Chapter 628: Surviving Death
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Chen Ran was running as fast as his legs could carry him. All of a sudden, the sight of a red cloud appeared in the distance below. It was the creature that resembled a donkey or horse.
Chen Ran stopped his flight, but the red cloud monster was already on its way up to strike him at an alarming speed.
Chen Ran’s long grey hair all stood up and a windstream began to form around his body, circling him. He jumped ten meters into the air and dodged the incoming attack. He spun around like a pigeon in the air, jumped once more on the air itself, and landed ten meters away from his foe. Then he started running once more.
This entire scene played out over the course of a second. It was flawless, and it went without a hitch. The strength of the Chen family was impressive.
The creature did not return its attention to Chen Ran, but instead turned to look at Queen. As it exhaled, red clouds emerged from its mouth.
Streaks of a purple flame danced out of Queen’s eyes and her body was cloaked in the same wreaths of purple light. She evaded the monster and proceeded to run downhill.
The creature looked as if it recognized Queen. It traced her with its eyes and followed her on her descent without paying heed to anyone else.
Han Sen could do little but frown. Their worst-case scenario was coming to life. He did not know what Queen did to elicit the creature’s attention, but it was intently locked onto her, with no desire of chasing anyone else. The situation they were in had gone from bad to worse.
Another scream erupted from behind, signifying another headless evolver. With more bodies dropping and two super creatures now targeting them, their hope of survival was quickly diminishing.
All of a sudden, Han Sen saw Queen turn to flee in a different direction. Abandoning their route, it looked as if she desired to lead the creature away from the rest.
Han Sen was taken aback by her noble deed. But not wanting to leave her alone, Han Sen turned to follow.
The people behind Han Sen did not come with him, and they remained on their current route, being chased by the raven.
Han Sen ignored them and focused his attention on giving pursuit to the red-cloud donkey, as fast as he could.
The red-cloud donkey was a scary foe, but at least you could watch its attacks and dodge them if the need arose. The same could not be said for the raven. But with Han Sen and Queen now preoccupied with the donkey, it was unlikely the raven would follow them. It would instead opt for the greater party that was fleeing in a straight line down the mountain. By trading one foe for a lesser foe, Han Sen and Queen had a chance of making it out alive.
For Queen to come up with this idea in the midst of their current situation was impressive, and this ability to come up with such a strong strategy on the fly was an invaluable asset.
As Queen continued to run, so too did the red-cloud donkey. Han Sen was not far behind. It wasn’t long before they were a fair distance from Chen Ran and his people, who had now disappeared beyond a ridge on the trail they followed.
It was a grand relief for the raven not to continue following the other party. Clearly, it had allowed for the donkey to take care of Queen and Han Sen.
Han Sen was immeasurably happy that they had figured a way out of their predicament. The red-cloud donkey was clearly inferior in power to the raven. The predictability of its attacks and movements was particularly helpful. This was far better than dealing with the warping raven.
Queen used Heavenly Go to keep changing her direction as she fled, dodging the donkey over and over again. She may not have been able to fight back, but at least she wasn’t going to be killed.
As Han Sen followed, he witnessed the clouds of the donkey begin to rise and mask itself. Its shape now started to resemble a horse built from puffy clouds. All of a sudden, it jumped a whole ten meters and arrived behind Queen.
Its sudden acceleration disrupted the rhythm of Queen’s Heavenly Go. Although she was still able to avoid the donkey’s attacks, the gap that had been closed meant she could no longer escape from it. The situation looked bad.
Han Sen jumped on top of the red-cloud donkey. While airborne, he summoned his peacock crossbow and loaded a Z-class bolt from his quiver. With great speed, he fired three bolts at the donkey.
Three Z-class bolts became three flashes of explosive wrath, striking the donkey in separate spots. Without sparing time to look at the results, he leapt off the donkey and resumed his run.
The red-cloud donkey squealed as the three bolts hit, and it screamed when the fire ravaged its body. They may not have torn its skin, but they were powerful enough to damage it.
The red-cloud donkey expelled air from its nostrils in anger and turned around to chase after Han Sen. The red clouds were terrifying and in three steps, it had managed to get behind him.
Han Sen’s skills were not inferior to Queen’s, but they weren’t much stronger. Han Sen stopped running to handle the donkey.
With the time Han Sen had bought her, Queen managed to gain a decent lead. She turned around and shouted towards the donkey. When it heard her voice, its eyes turned red again and it resumed its pursuit of her.
Neither of the two could compete with the donkey, but with both of them drawing its attention back and forth, the donkey remained confused and distracted. It ran between them, growing increasingly angry. Further and further Han Sen and Queen went, with neither of them sustaining a single wound.
But no matter what they did, they couldn’t lose their tail. They could not harm it, either, for its skin was incredibly tough. Escaping it through speed alone was impossible.
"This isn’t going too well. If the raven killed the rest and decides to make its way over to us, we’re dead too!" Han Sen shouted to Queen.
"There is no other option," Queen answered, not displaying a single flicker of emotion.
"Do you remember the bones of the guardian hound? Creatures never dare approach it within a kilometer. Perhaps we should attempt to reach there?" Han Sen suggested.
"Sure," Queen answered without hesitation. She aligned her destination to the garden of bones they had visited on their ascent.
Although they were unsure whether or not it could repel super creatures, it was worth a try. Their options were fairly limited, after all. They merely hoped that they were able to reach their proposed sanctuary before the raven had finished picking off the rest.
And in regards to the red-cloud donkey, despite its anger and power, it was little more than a pest if they cooperated together.
Because they had departed the trail they took to ascend the mountain, they had to run around for a while to find where the bones lay.
Fortunately, the donkey continued to kick and scream the entire way, which frightened off any other creatures that might have dared to interrupt their baiting of the hellish mule. It saved them a lot of trouble.
And luckily, their worst fear did not materialize. By the time they reached the remains of the guardian hound, the raven remained out of sight.
But when Han Sen breached the kilometer radius of the bones, the donkey did not break off its pursuit. It still chased them with the same fervor it always had, which made Han Sen and Queen furrow their brows in unison.