Chapter 22

Just before being hit, Zheng Chen's tightly clenched fist suddenly relaxed, his palm turned upward, and Wuluxi stared in shock at the hidden blade pointed at his forehead, his eyes squinting into a cross-eyed gaze, unable to dodge it!

However, in the next moment, the hidden blade that had already shot out and touched his forehead suddenly retreated... It wasn't the hidden blade that retreated, but Zheng Chen himself!

The circular discs that had blocked the attack reformed and sent Zheng Chen flying, but that was the end of it. The hammer handle that remained in Wuluxi's hand was forcibly pulled out by the flying Zheng Chen, and the contract was immediately terminated!

"..." Wuluxi, frowning, touched the wound on his forehead, then threw off his outer coat, revealing his muscular build. Without even looking at Jilulu, who had been thrown to the ground and was unable to get up, he said, "Useless thing, I trusted you too much!!"

"I admit you are strong, but... bastard..." Seeing the miniature crossbow that had fallen from Zheng Chen's sleeve and was now aimed at him, Wuluxi's eyes twitched, and his words stopped abruptly. Was this young man crazy? His actions clearly showed he wanted to fight fairly, but now he was using underhanded tactics?

Zheng Chen's speed was very fast, and he admitted he couldn't match it. With such a powerful miniature crossbow, even with just one shot, he had no confidence in dodging it.

Full of anger, Wuluxi glared fiercely at the dejected Jilulu, "I'll replace you later!"

Jilulu's dejection immediately turned to urgent pain, "No, please don't do that, I will work harder, Wuluxi..."

She tried to run to Wuluxi's side but was thrown away again by Zheng Chen. Zheng Chen didn't understand; the pearl he had encountered was like this, and the situation with this man was similar to Bizong's. Were these Holy War Angels' IQs all in need of a recharge?

Jilulu, who was thrown away again, struggled to her feet and ran to Wuluxi's side. This time, Zheng Chen didn't stop her, "Continue."

Wuluxi's face, which had been fluctuating, immediately flared up, feeling completely provoked by Zheng Chen, "You... damn!!"

Swish—

A faint sound of breaking air immediately followed. By the time Wuluxi realized it, a small crossbow bolt was already approaching, aiming precisely at the wound on his forehead. This guy had been deliberately setting him up!

He reacted, but it was too late to avoid it. He couldn't dodge it! Just before giving up on dodging, a small figure jumped in front of Wuluxi, apparently intending to use itself to block the small crossbow bolt.

"You!?"

"Don't do that!" Two voices of shock sounded simultaneously.

Instinctively, Wuluxi tried to push the small figure away, realizing he hadn't completely treated her as a tool... It was too late!

He caught Jilulu, who was falling freely with her eyes tightly closed, and his face darkened as if it could drip black water, "If anything happens to her... nothing?"

The nearly infant-sized Holy War Angel was unharmed, with no trace of injury. Looking down, he saw a crossbow bolt like a steel nail on the ground, with a thin, almost invisible metal wire attached to its tail.

Almost instantly, Wuluxi understood the purpose of this. The metal wire wasn't used here but to kill! It could easily withstand the inertia of the crossbow bolt, and its toughness was evident. With the right terrain, it could silently cut through the vulnerable parts of the enemy's body.

There were two voices just now?

There was no fifth person here. Zheng Chen wouldn't shout, and the only one left was the blue-haired girl who had slightly relaxed.

"..."

"Let's change the target." After reloading another miniature crossbow bolt, Zheng Chen aimed at the fuel tank of Wuluxi's motorcycle, and Wuluxi's eyes narrowed again.

"What do you want to do to my beloved motorcycle!!!"

"It's a very nice motorcycle," Zheng Chen said calmly, "but it's not mine."

So he wouldn't feel bad about destroying it, but Wuluxi would!

"Stop! You've already won, I'll compensate for this." A broken motorcycle could be repaired, but if it exploded, it would need to be replaced. Would the new one be the same as this one?

"Ugh, Wuluxi, I'll work harder, don't abandon me..." Jilulu, with a sob, looked at Wuluxi with reluctance, tightly gripping his arm, so tightly that he might not be able to shake her off.

"...The battle is over." Wuluxi didn't mention the thing Jilulu was most worried about. In the future, which Holy War Angel would be willing to risk their life to shield him from bullets?

"Hurry! I can see them, we can't let them escape this time!!!" Xiska's persistent voice echoed from a distance, making Zheng Chen's brow twitch. He had only stayed a day longer to recover from his injuries!

