Chapter 198 – The Power That Answers the Call

As the saying goes, one woman equals five hundred ducks. When two women gather, they produce noise equivalent to a thousand ducks.

And when there’s not just one or two women around, but a whole group of them, the noise becomes so overwhelming it feels like demonic sounds piercing the ears.

At this moment, Su Ming was experiencing this deeply.

Because around him was precisely such a group of women.

“Quick! There’s someone here!”

“Ah! He’s already dead!”

“Then… what should we do? Should we save him?”

“He’s already dead, how can we save him?”

“You’re right!”

Along the way, such chattering sounds would occasionally erupt, startling and exaggerated, making Su Ming react sharply at first.

A group of female Hunters from the Bai Family advanced while following directions, exclaiming loudly at every situation they encountered along the way, creating an unbearable racket.

Sometimes they came across unfortunate fallen companions.

Sometimes they were frightened by slight unusual noises.

Sometimes, to bolster their courage, a few women would gather and whisper, but more and more people would join in, making the noise increasingly chaotic.

Other times, there was no reason or cause at all—a group of women would suddenly start screaming for no apparent reason, causing everyone around to join in the uproar.

Those waves of screams nearly scared Su Ming into a heart attack.

“I’m sorry, they’re still young and don’t know any better.”

Bai Ruxiang had already apologized with these words countless times in front of him.

“They’re practically a bunch of human decoys.”

Xu Yanyan, leading the way at the front with the life paper, was thoroughly exhausted by them.

There was no helping it—these female Hunters from the Bai Family were just too easily startled, causing Xu Yanyan to nearly overreact multiple times.

The drawbacks of this were undoubtedly very obvious.

As Xu Yanyan had pointed out, with these human amplifiers around, there was no worry about Attackers failing to detect their location and gathering toward them.

Thanks to this, the group encountered several attacks along the way and had already engaged in multiple battles.

Fortunately, the number of Attackers couldn’t compare to the previous incident. Although these Bai Family Hunters were prone to overreacting, their skills were decent. They handled the Attackers themselves without needing Su Ming to intervene.

This left Su Ming unsure whether to admire them or resent them.

Admire them? Well, they were the ones who attracted the trouble in the first place.

Resent them? Yet these women warriors indeed didn’t trouble him and resolved the issues on their own.

In the end, aside from nearly having a heart attack, Su Ming realized he hadn’t suffered the slightest loss.

So, Su Ming simply stopped paying them any mind. Let them scream if they wanted—he treated it as entertainment in this closed, oppressive environment.

Surprisingly, with these easily startled women around, even in such circumstances, the oppressive atmosphere would dissipate.

Although the occasional bursts of screaming in the near-total darkness tested one’s nerves, over time, Su Ming grew accustomed to it and became numb to the noise.

“Um…”

Just as Su Ming was listening to the intermittent screams with a stoic expression, a familiar, soft voice sounded behind him.The owner of the voice was naturally Bai Xiaoyan, who had given Su Ming the Dagger of Gratitude.

“You… please have some water…”

Bai Xiaoyan followed timidly beside Su Ming, carefully handing him a bottle of water.

“……Thank you.”

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before expressionlessly accepting the water.

Bai Xiaoyan let out a sigh of relief, as if having completed a major task, and scampered away on her small feet.

But before long, Bai Xiaoyan had somehow returned to Su Ming’s side again.

“Um…”

Still just as timid and cautious, Bai Xiaoyan handed over another bottle of water.

“You… please have some water…”

Even the lines were exactly the same as before.

Su Ming: “……”

He glanced at the dozen-plus new water bottles in his backpack, then accepted it with the same expressionless face.

“I thank you.”

Su Ming’s words of gratitude had undergone a slight change.

Unfortunately, Bai Xiaoyan didn’t seem to notice, sighing in relief once more before scampering away.

However, having experienced this scene over a dozen times already, Su Ming was certain that soon enough, this girl would come running back with another bottle of water, offering it to him.

Su Ming didn’t know how to describe his current state of mind.

“She… she’s still young…”

Even Bai Ruxiang, watching from the side, appeared somewhat embarrassed, but could only brace herself and speak up in defense like this.

Su Ming rolled his eyes, not even wanting to respond.

Yes, yes, they’re all young, only you’re mature, alright?

