I've found you!" Qi Yuan's lips suddenly curled into a dangerous arc.
"Not good!"
Nie Xiu's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly had a bad feeling. Just as he was about to control the soil giant to seal Qi Yuan completely, he suddenly realized that he had lost control of the soil in his hands and could no longer seal them.