Wilderness: I Tame Beasts to Survive-Chapter 45 - 44: Distribution

All three figures under the tree were male. One of them was missing an entire thigh, leaving only a ragged stump of flesh and bone exposed. It emanated a faint stench of decay.

Their Silver Lotus Woods were nowhere to be found.

"That’s Chen Ningchuan."

Liu Yueming’s expression was incredibly grim as he gazed at the lifeless student before him, his eyes filled with profound sadness.

"He was a great student. I still remember, before we were brought to this world, he came to me for help with a problem once."

The other two listened in silence. Together with Liu Yueming, they walked forward, cut the thin vines, and each took one of the bodies into their arms.

Han Ning didn’t actually know any of the three, but he had seen their photos before setting out. He knew the one in his arms was Zhao Wei.

Zhao Wei’s face was deathly pale, his neck was bent back at an unnatural angle, and his skin was covered in deep bruises.

’He didn’t want to admit it, but the fine-featured boy in his arms, just like Chen Ningchuan, was long dead.’

"Zhibin might still be alive." Lü Xiuning pressed his ear to Zheng Zhibin’s chest, a hint of joy flickering across his grief-stricken face.

"Yin Yi."

POP! The obedient Yin Yi understood instantly, flicking out a slender Vine Whip and piercing it into Zheng Zhibin’s body.

A faint glow sank into him.

Some color returned to Zheng Zhibin’s pale face, but his breathing remained faint.

Han Ning examined Zheng Zhibin’s body. He couldn’t see any obvious wounds and said uncertainly,

"He isn’t poisoned. It looks like he suffered severe internal injuries from the impact. I don’t know if Yin Yi’s healing did much good."

"We’ve done all we can."

Lü Xiuming nodded. The three of them carried Zheng Zhibin and the others back to their resting area.

As they walked, a thought suddenly occurred to Han Ning:

’At least three or four hours have passed between when we heard our classmates were missing and when we found them.’

’Without us even realizing it, our enhanced bodies have grown strong enough to resist the poison in the white mist.’

By then, the students who were still able to move had gathered the seemingly dead Silver Lotus Woods in one place. Beneath them lay a pile of more than a dozen Iron-toothed Snake carcasses.

But... what everyone had hoped for didn’t happen. The three Silver Lotus Woods showed no sign of moving their roots to burrow into the Soul Beast carcasses.

The owners of the three Silver Lotus Woods knelt before them, tears streaming down their faces.

"It’s all my fault! If it hadn’t tried to block that poisoned barb for me, it wouldn’t have been hit... it wouldn’t have died!" One of the students, unable to contain his grief, threw himself down before his fallen Silver Lotus Wood. Limping on an injured leg, he pounded the ground with his fists and sobbed uncontrollably.

The other students watching felt their own eyes redden, and they instinctively held their own companions closer.

To them, the Silver Lotus Woods were friends, partners in battle, and even family with whom they would live or die.

"Ling~"

Yin Yi watched the scene quietly, its eyes burning with tiny embers.

It suddenly turned its head and stared fixedly at Han Ning’s face.

"Yin Yi, don’t worry. We’ll never be separated."

Han Ning sniffled, stifling his own grief as he hugged Yin Yi tightly.

Companions had fallen, but life had to go on. Over the next while, Han Ning and the others gathered all the long-dead Soul Beast carcasses from the surrounding area.

"Including the big one, that’s a total of 19 Tree Spirit corpses, 232 Iron-toothed Snakes, and one Iron-toothed Giant Snake."

Fourteen Crystal Stones of various sizes, all glinting with a faint green light, were laid out in front of Lü Xiuming.

Han Ning placed the two largest Crystal Stones from his own hands—one green, one grayish-white—on the ground as well. "You all split these," he said. "My Yin Yi already consumed four earlier. I don’t want any of the rest."

Handing over the Crystal Stones was a decision Han Ning had carefully considered.

It wasn’t just him; everyone had made great sacrifices to fend off the Tree Spirits’ assault. If they hadn’t all worked together to hold back the Tree Spirits and buy time for Yin Yi’s evolution, the outcome would have been unthinkable.

The same was true for the battle against the Iron-toothed Snakes.

So, even though Yin Yi had personally slain the Tree Spirit Boss and the Iron-toothed Giant Snake, the others’ efforts to run interference had also been crucial.

’Therefore... he couldn’t keep the two largest Crystal Stones for himself.’

’This was a different situation from when Yin Yi fought those five white rats alone.’

The group’s leader, Lü Xiuming, was silent for a moment before speaking. "Alright... let’s have a quick show of hands. These Crystal Stones are all different sizes. I’ll distribute them to each person based on their performance during the battle. All in favor, raise your hand."

The moment he finished speaking, everyone still conscious raised their hands in unison.

"Good. Han Ning, we’ll discuss your contribution last." Lü Xiuning picked up one of the largest stones, tossing it lightly in his hand. He looked at the student who was not only injured but had also lost his Silver Lotus Wood in the fight. "Shi Ming, this Crystal Stone is for you."

The student named Shi Ming wiped furiously at his eyes and said, his voice choked with tears, "Teacher Lü, mine is already dead... You should give it to someone else."

Lü Xiuming’s tone became stern. "It’s dead, so what? Are you not going to form a contract with another Soul Beast? How do you plan to survive in a place as dangerous as this? What does everyone else think?"

No one spoke. Instead, they all raised their hands.

"Take it." Lü Xiuning left no room for argument, tossing Shi Ming the largest Crystal Stone aside from the two from the Tree Spirit Boss and the Iron-toothed Giant Snake.

...

Soon, all 14 Crystal Stones had been distributed.

The three largest were given to the three students whose Silver Lotus Woods had been killed.

The rest were divided among the other students.

However, four people were left without an allocation. These four, including Lü Xiuming and Liu Yueming, were all teachers.

Lü Xiuming looked at the two largest Crystal Stones, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

"Teacher Lü, I did a quick estimate. The Energy in one of these large Crystal Stones is roughly equal to four or five of the others combined. Why don’t the four of you split one? Each of your Silver Lotus Woods can absorb a portion."

Han Ning had spoken up, seeing the tense atmosphere.

"This... we can share it?" Lü Xiuming asked in surprise.

"Er, I don’t know either. We can try."

"How about this... I’d say the four of our Silver Lotus Woods are about the same in strength. Why don’t we have them all touch their roots to the Crystal Stone at the same time and absorb the Energy together?" Liu Yueming suggested.

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the other three shifted, and they all nodded:

"That could work!"

"Which stone should we choose? The white one or the green one?"

"Let’s go with the green one. It looks like it has the same Attribute as the Silver Lotus Wood."

To see if their idea would work, the four teachers acted immediately. They each held their Silver Lotus Wood and placed the Crystal Stone from the Tree Spirit Boss in the middle.

WHOOSH!

A dense tangle of grayish-white roots touched the Crystal Stone.