After his flamethrower ran out of fuel, Chen San decisively discarded it and pulled a black umbrella from a hidden compartment under the off-road vehicle's door. At the same time, a mist person lunged out, its sharp teeth nearly biting clean through his arm.
His head slammed violently against the car body, a bone-shattering pain radiating through him. Before he could react, the monster's foul-smelling maw drew close, its stench of blood almost making him faint.
Chen San gritted his teeth, his back pressed against the car. One hand braced in front of him to resist the monster's assault while the other tightly gripped the black umbrella.
With a crisp hum, a long, sharp object was drawn from the umbrella's body—it was a katana, its edge gleaming with a cold light.
"Die, scum!" Chen San growled, using the last of his strength to plunge the entire katana blade into the monster's neck!
The monster and his body slumped down together. His white clothes were a mess, his expression haggard, and his glasses were completely shattered.
The surrounding swarming monsters lunged at him simultaneously. The only sounds left in his ears were the piercing screeches and his own heavy panting, like that of a dying patient.
Chen San slowly raised his head, accepting his final fate, and gradually closed his eyes.
The death he imagined failed to arrive; instead, the roars of the monsters gradually drifted away.
A sensation of warmth radiated toward his face. He opened his eyes to see a glowing, heated blade before him.
The flickering flames illuminated the young girl's calm face. He looked up dazed; her silhouette seemed to be burning as well, radiating hope and light like the dawn.
"Are you planning to take a nap here, grade 1 commander?" Xu Xiaoyou said coldly.
Behind the blonde girl, Lin Xing and Lin Sheng fought with increasing ferocity. Before long, the two brothers had cleared out all the nearby monsters, creating a safe zone for the group.
Chen San gave a dazed laugh. "Heh, I thought you guys were too tied up to help."
Then, he let out a long breath of relief. "The engine is fixed. Get in the car."
Xu Xiaoyou said nothing, pulling Chen San up from the ground. Tang Xin stepped forward, using a flow of water to heal his arm.
The group fought as they retreated, quickly closing in on the off-road vehicle.
Lin Xing moved like a phantom, blending into the shadows. He was so fast that afterimages followed him. As his twin daggers fell, every mist person that approached was decapitated.
He guarded the two girls as they entered the cabin and looked back. Lin Sheng was still fighting in the middle of the monster swarm. Every time the decapitating blade swung, its terrifying power made the air ring. The mist people nearby were either sliced in half or forced back in large numbers. After entering the boiling blood state, the rising killing intent pressured his consciousness, and the world in Lin Sheng's eyes grew increasingly crimson.
"Bro, let's go!" Lin Xing shouted.
Lin Sheng, amidst the monsters, snapped back to his senses as the gentle water element seeped into his body, clearing his mind slightly.
He nodded and then stepped into the air, lightly tapping across the heads of the surging monsters like a dragonfly skimming water, his figure spinning rapidly and nimbly. Everywhere the man went, he stirred up a storm of blades. Countless monster heads soared into the sky. In just a few moments, the others watched as he fought his way from a hundred meters away to the car and stepped inside.
"Drive," Lin Sheng said, his breathing steady.
Noticing everyone staring at him in surprise, he frowned slightly. "What are you all looking at me for?"
Xu Xiaoyou tapped her sword hilt with her fingertip and looked away, her thoughts unknown.
Chen San observed the girl's expression through the rearview mirror. Seeing the monsters swarming again, he no longer hesitated and floored the accelerator.
Accompanied by the roar of the metallic beast's engine, the monsters blocking their path were all crushed. The off-road vehicle forcibly broke through the encirclement!
The vehicle sped out of the dense fog. The thick white mist reached out toward them like ghostly hands before slowly receding. Looking back at the highway, rows of monsters appeared at the edge of the fog, wearing terrifying smiles. The feeling of having survived a disaster caused the heavy stones in everyone's hearts to finally drop.
The sky was still clear, and the distant mountains were magnificent.
The whistling wind brushed against their hearts, relaxing their taut nerves.
Peaceful scenery continuously flew past both sides of the off-road vehicle. Everything seemed perfectly normal, as if the crisis that had just ended was merely an illusion. Yet the bloodstains covering everyone served as a constant reminder that they had just fought their way out of a siege.
"Bro, when did you get so powerful?" Lin Xing was still excited, his voice filled with restless energy. "Do you know? Just now, you were exactly like a grand hero from the movies who knows qinggong. Light as a swallow, just stepping on those monsters' heads to get over here!"
"Quiet down, Lin Xing," Lin Sheng said helplessly.
The small interlude didn't draw much attention from the others in the car. After driving for a while, Chen San, who was at the wheel, kept casting glances at Xu Xiaoyou in the back seat through the mirror, his perennial poker face showing a trace of thought.
The latter noticed his gaze. She looked up, her voice indifferent:
"As a commander, to have no alertness at all before a crisis like this hit, leading the team into a bitter struggle... don't you plan to explain yourself?"
Chen San didn't speak, the shattered lenses of his glasses reflecting his darkened expression.
After a long silence, he said, "There haven't been any reports of urban legend sightings on the Fars Mountain Range's loop road for decades."
"And our Dawn Agency has traveled this road more than once while out on commissions."
"So it's just our bad luck this time, happening to run into those monsters, and on such a scale," Xu Xiaoyou said with a sarcastic tone.
Chen San suddenly fell silent.
The atmosphere in the cabin turned stiff again. This time, neither Lin Xing nor Lin Sheng said anything; everyone on the team knew that Xu Xiaoyou and Chen San didn't get along.
Furthermore, because of a tactical error, they had just endured a bloody battle. No one could say for sure if they would all still be standing here if anything had gone slightly differently.
Sensing the trace of genuine irritation in the girl's tone, Tang Xin, who was seeing her this serious for the first time, thought for a moment and leaned closer to Xu Xiaoyou.
"Are you tired?"
"No," Xu Xiaoyou shook her head. "And I'm not angry."
Despite her words, she leaned her head against the car window with her hand on her face. Anyone could see she was preoccupied.
"If you're tired, get some rest."
Xu Xiaoyou was startled as a pair of hands guided her head, letting her body recline. A soft, warm sensation came from behind her head—the softness of dress fabric and the girl's skin.
She happened to meet Tang Xin's eyes, which were filled with a calm, smiling light. Xu Xiaoyou's gaze wavered slightly. She saw the other girl lean down gently, a few strands of blue hair falling by her ear, revealing a rounded, reddish earlobe.
Tang Xin made a shushing gesture. "If you can't sleep, I can sing for you. What would you like to hear, Yuzu?"
Having just survived a bitter struggle, she saw fatigue deep in the other's eyes as well, along with a gentle, tranquil beauty.
Pillowed on the girl's lap, it felt as if she were lying in a soft patch of white irises. A faint fragrance lingered at the tip of her nose.
In her ears was a gentle lullaby, the whistling of the wind outside the window, and the hum of the car's engine.
A sense of exhaustion gradually washed over her. Where did this weariness come from?
She thought that since coming to this world, she hadn't had a proper rest in a very long time. It wasn't just her body that was weary, but also her heart, which had been occupied by restlessness and anxiety.
The peaceful and comfortable sensation made her close her eyes. Her restless soul was immersed in the gentle singing, finding solace and becoming still as her thoughts slowly drifted away.
Rate on N.U.
