Chapter 9 Return

Someone is ambushing them!

Zhou Jing's mind instantly focused. The speed of the dozens of arrows seemed to slow down, and the trajectory of each one became clearly visible.

Sharp bone arrowheads, black shafts, quivering fletching...

Damn it, he’s injured. His movements can't keep up with his thoughts!

There's no time to escape the range of the arrows. Zhou Jing can only drag his injured and weakened body, trying his best to dodge towards the area with the fewest arrows, while drawing his hunting knife and dagger, trying to parry the incoming arrows.

Clang! Clang! Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—

The arrows aimed at his neck and the base of his legs were narrowly deflected, but three more arrows broke through his defenses and pierced his body with sharp bone tips, accompanied by the sound of flesh being torn.

First, a chill, followed by a sharp pain. Zhou Jing almost lost his strength.

Although this body has good physical fitness, it is not enough to support him in parrying five arrows simultaneously, especially since he was already injured.

His mastery of the hunting knife and dagger is only at the beginner level. Although the feel is not unfamiliar, it is not enough to complete more difficult maneuvers.

Wielding a weapon in each hand and accurately deflecting two bone arrows is already the result of extreme focus.

At the same time, the sound of arrows hitting flesh came from all around, mixed with the pained cries of two or three hunters.

"Ambush! It's the Di Gu people!"

"When did they arrive!"

In the shadowy forest, groups of Di Gu people (Earth Bone people) appeared under the cover of the night, roughly estimated to be no less than fifty, holding black short bows in their hands, constantly raining down arrows.

These Di Gu people... seem to be the same group that tried to raid them a few days ago but were deterred.

The crowd recognized the origin of this group of Di Gu people, filled with shock and anger.

At this time!

The hunting activity must have been too loud just now. The firelight shone far away, and the roars echoed through the forest, attracting the wandering Di Gu people nearby.

It's also possible that this group of Di Gu people has been secretly following them, keeping their distance to avoid detection, and noticed them fighting the strange beast from afar. They waited for both sides to be injured before launching a sudden attack to take advantage of the situation!

The existence of the white spider monster is also a threat to the Di Gu people who live in the forest... This group of Di Gu people deliberately waited for them to get rid of the white spider monster, removing the threat for them, before choosing to attack!

"A bunch of despicable little beasts!"

The crowd's anger burned fiercely.

A few days ago, the hunters wouldn't have been afraid at all, but after hunting the white spider monster, three companions were sacrificed, and the remaining people were exhausted and injured, in poor condition. And Barron, who was the most seriously injured, was saying he was fine, but was actually about to collapse.

Swish, swish, swish!

The arrow rain was too sudden, and the crowd was caught off guard while dealing with the spoils. Including Barron, a total of four hunters were hit by arrows, with the most injured person taking seven arrows.

Only three others were spared because they were standing further away.

"Escape into the forest!" Barron roared.

In order to dig the pit trap and facilitate the pouring of arrows on the strange beast, they had deliberately chosen a relatively open space with less dense trees, but now it had become their disadvantage.

Only by escaping into the forest can they use the numerous trees as cover to block the Di Gu people's arrow rain.

The crowd didn't even care about the spoils and their companions' corpses, and ran away.

The two hunters who were hit by the most arrows were too seriously injured to run. They were hit in the back by the next wave of arrows, fell to the ground with a thud, and were submerged by the swarming Di Gu people.

Zhou Jing had three arrows stuck in his body, and every step brought piercing pain.

He suddenly felt arrows whistling behind him and gritted his teeth, throwing himself to the side.

Dudududu!

Seven or eight arrows immediately pierced the ground where he had been standing.

During the dodge, he felt pain in his back and shoulder blade, and was hit by two more arrows, causing him to gasp.

Blocked by the arrow rain, when Zhou Jing got up from the ground, the Di Gu people rushing at the front were already approaching, and a bone knife stabbed out fiercely, aiming straight for his heart.

Zhou Jing endured the pain and weakness, and parried with both knives.

Clang!

The hunting knife and dagger crossed, blocking the bone knife that was stabbing at him.

Then he raised his left hand and waved it, and the dagger instantly cut open the Di Gu person's neck, without the slightest hesitation.

Blood spurted out!

Even though he was injured, his physical fitness was still much stronger than these skinny Di Gu people.

