Xiao Yu realized that Cang Hai was an interesting person—reckless when he should be reckless and more cautious than anyone else when he should be cautious.
It seemed like Cang Hai casually scouted the path, but in reality, the muscles in his spine were tense; once a ferocious foreign beast rushed out, he would turn and run with Xiao Yu. The noise made by the longsword scabbard was also precisely meant to lure the snake out of the hole.
For a long time, there was no sign of a foreign beast appearing in the cave.
Xiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Cang Hai speak, “Let’s rest here for now; find a place to put this thing.”
He gave Xiao Yu a torch, and then his long sword was unsheathed. Several sparks suddenly burst out and landed at the top of the torch, igniting it.
Wow, it could still be like this?
Xiao Yu followed Cang Hai’s instructions and stuck the torch on the wall of the cave, and all of a sudden the fire light flared up, illuminating the entire cave.
He also discovered the skeletons piled up in the corner of the wall as a result.
Xiao Yu didn’t dare to be slow; he told Cang Hai about the skeletons and also described the shape of the skeletons in detail.
Cang Hai frowned slightly. “This place isn’t suitable to stay for a long time; this cave may be the territory of a strange beast; as to why we haven’t encountered it, it may be that it’s out foraging for food.”
Xiao Yu took the initiative to climb onto Cang Hai’s shoulder and say, “It’s not too late; let’s hurry and escape.”
Cang Hai had just taken a step when he heard the roar of the beast from outside the cave entrance: “It’s too late.”
The huge body of the beast almost blocked the cave entrance. Xiao Yu counted six of them, all lions of different shapes and sizes. Their manes were snow-like white, and their skin had black markings. It wasn’t known if all the lions in this batch were males or if there wasn’t much difference between the male and female lions in terms of their appearance, and they maintained a high degree of consistency in terms of their morphology.
“It’s a Grimm Berserker Lion,” Cang Hai made a judgment from Xiao Yu’s description: “I only have the certainty to deal with one Grimm Berserker Lion; at best, I can fight three Grimm Berserker Lions to a draw; any more than that, and I can’t bear it.”
Xiao Yu asked him, “What about escaping? What percentage of certainty do you have?”
Cang Hai smiled bitterly and said, “No more than 30%.”
“Plus, what about me?” Xiao Yu touched the energy gu*n on his waist and said, “There are still three grids of energy left in the energy gu*n. How do you want to use it? You can arrange it.”
“No,” Cang Hai, however, refused. “I can’t arrange it; I have to be fully focused in this battle; I can’t be distracted by judging the timing of the energy g*un’s use. Xiao Yu, you have to be the one to determine when to fire the energy.”
What? He had to do it?
Xiao Yu desperately shook his head. He didn’t understand these beasts at all; he couldn’t do it!
Cang Hai didn’t give him a chance to refuse. “I’m starting.”
The Grimm Berserker Lion had rushed in front of Cang Hai and Xiao Yu at this moment; its sharp giant claws swung towards them, and the sound of it breaking through the air echoed one after another. It was also accompanied by the sound of violent winds, so it could be imagined how powerful the force of this claw was.
Cang Hai didn’t hesitate to carry Xiao Yu on his back and flee outward along the root of the wall. He slightly bent his body and narrowly avoided the attack of the lion.
The wall on his side suffered; the beast left deep scratches on the wall with its huge claws. If it had touched him, even if he didn’t die, a layer of his skin would have been sliced off.
Xiao Yu didn’t dare to be slow. Seeing that another Grimm Lion’s giant claws were about to crush them, Xiao Yu didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger behind him.
The energy beam without energy storage was superior to instant firing, and although the driving force it brought was slight, it was enough to help Cang Hai avoid this attack.
“Well done!” Cang Hai didn’t mince his words of praise; he was ready to take that hard hit just now, but he didn’t expect Xiao Yu to step in and instantly dissolve his crisis.
Xiao Yu’s confidence skyrocketed when he saw that he had really helped.
Under the effect of his mental energy, he was able to see the trajectory of the attack of the Grimm Berserker Lion, which, together with his knowledge of Cang Hai, had resulted in the just-right energy beam just now.
In the blink of an eye, they were only half the distance from the cave entrance. Once they left the narrow cave, the Grimm Lions would have to keep up with their speed to attack them.
When the Grimm Berserkers Lions also realized this, the frequency of their attacks skyrocketed, and the good cave was clawed by them with flying sand everywhere.
Cang Hai flew up and down in the midst of this intensive attack, as if he were an elf left behind on earth, elegant and calm.
But only he himself knew how treacherous the process was; several times he was almost attacked by the giant claws. It was all thanks to the reaction force brought about by Xiao Yu’s energy beam, which helped him accelerate explosively.
