CR: Chapter 559

Chapter 559 – Deceased

Liu Qiao and Old Mo, whom they had been separated from for a long time, finally appeared in front of them. Xiao Lou was overjoyed in his heart. He looked at the blood on the two of them and hurriedly stepped forward. “Were you swept away by the sandstorm? Do you have any injuries?”

Liu Qiao told him, “Professor Xiao, rest assured. We’re fine and there are just small scratches.”

Lu Jiuchuan pointed to the building in front of him. “They were hiding in this house when I found them.”

Xiao Lou looked in the direction Brother Jiu was pointing. Sure enough, he saw a strange building. It was said to be a house but it was more like a cube. The top, bottom, left and right were tightly wrapped in marble, leaving no gaps.

This was familiar marble. It was apparently Old Mo’s card.

Old Mo walked up to Xiao Lou and explained, “At the time, I was swept away by the sandstorm. In order to save me, Xiao Liu flew up with the light footwork card and grabbed my arm to pull me back. Unfortunately, the wind of the sandstorm was too strong. We were both swept into the air and fell unconscious.”

Liu Qiao added, “It wasn’t known how long we have been unconscious. We couldn’t see anyone when we woke up and we didn’t dare to walk randomly. We just waited in the same place. We thought that after dark, we would rely on the direction of the North Star to find you again. As a result, we encountered a group of wild wolves as soon as it became dark.”

Xiao Lou heard this and couldn’t help his heart tensing. “Then you built this shelter out of marble?”

Old Mo smiled bitterly. “There were at least hundreds of wolves and the two of us couldn’t cope at all. Xiao Liu used Elsa’s ice and snow skill to freeze the wolves for a few seconds and we used the light footwork card to escape. However, the wolves were too fast and soon caught up with us. There was no other way and Xiao Liu suggested that I build a house out of marble to hide in. The wolves couldn’t destroy the marble so we managed to survive.”

The two of them stumbled in the process of escaping, leaving many wounds on their bodies. Fortunately, those were all surface wounds.

Old Mo’s leg was bitten by a wolf. The blood oozing out stained half of his pant legs red and he was walking with a limp. Shao Qingge took the initiative to go over and crouched down to help heal the wound. At the same time, he asked softly, “What about the wolves that besieged you?”

Liu Qiao answered, “We hid in the marble house. The wolves were howling around us when there were two really loud howls in the distance. Then the small wolves inexplicably scattered.”

Xiao Lou and Shao Qingge glanced at each other. Shao Qingge quickly finished treating Old Mo’s wounds and stood up. “It seems that the wolf king discovered our tracks and summoned the small wolves. The small wolves gave up on besieging Old Mo and Xiao Liu and shifted their targets to attack us.”

Old Mo looked at Xiao Lou with surprise. “Have you also encountered wolves?”

Chu Huaying said, “Both Xiao Liu and I heard the wolf king’s howl. It means the wolf king’s position when he howled just now wasn’t far from here. We just escaped the wolves but they’ll probably catch up again.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Let’s retreat quickly. Brother Jiu, I’ll have to trouble you to explore the way in the air.”

Lu Jiuchuan heard this and immediately jumped onto the vermilion bird in front of him. His vision in the sky was relatively wide. If he encountered a wolf pack, he could see it immediately. Xiao Lou’s group quickly followed Lu Jiuchuan with various light footwork skills.

Liu Qiao was beside Xiao Lou. Their teammates were all there but she didn’t see Yu Hanjiang. She asked softly, “Professor Xiao, what about Group Leader Yu?”

Xiao Lou pointed to his pocket. “I made him smaller.”

Liu Qiao didn’t know what was happening but Yu Hanjiang must have been injured or something if he was transformed to thumb size and put in the pocket. She didn’t ask any more questions and concentrated on flying forward with Old Mo.

Lu Jiuchuan flew for some time before he found a black and oppressive wolf pack appearing behind him.

The brown and yellow eyes of the desert wolves were unusually obvious in the dark night, like a large group of moving night lights. The dense number of pupils made Lu Jiuchuan’s back stiffen and he hurriedly shouted downward, “Everyone, speed up. The wolves are catching up again. I will go set them on fire!”

Xiao Lou heard this and urged Ye Qi. “Xiao Ye, quickly!”

Ye Qi used the teleportation card to take Xiao Lou with him and the others also fled for their lives according to their abilities. Lu Jiuchuan stayed behind with Tang Ci. The moment he saw his team running for more than 100 meters, he suddenly turned around and flew toward the wolves.

The countless small wolves gathered together to form a tide that spread rapidly across the desert. The team’s physical strength was absolutely inferior to these hungry and crazy wolves. Even if they had the light footwork cards, they couldn’t escape from the wolves for a long time.

Lu Jiuchuan stared coldly at the wolves below. He gently touched the feathers on the vermilion bird’s neck and whispered, “Vermilion Bird, set them on fire.”

The divine beast heard the command and opened its wings. Blazing flames fell from the sky like a rain of fireballs and slammed into the wolves in front. The yellow sand seemed to be dyed red by the flames. In an instant, the fire formed a wall of flames several meters high in front of the wolves. The tongues of fire roared and were swept by the wind towards the wolves!

The fire of the vermilion bird was able to devour all things.

The wolves engulfed by the fire let out a deafening howl.

The cries of a large number of desert wolves came together and the deafening howls completely broke the tranquility of the desert.

Xiao Lou listened to these sounds and his heart tightened. He took a deep breath and pressed on the earpiece. “Brother Jiu, can you still use this card after the vermilion bird’s limited skill was used?”

Lu Jiuchuan replied, “It put me and Tang Ci on the ground and then disappeared.”

