After confirming that Qian Wuyi’s side had no immediate problems, Zhoumo gradually began to verify the current status of the other squads in “Extreme Path.”

According to what Yan Zhichun, Jiang Ruoxue, and Old Sun had said, the locations where they were stationed had encountered issues to varying degrees, but from the current perspective, the problems were roughly resolved. How well they were specifically resolved would still depend on subsequent developments.

Within a few hours, almost all members of “Extreme Path” had already arrived at their destinations.

Old Deng led everyone according to the map to an “Earth-Ox” game venue—it was an open-air sports stadium that looked like some kind of tug-of-war game.

An exceptionally muscular female Earth-Ox was sitting in the center of the plaza waiting for them. After both sides met, they didn’t say a word to each other, only exchanging nods.

Aunt Tong led her squad to the venue of a tall “Earth-Rabbit,” whose game was called “Penglai.” Both sides similarly hit it off and didn’t speak much.

Xiao Xiao and Lin Qin arrived at the glass shop and encountered a lazy-looking “Earth-Dog.”

Lin Qin could be considered to have some rapport with the other party. After all, during the last “Calamity Year,” the four girls suffered heavy casualties. After both sides briefly explained their intentions, the Earth-Dog immediately let everyone enter the house to take shelter. During this time, the Earth-Dog also inquired about Su Shan’s recent situation, to which Lin Qin could only truthfully answer “unclear.”

Finally, there was the captain of the eighth squad—an unknown old man.

Zhoumo spent a long time confirming the other party’s information before finally establishing contact with that old man.

According to what the old man said, he was now leading his squad to the game venue of an “Earth-Rooster.” That “Zodiac” looked colorful and flamboyant, but would bristle at the slightest disagreement, making people very afraid.

Zhoumo simply comforted the old man, but still had some doubts in his heart—

Who exactly was this old man?

Back when they were determining the eight squad captains, the old man had raised his hand on the spot to indicate he was one of the team captains.

Although Zhoumo had doubts in his heart, seeing that neither Jiang Ruoxue nor Yan Zhichun objected, he didn’t expose it on the spot in that chaotic scene. But now, no matter how much he recalled, it was very difficult to remember when exactly this old man had joined “Extreme Path.”

“No… there’s still one more person who needs to be confirmed…”

Zhoumo closed his eyes and struggled to control what little remained of his “conviction,” precisely finding that person among the many.

“Tch, ‘Heavenly Gate’ leader, how are you doing?” Zhoumo asked.

“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu’s voice came back. “Rare—you can still contact me?”

“I touched you briefly earlier in the chaos,” Zhoumo said. “Tch, judging by your voice, seems like you’re fine. Well then, good luck on your own.”

“Ha…” Chu Tianqiu chuckled lightly and said, “Tell Yan Zhichun that she owes me a tremendous favor. She should think about how to repay it.”

Zhoumo naturally knew what situation Chu Tianqiu was referring to. He could only pause for a moment before saying two words he had almost never said before—

“Thanks.”

“How terrifying,” Chu Tianqiu said. “It feels more normal when you say nothing at all.”

“Tch, then you might as well just go die.”

…

After ending his conversation with Zhoumo, Chu Tianqiu raised his head to look at the large group of “Participants” surrounding him.

At this moment, all members of “Heavenly Gate” were already surrounded in the center, all bearing injuries.

Chu Tianqiu knew this was an inevitable situation. After all, “Heavenly Gate’s” mission was to cover the entire “Extreme Path’s” retreat.

This caused “Extreme Path” to not counterattack the “Participants” at all during their escape, only focusing wholeheartedly on concealing themselves in the crowd. On the contrary, “Heavenly Gate” would continuously strike at these reinforcements that came rushing over. Before long, all the “Participants” gave up pursuing “Extreme Path” and collectively redirected their encirclement toward “Heavenly Gate.”

Although over a hundred people were surrounding “Heavenly Gate’s” twenty-plus members, not a single person dared to make the first move.

After all, “Heavenly Gate’s” team looked too formidable—not only were all members “Echo” users, but several were extremely skilled at combat.

Zhang Shan took a deep breath and spoke: “Chu Tianqiu, don’t you still have something urgent to attend to?”

Chu Tianqiu looked at the sky and said, “That’s right. That arrogant Qi Xia wants me to board the ‘train’ to handle some matters. The time is about right.”

Little Glasses reached up to push his glasses, then surveyed everyone around: “Mr. Chu, why don’t you go first? Being dragged down here all this time doesn’t seem like a strategy you would employ.”

Chu Tianqiu pondered for a few seconds before speaking: “I should indeed prioritize the bigger picture, but for some reason, there’s always a voice in my mind telling me to confirm that you’re all safe before leaving.”

“This truly makes me feel flattered,” Little Glasses thought for half a second, then turned back to look at everyone behind him and asked, “I feel like I haven’t seen Old Lu in a long time… Is he already dead?”

“Don’t know,” Chu Tianqiu said. “There’s no way to consider the situation of the deceased right now. First, think of a way to break free.”

Zhang Shan flexed his muscles and said, “How about I hold them off while you all try to escape?”

“Don’t be foolish,” Chu Tianqiu said. “‘Taking on a hundred alone’—that kind of thing simply doesn’t exist in reality. You can’t release ‘Heavenly Vigor’ right now. No matter how good you are at fighting, you’ll still be swallowed up by the crowd.”

“‘Taking on a hundred alone’ truly isn’t possible…” Zhang Shan reached up to scratch his head. “But I vaguely remember some boastful person telling me he could retreat while fighting and knock down thirty-seven people barehanded.”

“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu chuckled lightly. “He wasn’t just bragging, was he?”

“Damn, who knows?” Zhang Shan said. “I can’t even remember who said it.”

“Don’t try to be a hero,” Chu Tianqiu said. “You just fought with Baihu. It’s already fortunate you didn’t die. Think of a way to break through together.”

Li Xiangling held her wooden staff in hand to examine it. After a moment, she planted it on the ground and with a short kick snapped off the tip, exposing a sharp fractured surface that made it more like a long spear.

“All weapons are killing techniques. I promised Grandfather I wouldn’t harm people on my own initiative…” Li Xiangling raised her head and said, “Unless I’m about to die.”

She spun the wooden staff in her hand several times and pointed it toward the encirclement before her—

“The Six Harmonies Great Spear repels enemies; the Six Harmonies Small Spear claims lives.”

Before the encirclement could react, Li Xiangling stepped forward, rotating the staff half a turn at her waist, then thrust out the sharpened staff, immediately drawing blood from several people on the spot.

After all, as martial artists say, “strike first to gain the advantage.” Li Xiangling could only break through the encirclement first before more people could react.

The melee erupted instantly. Zhang Shan also stepped forward and seized two people who wanted to counterattack Li Xiangling.

Seeing this, the encirclement almost charged forward en masse, beginning to grapple with the “Heavenly Gate” members. Chu Tianqiu wanted to step forward to help, but was consistently protected by those around him. He could only shield Wen Qiaoyun behind him, doing his best not to get injured in the melee.