Although the Di Gu people have the same structure as humans, Zhou Jing didn't hesitate at all.

During the hunting of the strange beast, it was as if some switch in his heart had been turned on, as if he had broken free from the shackles of a stable life, and a burst of anger spread in his chest.

Zhou Jing's right hand stabbed the hunting knife straight into the Di Gu person's eye socket, adding a final blow to pierce the enemy's head.

Puchi!

He pulled out the knife, bringing out a stream of blood mixed with white matter, and watched expressionlessly as the Di Gu person in front of him sprayed blood and fell down.

But even killing the enemy instantly, his steps still paused for a moment.

In his vision, this Di Gu person fell down, revealing three or four Di Gu people behind him, and even more Di Gu people chasing after him.

'I can't turn around, I'll be stabbed to death if I turn around...'

Zhou Jing instantly understood the situation. He retreated while tightening his grip on the two knives, preparing to face more Di Gu people head-on.

Just at that moment, a gust of heavy wind swept past him.

Whoosh!

Barron's giant axe flew out spinning, carrying a force as powerful as a landslide, and slammed heavily into the Di Gu people's ranks.

Bang, bang, bang—

The Di Gu people at the front couldn't dodge in time and were hit head-on.

For a moment, broken limbs and arms flew everywhere!

It wasn't obvious when fighting the strange beast, but when attacking ordinary people, the crushing power of a Different Blood Warrior against ordinary people was revealed.

"Go!"

Not far away, Barron shouted at Zhou Jing.

The physical fitness of a Different Blood Warrior far exceeds that of ordinary people. Barron was the most seriously injured, but he was still the fastest, running to the front, but when he turned his head and saw his companion in danger, he stopped and threw his weapon without hesitation, but it was only enough to resolve Zhou Jing's dangerous situation.

Barron used all his strength to throw his weapon, pulling at the injuries all over his body, and his physical condition deteriorated further, almost losing his balance and falling to the ground.

Fortunately, Griffith and another hunter who had just run to his side grabbed his arms and dragged him away.

The Di Gu people at the front were smashed into minced meat, and the Di Gu people behind them were frightened and stopped.

Zhou Jing didn't dare to hesitate at all. Taking advantage of the opportunity created by Barron, he turned around and ran.

In the few seconds before the next wave of arrows from the Di Gu people arrived, he finally rushed into the forest with the surviving hunters.

Dudududu—dense arrows nailed themselves into the trees they had just passed.

With the cover of the trees, the threat of the Di Gu people's arrow rain was greatly reduced.

Zhou Jing followed Barron and the others as they ran wildly through the forest. He didn't know how long they ran, but the shouts behind them gradually faded away. It seemed that the Di Gu people had finally given up the chase and went back to scavenge the spoils.

But the crowd didn't dare to stop to rest. They gave their wounds emergency treatment, and then supported their exhausted bodies and continued to run away.

After running for a while, confirming that the Di Gu people weren't chasing them, the crowd finally stopped, all covered in dirt and in a state of disarray.

"Are... are we safe?"

Griffith breathed heavily.

Zhou Jing was also breathing rapidly. The wounds on his body were aching and itching, and the injuries caused his physical strength to decline severely.

Barron collapsed to the ground, coughing violently, spitting out mouthfuls of blood-flecked phlegm.

His weapon had already been thrown away, so obviously he couldn't retrieve it. At this time, his hands were empty.

"This group of Di Gu people are despicable and shameless! Sooner or later, we'll wipe them out and burn their nests to the ground!"

Griffith punched a tree trunk angrily, his face full of grief and indignation.

Two more companions were lost, and only half of the hunter team remained, a heavy loss.

"Cough, cough... we'll talk about this when we get back." Barron couldn't stop coughing, and pointed weakly at Zhou Jing, saying intermittently, "Thanks to you this time, you saved us."

"Didn't you save me?" Zhou Jing panted, a little puzzled.

If it hadn't been for Barron throwing his axe to force back the Di Gu people, he probably wouldn't have been able to escape.

Griffith let out a rough breath and explained, "We originally wanted to use a delaying tactic to wear down the white spider monster, but if the Di Gu people had attacked while we hadn't solved the strange beast, we would have been attacked from both sides, and we would have been dead for sure... Fortunately, you killed the white spider monster in advance, otherwise we might not have survived."

From the hunters' perspective, they could see the role that Zhou Jing had played.

