His action completely terrified Ma Xiong. He could see that Lu Zong was pouring all his strength into stabbing the armored figure; if Lu Zong had landed the blow, the figure would certainly have died. Although he himself would have been saved as a result, he could not bear the guilt of sacrificing a friend to save his own life.

So, he quickly darted forward, reaching out with both hands toward the direction where the spear was descending. Fortunately, Ma Xiong’s movement was incredibly fast, and the spear stopped just a few millimeters from the armored figure's body. However, due to the immense force of the spear, Ma Xiong’s hands were scraped raw where they contacted the shaft, drawing faint lines of blood.

Ma Xiong snatched the spear away from Lu Zong’s grip and hurled it far into the distance. Then, clutching his hands, he took deep, gasping breaths, trying to exhale the pain churning inside him. But how could that sensation diminish just by expelling the foul air from his body? Thus, he could only continue desperately tugging at his own arm, trying to interrupt the speed and path by which the pain was racing to his mind.

Lu Zong stared blankly at everything that had just transpired, not yet having fully processed it. He only saw Ma Xiong grimacing and pressing his hands in agony, realizing that his hands must have been injured by the spear tip moments ago. He rushed over immediately, solicitously taking Ma Xiong’s hand. On it, he saw a layer of skin neatly stripped away, with even splinters of wood deeply embedded in his flesh.

Lu Zong solemnly tore a piece of cloth from his clothing and wrapped it around the injured area, asking with concern, “Ma Xiong, are you alright?”

Ma Xiong looked at the concerned face of Lu Zong. How could he blame him now? He could only swallow his frustration and reply, “It’s fine. What was going on with you just now? Why were you trying to stab yourself with the spear? Didn’t you know that doing that meant certain death for you?”

Lu Zong looked at the reproachful gaze of Ma Xiong and realized he had misjudged him moments before. Ma Xiong hadn't been trying to impale himself; he had been devising a solution. He fell silent, gazing intensely ahead, seemingly lost in thought, searching for a way.

Ma Xiong suddenly spoke up, “Lu Zong, in the instant I caught your spear tip, I thought of a method. I don’t know if it will work, but I think it’s worth a try.”

Lu Zong urgently asked, “What method? Tell me quickly, as long as it doesn’t involve me hitting that spatial barrier.” Ma Xiong looked at Lu Zong with some hesitation, lowering his voice as he confided, “Ah, that... we’ll discuss that later. For now, just do exactly as I say. I guarantee we’ll get out smoothly, don’t worry.”

Lu Zong, being somewhat impatient, pressed, “Hurry up and say it, stop dawdling here. Just tell me what you need me to do. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the bigger picture in mind; wasn’t I willing to sacrifice myself just now?”

Only then did Ma Xiong slowly say, “You need to charge that spatial layer one more time. This time, I have an eighty percent certainty we will succeed, provided you follow my instructions.”

Lu Zong’s legs felt weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground, because he clearly heard Ma Xiong asking him to use his head to strike the spatial barrier again. Wasn’t that just asking him to commit suicide once more?

He immediately refused, saying, “No way, not even if you beat me to death. You can ask me to kill myself, but making me hit that spatial layer again? No chance. Didn’t we try twice already? Neither succeeded. Why should it work if I hit it? Oh, wait, I get it now. You must be trying to get revenge because I refused to hit the wall earlier. Isn’t that the reason?”

Ma Xiong quickly defended himself, “Lu Zong, you misunderstood me. This time, I’m not asking you to charge the wall openly, but deliberately. This time, I’ll have you carry something when you hit it, and it will definitely succeed.”

Lu Zong looked around, trying to see what treasure Ma Xiong meant for him to carry, but the surroundings were still the same endless expanse of yellow sand—there was no treasure anywhere. He immediately asked, “What do you want me to carry? You’re not suggesting I carry you to hit it, are you?”

Ma Xiong cleared his throat twice and explained, “The reason we can’t break through this spatial gate is because this armored figure is disrupting the balance of Yin and Yang here, which is why we can’t pass through this layer of space. However, if we can find a way to get rid of this person, so it no longer affects the local Yin-Yang balance, wouldn’t it be easy for us to leave then?”

Lu Zong vaguely felt like he understood something, sensing there was some logic to it, and immediately agreed, “Fine. I feel like this might be the way we get saved, even though I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.”

Ma Xiong pulled Lu Zong over to the armored figure, motioning for Lu Zong to bend over. Ma Xiong then used his injured arms to tightly embrace the armor, putting forth the last bit of strength he had, finally managing to hoist the armored figure onto Lu Zong’s back. Lu Zong gasped, “Looks like I need to diet my physical body from now on. Damn it, it’s crushing me.”

