Chapter 365: Meeting a Mentalist Again
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Splash! A black rain came down at the bend! The black swarm crashed down right at the bend, the dense swarm of black insects giving Ye Chong goosebumps. He was glad for doing what he did. Those insects filled him with dread as he watched.
The buzzing sound was clear as day now. The fact that Ye Chong could still stay calm spoke volumes of his courage.
The insects were slow and dumb. That was Ye Chong’s assessment of the flying insects. However, anyone who found themselves surrounded by the insects would die horribly. To Ye Chong, these insects may not be as dangerous as the star-shaped insects yesterday, but without any alchemy chemicals or mechs to help him, he would have only one option - escape. This was not a foe he could fight with bare handed combat.
The bend was not too wide, and with two full leaf pouches of knockout agents, the effect was quite satisfying. Up until now, none of the black insects had flew past the bend yet.
To any observer, these two knockout agents were the perfect insect exterminators. The ground was covered with a thick layer of black insects. However, the insects were not exactly intelligent, and continued to fly straight into the bend.
The insect rain continued on for a full 10 minutes. An entire flying army was thus silently vanquished.
With the buzzing sound gone, the valley returned to its initial silence.
Ye Chong waited for another five minutes, making sure that no more black insects were coming from beyond the bend before coming out of his trough.
He studied the black insects closely. They were thumb-sized, with three pairs of wings on their backs. Each insect’s body was covered with a black, metal-like shell. Under its pair of red compound eyes was a sharp, hollow needle. At the end of its tail was a black, sharp needle. These two must be its weapons. The black insects looked like hornets, but had a few differences with them too. Ye Chong could not determine what they were. The universe was full of all sorts of creatures.
He dismissed the problem quickly, since it was truly a waste of time trying to figure them out.
The knockout agents were ineffective against Ye Chong. He gathered all the black insects together on the ground, which piled up like a mound. In the end, knockout agents were not lethal, and they had an effective time limit.
Ye Chong carefully took out his redsand dehydrator and sprinkled them sparingly on the black mound. He could hear small splattering sounds, and the mound shrunk immediately like a melting snow mountain, except that it was happening all too quickly.
Once he saw to the end of the black insects, Ye Chong returned his redsand dehydrator back to its pouch, satisfied with its work. He would not want any of those black insects to attack him later from behind. Who knew how long those two knockout agents were effective against these insects?
Even though Ye Chong had won, he did not let down his guard. Instead, his two dangerous encounters had led him to become more careful.
He advanced slowly. The land grew more treacherous, and often times he would have to climb to move forward.
Ye Chong was surprised to find there to be a small river in this place. The river zigzagged its way down from high above, bringing life to the valley. Years of water flow shaped the surface of the solid rocks, leaving big and small troughs here and there like a crisscrossing network. The river branched and converged along the troughs as it flowed down, and finally seeped through the creaks of the rocks into an underground river.
Perhaps it was due to the water, but Ye Chong found the occasional plant in this area, holding onto their lives as they sprouted from the cracks between the rocks.
The further up he went, the larger the river flow, and the more plants he saw.
Ye Chong estimated that he must be about two thousand meters above where he started. The ground was growing level, and he could see small islands of vegetation here. The plant looked healthy, unlike the dead atmosphere in the valley. Here, the temperature was warm enough, and the weather suitable for life. Ye Chong was surprised to see animals here too, scampering off as he made his way through. The only thing that did not fit into the picture was Ye Chong himself. He looked alerted, stepping lightly in preparation, the wooden spear in hand.
Ye Chong abruptly halted. His eyes lit up, and his pulse raced.
He had found signs of human life! There, on the soft grassy plain was the trace of human footsteps. Ye Chong crouched down to have a closer look. Judging from the freshly broken blades of the grass, this person must have been here not too long ago.
Nonetheless, Ye Chong did not get overexcited. That would only get him in danger. His vigilance did its work once again, and he quickly calmed down. He knew nothing about this person, about whether he would be received with friendliness or hostility. Staying on his guard would maximize his chances of survival.
