149: New Territory

After destroying the combat suits on the two, Xu Jingzhe used vines to hang their headless corpses on the unfinished building, the smell of blood attracting palm-sized flies and basin-sized spiders.

"Caw, caw, caw~" A flock of crows with blood-red eyes arrived as well, spreading their wings like eagles.

The flies were driven away, the spiders were torn apart, and the few crows enjoyed their feast, swallowing chunks of flesh one by one.

Xu Jingzhe led Li Zhi and the others deep into the Pollution Zone; no one knew how large the Pollution Zone truly was or how long it would take to traverse it on foot.

All that was known was that walking deeper seemed to have no end.

Over these three days, they encountered two waves of Contaminators, neither of which was particularly strong, with the strongest being only around a decade old.

Xu Jingzhe didn't provoke them, but when they provoked him, they were simply smashed to pieces, leaving him with a few extra pollution cores.

The four of them rested in a mountain col, each holding a roasted spider.

They ate with relish.

"Three Young Masters, you really have to say, this spider leg is tender and elastic, even better than king crab legs, it's just a pity there's no wasabi." Li Zhi tore open a spider leg, put the tender white meat into his mouth, and looked satisfied.

"Right, it's incredibly delicious." Li Fei agreed, eating until his mouth was covered in grease.

Who cared if it had radiation or if it was harmful to the body?

If they didn't eat, they would die for sure; if they ate... well, they wouldn't die right now, and with power in their bodies, their wounds could slowly recover.

Suddenly, Xu Jingzhe stood up and looked into the distance.

He sensed a danger rapidly approaching them; it had been three days, yet they had actually caught up—their noses were sharper than dogs'.

"Extinguish the fire, let's leave quickly, Gai has caught up," Xu Jingzhe said.

The three of them immediately set off upon hearing this; if not for Xu Jingzhe risking his life to save them, they would have been dead long ago.

At this moment, Xu Jingzhe was entirely their backbone.

The four of them left quickly, diving into the dense forest and disappearing.

Ten minutes later, Gai arrived here, chewing on a cigar, his eye sockets blood-red and filled with killing intent. He rubbed his bald head with his mechanical arm and looked at Tony beside him.

Tony nodded, his nose suddenly elongating, stretching a full meter.

He caught the faint scent of blood, pointed in a direction, and the three of them strode off in pursuit.

Xu Jingzhe walked at the back, turning his head from time to time. The wounds of Li Zhi and the others were wrapped with torn clothing to prevent the newly formed scabs from splitting, so they could not travel at full speed.

By now, the scabs had split, fresh blood stained their clothes, and their speed had noticeably slowed down.

Li Zhi stopped, and seeing the golden blood at the corner of Xu Jingzhe's mouth, a flash of concern crossed his eyes as he said, "Three Young Masters, what's going on with the golden blood flowing from the corner of your mouth these past two days?"

Xu Jingzhe wiped it away without answering, saying, "Hurry up and go."

"No!" Li Zhi clutched his abdomen and smiled bitterly, saying, "Three Young Masters, you have already done enough. I will stay behind; you go."

Xu Jingzhe frowned slightly and said displeased, "What nonsense are you talking about? I promised Uncle Xiu I would take care of you."

Li Zhi looked at Xu Jingzhe with a firm gaze and said, "Three Young Masters, I beg you, you go first."

"It doesn't matter if we die, but you cannot die; the Li family is waiting for you."

"We all know you are a genius. As long as you grow up, who would dare bully the Li family!"

Li Zhi patted his chest forcefully, his eyes slightly moist, "I only regret that I didn't understand Three Young Masters better before, and we didn't drink and chase girls together."

"Smack!" Xu Jingzhe suddenly struck, delivering a hand chop to Li Zhi. Li Zhi's body went limp as he fell, and Xu Jingzhe hoisted him onto his shoulder, quickly catching up with Li Fei and the other.

Half an hour later, Gai could vaguely see Xu Jingzhe and the others moving through the forest.

