When everyone helped each other to the opposite bank, everyone was completely soaked and exhausted. Facing the dense swarm of marching ants on the opposite bank of the river, Ye Shikai felt as if he had narrowly escaped death. Humans always position themselves at the top of all beings, trying to conquer nature, but in reality, they appear powerless and insignificant before nature, even cultivators like Ye Shikai.
"Huff, huff." Ye Shikai gasped heavily. It seems that the opposite shore is the activity range of the marching ants. As long as they don’t cross the river, they are safe. But on the other hand, once they cross the river, they would encounter these terrifying little assassins again.
"Boss, those brothers are not going to make it." At that moment, Ye Shikai heard someone shouting, and turning around, he saw that the three Hidden Guards from before had faces turning black, their bodies covered with bite marks, and the wounds were also blackened—a symptom of poisoning.
"Hold on, you won’t die." Ye Shikai rushed over, channeling his Inner Strength into their bodies, maintaining their heart meridians. The Inner Strength flowed through their meridians, but Ye Shikai found that the toxin had already invaded the pathways and would soon reach the heart.
"Zi Yun, bring the medicine quickly." Ye Shikai shouted loudly. Zi Yun hurried over and took out a Shennong Pill from the medicine bottle, just about to hand it over when one of the critically injured Hidden Guards pushed it away.
"Boss, don’t waste it... on me, I... am going to die." The Hidden Guard’s voice was as thin as a thread, heavily injured and poisoned. If he was not a cultivator, he might have already died.
"You won’t die, you won’t." Ye Shikai roared loudly, about to feed the Shennong Pill to the man, but a drooping hand fell onto his leg— he had already died...
Ye Shikai felt a tightness in his heart, watching this Hidden Guard die right in front of him, a wave of sorrow surged in his heart.
"Feed the medicine to the others." Ye Shikai shouted, and everyone moved to quickly feed the Shennong Pills to the remaining two, and Ji Qian used the energy of her Magic Wand to heal their injuries, tackling it both internally and externally. All that was left now was rest.
..........................................
"Are you still upset about what happened earlier?" By the campfire, as Ye Shikai was silently lost in thought, a woman’s voice sounded from behind him. Turning, Ji Qian dusted herself off before sitting next to Ye Shikai.
"How are those two doing?" Several minutes later, Ye Shikai finally spoke, but he did not answer Ji Qian’s question.
"Zi Yun’s medicine is very good, they are recovering quickly," Ji Qian said with a smile.
"They were with me fighting for the empire." Ye Shikai pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, silently lit it, and began smoking. Ji Qian knew he only smoked when he was troubled—the taste of nicotine allowed him momentarily to forget the sorrows.
"I didn’t want him to die so ignobly." Ye Shikai was very heartbroken, each Hidden Guard was precious to him. Each operation that resulted in casualties deeply upset him, but this time the death of a Hidden Guard to a group of ants not only made him sad but also angry.
"The creatures in this rainforest seem to all be highly poisonous." Ji Qian suddenly said, seeming a bit off-topic. From the food chain perspective, when a higher-level organism preys on a lower one, toxins accumulate. More critically, a higher-level organism needs to consume a lot of lower-level organisms, in other words, the higher up in the food chain, the more toxins in the body, and marching ants are even more terrifying, from insects and plants to cheetahs and snakes, they devour everything, acting like scavengers.
"What do you mean by that?" Ye Shikai curiously asked.
"In this rainforest, toxins are more dangerous compared to wild beasts. Zi Yun’s Shennong Pills are rare, and presently she has only about a dozen," Ji Qian said lightly.
"What does it mean, are human lives not worth a few pills?" Ye Shikai responded angrily after hearing this. He valued loyalty most, especially when it came to human lives. Ji Qian’s words had hit a sore spot.
"You are now the leader, you should consider minimizing the losses for the entire team," Ji Qian stared at Ye Shikai seriously, her tone also containing a trace of anger. "Shennong Pills are rare. If every poisoned Hidden Guard consumes them, and then if you get poisoned, what will we use to save you?"
"I never thought my life was more noble than theirs, everyone is born equal. Though it is not realized in society, at least in Netherworld Palace, there has never been this distinction between whose life is precious and whose is cheap," Ye Shikai suddenly stood up, yelling loudly at Ji Qian.
"But once you die, what about your brothers? Do you think they will be fine?" Ji Qian also stood up arguing back, "Without a leader, your brothers will also be in trouble. This approach just minimizes the team’s losses."
"In any case, I can’t just watch them die before me." Ye Shikai shouted loudly, perhaps a bit too loudly, because the people nearby also heard and turned to look towards the two.
"What are you looking at? Go back to sleep," Ye Shikai shouted, and the people immediately disappeared from the scene.
"I can understand you, but if you die, what’s the point of Netherworld Palace existing, can it still be called Netherworld Palace without the Netherworld King?" Ji Qian seemed agitated too, usually calm, but now she was arguing with Ye Shikai.
"If I just watch them die, then today there wouldn’t even be a Netherworld Palace, no existence, what’s the point..." Ye Shikai finished speaking and turned to leave.
....................................
Yanjing, Wang Family.
"Ye Shikai has already left Yanjing, and Su Qingyu is still unconscious." Wang Qian, dressed in pajamas, lay on her bed, holding a glass of red wine, and as she muttered to herself, she even chuckled. She slowly picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Su Qingyu, I am about to eliminate her, I wonder if the payment from sister can arrive?" Wang Qian smiled confidently.
"That’s fortunate. In that case, I will wait for your payment, sister, and also please wait for my good news." Wang Qian slowly hung up the phone, the corners of her mouth slightly curving up, and then dialed another number.
"Boss Xing, how ready are you for your action?" Opposite to the previous call, Wang Qian’s smile suddenly disappeared, her face suddenly cold as if it could frost.
"Heh, in that case, I will definitely let the clan elders assist you, don’t worry, after the success, ten billion will be transfered to you as agreed."