Just as Zhao Shuning had predicted, at the second altitude, they had been frequently attacked by those spirit beasts. Fortunately, the members of the team were all quite capable, and with Zhao Shuning's good guidance, after several encounters, although they had fled rather awkwardly, they hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
One day, shortly after they had managed to escape danger, Zhao Shuning and her companions were sitting on the lawn, gasping for fresh air.
Shuang'er and Se Se were tending to Kong Shishuang's scratched arm from the previous escape.
Just as Zhao Shuning was about to speak and urge everyone to act quickly, she suddenly sensed a gust of wind coming from behind her.
It was so fast that there was hardly any time for anyone to react.
Instinctively, Zhao Shuning knew that the force was clearly aimed at Kong Shishuang, who was right next to Xiaoli.
Maybe she had overestimated her own strength, or perhaps underestimated the opponent's killing intent.
Zhao Shuning actually rushed at an extremely fast speed to block in front of Kong Shishuang.
Then, the arrow was extremely powerful. Even though Zhao Shuning had used all her strength, when she tightly grasped the arrow, she couldn't withstand the huge impact all at once. Her body was forced to take a sudden step backward. Finally, although she managed to stop the arrow, there was a crisp sound.
"Pop!"
Was it a broken bone or a dislocated joint?
Zhao Shuning felt that her right hand couldn't exert any strength at that moment. The pain and numbness brought by the arrow made her unable to think clearly for a while.
All this happened in an instant.
When everyone finally reacted, they quickly gathered around and surrounded Zhao Shuning, asking her about her condition in succession.
"Oops, we were blind. We didn't notice that there were actually people around these spirit beasts."
Under the angry glares of the five of them, a teenager about fourteen years old, leading a group of people, slowly walked out of the forest.
"It's Li Can," Kong Shishuang gritted her teeth and said hatefully.
Li Can was the leader of the Poisonous Silkworm Light. He always looked gentle and refined, but Kong Shishuang knew that he was not an easy person to deal with. She had also had a feud with him when she was a new student.
"Oops, isn't this Miss Kong? Aren't you a repeat student? How come you've come to the Dark Abyss Land now?"
Kong Shishuang gave the teenager a fierce look, then turned to look at Zhao Shuning. Zhao Shuning's face was as white as a sheet, and the sweat on her face was slowly dripping down.
It could be seen how powerful the arrow had been.
"Zhao Shuning, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Give me a moment, and I can adjust myself."
After saying that, everyone protected Zhao Shuning in the middle. On the other side, Li Can and his group saw the five of them protecting a little girl like this. Their annoyance immediately welled up. After all, he was the leader of the second-largest gang. No one had ever dared to ignore him to such an extent.
"I said, is this little girl Zhao Shuning? Is she the little yellow-haired girl who stepped on some of our second-year students as soon as she came?"
Li Can smiled indifferently and snorted, "I thought this girl was so amazing. Now it seems that she's just so-so. It's just that those useless people were too weak, which made us second-year students lose face."
"How about it, little girl? How about our Lord Can makes an exception for you and you join our gang?"
No one responded to them.
"Miss Kong, you have to be careful. The Dark Abyss Land is full of dangers. If you're not careful, you might lose your life here. Then you'll never be able to return to the Misty Rain Tower again. And your group of friends might even be buried with you."
The cloth-clothed man spoke in a flippant tone, looking extremely arrogant.
He didn't care how these first-year freshmen had suddenly appeared.
But now that they had fallen into his hands, he would repay them double for all the humiliation he had suffered.
"Li Can, every wrong has its culprit. It's me, Kong Shishuang, who has a feud with you. What kind of hero are you if you target my friends?"
"Oops, I've never seen you, Miss Kong, looking so protective of others."
The person who spoke was not Li Can, but one of the second-year students who often followed Li Can. They always tried their best to please Li Can whenever they had a chance.
"What? Miss Kong, people like you, besides a follower like Qing Zhu, would actually have someone willing to be your friend? Their hearts must be really big. Your temper as a young lady is quite notorious in our Misty Rain Tower."
Shuang'er and Se Se exchanged a look, then looked at Kong Shishuang. At this moment, she bit her lips and couldn't say a word.
"You're really lucky to have a good brother, Miss Kong. Otherwise, you would have died somewhere long ago."
Kong Shishuang didn't reply. It wasn't that she didn't dare, but after getting along with Zhao Shuning for so long, she had learned to control her temper as a young lady. She knew that a slip of the tongue could lead to trouble, and she didn't want to cause trouble for her friends just for a moment of verbal pleasure.
Kong Shishuang knew how perverted Li Can was.
A venomous snake is blatantly bad, while Li Can is a gentleman on the surface but a villain in secret.
Just then, Zhao Shuning, who was surrounded by the others, let out a few crisp sounds of bone-setting. Then she twisted her neck and slowly stood up from the ground.
Shuang'er and the others very tacitly made way for her.
Although they knew that their leader was only a second-rank spirit pharmacist and didn't have high combat strength, they just had a natural sense of admiration for Zhao Shuning in their hearts.
They trusted her, regardless of her age.
"Oops, you're better so soon?"
Several of Li Can's subordinates started to sneer again.
The people of the Poisonous Silkworm Light always spoke like this. They were only second to the Tianyuan Sparrow in strength. They didn't take other second-year students seriously at all, let alone the first-year freshmen in front of them. They could bully these weaklings however they wanted.
"The leader of the Water Cloud Life, I'm sorry for what my brothers said just now."
Li Can spoke, but there was not the slightest bit of apology in his eyes when he looked at Zhao Shuning. He had just stood there silently for so long, watching his subordinates constantly say hurtful things. If anyone said he didn't do it on purpose, no one would believe it.
A smiling tiger? He was no different from Wu Long.
It's just that Li Can's level was obviously higher than Wu Long's. He knew how to avoid giving others a handle and how to act like a "good person".
"Since you're apologizing, Lord Can, shouldn't you show your sincerity?"
The one who replied was Zhao Shuning. Did they think she didn't know how to play with words?
Li Can stared straight ahead, and his look made everyone feel creepy.
But Zhao Shuning, who was being stared at like this, still looked calm and composed, as if she was really waiting for Li Can's apology.
"The leader of the Water Cloud Life?"
Li Can's eyes were a bit sinister.
Zhao Shuning still replied with a fake smile, "You're welcome. My name is Zhao Shuning."