Dragon's Origin

Chapter 69: The Terrifying Deathlands 14

Tang Ao saw Song Ming fall off the cliff and understood why Song Ming had rushed off the cliff, disregarding his life, but he could only watch helplessly.

Wang Sheng had already swung across more than half the distance. Song Ming’s screams continued, but Tang Ao’s heart grew colder with each scream.

He couldn't understand many things. Why could Wang Sheng foresee danger in the Deathlands? Why did Wang Sheng seem to know in advance about the cliff and prepare a rope? Why did Wang Sheng know it would be difficult to find food and water and specially prepare so much? Many things didn't make sense.

Suddenly, a thought flashed into his mind. Could it be that Wang Sheng was originally from the Deathlands? Otherwise, why would he be so familiar with it?

In the moment of his contemplation, Wang Sheng had already landed steadily on the opposite cliff, and Song Ming’s screams finally came to an end. Bang, a heavy thud came from the bottom of the cliff, and then there was no more sound.

Wang Sheng and Tang Ao, along with the other three, looked down in unison. Unfortunately, it was just a pile of jungle below. Song Ming’s figure had disappeared into the trees, and nothing could be seen. But at this height, Tang Ao no longer held any illusions.

With a flick of his hand, the high-polymer thread attached to the arrow's tail automatically detached and, under the action of the spring inside Wang Sheng's watch, retracted like a measuring tape. From beginning to end, Tang Ao and the other three did not see what kind of rope Wang Sheng used, only that the arrow was still trembling.

Wang Sheng left. He only glanced over here once and then never looked back, disappearing directly behind the opposite cliff. Only when Wang Sheng's figure was no longer visible did Tang Ao start ranting to himself in a frenzy.

"What to do? What to do?" Tang Ao kept scratching his hair, his face twisted, pacing around restlessly, his fierce gaze occasionally darting to the other three survivors.

The three felt a chill from Tang Ao's gaze and dared not make any excessive moves to provoke him. In fact, the three of them were also terrified.

All the major families had dispatched Fifth Stage experts this time, totaling over two hundred to three hundred people, all to hunt down Wang Sheng alone.

But unexpectedly, more than a hundred were blown to pieces in the valley, including more than a dozen Fifth Stage experts. The remaining ones who managed to enter the Deathlands were slapped to death by Six-Star Earth-Splitting Bears, devoured by man-eating ants, several more died at the man-eating fish, seven were left behind with diarrhea, and now, Song Ming, one of the only two remaining Fifth Stage experts, had fallen off a cliff.

All of this was done by that insignificant kid, at most a First Stage, in front of them. But what did he do? He didn't even kill anyone, just guided the situation, and those who followed suffered misfortune. Was this guy even human?

If they had known, they wouldn't have followed him in! This was the unknown number of times this thought had crossed their minds. But they could only sigh in their hearts, who could say it? Who would dare to say it? If Tang Ao was about to collapse like this and they said it, wouldn't they be courting death?

"I have a way to get down." One of the experts, probably frightened by Tang Ao's near-madness, spoke timidly, without the dignity of a Fourth Stage expert.

"What way?" Tang Ao suddenly stopped his frenzy, glared, and looked at the expert who spoke. The other two also perked up and looked over.

"We don't have ropes, but we can use those vines." The expert pointed to the vines that were almost everywhere in the jungle behind them and said, "Find some that are strong enough to weave together, and it won't be difficult to get down."

He didn't say half of what he was thinking. Getting down was indeed not difficult, but getting back up to the other side would not be so easy. But at this time, Tang Ao's eyes were red, so it was better not to say some things easily, to avoid misfortune.

"Get down first!" It must be said that Tang Ao was able to enter the Fifth Stage because his mental state was absolutely stable enough. He had been feeling sorry for Song Ming's death, but now that he had a solution, he immediately calmed down. He also thought of what his companion hadn't said: "We'll find a way to get up when we get down."

None of the four dared to delay. They knew very well that if they were slower here, Wang Sheng would go further, and their lives would be even less secure. The four rushed into the jungle, tested the strength of the vines, and then began to chop them down frantically, more efficiently than professional lumberjacks.

Soon, the four had enough vines and connected them into a long rope, which they fixed to a sturdy tree at one end and threw down the cliff at the other. In fact, the length was still a dozen meters short, but they didn't care. Anyway, they could jump down from a dozen meters without getting hurt, so they wouldn't waste time seeking stability.

Following the vines, the four climbed down the cliff one after another. All of them were experts and very agile. Soon they reached the bottom of the vines. Tang Ao was the first, and he jumped down as soon as he let go, then ran to the other side to see if there was a way to get up.

The other three followed suit, jumping down one by one, and were about to rush over with Tang Ao, but they hadn't run a few steps before they saw Tang Ao standing still.

Following Tang Ao's gaze, the three saw Song Ming's body.

Song Ming was unlucky. The place he fell not only had no soft buffer, but also had several tree stumps that had been broken by some kind of monster, with sharp stubble pointing towards the sky. Song Ming happened to fall on one of the stubble, and the tree stump directly pierced Song Ming's chest, making his death a gruesome sight.

"Go!" Tang Ao only felt sad for a while, then had to brace himself and order everyone to move forward. He was now the backbone of everyone and could not show too much weakness.

The group did not delay and quickly rushed to the bottom of the opposite cliff, then the four divided into two directions, each searching a section, to see if they could find a suitable place to go up.

Without Tang Ao's reminder, everyone knew to hurry. The tree stump stubble were still very new, indicating that they had been broken by some kind of monster recently. If they couldn't find a way up, they could only be monster food at the bottom of the cliff.

Thank heavens, perhaps there is always a way out. Just when everyone was about to despair, one of the experts suddenly discovered a narrow crack in the mountain that led directly to the top of the cliff. Although the crack was very narrow, it was more than enough for one person to enter.

The four immediately gathered here, and then, along the narrow crack, they propped themselves up to the top of the cliff little by little with their hands and feet. When Tang Ao reached the top of the cliff from the narrow crack, he actually had a feeling of escaping death, a happiness that almost brought tears to his eyes.