Xiao Yu glanced at the energy slot; only two grids were left.
Every next use of the energy beam had to be carefully calculated to use the energy on the blade.
So when the giant claw fell once again, Xiao Yu used his back to defiantly block the attack.
Cang Hai initially thought that this sudden thrust was the result of Xiao Yu firing his stored energy cannon, and he hurriedly took advantage of the situation to take another large step towards the cave entrance.
It wasn’t until he heard a muffled grunt that he realized that Xiao Yu had blocked the blow for him in order to conserve energy.
“You fool!” Cang Hai was furious. “Is energy or life important?”
Xiao Yu wiped away the bloo*d that spilled from the corner of his mouth.
The scratches on his back were hot and painful, but he was unbelievably happy.
He had gambled correctly, and when the mental energy feedback came back that this claw wasn’t enough to be fatal, he decided to block it.
It was just a small price to pay; it would save an energy beam and help them move forward; it wasn’t a loss in any way.
How could Cang Hai not know the little mermaid’s good intentions? It was just that this kind of life-fighting thought shouldn’t be used.
Who dared to guarantee that their mental energy would be accurate? If there was a deviation and it hurt the vitals, it would be too late to regret it.
When they got out, he would educate Xiao Yu properly; he couldn’t let him fool around anymore.
After this advance, the rhythm of the Lions was disrupted, and it was too late to chase after them and attack again.
As soon as Cang Hai exited the cave, he searched for cover to conceal his form until he confirmed that the Grimm Berserker Lions wouldn’t catch up before putting Xiao Yu down and checking his injuries.
Xiao Yu still wanted to move but was stunned by Cang Hai’s cold and stern tone. “Lie still.”
He was about to say that he would do it himself, but the wound was on his back; he couldn’t scan the injury behind him with the healing instrument alone, so he had to keep his mouth shut.
He felt as if Cang Hai was angry, but had no proof. In any case, there was nothing wrong with being obedient now. Cang Hai tore open the bl*ood-soaked fabric, revealing the hideous wound inside, and even the battle-hardened Cang Hai couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cool air.
“Is it worth it to be injured like this?” He didn’t delay for a moment and immediately treated Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu’s face was pressed against the snow, and the cold touch had alleviated most of his pain.
Hearing Cang Hai ask him, he replied without hesitation, “Of course it’s worth it.”
He was usually a burden, but this time, he had helped Cang Hai a great deal, and he bet that even if he had wasted an energy beam just now, it would have been far less effective.
Cang Hai couldn’t bear to lay a hand on Xiao Yu’s wounds, and his hands itched from anger, so he had no choice but to slap Xiao Yu’s ass. “Worth it, my ass! Do you think you are particularly great? Yes, how great you are. In order to save a little bit of energy, you would rather be seriously injured. You were honorably injured, but what about me? Did you not consider my feelings?”
He was angry, but more than that, he was angry at himself.
In vain, he had traveled across the world and pretended to be extraordinary, yet he couldn’t even protect a small mermaid well.
Xiao Yu blankly turned his head to look at Cang Hai, not understanding how the always stable and calm Cang Hai was suddenly so angry.
He thought left and right before barely coming up with an answer: “Are you blaming me for stealing your thunder?”
Cang Hai: “……”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry for a while; his anger was dispersed for the most part by Xiao Yu’s sentence.
Sighing helplessly, he slowly shook his head. “I don’t blame you; it’s all my fault.” It’s me who didn’t protect you.
Xiao Yu didn’t understand how it had become Cang Hai’s fault again.
He intentionally wanted to ask what was going on, but Cang Hai had a look of not wanting to say more. He was afraid of making Cang Hai angry, so he swallowed his words.
There was a slight itch coming from his back, and he thought that the wound was starting to close up under the effect of the healing instrument.
Xiao Yu kind of wanted to scratch it; his hand was only just behind his back when Cang Hai caught him.
Cang Hai firmly clasped his hand: ”Your injury is still healing; don’t move around. If it gets infected, it won’t be cured by the healing instrument.”
The reasoning was clear to him, but he just couldn’t help but want to scratch.
“Brother Hai, I’m itching. Why don’t you help me scratch it?”
Cang Hai hesitated for a moment.
“Okay.” He fished out a sterile cotton swab from his space ring and dipped it in some water to apply it to Xiao Yu’s back.
The cotton swab was soon dyed red with blo*od, and the air was filled with a jasmine scent, if nothing else, carrying a mesmerizing aura.
Cang Hai quickly realized that this was Xiao Yu’s pheromone; after the high fever period, the little mermaid, even if he was an adult, had completely completed its differentiation and turned into a mermaid Omega.
