Hearing Wu Xu say those words, without noticing the look in his eyes or even stopping to consider whether it was true, Yu Yindou's backward-struggling body abruptly froze. He looked up, staring straight at Wu Xu.
In his eyes, which had been steadily growing dim, a gleam of life flared up once more.
"I believe you, Xu'er. I believe... of course I believe you."
A forced, hypocritical smile squeezed onto his agonized face, sickening to behold. Yu Yindou continued, "Xu'er, your character, your loyalty to the Yu clan—the Master has always known it... You are pure and kind at heart... Listen, let me leave. Let us leave."
At that moment, not far behind him, nearly thirty Yu clan war slaves stood silently watching it all. Everything had completely collapsed.
The man on the ground had always told them that countless black-armored monsters would descend upon the future world, and only Yu Village and he could shelter them and keep them alive.
Yet now, they were suddenly like toddlers stranded in the dark, knowing nothing, not even where to go... dazed, hopeless, their hearts filled with questions about their past lives and this world.
So... would Wu Xu spare the Master?
"That's not it." Facing Yu Yindou's pleading gaze, Wu Xu shook his head with simple honesty. Pausing for a moment, he said, "I was just thinking that instead of killing you, it would be fine to hand you over to Azure... but the end result would still be death."
In the end, he was still that guileless boy.
Hand them over to Azure? Yu Village had conspired with others, ambushed an Azure supply depot, and killed Azure personnel. Yu Yindou's entire expression stiffened, and his body jerked upright. "You..."
"Besides, Master, you probably cannot be saved anyway."
Looking at the wound on Yu Yindou's body, Wu Xu added another honest and sincere remark.
Because of those words, Yu Yindou, who had still been clinging to life, looked as though he had just been shaken awake. His gaze went blank, his face instantly drained of color, and he looked down dumbly at the bloody hole in his chest. *I... I can't survive this?!*
He was going to die.
What now?
He looked up at Wu Xu.
Just at that moment, Wu Xu's body swayed as well. Leaning on his long spear, he staggered and barely kept his footing, a trickle of blood sliding from the corner of his mouth.
He had already suffered numerous injuries earlier, and Yu Yindou had just stabbed him through the shoulder blade with a sword. By now, his entire back was soaked in blood.
"Kill him, you... he can't hold on anymore! Kill him!" Yu Yindou's eyes brimmed with venom and defiance. As he struggled backward, he shouted, "Quick, kill him! Otherwise, when Azure arrives, we're all going to die... Kill him and take me away!"
Speaking of the threat of Azure, Yu Yindou's final warning seemed to have an effect. Furthermore, three of the men who had besieged Wu Xu with him earlier were still alive.
The three raised their sabers, taking small, cautious steps forward while constantly calling out to the others, "Right, kill him! Kill him and we'll leave... Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid, he's at his limit!"
Led by these three, the crowd grew restless... slowly creeping forward.
Bracing himself on his spear, Wu Xu straightened his back and raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd advancing toward him.
The crowd halted.
"Don't be afraid, charge! He's almost done for, don't be afraid, attack..."
No one charged at first; even the men shouting didn't step forward themselves.
The current Wu Xu terrified them.
Drawing his left foot back slightly for support, Wu Xu raised his spear. *Whoosh.* The spearhead reversed.
At the end of his tether, he stood his ground, prepared to fight to the death.
*Tap, tap...*
"Kill!"
In the end, it was the three men who had fought earlier who gritted their teeth in desperate defiance, brandished their weapons, and lunged forward.
And then—
*Whoosh—boom!*
A sonic boom roared in from the distance.
A streak of light like lightning; overlapping shadows of blades.
The newcomer was a blur; all that could be seen were the three who had just lunged forward flying backward through the air with a deafening crash, blood raining down in midair.
"This..." When the people behind recovered their wits, they finally saw clearly.
In front of Wu Xu stood a figure—one man, two blades.
*One man, two blades.*
Wu Xu naturally recognized this back... Qingzi was here.
As for the Yu clan members, they had never seen Han Qingyu, but the scene before them seemed to overlap with a tale they had heard before... Yu Fengzi had once said that in the Nepal canyon, there was a man with two blades who had hacked his way out of a dead zone.
"You... you're that Han Qingyu?"
