Chapter 38

"Leave me alone!"

Hawk made a decision.

"Mo You, don't come any closer!"

Hawk's voice was hoarse, and a large amount of blood foam trickled from the corners of his mouth.

He was well aware of Genbu's prowess in close combat and realized that his severe injuries and collapse on the ground would force Mo You to engage in close combat with Genbu.

If that happened, Mo You, who was also a ranged-type user, would lose his advantage.

It was precisely because of this that Hawk was anxiously trying to get Mo You to leave him alone.

"..."

Hearing Hawk's desperate cry, Mo You fell silent, his eyes sharp as he glanced at Hawk.

He hoped to convey his message through this brief exchange of glances.

Immediately, Mo You stepped in front of Hawk, blocking Genbu and exposing himself to Genbu's attack range.

Ranged-type users should avoid close combat as much as possible to leverage their strengths.

This was common sense.

Of course, the most important thing was that this brat had stepped in front of Hawk.

That meant, from this moment on, this brat was bound by the constraint of "not being able to dodge."

Genbu's expression was cold as he gathered his Nen and punched at Mo You.

"..."

Mo You's eyes were serious, and under Genbu's gaze, he assumed a defensive stance.

But in the next moment,

Mo You suddenly crouched down.

"Huh?"

As Mo You crouched, Genbu's eyes reflected the scene of Hawk gathering a Nen bullet in his right palm.

Swish!

The Nen bullet, condensed with Nen, shot out from Hawk's palm, instantly passing over Mo You's head and heading straight for Genbu's face.

Genbu's pupils dilated, and he hastily interrupted his attack, turning his fist into a palm to narrowly deflect the Nen bullet Hawk had shot at his face.

At the same time,

Mo You mustered all his strength to channel the "Qi" in his legs to his feet.

The significant improvement in his proficiency in the four basic techniques allowed him to use the "Condensation" technique, which he had not yet mastered.

With a ball of "Qi" gathered in his foot, he kicked fiercely at Genbu's lower body.

At this moment,

Although Genbu had used most of his Nen to deflect Hawk's Nen bullet, at least 30% of his manifested Nen was still distributed in other parts of his body.

Faced with Mo You's vicious kick to his lower body, the highly focused Genbu reacted in time, his left hand sinking to precisely grab Mo You's foot.

First, he turned his right hand into a palm to deflect Hawk's Nen bullet, then moved his left hand to block the kick and control Mo You.

The entire response was seamless.

"Almost got fooled by you..."

This thought flashed through Genbu's mind, and he was about to slam Mo You into the ground.

But at that very instant,

The shadow Mo You had released earlier emerged from the ground, its hand holding the dagger that Cole had dropped, and stabbed directly at Genbu's buttocks.

At this moment, Genbu had focused all his attention on the combined attack of Mo You and Hawk, so the amount of manifested Nen on his buttocks was only a thin layer.

Pfft!

The dagger pierced Genbu's buttocks without resistance, and the blade then sharply twisted.

Instantly, blood splattered!

"Ah!"

The sudden intense pain made Genbu's neck veins bulge, and he let out a scream.

"**"

Roaring in anger, Genbu twisted his waist and slammed Mo You into the shadow that had attacked him.

Mo You endured the pain from his ankle, quickly controlling the shadow to release the dagger and return to its normal state, lying on the ground.

Whoosh!

In the sharp whistling wind,

Mo You was swung half a circle by Genbu.

In this brief exchange, Hawk, to help Mo You, gathered another Nen bullet despite his dizziness and shot it at Genbu's back.

Boom!

The Nen exploded.

Genbu grunted, and as he was thrown back by the impact, he released Mo You's foot.

Without Genbu's control, Mo You flew out and crashed heavily into the ground, plowing a furrow in the earth.

"Cough, cough..."

Mo You lay on the ground, spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood, then looked at Genbu, who had a bloody dagger stuck in his buttocks.

Aiming the final killing blow at Genbu's buttocks...

It wasn't because he was particularly fond of it, but because the buttocks were one of the few areas where an attack could penetrate directly into the body.

That last stab—

Should have pierced through Genbu's rectum and torn open his ileum.

Moreover, the blade had been twisted at the end, likely causing severe internal bleeding.

This was the key condition for Mo You to win against Genbu after using his last trump card.

"Damn brat..."

Genbu barely steadied himself, enduring the intense pain as he pulled the dagger out of his buttocks.

The tearing pain made him involuntarily groan a few times.

"How dare you..."

Genbu, holding the bleeding dagger, glared at Mo You with a ferocious expression.

A brutal killing intent radiated from his aura.

Mo You, of course, was not affected by the killing intent and was pleased to see Genbu lose his composure.

He quickly glanced at the ongoing battle with Qiduo, his heart sinking. Then he moved to Hawk's side.

"What's going on with Qiduo?"

"Cough, cough..."

Hawk coughed a few times, his eyes filled with pride and satisfaction as he looked at Mo You, then explained: "It's normal for you to be confused. Cough, cough... Qiduo is very talented, but she doesn't use her abilities in combat."

"I see."

Mo You instantly understood.

He could clearly see that Qiduo could handle the combined attacks of the two enemies with ease and should gradually gain the upper hand and turn the tide.

But while he had already dealt with one and severely injured another with Hawk's help, Qiduo's battle was making no progress.

It turned out she was a non-combat type user...

Realizing this, Mo You felt a sense of foreboding.

He had no more trump cards. Even if he could drag Genbu to his death, as long as Qiduo couldn't effectively threaten the other two Nen users,

He wouldn't be able to protect Hawk, let alone save himself.

"The situation is still very dire..."

Mo You sighed.

If he left Hawk now, he could escape the danger.

But some things—

Cannot be done.

"Hawk, can you hold on?"

Mo You kept his eyes on Genbu, calculating his next move.

Fortunately, the "Perception" had improved his proficiency in the four basic techniques, giving him more adequate response capabilities.

"Mo You."

Hawk looked at Mo You's back, his chest heaving.

"Hmm?"

Mo You responded but did not turn around.

Determination flashed in Hawk's eyes as he panted and said forcefully,

"I... won't be like Qiduo, Mo You. I... will do whatever it takes to keep you safe... If it's now... I don't have to worry about the cost... Mo You, you must live on."

"Hmm?"

Mo You's eyes changed.

On the other side,

Qiduo had naturally noticed the battle situation with Mo You.

She was surprised and anxious.

Facing the two Heavenly Stem members of the Qinglin team, she truly lacked the killing power to end the fight.