Stuck in a Chinese novel

Yet, here they were, trying to defeat one bee for the last hour. In the last two days, they had only managed to hunt three bees, and even that at the cost of one disciple who would have been melted completely had the elder not saved him but then he was knocked out by the elder and thrown out of the gate, leaving Ju Bai Lu\'s group at only nine.

It was very difficult for them to hunt even one bee and now that they were less and not well fed, it was hard to deal with this one as well.

It was already an accomplishment to do this much at their level but Ju Bai Lu couldn\'t help but feel that he was behind Wei Jun even though they both were in different areas.

"I won\'t lose to that bastard," Ju Bai Lu replied, looking at the bumblebee who wasn\'t in a good condition any longer after an hour of fighting but the same could be said for them as well.

They were exhausted, hungry, and not well-rested for two days now. Of course, it was going to be difficult for them.

Seeing no other choice, Ju Bai Lu decided to sacrifice another one of his teammates.

"Bau Long, go and distract the bee," Ju Bai Lu said to one of his subordinates. Bau Long looked at Ju Bai Lu with a shocked expression, an expression of betrayal.

He knew what distracting the bee meant and if he did that, he would either end up dead or out of this gate. It meant his chance at all glory would be gone for good.

"But…" Bau Long tried to argue when Ju Bai Lu said, "Don\'t worry about anything. I will remember this and offer you treasures as soon as we get out of here."

Bau Long went silent. He knew it was all bullsh*t. He was being thrown under the bus and everyone there knew that.

And while they felt pity for him, they were more relieved that it wasn\'t one of them in Bau Long\'s place.

Seeing the eyes of the others on him, he knew he would have to accept this decision for the sake of others as well. No one would defend him because defending him would mean taking his place. No one was willing to do that.

If he were to refuse, and somehow get out of this, the other one who would take his place would resent him and ultimately, Bau Long would be the one made out to be the villain of this story, not anyone else.

"Understood," Bau Long quietly said and made his way to the bee while flaring his Qi to the maximum. The bee\'s attention turned to him which allowed others to attack it as well.

Alas, their attacks weren\'t enough to immediately kill the bee which allowed the bee to attack Bau Long.

Bau Long tried to dodge but no matter how determined and prepared he was, he still couldn\'t dodge that attack and was about to be melted into nothingness when a shield of Qi appeared around him.

At the same time, a hand grasped him from the back collar of his robe and pulled him. As he turned, it was the elder who was looking at him with clear disappointment in her eyes.

"What are you so happy for? You were just cast aside like a leper." The elder said in a harsh tone before she pulled him and turned to Ju Bai Lu who was standing there, without any guilt.

The elder shook Bau Long and said, "This bastard doesn\'t care whether you die or not. All that matters to him is his own glory and his own hatred. You all are nothing but a pawn."

Ju Bai Lu clenched his fists hard. So hard that his nails penetrated his flesh and hurt him from the inside.

He wasn\'t angry because the elder had said something wrong. No, she was right.

What made Ju Bai Lu angry was the fact that she said so in front of everyone else. It meant Ju Bai Lu was going to lose a significant amount of his subordinates now.

He wanted to jump forward and punch the elder for tearing apart his group but he knew how that would end. Attacking an elder was unforgivable and even his father wouldn\'t be able to save him because although the sect master was his uncle, the sect was more important to him than his own blood. He will judge Ju Bai Lu like any other rule breaker and that wouldn\'t spell good for Ju Bai Lu.

Ju Bai Lu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth but remained silent all the time. The elder scoffed at him for that and anyone could sense the belittlement in that scoff.

She turned and left, taking Bau Long with her.

She then turned to the other side of the gate where she could sense that not one disciple had been injured and their gains were more than five times that of Ju Bai Lu.

Not only were they well-fed, but they were also well-rested which made the hunt very easy for them. Not to mention the monster who could kill the literal monsters by himself using the sole weakness they had.

In a way, both Ju Bai Lu and Wei Jun were using their teammates but the difference was that Wei Jun was also taking care of them like a leader.

Of course, he was anything but a leader but he still didn\'t let them feel they were unimportant.

The elder nodded in approval and kept walking in the direction of the exit of the gate with a sad Bau Long who was regretting the decision he made.

Suddenly, she stopped.

Boom!!!

An explosion that shook the entire gate was generated from the other side of the gate, the other side of the mountain.

She hurriedly expanded her Qi to check but what she saw surprised her, shocked her, amazed her, and most of all, stupefied her.

"That crazy…" The elder couldn\'t find words to describe what she was seeing.

~~

Just after the elder left, everyone looked at Ju Bai Lu, awaiting an answer when he said, "So what?"

That was all that needed to be said to assure the others that what the elder said was a hundred percent true.

"I don\'t think I need to say that this is a competition, not just with the other groups but amongst ourselves as well. So in the end, there would only be one winner while some would get away with something and the others wouldn\'t even get that little something. I refuse to be the one from the last two categories.

So if you want to go with me, you will have to admit me as the winner of this competition. Otherwise," Ju Bai Lu paused before he examined every expression and said, "You can all leave."

No other words needed to be said. The meaning was clear and everything was out in the open for them to see.

Yet, none of them left. Worthless, they were and that was the truth they were well aware of.

Ju Bai Lu was strong and without him, they didn\'t stand a chance against the monsters and Wei Jun wasn\'t going to take them when they all belonged to the opposing faction of Sun Ruan\'s.

If they were to leave Ju Bai Lu, it would not only make things harder for them on the outside, but it would also mean it was the end for them inside the gate.

No one left.

Ju Bai Lu smirked.

He knew they wouldn\'t which was why he let everything out. Of course, he knew it wasn\'t a good thing for him as well. Where he had loyal subordinates before, he now had cultivators who had no other choice than to be with him.

And that simply meant things would be difficult for him on the outside as well.

Still, thanks to the elder, that scenario was already thrown down the hill. They would go out and tell their masters everything and that might also end up benefiting Sun Ruan who wouldn\'t let go of such an opportunity.

Since that was the case, he might as well use them to the fullest and conquer this gate. The rest was for later.

\'I\'m sure that bastard wouldn\'t be much far ahead as we--\'

Boomm!!!

Interrupting his thoughts was a giant explosion from the other side of the mountain that shook them along with the ground beneath them.

Ju Bai Lu hurriedly turned to the site to see half of the hive mountain gone.

"What the…"