Chen Bugu led the way, heading back in the direction they had come from.
Seeing Chen Bugu's serious expression, everyone didn't ask much and just quietly followed.
The Snow Mystic Antelope followed alongside, maintaining a distance of 10 meters, walking parallel with the group.
Lin Ye could feel that the usually gentle Snow Mystic Antelope was becoming agitated and increasingly difficult to control as time passed.
Passing by the rocky beach, Lin Ye saw Cai Tianze sitting on the rocky beach with his back to him.
Lin Ye knew that Chen Bugu had no intention of continuing to act with this group of soldiers, so he decided to say hello to Cai Tianze before leaving.
Although this young soldier was a bit dull, Lin Ye always felt that his eyes resembled a student he had taught years ago.
Moreover, this young soldier had left a good impression on him—kind and honest. Although he was always silent when picking up stones, during breaks, he would take off his helmet and caress the red-backed family photo pasted inside his helmet, muttering to himself.
“Cai Tianze, we’re leaving. Next time, let’s pick stones together…”
Lin Ye's words were cut short when he suddenly saw Cai Tianze slowly turn around.
He was biting a roll of gauze, one end of which was wrapped around his arm. Both of his arms, from the elbow joint down, were completely gone.
As the battle ended, the ice shards at the wound gradually melted into water, mixing with blood and soaking the gauze.
Lin Ye was stunned; he suddenly didn't know what to say.
“Teacher Lin, take care.”
It was Cai Tianze, instead, who released the gauze from his mouth, smiled slightly, and bid Lin Ye farewell.
Lin Ye thought of many things in that instant, but the words were stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say anything.
In the end, he only managed to say, “Take care.”
The others also saw this scene, exchanged glances, and not knowing what to say, quickly followed Chen Bugu's pace.
Watching Chen Bugu and his group leave in a hurry, and recalling Chen Bugu's suggestion, Xu Lu also had a bad premonition.
“Platoon Leader Li, we need to leave as soon as possible. There might still be danger here.”
Xu Lu walked to Li You's side and expressed her concerns.
Although Li You didn't know where Xu Lu's worries came from, since the mission was completed, there was indeed no need for them to stay here.
“Professor Xu, now that those two demonic beasts are dead, can we collect more crystal ore?”
Li You pointed to the spring eye, which was currently gushing water, with many broken starfall crystals scattered nearby.
“No need. I've seen the one Chen Bugu brought back; it's enough. Organize the brothers to move out quickly.”
After Xu Lu finished speaking, she didn't know why, but she suddenly felt a strange sense of anxiety.
Li You quickly organized his men to carry the fallen brothers and that starfall crystal, and ten minutes later, they evacuated in another direction.
Silence returned to the rocky beach. The water from the spring eye gurgled, continuing to flow over the frozen surface. The wind blew, making everything seem unusually quiet.
Only the frozen stream, the dead crocodile turtle, and the ice shards mixed with blood silently declared that a fierce battle had once taken place here.
However, less than an hour after Chen Bugu and Xu Lu's two groups left, two Black-robed men suddenly appeared on the rocky beach.
They looked at the two dead Ice Armor Crocodile Turtles, and then at the spring eye, which was currently gushing water.
The next second, the two men appeared by the spring eye as if they had teleported.
“John, do you think that guy woke up?”
“Not yet, but it should be soon.”
The two Black-robed men looked down at the spring eye.
“That's good. It wasn't in vain that I specifically moved the crocodile turtle's nest here. Oh, by the way, John, who do you think killed these two crocodile turtles? Do Awakeneds at this stage already have this ability? Or did someone else return to the forest?”
“Alright, George, let's go back and report. Anyway, our North group's mission is complete. The rest is not for us to worry about.”
“Tch, John, you're such a boring man. So, do you think this whole set of methods really works? It's not that I'm questioning the boss, I just don't quite trust this Eastern approach.”
The man named John ignored George, turned, and vanished from the spot.
“Boring, truly boring.”
George shook his head, and the next second, he also vanished from the spot.
...
Chen Bugu and the others naturally wouldn't know what happened there after they left the rocky beach.
After more than an hour of traveling, Chen Bugu and his group finally found a small clearing in the forest to sit down and rest.
Along the way, everyone had noticed that the egg Chen Bugu brought back was problematic.
The “Snow Mystic Antelope” responsible for acting as a porter would always fall into a very agitated state after being summoned for five minutes. In that situation, even Lin Ye couldn't communicate with the Snow Mystic Antelope.
The result of this was that every five minutes, Lin Ye had to switch summoned beasts to carry the egg, and the previous summoned beast would then completely lose control, darting into the forest until the summoning time ended and they returned to their own world.
Chen Bugu did discover that after leaving the spring eye, the egg seemed to have stopped cracking and bleeding, but the black mist lingering on its surface never dispersed.
“Lin Lin, help Teacher Lin and me dispel that state.”
After deciding to rest on the spot, Chen Bugu immediately called Lin Lin to continue the previous treatment.
This treatment lasted a full hour. Under the Holy Light, Chen Bugu and Lin Ye's expressions became peaceful, and the strange energy within their bodies was finally completely dispelled.
Lin Lin also successfully broke through due to this treatment.
Seeing Chen Bugu and Lin Ye's demeanor and tone return to their usual selves, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“What did you mean earlier? Why did you say it wasn't safe there? Weren't those two demonic beasts already killed?”
“Is there another, stronger demonic beast? In that spring eye?”
Bai Ting walked up to Chen Bugu and asked.
He had discussed this question with Han Badou on the way. Han Badou's opinion was that there might be other, more powerful demonic beasts at that rocky beach, and it was most likely related to that spring eye, because only Chen Bugu had been to that spring eye.
“I'm not sure, but I can confirm that the Ice Armor Crocodile Turtle doesn't have that ability.”
“What ability?”
“The ability to instantly freeze the entire stream.”
Chen Bugu's mind was currently filled with the blue halo that flashed by in an instant when the starfall crystal shattered.
Even in a state of Bullet Time, that halo almost flashed past his eyes.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood Chen Bugu's meaning.
In fact, as they walked back along the rocky beach, they were surprised to find that even when they returned to the place where they had bathed initially, the stream was still frozen.
Wang Bin and the others initially thought it was an effect of the shattered starfall crystal, but now, hearing Chen Bugu, it turned out to be caused by some kind of creature.
“If it really was a demonic beast, what kind of strength would it need to achieve that?”
Wang Bin swallowed, looking at Chen Bugu.
Everyone looked back at Chen Bugu upon hearing this question.
But he merely wore a serious expression and slowly spoke.
“At least, Black Iron Grade won't do!”