Scourge Messenger

Chapter 235 My sister and brother look alike.
"Here, have some blood-nourishing pills."

"I'm perfectly healthy, I don't need to—"

"Eat. You must be very weak after being locked up here for so many days."

The pharmacist insisted on feeding the bunny girl a blood-replenishing pill, regardless of her reasoning. The bunny girl, like a child who didn't want to wear long johns but couldn't defy her mother, reluctantly swallowed the pill.

“Your brother and I have come to rescue you this time; he’s up there.”

“I know. My brother has already told me about your situation. Although I have been in a deep sleep, he has a way to contact me.”

Do you want to see him?

"There's nothing to see here. Isn't he wearing a dog head mask too? It's not even as nice to touch as a real dog head."

Do you know where you're going next?

"I roughly know. My brother said there are pretty older sisters there."

Clang! A broken spear fell down, and then dark red molten lava flowed in from the hole that the apothecary had smashed through. Although the molten lava was a mixture of solid and liquid and would not spray due to pressure, it would gradually widen the hole and eventually completely submerge the hidden prison.

"There's no time, hurry up and go. You should know what to do, right?" Although the pharmacist had so many topics he wanted to discuss with Bunny Girl, time and circumstances didn't allow it.

Putting aside the fact that the prison will soon be submerged by lava, don't forget that Pharmacist Wish is still on a mission, and her companions are waiting up there. Every second she spends here is paid for by the thieves with their blood and lives.

"Mm." The bunny girl nodded, broke free from the pharmacist's embrace, and then slowly floated in the air, her body emitting a spiritual light that pierced through heaven and earth, as if to guide her to other places.

Team Power: Immortal Travel allows you to teleport a team member to your side, or teleport yourself to a team member's side.

Although it is far inferior to the Return Order, which not only prevents movement and can be interrupted during casting, but also requires both parties to continuously channel for thirty seconds to successfully activate... its functionality still amazed the Pharmacist's Wish, because it only has a team cooldown time and no limit on the number of uses!

If you can gain just thirty seconds, you can use this power to escape any danger!
If the [Love Lock] only increases the possibility that the pharmacist is willing to cross the molten lava river, then the [Immortal Journey] is the biggest guarantee for the bunny girl's escape. It is a return token that can be used almost infinitely!

Although these two team powers do not significantly increase combat power, one is defensive and the other is mobile, maximizing functionality and survivability. Moreover, unlike tokens, these two powers will not lose their value as the messenger's strength increases; on the contrary, they will become more and more useful! At least the two Foundation Establishment cultivators that the Pharmacist had met did not have the means of long-distance teleportation and could only travel for several days to reach the Shu Road Mountain.

Even Foundation Establishment Messengers and Ascension Messengers would need this team power!

Even though the pharmacist had already overestimated Yan Qing's abilities, she would soon realize that she had still underestimated this man. Perhaps only a brother like him was qualified to protect his sister, who was a descendant of a natural disaster?

"Sister," the bunny girl said, "thank you for your hard work."

“It wasn’t hard work.” The pharmacist shook his head. “Actually, I didn’t do much. The one who really made a difference was your brother… Without him, I would never have been able to get here, and you would never have been able to escape from here. What I did was far less than what he did… He is the one who truly cares about you.”

Bunny Girl clutched her stomach and chuckled sheepishly. After spending many days together, Pharmacist Yuan had become quite familiar with Bunny Girl's smiles. Bunny Girl had three smiles in total: one was a slight smile, used sarcastically; the second was a comical squinting smile, used for teasing; and the third was a sheepish grin that showed her teeth, indicating that it was genuinely funny.

Therefore, the pharmacist was very confused, not knowing what was funny about what he said.

"Sister, you and my brother are actually a bit alike."

"What! How do I resemble him?"

The pharmacist was immediately provoked. She had never been insulted so harshly in her life. This was practically a personal attack!

“According to the psychobehavioral analysis model, you can both be classified as having ‘altruistic self-perception dissonance.’ You both only see the good in others, but subconsciously ignore your own contributions. No matter how well you do, it always seems like it’s not good enough. My brother is just a bit more extreme. He even subconsciously denies his own good intentions, as if being kind to others is some kind of heinous crime. He’s as awkward as a little kid,” the bunny girl said earnestly. “Sister, you’re pretty much the same. You always feel that your contributions are your due, but you remember the kindness of others. If my brother is a little kid who hasn’t grown up yet, you’re like someone who likes to take care of other people’s mothers.”

