Chapter 23: A Hair's Breadth

The headless giant slammed its hand against the wall with a deafening crash, pausing briefly before lunging downward.

What!

Qian Cangyi dodged to the side, but his shoulder was still caught by the headless giant.

The headless giant lifted Qian Cangyi into the air, its other hand reaching toward Qian Cangyi's head.

Seeing this, Master Mind rushed over and hooked his arms around the giant's other arm. Though he exerted every ounce of his strength, he was still no match for the creature's immense power.

"Find a way to run!" Master Mind gritted his teeth and cried out, "Agh!"

Qian Cangyi brought his feet up and kicked fiercely against the headless giant's chest. He struck blow after blow, each with greater force than the last. As his fourth kick landed, the headless giant instinctively loosened its grip, sending Qian Cangyi flying backward to crash onto the spiral staircase.

A wave of excruciating pain surged from his back. Even after hitting the ground, Qian Cangyi continued tumbling down the spiral stairs. He could only wrap his arms around his head, feeling as though the back of his skull had suffered a severe concussion, until he finally managed to hook his fingers onto a step to halt his momentum.

The moment he stopped, every inch of his body ached violently, as if every muscle was crying out in agony.

Qian Cangyi gritted his teeth, cold sweat pouring from his forehead. He wanted to stand, but his limbs were utterly devoid of strength, completely unresponsive to his will.

He raised his head to look back toward Master Mind. At that moment, Master Mind had wrapped both arms and legs around the headless giant's arm like a tourniquet. Twisting his waist with all his might, he used his entire body weight to generate rotational force.

The headless giant's torso sank abruptly, and a loud crack echoed from its arm, but that was the extent of the damage.

"Are you guys okay?" Ningjing's voice drifted down from above.

Qian Cangyi raised his head, wanting to reply, but his voice was horribly hoarse; the mere motion of opening his mouth sent a sharp pain through his jaw.

On the other side, after Master Mind's attack failed to phase the headless giant, the creature slammed its arm against the wall, raised its free fist, and smashed it directly toward Master Mind's chest.

Enduring the agonizing pain in his back, Master Mind crossed his arms in front of his chest, bracing to take the heavy blow head-on.

The headless giant's fist struck Master Mind's crossed arms with a dull thud.

Taking the blow directly, Master Mind's face flushed crimson, and he let out a muffled cough. But in the next second, he had already kicked his legs out toward the giant's groin.

The headless giant took two steps back, its right hand moving to grab Master Mind's head, but the retreat created a window of opportunity for Master Mind to escape.

As his feet touched the ground, Master Mind quickly dropped his center of gravity and leaped sideways.

Seeing this, Qian Cangyi felt his heart skip a beat. Master Mind's situation was very similar to his own; slamming into the staircase like that would temporarily rob him of his mobility.

However, things played out slightly differently than Qian Cangyi anticipated. Master Mind landed first on his hands, supporting his weight as he bent his elbows and used the momentum of his waist to swing his lower body upward. Relying on his arms, he thrust his body up, successfully adjusting his position.

Holy shit!

Qian Cangyi couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

Once his feet touched the floor, Master Mind took another step back, letting his body collide with the wall to dissipate the remaining kinetic force.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Ningjing's voice came again, this time much closer.

The headless giant began walking toward them once more.

"Can you move?" Master Mind asked without looking at Qian Cangyi.

Qian Cangyi pressed his hands against the floor and managed to stagger to his feet, but running was entirely out of the question. "I can't run," he replied, his voice laced with despair.

Hearing this, Master Mind reached into his pocket and pulled out a purple cube, roughly three centimeters in length. With a sharp squeeze of his right hand, he crushed the cube.

A burst of purple smoke erupted from the center, billowing outward to envelop both Master Mind and Qian Cangyi.

A special item?

Qian Cangyi thought to himself, pressing his body as close to the source of the purple smoke as possible.

The purple smoke grew denser, yet it remained strictly confined to a small perimeter around the cube, bound by a clear square boundary. It offered just enough space for the two of them to hide, and even then, it was a tight squeeze.

The headless giant rushed forward, but upon entering the purple smoke, its pace slowed down drastically as it stepped forward sluggishly.

Master Mind covered his mouth, and Qian Cangyi quickly followed suit.

After stepping out of the purple smoke, the headless giant paused in place. After three seconds, it turned around and walked back through the purple smoke. This time, however, it didn't stop upon exiting the haze, instead heading straight back in the direction it had come from.

"Did you hear me?" Ningjing's shouts echoed once more, though much farther away this time.

"We heard you!" Master Mind shouted back.

"Great, I was worried you couldn't hear me," Ningjing said, her tone brimming with excitement. "How are things on your end?"

"We're both injured. Can you help us?" Master Mind asked.

"Catch this," Ningjing called out loudly.

Thud!

A small white bottle fell from the upper level, landed on the stairs with a bounce, and rolled against the wall.

Master Mind walked over and picked it up.

"It can be used three times. It works best when all uses are applied to a single person," Ningjing's voice echoed.

Was this another special item? A healing special item.

Qian Cangyi stared at the white bottle in Master Mind's hand, noticing four black characters printed on it: First Aid Spray.

Master Mind sighed, turned to look at Qian Cangyi, and asked:

"How should we use this? Come to think of it, we do have medical kits in our backpacks that can heal us, but the effect is very slow, relying mostly on the body's natural recovery."

"What are your thoughts?"

With that, Master Mind pressed his left hand against his chest, his brow furrowing slightly.

"I..." Qian Cangyi hesitated. "I'd like to use it twice, mainly for my ankles. They're injured pretty badly."

"Yeah," Master Mind nodded. "I was thinking the same, and it seems to be more effective on external injuries anyway. Let's divide it that way."

Qian Cangyi looked at Master Mind, but Master Mind delayed taking action, simply staring down at the first aid spray.

Was he reluctant? It was only natural, considering this was a matter of life and death.

Sensing this, Qian Cangyi's gaze dimmed with disappointment.

"What are you thinking about?" Master Mind asked abruptly.

"Nothing," Qian Cangyi sighed softly.

"I just remembered something from the past," Master Mind said, looking away as he handed the first aid spray to Qian Cangyi.

Qian Cangyi took the first aid spray and examined it closely. Its appearance was remarkably similar to a bottle of glasses-cleaning spray—virtually indistinguishable.

Since there were only two applications left for him, he carefully checked his legs before removing the cap of the first aid spray. He sprayed his left ankle and right knee. Once the two doses were used up, he handed the spray back to Master Mind.

"How is it?" Master Mind asked.

Qian Cangyi felt the areas where the spray had been applied; the burning pain was rapidly replaced by a soothing coolness.

"It works wonderfully," Qian Cangyi said with a smile.

Master Mind smiled back and applied the final dose of the first aid spray to his own chest.