He sniffed hard, wiping away the mist constantly gathering in his eyes, giving himself mental encouragement. D*mn it, Qi Yue, you’re really useless. Crying for what? You died so many times and never cried, but for a few people who want to play with your butt you’re crying like you’re about to die. You’re really cheap.
But he just couldn’t control it. He must like them, right? Even more than just liking them. If they were gone and only he was left, then what meaning would there be in living?
Qi Yue’s vision was blurry, his heart aching uncontrollably. From when did it start? When did he begin to care about those people so much, and become so greedy? He didn’t want to lose anyone.
His whole body trembled badly. Tears flowed down his face, and his shaking hands wiped at them… but no matter how he wiped, they wouldn’t stop. The hand wiping his tears covered his mouth tightly, while the other clenched the crystal core in his hand. The sharp edges of the core pricked his palm painfully. Slowly he opened his hand and lowered his head, staring at it.
He shot to his feet, stumbling as he ran to the corner where the kitchen tools were stored. He dragged out the gas canister, lit it, put the small kettle on top, and threw the crystal core into the kettle.
Waiting for the water to boil was unbearably difficult. Plip, plip—tears gathered into a small puddle on the floor.
Crystal cores had to be absorbed according to the ability attribute. If you absorbed the wrong attribute, at best it would have no effect, at worst your body could explode.
Qi Yue had never absorbed a crystal core before. He only knew that space abilities could absorb milky-white crystal cores. But this one from Liu Yue was very special, completely transparent and white, something he had never seen before. Under normal circumstances he definitely wouldn’t absorb it, but right now he couldn’t care about that.
Gurgle gurgle—boiling.
He lifted the lid. The crystal core had already melted into the water. Ignoring the heat, he lifted the kettle and poured the water down his throat. Fortunately, the kettle itself was always at normal temperature regardless of hot or cold, but the water inside still burned his mouth and raised blisters, painfully hot.
Swallowing it, from his mouth to his throat to his stomach, it felt like burning fire. Normally, crystal core absorption required meditation. Absorbing it directly like this overloaded the body.
His entire body felt an abnormal pain, his head dizzy and swollen, like a powerful heat current was rampaging through him.
The space before him suddenly changed dramatically. A door appeared on the wall. Supporting himself against the wall, he walked to the door and pushed it open. Before him was like another world: hot springs, grassland, fruit trees. This must be Liu Yue’s space. He didn’t bother looking at the mountain of supplies beside him and plunged straight into the hot spring. His body was burning so badly, it felt like he would catch fire.
Unexpectedly, once he entered the hot spring, his entire body relaxed. The burning sensation disappeared completely, and the heat within him became strangely comfortable. He originally planned to take a gamble, using the crystal core to level up. Was this considered a blessing in disguise? He had actually awakened an ability and even the double ability he had always dreamed of!
He had no time to familiarize himself with the new powers. Qi Yue immediately exited the space.
Seeing the person suddenly appear, Han Fei couldn’t help but curse again, “F*ck! What the hell did you come out to make trouble for!”
As soon as Qi Yue appeared in the spot where he had previously entered the space, he heard Han Fei’s words. Instinctively, he looked to the side. When he entered the space, Tang Ke had shielded him. He had a feeling Tang Ke must be injured.
This one look and plip, the tears he had managed to stop started falling again. Tang Ke was slumped against a wall not far away, his foot bound by spider silk, his hand covering his abdomen drenched in blood. That last hit had injured him, and not lightly.
Firelight and scattered flashlights illuminated the area. The ground was covered in fresh blood and ability users wrapped completely in spider silk. Some had their bodies pierced through by the silk.
The battle was nearing its end, and the outcome was horrifically miserable. The only one still moving was Han Fei, his body cut and bleeding from being lashed by spider silk. His clothes were torn, revealing bloody gashes. Flesh curled outward, making him look extremely battered.
Lin Yuze was wrapped from the chest down in spider silk, even his hands trapped, unable to move. Yan Bin lay on another side, unclear where he was hurt, but clearly severely. He kept vomiting blood, yet his gaze remained firm as ever.
The one who led the mutated spider here, Liao Feifan, was curled in a corner, with only his foot wrapped. He looked far better than everyone else.
When Qi Yue appeared, the huge mutated spider was weaving its web at the passage entrance. It occasionally spat threads, attacking Han Fei like it was teasing its food. On the half-formed web were two ability users completely wrapped and stuck to the web.
Seeing the person who suddenly appeared, the spider tilted its head, examining Qi Yue. It seemed agitated, wanting to attack. Because Qi Yue had drunk the scent-blocking water earlier, the mutated creature couldn’t smell him. It could only use sight to attack the place where Qi Yue stood; its incredibly sharp sense of smell was useless.
