Chapter 23 – Dragon

Inside the base.

Nurse Peng ran into Ye Lanzhou downstairs.

Ye Lanzhou remembered her and stopped to ask, “How’s your health?”

Nurse Peng, pleasantly surprised, replied, “I’m fine now.”

Ye Lanzhou comforted her, “Take a break and rest for a few days. I promise such things won’t happen again.”

Speaking of which, this matter could be considered his negligence. He allowed such a dangerous mutant to sneak into the base, and it even entered the medical building without him noticing.

On the contrary, the medical department’s personnel who suffered from this unwarranted disaster— they were the ones in the department that should be protected the most.

Nurse Peng, an ordinary person with no special abilities, was trapped in the medical building and still thought about saving Chu Chenli.

Ye Lanzhou felt a bit guilty towards her and sighed, “It’s my fault.”

Nurse Peng dared not accept his guilt, shaking her head repeatedly, saying, “Commander Ye, it’s not your fault. Mutants are so good at hiding that even the gods wouldn’t be able to predict their movements.”

Ye Lanzhou smiled helplessly, expressing some regret, “Unfortunately, Jiang Liao’s body hasn’t been found.”

Nurse Peng didn’t respond.

She also felt quite regretful, but she wasn’t familiar with Jiang Liao, and her heart wasn’t as broad as Commander Ye’s. She was more grateful that she and Chu Chenli survived.

Ye Lanzhou, who took the initiative to inquire about her well-being and expressed regret for Jiang Liao, seemed to have deliberately avoided mentioning Chu Chenli.

Nurse Peng was secretly thinking about this, when she heard Ye Lanzhou hesitantly mention Chu Chenli’s name.

“Chu Chenli…have you seen him recently?” Ye Lanzhou asked Nurse Peng. “How is he doing these days?”

Wouldn’t it be better to go upstairs and see for himself instead of asking her?

Sensing her confusion, Ye Lanzhou smiled bitterly and said, “I was a bit too harsh when talking to him before. I’m afraid he doesn’t want to see me now.”

Nurse Peng could only reply, “He’s been doing well these days. He has been slowly recovering since Dr. Du personally changed his medicine, and he should be able to leave the hospital in a week.”

Ye Lanzhou didn’t process the statement fully, dazedly nodding while saying, “Oh, that’s good. If there’s anything else you need, just let me know.”

Thinking he might just be being polite, Nurse Peng nodded in response. However, upon reflection, she did remember something Ye Lanzhou could help with.

“Among Chu Chenli’s medicine, there’s a certain type that is running out. The doctor said it would take a while for our request to be approved. Could you talk to them and speed up the process?”

It wasn’t a big issue, and Ye Lanzhou agreed, asking casually, “Which one is it?”

Before Nurse Peng could answer, they heard hurried footsteps.

Xiang Renxi walked over and nodded slightly to Nurse Peng, then turned to Ye Lanzhou and said, “Huang Shuyin just returned.”

Ye Lanzhou was momentarily stunned, then let out a relieved expression, “Really? Is she okay?”

Xiang Renxi replied, “She didn’t suffer any injuries, but she came back alone since she got separated from the other team members. She’s requesting support.”

Ye Lanzhou nodded, understanding that he needed to make arrangements.

Xiang Renxi glanced at Nurse Peng, then asked, “What medicine were you two talking about just now? I can help on Lanzhou’s behalf.”

Nurse Peng stopped talking at the first sight of him, feeling a bit uneasy about what she had discussed with Dr. Du. She didn’t dare to meet his eyes.

If it weren’t for still being in front of Ye Lanzhou, she might have turned and run away long ago.

At this moment, when Renxi looked over again, his face wore a usual expression. However, Nurse Peng inexplicably felt a chill and dared not speak up.

“It’s nothing important.” Ye Lanzhou said.

At the moment, he didn’t want to bring up Chu Chenli’s matter with Xiang Renxi.

It’s not that he suspects anything since he knows Renxi will unconditionally support him. However, Ye Lanzhou feared that Xiang Renxi would suggest sending Chu Chenli directly to the Central Base again.

“I’ll talk to you about it again after I’ve finished making the arrangements,” Ye Lanzhou told Nurse Peng before turning to leave. “I need to check on Shuyin first.”

Nurse Peng nodded repeatedly.

