Chapter 160: Hunters
After traveling for over an hour, Da Mung finally stepped foot in the Inner Zone of the Sierra Desert.
"We're here!" Da Mung said to Lee Tao.
However, for Zhou Jingjing and Zheng Wenling, all they could hear was Da Mung growling toward Lee Tao.
After all, they weren't fortunate enough to receive the required item needed to communicate with Da Mung from Lee Tao.
Meanwhile, Lee Tao simply nodded his head with a calm expression.
The Inner Zone wasn't much different than the outer layer they were in except for the temperature.
The coldness was even more severe than before and it was taking a toll on Deng Lijuan.
"Master… I'm freezing a bit." Deng Lijuan said with a pale face.
She was still circulating her profound qi to warm herself, but it was clear that she was still inexperienced.
Sure, she may have won against Zhou Gu previously, but that was because Zhou Gu had underestimated her.
Not to mention, he wasn't expecting Deng Lijuan to know a deadly technique such as Void Slasher.
"Seems like breaking through multiple stages of cultivation backfires on you." Lee Tao teased.
"After all, I still have better experiences compared to you." He added.
Deng Lijuan puffed her cheeks up, almost like she was angry by his cheeky remark and confidence.
"Can't you be a gentleman for once and help your disciple out?"
"I don't see the part where that's my problem, Deng Lijuan."
"But you're my master~"
As soon as she said that, Lee Tao held a disgusted expression on his face.
"You must be having some amnesia or something. Never once had I officially accepted nor agreed to be your master." Lee Tao snorted coldly.
However, he still flicked his hand, and a wave of profound qi shrouded Deng Lijuan.
Deng Lijuan could feel a warm air breezing through every fiber of her body.
Meanwhile, Lee Tao turned around and had his back facing Deng Lijuan with a calm expression.
'Why does the Sierra Desert get colder by the minute?' Lee Tao wondered silently.
Usually, when an environment starts to turn cold or hot, it is due to some aftermath of a battle.
Yet, Lee Tao had still found no clues or hints of a battle erupting in the Sierra Desert that could alter the environment.
"Do I have to explore deeper inside to find the clue?" Lee Tao mumbled while rubbing his chin, seemingly in deep thought.
Sometime later, Lee Tao continued to have Da Mung walk around the Inner Zone.
"Master, how much longer are we going to be here?" Deng Lijuan asked.
They had been seeing nothing but sands, yet the cold temperature continued to rise up.
At the same time, Zhou Jingjing and Zheng Wenling seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.
Their faces were pale, and it was clear that they were unable to cope with the cold temperature.
"Hey you, why don't you just kill us already if you're going to expose us in the cold like this?" Zhou Jingjing shouted aloud in anger.
Frostbites were appearing in her arms, and with her cultivation base restricted by the chain on her wrist, she couldn't even suppress the coldness.
It was only because of her willpower so far that kept her consciousness intact.
And as for Zheng Wenling, she was about to faint at any given moment.
"P-Please s-spare us…" Zheng Wenling muttered in between her dry cold lips.
Hearing their pleas, Deng Lijuan turned around and saw their pitiful state.
She held a solemn expression and wondered to herself if she was going to be in their state if Lee Tao hadn't saved her back in the Pan Village.
'Would I have been captured by the bandits and be tortured like them? Or would I have been violated every day until my mind broke?' Deng Lijuan wondered silently.
Seeing their horrible condition, Deng Lijuan suddenly held on to Lee Tao's sleeve slightly.
"What do you want now?" Lee Tao asked in an annoyed tone.
"Um… why don't you try to warm their bodies?" Deng Lijuan said in a somewhat timid tone as she pointed at Zhou Jingjing and Zheng Wenling.
"Even though you said they are sacrifices for some reason, you should at least be keeping them alive to fulfill that task, right? Therefore, if they freeze to death before we reach our destination, wouldn't all your effort be pointless?"
Deng Lijuan was extremely clever at convincing Lee Tao as she pointed out the things that only he would care about.
If she had simply said she didn't want to see them suffer, then she was sure Lee Tao would flat-out refuse her words.
Hell, he might even torture them more by ordering them to strip naked.
Lee Tao took a few seconds to ponder over Deng Lijuan's words.
"Hmm, your logic is reasonable enough." Lee Tao said calmly.
Afterward, he waved his hand and sent out a few strands of profound qi.
The profound qi was dense and glowed a blue light as it attached itself to Zhou Jingjing and Zheng Wenling's neck.
Soon, their complexion turned for the better as the profound qi warmed their body up.
Deng Lijuan showed a slight smile to see them turning better and gave a thumbs up to Lee Tao.
"Master's skills are indeed unparalleled!" She said in an attempt to bootlicking him.
Meanwhile, Lee Tao showed a nonchalant expression at her praising skill.
Instead, he smacked her head slightly, "Don't you dare try to become those useless people that can only bootlick others. I hate bootlickers the most."
"But I'm stating the truth~" Deng Lijuan replied in a sweet tone and made a heart sign with her hands.
"..."
Lee Tao almost felt like vomiting when he saw Deng Lijuan trying to act cute.
However, just when he was about to reprimand Deng Lijuan. A loud explosion occurred nearby.
Hearing the explosion sound. Lee Tao's facial expression darkened completely.
"Great! Another stupid cliche scenario right when I want to do some scolding someone, and this time, it's fucking hunters."
Author's Note: Sorry for the bad update frequency.... I'm trying my best to find my rhythm in writing again.