Chapter 968: Chapter 968

Led by Ai Xiaoying, the five of them walked toward a valley.

Lin Chen walked up to Ai Xiaoying and said coldly, "Ai Xiaoying, I hope you behave. If you try any tricks, I won't be kind to you."

Ai Xiaoying rolled her eyes at Lin Chen and gave a mysterious smile, "Instead of guarding against me like a thief, you better watch out for Lan Xingling. She's much more dangerous than me!"

"Do you know each other?" Lin Chen asked in confusion.

Ai Xiaoying didn't answer Lin Chen's question but said mysteriously, "Guess!"

Lin Chen was speechless. He suddenly had a feeling that this expedition would definitely be full of trouble.

Along the way, Lin Chen kept a close eye on Ai Xiaoying to prevent her from playing any tricks.

Suddenly, Ai Xiaoying stopped and looked up at a narrow strip of sky above them, "We need to move fast, a sandstorm is coming."

Upon hearing Ai Xiaoying's words, the faces of the five people changed. They had witnessed the power of the sandstorm before.

The five walked across a patch of soft sand. Suddenly, Lin Chen felt his foot sink, and his expression changed drastically.

"It's quicksand!" At this moment, he looked at Ai Xiaoying with a glimmer of coldness in his eyes, instantly furious. In the end, he had fallen for this girl's trick.

At this moment, the people behind him had also become trapped in the quicksand.

Lin Chen reached out his hand and threw out his grappling hook.

He initially intended to use the grappling hook to escape the quicksand pit. However, when the hook embedded into the rock wall, it fell down with a little force.

Damn it, the wall is covered in sand and can't hold the grappling hook.

Lin Chen looked at Ai Xiaoying not far away; she was also in the quicksand but completely unaffected.

She looked mockingly at the several people trapped in the quicksand and gave a faint smile: "Want to live? Very simple, hand over the jade token, and I'll pull you out."

Lin Chen looked coldly at Ai Xiaoying: "You want the jade token? Don't dream in broad daylight."

Ai Xiaoying's face turned cold: "In that case, you can stay buried here forever."

However, Lin Chen snorted coldly, and suddenly waves of cold air emanated from his body.

"How is this possible!" Seeing the scene in front of her, Ai Xiaoying was suddenly stunned.

The sandy ground around them was suddenly covered with a layer of ice. The quicksand that was sinking was unexpectedly frozen by the ice that appeared.

The few of them stopped sinking and had a foothold, and all four of them leaped out of the pile of sand.

Seeing this scene, Ai Xiaoying was shocked.

She watched as the four people rushed out of the quicksand pile and immediately turned to flee.

However, just as Ai Xiaoying had run a few steps, Lin Chen appeared in front of her.

"Miss Ai, where do you think you're going?" Lin Chen looked mockingly at Ai Xiaoying.

Ai Xiaoying looked at the angry gazes of the others, feeling embarrassed.

"Just now, it was an accident. I didn't think you would fall into the quicksand, and if I got closer, I would have been trapped too, so I didn't save you," Ai Xiaoying said warily to the others.

Lin Chen snorted, "You're an Earth Attribute user, so manipulating sand is easy for you. This quicksand was a trap you set up!"

Ai Xiaoying was momentarily speechless and said, "Sorry, I, I was wrong."

But Lin Chen's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly rushed out.

Ai Xiaoying's face changed dramatically. She hadn't expected Lin Chen to be so ruthless, even planning to attack her after admitting her mistake.

Accompanied by a muffled sound, Ai Xiaoying's body was kicked flying by Lin Chen.

However, just as Ai Xiaoying's body flew out, she felt something like an iron hook tearing through her clothes.

Looking up, Ai Xiaoying saw a giant eagle above her.

This eagle was so large that it almost blocked half the sky.

Ai Xiaoying's face turned pale. If it hadn't been for Lin Chen's kick just now, she would have been snatched by the eagle already.

Her body hit the ground heavily, and seeing the giant eagle hovering and diving toward her again from the sky, Ai Xiaoying shouted, "Follow me!"

Saying this, she crawled up and fled into a crevice in the rock wall.

Without much thought, the others followed Ai Xiaoying into the crevice.

Lin Chen stood at the entrance and watched the other three girls crawling into the cave.

At this moment, the giant eagle was diving down again, less than a meter away from Lin Chen.

A pungent smell rushed over, and the eagle's hook-like claws pounced on Lin Chen.

"Lin Chen, watch out!"

Everyone's faces changed drastically, even Zhao Xiaohua showed a hint of worry.

However, just when the giant eagle's iron hook was about to grab Lin Chen, everyone suddenly felt a ripple in the air around Lin Chen.

In the next moment, Lin Chen disappeared from where he stood.

The giant eagle's claw hit empty air and flew back up again.

Almost simultaneously, Lin Chen appeared two or three meters away, swiftly flashing into the crack the others had entered.

Seeing Lin Chen escape from the clutches of the giant eagle, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Ai Xiaoying blushed and lowered her head as she approached Lin Chen, "Lin Chen, thank you for saving me just now."

Just now, she had tried her best to kill them, but in the critical moment, Lin Chen had risked danger to save her.

Lin Chen looked at Ai Xiaoying coldly and said, "I told you not to play tricks. Since your heart isn't with us, let's part ways here. You take your road, and we'll take ours."

Ai Xiaoying's face slightly changed, "Lin Chen, I know I was wrong. Please don't kick me out. I promise I won't play tricks anymore."

Although Ai Xiaoying kept pleading with Lin Chen, his face remained unaffected.

"I'm sorry, but I can't risk everyone's lives anymore," Lin Chen said blandly.

Ai Xiaoying suddenly pulled out a dagger, "Fine, if you won't let me follow you, I won't survive in this desert anyway. I might as well just die here."

Saying this, Ai Xiaoying's dagger slashed toward her chest.

Lin Chen watched Ai Xiaoying with cold eyes. Just as the dagger pierced her skin, a hand suddenly grabbed it.

"Remember, this is the first and last time. If it happens again, I won't hesitate to kill you," Lin Chen said coldly.

Ai Xiaoying's face immediately brightened with joy, "Don't worry, I won't do it again."

"Where is this place?" Lin Chen asked.

Ai Xiaoying said, "This crevice leads directly to the other side of the mountain, so we don't have to climb over."

Lin Chen nodded but then took out a rope to bind Ai Xiaoying's hands.

"Hey, what do you mean by this?" Ai Xiaoying complained.

Lin Chen coldly replied, "I can't trust you anymore, so I must be responsible for everyone's safety."

Although Ai Xiaoying looked dissatisfied, she was very grateful that Lin Chen allowed her to stay in the group.

Lin Chen and Xiaoying led the way with the others closely follow them.

This crevice was entirely formed by tectonic shifts. Even with flashlights on, visibility was only about ten meters.

As they were moving, Lin Chen's ears suddenly twitched, and his face turned grim, "Stop, there's something ahead."