The Cat-Snake Monster not only failed to slow down because of the pain, but was completely enraged by Qi Xu.
The five members of the Chinese team quickly scattered in five different directions and sprinted. The Cat-Snake Monster froze for a moment, then directly chased after Qi Xu.
Qi Xu's goal was achieved. Only this one monster had appeared so far. Chasing one person was better than chasing a group—this way, the others could rest. When the time came, they could figure out a shift change and take over.
When Wang Buyu relayed Qi Xu's thoughts to the others, everyone secretly admired Qi Xu's clever mind. He always managed to find the best solution at critical moments.
Qi Xu kept leading the Cat-Snake Monster in circles around his four teammates, running for stretches and then teleporting for others, alternating between physical stamina and mental energy to wear it down.
Even though they couldn't defeat it, its movement speed was slow, so as long as they kept it dragged along, there was always a way out.
Until Endless Longevity was ready and positioned on Qi Xu's path. As the man and the monster rapidly closed in, she suddenly appeared and threw a handful of gravel right into the Cat-Snake Monster's eyes... successfully drawing its aggro.
Qi Xu came back, replenished his water, and rested briefly before speaking: "I need to go locate Ingrid's team. You all take turns relieving Endless Longevity. Better early than late—after I leave, the Third is in charge of the team. Priority is safety."
"Got it!"
Threeking threw a worried glance at Invincible Black Whirlwind—leading the team was no problem, the real issue was Bad Ball's side...
Qi Xu crooked his finger and called the Third aside to threaten him: "If you don't shape up, I'll butcher you and dump you in Zone 01 to make Bad Ball lose face completely!"
"Hmph." The Third turned his face away in disdain.
When Qi Xu had made his final lap, he distinctly felt intense energy fluctuations from the northeast, along with an unusually familiar presence.
Clearly, it was Ah Snake who had arrived, so he couldn't sit still. He also wanted to take another opportunity to squeeze some advantage out of Ingrid.
After giving out all the specific arrangements, Qi Xu set off immediately, sprinting at full speed toward the northeast!
Any later and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to catch up. After all, he had to consider his teammates—if the Cat-Snake Monster actually caught them, the remaining four combined couldn't handle it. Maybe only the Third's doppelgangers could buy some time.
Fortunately, luck was on his side. He ran for less than half an hour before he successfully heard commotion ahead.
Qi Xu confirmed his guess was right. From far away, he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Ingrid!"
After shouting, he immediately accelerated and teleported forward until he stood right in front of Ingrid. "Are you hurt? I'll protect you! Take a moment to catch your breath!"
Ingrid froze.
Though she had reached a truce with Invincible Black Whirlwind before, she had also promised two cooperation requests led by her. Through those two collaborations, the other party's gains would definitely exceed her own.
But this was purely transactional, with zero emotional connection. No matter how self-absorbed Ingrid was, she wouldn't believe Invincible Black Whirlwind would risk her life to save her.
So when she saw the figure charging straight to the front with no hesitation to retreat, her whole mind went blank.
That black serpent in front of her was too powerful. Four of her teammates were dead, three to be exact, with only one left barely alive—vomiting blood so fast she couldn't even spare a moment to wipe it. The treasure map secret realm banned all death-protection cards and items.
Ingrid was just thinking that if she truly couldn't survive, she'd use her last trump card to take this undefeatable giant black serpent down with her. And yet, here came Invincible Black Whirlwind, crashing in!
"Big black snake, picking on two injured people is no skill! If you've got the guts, come at me!"
Qi Xu glanced back at Ingrid. "The cooperation count just went up to four!"
Then, without waiting for Ingrid's reply, and with no time to make any new agreements, Qi Xu shouted, "Big black snake! If you've got the capability, just kill me!" And, accompanied by the black serpent's fierce roar, she ran off into the distance.
Only after both human and snake had left did Ingrid collapse at the base of a tree, gasping for breath, staring fixedly in the direction Invincible Black Whirlwind had vanished...
"Stop running, stop running! Take a rest!"
Ah Snake swiftly slithered forward, nudging Qi Xu over and letting her lie down on its broad, long body.
"Exhausted, huh? That monster that's neither cat nor snake—did it beat you? Want me to go get revenge? Squashing that knockoff poser is easy as pie."
Ah Snake seemed quite cheerful, not at all surprised—clearly, it already knew Qi Xu was in the treasure map secret realm too.
Thinking back now...
When Ah Snake had messaged her earlier and said it was on a business trip, it had already dropped all the hints it needed to.
"That thing is the head of RD country's assassins' guild equivalent, right? Its strength is nowhere near yours. It's still being led on a wild goose chase by my teammates right now. Don't worry about me—otherwise, you'll get lightning-struck again."
Ah Snake laughed heartily. "No fear! Maybe one of these thunder tribulations will shed my snake skin and transform me into a dragon!"
"It definitely will!"
Ah Snake then asked curiously, "The people I was fighting earlier—are they your friends? You make friends all the way across borders?"
"Not friends. A very strong rival. I want her to owe me a favor. Plus, that person has methods. She definitely has a trump card. Be careful too."
Ah Snake nodded its big head seriously. "True. I smelled something very dangerous on her too, so I was holding back, not pushing her too hard."
"Good, as long as you know. You keep playing with that girl. I'm heading back now."
"No rush. Your teammates are fine. Sleep for half an hour first—don't try to carry everything on your own."
Qi Xu figured: she'd held things down for two hours in the afternoon, taken half an hour to get over here, and if she slept half an hour before heading back, her four teammates could definitely last two hours.
Only by fully resting could she continue the fight with the Cat-Snake Monster!
So she nodded. "Fine!"
With Ah Snake around, Qi Xu slept much sounder than she had the night before. Both her mental and physical stamina recovered to near full, and she even hitched a ride on the "Frozen Python Express."
In just ten minutes, she was back at her teammates' side.
Looking at the sorry state of her team, Qi Xu sucked in a sharp breath.
Everyone had clearly rotated through their duties at least once. The Third's doppelgangers were all dead. Endless Longevity seemed to have reached her limit too. Wang Buyu was covered in blood from head to toe, lying motionless with only faint breath left.
There was no sign of Shadowkill—he must have taken the Cat-Snake Monster far away by now.
..........
