Chapter 63 - 63: A Pencil

[So what do we do?]

[We still run. I just hope… it isn't our team that becomes the bait.]

Seeing what Jia Su typed, Yun Hao and the others looked around. Trying to prevent the heavy breaths that wished to burst out from them.

It was a morbid plan, but for now, it was the only option they could think of. Although it was already leaving a bad aftertaste in their mouth, they had to survive.

They waited and waited. And with each second, it made it harder for them not to make a sound. Either to prevent an urge to stretch a leg, to sneeze, or to just want to clear their throats. It did not help that the grey-claw moles were still in the vicinity even after they finished eating the other team.

But finally, after an hour, Yun Hao noticed something and very lightly patted the others, before pointing at one of the other teams. They all looked at the same time, only to see the group seemingly about to get into an argument.

Seeing this, team Champion all looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. And without even a minute after, a frustrated voice came out of one of the other member's mouths. And as soon as Yun Hao and the others heard that, they did not even wait to see what happened next as they all started running away.

The other teams who saw them also started running away. Due to this, the gurgling screams that were being echoed by the abandoned team were no longer enough to keep one of the grey-claws from hearing their steps.

The other grey-claw started rushing towards them-- towards Yun Hao's team.

Seeing this, Yun Hao's eyebrows started to furrow; but the calmness of his eye had never been clearer as he grabbed Sun Fang's phone. He quickly started fidgeting with it, before throwing it far away from them.

"Why did you do that!?"

"Just run."

And after a few seconds of saying that, Sun Fang's phone started ringing, causing the grey-claw to shift directions. Sun Fang was glad that they were now safe. But still, that was the latest model, so he could only cry in silence as he continued to run with all his might.

They continued to run for a full minute before Jia Su stopped to catch his breath.

"We should be okay now."

Haering Jia Su's loud breaths, the rest of the team all stopped as they too caught their breaths.

"We should be in neutral territory, they won't go here," Jia Su said before he started typing on his phone.

"Fuck…" Sun Fang breathed before a fire was ignited in his eyes and he looked at Yun Hao, "If any of us dies, it's on you! You dragged us to this stupid treasure hunt, you stupid fuck! And my phone!"

"Sun Fang!"

"Ah!" Sun Fang waved his hands in frustration as Jia Ning stepped in between them. Jia Ning was about to say something, but Yun Hao quickly shook his head.

"What he said is true," Yun Hao then let out a bitter sigh, "...Shit."

"Yun Hao, it's--"

"It's fine. I… I will get you out here alive."

"What? You think we're children? We already joined you and that means we're a fucking team whether I like it or not, Yun Hao. We're going to get out of this together."

Hearing Sun Fang's sharp words of encouragement, Yun Hao could only let out a smile, "Thank you, Sun Fang."

"Tch, now what? Why is it taking so long to rescue us?" Sun Fang snarled as he waved his hands.

"They should have. Their response times are usually fast to prevent as much loss of life as possible." Jia Su muttered.

"Then what are you saying?"

"We… are probably alone here."

"Ah, fuck," Yun Hao could not help but let out a long and deep breath as his eye wandered around. Now, he was really starting to think that the world is out to get him. It seems that wherever he goes, trouble always seems to find its way towards him.

Screams continued to echo inside the Rupture, almost piercing the ears of Yun Hao and the group as they continued to wait for a rescue.

"What do we do now?"

"I have already messaged our viewers, some of them are already calling their contacts at the Confederation," Jia Su muttered.

"Maybe the Confederation just doesn't care about us," Yun Hao muttered as he stood up, "That was the 12th scream we heard. People have been dying for more than an hour and they haven't even bothered checking on us. They do what they do best, abandon us… cultivators are trash."

"...You're one of them now, Yun Hao," Sun Fang briefly said before he turned around.

There was an awkward silence amongst the group after a while, only broken by Jia Ning's voice.

"How old are you, Yun Hao?"

The others could not help with the sudden question. But seeing as they had nothing else to do at the moment, Yun Hao let out a sigh and answered.

"I'm turning 19 in a couple of months."

"You're… only 19?" Sun Fang could not help but blink a couple of times, "The fuck. You're the youngest out of all of us? What gave you the right to be so tall?"

"My parents?" Yun Hao shrugged his shoulders before turning towards Jia Su, "Since we are alone here now, think of a way to get us out, Jia Su."

"Already on it," Jia Su nodded his head as he continued to fiddle with his phone. And as soon as he said that, a clicking noise started to approach them.

"..."

The chittering steps became louder and louder until the direction it was coming from was followed by the rustle of a bush near them.

"I thought you said the moles won't follow us here?" Yun Hao quickly tapped Jia Su.

"They won't."

"Ah, fuck," Yun Hao cursed as soon as he heard that, "This is something else, isn't it? Great."

"Fuck, Yun Hao. Are you the god of bad luck or something!?"

"Twice in one day, I agree with you," Yun Hao could not help but let out a groan as he said that, "I guess we really are dying here."

Jia Ning quickly summoned a ball of fire as she got into a stance. Her 13th meridian, Elemental. Cool, Yun Hao thought before the thing that was approaching them finally revealed itself.

It was an ant… except it was as big as Yun Hao.

"Jia Su?"

"Giant Ant, Level 2."

"What the… how is this even a Rupture for Mortal ranks like us!?"

"It's not. The Confederation made a mistake in evaluating the Rupture," Jia Su said, "We can handle it, it's weak on its own."

"Bro, you just said it was a Level 2!" Sun Fang continued to let out his dismay.

"Yes, it is weak individually."

"...Oh," Yun Hao quickly got what Jia Su meant by that, "This place really wants to kill us."

As soon as he said that, the bushes and trees around them started to rustle.

***

"Why isn't he answering his fucking phone!?"

The member of the Confederation from earlier could not help but feel annoyed as he snuck a glance from his tent at the cultivator-in-charge, who was still meditating and ignoring his ringing phone.

He then let out a sigh as the phone stopped ringing, but not even a few seconds after, a ringing once again entered his ears. He was about to lose it, but when he realized it was actually his phone ringing now, he quickly answered it.

"What!?"

[Are you handling the Rupture near Hengyang? The one for cultivators of the Mortal Realm?]

"Yeah, so what!?" The man was still clearly pissed as it showed in his voice.

[Your cultivators are in trouble. I've been watching this livestream for more than an hour now and groups of them already died, man.]

"An hour!? Then why did you just call now!?"

[I don't know, I thought something interesting would be happening. But they're just sitting there and talking.]

"You motherfucker!" The man quickly hung up the phone as he rushed to the cultivator-in-charge. But before he could even take a step out of the tent, he felt his vision fade as his body soon fell to the ground.

"Well, we can't have that."

A man then slowly appeared out of thin air behind him, holding a phone that was showing Yun Hao's channel on it. The man then stroked the neat and clean pencil mustache on his face, still looking at his phone with great interest,

"What are you going to do now, child?"