Chapter 86 - Light and Warsongs
Just as Meng Chao expected, he heard cries of surprise around him.
Many of the examinees who were transported noticed that they were situated in the wild, but they also saw that the lights seemed very close to them, so they started running in the direction of the city regardless of the cost.
“These idiots… They’re all scattered. How can they possibly run more than ten kilometers without encountering anything dangerous? Do they think that the monsters are blind, deaf, or really sick? Do they think that they can’t smell their panic?”
Meng Chao gritted his teeth and said, “Instead of running away like scattered sand and being taken down by the monsters one by one, it’d be better if we all band together, dig trenches, and set up formations.
“Since something so big happened, the Red Dragon Army and the Superhuman Tower will definitely send out a large group of powerful fighters to search for us. As long as we can last until daybreak, we’ll definitely be safe!”
Luo Hai, Fang Da, and Xie Feng looked at each other.
Meng Chao’s courage and calm left a deep impression on them. At that moment, they could not help but agree with his train of thought.
But even if they knew that this was the way to go, it was difficult to carry it out. They wanted to stay firm here while they waited for reinforcements, but fierce wolf howls kept coming out from the forest.
The hair of all four of them instantly stood up.
“Awooo!”
The wolf howls rose and fell, filling the entire forest with their cries.
“We ran into a wolf pack!”
Luo Hai, Fang Da, and Xie Feng gulped. They saw the panic and fear in each other’s eyes.
Before they could think of a way to handle the situation, three wet strips of cloth were thrown in their direction.
They were slightly stunned. When they turned around to look, they saw that Meng Chao had already covered his mouth and nose with a strip of cloth. He was also tying his Lightning Saber to his right hand firmly with another strip of cloth.
“You…” The trio was shocked.
“The Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves’ breath can interfere with human smell and hearing. It can cause hallucinations and fear to a certain degree, but there is also a way to solve it. Their blood has the ability to block off the bloody fog,” Meng Chao explained. “Aside from creating fear, these beasts aren’t really that strong in terms of fighting strength. As long as we have courage, we’ll definitely be able to survive!”
The branches swayed. Bloody fog filled the air, and a Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf appeared like a ghost.
Meng Chao shouted loudly and went up against it while brandishing his saber.
Whoosh!
His Lightning Saber moved like lightning, and Meng Chao brought out the essence of the future One Hundred Saber Techniques to its fullest.
The Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf arched its back and jumped up high into the air.
But the slash was a feint. The instant Meng Chao delivered his attack, his feet rammed against the ground like a pile driver. He aimed at the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf and lowered his shoulders to execute Reckless Bull Technique. His power came out with the force of a tidal wave.
The astonishing power instantly sent the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf flying eight meters away, and its balance was destroyed.
Meng Chao moved swiftly and attacked before it could stand up. Thud. The saber sank into the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf’s stomach, tearing the wolf in half from its stomach to its back end.
The creature fell limply, and its organs spilled all over the ground. As it faced the shining saber, it could only release its final cry.
The brutally aesthetic sight caused Luo Hai, Fang Da, and Xie Feng’s blood to burn with passion. The fear that filled their hearts disappeared, and their mental strength indices instantly went over 120%.
The humans had always laid out their path in the Other World with the bodies of monsters and their blood. Regardless of whether it was the Blade Shattering Pythons or the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves, they could not stop them from becoming university students!
[You killed a Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf. Your Skillfulness with the One Hundred Saber Techniques has increased by 1%. Increased contribution points by 25.
[You’ve motivated normal citizens Luo Hai, Xie Feng, and Fang Da. Their mental strength indices have increased. Increased contribution points by 33.]
Meng Chao grinned. He went up to cut open the major blood vessel at the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf’s neck and brought out all the gauze as well as cotton from the emergency health kit. He soaked them in wolf blood, divided them into small balls and tossed it at the trio.
