Nurse That Grudge

Han Qingyu's ruthlessness was not a vehement kind; it even gave the illusion that he was calm. Yet it was true ruthlessness. This was evident from his physical state—from the ashen, sickly pale complexion of his face, from the wounds and blood covering his entire body, or perhaps simply from the mere fact that he stood here now. Zhe Shouzhao felt this more deeply than anyone present. Thus, no matter how frail Han Qingyu appeared and no matter how indignant he felt inside, he harbored no thought of resisting. Given the disparity between their strengths, once he took off his gear, he had zero chance of fighting back anyway. The members of the hidden clans around them finally snapped out of their shock. Weapons slid from their sheaths, and with furious roars, they began surging forward. Zhe Shouzhao's men tried to hold them back, and Zhe Shouzhao turned his head to bark a few commands as well. Han Qingyu, without sparing them a glance, poked Zhe Shouzhao's back with his blade. "Let's go." They walked, Zhe Shouzhao carrying his sister, Zhe Qiuhong. Han Qingyu walked behind the two siblings. A short distance behind them followed the people of the Zhe family and the hidden clans, tailing them hesitantly. Han Qingyu did not even look back to warn them against following. It was pointless. The woods lined both sides of their path; falling out of direct sight by a few dozen meters imposed little restraint on combatants with decent strength. Han Qingyu just walked like this. Occasionally, a sudden cough seized him, and he lowered his head to spew blood onto the ground. The blue starlight column sword was simply wrapped in cloth and slung across his back. His left arm seemed barely able to lift anymore. At times, his footsteps faltered. Watching all this from behind, the crowd could not comprehend it. They could not understand why a man in this condition would have ever thought of coming here, why he had actually come, and how he now intended to walk back—and could actually walk back. Held in Zhe Shouzhao's arms, Zhe Qiuhong looked back at Han Qingyu the entire way. She had eyes that were not small and a very direct gaze. "Mmh, mmh!" After watching quietly for quite a while, Zhe Qiuhong suddenly began to struggle, trying to speak. Zhe Shouzhao glanced back at Han Qingyu. "Take it out for her," Han Qingyu said. The doctors had mentioned that during Zhe Qiuhong's years at Azure, she had given numerous lectures to many of them and had personally saved not a few soldiers of the Huaxia Front, which was why Huaxia had always treated her with ample respect. Han Qingyu had made no attempt to harm her either. Aside from being somewhat rough when binding her earlier and tossing out a comment that she was "too fat" while stuffing her under the driver's seat, he had not spoken a single harsh word to her. After all, he would be asking a favor of her shortly. "Have Shouzhao set me down. Untie the ropes around my feet, and I'll walk myself." With the half-sleeve removed from her mouth, Zhe Qiuhong, traces of Han Qingyu's blood lingering at the corner of her lips, took a deep breath before speaking. Han Qingyu shook his head and coughed twice. "Can't do that. You two will run in opposite directions." Zhe Qiuhong: "..." That had indeed been her plan. She had already discerned that Han Qingyu would not kill her, nor even harm her. She had heard of this man known as Major Qing, and she had planned to drop to the ground, spin around, tackle him, and let Zhe Shouzhao flee. She had martial training of her own. "Then promise me you won't kill Shouzhao. I'll treat you, and I can save your friend as well." Han Qingyu remained silent. That was equivalent to tacitly confirming her guess. "You want to kill Shouzhao. I can tell," Zhe Qiuhong said suddenly. Her insight laid his thoughts bare. Stream Vanguard took an eye for an eye; Han Qingyu truly had no intention of sparing Zhe Shouzhao. Up ahead, Zhe Shouzhao's back trembled. Han Qingyu considered this for a moment and countered, "When he was hunting us earlier, you were in the helicopter too, weren't you? Why didn't you talk him out of it?" "I did. I urged him not to provoke the Huaxia Front. He didn't listen." Zhe Qiuhong stared straight into Han Qingyu's eyes. "Is an older sister so useless? I don't have an older sister of my own, but I used to be terrified of my older cousin." Zhe Qiuhong was taken