After the fight, Jiang Junyan was completely collapsed like a puddle of mud. Forget escaping, even moving his fingers was an unattainable wish.
Only then did Zui’Er finally relax.
Although her experience in the Jianghu was shallow, living in this chaotic world meant she was by no means a naive, sweet girl.
Especially because she was beautiful, since childhood, people with ill intentions often tried to approach her, which made Zui’Er very sensitive to others’ malice.
And this Jiang Junyan definitely didn’t look like a good person.
Saying he was just here to steal something, even a three-year-old wouldn’t believe it.
So to be safe, even though she was a bit trembling with fear, Zui’Er steeled her nerves and broke Jiang Junyan’s limbs.
This stemmed from Zhao Ya’s teachings to her in daily life.
In any situation, one must first ensure their own safety.
Zui’Er carried a wooden stick out of the vegetable cellar and then closed the door to the cellar.
To prevent Jiang Junyan from suffocating to death, Zui’Er kindly left a gap before returning to the house.
As the vegetable cellar sank into darkness and the sound of footsteps faded away, Jiang Junyan’s heart was filled with fear.
He didn’t know what fate awaited him.
Given the things he had done, even dying ten times wouldn’t be enough.
Especially if that Escort Master Zhao came back, he would surely die.
Thinking of this, Jiang Junyan couldn’t help but burst out with a strong desire to survive. His limbs couldn’t move, so he used the muscles on his back to inch forward bit by bit. As long as he could get out of this vegetable cellar, there was still a sliver of hope for survival.
But at this moment, Zui’Er suddenly returned, completely closed the cellar door, and with a ’crack’, locked it.
Jiang Junyan was stunned, then started shouting hysterically.
"Heroine, please no, if you lock the door, I will suffocate to death soon!"
But Zui’Er ignored him and just drilled a few finger-sized holes into the wooden door with the tip of her saber.
"Don’t worry, with these holes, you won’t suffocate." After saying this, Zui’Er left.
Jiang Junyan lay dazed in the darkness, feeling his heart completely sink to the bottom.
Just as dawn broke, the mountain forest was shrouded in a thin mist, and the grass was covered in crystal-clear dew drops, which would soon drench one’s clothes when walking through.
Zhao Ya could no longer count how many times his clothes had been soaked and dried. He only knew that they had been traveling through the forest for several days.
Even with his heart unlocked, he couldn’t help but feel a bit tired, let alone Luo Feng, Zhou Hua, Tan Dong, and others.
They all looked pale, their figures emaciated, their footsteps unsteady as if they might collapse at any moment.
Actually, not just them, even though Chief Escort Meng Lei was a Martial Artist of the Third Realm, because he lost an arm, even though he sealed his Qi Blood with strong bodily control to preserve his life, his strength had inevitably dropped significantly.
So at this moment, he didn’t look much better than Luo Feng, Zhou Hua and others, only managing to hold on with great effort.
Finally.
When they reached a stream, Zhao Ya stopped.
"Rest a bit before we move on."
As Zhao Ya finished speaking, Tan Dong immediately fell to the ground and was asleep in the next second.
Not only him.
Luo Feng, Zhou Hua, and others also collapsed to the ground, unable to move anymore.
Only Meng Lei had some energy left. He walked to Zhao Ya’s side, and gazing into the distance under the morning sunlight, asked in a deep voice.
"Ya, how much longer?"
Zhao Ya took out a compass from his backpack, confirmed the direction, then spoke in a deep voice, "It shouldn’t be far, maybe another half day and we’ll reach Wuxiang Mountain."
Meng Lei breathed a slight sigh of relief upon hearing this.
Anyhow, they were finally about to get home.
Then he sighed with emotion, "This time we really owe it to you, Ya. Otherwise, even if we weren’t harmed by the bandits at Cyan Bamboo Ridge, we would have been lost in this vast forest, ending up in an Exotic Beast’s belly."
Meng Lei’s words were heartfelt.
These past days were solely thanks to Zhao Ya’s ability to navigate that they could travel through the forest.
Not only that, Zhao Ya also used his vast forest experience to avoid the powerful Exotic Beasts as much as possible.
As for hunting game, finding water sources, and the like, it was not beyond his capability.
It is not an exaggeration to say that without Zhao Ya, Meng Lei and others would have died long ago.
Zhao Ya laughed in response.
"Chief of the Escort, you’re too kind. This is what I should do."
Saying this, Zhao Ya picked up some stones along the stream, observed them for a while, then suddenly threw, hitting a fish in the stream.
The fish immediately turned belly up and floated onto the water’s surface.
After several attempts, Zhao Ya had caught a few plump fish.
Meanwhile, Zhou Hua had already started a fire, and Luo Feng began to clean the fish.
Taking advantage of this gap, Zhao Ya leaned against a tree trunk and closed his eyes for a nap.
"Zhao, come eat fish!"
When the fish was ready, Luo Feng first handed the plumpest one to Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya did not hesitate and ate the fish in a few bites.
With the Water Valley Essence Talent slightly activated, the fish quickly transformed into Qi Blood nutrition, merging into his body.
But this bit of Qi Blood was merely a drop in the ocean compared to Zhao Ya’s substantial need.
Facing this, Zhao Ya felt a bit helpless.
This mission, Zhao Ya had specifically brought a few packs of Blood Replenishing Powder for emergencies.
But he didn’t expect the situation to become this dire; those packs were already consumed, so now he had to rely on ordinary meat and blood to barely sustain himself.
Zhao Ya thought to himself, and the light screen only he could see opened.
Name: Zhao Ya. Age: 17. Remaining lifespan: 47 years (+78 days)
Skills: Eight Vajra Skills (Refined Skill 228/5000) Five Tiger Fist (Refined Skill 329/5000) Gale Saber Technique (Refined Skill 279/5000) Lightweight Grasshopper Skill (Mastery 1911/2000) Swallow’s Three Dips (Mastery 1895/2000) Concealing Breath Technique (Minor Achievement 125/1000)
[Heart Unlock Progress: 81%]
In these days of fleeing, the Eight Vajra Skills and Five Tiger Fist had only increased by a few points, but the Gale Saber Technique and Lightweight Body Technique had made significant progress.
The Gale Saber Technique had increased by over a hundred points, likely related to the continuous fighting these past days.
After all, these were genuine life and death battles, any slight mistake could cost a life, so the experience naturally increased rapidly.
But the biggest progress was in these two major Lightweight Body Techniques.
They were about to break through together.
And once achieving Refined Skill, Zhao Ya’s martial arts, except for the recently learned Concealing Breath Technique, would all be at the highest level reachable at this stage.
Speaking of which, it should be noted that martial arts skills are generally divided into seven realms.
They are Novice Practice, Initial Glimpse, Entering the Hall, Minor Achievement, Mastery, Refined Skill, and Peak Performance.
The first few realms are basically the basics. One truly masters a martial art only upon reaching Mastery, and Refined Skill shows a deeper understanding, as for Peak Performance.
Zhao Ya vaguely felt this realm seemed linked to personal strength.
Even with second-rate martial arts like the Five Tiger Fist and Gale Saber Technique, reaching Peak Performance seemed to require becoming a Martial Artist of the Third Realm.