“Let’s go.”
Li Ying led the way; everyone else followed behind him and guarded the surroundings.
The mountain road near the giant peak was uneven and filled with pits and potholes. Some of them were actual footprints left by giant beasts, while others were pits created by Astral Pets battling. The pits were not filled with rainwater; it was thick, dark blood teeming with germs and emitting a foul stench.
Fan Ganglie and the others were seasoned explorers, and still, they frowned because of the pungent smell.
Su Ping ordered Little Skeleton to stand guard by his side and keep an eye for any sudden attacks.
“This is…”
Not long after he left, Li Ying made a sudden stop. His gaze was focused on a brownish-colored rocky depression on the surface. There was a hand hanging there, and a black metal bracer was covering it.
Fan Ganglie’s expression changed slightly. With a thought, he got the Multi-eared Monkey to move forward and take a look. The Multi-eared Monkey jumped a few times and arrived in front of the hand. It was a severed arm. Fan Ganglie held the arm that the Multi-eared Monkey had retrieved. After looking at it for a while, his expression turned ugly. “This belonged to someone from another battle team. It’s a Black Cloud Gold Bracer; someone who can afford such a good bracer is definitely not weak…”
Lin Mokong, Fan Yujing and the others also recognized the bracer. Their expressions changed. The hand owner was most likely a highly-ranked battle pet warrior or a rather wealthy sixth-rank battle pet warrior. He had actually died there. It was clear that he had encountered a terrifying danger and had no chance of escaping.
Su Ping saw the severed end of the arm. His heart skipped a beat and he said, “Show it to me.”
Fan Ganglie was a little confused. But he still handed the severed arm to Su Ping.
“It’s not like you can recognize this bracer.” Lin Mokong sneered when he saw Su Ping’s seemingly pretentious observation of this arm.
Su Ping picked it up and took a closer look at the severed spot. His pupils shrank slightly, but he returned to normal in an instant. He continued to check the hardness of the arm as if nothing had happened, as well as the completely undamaged bracer. After flipping it around for a moment, he handed it back to Fan Ganglie.
“Did you discover anything?” Fan Ganglie asked. He was quite concerned about Su Ping’s opinion. After all, Su Ping had noticed the latent danger earlier that no one else discovered. Moreover, he had noticed how Su Ping seemed to have turned a blind eye to the harsh environment around him. It was a normal reaction for experienced settlers, but it was strange for a newbie like Su Ping who had never been on expeditions!
However, everyone had their own secrets. It would be inconvenient to ask him about it, and he might possibly be offended because of it.
“Nothing.” Su Ping looked as calm as ever.
Lin Mokong chuckled.
Su Ping gave him a side glance and suddenly raised his hand.
Pa!
A crisp slap sounded.
Fan Ganglie, Fan Yujing, and Li Ying were all stunned. Lin Mokong was the most astonished. He felt the burning pain on his face. It was unbelievable!
He had just been slapped! Being a highly-ranked battle pet warrior, his status was so high that he could be the captain of a second-rate battle team like Fan Ganglie. And yet, he had just been slapped by a nameless boy?!
After being in a daze for a second, he suddenly came back to his senses. His eyes had turned bloodshot as he quickly drew his saber. “Brat, I’m going to kill you!”
Fan Ganglie and the other two reacted and hurriedly held his hand. Fan Ganglie hurriedly persuaded, “Brother Lin, Brother Lin, let’s talk it over. It’s not good to fight right now, it’s too dangerous here. I’m afraid everyone will die if we draw attention with our inner scuffles!”
Lin Mokong was so angry he was about to explode. He had been slapped. What else could he say?
He had tried his best to unsheathe his saber, but his hand was being held down by Fan Ganglie; he was momentarily unable to pull it out. This shocked him again; he didn’t expect Fan Ganglie to be that powerful. They were both at the seventh-rank, but Fan Ganglie was stronger than him!
Li Ying and Fan Yujing were frightened as well. They broke up the fight and blocked Su Ping and Lin Mokong to prevent them from fighting.
“Brother… Brother Su, let’s talk things out. Why did you hit him?” Fan Yujing looked at Su Ping, who had a calm expression. He was a little anxious. The other party was an advanced battle pet warrior, not someone he could offend.
“That’s right!” Li Ying was also scared out of his wits. He didn’t expect the mild and student-like Su Ping to be so hot-tempered. He struck people on a whim, and he had even slapped a highly-ranked battle pet warrior. Even they had to do their best to be in his good graces.
“He asked for it,” Su Ping said calmly. Although the environment was dangerous and internal strife that was not good for survival, since plots and schemes would eventually emerge, the other party was obviously very prejudiced against him and would take the first chance to trick him in a heartbeat. Since that was the case, there was no need to tread lightly.
Furthermore, he knew that he would be unable to fight even if he made a move; Fan Ganglie and company would definitely pull him back. If he took a step back, he would not be afraid even if they were to fight. It was just nice to know that he could kill this person in case something bad happened.
The easiest way was to kill someone who could threaten him as soon as possible.
“Uh.” Fan Yujing and Li Ying were both surprised to hear Su Ping’s words. Lin Mokong was the one who mocked them earlier, but he dared to hit him just because of that. He was too bold. Wasn’t he afraid of establishing a deadly grudge?
“You!!” Lin Mokong’s blood vessels were about to explode. He tried to pull out the saber with all his might, but Fan Ganglie’s hand was like a pair of steel pincers that kept it in place.
“Brother Lin, it’s Brother Su’s fault. I’ll apologize on his behalf and complete the mission first, all right?” Fan Ganglie persuaded.
Lin Mokong glared at him angrily. He gritted his teeth. He knew that Fan Ganglie would not let him fight with Su Ping. Otherwise, they would all die if they attracted any monsters.
Perhaps the other party had predicted this and dared to attack him. In other words, he had received the slap for nothing!
“Damn it, all of you deserve to die. Not even the sight of you being sliced and diced would quell my anger!!” Lin Mokong roared in his heart, filled with violence. His hand was tightly gripping the handle of the blade; he struggled and endured for a while before he slowly released it.
He cast a cold glance at Su Ping and turned around. “I’ll remember this. I’ll take my revenge when we get back to the base!” He said those words on purpose, to give Su Ping a false impression that he wouldn’t do anything during the operation.
Fan Ganglie heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Lin Mokong holding himself back. He said to Su Ping, “Brother Su, don’t be rash. I won’t help you again.”
Su Ping smiled after seeing his serious expression. “Let’s go.”
Su Ping’s nonchalant attitude gave Fan Ganglie a headache. He had no choice but to say, “Let’s go. We have to complete the mission as soon as possible and return to base as fast as we can!”
Li Ying and Fan Yujing looked at each other and let out sighs of relief. Li Ying was still leading the way. Not long after, they saw some dismembered corpses on the ground. They belonged to the other explorers.
By looking at the scattered limbs, they could estimate that three or four people had died. Lying about there were even some heads infested with tiny worms that had left them beyond recognition.
“Be careful.”
Those corpses were putting Fan Ganglie and company on edge. They were all extremely vigilant.
Swoosh!
Suddenly, a colorful smoke signal flew out from a dense forest ahead.
“It’s a distress signal!” Fan Ganglie’s expression changed when he saw this. He immediately moved and said, “Quick!”