aback. "We didn't grow up together. I left home very early." "Oh. Then why care if he lives or dies?" "...Just this once," Zhe Qiuhong replied. "Bottom line: I'll help you save your man. If I fail, you can kill me. But if you kill Shouzhao, I wouldn't help you even if it costs me my life." "..." Han Qingyu did not understand women, but he understood when someone meant every word they said—every word drove like a nail. If he didn't spare Zhe Shouzhao, Zhe Qiuhong would never treat Wu Xu. By then, the three had covered some distance on their way back. Ahead, the sound of helicopters began to rise. The followers behind them gradually faded into the woods. "Fine. I won't kill him this time," Han Qingyu agreed after some thought. "Then don't turn around, intercept him again, and claim it's already the second time." Though it was a petty, nagging sort of clause, Zhe Qiuhong—a doctor who had walked right into Azure's trap of her own accord just to examine research archives—stated it with rigorous gravity. And the fact was, Han Qingyu had actually been thinking of doing just that... "Fine." Han Qingyu blew out a heavy breath, sounding thoroughly begrudging. "Zhe Chunhua, you get to live." "My brother's name is Zhe Shouzhao." "Too hard to remember. Chunhua and Qiuhong make a neat pair." "The idiom is 'spring flowers and autumn moon.'" "See? Chunhua it is." Han Qingyu fell silent after that. The horn-shaped Bone of Eternal Life was tucked into his chest. Just a moment ago, he had tuned in to sense it, and nearly passed out right on the spot. Both were Bones of Eternal Life, and that shared resonance could not be mistaken. Yet this particular bone seemed exceedingly unique. The bone source within it was vaster and denser; more importantly, it seemed to carry an indescribable sense of vitality. *I'll ask Zhu Jiaming when I get back,* Han Qingyu thought, pressing forward. In the command headquarters village, atop the roof of a dilapidated house, Wen Jifei peered through his sniper scope into the distance. When Qingzi's silhouette came into view, his tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed a bit, and he broke into a helpless yet exuberant laugh. He had gone looking for the Fourth Army doctors earlier, so he had quickly pieced together what Han Qingyu had run off to do. He had gone to hijack a doctor for Wu Xu—and probably hijacked a few other things along the way. "Han Green Snake, you bastard, you really are a piece of work," Wen Jifei laughed. "Did you spot him? You did! Quick, let me look, let me see!" Rusty Sister grabbed the sniper rifle, took a single peek, and—*crackle-crash!*—the roof caved in. Below, Zhang Chiyuan had just received word. His mind at ease, he was preparing to tuck into a bowl of noodles. The noodles had already gone cold. The bowl was showered with broken roof tiles. Commander Zhang picked around them in silence and kept eating. Climbing the wall, the iron armor poked her head out. "Should we go back him up? Want me to go meet Qingzi?" "No need," Wen Jifei said after thinking it over. "Since he didn't give any hand signals, let's not go add to the chaos." ... On the other side, Zhe Qiuhong strained to look toward the village, faintly spotting over a dozen helicopters outside it before turning back to Han Qingyu. "It's time to let Shouzhao go." Han Qingyu looked up as well. "Put your sister down." Zhe Shouzhao lowered Zhe Qiuhong to the ground. Han Qingyu stepped around and stopped in front of Zhe Shouzhao. He stood still for a heartbeat... then suddenly whipped around, slamming the flat of his blade into Zhe Shouzhao with a vicious *thwack* that sent him flying. Zhe Shouzhao crashed to the ground. If not for the physical constitution of a top combat power, that blow would have killed him. Sprawled on the dirt, he forced his head up. Han Qingyu had already turned his back to him. "It was merely an exchange of terms. I harbor no desire whatsoever to bury the hatchet with you. Nurse that grudge well, because I've already noted mine down. Next time we meet, try to kill me—or I will kill you." With that, Han Qingyu slid his combat saber back into its sheath over his shoulder. Bending down, he hoisted Zhe Qiuhong off the ground with his right hand and, with some difficulty, continued toward the hamlet, one step at a time. There was still a ways to go. In the woods behind him, hundreds watched him walk away.