"It's dangerous down there!" Yu Guang warned.
Unfortunately, the team was made up of two groups of people, and they were scattered like noodles. Other than Cui Anyu, no one listened to him, and they were still approaching the edge of the sinkhole.
Yu Guang felt a force rapidly shrinking at the bottom of the sinkhole! That was a sign before the explosion!
"Everyone, come back!" Sweat trickled down Yu Guang's forehead as he shouted to remind everyone.
The people who didn't know what was going on stood where they were and turned their heads around. Even the Beastmasters Association's people still had impatience in their eyes.
Ke Zhen, who was the only one who listened to Yu Guang's advice, turned around and took two steps toward Yu Guang. He stretched out his hand and said, "Brother Yu Guang, what..."
Boom!
Before he could finish his words, a mushroom cloud exploded from the depths of the sinkhole like a raging volcano! The earth-shattering explosion shook everyone's internal organs. In an instant, the shockwave swept through everyone by the side of the sinkhole, swallowing them along with their wails!
Although Yu Guang had long expected this, everything happened in a flash. He could only protect Cui Anyu, who was the closest to him.
He opened his arms and activated his innate domain defense. At the same time, he rolled behind a huge rock with Cui Anyu in his arms to hide. The roar above his head was like a herd of wildebeest.
The loud noise far exceeded the load on his ears. He squeezed his ears along the narrow ear canal, causing his head to swell with pain!
Pieces of soil smashed onto his head and body like hail. Yu Guang could vaguely hear the screams of someone flying over his head.
Cui Anyu, who was in his arms, hugged him tightly and shrank into a small ball like a quail.
Yu Guang did not know how long the aftermath of the explosion lasted. After the surrounding area had calmed down, he carefully raised his head from behind the huge rock. Other than the rock he was on, the surrounding rocks and trees had been razed to the ground. The trees on the pit fell, and all their leaves were on the ground.
He blinked his eyes and realized that something was wrong! There was silence all around, and not a single sound could be heard.
When Yu Guang tried to stand up, he fell to the ground. His ears still hurt.
Cui Anyu, who was in his arms, also raised her head and grabbed Yu Guang's arm. She opened her mouth and spoke to him in panic.
Yu Guang could not hear, but he could read Cui Anyu's words with her mouth. She said, "Yu Guang, I can't hear!"
The two of them supported each other as they stood up. Yu Guang patted his ears and realized that there was a slight sound in his ears. He recovered a little and judged that the deafness this time was only temporary.
He pointed at his mouth and mouthed, "Temporary deafness. Let's find someone first."
Cui Anyu was not familiar with lip reading. She only understood what Yu Guang meant after reading his mouth a few times. She quickly calmed down and nodded as she stood up.
The two of them split up, searching in the pit.
Yu Guang was the first to find Han Nan buried under the rock. Beside him was Lucia, who was protected by the vines. However, everything happened too quickly, and the vines only covered half of her body. Yu Guang checked their breathing. Fortunately, they were both alive.
He activated his power, and Absolute Zero condensed into frost on the rock. He moved the two of them carefully, dragging them under the sun to lay them down, then went to look for the others.
Following that, Cui Anyu dug out the half-conscious Ke Zhen. The two of them found the other beastmasters one after another.
The two who flew the furthest were bounced into the forest, suffering quite a number of superficial injuries. One of them had a tree branch as thick as a rolling pin stuck in his abdomen, and Yu Guang used his innate skill to freeze his wounds to prevent them from worsening.
Only after finding everyone did Yu Guang dare to heave a sigh of relief. "Anyu, can you hear me now?"
"A little." Cui Anyu tilted her head. Listening to the sound required additional movement assistance, which was slightly better than before.
Yu Guang squatted beside them and checked their injuries. Out of the nine of them, only two were left standing. They had to send these unconscious people to the hospital before they could re-explore the treasure location.
At this moment, the forest canopy around the sinkhole shook, and someone was rapidly approaching.
Yu Guang caught a faint sound and waited for the source of the sound to reveal its identity.
"There's someone here!" Someone shouted from the forest. A young man with a decent appearance stepped out. The other young man practically stepped on the former's shadow as he dashed out. His aquiline nose was eye-catching.
Both of their arms had the Beastmaster Association's emblem on them. However, the two people from the same organization were like fire and water, one standing on the left and the other on the right, with at least three meters between them.
The two of them noticed Ke Zhen and the others lying on the ground, and their expressions changed slightly as they hurriedly ran over to check.
The young man who appeared first asked, "Captain Ke? What's going on?"
Yu Guang could hear them now and explained, "He was affected by the explosion. Captain Ke is still unconscious, but the others are more serious."
The two young beastmasters first looked at Yu Guang and Cui Anyu suspiciously, then saw the frozen abdomen of their team member. They had a rough idea of what had happened.
The aquiline-nosed beastmaster cupped his hands and said, "My name is Lu Jie, a member of the Beastmaster Association. May I ask if the two of you saved them?"
Cui Anyu couldn't hear them clearly, so she simply pretended not to hear them, giving Yu Guang the right to speak.
"It's nothing..." Yu Guang answered politely and introduced himself, telling him what had happened after he met Ke Zhen.
After listening to him, Lu Jie showed an appreciative look. "The two of you were able to escape unscathed in the big explosion. I really admire you!"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Before Yu Guang could answer, another upright young man interrupted Lu Jie. "If you have the time to be polite, why don't you inform the main force to come over? Will you take responsibility if someone dies?"
His tone was very unpleasant, but it was only directed at Lu Jie. After he was done, he turned to the side and nodded at Yu Guang. "My name is Hou Zhengping. Pardon my manners!"
Then, he took out the signal flare from his waist pack. Red fireworks, trailing a long tail, exploded in the air!
Not long after, a small team of about ten people appeared at the edge of the forest. Each of their arms had the Beastmaster Association's emblem on them.
"Captain Lu, over here!" Hou Zhengping waved. "We've found Captain Ke. They have him."
The man called Captain Lu had an extremely rich appearance. There was a beauty mole between his brows, and his low brows looked like the statue of a god in the temple. He waved his hands behind his back and said, "Those who know how to treat illnesses, go and take a look... Who is it?"
His gaze turned sharp as he stared at the forest not far away.
Just as everyone thought that it was some kind of wild beast, Le Tai ran out with a face full of sweat. Behind him were four or five awakened ones.
Seeing that Cui Anyu and Yu Guang were still standing, Le Tai couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
"Quick! Quick! Go and take a look at their injuries!" he said as he pointed at Lucia and Han Nan, who were lying on the ground.
After the explosion, the two large organizations, the Awakened House and the Beastmaster Association, had gathered together. They didn't exchange pleasantries with each other because they had a tacit understanding to check on the injured first.