"Huh? Where are they?" Chen Yuxi, leading a group of people, arrived at the area where Huang Yi had been hiding, but they couldn’t see him anymore.
Chen Yuxi pondered for a moment, then shouted, "Just ahead is a wide ravine; he can’t cross that and must be hiding nearby. Let’s split up into groups of three to search—if anyone encounters a situation, call out for help loudly. Don’t worry about being ambushed; as you all saw earlier, Instakill has attacked me twice and failed to kill me. He’s not as powerful as we imagined."
Immediately, the crowd divided into groups of three, with Chen Yuxi teaming up with Icy Greatsword and Skull. They spread out to search, becoming more dispersed.
Unbeknownst to them, perched right above their heads in what seemed like calm air, was a Falcon, silently observing them from above.
The pristine moonlight filtered through the gaps in the tree branches, casting shadows amidst the dense forest. The searchers carefully stepped on dry twigs and leaves, startling at the sound of fluttering wings as an occasional nightingale took flight.
"Crack~" Chen Yuxi’s group snapped a dry branch underfoot and searched behind a dense bush. By now, they had moved quite far from the other groups.
"Swoosh!" Just then, a figure burst forth from behind a nearby tree with lightning speed and a burst of flame, slamming hard into Skull and sending him flying.
The attacker was Huang Yi. Utilizing the Falcon’s view, he had circled around to Chen Yuxi’s group and successfully ambushed them.
However, they were prepared for such an attack; although taken by surprise, they quickly counterattacked.
"Instakill is here!" bellowed Chen Yuxi, signaling to the distant group. Following that, a red light flashed from his right fist and shot towards Huang Yi like a cannonball, making a tremendous whooshing sound as it flew!
Huang Yi dodged to the side, avoiding the punch.
On the other side, Icy Greatsword suddenly swung his blade from behind!
All at once, a green light burst forth from behind Icy Greatsword, and a Hunting Dog, its body aflame with green fire, ferociously bit into his leg, instantly disrupting his assault.
This well-ambushed Hunting Dog’s originally extinguished green flame reignited, quickly setting Icy Greatsword ablaze, causing continuous burning damage while his health points steadily dwindled.
After this brief delay, Skull finally managed to get back up. Stabilizing himself, he immediately raised his Magic Wand and began to chant the Spell for a powerful attack.
Huang Yi, still entangled with Chen Yuxi, seemed to be unaware of Skull’s chanting.
Skull couldn’t help but reveal a look of delight, his tone of incantation becoming somewhat unstable with excitement.
As Skull chanted, the glow from his Magic Wand grew brighter, and a potent Spell slowly took shape.
Finally, Skull reached the last syllable of his chant, the light on his Magic Wand glowing so brightly it exuded palpable power!
At that moment, figures from the other groups appeared in the distance, quickly closing in. Huang Yi seemed doomed!
"Whoosh!" Just as Skull was about to release the last syllable, a streak of light flashed through the air, hitting his wrist hard and spraying blood, abruptly interrupting the long-prepared powerful Spell!
Skull’s face showed shock as he stared at his wounded wrist in disbelief, only then noticing an invisible birdlike creature in front of him!
This was Huang Yi’s second Summoned Creature – the Falcon, known for its incredible speed and high stealth, excellent for scouting and tracking enemies. While its Attack Power was weak, it was sufficient to disrupt Skull’s Spell Casting.
Huang Yi had indeed heard Skull’s chanting; in fact, he had been aware of it from the first syllable. However, it wasn’t until Skull was about to chant the last syllable that he ordered the Falcon to attack, successfully interrupting the Spell!
At this point, Huang Yi was multitasking impressively. Besides fighting Chen Yuxi, he had to stay alert to Icy Greatsword and Skull’s movements while controlling the Hunting Dog and Falcon in combat, and he also had to protect the Little White Cat on his back.
Yet, despite handling four tasks simultaneously, he managed to fend off the enemy’s onslaught with undiminished focus!
"Ahh!" Just then, Icy Greatsword screamed in agony. He was bitten by the Hunting Dog again, the green flames enveloping him once more!
He had been entangled with the Hunting Dog for a while, and due to the continuous burning, his health points were nearly depleted!
Seizing the opportunity, Huang Yi performed a backflip and landed steadily in front of Icy Greatsword. His huge claws swept down onto his head, the red flames joining the green flames of the Hunting Dog, covering Icy Greatsword.
In an instant, Icy Greatsword crumbled to ashes before their eyes, instantly slain, leaving only a Helmet amid the ashes.
That was equipment dropped by Icy Greatsword! In The Second World, one random piece of equipment would drop upon death. Previously, Chen Yuxi’s group had also died once, but their equipment was already damaged, so nothing dropped.
Huang Yi scooped up the Helmet without even checking its Attributes and chose to wear it immediately!
Suddenly, the Helmet morphed to fit Huang Yi’s size and encased his head securely.
This was the first piece of equipment he had obtained since arriving in The Second World, and his strength had just increased slightly!
"Greatsword!" Chen Yuxi screamed, his eyes ready to burst with rage. The pale moonlight shone on him, casting a trembling shadow on the ground.
He had never anticipated death would be so frequent, as they were all fairly strong, leveling up and adventuring together; even in the face of danger, they always managed to come out unscathed. Yet, he never imagined that on this night, they would experience repeated deaths and de-leveling, the levels they had painstakingly achieved rapidly slipping away from them.