Chapter 442 We Are Surrounded
When the group of people arrived at the port and boarded the yacht, Instructor Liu said eagerly, “Well, it’s the first time I’ve been to the ruins. It’s exciting just thinking about it.”
Zhao Feng, Ah Hu, and Elder Meng were members of the security group, while Xu Yong stayed in Hong Kong to arrange the daily training for the company’s personnel. Instructor Liu also brought his three subordinates. He was at the Qi Strength stage and his subordinates were at the Peak Strength stage, which was enough for them to explore the ruins.
“Usually, the area of the relics is relatively large. This is a D-level relic, and we should be careful even though everyone is at the stage of Peak Strength or above.” Zi Long solemnly warned them, “No one knows what’s in it, and there’s a cursed s.h.i.+p. You must stay away from the s.h.i.+p when you encounter it, and…”
He looked at Zhang Han and said with hesitation, “Mr. Zhang, are you sure you want to take Zi Yan in? You may not encounter each other when you enter the ruins. You may be separated from each other, or even be in jeopardy. Yan, after all, is not a martial artist. If something goes wrong, you will regret it all your life.”
“Uncle Long, don’t worry, how can I put her in danger? Of course I have a solution,” Zhang Han said with a smile.
“All right then.” Zi Long forced a smile, not knowing what Zhang Han could do. He had never heard that someone could take others to the same place when entering the ruins. But Zhang Han was so confident that it seemed he had arranged everything, so Zi Long stopped meddling in Zhang Han’s business.
“There may be a lot of things in the world hidden in the ruins that you haven’t seen before. It’s rated D, indicating that the danger level of it is acceptable for the Peak Strength martial artists, but we can’t relax our vigilance,” Zi Long looked at other people and said. “If you are not confident enough, just explore in a safer place on the periphery. And you may also get some natural precious materials.”
“Yes.” Zi Hu nodded, took over the topic, and said in a deep voice, “What’s more, the enemy we’re going to face is not just the things inside the ruins, but also other people. An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth. Even if we don’t get the treasure, we may also bear the malice of others. After all, there are no rules in the ruins.”
Hearing Zi Hu’s explanation, everyone nodded slightly.
However, Zhang Han smiled. He knew that all the people here were experienced, not novices who were unfamiliar with the world, especially Zhao Feng, who had quick wits and no one dared to provoke him.
“Usually, there is one of the most important natural precious materials in the relics, and once it is taken away, the relics will disappear. In addition, there are lower-level treasures, and you may be expelled from the relics at any time after getting them because this will shorten the time for the existence of the relics. As for the third-cla.s.s treasures, you can take them at will without worrying about the impact on the relics. Therefore, our exploration focuses on finding treasures separately rather than looking for teammates. After all, inside the relics, electronic products, including mobile phones, often fail. It’s very difficult for you to get in touch with each other,” Zi Long said slowly.
“Not necessarily.” Zi Hu smile suddenly smiled, looked at the yacht tens of meters away from them, and said, “If I’m not mistaken, that yacht is from the Heavenly Talisman Sect in Haizhou of the Hua nation, and it is Ao Yuan, the third elder, who leads the team of the disciples. Those disciples may be going to take the practical examination, and they have ways to contact their teammates in the ruins with the help of precious talismans.”
“They are all flowers growing in the greenhouse.” w.a.n.g Zhanzong smiled and added, “The practical examination is also a kind of training for them. Although many disciples have never seen a b.l.o.o.d.y scene before and will definitely panic after entering the ruins, they all have protective means to ensure their safety.”
“Talismans?” Zhang Han looked at the yacht not far away with great interest.
Though Zhang Han knew little about the talismans, he used to buy many talismans with the crystal stone in his s.p.a.ce Ring.
Obviously, the ruins were regarded as a place for practical examination for many sects, who had always kept a low profile. Therefore, it wasn’t until the relics appeared that Zhang Han found that there were many kinds of sects in the world he was in.
After driving for nearly an hour, at 10:20 p.m., the yacht arrived at the front of Dark Wind Island.
From a distance, there were countless yachts, and those in the dense crowd that had gotten off the yachts were waiting at the entrance of the ruins. Not far from the front of the mist cl.u.s.ter, there were more than 10 channels. Everyone had to wear iron shoes to walk five meters across the ground, and only those who pa.s.sed could enter the ruins.
Zhang Han and his team got off the yacht, and after half an hour in line, they arrived at the test site.