Ye Lanzhou had already left, and Renxi glanced at Nurse Peng with an unfathomable look without saying a word. Soon, he caught up with Ye Lanzhou.

Renxi didn’t know what happened between Ye Lanzhou and Chu Chenli.

But he could sense that Ye Lanzhou’s attitude towards Chu Chenli had changed subtly— In the past, Ye Lanzhou was in a dilemma and his feelings were conflicted. In contrast, there was now a hint of guilt and avoidance.

For Xiang Renxi, this was not a good sign.

Whether it’s guilt or affection, the deeper Ye Lanzhou’s feelings for Chu Chenli, the greater the possibility of him being swayed.

Deep down, Ye Lanzhou is an ambitious person, but not to the extent that his ambition could overshadow all emotions. Before Lanzhou made the Southern Base the powerhouse of today, he was easily driven by impulsive emotions.

If Lanzhou still liked Chu Chenli as he did initially, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to act recklessly, risking his life for him and even willingly handing over the leadership position.

However, Xiang Renxi didn’t think Chu Chenli was qualified to sit in that position and be admired by everyone.

Those people should always look up to Ye Lanzhou and Ye Lanzhou only.

Even if the base was integrated or disbanded in the future, the scattered survivors should remember Ye Lanzhou’s benevolence.

Ye Lanzhou belongs at the top of a pedestal.

Regardless of strength or any cliché emotional entanglements, the only reason for Renxi’s persistence was because—

Ye Lanzhou was the sole person who supported him through thick and thin when he was a nobody till now.

Only Ye Lanzhou.

Xiang Renxi and Ye Lanzhou’s relationship is mutually beneficial.

Although Ye Lanzhou’s reputation is more prominent, without Xiang Renxi’s assistance, he would not have achieved the present glory.

Of course, without Ye Lanzhou’s strength, Xiang Renxi would not have been able to steadily navigate through the chaotic forces of this era and secure his own position.

Doubting Ye Lanzhou is akin to questioning Xiang Renxi.

If Ye Lanzhou descends from his position and abandons everything to be in the embrace of another person, Xiang Renxi’s life over the past ten years would also lose its meaning.

And the only one who can Lanzhou do that is Chu Chenli.

As long as Chu Chenli hasn’t awakened and is still useful, Xiang Renxi can endure his existence.

Now that he had awakened but was worthless, Xiang Renxi has begun to consider how to get rid of this burden.

When he realised that Chu Chenli’s former strength was not just a figment of Ye Lanzhou’s imagination, he only had one thought left.

Chu Chenli can’t stay.

But at the same time, he also knows that Ye Lanzhou is still unwilling to let Chu Chenli die.

So there are some things that cannot be known by Ye Lanzhou for now.

Fortunately, the Central Base once again extended an olive branch, which was the best way to deal with Chu Chenli.

Originally, everything was going smoothly, but the awakened mutants thwarted his plans.

For the first time, Ye Lanzhou began to hide secrets from Xiang Renxi.

Xing Renxi felt vaguely anxious.

He hated the feeling of losing control.

However, he couldn’t show it. He had to suppress his restlessness even when he failed to get his desired answers through indirect inquiries.

He didn’t want, and couldn’t afford, to have a dispute with Ye Lanzhou at this time.

In the eyes of others, the two people in a rush appeared to be reliable leaders as usual.

Some base members, who were exhausted to the point of struggling to keep their eyes open, still stopped in their tracks, cleared their throats, and greeted them loudly, “Hello Commander Ye! Hello Lieutenant Xiang!”

Ye Lanzhou nodded at them, and Xiang Reng also responded with a faint smile. When there were no people around, his smile faded.

As they approached the east entrance, another group of people walked towards them. Having just finished their duty and were about to go back for a meal and rest. Upon seeing Ye Lanzhou, they also stopped them.

Ye Lanzhou’s footsteps didn’t halt, and his gaze hastily swept over them as he forced a faint smile.

But after a few steps, he suddenly stopped: “Who was the last person in the group just now?”

Xiang Reng was momentarily puzzled and turned to look: “Which one?”

“The young man at the end of the team.” Ye Lanzhou said, “The one in white clothes. Why do I feel like I haven’t seen him before?”

But by then, they had almost walked past the corner, and when they turned back, they could only see a blurry silhouette.