And so, accompanied by constant chattering, Su Ming unexpectedly covered quite some distance.

Although they encountered several attacks along the way and had to detour multiple times, Su Ming was surprised to discover that the pitch-black darkness surrounding them seemed to be dispersing somewhat.

Visibility had slightly improved, and the surrounding terrain was gradually becoming less complex and messy. Even the monotonous stone piles and rubble had largely disappeared, allowing everyone to see a clear path.

This told Su Ming one thing.

“Could it be that we’ve somehow stumbled out of the trap zone and found the right path?”

Su Ming’s thoughts happened to align with Bai Ruxiang and Xu Yanyan’s.

The two women approached Su Ming, speaking with surprise and happiness evident on their faces.

“Lord Ming Wang, it seems we’ve found the right path.”

Bai Ruxiang expressed this.

“It feels like we’re about to leave this area.”

Xu Yanyan also couldn’t conceal her excitement.

Su Ming released his Spirit Sense to observe their surroundings, while secretly using [Lifting Restraint Flow] to scout. He confirmed that there were indeed no life reactions around, unlike before when they would occasionally encounter fallen companions.

This was undoubtedly a sign that Su Ming and the others had left the trap zone and were preparing to exit.

“Have you memorized the route?”

Su Ming turned to Bai Ruxiang and asked this question.

“Yes.” Bai Ruxiang nodded and said, “I’ve been leaving marks along the way. Even if we return, we can follow the marks to get out.”

“Good.” Su Ming immediately said, “First, make sure to remember the path well. We might need to go back later to bring out the survivors and others from the Shelter.”

“Understood.” Bai Ruxiang naturally agreed readily without any objection.”I never expected that following the direction indicated by the life paper could actually lead us out of this area.” Xu Yanyan seemed to have thought of something and quickly added, “Could it be that Mr. Gao has already left this place and made his way out?”

This question made Su Ming and Bai Ruxiang exchange glances.

But immediately after, Su Ming’s heart stirred again. He clenched his right hand and hid it beneath his cloak.

On his right hand, an eerie blue glow flickered once more, making numerous cracks clearly visible as they transformed into strange, azure patterns.

“Again?”

Su Ming’s brows furrowed deeply beneath his mask, his heart filled with suspicion and alarm.

This was already an occurrence that had happened countless times.

From the first time this phenomenon appeared until now, at regular intervals, his right hand would suddenly react like this, leaving Su Ming both puzzled and concerned.

Especially recently, these strange reactions had been occurring more frequently and intensely, making Su Ming increasingly vigilant.

The problem was, despite these bizarre manifestations, Su Ming didn’t feel any other abnormalities – his right hand neither hurt nor had any other noticeable sensations.

However, the pulsation in his right hand gave Su Ming a vague intuition.

“Is it resonating with something?”

Or perhaps, the power in his right hand was resonating with another force somewhere unknown.

“What could that possibly be?”

Su Ming fell deep into contemplation.

A while later, Su Ming’s thoughts were interrupted.

“Lord Ming Wang?”

“What are you thinking about?”

The surprised and curious voices of Bai Ruxiang and Xu Yanyan brought Su Ming back to reality.

Lifting his head, Su Ming realized that both Bai Ruxiang and Xu Yanyan were looking at him, and even the female Hunters of the Bai Family were all watching him with confused and bewildered expressions.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Su Ming shook his head, choosing not to share the matter with others, and instead changed the subject.

“Has Bai Xuefei still not replied to your messages?”

Su Ming asked while looking at Bai Ruxiang.

“No.” Bai Ruxiang’s expression darkened slightly as she whispered, “I’ve sent several messages already, but my sister… Lord Xuefei has never responded to me.”

Hearing this, regardless of Xu Yanyan’s reaction, the other women of the Bai Family began to worry unnecessarily.

“Could it be that something really happened to Lord Xuefei?”

“Don’t say such nonsense!”

“That’s Lord Xuefei we’re talking about! How could anything happen to her?”

“Lord Xuefei is an Upper-Rank Professional, after all! She must be safer than any of us!”

“Then why hasn’t Lord Xuefei replied to Sister Ruxiang’s messages?”

“Well…”

The girls looked at each other, each voicing their concerns one after another, quickly creating an atmosphere of unease.