Ma Xiong chuckled and said, “You only just noticed? I saw that you needed to lose weight back when you were living with Han Chong.”

Lu Zong looked at the surprisingly profound Ma Xiong in front of him, curiously asking, “How did you know back then?”

Ma Xiong grinned slyly, “Didn’t you notice how Han Chong’s body became much flatter after coming out of the room? He wasn’t even pregnant. Oh, right, that suggests your body doesn’t just have weight issues, but also…”

Before Ma Xiong could finish, Lu Zong’s face flushed crimson as he retorted, “I used a condom back then!”

Ma Xiong burst into laughter. Lu Zong finally noticed he had fallen into Ma Xiong’s trap, quickly covering his mouth with his hand, ceasing to speak.

When everything was ready, Ma Xiong looked at the armored figure resting on Lu Zong’s back. He carefully removed the helmet from the figure’s head, gazing at the two identical faces within, marveling, “Truly a masterpiece of nature. They look so alike. I never imagined you two would be without even the slightest variation.”

Lu Zong shot Ma Xiong an annoyed glance, saying, “Focusing on the urgent matter at hand is more important now. You should stop worrying about those things. If we don’t hurry, I’m afraid we’ll be roasted into braised pork.”

Ma Xiong then noticed that the temperature was indeed rising rapidly. He immediately moved away from Lu Zong and urged him, “When you start running for your approach, you have to run fast. When you get close to that membrane, absolutely do not forget to jump! That way, your speed will be maximized, fully overcoming the obstruction of the Yin energy, and you’ll succeed in passing through. Do you remember that?”

Lu Zong nodded, looking at Ma Xiong with a gaze that suggested partial understanding. Although he hadn't grasped the underlying reason for Ma Xiong’s words, he remembered the steps clearly.

Following Ma Xiong’s instructions, he walked a few paces back and began to run slowly. Those few steps of momentum were crucial; if the initial speed wasn’t fast enough, he would likely fall behind later.

The sensation of intense speed from before roared in his ears again. Even though he was carrying a person, and one of unknown weight at that, under these life-or-death circumstances, even carrying an elephant wouldn’t have slowed him much.

Finally, he saw the thin membrane rapidly approaching, instantly right before his eyes. To prevent his head from being injured again, he thrust the armored figure’s head forward. With a thud, his vision went black, instantly filling him with dizziness and vertigo. Yet, even amidst the spinning, he forced himself to think: the armor’s body was supposed to have struck it, so why was he feeling the pain?

It then dawned on him: that armored figure was him. If he struck the armor, wouldn't he feel the pain?

He frantically patted his own head and looked around, trying to locate the armored figure, concerned whether any mishap had occurred during the collision.

Unexpectedly, he couldn’t find the armored figure. Strange. He touched his head; it had clearly been on his back just moments ago. But at the instant of contact with the thin membrane, he felt the weight on his back suddenly shift downward, moving inside his own body. Could it be that he had "returned to his place"?

He quickly scanned his surroundings again but still found nothing. However, the scenery here was a world apart from where he had been. He could finally sense the presence of human energy; right in front of him was the place he had longed to reach—the massive encampment of tents.

He let out an excited scream, eager to see if there was anyone inside the tents. But no one answered him; only echoes reverberated mightily in the distance.

He suddenly noticed that Ma Xiong had not followed him and became anxious. He turned around to check if Ma Xiong had made it through, but to his disappointment, there was nothing behind him.

He wondered, Could Ma Xiong not pass through? That couldn’t be right. Ma Xiong had said that once the Yin-heavy object left that area, the space would return to normal, meaning Ma Xiong should be able to cross too. So why was there no sign of him now? Had something gone wrong with Ma Xiong?

The thought sparked an overly sensitive reaction. He quickly walked two steps back, preparing to start his run again, intending to go back and see what mishap had befallen Ma Xiong that prevented him from crossing.

He acted on the thought, walking back two paces, then starting his run. The speed slowly increased until he felt that rush of wind return to his surroundings once more. Strangely, he now felt a degree of admiration for this speed and frenzy. The weight on his head had inexplicably lessened considerably.

But a turn of events occurred right at that moment, because he saw the spatial membrane ahead suddenly begin to spit something out. Finally, the shape of a human head appeared. Excitedly, he wondered, Is that Ma Xiong?

Focusing his eyes, it was indeed Ma Xiong. The excitement in his heart was indescribable. But a new problem immediately arose: he realized he couldn't stop. So, he closed his eyes, bracing for the nightmare to unfold.

With a thud, tragedy struck at that instant.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.