Xiang Reng was preoccupied with other matters in his heart, absentmindedly comforting him, “Maybe he’s a newcomer. Wasn’t a team of people transferred from the safe zone yesterday?”

With millions of people in Southern Base, it’s practically impossible for him to remember the face of each and every one.

Besides, there were guards on duty at the entrance and there haven’t been any infected or mutants resembling normal humans since the last incident, so Ye Lanzhou merely asked in passing without stopping in his tracks.

Ye Lanzhou thought that Xiang Renxi’s words made sense and didn’t dwell on it.

They didn’t bother to investigate what the people behind them were saying. The group of people they had just passed continued to watch their backs until they were out of sight before resuming their walk.

They didn’t pay much attention to Ye Lanzhou’s urgency. One commented with a sigh, “Being Commander Ye is really not easy. Recently, I feel like he’s about to work himself to death.”

“Fortunately, he has Lieutenant Xiang to help him.” Someone at the side commented.

“That’s right,” A few nodded in agreement.

Another one added, “During the last incident, the coordination between Lieutenant Xiang and Commander Ye was so tacit. They took action decisively as soon as the mutants attacked!!”

“After all, they’ve been partners for ten years. This level of understanding is expected from them.”

“Unlike the two leaders, that Chu-whatever guy is just a burden. I heard that a woman saved him this time. He’s really useless!”

“Saved by a woman? Are you talking about Nurse Peng? If that’s the case, then why do I keep hearing her say that Chu Chenli is her lifesaver? ”

“Do you believe whatever she says? Can that petite figure really save Nurse Peng? Even if there’s a life saver, it should be Commander Ye, right? Did you hear her mention it personally?”

“I think someone told her to say that to cover up for that Chu guy. Didn’t you hear that he caused a lot of trouble after waking up? No wonder even the virtuous Commander Ye doesn’t like him.”

“Who knows if this incident was caused by him again. If that’s the case, we should just kick him out of the base.”

“Yesterday morning, I saw Lieutenant Xiang talking privately with Nurse Peng. It might be about this matter. Afterwards, Nurse Peng started telling everyone that Chu Chenli was her lifesaver, probably to make things easier for Commander Ye.”

“Ai, I was narrow-minded. Before, I thought Lieutenant Xiang was jealous of that Chu guy’s position in Commander Ye’s heart. Lieutenant Xiang turned out to have foresight. Now, he has to clean up the mess caused by that useless guy. This morning, he even reminded us not to talk about this matter in front of those others out of consideration of their feelings.

“Lieutenant Xiang is really a good person.”

“Yeah, but no matter how you put it, he’s still Commander Ye’s saviour. He’s quite useless, but he hasn’t done anything outrageous. We can’t really kick him out, can we? After all, the people in the safe zone are as much of a burden as he is.”

“Last month, we took in someone who was in their seventies. He rushed into the horde of mutants to save his granddaughter and it took two of our brothers’ sacrifice of their lives to save him. Do you think we should abandon these people? Even if there was some criticism, everyone pitied both parties.”

“That Chu Chenli guy just woke up. It’s pretty good that he hasn’t turned into a total waste after being in a coma for ten years. After he recovers, he will become stronger and more useful than those elderly in the safe base. Maybe he can even help us reduce some casualties in the future.”

“This is also…Anyway, when the time comes, we’ll just send him to the safe zone. As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. If Commander Ye ever gets bored, he can go check on him.”

In the group, a few had good temperaments and were peacemakers.

Some team members, exhausted and full of complaints due to overwork, were venting their frustrations. After they were consoled, their anger gradually subsided.

Although some people still felt uncomfortable deep down, the topic about Chu Chenli was finally over. They started discussing the upcoming wave of mutants instead.

However, the young man walking at the back never joined their conversation.

When they reached the entrance of the cafeteria, the team members suddenly slapped their foreheads and turned around with surprised expressions.

“Hey, where’s the newcomer who said he was going to report to the medical department?”

“Maybe he went by himself,” One of them speculated. “Didn’t we just pass by the new medical building? He probably followed the signposts and left.”

“How rude of him to leave without saying anything,” Another muttered under their breath.

However, they realised their own mistake of neglecting him. They had initially promised to accompany him to the medical department, but they got too engrossed in their conversation and completely forgot about it.

So, they didn’t dwell on this issue. No one continued the conversation, and they quickly moved on from the topic.