What? What psychological behavior analysis model? I understand each word individually, but why can't I understand it when they're put together? For the first time, Pharmacist Yuan felt like she hadn't read enough books. Was Yan Qing's education of the bunny girl really this advanced?

The bunny girl rested her chin on her hands, looking old-fashioned, almost as if she were holding a cup of tea: "I'm the only normal person in this family."

“I don’t enjoy taking care of others,” Pharmacist Yuan retorted immediately.

"Really? You're really not happy that others need you?"

"no!"

Even if I need you?

Clang! Another broken spear fell down, and molten lava flowed from both gaps at the same time, officially marking the beginning of the prison's countdown to destruction.

The pharmacist shook his head: "It's different. You're not just anyone. It's only right that I take care of you."

"So what if my brother is good to me? What does that have to do with how good you are to me, sister? Just because my brother played a bigger role, does that mean your contribution can be erased?" The bunny girl smiled again, revealing her little tiger teeth and dimples: "You have no idea how happy I was when I saw you just now. You really kept our promise and came to pick me up as promised."

“Of course I will come to pick you up,” the pharmacist said, his voice slightly choked as he looked at the gradually intensifying light emanating from her. “How could I not come to pick you up? You are my family… my only family.”

"Will we meet again?" Bunny Girl reached out her hand.

"We'll meet again." The pharmacist nodded emphatically, reaching out to take her hand. "We definitely will!"

Whoosh. Bunny Girl vanished from the prison in a blaze of light. Pharmacist Yuan stared blankly at the spot where she disappeared until lava washed away the rock walls and flowed to her feet.

Meanwhile, at the Pingcheng military camp, a thousand miles away.

In a small courtyard where only the governors were qualified to live, Ye Si and Jiang Shi shared a room, sitting cross-legged on the bed with their eyes closed, resting. At this moment, Jiang Shi's body was filled with a blue light, which was pulled taut like a rope in a tug-of-war, as if trying to pull something from a distant place.

Suddenly, the streams of light converged on the open ground, weaving into a little girl with a thick braid and wearing tattered clothes. Ye Sijiang opened his eyes, met the little girl's gaze, and it seemed that no words were needed; their eyes alone were enough to communicate.

The little girl climbed onto the bed that had been prepared for her and sat cross-legged to enter a meditative state.

The Pingcheng military camp was eerily quiet in the early morning. No one knew that a monster capable of slaughtering the entire camp with its bare hands had appeared nearby. ...

...

"Ho!"

Yan Qing shouted and pulled hard on the chains, pulling Yao Shiyuan out of the molten lava river.

The pharmacist rolled to the ground and immediately took off her helmet. The ends of her hair were already burning, and the black wolf mask had several small holes burned through it. Yan Qing ignored the scorching heat and went up to help remove her other armor.

There are "Love Locks" when you go down into the Lava Prison, but you won't get that treatment when you come back up.

Moreover, because Yaoshiyuan was wearing heavy armor and the lava was heavy, he could hardly swim in the lava. He could only rely on Yanqing to pull the chains on him, so his speed was naturally not much faster.

When the apothecary's defensive barrier was exhausted, she could only rely on her armor to withstand the heat, which reached unimaginable levels in just a second or two. The temperature alone was bearable, but armor is different from thick chains made entirely of fine steel. To facilitate movement, some armor is necessarily thinner or even mixed with more flexible materials, which naturally become the first leaks to melt in the molten lava.

"You're lucky this time," Yan Qing said, watching the pharmacist extinguish the flames on his body. "Let's see if you dare to act recklessly like this again next time."

"It's none of your business." The pharmacist raised an eyebrow. "I'm just following your orders on this mission. What, do you really want to be my leader and command me?"

Yan Qing stared in disbelief. They're back! They're all back! He'd just rescued the Bunny Girl, and now Yao Shi Yuan had immediately reverted to his old, arrogant and domineering thief, Black Wolf. Using people when he needs them, discarding them when he doesn't—Yao Shi Yuan, you bastard…

Although the pharmacist didn't say anything, Yan Qing knew that the bunny girl had already run to Jiang Shi's place. After all, the [Immortal Journey] skill has a shared cooldown time for the whole team. When the bunny girl used Immortal Journey, Yan Qing would find that [Immortal Journey] had entered the cooldown state.