“Use the gauze and cotton to cover your mouths and nose. It can reduce the wolf howls’ interference. Then, we’ll look for other examinees. We’ll only be able to fight against the wolves if we’re united!”
Luo Hai, Fang Da, and Xie Feng answered his orders loudly.
They worked together and killed two more Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves who tried to ambush them, which allowed them to obtain a lot of wolf blood.
Soon, they found five more examinees.
These examinees were sent outside the city before them and had inhaled the fear-inducing bloody fog from the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves. They were incredibly nervous, and their mental strength indices were falling madly.
They did not even know where their weapons were. They just ran around like headless chickens.
A few of them held their guns even though they had no more bullets left. Yet they acted as if those guns were their saviors. Upon seeing movement, they shrank back while trembling.
There was also one who rambled about while pointing at the darkness. It was as if there were countless monsters in the blurry fog.
Meng Chao tossed the Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves’ blood over their heads and shouted into their ears, which helped to somewhat stabilize their mental strength indices.
When these examinees saw that Meng Chao and his party were covered in blood, wore drenched wolf pelts as defense, sensed the powerful killing intent from their sabers, and saw how they looked like fearsome hunters, they shuddered in fear.
While Luo Hai, Fang Da, and Xie Feng tossed wolf blood on them, they considered themselves lucky.
If Meng Chao had not been calm enough, there was a high possibility that they would also have ended up like this, and it would have been very embarrassing.
Meng Chao looked at the shining numbers that appeared at the corner of his eyes and sighed in relief.
With each examinee they stabilized, he was able to get some contribution points.
But the points were secondary. What was important was that he got to know that his strategy was correct.
As long as they were united and summoned their courage, they would be able to escape!
But there were still too few of them. The environment in the wild was complicated, so it was impossible for them to find all the examinees in the dark.
Meng Chao gritted his teeth and came up with a decision”Light up a fire and sing loudly so that everyone can find us. We can also provide our coordinates to the reinforcements!”
Luo Hai and the rest were shocked. “Won’t that be telling the wolves that we’re here?”
“Even if we don’t light up a fire, they’ll know,” Meng Chao said. “The Demonic Bloody Moon Wolves’ nose is much more sensitive compared to a human’s. Even if we hold our breaths and hide in the darkness, they will still be able to smell us. But if our friends can’t find us and think that they’re alone and have been abandoned, they’ll definitely sink into despair.
“The more desperate they become, the deeper they will sink into panic and absorb even more blood fog. They’ll enter a malicious cycle, and when they hear the wolf’s howl, they will break down completely.
“Instead, we should become stronger by uniting here. As long as we use light and songs to gather all the examinees, even if we use up all our bullets and our sabers snap, we will still be able to use our fists, legs, and teeth to fight against the wolves until the reinforcements arrive.
“Trust me, we’ll definitely be able to survive!”
His courageous behavior filled everyone with admiration toward him.
There was equipment to light up fires in the self-heating MRE since they were meant for outdoor survival.
The group quickly found a space that had fewer trees in the forest.
Quite a number of them had been completely carbonized. Lightning should have struck in the area in the past and started a huge fire, which burned the place empty until it became a safe zone.
Golden flames soon rose and chased away the darkness that resembled the fog.
Flames were the greatest weapon of humans. It was the sign that they had cast away uncivilized behavior and conquered nature along with all other creatures.
Songs were another form of civilization. They were melodies that people were born with.
When the raging flames and the loud songs charged into the sky, all the examinees understood one thing: Regardless of whether they survived or died, this was a battle, not just an accident.
Two examinees were huddled up in a mire in the depths of the forest. They trembled while sensing their body temperature drop. Hence, they were in despair.
Suddenly, they saw a light not far away from them and became so happy that they cried.
“Look! Fire! There’s fire over there!”
“Those are songs… They’re sung by human voices!”
