Chapter 55: Waiting by the Tree for the Hare (Part Two)

Inside the rockery cave, the light grew increasingly dim.

Xia Tong adjusted her breathing, bringing her physical state to its absolute peak.

She could clearly perceive that the unfamiliar water-type energy fluctuation was drawing closer, spreading through the surroundings with thinly veiled malice and a trace of greed.

"A water-type esper..." Xia Tong licked the tip of her claw, a cold flash briefly crossing her glazed cat-like eyes.

She possessed absolute confidence in her own water-type esper abilities, not to mention that she now also possessed the bizarre "Withering" trait, leaving her with no need to panic whatsoever.

All she needed to do now was wait quietly... waiting for the "rabbit" to deliver itself to her doorstep.

She needed to test the strength of this new power. Li Sishui's "Withering Field" had left a deep impression on her; that bizarre ability to strip away vitality, if utilized properly, would undoubtedly be a devastating trump card.

Had it not been for the Crown of Thorns resting atop her head consuming its stored energy to resist it back then, she likely would have met a resentful demise.

However, although her "Withering" effect had been weakened by seventy percent, having it was still better than not having it at all.

She would test its effects first and go from there.

...

The footsteps outside the rockery grew clearer and clearer, finally stopping near the mouth of the rockery cave where she was hiding.

"So this is it... Such a dense concentration of water elements, and a trace of... strange residual energy," a slightly crisp female voice sounded, tinged with a hint of puzzlement.

"Hehe, my prey, you can't run away now."

Xia Tong held her breath, peering through a gap in the vines to see a slender figure looking around anxiously at the base of the rockery.

The newcomer was a young woman in her early twenties, reasonably attractive, but carrying an unshakeable arrogance between her brows. She wore action-ready combat attire with weapons similarly strapped to her waist, and at the moment, she was cautiously eyeing the rockery, which was densely covered by vines.

This person was none other than Yan Wenli, the female water-type esper from the previous team.

She hadn't expected it to be her, and it looked like she had come all by herself... Was she really that confident?

A cold shimmering light danced in Xia Tong's pupils. Since she was alone, there was even less to fear.

...

"Hiding inside the rockery, are you?"

"You'd better crawl out obediently, before I lose my temper and make you!"

Yan Wenli let out a cold snort, her tone brimming with disdain and murderous intent.

In her view, even if the target possessed dual attributes, it was ultimately just a beast—how much capability could it possibly have?

Besides, she was also a water-type esper; she wasn't necessarily inferior to a mutated beast.

Xia Tong offered no response, remaining entrenched in the shadows like a patient hunter waiting for the optimal moment to strike.

Seeing no movement near the rockery, Yan Wenli furrowed her brows slightly, a trace of impatience flashing in her eyes.

She raised her hand, and a blue water ball rapidly condensed in her palm. The surface of the sphere rippled with light, radiating pure water-type energy fluctuations.

"Not coming out? Then I'll just have to force you out!"

Before the words had even faded, the water ball in her hand roared forward and smashed directly into the rockery before her!

"Boom!"

With a muffled thud, vines snapped and gravel flew as the fragile rockery was easily breached.

At the exact moment the cave entrance was blasted open, a black streak of afterimage shot out from within like an arrow released from a bow string, moving so fast that its form was almost impossible to discern!

Yan Wenli's pupils suddenly constricted! She had never anticipated that the target's reaction would be so fierce, let alone that its speed would reach such a terrifying degree!

Overwhelmed with shock, she instinctively attempted to retreat, but the black shadow came too fast, too suddenly, charging out practically flush against the exploding mist of water. How could she possibly find the time to execute an effective evasive maneuver?

"Splat!"

A dull sound of a sharp blade tearing through flesh rang out clearly, accompanied by Yan Wenli's short, piercing cry of pain!

Having successfully landed her blow, Xia Tong didn't even bother to check the results. Utilizing the reaction force in mid-air, she executed a nimble twist and landed silently like a weightless feather onto a protruding rock nearby.

"Meow..."

She arched her back slightly, her cold, glazed cat-like eyes gazing down like top-tier gemstones at the shaken Yan Wenli.

At this moment, three bone-deep claw wounds had abruptly appeared on Yan Wenli's left arm, and fresh blood gushed steadily from the gasps, rapidly staining the sleeve of her dark-gray combat uniform.

The intense pain caused her pretty face to turn deathly pale instantly, a fine layer of cold sweat breaking out across her forehead.

Shocked and enraged, she glared viciously at Xia Tong, her voice trembling slightly from pain and fury: "Such speed! You damned little beast!"

"Just you wait!"

Xia Tong remained completely indifferent to her curses, quietly observing the scene.

The next second, a scene that made Yan Wenli's hair stand on end unfolded before her eyes.

The flesh along the edges of the three gaping claw wounds on her arm slowly lost its luster, turning shrunken and gray, as if all its vitality and moisture had been sucked away by an invisible force. It withered and decayed like rotting wood left exposed to the scorching sun for days, emitting a faint scent of decay.

"Ah!"

"What kind of ghost is this?"

Yan Wenli let out a terrified, shrill scream. To her, nothing could be more horrifying than this.

She stared in terror at her own arm; that aura of decay nearly made her vomit.

The wounds, which had originally just caused sharp pain, now instilled a terror born of having one's life force forcibly ripped away. This sensation was a hundred times more terrifying than mere physical injury!

"My arm! Why is my arm like this?!"

Yan Wenli's voice grew increasingly shrill, filled with disbelief and panic.

She attempted to channel the water-type energy within her body to treat the wounds, but when those pure water elements came into contact with the eerie gray hue along the edges of the wounds, it was as if they had met their natural nemesis. Not only could they not heal the injury, but they actually accelerated the spread of that withered grayness!

Xia Tong raised an eyebrow, making a new discovery. She noticed that the wounds, whose "Withering" process had nearly ended, actually experienced an accelerated phase of decay once more under the flushing flow of Yan Wenli's water energy.

Well, you can't blame me for that; you brought this on yourself.

Xia Tong watched everything apathetically, gaining a more direct understanding of the destructive power of the "Withering" trait in her heart.

Even when weakened by seventy percent, its effect remained overwhelmingly tyrannical.

This was not merely physical damage; it carried the added characteristic of stripping away life force. For any living entity, it posed a fatal threat. However, the speed of the withering was somewhat slow, and its duration quite short, though the pain it inflicted upon the flesh was entirely real.

"What... what kind of monster are you?!"

Yan Wenli finally snapped out of her initial agonizing pain and shock. The look she gave Xia Tong had transformed from initial contempt and greed into profound terror and a hint of despair.

She had never witnessed such a bizarre form of attack. This black cat was by no means the ordinary mutated creature she knew!

The sensation of having her life force stripped away still lingered in her mind...

Xia Tong still offered no reply, merely crouching slightly lower like a coiled leopard ready to pounce. Faint blue water vapor began to swirl around her body, yet mixed within that water vapor was a heart-palpitating, icy stillness.

She needed more combat experience to familiarize herself with this newly acquired power, and Yan Wenli before her was undoubtedly an excellent test subject.