CH 88

Chapter 88: Discovered by a Lone Rhino Beast

Their teammates were being chased by three or four Rhino Beasts. But with the arrival of their other teammates and the additional reinforcements that arrived later, they had a total of seven or eight people, which should be sufficient to deal with three or four Rhino Beasts.

On the other side, the teammates who were acting as bait hoped that their counterparts could hold on a bit longer. Once this side was resolved, they planned to lure away and eliminate a few more Rhino Beasts from the other side, thus reducing their pressure.

Meanwhile, what was the situation with Xiao Qingyang and his group? 

Originally, Lin Weiran's team was supposed to be the attacking side, but due to the rapidly changing circumstances, there were fewer Rhino Beasts drawn away by the bait team.

Therefore, Lin Weiran made a decisive move and switched the roles of the attacking team and the bait team. He let the bait team handle the Rhino Beasts, while their team kept the remaining Rhino Beasts on their tails, circling around nearby and waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

The superhumans and mecha warriors sent to assist the bait team informed them of the captain's temporary change in strategy and worked together to eliminate the Rhino Beasts that were chasing them.

After dealing with them, some of the team members wanted to confirm the safety of Xiao Qingyang and the others, while others believed that time was of the essence and they needed to hurry to the captain's location for reinforcements; otherwise, the danger would increase.

Tempers flared, and there were disagreements between the two groups.

"Alright, stop arguing. I'll go search for Qingyang and the others, and you go find the captain," Liu Jiaming volunteered.

Liu Jiaming's suggestion immediately gained the agreement of both groups. It was a critical time, and even if there were conflicts, no one would be foolish enough to hold grudges at such a moment.

Thus, after Liu Jiaming left the main group, the remaining people wasted no time and ran towards the direction where the captain was located.

Behind Lin Weiran's team, there were still eight or nine Rhino Beasts chasing them relentlessly, and their speed showed no signs of decreasing. Fortunately, they were all superhumans or mecha academy students who underwent daily training, allowing them to keep up with the Rhino Beasts in terms of speed. Otherwise, they would only end up being trampled by the Rhino Beasts.

However, this situation couldn't be sustained for long. Aside from the superhumans exhausting their physical stamina, even the energy of the mechas used by the students from the Mecha Academy had its limits. Once it was depleted, the danger level would surpass that of the superhumans.

Hence, it was crucial to quickly eliminate these Rhino Beasts.

Fortunately, the bait team quickly returned. They taunted and provoked the Rhino Beasts pursuing Lin Weiran's team, launching attacks to divert their attention and lure some of them away, thereby reducing the pressure on Lin Weiran's team.

Luckily, the previous bait team successfully lured away five Rhino Beasts, leaving only four for Lin Weiran's team. The pressure was immediately reduced.

"You don't need to engage them. Just keep them hanging. We'll deal with the ones here first and then meet up with you," Lin Weiran quickly contacted the members of the previous bait team and said.

Since the previous bait team had recently fought a batch of Rhino Beasts and suffered more losses than Lin Weiran's team, it was decided that they would take on the battle this time to conserve the strength of the bait team. After all, there were still more than ten days left in the training expedition.

As a result, the previous bait team truly became the bait team, simply leading the Rhino Beasts along.

They couldn't stray too far from Lin Weiran's team to avoid taking the wrong path later. The bait team and the group of Rhino Beasts circled nearby but didn't allow the Rhino Beasts to return to where Lin Weiran's team was.

However, as the bait team continued to circle, they somehow ended up in the hiding place of Xiao Qingyang and the others.

At this moment, Liu Jiaming had also found Xiao Qingyang and the others. After confirming their safety, he was planning to find his teammates when he discovered that they were already coming towards him, with several Rhino Beasts trailing behind.

"Stay hidden here, and whatever happens, don't come down. We'll come to get you once we've dealt with those Rhino Beasts," Liu Jiaming advised.

As long as they didn't have the misfortune of encountering people from other teams, Xiao Qingyang and the others would be safe for the time being.

"We will take care of ourselves, don't worry," Xiao Qingyang and the others replied.

Liu Jiaming didn't stay any longer. He needed to notify his teammates to change direction before they arrived. Otherwise, these Rhino Beasts might notice Xiao Qingyang and the others.

Liu Jiaming quickly reached the bait team and one of them anxiously asked, "How are Qingyang and the others?"

"They're fine and safe now. They are just ahead, but we need to take a detour; otherwise, the Rhino Beasts might notice them," Liu Jiaming briefly explained Xiao Qingyang's situation to everyone.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately changed their direction and ran in the opposite direction of where Xiao Qingyang and the others were. The Rhino Beasts behind them also followed suit.

However, no one noticed that the five Rhino Beasts that were chasing them had, at some point, become four. The small Rhino Beast that was running at the back had disappeared without a trace.

