CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 86 ESCAPE_1

Wang Zhan’s mental energy remained spread to its maximum range.

While Huang Pufeng was talking to Du Ming, Wang Zhan sensed that something outside seemed to have changed.

Suddenly, the ground vibrated slightly.

The vibration was so faint it was almost imperceptible, but under the coverage of Wang Zhan’s mental energy, this sudden change was exceptionally obvious.

"Shut up!" Wang Zhan said, frowning.

Huang Pufeng and the other two were startled by Wang Zhan’s sharp whisper. However, Huangfu and Song Dongming knew Wang Zhan wouldn’t speak without reason, so they both consciously fell silent.

A few seconds later, the tremors occurred again.

This time, the tremors were significantly stronger, so much so that Huang Pufeng and Song Dongming both felt them.

"Is it an earthquake?" Song Dongming asked instinctively.

"I don’t know... This is bad!"

Wang Zhan’s expression suddenly changed drastically. He hastily said, "Quick, take Du Ming and get out of here!"

The moment he finished speaking, Wang Zhan ran towards the exit of the Rock Crevice without hesitation. Seeing this, Huang Pufeng hoisted Du Ming onto his back, and Song Dongming followed closely behind Wang Zhan with the other two.

They had barely taken two steps when the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

Even with Wang Zhan’s skill, he was caught off guard and stumbled to the ground; Song Dongming and Huang Pufeng, carrying Du Ming, suffered the same.

The tremors intensified. Unlike before, the current shaking could be described as earth-shattering.

Loud roaring sounds echoed everywhere. The four people in the Rock Crevice could only press themselves flat against the ground, unable to move.

"What happened?" Song Dongming asked loudly.

At this moment, Wang Zhan’s face was deathly pale. "We aren’t in a Rock Crevice! Damn it, this isn’t a crevice! We are... we are on the back of a beast!"

"What?!"

"How is that possible?!"

Huang Pufeng and Song Dongming paled simultaneously. Wang Zhan’s words were so incredible that for a moment, they couldn’t believe them.

"This rock mountain is a hundred meters high. What kind of beast could be so large..." Huang Pufeng trailed off mid-sentence.

He instinctively looked at Song Dongming, whose brow was deeply furrowed. Song Dongming said, "One of the two overlords of the Flame Valley... the Magma Giant Tortoise."

"Most likely," Wang Zhan said in a low voice. "After I felt the vibrations, I quickly noticed a sound like breathing. Damn it, isn’t the Magma Giant Tortoise supposed to sleep for over a decade at a time? How could we be so unlucky to run into it?"

There were two overlords in the Flame Valley, both leader-level beasts, equivalent to human Grandmaster experts.

One of them was the Magma Giant Tortoise.

The Magma Giant Tortoise was one of the largest beasts. In the information about the Flame Valley, its description consisted of just a few simple words: Enormous beyond measure.

But Wang Zhan and the others could never have imagined that the Magma Giant Tortoise would be *this* enormous.

The giant rock, a hundred meters in length and width, was merely a part of its shell!

The shaking continued, but it had lessened considerably compared to the previous earth-shattering tremors.

"Magma Giant Tortoises are generally docile and don’t attack proactively. Let’s leave carefully." After speaking, Wang Zhan led the way out through the Rock Crevice.

Huang Pufeng and Song Dongming, with Du Ming, followed closely.

A moment later, Wang Zhan stood at the exit of the Rock Crevice.

But when he reached it, he stopped, remaining silent for over ten seconds.

Because the Rock Crevice was narrow, those behind him couldn’t see the situation outside.

"What’s wrong? What happened?" Song Dongming asked.

Wang Zhan heaved a long sigh. "I’m afraid... we can’t get out."

The exit of the Rock Crevice before Wang Zhan was now a good sixty to seventy meters above the ground. Looking out, the Magma Giant Tortoise’s colossal body had completely sealed off the entrance to the Inner Valley.

Not only that, Wang Zhan also saw the Magma Lake in the distance—it was merely a deep pit on the Magma Giant Tortoise’s back.

"Let’s get down for now," Wang Zhan jumped first.

A drop of seventy to eighty meters, with footholds to use, was naturally not a problem for Wang Zhan, Huangfu, and Song Dongming, even with Huangfu carrying Du Ming.

However, just as the four of them landed and before they could even straighten up, they all felt an icy aura envelop them.

In the scorching Flame Valley, the appearance of this chilling aura made the four of them involuntarily shiver.

Wang Zhan instinctively turned his head and found himself staring directly into the Magma Giant Tortoise’s enormous eyes at the entrance.

In an instant, Wang Zhan felt his head swim. Simultaneously, the mental energy he had extended surged back like a tide, completely enveloping his body, and electric sparks crackled around him!

This was the instinct of Human Martial Artists: when their mental energy came under immense pressure, it would automatically protect them.

This big guy... it isn’t going to attack us, is it? Wang Zhan swallowed hard, his heart already gripped by extreme fear.

From the very beginning, he had never thought of having any interaction with this Magma Giant Tortoise. Forget him; even if his mentor, Duan Kun, were here, he would likely be helpless.

