"See? They wanted us to." Jiang Xiao said quietly, "After all, we're still asking them to deduct fewer points from us."

Xia Yan pouted, looking unwilling, but she let go and put Jiang Xiao down.

Jiang Xiao was a little excited. It wasn't every day you got to see two Lava Ghost Witches mating, especially since their numbers were already so few.

Jiang Xiao tiptoed to the corner of the tunnel and chuckled softly, "The ratings for the second wasteland reclamation competition weren't very high to begin with, but this time they'll skyrocket, right?"

Xia Yan: "..."

Jiang Xiao had just poked his head out when Xia Yan yanked it back before he could even see anything clearly.

Jiang Xiao: ???

Xia Yan held Jiang Xiao's head in place, straightened his body against the tunnel wall, and took off the headband he was wearing. She leaned out of the tunnel and began filming the scene inside.

Jiang Xiao: "What are you doing?"

Xia Yan watched the two Lava Ghost Witches with curiosity as she said, "You're too young. It's not suitable for children."

Jiang Xiao: "Who says I'm young?"

Xia Yan: "If you're not young, then who is?"

Jiang Xiao: "If you don't let me go, I'm going to heal you!"

Xia Yan covered Jiang Xiao's face and pressed it against the wall. "Shh, don't make a sound."

Ugh, this sneaky thief!

She only wants to watch it herself and won't let anyone else see!

Just as Jiang Xiao was about to protest, he heard a cough from the staff in his hidden earpiece.

Jiang Xiao then realized that the miniature camera was also recording audio, and everything he and Xia Yan had said had been recorded.

While the two Lava Ghost Witches were filming an action movie, he and Xia Yan were bickering. If the signal was broadcast live, they'd become commentators...

Jiang Xiao wisely shut his mouth, while Xia Yan wore a disgusted expression, clearly repulsed by the scene. She straightened up at the tunnel corner, holding the headband and reaching out to record.

The two kindergarten children stared at each other, silently competing in the quiet tunnel, as if they wanted to defeat each other with their eyes.

At first, these two little kids were at odds, putting on a good show. But as time passed, Jiang Xiao slowly felt that the atmosphere was a little strange.

In the silent tunnel, it was hot and stuffy, and their breaths were short and rapid, as if they could even hear each other's heartbeats.

A burning sensation came from his hand, tickling him, and Xia Yan took her hand off Jiang Xiao's face.

The pretty face of the usually crazy Xia Shi Qi was a little flushed, and she actually looked away.

Oh no,

This feels like myocardial infarction... a feeling of ecstatic joy!

Jiang Xiao was so happy that he almost cried. You finally see me as a person!

How could Xia Yan, an 18-year-old adult woman, have feelings for a little kid?

What did Xia Yan's behavior indicate?

It showed that in Xia Yan's heart, Jiang Xiao was already a man.

Compared to before, Jiang Xiao had indeed grown taller. Although he still had a buzz cut, his behavior was now more defined.

Most importantly, Jiang Xiao's strength had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to before.

Dimly, they heard footsteps, which finally broke Xia Yan's slight embarrassment.

The Guardians team had arrived.

Several soldiers replaced Xia Yan and Jiang Xiao, and also drove them out. It seemed that these soldiers were going to protect the Lava Ghost Witches.

Jiang Xiao carried his knife and backpack, walking silently all the way, a smile appearing on his face. He took out a bottle of mineral water from his bag and handed it to Xia Yan.

Xia Yan took it naturally, took off her dust mask, and tilted her head back to drink.

"Don't fall in love with me, I'll break your heart," Jiang Xiao chuckled.

"Glug, glug... cough, cough..." Xia Yan was heartily drinking water when she heard Jiang Xiao's words and immediately choked. She coughed continuously, and Jiang Xiao quickly stepped forward and patted her back.

"Uh..." Xia Yan coughed for a long time, wiped her mouth, and looked at Jiang Xiao dumbly, saying, "Me? Fall in love with you?"

Jiang Xiao shrugged his shoulders, the meaning self-evident.

Xia Yan pushed Jiang Xiao away fiercely and shouted, "If I fall in love with you, I'm a dog!"

Jiang Xiao was stunned for a moment, feeling that this scene was familiar.

It seemed that she had said the same thing in the armory.

Jiang Xiao became interested and teased Xia Shi Qi: "Don't hide it, I know everything."

Xia Yan: ???

Jiang Xiao sighed and said pretentiously, "I know Xiao Jiang Xue's personality. She's cold and hard to get along with. Making friends with her is just asking for abuse. Why have you stuck by her side for so many years?"

Xia Yan opened her mouth and stammered, "She's, she's, she's my good bestie."