Zi Yan looked at the front and whispered, “What is that? The shoes seem heavy. I can’t move them.”
“Don’t worry. I’m here.” Zhang Han smiled and pinched Zi Yan’s palm.
“Look, that man failed,” Zi Yan looked at the front and whispered.
Looking forward, Zhang Han saw a man in his early 20s wearing the large iron shoes, who began to struggle after walking one meter forward. When he covered another half meter, his face turned red, but he could not move any farther.
“You’d better give up. Only martial artists at the Peak Strength stage or above can enter the ruins. What are you doing here as an Inward Strength green hand?” A staff member standing in the side aisle frowned and scolded him.
In the eyes of the staff member, the man who had just failed was obviously making fun of his life!
“I…” The man blushed and left the test site in embarra.s.sment.
Being at the Inward Strength stage, he just wanted to give it a try, and it turned out that he was not qualified.
As for others, they were trying to pa.s.s the test in various ways. Among the next group of partic.i.p.ants, a man was exhausted after walking less than three meters. However, when the staff was about to help him leave, that man made a casting gesture, and then pa.s.sed the test step by step.
The staff no longer frowned because martial artists in the world had all kinds of skills. Although not everyone could pa.s.s the test purely with strength, as long as they could manage it by whatever means, they were qualified to enter the relics.
Of course, some martial artists at the stage of Inward Strength could also pa.s.s the test with such auxiliary tools as treasures or talismans. The staff members at the entrance to the ruins would not forbid them because pa.s.sing the test was the only standard.
Only one percent of the people failed the exam, and soon after, it was Zhang Han’s turn.
There were more than 10 channels in front of him, and in front of each channel, there were five pairs of shoes, allowing five people to pa.s.s the channel together.
“This is a magnetic channel, and the shoes will be attached to the magnetic plate below. The farther you go in, the stronger the magnetic force will be.” Zhang Han took Zi Yan’s hand and explained in a low voice.
“Oh, then I’ll give it a try.” Without taking off her sneakers, Zi Yan put on a pair of large iron shoes. Using a little effort, she was unable to lift them up and couldn’t help sticking out the tip of her tongue in embarra.s.sment.
“Hahaha…” Zhang Han burst into laughter.
The staff standing by frowned again.
“What’s that couple doing? Are they chatting?”
When he was about to persuade the couple to give up, they soon covered five meters in a casual way as if they were walking on flat ground without any difficulty.
“Wow, they were at least above the Qi Strength Master stage.” The staff member scratched his head in shame, looked at the backs of the couple, and then waved to the next group of people. “Get ready.”
Zi Long, Zi Hu, and w.a.n.g Ming also walked through the channel together with Zhang Han.
They pa.s.sed through the pa.s.sage and walked more than 20 meters to the front of the mist cl.u.s.ter. In front of them, the staff had built the recommended stairs and platforms, on which two people were guarding.
“Grand Master Zhang.” The two staff members hurriedly and respectfully greeted Zhang Han. They were working for Su Long and had come to the island before. After meeting Zhang Han, they said, “The relics have been open for an hour and will be closed in about seven hours.”
“I see.” Zhang Han nodded.
“Well, are you going in first?” Zi Long looked at Zhang Han, wondering how he could bring Zi Yan in, so as to ensure that they were in the same place.
Glancing at him and smiling, Zhang Han put his right hand around Zi Yan’s waist and slightly shook his left fingers to let nine cards fly out of his coat pocket. There was still a silk thread between the cards to connect them and then they surrounded Zhang Han and Zi Yan.
Then Zhang Han leaped forward with Zi Yan in his arms and disappeared into the mist.
“Hiss…” Zi Long could not help taking a breath of cool air and murmuring doubtfully, “What kind of means is this? It’s so weird.”
While muttering, he took a step forward and disappeared into the mist.
Zi Hu and w.a.n.g Ming also entered the ruins one after another.
The two staff members looked at each other, and the one with yellow hair speculated, “If I’m right, it seems that Zi Yan, the princess of the Zi family, is beside Master Zhang.”
“Isn’t that bulls.h.i.+t? Mr. Zhang came to Singapore for an engagement. How could he hold another woman?” said his companion contemptuously.
“Yes. But I heard that Zi Yan is not a martial artist!” The yellow-haired man grinned.
“Yes, you remind me that Zi Yan is an ordinary woman, though she is a pretty and famous star. How could she pa.s.s through the magnetic channel?” His companion scratched his head in confusion.
