Glorious Sacrifice?

"Snap!"

A very faint sound, like a dry branch breaking, came from under a particularly thick clump of thorns to Wang Xun's left front.

He Rui's pupils contracted sharply: "Watch out for the ground!"

Before he could finish speaking, the sand exploded.

A brownish-yellow shadow shot out from underground at an astonishing speed.

The creature resembled a large mastiff, but had a flat body covered with rough, thick skin that was almost the same color as the sand. It had short, strong limbs and sharp claws at the tips of its toes.

The most horrifying thing is its head. It has no obvious eyes, and a gaping maw that takes up almost half of its head, filled with fine and sharp teeth, and emitting a foul stench.

This was a creature they had never seen before, which the adventurers called the "Spiky Digbeast," belonging to the lowest level of monsters.

But for goblins, it is a deadly threat.

The Spiny Digger usually buries itself under soft soil or sand to sleep.

It only awakens when it needs to eat to replenish its energy. With its extremely strong ability to hide, it waits for its prey to come to it, and its burst of speed is astonishing.

At that moment, the spiky-backed digging beast's target was Wang Xun, who was closest to it.

"Xunzi, retreat quickly!" He Rui exclaimed, while simultaneously thrusting his short sword forward, attempting to disrupt the burrowing beast's attack path.

Despite his shock, Wang Xun remained calm. His years of military training allowed him to immediately step back while simultaneously raising his thick-backed machete from bottom to top, aiming for the burrowing beast's neck.

However, the Burrower's pounce speed is beyond imagination, and its hide is exceptionally tough.

The cleaver struck his shoulder, but it was as if it had struck tough rubber; it failed to penetrate and instead, the force of the blow made Wang Xun's arm go numb.

The burrowing beast, enraged by the attack, used its momentum to knock Wang Xun to the ground and viciously bite his left thigh.

"Pfft!"

The sharp teeth cut into the flesh, and fresh blood gushed out instantly.

Wang Xun groaned in pain, but his eyes were unusually fierce. He did not try to break free—that would only cause more serious lacerations.

Instead, his left hand shot out with lightning speed, gripping the burrowing beast's neck tightly, while his right hand discarded the knife and swiftly drew the dagger from his waist.

"Xiao Chuan!" Seeing this, He Rui knew that forcing it wouldn't work, so he swiftly thrust his short sword at the burrowing beast's ribs and abdomen, searching for its weak point.

His attack successfully diverted some of the Digger's attention, causing it to slightly loosen its bite.

The moment the strange noise came, Sun Xiaochuan had already drawn his bow to its fullest extent.

However, Wang Xun was entangled in a battle with the Digging Beast and was hesitant to act rashly.

He moved quickly, searching for the best shooting angle.

Seeing that He Rui had the monster under control and Wang Xun had locked onto its head, he immediately realized where the opportunity lay—the inside of that gaping, roaring maw might be its weak point.

"Brother Xun, lower your head!" Sun Xiaochuan shouted sharply, the arrow tip already aimed deep into the burrowing beast's mouth.

Upon hearing the sound, Wang Xun almost instinctively turned his head to one side, while simultaneously using all his strength in his left arm to lift the head of the Digging Beast upwards, exposing its mouth to a greater extent.

"Whoosh—"

The arrow left the bowstring with a sharp whistle, piercing the depths of the burrowing beast's throat with unparalleled precision.

"Awooo—" The burrowing beast let out an extremely pitiful howl, biting harder in pain and struggling wildly with its head thrashing.

But in that instant of head-shaking, Wang Xun noticed a hidden organ on the side of the monster's head, likely an auditory or sensory organ, concealed beneath hard folds.

Without hesitation, ignoring his left leg which was almost bitten off, he swiftly and accurately stabbed it into the wound. The dagger cut through the wound like a hot knife through butter, reaching the hilt, and dark red blood instantly flowed out.

The monster let out a miserable cry, immediately loosened its tightly clenched jaws, shook off Wang Xun, turned and ran, finally burrowing into its previous hiding place, its body vibrating rapidly as it quickly disappeared into the sand.

Seeing the monster escape, He Rui and Sun Xiaochuan quickly pulled Wang Xun away from the area. Only after they had created a safe distance did they stop to check on Wang Xun's injuries.

Wang Xun's left thigh had been completely bitten off, with only some skin and flesh still attached. Blood was gushing out like a fountain, and it was impossible to stop it by pressing on it.

The shocking scene instantly reminded He Rui of his good brother who had sacrificed himself beside him, and a long-buried memory and emotion surged into his heart.

"Bandages! Hemostatic powder!" He Rui's voice trembled as he frantically searched for something to stop the bleeding, only to find that they had no modern first-aid supplies on them other than their weapons.

Wang Xun grabbed He Rui's arm, his face already pale and his breath extremely weak: "Rui, don't... don't waste your energy... that guy's teeth are poisonous, I... I might not be able to go back..."

"Hang in there! We'll carry you back to Emberstone Ridge. There must be a way. Maybe Comrade Matthew will have a solution!" He Rui's eyes were red as he carried Wang Xun with Sun Xiaochuan's help and ran quickly toward Emberstone Ridge.

"Brother... if I die..." Wang Xun gasped for breath, each breath like a broken bellows pulling him apart, "Tell my wife... tell her to find a good man to marry... otherwise... otherwise it's too hard for her to raise my daughter alone... tell her that all these years... I've wronged her..."

His voice began to choke, as if he were enduring immense pain, trembling uncontrollably: "Tell my daughter... her father... is a hero..."

"I wish... I could... see her grow up..."

At this point, Wang Xun's voice and breath were already very weak.

"Go and tell them yourself, you won't die... Hold on, Xunzi!" He Rui roared, running forward desperately.

However, Wang Xun could no longer hear clearly; a cold, numb sensation spread from his extremities to his heart, replacing the initial excruciating pain.

My field of vision began to shrink, and the feeling of death was so real and concrete. It was no longer a simulation in training, nor an illusion in a dream, but a process of consciousness being gradually pulled away from the body and falling into boundless darkness.

At that moment, he felt an unprecedented fear, not the fear of pain, but the fear of "disappearance," the fear of never seeing his family again.

A fear of death, stemming from a life-or-death instinct, gripped him.

In that final moment of clarity, he was no longer the calm, collected, fearless, and resolute warrior who was unafraid of death.

Instead, it is a child about to fall into an endless abyss, filled with helplessness and pleading.

With his last ounce of strength, he grabbed He Rui's arm and cried out, "Brother... I don't want to die..."

"I don't want to die... I..."

His voice was choked with sobs, filled with a longing for life and a fear of death.

Despite having undergone countless trials and training, he was fearless in battle.

But he was, after all, a person, a person with flesh and blood and feelings.

"I miss home, I want to go home... I want... I..."

Wang Xun's arm suddenly slipped down, like a candle being blown out, and the sound abruptly stopped.

He Rui's body trembled, tears streaming down his face, as he kept repeating, "Hold on, hold on, hold on—"

Finally, he collapsed to his knees, embracing Wang Xun's cold body in despair and weeping bitterly.

However, not long after, Wang Xun's body gradually turned into countless points of light that slowly dispersed and finally disappeared.

Seeing this, Sun Xiaochuan, who was also grieving, seemed to have thought of something. He squatted down, patted He Rui on the shoulder, and said, "Brother Rui, is it possible... that Brother Xun... isn't dead?"

……