Chapter 32

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Chapter 32 – The One Who Hides

Blood poured from Mu Xiaofeng’s wounds, but it didn’t slow him down. This was it—the final strike that would end everything, right?

Mu Xiaofeng’s heavy sword glowed white, the Yuan Qi within it surging, ready to explode. The Earth Elemental scholar across from him panicked, hurriedly covering himself in earth armor, hoping to lessen the inevitable pain.

Nearby, a priest raised his staff, poised to heal the Earth Elemental the moment he was struck. He appeared to be a holy healing priest. However, his plan was quickly thwarted. Zhang Wenyu had already snuck up behind the priest and swept his leg out from under him, sending the priest crashing to the ground and shattering his concentration. All the priest’s preparations were ruined by Zhang Wenyu.

The Archer Shadowbearer bit his lip, cursing himself. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice this guy rushing in too. This could get tricky.”

Mu Xiaofeng’s desperate attack had drawn everyone’s attention, and rightly so. His suspicion had been correct—the Earth Elemental’s back did indeed bear the word “king.”

Mu Xiaofeng’s sword came down hard, shattering the Earth Elemental’s armor and leaving him gravely injured. Meanwhile, Zhang Wenyu had the priest under control. It seemed they had won.

Mu Xiaofeng knelt down, his hand reaching for the card on the Earth Elemental’s back. As he slowly peeled back a corner, time seemed to freeze. Everyone was motionless.

“How did you know what was on the card behind me? There were other options,” the Earth Elemental scholar gasped from the ground, clearly bewildered by how Mu Xiaofeng had figured it out.

Mu Xiaofeng smiled faintly, pausing to explain. “Six people, split into two groups, two ‘kings’. The safest combination is a ‘king’ and a ‘scholar’ from the same team, right? You three were the first to encounter us. It couldn’t have been the Sword and Shield Warrior who teamed up with someone from the other group, right? Cooperation has its limits—there are shared interests, but also conflicts between teams.”

Suddenly, a round of applause rang out. Mu Xiaofeng turned to see the Archer Shadowbearer clapping, a mix of admiration and regret in her voice as she said, “That was impressive. I didn’t think my plan had any flaws, but you found one. Our overall strength was probably inferior to yours, which is why we set so many traps. But none of them could defeat you.”

She gently brushed her long black hair aside, her expression suddenly serious as she drew her bow and shot an arrow at Mu Xiaofeng. “But you missed something. Who told you there were only six of us?”

Mu Xiaofeng and the others immediately sensed danger. A bright red light suddenly descended from the sky, bathing the Earth Elemental in its glow. His wounds healed instantly, and a priest who had been hiding in the woods appeared, collapsing after saving the Earth Elemental.

“This is the Holy Healing Sacrificial Brewer’s Sacrifice. It drains massive amounts of vital energy from the priest’s body, transferring the injuries of their teammates to themselves, restoring the teammates to their optimal state.”

Qiao Zi was stunned, panicking as she realized Mu Xiaofeng was in grave danger. The Medicine King Sacrificial Brewer’s strengths lay in conserving Yuan Qi and enduring battles, but they couldn’t instantly heal or perform long-distance spells. Even though they knew some holy healing spells, they weren’t proficient.

As everyone began to close in on Mu Xiaofeng, Qin Baoyi clenched her teeth and raised her staff, summoning a rain of fire to strike the enemies, even if it meant injuring Mu Xiaofeng as well. There was no other way.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wenyu slashed a few more wounds on the fallen priest before retreating out of the fire rain’s range. The sudden spell confused the attackers, and the Water Elemental scholar quickly summoned pillars of water to intercept the flames. The clash of fire and water created a thick mist that shrouded the battlefield, leaving Qin Baoyi and Qiao Zi unable to see what was happening.

All they could hear were the sharp clashes of swords and shields. Suddenly, a figure flew out of the fog, hurtling towards Qiao Zi and Qin Baoyi. Nervously, they prepared themselves—what if it was an enemy? They hadn’t realized that Ximo was no longer where he had been.

