An unexpected situation arose. Inside the old garbage truck, anxious to get a clearer look, Shen Yixiu rose slightly—*clang*—and a large bulge popped up in the truck's roof.
"Doctor Zhe, look over there! What's happening? Why did they all suddenly crowd around him?! Is Qingzi being bullied?!" With the large bump directly above her head, Rusty Sister watched anxiously.
As she spoke, her hand reached out to push open the truck door.
Zhe Qiuhong turned helplessly and grabbed her iron arm with both hands.
"What's the rush? Even if he were being bullied and a fight was brewing, would he need you to step in? He hasn't fully recovered yet, but it's not like the days when you could toss him around at will. Besides, have you ever seen someone bully another person and pull out a source energy block while doing it?"
*That's true, the customer is holding a source energy block.* Thinking about it, Shen Yixiu realized she had a point.
Having served as the team's "strongest combatant" for a while, she had developed a conditioned reflex, always assuming Qingzi and the others were weak, easily picked on, and in need of her protection.
Sitting back down, the young girl tilted her head up and continued to ask in confusion, "Then what are they doing?"
"I don't know either." Matters between men and women had always been the female scientist's weak spot. Zhe Qiuhong looked on blankly, shaking her head. "Let's watch for a bit first."
Han Qingyu checked with his hand, confirming that the scar on his face was still there.
It was not the kind of scar that gave a man a dashing, heroic air.
To tell the truth, it was rather terrifying.
The scar ran diagonally from his left forehead all the way down to his right cheek. Because it had been caused by the whipping strike of an iron chain, the wound was wide and jagged, distorting his entire face and making him look menacing. In the world of ordinary people, it was enough to frighten someone on sight.
"Now this makes no sense," He Tangtang muttered under his breath from the side. Back when the three of them were lying in the pit, the way Yaoyao-huanghuang had fawned over Qingzi... Although he felt a world obsessed with looks was infuriatingly unfair, he had still had to concede defeat.
Yet now the guy was disfigured, so why was it still him?!
How could Ao Yong and Qian Daofeng not be thinking the same thing?!
"This... this is completely unreasonable."
"Yeah, on what grounds?!"
"..."
Finally, Han Qingyu took a step forward. He figured the woman must just have peculiar tastes. Looking down, he eyed the source energy block on the hood.
"He wants it. His eyes are screaming that he wants it." Ao Yong and Qian Daofeng exchanged glances. "Understandable. If it were us, we'd definitely want it too."
And the blonde woman before them, aside from being on the taller, larger side, was actually quite attractive. Thinking of this, Qian Daofeng leaned in and whispered three words by Han Qingyu's side:
"It's not shameful."
He was worried that Ah Jing wanted it, but felt too embarrassed to agree in front of them.
"Yeah, if a man could get a source energy block like this, I reckon ninety percent of the men in the City of Iniquity would jump at the chance," Ao Yong added, offering him a graceful way out.
*What, you're all so supportive of me? Too bad it's only one source energy block,* Han Qingyu thought. *I'm still a virgin, damn it.*
"Well? Has he made up his mind?" Across from them, the blonde woman grew impatient and pressed for an answer.
Qian Daofeng translated her words.
"Could you ask her for me if she can just give me the source energy block as a tip for wiping down the car?" Han Qingyu asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to take a shot just in case.
Qian Daofeng looked at him, his gaze wavering. "Are you sure?"
If Han Qingyu had simply decided to turn it down, Qian Daofeng would have respected his decision and not pressed further. After all, they had just arrived in the City of Iniquity from the military; they likely lacked a deep appreciation of the cruelty here, and still retained some of a soldier's self-respect and integrity.
One shouldn't actively destroy those things, even if the hardships of survival would inevitably wear them down in the end.
The problem was, since he wasn't willing, how could he have the nerve to ask for the block anyway? The sheer guts, the brazen cheek of it!
"I'm sure. Ask her for me." Han Qingyu nodded decisively, then looked up at the blonde woman and gave her a warm smile.
At the same time, Qian Daofeng translated his words.
Hearing the translation, the blonde woman froze for a moment, looking caught off guard, and then grew infuriated. She turned back with furrowed brows, cocking her head to glare at Han Qingyu.
"Fuck!" A curse suddenly burst from her mouth as she kicked out.
*Bang!* Han Qingyu flew back at the impact and crashed hard onto the ground.
