Many people made bets on whether "De Shen" would be defeated.
Even WCC Radio opened an official betting line.
However, that night, some people made a fortune, while others cried in despair.
Of course, Chu Tian was unaware of these matters; otherwise, he would have bet heavily on himself to win.
Seven days passed, his level continuously soared, and his physical fitness and combat skills also grew rapidly.
His peculiar recovery ability shocked Gao Kai and the others.
Every time Chu Tian was left bruised, battered, and exhausted, he would be back on his feet and jumping within an hour.
He gestured with a finger at Zhao Lei and Jing Kaiyu, taunting, "Come on... you guys come at me..."
Initially, without using his spiritual soul, Chu Tian would be completely overwhelmed by anyone he fought.
Now, he could even hold his own against two opponents simultaneously for half an hour.
Over these few days, he had been trying to contact Nine Division without success.
Even Gao Kai had enlisted old comrades to help, but they couldn't find any contact information for Nine Division.
As days went by, Chu Tian's mood began to grow restless.
If all else failed, he would have to go to the Taihang Mountains earlier to search.
However, the Taihang Mountains were vast, and Chu Tian had no idea where to look or if he would even find anything.
After getting off the boxing ring, Chu Tian sat down to rest and picked up his phone.
He found over a dozen missed calls.
Opening it, he saw they were all from Yao Junjie.
Two days ago, Yao Junjie had returned to the school dormitory.
He mentioned he had switched rooms.
Chu Tian used his phone to call back.
"Hello, Third Brother, hurry to the hospital, the boss and the others are not doing well!"
As soon as the call connected, he heard Yao Junjie's choked voice.
Chu Tian paused for a moment upon hearing this before replying,
"How is that possible? Weren't they fine the day before yesterday?"
When Yao Junjie left two days ago, they had even gone to the hospital together.
Those old brothers, while not recovering, had not worsened.
How could they be failing after only two days?
"I don't know. After class, I came over and found out the boss and the others had all been transferred to the ICU. The boss suddenly started convulsing just now and has been sent to the emergency room."
Hearing this, Chu Tian grabbed his clothes, put them on, and rushed out.
These roommates had helped him a lot in the past.
After he moved out of the dormitory, they had slowly drifted apart.
"Tian Ge, where are you going..."
Zhao Lei shouted from the boxing ring, seeing Chu Tian rushing out in a panic.
Before he could finish, Chu Tian had already pushed open the door and fled.
Gao Kai and the other two exchanged glances, wondering what was happening with Chu Tian to make him so anxious.
"Could it be about Luo Luo..." Jing Kaiyu speculated.
"Holy crap..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Lei jumped off the boxing ring and grabbed his clothes, also running out.
"Leizi, what are you doing?"
Gao Kai asked inexplicably.
Zhao Lei said as he ran,
"If Tian Ge goes alone and encounters the Luo family, he'll be at a disadvantage! Don't you remember what Ye Ling said about who the Luo family hates the most?"
Gao Kai was stunned. He exchanged a look with Jing Kaiyu, and they also picked up their belongings and followed.
The Luo family hated soul wielders the most, and Chu Tian was one of them.
Moreover, he was a soul wielder with incredibly potent spiritual soul power.
As they came out, they saw Zhao Lei still running along the road, presumably chasing Chu Tian.
Chu Tian had already disappeared from sight.
Gao Kai reached out to flag down a taxi, but Jing Kaiyu pulled him and they ran across the street.
A sapphire-colored Porsche 911 was parked by the roadside diagonally opposite.
After getting into the car, Gao Kai said to Jing Kaiyu,
"Kid, you're doing pretty well for yourself. Living off your wife, huh? Introduce Zhao Lei to one too!"
Jing Kaiyu's hand trembled, almost making him shift into the wrong gear. He replied to Gao Kai,
"Kai Ge, you're teasing me. My wife and I are true loves."
"Heh heh..."
Gao Kai chuckled noncommittally.
This left Jing Kaiyu in a state of amusement and frustration. He knew Gao Kai meant no harm, just joking with him.
With a step on the accelerator, the car shot forward.
"Leizi, get in!"
By now, he had opened the convertible top.
Zhao Lei glanced at them. "Damn, where am I supposed to sit?"
"Don't be slow, hurry up!" Gao Kai also urged.
With no other option, Zhao Lei hopped into the back seat, crouching there like a monkey.
"Tian Ge is in that taxi!"
Following the direction of Zhao Lei's finger, they spotted a yellow taxi in the line of cars at the red light.
Jing Kaiyu locked onto his target and floored the accelerator.
As soon as the light turned green at the intersection, all the cars began to move.
Jing Kaiyu followed the taxi all the way to their destination.
After Chu Tian alighted, Gao Kai and Zhao Lei jumped out of the car and blocked him.
"Why are you guys here?" Chu Tian asked, surprised.
"The Luo family isn't easy to deal with. You can't act alone!"
Gao Kai explained their intentions. Chu Tian felt a warmth spread through him; these three brothers were worried about his safety.
Chu Tian awkwardly scratched his head and smiled,
"I didn't explain things clearly, causing you worry. I'm here because my classmates have a strange illness and might not make it."
Zhao Lei asked, "What kind of strange illness? Is it stranger than the weird things we encountered in the Qinling Mountains?"
He seemed very interested, like a curious child.
Chu Tian briefly explained the situation to them and what he had seen of the four people.
Jing Kaiyu, having parked the car, happened to overhear Chu Tian's last words.
He frowned and asked, "Did those four go into the water?"
Jing Kaiyu's question made Chu Tian and the other two look at him strangely. Chu Tian replied,
"I'm not sure about that. They probably didn't, right? I remember none of them knew how to swim... Why do you ask?"
Jing Kaiyu considered for a moment and said, "In my hometown, people who were ensnared by 'water monkeys' were like them."
"Water monkeys?"
"Otters?"
Jing Kaiyu nodded. "Scientific explanations say water monkeys are otters, but what we called water monkeys... were water ghosts..."
"Holy crap... are you kidding me? Where the hell are ghosts?" Zhao Lei blurted out.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he saw all three of them looking at him.
He suddenly remembered what had happened in the Qinling Mountains and sheepishly added, "Never mind..."
Then he muttered softly, "Except for that Xu Duoduo, I really haven't seen any ghosts!"
Speaking of which, Chu Tian remembered something: the four of them kept asking for water, specifically very hot boiled water.
He mentioned this as well. Jing Kaiyu frowned, "That makes it even more likely. However, I've never seen it with my own eyes.
I only heard about it from elders when I was little.
But I never heard them ask for boiled water. They just said that people ensnared by water monkeys needed to constantly drink water.
If they weren't given water, all their cells would dry out, and they would turn into mummified corpses like dried fish!"
As they spoke, the four entered the hospital.
They arrived at the ICU and saw Yao Junjie...