Now, their only thought was to have a good meal and rest to replenish their energy for the demanding tasks ahead.

–

Outside the laboratory.

After hearing that Huang Shuyin was at the lab, the empty-handed Ye Lanzhou and Xiang Renxi hurried to the laboratory.

When they passed by the ruins of the abandoned medical building, Xiang Renxi paused for a moment.

The original main building was reduced to a charred crater. To prevent mutants from resurrecting, they blew up the whole building, not even sparing the foundation.

The booming explosion echoed for a long time that night.

It’s a pity Chu Chenli wasn’t inside.

Xiang Renxi sighed with regret in his heart. HIs gaze shifted, unintentionally colliding with a pair of golden eyes.

His pupils were deep black, with a layer of gold in between. It was reminiscent of sunlight, gold, and the harvest in a wheat field– everything precious, beautiful, and good.

Those beautiful eyes resembled a cat.

However, when those eyes fixed on him, Xiang Renxi only felt a chilling coldness piercing through him.

It was as if a sinister invisible force was enveloping him.

Almost ensnared in those eyes, toward which he could hardly discern the person’s appearance, he only felt a cold, sardonic smile.

“Xiao Xi?” Ye Lanzhou called him.

Startled, Xiang Renxi broke into a cold sweat as he turned to look at Ye Lanzhou.

Ye Lanzhou asked with a puzzled expression, “Are you alright?”

Xiang Renxi immediately turned his head again, looking towards the other end of the ruins– the back of the abandoned medical building. There used to be a row of trees along the small road, extending to the small woods behind the new laboratory.

A young man was crossing the road, his side profile barely visible behind the trees.

It seemed to be the same person he saw just now.

Xiang Renxi’s heart pounded as he pointed at the figure and said to Ye Lanzhou, “That person seems suspicious. I’ll have someone check him out later…”

However, Ye Lanzhou looked at him strangely and said, “There isn’t anybody there?”

Xiang Renxi was stunned, immediately turning his head to look.

The forest path was completely empty— No, there wasn’t even a path. It was a dense grove, not leading to any building. Moreover, it was full of mosquitoes and thorns, and a normal person wouldn’t go there.

It must have been his imagination.

Ye Lanzhou asked with concern, “Have you been too tired recently? How about you go back and rest first? I’ll come find you after I’m done talking to Shuyin.”

Xiang Renxi took a while to come back to his senses before nodding.

It must be that he had been under too much pressure recently, leading to these hallucinations.

Xiang Renxi didn’t think too much about it, but he couldn’t help but look again at the ruins of the medical building.

Ye Lanzhou assumed he was feeling sad for not finding Jiang Liao’s body. Seeing that their long-time teammate’s corpse was nowhere to be found, he also felt a bit uneasy. However, he had to maintain his composure. There were still more people who needed their protection.

“Don’t blame yourself too much,” Ye Lanzhou patted his shoulder as he comforted him, “It’s not your fault. He…our abilities are limited so we can’t possibly save everyone.”

Upon hearing this, Xiang Renxi was momentarily stunned. Then, he nodded thoughtfully and murmured to himself, “Yes, we can’t save everyone…”

For example, Chu Chenli.

It wasn’t his fault.

If anyone had to be blamed, it should be Chu Chenli. If only he had obediently died ten years ago, instead of stirring up trouble now and Throwing our peaceful base and stable relationship into chaos.

His thoughts were hidden deep in his heart, but the scene of Nurse Peng talking to Ye Lanzhou involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Earlier, Nurse Peng showed fear and avoidance towards him, while Ye Lanzhou was evasive and gave perfunctory responses.

It seemed that they were concealing something.

What did that nurse see?

What did she tell Ye Lanzhou?

Did Ye Lanzhou believe her?

–

As Xiang Renxi ruminated, his thoughts swirled in his head violently.

He didn’t even notice the worried expression on Ye Lanzhou’s face.

Shortly after they left the ruins, dark vines slowly emerged from the fractures in the underground steel reinforcement, silently creeping towards another building.

–

The new medical building.

Huang Shuyin hurriedly pushed open the door to Chu Chenli’s ward, only to find it empty.

A passing nurse told Huang Shuyin that Chu Chenli went to the rooftop to get some fresh air, pointing in the direction for her.

At the end of the top-floor corridor was a small spiral staircase leading to the rooftop.