Qi Yue took a deep breath and reached into the space for his sharp knife that could cut spider silk. He meditated and activated the new ability, his body vanished.
The mutated spider missed with its silk, confused, turning its head, its eight huge legs shifting around as it searched.
Qi Yue suddenly appeared under the spider’s abdomen, stabbing up with the knife, then pulling it out immediately. Before the spider reacted, he disappeared again.
Puchi. A hole opened in the spider’s abdomen, its silk-spinning organ destroyed, and a pool of sticky fluid oozed out. The spider became agitated, circling in place, its long sharp legs swinging wildly.
Qi Yue moved to the web. Without giving the spider time to react, he slashed with one swift strike and disappeared again.
The already formed web sagged and ripped down. Thud. The two bodies stuck to it fell to the ground with it. Their mouths and noses were wrapped, and without breath—they were likely corpses. As Qi Yue passed them, he sensed no breathing. He vanished again.
Seeing its whole web destroyed, the spider frantically rushed to the wall, slashing with its claws.
When Qi Yue appeared, Han Fei’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Blood streamed from his wounds, yet he felt no pain, perhaps he was numb from too much pain already. Qi Yue’s appearance shocked him deeply. This must be teleportation ability; it was his first time seeing someone with this power. Afraid to hinder Qi Yue, Han Fei fired burning shots nonstop, using fire ability to attack the spider’s eyes and distract it.
Crack.
Taking advantage of Han Fei drawing the spider’s attention, Qi Yue teleported in front of it and cut off one of its long legs. The spider saw its leg severed and shrieked.
Qi Yue’s expression darkened. He couldn’t let it keep screaming. If more creatures like this were lured here, that would be disastrous.
On the other side, Han Fei seemed to read Qi Yue’s mind and attacked the spider even more fiercely, like he didn’t care about his own life, striking its eyes again and again.
The mutated spider, trying to locate Qi Yue, finally became irritated by Han Fei and crawled toward him. It swung its two-meter-long claw at Han Fei, smack, it struck him. Han Fei was flung into the wall, spitting blood. Sensing living prey still alive, the spider dissatisfaction crawled toward him, closer and closer.
Qi Yue teleported behind it and sliced at its back legs. One strike, two strikes—three legs cut off in succession. Counting the one severed earlier, four legs on the same side were gone. The spider lost its balance and collapsed.
Seizing the moment, Qi Yue teleported to its head and slashed downward. His force was so strong the handle embedded into its body. Gripping tight, he dragged downward, cutting all the way to its abdomen. Pulling the knife out, he teleported again and slashed.
The spider’s remaining claws lashed wildly. Qi Yue didn’t let go, and one claw cut his arm. His blood mixed with the spider’s black corrosive fluid.
Strike after strike, Qi Yue ignored his injuries until the spider finally lay motionless.
His whole body gave out and he fell onto the ground, still clutching the knife, panting heavily. He looked toward the others. His newly awakened abilities weren’t full to begin with, and after using them so frequently he was completely drained but he couldn’t care about that.
He disappeared into the space with a flash. Ignoring his arm injury, he jumped straight into the spring. He only meant to wash off the grime and eat something to replenish his abilities, but once in the spring his body felt unbelievably comfortable again. Blood from his arm dyed the spring red.
Qi Yue looked down and saw his wound was actually healing. His ability also recovered from exhaustion and became full again. The sticky spider fluid washed off, and the spring, blackened at first, gradually returned to its original clarity.
It seemed the spring had healing effects. With no time to study it, once he regained some strength, Qi Yue shot out of the space.
When Qi Yue came out, Han Fei was already, despite his severe injuries, burning the spider silk off the people with fire ability. He was coughing blood frequently.
Qi Yue emerged again without hesitation and rushed to the most seriously injured, Tang Ke. Tang Ke’s face was pale, two bloody holes in his chest, nearly unconscious, his breathing weak.
Plip.
A tear fell onto Tang Ke’s face. Qi Yue’s eyes reddened again, forcing the moisture back with a hard blink.
Perhaps feeling that tear, like a final flicker of life, Tang Ke opened his eyes. He looked at Qi Yue and reached out with his bloodstained hand, wanting to wipe away Qi Yue’s tears.
Qi Yue quickly held Tang Ke’s hand, his voice choked, his lips trembling. “Don’t move, and don’t talk. I’ll save you. I have healing ability now.” He squeezed out a smile uglier than crying. Pulling himself together, Qi Yue placed his hand over Tang Ke’s wound and began to meditate.
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