As the sound of their running grew fainter, Su Zihan and the others, who were currently sitting quietly on the tree, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

When they heard the commotion earlier, they thought they were about to be discovered by the Rhino Beasts.

Although they were sitting on trees several tens of meters above the ground, Rhino Beasts were not creatures that could climb trees. However, they couldn't withstand the great strength of the Rhino Beasts. Moreover, their horns were sharp. If several of them exerted force together and rammed into the trees, it was uncertain whether the trees could withstand it.

Fortunately, the Rhino Beasts had been lured away to another location, so they were temporarily safe.

However, before they could fully relax, the tree where Xiao Qingyang and the others were sitting shook violently, and Su Zihan, sitting on it, almost didn't notice that she was about to fall.

"What's going on? Is there an earthquake?" Su Zihan tightly held onto the tree trunk in front of her, panic-stricken, and asked.

"No, it's a lone Rhino Beast." Xiao Qingyang glanced downward and saw a Rhino Beast fiercely ramming the tree they were on. It had obviously detected their presence.

"What? A Rhino Beast?!" Su Zihan grew even more panicked upon hearing this and immediately looked down, indeed seeing a Rhino Beast continuously hitting the tree they were on.

The trembling of the tree made Su Zihan's heart tremble as well, almost leaping out of her chest from fright.

"Weren't the Rhino Beasts all gone just now? Why is there still one here?" Su Zihan was on the verge of collapse.

"It must have sensed us when it passed by just now," Xiao Qingyang speculated.

He kept his eyes on the Rhino Beast below and the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed. After a while, he finally remembered. Wasn't this the Rhino Beast they discovered alone and intended to hunt down but ended up encountering the returning Rhino herd, resulting in them being chased by the herd?

It was all because of its mischievousness and being alone that all this had happened. Yet, instead of reflecting and repenting, it had once again ended up alone. Could it be certain that its companions would come to its rescue again?

Heh, let's see if it still has such good luck this time. Xiao Qingyang gritted his teeth inwardly and grew angrier the more he looked at the Rhino Beast.

If not for this willful Rhino Beast, they wouldn't have ended up in their current predicament, running around in the forest.

They had arrived when it was already getting dark, and the visibility had become increasingly low. However, fortunately, as cultivators, Xiao Qingyang and other superhumans had night vision capabilities, and the mechanized warriors had their mechas, so they were not afraid. That's why they could persist until now.

Otherwise, just the aspect of fighting in the darkness would have been enough to give them a hard time.

However, there were advantages to the dark night. Regarding night vision, Gu Xiaotian and Su Zihan were not very proficient. They could still see the appearance of the Rhino Beasts for now, but once it got completely dark, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

After recognizing the appearance of this Rhino Beast, Xiao Qingyang had no intention of letting it go. It was a perfect opportunity to test his own strength.

Although he hadn't fully recovered his cultivation from his previous life, after months of continuous training, he had stored some magical power and spiritual energy. Moreover, the planet they were on had spiritual energy that could be replenished at any time, giving him more confidence in dealing with the Rhino Beast.

However, in order to avoid arousing suspicion from Su Zihan and Gu Xiaotian, Xiao Qingyang decided to wait until it got darker before he started beating up this mischievous Rhino Beast.

"Moo!" The Rhino Beast had been ramming the tree for a while, but it couldn't knock down its prey. It became so frustrated that it couldn't help but raise its head and roar angrily at the creatures above, trying to scare them off.

Su Zihan and Gu Xiaotian were indeed frightened by the Rhino Beast. Although they knew that the Rhino Beast couldn't climb up, they still felt fear.

"Don't worry, I'm here. Everything will be fine," Xiao Qingyang stood in front of the two of them, directly meeting the gaze of the Rhino Beast without any fear.

Instead, after staring at Xiao Qingyang for a while, the Rhino Beast's eyes showed a human-like confusion. Then it shifted its gaze away and continued its tree-bashing mission.

As the sky grew darker and darkness enveloped them, Su Zihan and Gu Xiaotian's fear deepened. They could barely see anything, and the darkness intensified their anxiety.

"Qingyang, what should we do now?" Su Zihan asked, her voice trembling.

"Don't worry, hold onto the tree tightly and don't let yourselves be knocked down. I'll deal with that Rhino Beast," Xiao Qingyang said to them when he felt the time was right.

At first, Su Zihan and Gu Xiaotian didn't immediately understand the meaning of "Xiao Qingyang dealing with the Rhino Beast," but by the time they realized it, Xiao Qingyang had already jumped down from the tree.

Gu Xiaotian and Su Zihan were immediately startled and hurriedly shouted, "Qingyang, what are you doing? Come up quickly, it's dangerous down there."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Just don't come down," Xiao Qingyang's voice came from below the tree. The tree, which had been trembling from the constant impacts, finally became calm.

However, Su Zihan and Gu Xiaotian didn't feel relieved; instead, they became even more nervous and worried. Unfortunately, in the darkness, they couldn't see anything and could only hear some movements.