Chapter 472: Chapter 239: Go Ahead, You Lead the Way—I’ll Do the Killing!

The little one, wearing a clean little dress, had no expression on her small face. Her clear big eyes blinked, and her small mouth moved slightly, as if chewing candy.

"Qing... Qingzi?!!"

Qi Hao’s voice was altered by extreme shock and wild joy.

It sounded particularly abrupt, like a broken gong amidst the hurricane-like battlefield backdrop.

"Mouse?" Fang Qingyu, holding Jiang Wei’s hand, stepped out from the smoke and dust, glanced over the disheveled Qi Hao, then looked towards Lv Chen, who was just struggling to climb out of a pile of vines, dust-covered, and Qin Hui and Old Qiao, who were both wildly overjoyed. The arc at the corner of his mouth widened slightly, with a bit of mockery, "What’s the matter? Stunned?"

Then he paused, his gaze swept over Qi Hao’s still "heroic sacrifice" pose on his burly body, and added in all seriousness:

"But bro, I’m not into guys."

"Damn!!!"

Qi Hao instantly broke free from his petrified state, his face turning scarlet, punching his own chest hard, making a dull sound, and spoke incoherently in excitement, "You... you damned guy... came back right on time! A second later and I’d have had a close encounter with these rotten woods!"

"Qingzi!"

Qin Hui and Old Qiao also rushed over excitedly.

"I just knew! I just knew you’d definitely come back!" Qin Hui vigorously patted Fang Qingyu’s uninjured shoulder, his voice full of excitement.

"Don’t waste time talking."

Fang Qingyu interrupted with a smile, his gaze scanning the eerily twisted forest completely covered in gnarled trees and vines, "First tell me the situation. What’s going on in this ghostly place? Where’s the team leader Lin?"

Upon mentioning business, the excitement on Qin Hui’s face quickly turned to gravity, and he began to explain rapidly:

"A super-large tree-type Life Ghost Nest! The range is terrifying, swallowing the entire old site of the East Suburb Industrial Park! The Force Field suddenly appeared the night before yesterday, sealing off this area directly, and the worst part is there’s not just one Tier Two inside!"

He gestured in the direction the giant branch had just swept from, then pointed to two other more densely and bizarrely canopied areas further away: "See those? Those three eeriest parts with the weirdest, densest growth of trees! Each area is entrenched by a Tier Two Tree Ghost! Not sure of their exact forms, but they’re definitely not to be messed with!"

"Master Chen, Master Su, and three other Grandmasters who came to reinforce have each been entangled by a Tier Two after coming in, and now they can’t break free! Communication is also intermittent, and the situation is very dire!"

"As for Team Leader Lin..." Qin Hui paused, "He came in earlier than us, leading Sister Duan Ling and others to rush around inside, putting out fires, clearing those Life Ghosts constantly emerging from the tree roots and vines, buying time for us support squads to regroup and catch our breaths."

"We just got his signal, about two kilometers ahead."

"Currently, the nastiest thing about the entire nest isn’t those three Tier Twos, but the place itself!"

Old Qiao added, looking grim, "These trees, these vines, even the rotten leaves on the ground, they’re all alive as hell! They keep ’birthing’ new Life Ghosts! We can’t kill them all! We’re like fish trapped in a swamp, being slowly consumed by these endless things."

Fang Qingyu listened quietly, his eyes like molten gold sweeping over the thoroughly twisted forest.

The canopy so thick it blocked out the sky, the writhing vines, the slimy humus underfoot...

The whole space seemed like a massive, living stomach, slowly and steadily digesting everything trapped within.

Fang Qingyu nodded slightly, his gaze finally falling on the large broken branch, severed by his Thunder, still burning with purple-blue electric flames.

Then he turned and started walking.

His voice was calm but carried an undeniable power.

"Let’s go."

"You lead the way, I’ll do the killing..."

As Fang Qingyu’s words fell, he had already stepped forward.

He didn’t deliberately release his aura, but the pressuring presence, tempered through the blood and fire of Black Pine Ridge, and the formidable power that had just blasted a Tier Two Tree Ghost’s giant branch with a mere raised hand.

Like an invisible force field, it instantly invigorated Qin Hui and the others, as if they had found their pillar of strength.

