pjbooks Chapter 193 Waiting
Chapter 193 Waiting
More than half of the time limit for the secret realm has passed. A gentle breeze blows outside Red Heron Island, and red herons circle above the island. Sometimes they find their target and dive into the sea to catch a fish, while other times they are unlucky and dive too deep, disturbing the big fish at the bottom of the water, and struggle to escape back into the air.
On one side of the island, on the tip of the teardrop-shaped islet, no flamingos approached. A strong human sat there in meditation, and time passed, yet he remained unmoved.
Yue Kaishan had been sitting there for ten days, or maybe eleven; he hadn't counted that precisely.
After Zhong Ming left, the team members each tamed a red heron and set off in different directions to search for Zhong Ming. Xuan Jing temporarily took on the role of captain, responsible for briefly exploring areas outside the map, while the others searched the surrounding area. After searching unsuccessfully for the first few days, they are now searching further afield.
Yue Kaishan waited where he was. This tough guy was afraid that he would miss Zhong Ming after he escaped and returned, so he fished on the island and waited.
The flock of red egrets, initially united, launched an attack on Yue Kaishan, attempting to drive him away from their territory, but...
After he caught several large fish and fed them to the flock, the fighting spirit of the flamingos was dealt a fatal blow.
Monsters will never be enslaved, unless they are provided with food and lodging...
Oh well, since he's so eager to feed us, let's just make room for him.
After driving away a few troublesome flamingos and forcing them to watch as other flamingos were fed, the flock stopped paying attention to Yue Kaishan.
The man was strange; he sat there forever, looking around as if he would never stop, and he never even slept at night.
Curious and "brave" flamingos once tried to ambush him at various times, from dusk to dawn, but without exception, they were tortured by "watching their companions eat a feast".
That day, he glanced at something and turned to look into the distance.
"Hey~~~ Fellow Daoist Yue, have you seen the captain?"
Yue Kaishan shook his head. Xuan Jing returned on Red Heron, looking like he had made a great haul. Although he had changed his clothes, his storage bags were still hanging outside.
"Has Fellow Daoist Cuihong not returned yet?"
Yue Kaishan shook his head.
Xuanjing landed beside him, startling a large flock of red egrets. The waves crashed against the rocks, splashing up snow-white water droplets that landed on his sleeves.
"So, the enemy hasn't returned either?"
“I’ve never traveled this road before,” Yue Kaishan replied, his body motionless, his gaze still fixed on the horizon.
“He’s a good captain,” Xuan Jing swallowed hard and said, forcing a smile, “Perhaps we should consider the possibility that the captain might perish together with the enemy.”
Yue Kaishan swayed slightly, but said firmly, "Wait three more days."
"If we wait another three days, we may not be able to leave the secret realm. If any unexpected events occur along the way, we can only watch the secret realm close from afar."
"Red Heron will save us some time; the monsters have already been mostly killed by the new recruits."
After saying this, the two of them fell silent.
Several hours later, the others returned one after another.
Chen Dahai didn't go far, but he reaped a rich harvest with his crossbow bolts. He hunted so many demonic beasts that he could only take their inner cores and important materials; otherwise, his storage bag wouldn't be full. Chi Tong's harvest was also less, but it consisted mostly of powerful demonic beasts and some... demonic beast cubs, some eggs, some baby demonic beasts.
The Chen family dynasty naturally collects monster cubs. Well-trained monsters are a great asset in war, and the value of a precious monster cub is higher than that of several squads of new recruits.
Some flamingos were startled, but it was much better than before; Yue Kaishan would make them shut up.
One streak of light after another streaked across the sky, and several streaks paused briefly before falling toward this side.
"Who goes there!" Xuan Jing looked at the newcomer warily, holding a talisman in his hand. The man was not angry, but put on a smiling face and greeted the Crimson-Eyed Fairy.
“Fairy, it’s a pity we couldn’t find your friend in the northwest. We explored a fan-shaped area of about three hundred miles but found nothing.”
"Thank you." She nodded to the people in the sky, which, for her, was probably the highest form of courtesy one could show to an ordinary person.
She tossed a bag of spirit stones, and the other person, upon receiving it, smiled even more broadly and exclaimed, "Fairy, if you have time, please visit our base. I will personally greet you! I'll take my leave now. Good luck to your friend..."
Several groups of such people came in succession. The most powerful cultivator was actually a supervisor, a member of the exploration team. His exploration range once reached 800 miles away, but out of caution, he did not continue to advance.
The number of cultivators coming and going gradually decreased, and by the end of the second day, no cultivators had passed through all night.
The third day arrived silently. Xuan Jing couldn't sit still all night, and could only listen to the sea breeze to relieve his fatigue, endure the stench of bird droppings, and check his storage bag from time to time.
“Let’s go and wait for him at the entrance of the secret realm. Brother Cuihong is a bit faster than us. We don’t want him to meet up with us and then be the ones who are slow to get to the entrance and hold him back.”
Yue Kaishan shook his head again, "I'll wait for him to come back here, and I'll go with him."
“Especially you,” Xuan Jing said bluntly, “you didn’t tame the red heron, so you’re the worst candidate to stay here. In my opinion, the best choice would be the Crimson-Eyed Fairy. She’s the lightest, and the red heron she tamed is at a very high level and can fly very fast.”
“Brother Cuihong is a guest of my Yue family. Our Yue family has no reason to abandon anyone.” Yue Kaishan’s attitude was very tough, which angered Xuan Jing.
"Fellow Daoist Yue, I understand your feelings, but we can't ignore the reality. Captain Cuihong is very likely... already dead, sacrificed, do you understand?"
"impossible."
"Oh dear, why are you so stubborn?"
"He's just injured."
"Being seriously injured is one thing, but the key is that we can't find him. Wait... how did you know that..."
Xuan Jing immediately became excited and followed Yue Kaishan's gaze. Sure enough, he saw... a large bald head emerging from the back of a red heron soaring in the distance.
They immediately became excited, grabbed Yue Kaishan and threw him onto the Crimson-Eyed Fairy's "mount," and the four of them and three birds took off into the wind, heading towards the sound of the bell.
The closer they got, the more panicked they became. They saw Zhong Ming's miserable condition; the injuries on his face were so severe that he was practically disfigured!
As they ascended, the injuries on their shells and limbs became visible. The extreme swelling and erythema caused by the burns made it difficult for them to even maintain a "human" appearance, which was quite horrifying.
The two red herons slowed down, and Xuan Jing even wondered if the newcomer was Captain Cui Hong, or perhaps a humanoid monster whose mind had been controlled by the enemy.
Only Yue Kaishan kept urging Honglu to fly faster, and he had already begun frantically searching for medicine.
"Brother Cuihong, how are you?"
"Brother Yue, I'm fine, I can manage."
The two immediately recognized each other upon calling out to one another. They wanted to hug each other, but were afraid of aggravating their wounds.
"How's the enemy doing?"
"I chopped that old bastard in half with one shot!"
After ten days of frustration, Yue Kaishan finally let out a hearty laugh, "I knew you could do it. I was just slow-witted back then, damn it, I didn't keep up."
"You'll have to drink the penalty shot when you get out! You're buying it."
Without hesitation, the group met up and, while talking, flew towards the gate of the secret realm.
"Wait a minute," Zhong Ming suddenly said.
"What's wrong? The secret realm is about to close, and we don't have much time left."
"I need to find my mining mole."