47: Desert Cyclone

Xiao Xi's mouth hung open, his mind blank as he stared at the overwhelming army charging towards him.

He had just escaped from the enemy's allied forces, so what was this group of people doing here?

Had he run in a circle and ended up back where he started? He'd never heard of a 'ghost wall' in the Desert.

Or did the enemy's Awakener have some large-scale teleportation skill? How overpowered was this, a Fifth-Tier or Sixth-Tier skill?!

Xiao Xi's mind was a mess, and for a moment, he forgot to run.

But even if he wanted to, the 'Severe Fatigue' effect on him and his NPCs had already cut their stats by more than half, making their snail-like speed completely useless for escape.

In stark contrast to Xiao Xi's bewildered, astonished, confused, and somewhat collapse state, Cheng Zhen, upon cresting the sand dune, saw a group of people, injured and panting, slumped on the ground. His first reaction was that he was seeing things or hadn't woken up yet; otherwise, how could he see his opponents practically delivering themselves to his doorstep?

To describe it as 'delivering themselves' wasn't even enough. This was like someone who had just bought a house going out to buy a lottery ticket, only to find their thirty-year mortgage cleared overnight, with a bicycle thrown in for good measure. It was truly surprising, delightful, and overwhelmingly joyful, making it harder to suppress his smile than a 98K.

"Xiao Xi?!"

As the saying goes, enemies meeting makes their eyes burn red with fury. The moment Jin Yu recognized the other party, her blood pressure instantly shot up.

"Big Brother, that brat is the scoundrel who tricked me!"

With Jin Yu's identification, Cheng Zhen understood that the low-health individual before him was that hard-to-deal-with thorn in their side.

No one could resist the allure of low health, and Cheng Zhen was no exception.

However, he was still very cautious. Although the probability was low, it could still be a trap set by Xiao Xi.

So, the cautious Cheng Zhen turned his gaze to the side: "Which of you two wants to earn some instance performance points?"

Jin Yu & Old Xu: "?!"

"Take people over there and tie him up."

Cheng Zhen put on an 'I'm thinking so much for my brothers' look: "We never shortchange our own people. Capturing an enemy Awakener will definitely get a good evaluation... So, which of you two wants these points?"

Old Xu: "..."

While that logic made sense, why did it feel a little strange?

"I'll go!!!"

Jin Yu raised her arm high like a primary school student answering a question, "I'll go, I'll go!"

Old Xu: ... This girl really isn't afraid of being tricked again, is she?

Was Jin Yu afraid? Of course she was, but compared to that slight fear, her burning desire for revenge still took precedence.

And upon closer thought, the possibility of this being a trap was not very high.

After all, their earlier departure was just Cheng Zhen's spur-of-the-moment decision to observe the enemy and their own combat strength before setting out with people. How could Xiao Xi have known in advance?

It couldn't be that Cheng Zhen and Xiao Xi were colluding in an act, could it? But if Cheng Zhen really wanted to harm someone, he could have killed Old Xu and Jin Yu in minutes before, so there was no need for such a roundabout and unnecessary act.

And Cheng Zhen chose to observe cautiously because it was too coincidental, so much so that he even wondered if Jin Yu had been acting before, and had actually communicated with Xiao Xi through special means, leading to this 'super freebie' situation.

Jin Yu unhesitatingly led her people forward, first for revenge, second to show that she and that scoundrel were irreconcilable, and also to gain some performance points—killing multiple birds with one stone.

Cheng Zhen waved his hand, and a hundred warriors with full loyalty points stepped out of the ranks, following Jin Yu as they slowly encircled Xiao Xi and his remaining forces.

Although Xiao Xi couldn't understand the enemy's situation, staying here would only become more dangerous.

And so—

It's decided! You are the ones! Special emergency rations (decoys)!

Xiao Xi had his men push the Mao Shu Tribe captives towards the enemy, buying himself time to escape.

The captives, with their arms bound, couldn't resist. They tumbled down from the top of the sand dune towards the enemy army, quickly disappearing into the overwhelming crowd.

Xiao Xi, after ditching his scapegoats, continued without stopping in another direction, but he hadn't anticipated two things:

First, the enemy was incredibly persistent in pursuing him; the 'Quokka' plan was completely ineffective.

(Quokkas, when encountering danger, throw their young to predators to buy themselves time to escape.)

Second...

The other side was running way too damn fast!!!

No, this was in the Desert! Running was exhausting and it was hard to run fast!

What kind of speed did those pursuers have? They were like Desert whirlwinds, leaving a trail of dust like a nitrogen boost, darting over in the blink of an eye!

With that speed, if they were subjected to a urine test, one would think there wasn't a single drop of urine in the stimulants!

Xiao Xi and his group were riddled with negative buffs, so how could they outrun Cheng Zhen's hormone-fueled warriors? In no time, they were surrounded.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Xi cursed under his breath, clenching his fists. This broken instance only gave him a bunch of burdens, why were other people's NPCs so hard to deal with!

He had already prepared for battle, and if worst came to worst, he would use his life-saving trump card... But the enemy warriors were only surrounding them, not attacking, as if waiting for something.

Then, their ranks parted to create a path, as if someone was approaching.

Xiao Xi's eyes darted around. Could it be... other Awakeners?

Although he didn't know why the other party suddenly stopped, Xiao Xi believed it wouldn't be difficult to fool a few new, inexperienced players. As long as he had a chance to get close, a solo kill or...?!

"How is it you?!"

Xiao Xi cried out in surprise.

He truly hadn't expected that Jin Yu, whom he had almost wiped out, would appear here, and with so many people, turn the tables on him.

Jin Yu wouldn't reply with an 'I thank you'. She glared at the other party furiously and began to vent—

"Didn't expect this, did you? Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river! A scoundrel will always get his comeuppance!"

"What was the point of meticulously tricking me? You still ended up being beaten like a dog!"

Jin Yu really wanted to stab him too, to make Xiao Xi understand what it felt like to be backstabbed. But since Cheng Zhen demanded he be captured alive, she could only satisfy her verbal craving for now.

And Xiao Xi, after his initial surprise, quickly reacted.

People couldn't just appear out of thin air. Jin Yu only had a dozen or so subordinates left when she ran away. She couldn't have just split into so many people after two days, could she?

So, these warriors must belong to another Awakener. Jin Yu's luck was pretty good; not only did she not die, but she also found a backer.

As the saying goes, a wise man submits to circumstances. Xiao Xi already had a new plan.

Listening to Jin Yu's angry accusations, he sighed and replied, "I'm sorry for what I did to you before, but this instance forced us to fight to the death. I had no choice."

"How about this, I'll share a piece of important intelligence with you and your allies as compensation?"