118: Where is the way back?

More than a dozen Thunder Beasts rushed over, with several of them having white light emanating from their single horns.

Instantly, several bolts of lightning struck Qin Shilei simultaneously, but he seemed completely unfazed, continuing to charge forward.

Earlier, when dealing with Thunder Beasts, he had also been attacked by their abilities.

Perhaps because they were both lightning-attributed, and the Thunder Mark he had absorbed was purple-grade, the Thunder Beasts' lightning-attributed abilities caused him negligible damage.

Thunderbolt Thrust!

Qin Shilei moved among the Thunder Beasts, continuously thrusting out countless sword shadows.

Although the lightning damage from Thunderbolt Thrust didn't have much effect on the Thunder Beasts, its advantage lay in its extremely fast attack speed and its area of effect, making it perfectly suited for such group combat scenarios.

White Rainbow Pierces the Sun!

An Qian, like a celestial being descending, rapidly approached from a distance, instantly killing one of the Thunder Beasts with a single move, then fought alongside Qin Shilei.

Thousand Vine Technique!

Zhang Xiaoli also retracted the vines from Lu Tian罡's side and instead began controlling the Thunder Beasts on Qin Shilei's side.

Under the cooperation of the three, more than a dozen Thunder Beasts were quickly slain.

Turning to look, although Lu Tian罡 and his team had killed three or four more Thunder Beasts, their situation was somewhat precarious under the siege of numerous Thunder Beasts.

After a moment's thought, Qin Shilei decided to rush towards them and jointly deal with that group of Thunder Beasts.

As soon as they had killed this group of Thunder Beasts, nearly thirty more Thunder Beasts rushed out from behind.

"Still coming?" Lu Tian罡's eyes showed fatigue as he turned to look at Qin Shilei, but he had made up his mind not to be the first to charge forward again.

"It should be the group of Thunder Beasts that were besieging Fan Xiaobo."

Qin Shilei paused, then said, "Let's go, this time I'll use a sword."

Xia Yunyan voiced everyone's question: "Is it the sword for wielding a spear and sword, or the arrow for archery?"

Qin Shilei didn't answer, gripping Blood Soul and charging forward first.

After Qin Shilei withstood the first wave of lightning attacks, An Qian and the others also swiftly charged towards the Thunder Beasts.

Half an hour later, everyone arrived at the spot where Fan Xiaobo had just been caught by the Thunder Beasts.

On the ground were the corpses of seven or eight Thunder Beasts, and a bloodied, mangled person.

The person on the ground looked as if they had been gnawed by countless mad dogs, with their internal organs exposed and most of their face eaten away.

From the clothing, it was confirmed to be Fan Xiaobo.

Lu Tian罡 sighed with emotion, "To think that one of Nanzhuang City's four great masters would meet such an end."

Hua Feng also said with a hint of melancholy, "He thought there was some treasure here, but he died without even seeing a shadow of it."

Xia Yunyan looked at Qin Shilei and suddenly said, "I heard that Fan Xiaobo is the illegitimate son of Deputy Commander Fan of the military. I wonder if that's just a rumor?"

Qin Shilei's eyes narrowed; he hadn't expected Fan Xiaobo to have such a background.

Zhang Xiaoli frowned and said, "He was killed by Thunder Beasts, so will Deputy Commander Fan vent his anger on us?"

When she used Thousand Vine Technique to entangle Fan Xiaobo, everyone was only concerned with escaping, so no one should have seen that scene.

Xia Yunyan shook her head, "As for Deputy Commander Fan, who commands a large army, we cannot guess what he will think or do. However, to save everyone some trouble, I think we should all agree on a unified statement: when we go out, we will all say that we did not encounter Fan Xiaobo here."

After speaking, she specifically looked at Lu Tian罡, the strongest military member.

Lu Tian罡 was the first to state his position: "I am a soldier of the people, not a private soldier of Deputy Commander Fan. Furthermore, Fan Xiaobo was indeed killed by Thunder Beasts. I agree with Miss Xia's suggestion."

