"Ah!"
A family disciple standing at the very edge let out a sharp scream.
Then he collapsed onto the ground.
The others immediately descended into chaos. Some wanted to flee, while others rushed to check on the injured.
Fortunately, Zhao Ruyue's assistants remained relatively calm, managing to restrain the panicked group of disciples.
The injured man was now clutching his leg, writhing on the ground in agony!
"Don't move! It will only accelerate the spread of the poison!"
Zhao Ruyue urgently warned him.
The disciple, terrified of soiling himself, endured the pain and froze in place.
Zhao Ruyue pushed through the onlookers and went to examine the wound.
Perhaps due to being on guard, this person had instinctively dodged when attacked by the unknown creature.
The wound was shallow.
The poison had only penetrated the skin and had not yet entered the bloodstream.
Zhao Ruyue breathed a sigh of relief and, as usual, bandaged the area tightly to prevent the poison from spreading.
Having finished, Zhao Ruyue said, "Don't panic, it's just a small wound..."
Before she could finish her sentence, there was another whoosh.
Screams erupted one after another!
In a short period, the unknown creature had attacked five or six people.
Yet, not a single person present had caught a glimpse of the creature.
They couldn't even catch its shadow, only the sound of air being torn apart to determine if an attack had occurred!
Zhao Ruyue's carefully arranged formation had long since been shattered.
The remaining two unharmed family disciples, like startled birds, scattered and fled.
Of Zhao Ruyue's three assistants, two had also been scratched.
The poison was extremely potent.
Even on cultivators, it spread rapidly.
On ordinary people, its spread was even more terrifying!
While Zhao Ruyue was attending to one person, the poison in another assistant was already nearing their waist...
"Doctor Zhao, I don't want to die!"
The assistant cried out, his voice choked with tears.
He felt his body stiffen, a bone-chilling coldness seeping into him.
It felt like he could see the scythe of death...
"Don't panic."
Zhao Ruyue, who was swamped with work, managed to offer a brief word of comfort before swiftly and precisely binding the assistant's waist to prevent the poison from spreading.
Fortunately.
After a flurry of attacks, the unknown creature seemed to have grown bored and disappeared, leaving behind only a ground full of casualties!
Zhao Ruyue, with her remaining uninjured assistant, quickly bandaged everyone.
The bad news was that most people had been poisoned.
Whether lightly or severely, they had all been affected.
The good news was that the two injured assistants' poison had not spread as rapidly.
In fact, it was slower than that of the family disciples!
Zhao Ruyue quickly understood.
Although these three assistants were ordinary people, their mental fortitude was slightly stronger than the family disciples.
They were scared, but not to the point of losing their reason. They also tried to control their heart rates.
Hence, the poison spread more slowly.
Furthermore, the poison relied on blood circulation to invade the body.
While cultivators had stronger physiques than ordinary people, their metabolism was also faster.
This faster blood circulation led to the rapid spread of the poison...
"Why hasn't the helicopter arrived yet?"
After the unknown creature had left, the two uninjured family disciples asked tremblingly.
Zhao Ruyue bit her lip, unable to speak.
Just then.
Whirring sounds filled the air!
Looking up, they saw a helicopter flying towards them from the outskirts of Qiandu Mountain.
The helicopter bore the insignia of the Dragon Kingdom!
Zhao Ruyue's eyes lit up. She stood up, raised her hand, and waved, shouting loudly!
However, Zhao Ruyue's voice was too weak, drowned out by the roar of the helicopter's rotors.
Zhao Ruyue reached for her equipment to send coordinates to the helicopter.
But as she lifted her backpack.
Whoosh!
A dark shadow flashed past.
Zhao Ruyue felt a sudden chill at the back of her head and instinctively ducked.
Immediately after, a searing pain erupted on her shoulder!
She had been scratched by the unknown creature.
Before Zhao Ruyue could react, the creature attacked again, targeting the two remaining uninjured family disciples.
Those two disciples were already weak. Under normal circumstances, they would have been unable to dodge the creature's attack.
Moreover, upon hearing the helicopter, they were overjoyed and their attention was solely on the sky.
They completely missed the creature's approach.
As a result, the creature's claw raked across their chests!
The chest, being centrally located and close to the heart, was a particularly vulnerable area.
Once the poison contaminated it, its spread would be much faster than elsewhere!
The two family disciples screamed and collapsed onto the ground.
It was at this moment that they finally got a clear look at the unknown creature.
It resembled a lizard, with yellow-green eyes and nictitating membranes.
Being stared at by it sent chills down their spines!
Perhaps sensing that everyone had fallen, losing their ability to fight.
The unknown creature no longer hid its presence. It perched not far away, coldly observing the fallen figures on the ground.
"Is that a lizard?"
The assistant, supporting Zhao Ruyue, exclaimed in surprise.
Zhao Ruyue quickly handed the instrument to the assistant. "Quick, send the coordinates to the helicopter."
The assistant took the instrument.
But before he could even operate it, the lizard moved!
In the blink of an eye, it tore at the assistant's wrist, sending the instrument falling to the ground.
The lizard's eyes fixed on Zhao Ruyue, and it began to walk towards her, step by step.
Zhao Ruyue felt a chilling coldness crawl up her spine under its icy gaze.
She tried to shift back, but found herself utterly unable to move!
The poison invading her shoulder caused a searing pain, and any slight movement sent spasms of agony through her internal organs!
"It's over."
These two words echoed in Zhao Ruyue's mind.
For some reason, at this moment, Zhao Ruyue desperately missed Zhou Yu.
"If I'm going to die now, can I see Zhou Yu one last time?" Zhao Ruyue murmured to herself.
As a doctor, saving lives was her duty, so she held no resentment for this fatal mission.
Her only regret was not being able to see Zhou Yu again.
If she had known it would be the last time, she should have left later and spoken with Zhou Yu for a little longer...
As she was thinking.
The poison began to spread, and Zhao Ruyue's vision started to blur.
Through the remaining light, she could see the unknown creature leaping onto her.
Its sharp claws were extended...
"Ruyue!"
Zhou Yu's voice echoed.
A magnified image of Zhou Yu's face appeared before Zhao Ruyue's eyes.
She thought it was an illusion and unconsciously reached out, trying to touch his cheek.
However, she had reached her limit.
Her hand, only halfway extended, fell limply.
The two words she managed to utter scattered with the wind: "So good..."
From the helicopter, Zhou Yu's exceptional eyesight had pinpointed the location of Zhao Ruyue and her group.
He had even witnessed Zhao Ruyue being attacked by the unknown creature!
Seeing that the creature was about to end Zhao Ruyue's life.
Zhou Yu, disregarding that the helicopter had not yet landed, jumped out!
He had still been too late...