73: Chapter 73 Unexpected Events: The Sky Collapses and the Earth Crashes!

Not just Fatty, but including Lin Tianyi, Wang Shan, Wu Ren, or even Gong Chen and Wei Zhiyuan, none of them had anticipated that Song Yiqing would choose to drag his highly exhausted body to engage in close-quarters combat himself.

Facing the Flood Dragon Python's strike earlier, it was obvious that his physical exhaustion was immense; by all logic, there was no way he could pull off another round.

Yet at this most critical juncture, Song Yiqing burst forth with power once again. Regardless of whether it was for his own sake, everyone accepted this favor.

Therefore, they held nothing back—raising their guns and gripping their blades, all to cover Song Yiqing!

On Zhang Qilin's usually expressionless face, a slight shift gradually appeared.

"ROAR!!!"

He let out a furious roar, moving with agility and speed as he gave chase. He wasn't trying to replace Song Yiqing, but rather, in every way he could, he was frantically cutting down minor threats to clear the path for Song Yiqing.

It was just like the final stretch of a road race, where the lead cyclist pushes against the wind with all their might, just so their final teammate can claim the fruits of victory.

Zhang Qilin charged forward with all his might. Understanding his intention, Song Yiqing also preserved as much Qi as possible, and the moment Zhang Qilin could no longer fight, he instantly accelerated and surged forward again!

With a long stride, he tore directly into that massive oral cavity.

"HAA——"

Song Yiqing bellowed, pushing everything to the limit, swearing to seize victory with this one strike. Everyone's gaze was frozen at this moment, but the next second!

"AWOOO——"

The massive oral cavity slammed shut. Everything from before seemed to vanish into thin air with that bite; there was no more movement.

"Lord Song???"

Fatty stood frozen in place, staring in confusion at the Gatekeeper Beast Mother, which had stopped all its attacks and gone rigid.

Just then, Zhang Qilin, who was already exhausted, suddenly erupted into action.

"HAA!!!"

Beads of blood began to seep from his arms as he instantly rushed toward the Mother Body and delivered a fierce slash.

BANG——

But the Mother Body still didn't move. Three seconds later, its body suddenly began to tremble violently, and then countless tentacles instantly surged out, whipping back and forth frantically.

BANG BANG BANG BANG!!!

The frenzied state forced everyone to retreat step by step. But at the same time, BANG!!! The entire ground completely collapsed, and the caught-off-guard group fell instantly.

The massive Gatekeeper Beast Mother turned and fled at that moment. The unmanned livestream ball lost its signal during the collision, and the screen in the livestream room turned to darkness.

...

Comment section: [No way??] [What happened?? Wasn't that supposed to be a successful breakthrough just now? How did it... end in death?] [WTF?? Song Yiqing was swallowed? Dead?] [Zhang Qilin, Lin Tianyi, and the others all fell into the abyss? Dead??] [Is this... total annihilation?] [This was our closest attempt to unravel the secrets of the Forbidden Land, and it failed just like that?] [Damn it!! Damn it!! Why did it turn out like this! Why!!]

Messages were refreshing frantically, and related news instantly surged to the top of the Weibo hot searches: #Song Yiqing KIA#, #He Died for Humanity!#, #Entire Team KIA!#. Each hot search kept stinging everyone's eyes, making it hard to believe the truth. But when they watched that video clip repeatedly, they were met with one fact: the fact that the entire team had sacrificed themselves.

...

At the Kyoto University of Archaeology, Wan Shu slumped in his office chair. He couldn't describe his current feelings, especially knowing that the Xue Group was likely plotting something extremely terrifying. He had secretly hoped that Song Yiqing wouldn't die, but now, everything had gone against his wishes. "Perhaps, this is fate,"

...

Dong Chengming had just returned home and finished organizing the things he brought back from school when a notification popped up on his phone about Song Yiqing's death. In that instant, he seemed to age over a decade.

...

Inside the Flying Tiger Archaeology Team, Bai Yao watched the news repeatedly, watched the video repeatedly, confirmed it repeatedly, and kept muttering to herself, "Why? Why did he die? How is this possible? This is definitely impossible!! There must be something going on here; this must be intentional by Song Yiqing!!"

"Bai Yao!" Yi Menglian hugged her at this moment, raising her hand to gently pat her back. "In Forbidden Land exploration, death is a common occurrence. Acceptance is our only choice."

"Bu... but..." Bai Yao muttered, but the words were stuck in her throat. The atmosphere at the scene was very quiet, and everyone revealed a trace of sadness. Even though Xue Xingye was ecstatic inside, he dared not show a shred of it at this moment. However, when he saw everyone grieving for Song Yiqing, a thought inexplicably popped into his head: 'If I sacrificed myself, would...'

But Xue Xingye quickly brushed off such a bad thought, already fantasizing about a bright future. Without Song Yiqing, those matters would rarely be mentioned by anyone. Just then, Fei Erfeng spoke up, "All members of the Flying Tiger Archaeology Team, observe a minute of silence for Song Yiqing!!"

"What!" Xue Xingye was shocked, his heart growing even more uncomfortable. A moment of silence was a very high honor, and the fact that it was for Song Yiqing made him extremely uncomfortable. He had originally thought the silence would only occur within the Flying Tiger Archaeology Team, but when the Forbidden Land Exploration Official also issued a statement requiring everyone to observe a moment of silence for the members of the exploration team, including Song Yiqing, Xue Xingye secretly clenched his fists.

...

Under the Six-Pillar Temple, the place Guo Xueyan and the others had entered was completely different from where Song Yiqing and his group had been. This was an extremely complex maze, and while they encountered dangers from time to time, they were definitely not as ferocious as the Gate-Keeping Beast. When she saw the news of the sacrifice of Song Yiqing and his group, she felt a slight regret. "What a pity, to not have died by my hands,"

...

Also having entered the Six-Pillar Temple, the Blind Man and Wang Xianzhi, after killing several monsters in succession, looked at the livestream. The black screen, just as they had expected, did not bring them much sadness, only regret.

"A good seedling for sword training," the Blind Man sighed, while Wang Xianzhi said with regret, "What a pity about those two good swords,"

...

An interweaving of darkness and chaos, a tangle of blood and eeriness. The pungent smell, like sulfuric acid, constantly assaulted Song Yiqing's nose and mouth, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. The Golden Light Curse on his body surface was continuously working to resist the erosion of the strong sulfuric acid. He was not in a hurry; instead, he was waiting—waiting for the Gatekeeper Beast Mother to completely calm down. Time ticked away, second by second, until the next moment. The opportunity had arrived. "Nine Songs Sword Manual! Slash——"