His two remaining subordinates also spoke up in agreement.

Hua Feng chimed in, "It's best to save trouble, of course. I also agree."

Qin Shilei said indifferently, "I also agree."

In his heart, however, he had already become wary of Deputy Commander Fan.

Lu Tian罡 spoke again, "Should we explore this place together or separately?"

Hua Feng suggested, "Let's form a team first, to avoid encountering a large group of Thunder Beasts again."

Qin Shilei replied indifferently with one word: "Fine."

Xia Yunyan also nodded in agreement, but specifically mentioned, "If we encounter Thunder Beasts again, I hope Mr. Qin and Miss An can choose to fight in close combat."

Qin Shilei smiled and said, "Actually, I think my archery is quite good. Do you really not need me to support you from the back?"

Xia Yunyan said with great certainty, "I think you are much stronger with a sword than with a bow and arrow. Please stick to close combat."

Qin Shilei said regretfully, "Alas, I wanted to let you all admire my unerring archery, but now I can only forget about it."

After discussing, everyone began exploring the bamboo forest together.

After most of the day, they discovered that the bamboo forest had boundaries.

The bamboo forest was only twenty to thirty kilometers in circumference, with an invisible wall at its very edge, making passage impossible.

Everyone returned to the foot of the large mountain.

"Not only are there no treasures, but the glowing portal we came through is also gone. Are we trapped here forever?" one of Hua Feng's subordinates said somewhat dejectedly.

"We haven't explored this big mountain yet. Maybe the treasures and the way back are all up there," Hua Feng said, looking up at the black peak.

Qin Shilei looked up at the towering mountain, and the shadowy figures on its peak.

He frowned and said, "This mountain doesn't even have a small path. I wonder how those Thunder Beasts got up there, and why they insisted on going up there?"

The peak was steep and difficult to climb, and no food was found on it. Did those Thunder Beasts only need to excrete and not eat?

As they were speaking, the mountaintop suddenly glowed brightly.

Countless bolts of lightning descended from the sky, like a thunderstorm.

Even from a distance, Qin Shilei and the others felt their eyes dazzled by the lightning.

An Qian, squinting her eyes, suddenly pointed at the mountaintop and said, "Look, those Thunder Beasts seem to be undergoing a baptism of lightning."

Qin Shilei took out his binoculars and looked towards the mountaintop.

He saw the Thunder Beasts, one by one, raising their heads to welcome the lightning descending from the sky, as if bathing in the lightning's glow.

Were the Thunder Beasts using the lightning on the mountaintop to cultivate?

There wasn't a single cloud on the mountaintop, yet countless lightning bolts appeared out of thin air.

There must be something strange on the mountaintop.

Qin Shilei said, "Our way back is very likely on the mountaintop. Let's find a way to climb up."

An Qian said with some concern, "Since those Thunder Beasts go to the mountaintop to cultivate, will they be stronger than the Thunder Beasts in the bamboo forest?"

"Very likely," Qin Shilei said, frowning. "Among that group of Thunder Beasts, there are more than ten that are noticeably larger than the others, so their strength must be greater."

An Qian suggested, "To reach the mountaintop, I think we should first lure the Thunder Beasts down and kill them."

Everyone nodded in agreement, then looked at Qin Shilei in unison.

"Now you remember I'm an archer?" Qin Shilei said irritably.

Saying that, Qin Shilei still took out his short bow and climbed up the mountain.

"You all hide well. If there are too many, I'll lure them down and we'll attack together. If there are few, I'll deal with them myself."

Soon, Qin Shilei stealthily reached behind a large rock about two hundred meters from the group of Thunder Beasts.

Silver Dragon!

He concentrated and shot an arrow at the Thunder Beast on the very edge.

"Roar!"

The Thunder Beast's eye was shot out, letting out a miserable cry.

Then it rushed towards Qin Shilei, following the direction from which the arrow had come.