This was the downside of having too many women together – they tended to overthink things, eventually trapping themselves in endless cycles of unnecessary worry.

Fortunately, Bai Ruxiang’s Heart-Nature was much more steady than the others.

“Everyone, stop overthinking things.” Bai Ruxiang took a deep breath and addressed all the Bai Family members present. “No matter what, we’ve found what appears to be a path leading out of here. This is good news.”

The female Hunters of the Bai Family immediately responded, nodding repeatedly in agreement.Clearly, Bai Ruxiang held considerable influence and authority among these female Hunters of the Bai Family.

The Bai Family members were evidently obedient to Bai Ruxiang, and her words had genuinely alleviated many of their worries.

Witnessing this, Xu Yanyan couldn’t help but take another look at Bai Ruxiang.

Although she had known Bai Ruxiang for some time and was aware of her status within the Bai Family, this was the first time she had so clearly sensed her influence and position.

This made Xu Yanyan take mental note.

After all, the relationships among the Six Great Families were complex—sometimes cooperative, sometimes hostile, sometimes friendly, sometimes antagonistic. It was hard to say that the Xu Family and the Bai Family wouldn’t clash over some matter in the future.

If the Xu and Bai Families were to oppose each other, Xu Yanyan felt that she would likely have to face Bai Ruxiang directly.

Bai Ruxiang held a clear leadership position among the younger generation of the Bai Family, while Xu Yanyan herself was the direct-line Young Miss of the Xu Family. If the two families clashed, these two equals in status would inevitably confront each other.

When that time came, Bai Ruxiang would become Xu Yanyan’s opponent.

Of course, that was a matter for after they left this place.

For now, they were still in danger and remained in a cooperative relationship.

With this thought, Xu Yanyan suppressed her competitive feelings toward Bai Ruxiang.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Su Ming’s face showed surprise.

“Clang!”

The right hand hidden beneath his cloak suddenly emitted a brilliant light, reacting much more intensely than before.

Su Ming could clearly feel that this time, the power in his right hand seemed to be responding to something.

“What’s happening?”

Su Ming was astonished and was about to react when the situation escalated first.

“Ah—”

A scream came from afar, growing closer and clearer, reaching the ears of everyone present.

Amusingly, the female Hunters present not only failed to react to it but instead expressed dissatisfaction one after another.

“Which naughty girl is screaming again? Trying to scare us?”

“Please, we’ve been through this so many times. Nobody’s afraid anymore, okay?”

“Are there more Attackers coming?”

“Where? Where?”

“Is it my turn to take them down this time?”

Not only did the female Hunters not react, they even wore proud expressions, as if to say this old trick no longer worked, appearing utterly smug.

Only Bai Ruxiang and Xu Yanyan sensed that something was wrong.

“That’s not right.”

Xu Yanyan gripped her small Saber.

“That didn’t come from any of us!”

Bai Ruxiang’s expression also changed as she loudly warned, “It’s not our voice?”

The female Hunters were first stunned, then their faces tightened one by one as they became alert.

Su Ming, meanwhile, lifted his gaze to stare in the direction of the sound, his right hand beneath the cloak clenched tightly.

Upon it, the eerie blue light flickered increasingly frequently and intensely.

Until at a certain moment, a beam of light shot toward them from ahead.

“Scatter!”

Bai Ruxiang was the first to react, issuing the command.

The female Hunters obeyed without hesitation, immediately dispersing without a single moment of delay or hesitation.

Xu Yanyan also scattered along with them.

Only Su Ming, who had just intended to step back, discovered that the light beam was heading straight for him.

Yes.

The target was him, and no one else.This made Su Ming instinctively clench his right hand, gathering surging power.

Just as Su Ming prepared to unleash a tremendously powerful punch toward this sudden “assault,” the previous scream rang out again.

“St…stop it—!”

The mournful cry transformed into echoes that reverberated throughout the surroundings.

Hearing this lament, Su Ming’s nearly thrown punch reflexively halted.

But precisely because of this hesitation, the source of the mournful cry, along with a flash of light and shadow, crashed violently into Su Ming.

“Boom—!”

With an explosive roar, dust billowed everywhere.

“Lord Ming Wang!”

The women immediately cried out in alarm, their voices echoing together, lingering unceasingly.

(End of Chapter)