Ye Chong followed the trail.
"Who is it?" A voice abruptly sounded by Ye Chong’s ear. He felt a sudden dizziness. Ye Chong was surprised, but he reacted immediately, rolling to the side into a bush. When he reached a small tree, he suddenly leapt up and landed on the tree. Any combat expert would be amazed by his feat.
His every movement was flawless. His reaction time was amazing, and his hiding location was excellent. From above the tree, he could watch everything around him while staying hidden behind the leaves.
Logically, Ye Chong should have had the upper hand right away.
However, he was surprised to find things not as simple as they seemed to be.
"Humph!" The voice humped coldly out of nowhere.
His battle instinct, honed by long experiences in actual combat, warned him of extreme danger! Right after the voice, he felt something binding his body when in fact, there was nothing around him.
The woman in white training garb came to mind - Rui Bing! That was his first thought, which was weird! However, he did not have time to think about it. If the voice was not male, he would have thought it was Rui Bing. He was very familiar with this form of attack, having sparred frequently with Rui Bing.
He was surprised, but still composed.
Ye Chong’s eyes grew focused, and his vision began to fill up with many blue lines, swimming around like fishes.
The blues lines were changing drastically, and Ye Chong’s vision was filled with the sight of them. He did not panic, however. This was familiar to him.
As expected, the ever-changing blue lines suddenly undergone a drastic change, and began to converge onto a spot. His vision was now all cleared up except for a blue dot.
Unlike Rui Bing’s, this blue dot was a lot fainter.
Ye Chong’s eyes lit up. The wooden spear in his hand came to life. A black figure shot its way across the air.
The wooden spear met its target, hitting the blue spot. From the feel of his hand, Ye Chong felt that he had stabbed through something, but he was surprised to find the binding on him still there! Based on his experience fighting Rui Bing, he could always make it go away once he attacked the blue dot.
However, that strong feeling of restriction around Ye Chong’s body persisted.
"Huh?" The man hidden in the shadows sounded surprised.
Ye Chong did not panic because of this unexpected outcome. His arm muscles contracted abruptly, and the wooden spear began to vibrate at high frequency. The ironwood was strong, and when the spear vibrated, it became a terribly powerful weapon. Snap! A soft sound was heard. Ye Chong felt his body go loose, and the restraint was gone.
Ye Chong moved without hesitation, his body now a blur. Without knowing his enemy’s position, the best option would be to move fast to prevent being targeted, and try to locate his enemy.
"Jie expert!" The hidden assaulter’s voice was full of surprise, and even a little joy.
Ye Chong turned. The man had exposed his location through his voice.
Ye Chong’s explosive power propelled him forward like an arrow!
A mentalist!
When Ye Chong had his first look of the attacker, his mind immediately supplied a name for him. Mentalists were a mysterious bunch, and he had not seen one for a long while. The last time was in the Orbits.
Mentalists were easy to recognize. They always wore a light green robe, and dressed plainly. More importantly, they had a unique aura about them, and Ye Chong could easily identify them. Be it Jia Zhuo or Mr Yin, both had left a deep impression in Ye Chong.
Mu or Shang had even interrogated Mr Yin for a lot of information about mentalist training, but it was a pity that, unlike with other skills, Ye Chong had absolutely no talent for it. He had kept practicing meditation to no avail. If meditation was not useful for combat, Ye Chong would have abandoned it a long time ago.
This mentalist had long white hair that reached down smoothly all the way to his waist. His smooth face made him look incredibly young. Only the crow’s feet showed his true age. He had a mature, weather-worn face and a refreshing smile. Donning light green clothing, the white-haired man stood out easily. Despite his heavily discolored clothing with many tears to match, he still looked like a composed gentleman.
"What a young Jie expert!" The white-haired man did not sound hostile, and even said this with a smile.
Ye Chong did not reply. He was estimating the distance between tem. If he launched himself forward, what were the odds of him killing the man in one blow? Mentalists were too mysterious, and even Mu or Shang did not know much about them.
More importantly, this white-haired mentalist was very strong!