In other words, the [Immortal Journey] skill, like the Return Token, can be activated even in secret realms, without as many restrictions as the Thieves' House's free return skill. However, the Thieves' House's free return skill is almost equivalent to teleportation and has no limit on the number of uses; if it could be activated in secret realms, it would be too overpowered.

I wonder what Bunny Girl said to Pharmacist Yuan... Before setting off, Yan Qing had set Bunny Girl to evolve completely automatically. Apart from the inevitable activation of [Immortal Journey], the system would choose the dialogue options for everyone else. After all, Yan Qing couldn't possibly take a game console on a mission. At most, he could only determine whether Bunny Girl's attitude towards Pharmacist Yuan was 'close' or 'distancing'.

However, based on Yan Qing's use of AI before his time travel, he strongly suspected that the Bunny Girl might start spouting nonsense as she spoke.

Yan Qing glanced at the melted armor that the pharmacist had thrown down. "What are you going to do with it? Take it back or throw it into the lava?" This armor is too distinctive; leaving it at the scene is tantamount to revealing one's identity.

"Throw it in, I need to treat my wounds, you go." The pharmacist was willing to consume blood-replenishing pills like crazy. Every time she dived into the lava, she used the Blood Sacrifice Dagger to strengthen her defensive barrier, and her own health had already dropped to an extremely dangerous level.

You son of a bitch...

Yan Qing kicked the armor into the lava, and there was also Chu Luoyan's already looted corpse. These could expose Yao Shiyuan's traces and could not be left.

He glanced at the ebony rock door above him: "Now we can only wait for them to open the door; there's nothing we can do here."

"You can practice your swordsmanship on the corpses of the constables from the Divine Marquis's Mansion, so you won't embarrass yourself like this next time," Yao Shiyuan said calmly. "It would be a waste to give you the Bingzi Jiaolin sword. I wouldn't have wielded a sword so badly even when I was thirteen."

Yan Qing's face darkened. He thought the pharmacist hadn't seen his actions, but it turned out he'd been exposed after all. It proved that feeding him secret manuals didn't guarantee mastery of the art; only overwhelming opponents with high-level tokens was the surest way to win. Technique was unreliable; stats were the true measure of victory.

"Yellow Dog," after treating the wound, the pharmacist suddenly asked, "Your organization was founded on the very day you issued your declaration, wasn't it?"

There's no point in hiding it, Yan Qing replied: "So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?"

"The timing of the declaration was right after we learned the details of this mission," Pharmacist said. "I was just thinking that these two team powers are so perfect for our operation. Could it be that you did this because I'm going to rescue Bunny Girl—"

"Don't flatter yourself," Yan Qing interrupted her. "Do you really think you're that valuable to me?"

The pharmacist stared at him intently, muttering to herself, "It seems she does have some truth to it..."

"what?"

"None of your business."

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud bang erupted from above, as loud as thunder. The two were startled and looked up to see that the Ebony Rock gate had been smashed open by a huge iron hammer, the door panel was deformed, and a crack was exposed.

Two familiar snake and fox masks peeked out from the crack in the door. Shang Xinlei, covered in blood, looked down at them, holding a snake-patterned rope in her hand, her voice full of resentment: "Oh, aren't these our most powerful Black Wolf and Yellow Dog? What, do you need a little help?"

Yan Qing glanced at Yao Shiyuan, who took a deep breath, looked up and shouted, "Red Serpent, save us!"

"Speak louder, I can't hear you."

"Red Serpent, please, save us!"

"Hmm, that's alright. So, what about the other one?"

"Me too?" Yan Qing pointed to herself incredulously.

"Otherwise what? Do you think you're that close to me?" Shang Xinlei said through gritted teeth, "Who just left me all alone up there?"

Left with no other choice, Yan Qing could only cry out, "Red Serpent, save us!"

"Let's try a different line, something new!"

"Red Serpent, we need you! You are light, you are electricity, you are the only myth!"

"Huh? I didn't realize I was so important to you." Shang Xinlei scratched her head sheepishly, while Ying Rushi secretly chuckled.

Yan Qing's fist hardened, so hard that he wanted to tear off her stockings!
(End of this chapter)