If they hadn't brought Willwood along the way, they would have followed their original plan and fought the strange beast for a long time, and they would have been ambushed by the Di Gu people without realizing it, which would have been a situation of total annihilation.

Just thinking about the scene of being attacked from both sides by two groups of enemies made everyone feel a burst of palpitations and fear.

It could be said that Zhou Jing indirectly saved their lives, although he might not have realized how much he had helped, but the hunters couldn't pretend it hadn't happened.

"You saved us, we will remember this kindness."

Griffith said seriously.

So that's what they were talking about... Zhou Jing exhaled.

Thinking carefully, it seemed to be true. If he hadn't met them halfway, the original trajectory of this hunter team might have been total annihilation in the forest.

Zhou Jing panted for a while and shook his head:

"No need to be like this, we saved each other..."

He only said half a sentence when his vision suddenly spun, his head felt heavy, and he fell to the ground.

The crowd was startled.

Griffith hurriedly squatted down to check Zhou Jing's body, and soon discovered the clues, shocked and angry.

"That group of Di Gu people put poison on their arrows! The poison has broken out!"

The other two who hadn't been hit by arrows were shocked and hurried to check on Barron and the injured hunter.

The injured hunter was leaning against a tree and hadn't made a sound. He had already passed out, his whole body was hot, and he was covered in cold sweat.

Barron waved his hand, his face pale, and forced himself to cheer up: "Take care of them first, don't worry about me, my body is different from yours, I can handle it."

Zhou Jing's eyes were filled with gold stars, everything in his vision became blurred, and he only felt the pain in his body increase, and a wet, hot feeling filled his chest, as if his lungs were bleeding, making breathing extremely difficult.

The poison wouldn't have acted so quickly, but running all the way promoted blood flow, and the poison on the arrowhead was like a volcanic eruption, not only deepening the poisoning, but also causing the injuries to deteriorate rapidly.

"Brother, hold on, don't fall asleep!"

Griffith shouted anxiously, constantly slapping Zhou Jing's cheeks.

Zhou Jing tried hard to open his eyes, trying to stay awake, but after supporting himself for a while, his consciousness gradually became drowsy and he fell into a coma.

...

In his hazy consciousness, Zhou Jing vaguely felt that he was being carried on someone's back, stopping and going, rising and falling.

It seemed that someone was anxiously calling the name "Willwood," over and over again, sometimes saying "We're almost there," and sometimes saying "Hold on."

Everything was unclear, as if there was a layer of medium between them, like hiding under the surface of the water, listening to the sounds coming from the surface of the water.

Zhou Jing woke up intermittently, and each time he quickly fell unconscious again, not knowing what was happening outside or how much time had passed.

Until one moment, his consciousness suddenly jolted and he became clear again.

Whoosh!

The perspective suddenly left his body, as if his consciousness had soared into the sky.

He looked down and saw that "Willwood's" body was being carried by Griffith, while Barron, who claimed he could handle it, and the other injured hunter were being carried by the other two uninjured hunters.

The three carried one person each, walking with difficulty, moving through the forest.

In the next second, the figures of these people quickly shrank in his vision. Zhou Jing's perspective gradually rose, crossed the canopy, and looked down at the forest from a high altitude. The scene he saw suddenly turned into an endless deep green sea of trees.

This was the edge of the sea of trees, and outside the forest, a village with wisps of smoke rising into the air came into view. It was too far away to see clearly, but it was the direction that Griffith and the others were heading...

Before Zhou Jing could think carefully, a familiar attraction came from overhead.

He looked up and saw a crack of flowing light quietly opening in the sky.

It was the same crack that had sucked him in when he came. It had appeared under his feet when he landed, but when he returned, it appeared overhead.

Zhou Jing's body lightened, and with a whoosh, he was sucked into the crack.

It was another familiar channel of flowing light, familiar colorful colors... The difference was that he had fallen when he came, but he was rising on the way back.

And at the end of the ascending channel, the starry space from when he came was looming, gradually becoming clear.

At the same time, a surge of information flooded into his mind.

[This projection has ended!]

[Actual stay time: 6 days]

[Resource collection: 163 Star Realm Points (view/hide statistics)]

[Experience log recorded, related exploration results recorded in the encyclopedia]

[Next traversal cooldown: 12 hours for the main body]

[Please formulate a placement plan for the Star Realm Apostle]