“Are you stupid? With the help of Master Zhang, could she fail the test?” The man with yellow hair said jealously, “They obviously went in for sightseeing.”
“But after entering the ruins, they will be randomly a.s.signed to different positions, right?”
“He must have a way. Didn’t you see the black card just flying out?”
“All right.” The yellow-haired man’s companion looked enviously at the entrance of the ruins and he said, “It’s so nice. When can I have such a good backer to take me to search for treasures in the ruins?”
“Just forget it. Stop, someone’s coming.” When the yellow-haired man saw five more people coming, he stopped talking.
On the other side…
Before jumping down, Zi Yan was a little nervous. But she was not afraid because her husband would protect her. This was the first time she has experienced such a wonderful transmission, and she kept blinking her big eyes excitedly and looking around curiously.
The moment she jumped down, she entered a white world. She could feel that Zhang Han was still holding her and could see that half of the cards around her were emitting a faint light.
“It’s amazing. Are we going to enter another world?”
As soon as Zi Yan generated this idea, the scene in front of her changed.
She could still see Zhang Han and the cards that had fallen into his jacket pocket.
“Wow, we’re in!” Zi Yan said happily while continuing to look left and right.
“What a large gra.s.sland! The air is quite fresh but not better than that on Mount New Moon. Why is it bright here? I don’t see the sun!”
Zi Yan raised her head, finding the sky above foggy. It was daytime, but she could not sense the direction of the sun.
“The corresponding s.p.a.ce here may be similar to the Antarctic or the Arctic, and the time of day and night may be extended, just like the polar day and night that can last for half a year,” Zhang Han said with a chuckle, carefully observing the surroundings.
There were no other creatures around them, only the endless gra.s.sland, which was twice as high as the pleasant smelling gra.s.s on Mount New Moon, and they felt comfortable walking on it.
“Why is there a white fog behind us? It looks like a sandstorm.” Zi Yan looked back and frowned anxiously.
Far behind them, there was a dense fog slowly approaching them, indicating a terrible sandstorm, like the dark clouds before a heavy rain.
“There is the edge of the worldlet, and we will be transmitted to the edge of other areas if we approach there. It seems that we are on the edge of the worldlet. Go ahead.” Zhang Han took Zi Yan’s hand and walked forward.
At the same time, Zhang Han began to use his soul sense to detect the situation within 50 meters. If they were underground, he could only reach a distance of about 10 meters in this way.
In different media, the detection distance of the soul sense would be limited to different degrees. In the seawater, Zhang Han could detect up to 30 meters.
At the same time, Zhang Han also scanned the height of five meters above his head, forming an oval-shaped protective cover with his soul sense.
However, Zhang Han’s soul sense was still weak now, and he needed to take a rest every time he had been using it for an hour or two.
Treasure hunting was only Zhang Han’s secondary purpose, as he mainly wanted to go sightseeing here with Zi Yan.
“Hiss, hiss…”
Zhang Han sniffed a few times and felt that there was no energy fluctuation of treasures within a kilometer around him, so he gave up his plan to search for treasures in this gra.s.sland.
Spirit treasures usually appeared in the central area and were guarded by some ferocious monsters. And there were few treasures on such an empty gra.s.sland.
“What are you sniffing?” Zi Yan asked curiously.
“I’m trying to determine if there are any treasures here according to their smell, because I was born with the supernatural power named the Treasure-sniffing Nose,” Zhang Han smiled and replied.
“Really?” Zi Yan blinked at Zhang Han and said, “Is your nose more sensitive than a dog’s?”
Zhang Han was stupefied and then amused. He stretched out his right hand and patted Zi Yan’s b.u.t.tocks gently, then pinched them a few more times, and said, “Dare to tease your husband, do you want to be punished?”
“Ah, hehe.” Zi Yan twisted her body and said with a smile, “Can you smell me?”
Hearing this, Zhang Han hugged Zi Yan from the front, moving her delicate face close to him, and then said vaguely, “Of course your smell is fragrant, just like body fragrance. I want to… every time I smell it.”
Zhang Han stretched his head forward, while Zi Yan laughed and put out her hand to block Zhang Han’s mouth, saying repeatedly, “OK, let’s start the exploration. It will be closed in seven hours.”
“Then give me a kiss,” Zhang Han said with a chuckle.
“Mwah.” Zi Yan cleverly kissed Zhang Han with her red lips, then took his hand and ran forward happily.
“Hahaha… It’s so broad here, whoa…” Zi Yan’s laughter echoed on this side of the gra.s.sland.