In another direction there were a few more examinees. They had been running in a panic to flee toward the city, where the lights were bright. But when they heard Meng Chao and the others’ songs, all of them stopped moving.
The excited warsongs were full of burning energy, and they summoned them to go and gather with their people.
The examinees looked at the dark path ahead of them and at the dim lights in the distance. Then, they looked at the flames not far away from them and listened to the songs, which were sung with even more energy.
They hesitated for only a moment before they chose to get closer to the flames and the warsongs.
Just like that, more examinees drew closer to Meng Chao.
The more people there were, the louder the songs became, and they could also light up even brighter flames around them. The small group of human youths who had been unintentionally sent to the depths of the fog turned into brightly burning swords that pierced the wilds.
Their fear had completely disappeared. The examinees were filled with fighting spirit, and their mental strength indices all returned above one hundred.
Another group of more than ten examinees hurried to meet up with them.
Their leader was Chu Feixiong.
“Meng Chao?” The best friend was surprised and delighted. “Hey, aren’t you doing well? Your army is even bigger than mine!”
It had been just a few hours since they met, but both of them were as happy as soldiers who met each other again in a chaotic battlefield after they had been separated for a long time.
To Meng Chao, there was another meaning to this joy. He remembered that in his previous life, without his guidance, there were not as many Class 6 students who managed to get into the practical test for university entrance.
Since the exam number was assigned by random, in his previous life, Chu Feixiong was not assigned to Test Area 5523, and he did not run into any accidents.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Meng Chao to not remember this at all.
If the chain reactions caused by his rebirth led to his best friend being unable to delete his browsing history and download records from his computer in time before he died, Meng Chao would have died of regret.
Fortunately, the big white bear did not disappoint him. Even if his flesh was covered in wounds, he still stood tall. He was a courageous man!
“How did you manage to gather so many people with you?” Chu Feixiong asked.
“My personal charms. What about you?”
“What a coincidence. I also relied on my personal charms!” Chu Feixiong slapped his thigh.
“Urk, you have personal charms too?” Meng Chao was doubtful.
“Of course.” Chu Feixiong drew closer and said softly, “I told these guys that my uncle is a general from the Red Dragon Army and I have two Deity Realm elites and eight Heaven Realm elites in my family. As for the Earth Realm elites ranked below four stars, they’re so numerous that I can’t even count them.
“I also told them that I have a locating chip on me. As long as we can last for half an hour, no, ten minutes, reinforcements will definitely come down from the sky.
“This calmed them down and they agreed to follow me.”
“…”
Meng Chao was dumbfounded. He did not know whether he should tell Chu Feixiong that great minds thought alike or that he was even better at telling lies than he himself was.
No matter what, they had managed to gather around seventy people to their side through lies and deceit.
They had enough people with them now, and the burning flames provided enough warmth. Everyone calmed down, and they agreed that running back in the darkness was a really bad idea that would bring about their deaths.
Under Meng Chao’s guidance, they gathered the wounded to the center and drank some wolf blood. They also ate some wolf meat and searched for stones to pile around themselves. It could serve as a barrier, and when necessary, even as weapons.
As for trenches and more complicated traps? They did not have the time to set them up. Meng Chao had everyone make haste to sit down and rest. They had to seize every second they had to recover.
He believed that the wolves would not watch such big pieces of meat be snatched back by the reinforcements. Sooner or later, they would take action.
‘Exchange an Initial Stage Healing Skill!’
He used up two thousand contribution points to recover. The price for it was that he became incredibly hungry. It felt as if every single cell in his stomach was groaning.
Meng Chao tore off a piece of flesh from a Demonic Bloody Moon Wolf’s hind leg and turned it around over the fire before he started shoving it down his throat. He even crunched the bones and did not leave behind a single thing.
His savage and brutish way of eating caused the people to gasp in amazement, and it also gave them courage.
At that moment, a putrid wind rose. The bloody fog filled the area. The wolf pack had come!