A grim smile played on his lips, and he no longer hid his figure, running like a mad bull; the large trees blocking his path were all smashed apart by punches from his mechanical arm.

Hearing the commotion, Xu Jingzhe turned back for a glance, his gaze meeting Gai's.

"Li Fei, take Li Zhi and go; I will hold them off." Xu Jingzhe tossed Li Zhi, who was on his shoulder, over.

He had been truly ruthless; it had been half an hour, and Li Zhi still hadn't woken up.

"Three Young Masters, you take Brother Zhi and go; we will stay behind," Li Fei said.

"Get lost! Are you a man? Stop being such a sissy. Do you think you call me Three Young Masters for nothing?!" Xu Jingzhe lost his temper and pushed Li Fei, his tone brooking no argument, "Here, the Li family members must listen to me!"

"Go!"

Li Fei and Li Mao had tears in their eyes, bowed deeply to Xu Jingzhe, turned, and sped away.

Xu Jingzhe wiped the golden blood from the corner of his mouth, circulated the energy within his cells, and stood in place, waiting quietly for Gai and the others.

"Rumble..." Like a bulldozer passing through, Gai forcefully carved a path through the dense forest, breaking vegetation wherever he went.

Rushing up close, Gai didn't say a word and raised his fist to smash at Xu Jingzhe.

Xu Jingzhe dodged to the side, wrapped his arms around Gai's shoulder, pulled him forward, and struck with a backhand; it was a seemingly weak palm strike, but it actually contained immense force.

Gai was knocked back several meters by that palm strike.

"You two go chase them; leave this little brat to me," Gai said, spitting.

Xu Jingzhe sneered, exerted force with his feet, and used the Celestial Maiden's Drunken Steps combined with the Old Art taught by Avril; his footwork was strange and his attacks swift, instantly enveloping all three of them.

This space began to churn; rocks shattered, and the roaring sounds were constant.

Xu Jingzhe was holding off three people, under immense pressure, his physical body colliding with mechanical arms, clanging loudly.

"Boom!" Gai seized the opportunity and smashed a fist onto Xu Jingzhe's chest, sending him flying hundreds of meters, where he crashed through several large trees in succession.

Xu Jingzhe got up, blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with a fierce and ruthless look.

"What other functions do you have?" Xu Jingzhe asked.

System: "Ding, there are many functions, but you cannot use them right now. I can only unlock them as your strength grows, because the functions require a lot of energy."

Xu Jingzhe didn't have time to say more; Gai had come again, his mechanical palm rotating, and with a 'whoosh,' it detached from his wrist, spinning at high speed and flying towards him.

"Snap!" Xu Jingzhe dodged it narrowly, but his arm was still grazed, the skin torn and flesh exposed, blood flowing freely; the heart-piercing pain made him wince.

The ancient tree roots on the ground shook and underwent a mutation, turning like coiling dragons, emerging from the ground and trapping Xu Jingzhe's hands and feet.

For a moment, Xu Jingzhe couldn't break free; they were incredibly tough.

He stood there, just like a living target.

Gai rushed up again, the earth shaking; at two meters tall with bulging muscles, he was extremely oppressive.

The energy within Xu Jingzhe's cells operated frantically, and the veins on his neck bulged out.

"Clang!" Just then, a Black Gold Long Saber appeared abruptly, striking Gai's metal arm.

After slicing him back with one strike, "Poof~" thick smoke dispersed, obscuring their vision.

Zhang Manyue turned back with a few slashes, cut off several roots, grabbed Xu Jingzhe, and ran.

This run lasted for half a day, from noon until evening, with the setting sun like blood, before the two of them finally stopped.

Xu Jingzhe breathed heavily, wiped the golden blood from the corner of his mouth, and seeing Zhang Manyue, whom he hadn't seen for many days, said with surprise in his heart, "How are you here!"

Zhang Manyue looked at him with eyes full of doting, flicked Xu Jingzhe on the forehead, and said, "You, really don't let anyone rest easy."

System: "Ding, holy crap, this is... New Realm! Leave immediately!!"