Just as the four of them were frozen by the Magma Giant Tortoise’s intimidating presence, there was sudden movement in the Magma Lake on its back.

The magma in the lake began to churn violently. Then, incredibly, seven or eight peculiar-looking, four-legged beasts leaped out.

As soon as these four-legged beasts appeared, they immediately locked onto Wang Zhan’s group of four and charged at them without hesitation.

Wang Zhan’s expression changed drastically. "They’re all soldier-level or higher! Run!"

Who could have imagined that other beasts actually lived in the Magma Lake on the Magma Giant Tortoise’s back!

At Wang Zhan’s panicked cry, the three conscious members, with Huang Pufeng still carrying Du Ming, turned and fled in the opposite direction without a second thought.

If they were truly cornered by those seven or eight soldier-level beasts, they would all undoubtedly perish! In this situation, they couldn’t afford to worry about whether they were heading deeper into the inner valley of the Flame Valley.

Fortunately, these unidentified four-legged beasts weren’t very fast, even slower than Huang Pufeng who was carrying Du Ming.

"They must be beasts that live in magma, not well-adapted to land," Song Dongming observed, glancing back as they fled.

"Don’t let your guard down! Keep running! We need to find a safe place to hide first," Wang Zhan said, leading the way without looking back.

After sprinting at full speed for about ten minutes, the unidentified beasts finally stopped their pursuit. They let out a few strange cries and then retreated.

By this time, however, Wang Zhan’s group of four had reached the depths of the inner valley of the Flame Valley.

"The temperature here is at least 70 degrees Celsius. Du Ming can’t hold on much longer," Huang Pufeng suddenly said. "We have to get out of here as quickly as possible. If we stay too long, it won’t just be Du Ming; even the three of us won’t be able to endure it."

"But the entrance is blocked by the Magma Giant Tortoise. That big guy is clearly hostile towards us; there’s no way to get past it," Wang Zhan said, frowning.

Meanwhile, Song Dongming, who had been fiddling with his personal terminal for a while, finally looked up with a grim expression. "There’s no signal here at all! Even though the signal in the wilderness is extremely weak, it’s usually still functional."

"It’s most likely due to the environment," Wang Zhan said with a bitter smile.

It felt like when it rains, it pours. Their mission had been incredibly smooth until this critical point, but now a major snag had appeared, and they couldn’t even figure out a way to leave.

While Wang Zhan and Song Dongming were each trying to figure out a way to get away, Du Ming, on Huang Pufeng’s back, was at death’s door.

"I... I don’t think I can make it," Du Ming said, his voice faltering. Sweat had mixed with the bloodstains on his clothes, turning them murky, and his face was filled with a death aura.

Huang Pufeng was startled. "Hold on! We’re figuring out a way! Don’t give up on yourself!"

"I... I’ve held on for too long," Du Ming said, his voice as faint as a thread. "There were eight of us on this mission. I’m the last one alive... I’ve done my best."

As he said this, a smile flickered on Du Ming’s face, even though he could barely keep his eyes open.

"I really don’t want to say this, but Huangfu, being able to die by your side... I can consider it a worthy death."

Huang Pufeng’s eyes widened. He was about to say something, but then he realized Du Ming had stopped breathing.

Suddenly, all the words caught in his throat.

Huang Pufeng gently laid Du Ming’s body on the ground and stared at it blankly. Droplets—whether sweat or tears, or perhaps both—fell unceasingly.

Seeing this, Wang Zhan and Song Dongming both lowered their personal terminals.

"My condolences," Wang Zhan said with a long sigh.

This is the Fate of Martial Artists, a path everyone must walk.

Looking at Huang Pufeng, Wang Zhan subconsciously thought of Yao Yao, that headstrong girl.

Wang Zhan could deeply empathize with what Huang Pufeng was feeling right now. Back then, Yao Yao had also died in his arms, without even finishing her last words.

Song Dongming patted Huang Pufeng’s shoulder and said, "When we found Du Ming, he was already at the end of his rope. I just didn’t mention it... The message you sent him earlier gave him that last flicker of hope. Otherwise, he might not have lasted until we found him."

"I understand all that; you don’t need to tell me," Huang Pufeng said, shaking his head slightly. "Actually, I had already anticipated Du Ming’s condition on our way here. But when you actually face it, no amount of mental preparation seems to be enough."

His words plunged them into silence once more.

The three of them were in a relatively secluded corner of the Inner Valley.

Wang Zhan had already begun to scan their surroundings with his mental energy again.

However, just as he extended his mental energy, Wang Zhan suddenly froze, his breath catching in his throat and his eyes widening in shock.

"There’s no time for grieving! Huang Pufeng, put Du Ming’s body away. We can mourn later. We have to leave now!" Wang Zhan said rapidly.

Huang Pufeng, though slightly startled, didn’t dare to delay. He stored Du Ming’s body in his Storage Bangle.

Song Dongming quickly asked, "What is it now? Don’t tell me those beasts from earlier have caught up?"

"No," Wang Zhan replied, his expression grim. "But the situation is even worse."