Qin Shilei and his companions were not afraid of the flock of long-beaked birds, but they also did not wish to provoke them.
Firstly, there was not much salvage to be gained from killing them.
Secondly, they were currently carrying mutated corn, and if the birds damaged the corn, it would be a loss outweighing any gain.
Therefore, Qin Shilei chose to hide in the room and wait for the flock of long-beaked birds to leave on their own.
Han Hongyu and the others behind them likely had the same intention, though it was unclear which floor they were hiding on.
Qin Shilei thought for a moment, then found some cloth strips in the room, soaked them, and stuffed them into the door cracks.
He turned to Zhang Xiaoli and said, "You should use your ability bead to recover your mental strength first."
After their back-to-back battles, both of their mental strength and primal energy were more than half depleted, and it was indeed time to recover.
"Cheep cheep!"
The sounds of birds chirping came from outside the door.
Fortunately, they did not try to break down the door, and soon flew away.
Qin Shilei walked to the window, pulled the curtain aside a little, and peered out.
Outside, the long-beaked birds blotted out the sky. They were even attacking the mantis beetles on the ground.
Qin Shilei could vaguely see the corpses of three mantis beetles on the ground.
The advantage of numbers was indeed not to be underestimated.
Half an hour later, Zhang Xiaoli had finally recovered to her full strength.
Seeing that the flock of birds had not yet left, she suggested, "How about I accelerate the ripening of this corn? It will be more convenient to carry then."
Qin Shilei nodded, "That's a good idea."
As they were delayed from returning due to the flock of birds, An Qian and the others also encountered their own crisis.
"Sister Qingshu, is that wild boar really that formidable?" An Qian asked, turning to her.
"It killed one of our Black Iron five-star evolutionaries in less than a minute. I'm truly lacking confidence, which is why I called you here."
Kong Qingshu pointed to a village ahead and said, "We discovered it while searching for supplies in that village ahead."
They had not been in the village for long before they discovered the giant wild boar.
It was a massive wild boar, four to five meters long and weighing two to three thousand pounds.
At that moment, it was burying its head in eating.
When An Qian saw what the boar was eating, a surge of anger immediately rose within her.
The giant wild boar's mouth was chewing on a human thigh.
Crimson blood was dripping incessantly from the boar's half-meter-long tusks.
"Grunt!"
Upon seeing An Qian and the others, the wild boar immediately stopped eating, raised its head, and let out a low growl, while its front legs pawed the ground restlessly.
Then, like a tank, it charged towards An Qian.
"Good!"
An Qian also raised her sword and charged forward.
Boom!
Like two speeding cars colliding, a deafening crash echoed.
In Kong Qingshu's sight, the fiery red figure did not retreat an inch. Instead, the enormous wild boar staggered back three steps.
"The Silver realm is truly powerful. When will I be able to advance to Silver?" Kong Qingshu sighed.
After being forced back by a single move, the wild boar actually turned and fled.
"Where do you think you're going?" An Qian shouted, transforming into a fiery red phantom and giving chase.
The mutated wild boar must have activated a speed-boosting skill, as it covered nearly twenty meters in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, it had encountered An Qian.
Fleeting Light, Shifting Shadow!
An Qian instantly caught up to the wild boar and then, with a single strike, "White Rainbow Pierces the Sun," thrust her sword into its head.
"Grunt!"
The wild boar screamed and ran another ten meters before crashing to the ground with a thud. After convulsing for a while, it finally drew its last breath.
Kong Qingshu walked forward and said, "Sister An Qian, I didn't expect you to kill this terrifying mutated wild boar in less than a minute."
An Qian was about to reply when she suddenly noticed the sky darken.
Looking up, she saw that countless bats had somehow appeared in the sky, obscuring the sun.
"Take cover!"
An Qian's expression changed. She grabbed Kong Qingshu and they quickly ran into a nearby building.
Their several subordinates also hurriedly followed them into the building.
These bats were the same flock that Qin Shilei had encountered before. It was unclear why they had suddenly changed course and arrived near Hope City.
Perhaps attracted by the scent of blood from the mutated wild boar below, the flock of bats descended like lightning.
"Ah!"
One person, too slow to escape, was spotted by the bats in the sky before he could reach the building and was instantly overtaken.
He screamed while wildly swinging the sword in his hand.
"I'll go save him."
An Qian used Fleeting Light, Shifting Shadow to instantly appear beside the person, grabbed him, and rushed back into the house.
After An Qian rushed in, Kong Qingshu quickly slammed the door shut.
The group worked together to kill the bats on that person, only to discover that his throat had been bitten off by the bats, and he died without even leaving a last word.
"Commander An, those bats are about to break through the window!" someone said anxiously, pointing at the window.
"Quickly block the window with something."
An Qian commanded, then paused and said to Kong Qingshu, "Sister Qingshu, I'll go out and use my ultimate technique in a moment. Please protect me."
Kong Qingshu's heart tightened, and she said solemnly, "Sister will surely protect you."
An Qian walked to the side of the main door, suddenly flung it open, and rushed out.
Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix!
Instantly, countless energy giant birds formed and, following the phantom of the Azure Phoenix behind An Qian, pounced on the surrounding bats.
The bats that had been attacking An Qian in a circle were instantly incinerated into ashes.
"Roar!"
At this very moment, the Bat King let out a roar, and the entire flock of bats opened their mouths in unison and unleashed their sonic wave attack.
Affected by the sonic attack, An Qian's entire body stiffened.
Fortunately, once the ultimate technique "Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix" was unleashed, it was led by the phantom of the Azure Phoenix to attack the enemy, so it was not significantly affected.
Innumerable bats fell from the sky like dumplings, quickly covering the ground around them.
The Bat King, unable to dodge in time, was grazed by one of the energy giant birds. It was burned and screamed continuously, fleeing in panic to a distance.
The phantom of the Azure Phoenix slowly faded. An Qian remained in a standing posture, motionless.
Kong Qingshu had also finished killing the bats that had flown into the house and instantly rushed to An Qian's side, supporting her.
"Sister An Qian, are you alright?"
An Qian shook her head, "I'm fine, just a bit depleted in primal energy."
"This is bad, we need to run!"
Kong Qingshu quickly hugged An Qian and rushed into the building.
However, before they could even close the main door, dense swarms of bats followed them in.
An Qian's attack had killed two-thirds of the bats in the sky.
Surprisingly, the severely wounded bats were not scared away. Under the command of the Bat King, they once again charged towards them.
Kong Qingshu released An Qian, took out her long whip, and swung out wave after wave of whip shadows, keeping the bats at bay within three meters.
An Qian, meanwhile, sat on the ground and took out two third-tier crystal cores, rapidly absorbing them.
Although Kong Qingshu also possessed Black Iron nine-star cultivation, when faced with such a vast number of bats, she quickly found herself at a disadvantage.
Several screams could be heard nearby, presumably their subordinates were also in peril.