Pushing open the rusty door, Huang Shuyin called out “Chu-,”

Upon seeing the person on the terrace, her smiling face instantly morphed into an expression of shock.

“What are you doing?!” Huang Shuyin’s tone changed as she took a step forward, forcefully grabbing Chu Chenli’s collar and pulling him backwards.

The two stumbled onto the ground.

Huang Shuyin’s was too strong. She ended up landing on a pile of gravel, causing her to grimace in pain.

However, she endured the pain with a somewhat fierce expression, consoling Chu Chenli, “Don’t be so reckless, even if something is bothering you!”

This was the twelfth floor!

Not to mention regular patients, she wouldn’t dare to guarantee that she herself wouldn’t die from such a fall.

Chu Chenli realised she had misunderstood something and smiled helplessly, “I just came here to get some fresh air.”

He extended a hand to pull Huang Shuyin up.

“Even for fresh air, you shouldn’t go to such a dangerous place!” Huang Shuyin said with a serious expression, “What if there’s a strong wind? Your body is so light, you might get blown away.”

She glanced at the spot where Chu Chenli had just stood.

The only thing that prevented people from walking off was a low wall with rusty railings that was barely half a metre tall. Chu Chenli looked frail, but he wasn’t short. If he leaned down slightly, it would easily result in a fall.

Chu Chenli didn’t argue with her. Regardless of what she said, he just replied with an “Okay” obediently.

Before Huang Shuyin could say anything more, Chu Chenli changed the subject, “Is your mission over?”

Huang Shuyin snapped back to reality and remembered her purpose for finding Chu Chenli.

“No, my team got split during the mutant invasion. Later, I’ll have to lead another group to search for them,” Huang Shuyin explained.

The team still needed to prepare weapons and equipment, so Huang Shuyin could only visit Chu Chenli briefly.

The first thing on her agenda was to check on his condition after hearing he was hospitalised again and to express her sympathy– Huang Shuyin had no doubt about Nurse Peng’s explanation of Chu Chenli saving her.

Secondly, it was to deliver something.

Huang Shuyin took out a short knife from her backpack. The makeshift sheath on the outside of the blade was hastily crafted, but its black design was unique.

Chu Chenli recognized the knife immediately– it was his old knife.

“I just went to see my dad, and he said this knife originally belonged to you. So, I thought I should return it to its rightful owner.” Huang Shuyin explained.

As soon as she returned, she went to the laboratory since she had information to report to her worried father.

After hearing about the stone incident, Professor Huang was also surprised, but they couldn’t rely solely on Huang Shuyin’s speculations without precedent. Therefore, they decided to proceed cautiously by temporarily adopting a backup plan— repairing the old protective shield.

Before Huang Shuyin left, Professor Huang kept discussing this matter with Ye Lanzhou.

She still didn’t know the result, as she was neither in a position of authority nor an expert, and she still had the responsibility of finding her teammates.

The only thing left was the knife. Professor Huang heard from his daughter about the changes on the way, but after pondering for a moment, he asked her to keep this matter secret from others— especially from Xiang Renxi.

He already guessed that this knife belonged to Chu Chenli, and the owner of this knife would definitely not be a submissive little lamb.

Although he had studied the knife thoroughly, he was still curious about it. Two years ago, Professor Huang made a scientific breakthrough on his research about the power of the material of the knife.

Unless the sky started falling and the forsaken Chu Chenli somehow cooperated with his experiment, Professor Huang had no way to make any further progress in his research.

Ah, forget it, the lab didn’t even have the necessary equipment.

Moreover, the knife also saved his daughter’s life, and Professor Huang understood the principle of repaying kindness— it was better than making enemies.

Thus, he hastily told his daughter to keep the knife before Ye Lanzhou arrived.

Professor Huang didn’t elaborate too much, and Huang Shuyin didn’t think too much— since the knife belonged to Chu Chenli, it should return to its original owner.

That was the simple truth.

Huang Shuyin handed the knife back to Chu Chenli, and noticing his gaze at the knife, she couldn’t help but to ask, “This knife is important to you, isn’t it?”

Chu Chenli smiled and said, “Sort of. It was a gift from a friend.”

He didn’t provide more details, but when he mentioned the word “friend,” his expression softened, with a tinge of reluctance and helplessness. The soft smile gradually turned into an expression of melancholy.