He lay face down for seven or eight seconds before clutching his stomach and struggling to his feet. He stood there without uttering a sound.
Just a moment ago, the instant the woman raised her foot, another possibility had crossed his mind: Could this be a test?! Otherwise, it was simply too abrupt.
So he had taken the kick head-on, playing out the impact with just the right amount of drama.
The sudden turn of events shook things up.
*Clang, clang, clang...* On the garbage truck at the street corner, a cluster of bulges erupted across the roof in rapid succession.
Zhe Qiuhong activated her device and poured all her strength into pinning down the iron armor in the passenger seat, which had nearly launched itself out like a rocket.
"Oh, girl! He took that on purpose! On purpose! Think about it yourself, isn't that right?! Look, Wu Xu, Plague Chicken, and Tangtang haven't even moved. Would they ever let Qingzi be bullied for real?!"
Zhe Qiuhong addressed Rusty Sister without the "Iron."
"But he's Han Qingyu!" From inside the iron armor came the grinding of clenched teeth. Her fists were clenched tight, the dead iron grating against itself. Shen Yixiu fought to rein herself in, turning her eyes back to the scene.
Across the street, Han Qingyu wiped the dirt off his clothes with a rinsed towel, picked up his bucket, and took up his position by the roadside again.
The blonde woman did nothing further, though she spat out a few more insults along the lines of "ungrateful" and "doesn't know what's good for him."
Han Qingyu and the others couldn't understand her, and Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong didn't bother to translate.
Then another girl with brown hair, dressed in grey leather shorts and carrying a blade on her back, who appeared somewhat younger, ran up briskly to the blonde woman's side. "What were you doing just now, Jenna? Did that guy offend you?"
The blonde named Jenna glanced over at Han Qingyu in the distance. "No. I offered a source energy block for him to spend the night with me... and got rejected."
"Huh?!" The brunette girl tilted her head to look, her expression growing even more bewildered. "But look at his face! Good grief, Jenna, is that what your taste is like nowadays?"
Jenna shook her head with a wry smile.
"Don't look too closely, and don't just look at his face. Take a step over to where I'm standing and look at him again. Well? Do you feel anything special?"
The brunette girl hesitated for a few seconds. "A little, maybe."
"Yes. His build looks like The King—very much like him. From this angle, he looks just like that photograph of him standing on the icy cliff. What's more, both of them have Eastern faces, with the same curvature to their profiles. So the moment I got out of the car and caught sight of that silhouette, I lost my mind on the spot." Jenna gestured toward the source energy block in her palm. "And then he walked over to me..."
"And you completely overlooked the scar on his face."
"Yes, I could overlook it. And then pretend I had slept with The King."
"God, I've got to hand it to you."
"Is that so? Actually, if you'd asked, I wouldn't have minded sharing him." At that, Jenna spread her hands with a self-deprecating smile. "Too bad I was turned down. He even asked if I could just give him the source energy block outright. He actually asked that, can you believe it?"
"And then you flew into a rage. Well, now you can pretend you defeated The King once, or that he chose to yield to you. In short, you can spin yourself another pretty story. Just don't sleep with him, okay? If you do, we won't be able to stay friends—I'm not as generous as you."
The brunette girl laughed. Her name was Lynne.
Both possessed formidable martial prowess, having carved out a place for themselves in the City of Iniquity as women and achieved high status. For that reason, they revered martial strength and yearned for power even more than ordinary people did. And if that someone happened to be young, legendary, and remarkably handsome, so much the better.
Over the past year, they had been infatuated to death with that dazzling, star-like legendary genius of Azure from the bounty boards and newspaper headlines.
"Let's go. You can have a few extra drinks tonight, and I'll protect you." The brunette Lynne gestured toward the bar entrance, where a noisy clamor was already under way. Then she glanced back in that direction again. *He really does look like him. Maybe I should offer double.*
"All right." Jenna also took one last look at that silhouette, a trace of regret in her eyes, before turning and heading into the bar.
On Tastes
People are different from one another.
This author might have three tastes.
You might dislike all three. Or you might like two of them, or one, and dislike the rest.
That is the most normal thing in human interaction or contact.
At times like this, it isn't that he has become so terrible, or that he has wronged you so badly; you simply aren't suited for each other.
A breakup should be dignified. Happy breakup, wishing you happiness...
Chapter 433