The pheromone contained in Xiao Yu’s blo*od had already reached a very high concentration; as long as he was willing, he could always make an Alpha matched with him fall into a frenzy.
This wasn’t good news; if Xiao Yu couldn’t keep his pheromones under control, he would have no choice but to keep his distance from Xiao Yu to avoid something that they would both regret.
But the truth was, there was no possibility of them keeping their distance at all.
They ate, lived, and slept together.
Xiao Yu had no legs and could only move when he was on his back, and he also needed Xiao Yu to guide him in the right direction and identify the beasts. They needed each other; there was no relationship closer than theirs.
Xiao Yu was dissatisfied with Cang Hai’s spaced-out touch. “You call this scratching? Can you use some force?”
Cang Hai retrieved his thoughts and changed a cotton swab to continue wiping. “Endure it, be obedient.”
Xiao Yu had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure; he knew that once Cang Hai said one thing, there was no more room for bargaining.
Cleaning up the wound on Xiao Yu’s back, in order to avoid the injury, he purposely changed his position to pick Xiao Yu up.
Looking at it this way, it was as if Xiao Yu was being carried up, and the small part of his abdomen happened to be on top of Cang Hai’s shoulder blades, almost causing him to vomit on the spot.
“I’m injured, and this is how you treat me, ah?” Xiao Yu flicked his tail in aggravation.
Cang Hai patted Xiao Yu’s fish tail to coax him, “Holding you like this won’t agitate the wound. Be good; when we find a safe place, I’ll put you down.”
Xiao Yu had to resign himself to looking for a nearby cave. With the previous experience, this time he was extra cautious in his search. First, he looked around the cave with his eyes, confirming that there were no traces of the beast’s activities, and then he scanned the area carefully with his mental energy.
Just to ensure that nothing was wrong.
“This cave should be quite safe; do you want to check it again?” Xiao Yu wasn’t quite confident in his judgment either.
After a brief inspection by Cang Hai, he confirmed that it was safe, then instructed Xiao Yu, “Stay here obediently; I’ll go out and look for something to eat.”
“Okay,” Xiao Yu said sullenly.
Of course, he understood that Cang Hai was thinking about his safety, but being left alone, he still felt a little lost.
Cang Hai didn’t hear Xiao Yu’s thoughts; he had more urgent things to do and didn’t pay attention to the undetectable frustration in Xiao Yu’s tone.
He followed the way he came and returned to the cave, where he and Xiao Yu had just been in danger.
The six adult lions were roosting in the cave, and when they sensed the scent of a living being coming from the cave entrance, they immediately got up and went into a state of battle readiness.
A fire was burning in Cang Hai’s heart, and he had to do something to dissipate it.
He couldn’t stand the fact that the little mermaid was injured in front of him, so this group of beasts that caused Xiao Yu to be injured didn’t have any need to exist.
The space inside the cave was a bit narrow for the strong lions; the width of the cave only allowed two of them to pass through side by side, and they had to fight Cang Hai at the same time, so the narrow cave was a bit of a stretch.
Cang Hai then utilized this, dodging between them and consuming their stamina and patience.
He was like an experienced hunter, tormenting the inevitable prey bit by bit until he destroyed their beliefs, wore down their will, and only closed the net when he had had enough.
The long sword was already dripping with blo*od.
The six Grimm Berserker Lions were densely covered with wounds; the sword wounds that were deep enough to be seen on the bones caused them to let out hysterical hisses, and their azure-colored eyes were filled with fear of Cang Hai.
At this moment, Cang Hai had already transformed into an asura; he was drenched in bl*ood, and his gray eyes were stained red with blo*od at some point.
[TN: Asura: Asuras were mythological demigods who were in a constant state of w*ar.]
The sword in his hand was still dripping bl*ood downwards, and as he slowly walked towards the Berserkers, blo*od snaked into a small river behind him.
The further he walked, the further back the group of Berserkers retreated.
Until they retreated to the deepest part of the cave, until there was no way to retreat, this group of mighty and ferocious beasts unexpectedly began to shiver, their urine uncontrollably flowing everywhere, and the strong smell of urine made Cang Hai unable to resist frowning.
Thus, he mercifully ended their fear.
The smell of the urine-soaked fur was too heavy, so Cang Hai disgustedly took his sword, cut off and discarded those parts of the lions, and put the rest into his spatial ring, keeping it as an ingredient.
After such a long time, Xiao Yu was probably waiting impatiently.
He walked out of the cave that was filled with the smell of bloo*d and urine and used the healing instrument to treat the wounds on his body, poured some water to clean off the blo*od and the smell on his body, and then changed into a clean outfit.
After doing all this, he took a deep breath and dispelled the ki*lling intent around him from the intense battle before he walked quickly towards the cave where Xiao Yu was.