Reborn as a Hatrack in the Mystical Land-Chapter 840 - 90: Predicament

"Captain, this is Shalman’s Beast Taming Ring!" Luo, with sharp eyes, spotted a ring scattered amidst the shrubs.

The ring was delicate and slender, clearly a woman’s accessory.

Upon clearly seeing the ring, Yue Jinghua’s pupils contracted severely as she snatched it up.

She recognized this ring; it was a Beast Taming Ring she had custom-made for Shalman, marked with the insignia of the corresponding cultivation beast.

The ring had a spider design, symbolizing Shalman’s Five-Colored Spider. It had been damaged, with only the ring tail remaining, stained with a trace of blood and hair.

It seemed that in a moment of crisis, Shalman wanted to contact Yue Jinghua and the others, but it was torn off during the struggle and fell to the ground.

Fortunately, aside from this Beast Taming Ring, Shalman’s Merit Ring and other Taming Rings were nowhere to be found.

This indicated that she still had cultivation beasts protecting her and was not in grave danger, allowing Yue Jinghua to breathe a sigh of relief.

Upon seeing the haphazardly lying corpses of their companions on the ground, the members of the Four Unlikes Team, who had followed them into the Firethorn Shrub, were filled with retreating thoughts.

They had only just entered the outskirts of the shrubs and encountered such a situation. Venturing further, they could not fathom what crises lay ahead.

Moreover, a period of two hours had quickly passed, and the deeper they ventured into the shrubs, the higher the temperature rose, causing severe dehydration. At such a point, not even Dark Energy could protect their bodies, turning them into desiccated corpses.

The members of the Four Unlikes Team, their hair disheveled and sweat long evaporated, grimaced as they looked around in terror, fearing that man-eating beasts would suddenly spring from the dense shrubs.

"Captain, let’s go back. It’s not worth sacrificing the entire team’s lives for one person," those members buzzed incessantly like flies, and Ying Wuwang furrowed his brows deeply, glancing at Yue Jinghua.

"I won’t go back. Anyone who wants to leave can do so now. Let me make it clear: if anyone leaves, they won’t get a drop of the water we find later," Yue Jinghua held the Merit Ring in her hand, silently praying that Shalman was safe.

Neither the Yue Xiaoqi of the past life nor the Yue Jinghua of now had any friends.

By nature, she was not one to easily trust people. Shalman could be said to be her first true friend in this world.

Despite past misunderstandings and conflicts, Shalman was the only one to accompany her from the Shang Kingdom all the way to the Dragon Battle Empire and to the Divine Ruins. If she couldn’t protect even her, she would be failing as a human.

"I’m not going back either. Shalman is our partner; we can’t abandon her," Luo, usually timid and cowardly, showed an unprecedented determination in his eyes at this moment.

"Since that’s the decision, let’s move on. Anyone who wishes to leave may do so at their discretion," Ying Wuwang said with an indifferent expression, surveying the corpses on the ground.

He noticed that none of the corpses had obvious fatal wounds, merely numerous fine cuts on limbs and extremities.

What kind of Demon Beast could inflict such wounds?

After a brief recollection, Ying Wuwang shook his head. Even though he was familiar with various Demon Beasts from a young age, he couldn’t immediately identify this one.

Seeing that neither the most skilled members of the group, Yue Jinghua nor Ying Wuwang, were willing to leave, the members of the Four Unlikes Team hesitated. Gritting their teeth, they reluctantly continued to follow Yue Jinghua and the others deeper into the shrubs.

The temperature kept rising, reaching a point where except for Yue Jinghua and Ying Wuwang, the others, including Luo, couldn’t resist removing their armor, baring their chests. Their skin soon burned and blistered.

Known for voicing complaints, Luo just kept walking silently.

Walking within the Firethorn Shrub felt like being in a sea of flames, with no one knowing what awaited them at the end.

"Plop," a drop of sweat emerged from the smooth forehead of a young girl as Shalman ran through the forest. Her bare skin outside the battle armor turned bright red and veined, looking quite disheveled.

Yet her vital parts were unharmed, thanks to the High-level Holy-grade Battle Armor Yue Jinghua had given her before entering the Divine Ruins, which protected her from the earlier frenzied attack.

She dared not look back as if pursued by a flood of terrifying beasts.

Desperately running forward, Thunder Snake, despite bearing wounds, endured the pain and charged ahead of Shalman, its barrel-sized body crushing stones and thorns, paving a relatively clear path for its master.

After running for several miles, exhaustion overwhelmed her, causing her to collapse.

Her ankle burned with pain, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Thunder Snake halted, lowered its enormous head, and nudged her cheek.

"I’m so useless, dragging you down," Shalman’s beautiful eyes brimmed with disappointment and the relief of having narrowly escaped.

From the moment they entered the Firethorn Shrub, she and the Four Symbols Team ventured deep inside.

Their intention was to find edible fruits and hunt some Demon Beasts, but along the way, they discovered that most fruits within the Firethorn Shrub were poisonous. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The Demon Beasts, having lived in the cursed ruins for years, were heavy with Evil Qi. The meat from the hunted Demon Beasts was inedible unless specially prepared.

Regrettably, Aunt Chi Xi hadn’t entered the Divine Ruins, so they had to painfully discard what little demon meat they had.

Against Thunder Snake’s tough scales, Shalman let out a helpless laugh. "Are you comforting me? Telling me to persist and make it out alive, as Jinghua and the members of the July Team are waiting for my return?"

Her already depleted body seemed to be infused with strength, and Shalman stood up.

Yes, she was no longer the abandoned orphan Shalman, bereft of hope by the Sha Family. She had friends and comrades closer than family.

Gazing at the Merit Ring in her hand, she attempted to call out, but her voice vanished without a trace.

Just then, a rustling noise emerged from the other side of the Firethorn Shrub.

Voices followed, "I think I heard something over there? Let’s head over and kill a few Demon Beasts for practice."

"Tsk, tsk, I thought it was a Demon Beast, turns out to be a beautiful young lady," several Dark Practitioners with Merit Rings emerged from the Firethorn Shrub.