Qin Hui nodded vigorously, wiped the filth off his face, his eyes instantly turning fierce, and his battle blade quivered: "This way! Follow me closely!"

He said no more, his burly body erupting with Micro Realm speed, he fiercely slammed aside a few of the restless vines ahead and tread across the slimy humus, leading the charge.

Qi Hao, Old Qiao, Lv Chen followed closely, the four forming a battle formation once more.

But this time, their spines were straight, and their eyes no longer held the previous heavy oppression, only a long-suppressed ferocious aura burning fiercely!

Fang Qingyu held Jiang Wei’s small hand, striding to catch up.

One step forward.

Buzz!

An invisible, icy and oppressive force began to spread silently from him, like ripples on water.

Wherever it passed, those vines that lurked in the shadows like venomous snakes, those roots with tiny split mouths quietly probing out from under the litter layer, those "tree eyes" slowly opening on twisted trunks flashing with a ghostly green light...

It was as if they were frozen by an unseen cold wave!

Their movements stiffened instantly, recoiling.

Some vines closest to Fang Qingyu even shrank back abruptly, as if they had been scalded, emitting a faint "hissing" sound like the lament of insects.

The four of Qin Hui suddenly felt a lightness around them!

The previously omnipresent, icy peering feeling and sticky pressure from the entire twisted jungle melted away rapidly, like snow under the sun!

"Damn! It’s so damn satisfying!"

Qi Hao, feeling the change, couldn’t help but let out a low roar, and swung his blade with a bit of venting ferocity, splattering the juice of a thick obstructive vine.

The speed at which the group moved suddenly increased.

However, this forest, thoroughly corrupted by the power of the tree ghost, was far more dangerous than imagined.

Just as they rounded a ruin factory covered with huge dark green fungus mat.

"Poof! Poof! Poof!"

The seemingly calm thick decomposed layer ahead suddenly exploded!

Three dark green humanoid shapes formed by countless fine roots and slippery moss, like swamp monsters, pounced out violently!

They had no facial features, only constantly wriggling, mucus-dripping bodies and tendrils barely imitating human arms, reeking of a strong stench, silently lunging at both path-opening Qin Hui and flanking Old Qiao!

They were incredibly fast and their movements were bizarre!

"Watch out!"

Qin Hui’s pupils shrank, and his battle blade, wrapped in concentrated Qi Blood, slashed out fiercely!

The blade cut into the body of one "swamp monster", producing a muffled "thud" sound, as dark green viscous liquid sprayed wildly.

But the creature was only gashed deeply, yet wasn’t severed, and its wriggling speed didn’t slow in the slightest, as several tendrils whipped fiercely towards Qin Hui’s face!

Old Qiao was in even greater danger, as his two short daggers transformed into a flash of cold light, hacking apart several attacking tendrils, but the swamp monster’s main body suddenly expanded, attempting to engulf Old Qiao like a sack!

In that split second!

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!

Three extremely condensed dark red beams pierced the air like red-hot needles.

The beams accurately targeted the core locations of the three swamp monsters.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Three faint explosion sounds were heard.

The three aggressive swamp monsters, as if being punctured balloons, suddenly froze on the spot.

Where the core was hit by the dark red beams, a charred small hole appeared first, then dark red flames burst out like persistent maggots, spreading over the entire body in the blink of an eye.

"Hiss——!!!"

A shriek, shrill beyond human sound, came from the three burning flames, carrying the agony of souls being scorched.

In just a brief moment, the three swamp monsters were completely reduced to three small piles of blackened ashes, crumbling in the raging dark red flames!

The entire process was swift, precise, and ruthless.

Fang Qingyu didn’t even pause his steps, calmly holding Jiang Wei’s hand, as they walked past the still-warm piles of ashes.

Qin Hui and Old Qiao, observing the swiftly incinerated monsters, turned to glance at Fang Qingyu’s side, where a small figure, as though she just casually tossed a few matches, was leisurely sucking on a lollipop, sending a chilling, inexpressible shock straight to their Celestial Spirit.

"Damn...Sister Jiang is still so fierce..."

Qi Hao shrunk his neck, mumbling quietly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com