The vermilion bird had been with him since entering the Card World and helped him resolve countless crises. Now seeing the divine red bird disappear in front of his eyes, Lu Jiuchuan felt sorry but he could only abide by the rules.

In the two jokers’ secret room, the card would become invalid once a card skill was used. Using one meant having one less card.

Lu Jiuchuan opened his hand and let the Vermilion Bird card that had turned into fragments disperse with the wind. Then he said, “I can’t continue to look for the oasis and relying on Xiao Tang’s drone to scout the entire desert is simply unrealistic. How is Hanjiang?”

“He has a high fever and can’t wake up. If we can’t find the medicine soon, I’m afraid…” Xiao Lou tried to remain calm but his voice trembled uncontrollably. He paused before saying decisively, “Let’s look for it separately. The efficiency will be higher.”

Lu Jiuchuan was also anxious in his heart but if he hadn’t used the vermilion bird’s big move just now, they wouldn’t have been able to stop this group of hungry wolves at all. Sooner or later, they would’ve become the delicacies of the wolves. Xiao Lou suggested searching separately and Lu Jiuchuan also agreed with this method. He asked, “How should we divide the team?”

“I will go with Ye Qi, Huaying, Liu Qiao and Chief Shao to the east and north to investigate. Brother Jiu, you take the others and Old Mo as a guide and go to the south and west.” Xiao Lou instructed calmly. “No matter how big the desert, there is always a boundary. We must find the oasis before dawn.”

Lu Jiuchuan didn’t hesitate any longer. “Okay.”

He paused before adding, “Protect yourself. Hanjiang won’t want to see you have an accident because of him.”

“I know,” Xiao Lou replied. He glanced to the side and spoke quickly, “Xiao Ye, Huaying, Liu Qiao and Chief Shao, follow me. The rest of you will wait for Brother Jiu to come and head in the opposite direction. Our goal is to find the oasis before dawn to find the special medicine that can cure the plague. Otherwise, we will lose our teammates Yu Hanjiang and Long Sen.”

Liu Qiao finally understood what happened to Yu Hanjiang and Liu Qiao. She didn’t ask any questions and obediently walked over to Xiao Lou’s side.

Xiao Lou looked up at the sky and ordered calmly, “Go.”

Liu Qiao rarely saw Professor Xiao looking so serious. He usually had a gentle smile on his face so that his teammates felt safe and friendly. Now his entire face had sunk. This showed how severe the situation was.

Liu Qiao’s light footwork card needed a landing point and it was difficult to find a landing point in the desert to fly continuously. Therefore, Ye Qi simply took Xiao Lou and Liu Qiao with him using the teleportation card. Shao Qingge and Chu Huaying’s speed was very fast and the four of them rushed in the direction of the North Star under Xiao Lou’s guidance.

The temperature at night was very low and the bad weather made their hands and feet freeze to the point of being numb. This was combined with the wind that blew from time to time, blowing sand madly against their faces. The sand almost blinded Xiao Lou and his face was in pain like being cut by knives. Still, he didn’t dare to stop for a moment and rushed forward desperately.

He knew that Yu Hanjiang would be in more danger with every minute of delay.

The man who had always been protecting him was now lying in his pocket with a high fever. How dare he relax?

Xiao Lou’s spirit was like a taut string and his expression was terrifyingly serious. His teammates didn’t dare speak out of fear of disturbing him.

The group of five sped through the desert. It wasn’t known how long it took before Ye Qi softly said, “Professor Xiao, my teleportation card can’t be used indefinitely. It lasts for up to one hour. Chief Shao also has one so it can be used for a total of two hours.”

In the past, it only took ten minutes or half an hour at most to escape. Most of the time, they were fleeing in the city and had to stop and reorganize when encountering turns. Ye Qi had never used the teleportation card for so long and at such high intensity.

In the endless desert, it didn’t matter how long they moved. They seemed to be stopped in place. The surrounding landscape remained unchanged. After so long, even Ye Qi would be tired.

The teleportation card had a speed of 50 meters every second. They could teleport 180 kilometers in one hour. Xiao Lou had long been calculating the time since Ye Qi started to teleport. He heard Ye Qi’s words and nodded. “We have moved 90 kilometers to the north. We will continue moving for half an hour and then switch and continue using Chief Shao’s card.”

Shao Qingge took out his card in advance and handed it to Xiao Lou.

The group continued to move forward. Time passed minute by minute but there was still an endless desert around them. Such an unchanging scene simply made them feel desperate.

The cold wind in the dark night was biting. Xiao Lou’s hair and clothes were full of sand but he couldn’t care about these things at all. He had only one thought in his heart. He wanted to find the oasis. He wanted to save Yu Hanjiang!

This firm belief had always sustained him.

His entire body was frozen numb and thirst, hunger and fatigue constantly swept through his mind but he held his breath hard and teleported more than 300 kilometers continuously in the vast desert!

The energy of the teleportation card was about to be exhausted. Xiao Lou looked calm on the surface but he was even more afraid in his heart.

What if they still couldn’t find the oasis?

He asked Lu Jiuchuan through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings. “Brother Jiu, how are you over there? Have you found the oasis?”

Lu Jiuchuan’s voice was full of helplessness. “There is still a vast desert in front of us. There is no sign of the oasis.”

Both of them fell silent at the same time. They knew what this meant.

Just then, Shao Qingge suddenly said, “There is something in front of us. You wait. I will go and see!”

In the dark night, the eyesight of the bugs was much higher than that of humans. Shao Qingge could see clearly. This was also the reason why Xiao Lou wanted to take Chief Shao with him.

Shao Qingge saw the shadow of a plant in the distance. He was worried that it was an illusion so he had his teammates stop in place and ran over quickly. Then Shao Qingge’s excited voice came from the voice headset. “I’ve found the oasis!”

Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten & Fictional Reality