Jiang Xiao snorted, "Come on, I've already figured it out. You're just trying to get close to me. Alas, you've suffered so much all these years, enduring Han Jiang Xue's cold personality. You must have suffered a lot, right?"

Xia Yan: ???

Jiang Xiao suddenly stuck his knife into the hot soil, grabbed Xia Yan's shoulders with both hands, and said affectionately, "Is it worth it, for me?"

Xia Yan's pupils shrank slightly, and she was so angry that she was trembling. She used both her hands and feet, pushing Jiang Xiao's shoulders with her hands and hooking Jiang Xiao's legs with her feet, and suddenly threw Jiang Xiao to the ground.

Xia Yan held up her giant blade and slashed down horizontally. "I'll let you be cheeky! I'll let you be cheeky!"

"Hey? Hey? Don't hit me!" Jiang Xiao hurriedly got up, covered his head, and squatted down to defend. "If you hit me again, I'll use Grievance! You could catch a cold, get a fever, a runny nose, infertility, frigidity, you could turn into anything."

"Ugh!" Xia Yan trembled with anger and slashed down again. "I'm going all out!"

...

Jiang Xiao succeeded, and Xia Yan's trace of embarrassment disappeared without a trace, and the two returned to their original atmosphere.

However,

Jiang Xiao's butt hurt a little.

But Jiang Xiao wasn't worried at all.

One Blessing, and the medicine worked wonders.

Jiang Xiao healed Xia Yan a few more times.

The dizzy Xia Yan felt very comfortable, and her emotions finally stabilized.

The two continued to advance into the depths of the mountains, walking very, very far. No other participants could be seen around them anymore.

Their thinking was very simple: climb to the highest mountain peak and look down on all the others.

However, there's a saying that mountains seem closer than they are.

When the two of them finally climbed to the highest mountain peak, they were almost exhausted. Along the way, they had encountered some small Lava Ghost groups, as well as some lonely Lava Ghost Generals.

Jiang Xiao diligently recorded this information, looked at his watch, and realized that they had been walking for almost 24 hours.

Traveling in this high-temperature environment without the help of wind-type Star Techniques was indeed a test of their stamina and perseverance.

Fortunately, the Blessing divine skill constantly helped them recover their stamina and relieve fatigue.

"Over there, there's a loner," Jiang Xiao wiped away some sweat. "We need to restore our stamina and Star power."

Xia Yan's chest rose and fell in waves, her eyes were no longer sharp, showing a little fatigue, and she no longer had the mood to play.

Xia Yan opened her mouth and said, "Your Blessing can restore our physical condition. Although we don't need to eat or drink, Blessing can't relieve our thirst."

Jiang Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, "We don't have much mineral water left. Do you want to go back?"

Xia Yan glanced at Jiang Xiao and said, "I'm not that delicate. If even we can't stand it here, I believe others won't be able to either. We will definitely collect more information than others and draw a wider map."

As she spoke,

Xia Yan held up her giant blade and charged out.

It was a tall Lava Ghost General. As the regional king, it was always alone and easily hunted by hunters.

However, unlike other hunters who only wanted the Star beads in its head, this Lava Ghost General encountered two terrifying vampire hunters.

Killing is just a tap on the head?

In front of the Poisonous Milk, that doesn't exist.

A holy pillar of light descended from the sky, and the Lava Ghost General's body shook violently, and it let out a strange wail.

The next moment, the big knife swung, and its head was separated from its body.

Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan moved with surprising consistency, each inserting their swords into the Lava Ghost General's corpse.

This scene had a special term in Jiang Xiao's vocabulary: taking advantage while it's hot.

"Ha..." Xia Yan took a deep breath. What she was stepping on was not only the corpse of the Lava Ghost General, but also Jiang Xiao's golden quality Yearning halo!

A steady stream of energy climbed up the blade and flowed into Xia Yan's body. She should have been exhausted from fighting and traveling in such a harsh high-temperature environment, but because of the existence of a Poisonous Milk, her condition was almost full!

She turned her head and silently looked at Jiang Xiao. Such a god-level support was simply terrifyingly strong.

She knew how to cherish such a powerful support. But compared to a day ago, she felt some indescribable strange emotions in her heart.

This scene was also recorded by the camera. When the soldiers looked at the two of them, they looked at Jiang Xiao on the screen again, and their eyes were full of envy and admiration.

In the location map, large swaths of red dots representing participating students hovered around the entrance, with only a few scattered red dots flying far away.

And among these few red dots that were not afraid of difficulties and traveled far and wide, Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan had traveled the farthest distance.

In that vast, barren map, these two abrupt red dots were so dazzling.