Perhaps it was a friend he would never see again.

Regardless, it must be a very important friend.

Huang Shuyin thought in her heart.

It obviously wasn’t Ye Lanzhou.

The reminder signal on the communicator continued to flash, and Huang Shuyin knew that it was time to leave.

“I’ve already delivered your knife, so I’ll leave now.” This was her main purpose for coming.

Huang Shuyin waved to Chu Chenli, and just as she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something. She turned around and reminded him, “Be careful around Xiang Renxi during this time. Take care of yourself. If things get tough, go find Commander Ye. Xiang Renxi won’t dare to play tricks in front of him.”

“Huang Shuyin.” Chu Chenli called her full name for the first time.

“Hmm?” Huang Shuyin paused, asking somewhat confusedly, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m leaving,” Chu Chenli said calmly.

“Leaving?” Huang Shuyin was stunned for a moment, turned to look at him, and asked, “Where are you going?”

On the rooftop, the wind blew and the wide hem of his coat fluttered like wings. For a moment, Huang Shuyin felt as if Chu Chenli was really about to fly away with the wind.

She blinked and then thought it was simply an illusion.

But Chu Chenli’s words were not an illusion.

He didn’t answer Huang Shuyin’s question and merely smiled.

“You are one of the few people I wish to bid farewell to in this place,” Chu Chenli said, “I hope we can meet again in the future.”

Don’t die.

In this era, this phrase already contained the most heartfelt wish.

Chu Chenli pointed to the communicator in her hand, where the signal frequency was rapidly flickering, reminding her, “You should go.”

Realisation struck Huang Shuyin as if she woke up from a dream. This time, she couldn’t even say “See you.” Thinking of all her teammates that left her, she turned around in a complex mood and hurriedly left.

As she descended the first step of the stairs, she heard a voice from behind, “Thank you.”

Thanks for returning the knife.

Huang Shuyin’s footsteps halted, then quickened again, quickly descending the stairs.

She didn’t see that Chu Chenli was once again standing on the edge of the rooftop. He lightly caressed the back of the knife in his hand and glanced downward with an indifferent expression.

Twelve floors, less than fifty metres high.

Huang Shuyin was afraid that he would fall to his demise if he wasn’t careful, but he knew that that was impossible.

Should he just leave first?

After all, Xiao Mu, who said he would come to pick him up, seemed to be having a good time elsewhere.

Chu Chenli pondered this question silently in his mind.

But another memory surfaced in his mind at the same time—

At a certain level in the game world, Chu Chenli’s identity was that of a prisoner of an evil organisation. His task was to get out of jail before exposing that organisation’s conspiracy, thus preventing a catastrophe.

One of his teammates was Mu Yanshen.

The moment he got the script, Mu Yanshen swore that he would save Chu Chenli no matter what as soon as possible.

However, their starting destinations were hectares apart.

And unfortunately, their group did not have anyone with movement or teleportation abilities.

Just as the dispersed teammates were still rushing around in the dust, preparing to head to the base camp of a well-known righteous sect in the northern region, pondering how to rescue their teammates, Chu Chenli had already escaped on his own.

Although some game NPCs were resistant to supernatural abilities, their physical defence was often negligible.

Especially in this kind of ordinary martial arts script where there were no monsters but only supernatural powers.

Stabbing any NPC in the heart with a knife would be certain death.

Of course, Chu Chenli wouldn’t just randomly kill anyone where it wasn’t necessary, even if it was just an NPC.

He simply relied on brute force to break free from the shackles, twisted the iron bars of the prison cell, knocked out the prison guards guarding the cell and finally walked out of the sect’s main entrance, honourably, of course.

Ah no, it should have been a covert escape.

Originally, the task was to expose the organisation’s conspiracy, so that everyone would recognize their true nature, rally against them, and then reach the perfect ending of “Evil will never triumph over justice”.

But the problem was that Chu Chenli escaped too early, and Mu Yanshen arrived too fast.

They almost passed each other on the way up and down the mountain.

Although Chu Chenli rejoined the rest of his teammates, he hadn’t yet had time to discuss how to formulate a plan to expose the conspiracy. While staying at an inn, he heard the storyteller’s poetic retelling of the news.