"Block them, as long as possible." Putting away the miniature crossbow, Zheng Chen said, "That's the condition."

Seeing that Zheng Chen was no longer threatening his beloved motorcycle, Wuluxi slightly relaxed, "I'm curious, who are you, what are you doing, and who is chasing you?"

"Your answer will affect how much effort I put in!"

His words eased the tense atmosphere between them.

Zheng Chen thought for a moment. Blocking them... the longer, the better, "She wants to go somewhere, and I'm just going along."

"That's it!?" Wuluxi was surprised. This reason was too simple, so simple that it made him want to ask more, "She's a Holy War Angel!"

"So what?" Zheng Chen countered, "What's the difference between her and a human?"

"Alright, I don't understand your thinking, but what about the people chasing you?"

"The Holy War Angel Protection Association."

"Huh? Ha!! I get it, leave this to me, I've been looking down on them!" After a moment of surprise, Wuluxi laughed, "No one will get past me here! Hurry up and go."

What a strange combination, Wuluxi thought to himself, "Jilulu, can you still fight?"

"Yes." Jilulu, tightly hugging Wuluxi's arm, immediately responded.

"Then the next battle can't be taken lightly."

"Sure! Let's make the Protection Association people suffer!" Jilulu's face was full of joy, the first time she had heard Wuluxi speak to her with such approval.

Sitting on a passing carriage, Zheng Chen lightly coughed and threw a piece of cloth to the side. Old wounds had just healed, and new ones had already come. This time, they were more severe than before. Even with the arm guards that housed the hidden blades, they only prevented fractures.

The impact force didn't decrease much. The minor injuries were just the tip of the iceberg; the major ones were from being hit directly by the nine circular discs. Last time with Bizong, it was mostly electrical burns, but this time, it was severe internal injuries from blunt force trauma.

Taking two drops of medicinal liquid from the veins that spread to his fingertips, Zheng Chen immediately drank it. External injuries could be quickly healed with the medicine given by Ping Shizhi, but internal injuries could only be slowly recovered. He should be more careful from now on.

"Want to rest a bit?" The blue-haired girl gently held Zheng Chen's hand and asked softly.

"No time, we should get off the carriage." Zheng Chen saw the outline of a city in the distance and called to the driver.

Entering the city openly was asking for trouble. Small villages and towns were one thing, but cities would have branches of the Holy War Angel Protection Association. In their home turf, Zheng Chen had no confidence in acting openly.

"Actually, you don't have to fight so hard alone..." The blue-haired girl whispered, following behind Zheng Chen. Zheng Chen's steps paused slightly, and he frowned. Years of solo action had made him unaccustomed to relying on others, and Wuluxi's words earlier had also bothered him.

Holy War Angels as tools?

In the wasteland, Zheng Chen had encountered many people who were worse off than slaves. Perhaps because he had been exposed to a lot of information about the prosperous era before the wasteland, he could be ruthless, a necessary survival rule in the wasteland, but he was averse to casually trampling on life.

Even though what Wuluxi said was different from this situation, Bizong's actions and various encounters had made him averse to the so-called contract. If Wuluxi hadn't wavered at the end, Zheng Chen wouldn't have let this matter end so easily.

"..." Outside the tense environment of the wasteland, his mindset seemed to have changed somewhat.

"Once we reach our destination, we will have no more connection." Zheng Chen, walking ahead, answered calmly. This was why he had never asked the blue-haired girl's name or introduced himself.

"But..."

Zheng Chen interrupted the blue-haired girl, "In the future, you have your life, and I have my journey. We are not on the same path."

He didn't belong to any place in this world.

"Then why are you walking with me now!" The blue-haired girl's voice carried a hint of anger. Even though Zheng Chen didn't say much, she could see from his pale face that he was in bad shape.

"Coincidence."

"That's not a reason!"

"..." Zheng Chen thought for a moment and continued, "I don't mind bringing someone along who is going the same way and can talk to me."

Adding some prefixes and suffixes... it should be fine, he wasn't good at comforting people, so the less he said, the better.

"You don't talk much!"

"Am I not talking now?"

Then... there was no more conversation. Zheng Chen needed to find a place to rest and protect against wild animals at night, but such a place was hard to find. He could only find a barely acceptable place and set some traps nearby as a precaution.

Then came the first night in the wild.

Page AD starts

Page AD ends