The figure crashed to the ground before them—it was Mu Xiaofeng. Just then, a powerful shockwave blew the mist away, revealing a person with two arrows in his body, slamming his shields together to stun the crowd. It was Ximo, who had rushed forward to throw Mu Xiaofeng out of danger, then unleashed a Shield Roar to control the enemies.

Ximo looked at his opponents with a serious expression and declared, “Don’t forget about me. I’m their strongest shield. I’ll protect them.”

Ximo stood firm in the center, determined to hold off everyone. Mu Xiaofeng, now behind him, smiled gratefully. He hadn’t expected Ximo, who had always been distant, to be the one to save him in such a crucial moment.

Qiao Zi hurried to Mu Xiaofeng’s side, pulling out herbs and quickly channeling Yuan Qi to heal his injuries. Tears welled up as she scolded him, “Why did you charge in so recklessly? Do you know how dangerous that was? I’d rather take those arrows for you than see you hurt.” Her tears fell onto Mu Xiaofeng’s chest and wounds.

Mu Xiaofeng chuckled and patted her head. “Silly girl, it’s just an arrow wound. It hurts a little, but I’d never ask you to take an arrow for me. Don’t ever do something so foolish.”

Mu Xiaofeng’s words were firm—he didn’t want Qiao Zi putting herself in danger for him. Qiao Zi nodded silently and continued to focus on healing him.

Mu Xiaofeng’s injuries weren’t severe; he hadn’t taken much damage from Yuan Qi, just some cuts and bruises. But Ximo overheard their conversation, feeling a pang of loss and jealousy. He channeled all his anger into fighting the enemies in front of him.

Ximo gathered his strength and struck the tall Sword and Shield Warrior with such force that the warrior was knocked to the ground, blood dripping from his hand. But the priest quickly healed the warrior, who then picked up his shield. The other, shorter warrior charged at Ximo, and an icicle fell from the sky, aimed directly at him.

Qin Baoyi shouted a warning, raising her staff to help Ximo, but Ximo yelled, “Don’t help me! I’ll handle this. Save your Yuan Qi.” He sent the short warrior flying with his shield and blocked the icicle with his other shield. But in that moment, the Archer Shadowbearer took aim and fired another arrow, striking Ximo in the left shoulder, piercing his armor.

Ximo let out a hiss, whether from physical pain or something deeper. He ripped the arrow out and threw it to the ground, snarling, “Is that all you’ve got? You’re running out of energy, aren’t you? I thought you’d put up more of a fight. You’re all just losers.”

His defiant shout silenced the other side. They didn’t know how strong Ximo’s defense truly was. Mu Xiaofeng watched Ximo’s back, feeling a sense of security as if there was an impenetrable shield protecting them. He couldn’t help but wonder if he would always see Ximo’s back like this in the future—there was something different about Ximo.

But on the other side, their opponents were exhausted, their Yuan Qi nearly depleted. The Archer Shadowbearer realized they couldn’t keep this up. Their Yuan Qi wasn’t as abundant as Mu Xiaofeng’s group’s, and they didn’t have the stamina for a long battle.

The Archer Shadowbearer drew her bow and aimed at Qiao Zi, coldly declaring, “Finish off that pesky Pill King Sacrificial Brewer first. We can deal with the Double Shield Warrior afterward.”

An arrow imbued with considerable Yuan Qi shot towards Qiao Zi. In that instant, Ximo’s eyes widened, and he lunged forward, blocking the arrow with his shield.

But the two Sword and Shield Warriors had already slipped past Ximo, rushing towards Qiao Zi. The Earth Elemental scholar fortified their armor to protect them as they attacked. Ximo tried to rush over, but his feet were frozen by the Water Elemental scholar—a move that had been used against Mu Xiaofeng earlier.

Ximo roared in defiance, throwing both his shields at the advancing warriors, shouting, “None of you will touch her! Stop right now!” His shields struck the two warriors, knocking them unconscious.

At the same time, a ground spike shot up, piercing Ximo’s right arm. His armor was punctured, and blood began to flow.