The devilish organisation was lurking under a face of righteousness for decades, secretly studying a drug that would turn humans into puppets. They were plotting to control the whole world and turn earth into a purgatory. Fortunately the goodness of the gods manifested in the descent of the punishing heavenly thunder, and their evil ambitions were destroyed overnight.

Several teammates looked at each other, and then inquired around. Sure enough, the entire evil sect was gone.

In a short span of a few days, their reputation was shattered.

Apart from the rumour that punishment from the heavens was enacted, an insider said that the sect was destroyed overnight by infighting. They appeared to have gone insane, even trying to slaughter civilians.

The truth of many unresolved crimes was laid out in front of the world. It turned out that many incidents in the past were part of the sect’s malicious plot.

Many martial artists with deep blood feuds against each other used to praise this sect, but it was this very sect who drove walls between brothers and sowed discord.

As such, many resented them and seeked revenge, the reputation of the sect backfired against themselves and was destroyed in a blink of an eye.

The plot seemed to be fast-forwarded at sixteen times the original speed. It was only after experiencing all the plot points and finally seeing Mu Yanshen waiting in front of the jail cell, that they dared to be sure that this was indeed the result of his masterplan.

The handsome teenager stood under the blood moon, surrounded by piles of corpses. The only clean spot was where he stood, his appearance seemingly spotless.

He looked at Chu Chenli, his cold face instantly coloured with aggrievedness.

Like a large dog wagging its tail and whimpering at its master.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He said, “I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

Because he couldn’t find him, he simply levelled the entire organisation.

An effortless demolition, gruesome destruction, extremely efficient.

The plot mission ended and they naturally met again.

……Although Mu Yanshen said afterward that he just didn’t like the appearance of that sect’s members.

However, his words had always been questionable, and no one bothered to look deeper.

Reality is not like a game.

But whether it was better or worse, no one could say.

Chu Chenli’s thoughts returned to the present. He looked at the empty stairwell again and sighed silently. He sat down and waited.

The people in the base were not NPCs, they were all living, breathing people.

Chu Chenli didn’t have any feelings for this place, but he also didn’t want them to be killed by Mu Yanshen.

With him around, Mu Yanshen would at least spare them.

Spare them with a breath of air.

The sun was setting in the west, and the evening glow reflected a slight redness on his cheeks, casting a layer of soft light.

Chu Chenli squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. Beyond the high wall stretched an expanse of trees and greenery that extended as far as the eye could see. The forest had thrived without human interference for a decade, its canopy flourishing lushly.

It’s hard to imagine that despite such exuberant life, the world has been shrouded by natural disasters for more than a decade.

In the midst of despair, there was also life.

It was not until this moment that Chu Chenli realised that he was drawn to the outside world.

He desperately wanted to know what this world had become after ten years.

It was a pity that Mu Yanshen didn’t seem to be able to understand his urgency.

“He’s so slow……” Chu Chenli sighed silently.

At this certain moment, the words that his teammate had spouted off inexplicably flashed through his mind.

“Next time, you should obediently stay put and wait for him to save you— even if you can break an NPC’s neck with one hand you’ll still have to pretend like you’re weak and need someone to save you.”

“Like a princess waiting for her hero?”

The teammate seemed struck by this description, but still thought hard for a few moments before finally denying the statement.

“No. It’s like a warrior waiting for his dragon.”

“And then he’ll slay the dragon on the spot?”

“No, he’s obviously waiting to reform him, to restrain him. To lock him up so he won’t come out to randomly bite people.”

Author’s Note:

I finally finished writing today ahead of schedule!

It’s still a big long chapter~ I wanted to finish the first wave of the face-slapping part, but it’s too long, and I felt like there’s something wrong with the protagonist not appearing from beginning to end! So I’m still interspersing the two perspectives.

By the way, this story might not completely follow the usual writing style, it depends on the time of writing feel and inspiration, after all, the keyboard always has its own ideas! (smoke)

Take the plot of jumping off a building for example. Originally it was really about cruelty, sadistic bitter hatred and then seeing through the word with a sense of detachment (fog), but after writing, writing and writing, I found that this temperament is not at all compatible with our Brother Li! Would someone as awesome as our Brother Li care about such a trivial matter?! (Super loud) I’d rather write more love scenes for the real deal.

So writing and writing……well, it’s become a sand sculpture style (:3 ___ ヽ)___ I hope you don’t mind (softly)