45: Chapter 45 The crisis is over, they did it!

Tang Xiao was already feeling nervous.

When she looked down and saw several massive Corpse Beetles crawling on her legs, she instantly broke down.

At the critical moment, Wang Yi, who was following behind her, gripped his peach wood sword and fiercely stabbed at one of the Corpse Beetles.

The Corpse Beetle's hard shell was pierced by the peach wood sword, emitting a crisp sound.

Wang Yi had no time to catch his breath; he withdrew the blade and continued to stab at the next one below.

"I'll clear these things off for you, keep climbing up!" he shouted, looking up at Tang Xiao above.

Although Tang Xiao felt reluctant, she knew that even if she stayed, she wouldn't be able to help and would only hold them back.

So, she gritted her teeth and continued to climb upward with difficulty.

Fortunately, Wang Yi was agile, and dealing with these few Corpse Beetles was well within his capabilities.

He cleared the Corpse Beetles along the way while catching up.

Below them, a massive wave of Corpse Beetles was rapidly approaching.

They were extremely fast, and in a short while, they had already submerged the lower half of the Nine-Headed Snake Cypress trunk.

Looking down, dense swarms of insects were rapidly crawling about.

This scene was truly hair-raising.

The foul, fishy stench of the Corpse Beetles mixed with the rot of dried corpses hit them, causing their stomachs to churn.

Fortunately, everyone exhausted their last bit of strength, scrambling and crawling until they finally reached the upper section of the Nine-Headed Snake Cypress.

Here, they were less than ten meters away from the gap above.

The light shining down from the gap was on the verge of hitting them.

This beam of light was like a lighthouse in the darkness, offering them hope for survival in a moment of despair.

"Keep up your speed, everyone, we're about to escape!" Su Chen's voice came from below.

The good news was that the wave of Corpse Beetles had reached the middle section of the Nine-Headed Snake Cypress.

Here, the branches were intertwined and coiled, with thick, protruding limbs creating layers of obstacles that temporarily slowed the advance of the insect wave.

At the same time, the rotting corpses hanging above also attracted some of the Corpse Beetles.

After all, they were just insects with no intelligence.

Everything was done according to the instructions of the Corpse Beetle King.

And when they encountered corpses along the way, they instinctively wanted to gnaw on them.

Su Chen looked up at the distance between everyone and the gap above, then looked down at the situation of the insect wave.

He thought to himself: This is it!

He firmly gripped the branch above with one hand to steady himself, while clutching two Molotov cocktails in his other hand.

His fingertips deftly pulled the fuses.

With two soft hissing sounds, orange-red flames instantly surged up, and the scorching light illuminated the surroundings.

Su Chen exerted force in his arm and threw the Molotov cocktails fiercely toward the surging wave of Corpse Beetles below.

The glass bottles smashed against the thick trunk in the middle section and exploded, splashing viscous fuel everywhere.

The fire spread wildly along the bark, instantly creating a large wall of fire.

Countless Corpse Beetles were swallowed by the flames; the crackling sound of burning rose one after another as their green insect bodies curled up and carbonized in the intense fire, and a thick, scorched stench rose into the air.

A large part of the insect wave was cut off by the roaring fire; not daring to rashly pass through the sea of flames, they could only pace anxiously below the fire wall, temporarily halting their pursuit.

However, the tree trunk was dry and flammable, and the flames spread extremely fast. In no time, the fire would surge upward, leaving almost no buffer time.

"Quick! Take advantage of the fire blocking the insects and hurry out!" Su Chen urged loudly.

Everyone dared not delay and, shielded by the firelight, climbed upward like madmen.

...

"Ahhh, I'm so nervous, they must escape safely!"

"What a huge fire, they must climb out quickly, or they'll be swallowed by the flames."

"Su Chen's move is truly thrilling. Although the fire blocks the Corpse Beetles, it also easily threatens to swallow them too. If they get delayed by something, then..."

"To the person above, don't say such discouraging things. Su Chen clearly calculated the time, and since the Corpse Beetles and the Corpse Beetle King are all below, there won't be anything else to slow them down. They will definitely make it out safely."

"I'm trembling all over from nervousness; it's just this last step. They won't be hurt, right? They will definitely be able to escape safely, right?!"

"This believer is willing to be a vegetarian for life, please bless them so they return safely! I beg you."

"Count me in!"

...

The scorching heat waves baked everyone's skin.

They even felt that the vines of the Nine-Headed Snake Cypress beneath their hands were being scorched hot.

But they could no longer worry about that; no one dared to stop, and no one dared to slow down.

Everyone exhausted their last bit of strength, pushing past their physical limits!

They knew this was the chance for survival that Su Chen had worked so hard to secure for them.

If they missed it, all their previous efforts would be in vain!

Not only would they perish here, but the millions of Dragon Kingdom citizens behind them would also suffer punishment from the Heavenly Dao.

Just in such a desperate situation, they finally saw hope!

Captain Song Lei, who was in the lead, pounced onto the edge of the crevice, using his hands and feet to grip the rock wall gap and vault himself up.

Then he turned back and reached out to Tang Xiao behind him.

Wang Yi followed closely behind, and together with Cao Hua, the two of them climbed out of the crevice.

Tongues of fire had already begun to lick the branches beneath their feet, and the heat waves scorched their skin, causing stinging pain.

A few stray Corpse Beetles that had escaped the fire were still circling up along the side branches.

Su Chen deftly lifted his foot to kick away the incoming insects while quickly moving upward.

At the same time, he kept an eye out with his peripheral vision for those little red flying insects.

Now with the cover of the firelight, there was no need to worry about the Corpse Beetle wave for the time being.

The biggest threat was still the Corpse Beetle King.

They could fly; perhaps this firelight could not block their path for long.

Sure enough, just as he was about to approach the crevice, two red Corpse Beetle Kings passed through the firelight and flew up.

Without hesitation, Su Chen threw the Molotov cocktail he had prepared in advance directly at the insects.

The bottle accurately struck the two Corpse Beetle Kings, and with a bang, flames instantly erupted.

Completely swallowing them.

At this moment, the heart Su Chen had been keeping in his throat finally settled.

They did it!

The crisis was over!

"Su Chen, come quickly!"

Above the crevice, Cao Hua and the others reached out to Su Chen one after another.

Su Chen leaped off the branches, grabbing his companions' hands.

Then, with their combined strength, they pulled him up.

The moment his feet finally stood on the ground.

The crevice was also engulfed by the flames.

Several people hurriedly took a few steps back to avoid being singed by the flames.

And at this moment, their tense nerves instantly relaxed.

One by one, they collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

Only then did they realize what a terrifying life-or-death moment they had just experienced.

And they also belatedly realized that they were safe! They had survived!

For a moment, everyone felt a complex mix of emotions.

Captain Song Lei tilted his head back and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

As he laughed, tears streamed down from his eyes.