From cute to empress

Chapter 362 Crystal Rekindles Hope

The cold crystal warmed slightly in my palm, its glow growing ever brighter, as if echoing our despair. Youcai shielded me behind him, his other hand tightly gripping the crystal, his eyes closed, muttering something to himself.

I could feel a powerful energy surge from the crystal, quickly forming a translucent protective shield around us. The men in black collided with the shield, as if hitting an invisible wall, and were repelled.

"That was a close call..." I breathed a sigh of relief, but my heart was still in my throat. How much longer could this crystal's energy last?

"Mengmeng, look!" Youcai suddenly pointed in a direction. I followed his gaze and saw a ball of black mist rolling in the air not far away. I could vaguely see a strange red light flashing in it.

"What is that?" I felt an ominous premonition in my heart.

"If I'm not mistaken, that's the source of energy for those men in black." Youcai said in a deep voice, "Look at those men in black, the black mist on them all comes from there."

I observed carefully and found that there was indeed a faint black mist on the bodies of those people in black, and the other end of the black mist was connected to the rolling black mist.

"That is to say, as long as we..." My breathing became rapid, and a bold idea formed in my mind.

"That's right," Youcai said with a glint of determination in his eyes. "As long as we destroy that black fog, we can cut off their energy source and make them collapse on their own!"

This plan was undoubtedly extremely dangerous, but we had no way out. I took a deep breath, tightened my grip on the sword, and said to Youcai, "Let's go!"

Youcai nodded, took my hand, and, holding the shield, rushed towards the black fog. Ahead, there were unknown dangers and challenges, but we were no longer afraid. Suddenly, I felt my feet go empty...

"Be careful!" Youcai grabbed me, and I realized that a bottomless black hole had appeared under my feet. The hole was hidden, and if Youcai hadn't reacted quickly, I would have fallen in.

"These guys are really insidious!" I gritted my teeth, feeling terrified. To reach the location of the black fog, we had to cross this strange area, which was clearly a dragnet set by the enemy.

We slowed down our pace, advancing step by step. The light from the crystals illuminated the surroundings, but it also exposed our position. To avoid being discovered by the enemy, we could only keep our bodies as low as possible and use any available cover to advance.

"There's movement up ahead!" Youcai said in a low voice. Holding my breath, I followed his gaze and saw a patrol of men in black approaching slowly from a distance. The black mist shrouding them was particularly conspicuous in the night, like demons crawling out of hell.

We hid behind a huge rock, not daring to move. The patrol was getting closer and closer. I could clearly hear their heavy footsteps and heavy breathing. My heart was pounding and my palms were covered with cold sweat.

"Wait until they're far away, then we'll charge over!" Youcai whispered. I nodded and tightened my grip on the sword.

The patrol finally walked away, and we seized the opportunity, quickly slipped out from behind the boulder, and ran towards the target. But before we ran far, we heard a shrill alarm coming from behind us.

"Oh no, we've been discovered!" Youcai's face changed, "Run!"

We sped up, but were soon caught up by a group of men in black, who rushed towards us with sharp blades in hand and ferocious faces.

"Stop them!" Youcai swung his sword, pushing back the black-clad men who were rushing in front. I swung my whip, pushing back the black-clad men who were trying to attack from the side.

We stood back to back, fighting hard against the attacks of the men in black, but the enemy was too numerous and fearless, and we gradually began to feel exhausted.

"We can't go on like this, we have to find a way to break out!" While resisting the attacks of the men in black, I was anxiously thinking of countermeasures.

"I know a place!" Youcai suddenly said, "Follow me!"

He grabbed my hand and ran off in one direction. I was being pulled by him, barely able to keep up with his pace, my heart filled with confusion. Where was he taking me?

He led me through many twists and turns and finally arrived at a hidden cave.

"This is it!" he said, pointing to the cave. "Follow me in!"

Before I could ask, he pulled me into the cave. It was pitch black, and I couldn't see my hand in front of me.

"Youcai, what is this place?" I asked with a hint of uneasiness in my voice.

He took out a tinder and lit an oil lamp on the cave wall. The dim light illuminated the surrounding environment, and I could see clearly that the cave wall was covered with densely packed symbols.

"This is..." I opened my mouth in surprise.

"This is a secret passage leading to the energy supply system!" Youcai said in a deep voice, "Follow me, I know the way!"

He took my hand and walked towards the depths of the cave. I followed him, feeling nervous and excited.

The cave twisted and turned, and it took us a long time to reach its end. Suddenly, the view opened up, revealing a vast underground space. In the center, a massive black sphere hovered in mid-air, emitting an eerie black light. Countless black mists poured out from the sphere, spreading outward along a network of pipes.

"This is their energy supply system!" Youcai pointed at the black sphere and said with a determined glint in his eyes. "As long as we destroy it, we can cut off their energy source, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced!"

"But how do we destroy it?" I looked at the black sphere that exuded an ominous aura, feeling vaguely uneasy.

"Don't worry, I have a solution!" Youcai said, pulling out the crystal from his pocket. As the crystal approached the black sphere, it emitted a dazzling light, as if responding to something.

"Now!" Youcai shouted and threw the crystal in his hand hard towards the black sphere.

The crystal drew a graceful arc in the air and accurately hit the center of the black sphere.

boom--

With a loud bang, the entire underground space shook violently. Rocks fell from above, and we quickly dodged to the side. The black sphere trembled violently, countless cracks appearing on its surface. Black mist poured out frantically, like a wounded beast making its final struggle.

"Success!" I looked at the scene in front of me, my heart filled with joy.

"Let's go!" Youcai took my hand, turned around and ran out.

We ran all the way back the way we came and finally escaped from that crumbling underground space.

However, before we could breathe a sigh of relief, we found ourselves surrounded.

Countless people in black came from all directions and surrounded us. Their eyes were full of hatred and anger, as if we were unforgivable sinners.

"Damn it, how did they find us?" Youcai cursed softly and tightened the sword in his hand.

"It seems that we really can't escape this time..." I said with a wry smile, and the whip in my hand trembled slightly because of excessive force.

"Even if I die, I will take a few people with me!" Youcai roared, waving his sword and rushing towards the group of men in black closest to us.

I also took a deep breath, gripped the whip tightly, and joined the battle.

We stood back to back, struggling to resist the attacks of the men in black, but the number of enemies was too great. We gradually felt exhausted, and the wounds on our bodies became more and more, and our clothes were stained with blood.

"What should we do? Are we really going to die here?" A feeling of despair surged in my heart.

"No, there must be a way!" Youcai said gritting his teeth, his eyes falling on the crystal in my hand, "Mengmeng, give me the crystal!"

Although I didn't know what he was going to do, I handed him the crystal without hesitation.

He took the crystal, a look of determination flashed in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "It's time to show the true power of this crystal!"