She felt like she was on her honeymoon with Zhang Han.
Hand in hand, Zhang Han looked at his wife tenderly, and was satisfied to make her so happy.
After running for five minutes, Zi Yan was a little short of breath.
“Oh, let’s take a rest. I ran too fast just now,” said Zi Yan.
“Or shall I carry you on my back?” Zhang Han asked.
“Great.” Zi Yan nodded.
Zhang Han squatted down in front of Zi Yan.
“I’m coming up.” Zi Yan lightly jumped and hugged Zhang Han. Then she put her head close to Zhang Han’s and whispered in his ear, “We are like the legendary Piggy carrying his wife.”
“Well, have you ever seen such a handsome Piggy?” Zhang Han patted her b.u.t.tocks and asked.
“Yes, it’s you!”
“Mischievous.” Zhang Han grinned.
Zi Yan, who used to be cold and indifferent, had bared her soul to Zhang Han and become more and more lively and happy. Zhang Han liked her carefree state so much.
It was a man’s greatest success to be able to let his wife live in this state.
As Zhang Han moved forward faster and faster, Zi Yan gradually extended her arms to feel the wind brought by their speed. From beginning to end, she closed her eyes and smiled happily.
As they went deeper and deeper into the gra.s.s, the height of the gra.s.s grew higher and higher. When the gra.s.s was about to reach his waist, Zhang Han suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Zi Yan asked curiously.
“We’re surrounded by some little things.” Zhang Han chuckled.
Through his soul sense, Zhang Han saw a swarm of snakes 50 meters away.
Countless black snakes, with their terrifying tongues, were quickly surrounding Zhang Han and Zi Yan.
Each snake was as thick as an adult’s arm, and most of them were at the stage of Obvious Strength. Although their strength was ordinary, there were so many of them that even a martial artist at the Peak Strength stage would have to struggle to get free from them.
Zhang Han didn’t take action immediately, but silently waited for them to come near to let Zi Yan take a look at the scene.
Nine cards flew out of Zhang Han’s pocket, spinning slowly around him and Zi Yan at different angles.
“What are they?” Zi Yan looked around carefully.
“They are coming,” Zhang Han said.
All of a sudden, a dark shadow flew out in front of them.
“Hiss…”
A piercing sound could be heard.
Zi Yan looked over and was startled. “Ah!”
At this moment, a light black light flashed faster in front of her eyes.
The attacking snake was cut up and fell three meters away from the front of them, writhing.
“It’s a snake!” Zi Yan covered her mouth while watching what was happening in shock.
The snake twisted for a while, turned into liquid, sank into the gra.s.s, and dissipated, as if it had never existed before.
Suddenly…
“Hiss, hiss, hiss…”
With a rasping noise, dense groups of snakes began attacking them from the front, back, left, and right.
At this time, the nine cards around them began to rotate rapidly, forming a whirlwind.
No matter which direction the snake came from, they were directly destroyed by the whirlwind.
“So many snakes, Zhang Han, we are surrounded!” Zi Yan looked around, her voice shaking slightly.
Because she had seen many similar supernatural phenomena, up until now, Zi Yan could still keep calm. But someone else who was exposed to this for the first time might have been scared to death.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take out this card and the snakes will run away.” Zhang Han smiled and that flood dragon card appeared between his fingers.
“What is this?” Zi Yan was surprised to find that the pattern on the card was moving.
“A flood dragon soul is in it. I’ll show you,” Zhang Han said, and there was a flash of light in his eyes. At the same time, he threw the card forward in a casual way.
“Ow!”
After the card flew out, it immediately stopped in the air three meters in front of him. Then, a translucent wave surged out of the card, forming a larger and larger whirlpool. In the waves, a ferocious dragon was roaring and rolling up and down.
All the snakes burped.
The hundreds of thousands of snakes around Zhang Han and Zi Yan came to a sudden stop. They stared at the soul of the dragon, s.h.i.+vering and daring not to move any further.
“Why?” Zi Yan was a little shocked.
“The card’s deterrence to them is too great. I’ll take back some pressure and they can escape.” Zhang Han grinned while controlling the flood dragon soul to weaken its strength to the Profound stage. The surrounding snakes looked at each other, turned around quickly, and escaped.
Within seconds, all the snakes disappeared.
“What an amazing card.” Zi Yan grinned, blinked her big eyes, and looked at Zhang Han with a silly yet lovely expression.