After resting for about half an hour, the three of them regained some stamina.
Su Xiao took off his shirt, pulled out a large container of clear water from his storage space, and poured it over his head, letting pale red water spread at his feet.
Arima Kishou and Yuna did the same, which helped dilute the blood scent on them, reducing the chance of being discovered by the Ghouls.
"Is every exploration of the 24th District so dangerous?"
Su Xiao looked at the two of them, finding that exploring the 24th District was excessively dangerous.
"Of course not, this type of Ghoul is something I’ve never encountered before. Where on earth did these guys come from? They’re so strong without even needing Heko."
Yuna’s answer surprised Su Xiao; had she really never encountered such a situation in her half-year of exploring the 24th District?
"Arima, you seem quite familiar with these Ghouls."
Su Xiao gave Arima Kishou a meaningful look.
Arima Kishou took off his glasses and poked the shattered lens.
"These are a special kind of Ghoul, unique to the 24th District. I don’t know the specifics."
Arima Kishou’s expression was calm, possibly because they had fought fiercely together in blood that he could answer Su Xiao’s question.
"Is that so? Here you go."
Su Xiao produced two bags of jerky from his hand and tossed them to Arima Kishou and Yuna.
Yuna caught it easily, but Arima Kishou instinctively took a step back as the jerky flew towards him.
The bag of jerky fell to the ground, and Arima Kishou’s hand hovered in midair.
It was almost impossible for Arima Kishou to not catch the jerky Su Xiao threw. With his close combat ability, catching a bag of jerky from such a short distance should have been foolproof.
Arima Kishou put his glasses back on and picked up the jerky from the ground.
Yuna was munching on her jerky delightfully, not noticing this scene.
But Su Xiao noticed and felt that something might be wrong with Arima Kishou’s eyes, relying on those glasses to maintain his vision.
Su Xiao had previously wondered why Arima Kishou would wear glasses, as they were quite inconvenient during combat.
"A decent snack, replenishes energy quickly."
As he ate the jerky, Arima Kishou glanced at Su Xiao.
"I suggest you wear invisible glasses."
Su Xiao planned to fight alongside Arima Kishou in the near future, as they had just fought a Primitive Ghoul; if Arima dies, his own survival chances were slim.
"I used to, but I’m not used to it."
The two stopped talking, and Yuna looked at them in confusion.
After the brief respite, the three set off to leave the 24th District.
"The meat wall in this direction hasn’t changed; we can retrace our way back."
Yuna led the way, holding a tablet computer that recorded the route they came from.
They were now deep in the 24th District, where the passages were like a maze—complex and intricate.
"Damn, the route changed."
Yuna looked at the tablet in her hand, a blood-red meat wall blocking their path.
The tablet showed a fork should be here, but now it was a dead end.
"What do we do now, break through this meat wall?"
Su Xiao stepped forward, brandishing his knife.
"We can try and see how much the landscape has changed."
Su Xiao gripped the hilt of Dragon Slash tightly with both hands. The long knife sank into the meat wall, and with a fierce tug, a gash dozens of centimeters long appeared.
Yuna ran forward quickly to check the situation beyond the gap.
What met Yuna’s gaze was another meat wall.
"Ugh~, we have to resort to the most cumbersome methods."
Yuna put away the tablet and fished out a compass from her backpack.
Su Xiao re-sheathed his knife. The moment Dragon Slash was pulled out, the meat wall started to heal gradually, recovering within a minute.
"Is the compass reliable?"
In this intricate 24th District, Su Xiao felt the compass might be of minimal use.
"It’s effective. I’ve tried many times. No matter how complicated the routes here, you can always find a way out with a set direction."
Although the three were trapped in the 24th District, Yuna and Arima Kishou didn’t seem tense, so getting out shouldn’t be too difficult.
"Left, right, left, right...."
Yuna’s slender fingers wandered left and right, choosing routes arbitrarily.
Arima Kishou said nothing, seeming accustomed, simply waiting quietly for Yuna to decide.
"To the right, the airflow is faster on the right, so it’s unlikely to be a dead end."
Su Xiao suddenly spoke, causing Yuna’s fingers to stutter in midair.
"Faster airflow? I didn’t notice that."
Yuna looked at Su Xiao skeptically.
Su Xiao took the compass from Yuna’s hand.
"Let me lead the way, no problem, right?" Read full story at 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
Arima Kishou replied decisively.
"Alright~, okay then."
The two followed behind Su Xiao, proceeding quickly.
Five minutes later, a blood-red meat wall appeared in front of them—a dead end.
"Ahem~, occasional mistake."
Su Xiao stared in confusion at the meat wall before him, he indeed felt the airflow was faster on this side.
"Bai Ye, are you reliable or not? I feel like we’re going deeper underground."
Yuna scratched her head, looking at Su Xiao doubtfully.
Yuna wasn’t blaming Su Xiao. Even if she was leading, she’d also choose paths arbitrarily.
"Possibly, there’s no issue."
The three continued, and ten minutes later, another meat wall appeared before Su Xiao.
Unlike last time, there were several Ghouls in front of them in the dead-end.
"We’ve been avoiding you, why do you keep pressing on us? We don’t want to fight."
A Ghoul, tears streaming down their face, looked at Arima Kishou fearfully.
The Quinque box in Yuna’s hand transformed, revealing ’M. Red Moon.’
"Bang, bang, bang...."
Amidst a flurry of shots, the passage turned into a bloodbath.
Su Xiao didn’t believe he couldn’t find the correct route.
Twenty minutes later, another meat wall emerged in front of them—a dead end!
Half an hour later, still a dead end.
An hour later, another dead end.
Su Xiao’s lips twitched; it seemed he had gotten lost.
"Well~, maybe let me try."
Yuna looked at Su Xiao helplessly. Su Xiao said nothing, simply handing over the compass.
Yuna and Su Xiao chose paths differently. At each fork, Yuna would mutter strangely for a while before deciding on a route.
But even with Yuna leading, nothing changed.
An hour later, they stood in a blind alley.
"Damn, we’re so unlucky this time."
Yuna stomped her foot angrily, squeezing the compass tightly, which creaked.
Two cold pairs of eyes fell on Yuna, causing her body to shiver. She hastily checked the compass.
Fortunately, it was only superficially damaged and still functional.
Arima Kishou took the compass, leading the way this time.
It had to be said that Arima Kishou, the original author’s favorite, had quite good luck.
In the following twenty minutes, they never encountered another dead end.
"At this rate, we’ll be out soon. Being covered in sticky blood is unbearable."
Yuna tugged her shirt collar, looking somewhat enviously at Su Xiao and Arima Kishou.
The two men didn’t mind being shirtless, but Yuna couldn’t do the same.
As they passed a corner, Arima Kishou, who was in front, suddenly stopped.
Just as Yuna was about to speak, Su Xiao’s arm wrapped around her, covering her mouth.
When Yuna saw what was in front of them, her big eyes widened to the limit, and her pupils shrunk tightly.