Amid the dead silence came a faint voice. Yu Yindou's mind was already blurring, and the thought running through his head escaped as an involuntary mutter.
Hearing it, Han Qingyu turned to look at him.
"I am Han Qingyu... Who the fuck are you?!"
***
Wu Xu stood leaning on his spear while Wen Jifei tended to his bleeding.
The black pup, Bu Mang, acted like a grand war hero, standing beside Wu Xu and wagging its tail high in the air... After a short while, unable to help itself, it trotted over between Han Qingyu, Shen Yixiu, and He Tangtang, who were facing off three against thirty, suppressing the Yu clan war slaves.
Putting on a ferocious show, it crouched low and growled, threatening the other side.
"He's dead..." Gesturing toward Yu Yindou, who lay lifeless on the ground not far away, Wen Jifei said, "Probably died of anger from Qingzi."
"Yeah." Wu Xu nodded.
"So that was the master of the Yu clan? He calls you Xu'er?" Wen Jifei paused, muttering, "No wonder you wouldn't let me call you Xu'er..."
Wu Xu nodded.
"You should've said so earlier. If you'd told me, I definitely wouldn't have called you that... Xu-xu."
"...Pfft!"
Finally, the mouthful of blood that Wu Xu had been holding back for so long sprayed out.
It was excruciating, yet he also wanted to laugh.
He might as well just drop dead.
"Wu Xu... how are you holding up?" Han Qingyu heard the noise from the front, glanced back with concern, and asked.
Wu Xu shook his head. "I'm fine." Then he silently gestured with his chin toward Wen Jifei, signaling that it was mostly because of Plague Chicken.
He was filing a complaint.
Han Qingyu didn't notice, however.
Because right then, in Han Qingyu's sight, dozens of blue streaks of light were rushing through the mountain forest behind Wu Xu...
It was a breathtaking sight.
"Wu Xu, turn around and look," Han Qingyu prompted.
Wu Xu turned his head, saw them, and stood frozen on the spot.
"Happy?" Han Qingyu waited a few seconds before asking from behind with a smile.
Wu Xu turned back... and gave a firm nod.
In his clear eyes, there was light, and a smile.
***
Lao Jian had returned with his team. Ever since Han Qingyu and the others had rushed off, he had grown uneasy and anxious. Quickly gathering some of the spoils without taking time for a thorough search, he had led his team back at full throttle with devices engaged... Sure enough, something had happened.
Arriving on the scene, he asked a couple of quick questions and learned that the opposing side was the group that had raided the Azure supply depot.
Lao Jian turned his head.
First, he checked the encampment beneath the hillside, which remained safe and sound.
Then he looked back along the path they had come from, toward the battlefield.
Finally, his gaze settled on Wu Xu, who stood there drenched in blood.
For a veteran like Captain Lao, the situation before him required no further explanation... Looking at Wu Xu, he stayed silent for several seconds before saying, "Hey!"
Wu Xu turned to look at him.
"I want you to be my soldier," Lao Jian said.
"Join the squad first. If anything happens, I'll shoulder it. If Azure wants to put you through another damn review, I'll go..." Pausing to think, Captain Lao grinned and said, "I'll go cough up blood at the Council in protest."
Protest by... coughing up blood?
Knowing it was a joke, Wu Xu tried to smile along, though it didn't turn out very well.
On the other side.
Almost nobody noticed that Wen Jifei, Liu Shiheng, He Tangtang, and Shen Yixiu... escorting the Yu clan steward, had already reached the foot of the hill.
"What are we going to do?" Shen Yixiu asked, having been dragged along in secret, looking somewhat baffled.
"Loot... no, we're making sure no remnants escape... Quick, we're raiding their house," Wen Jifei whispered.
"Surrendering all the spoils from slaying Great Spikes—that's fine... But if Da Wa hands over all the loot from something like this too, I'll die of frustration!"
As they were talking, two figures appeared up on the hillside.
Milla and Qi Rourou.
Milla looked at them, thought for a moment, and smiled without saying a word.
Qi Rourou, on the other hand, didn't understand. Keeping a stern face, she asked, "What are you..."
"Shh."
"..."
"We'll bring you back good stuff."
Qi Rourou thought about it... "Hmph." Her face remained stern, but she silently turned away.
Chapter 196