Chapter 4: Your Shadow
Wuming was holding the fruit he had picked from the Tianfeng tree at the edge of the forest and was walking quickly through the woods.
Thinking of the girl huddled in the ruins and starving, he couldn't help but frown and quickened his pace again.
He was surprised at his own excitement.
From the moment he was thrown into the weapon mound, his heart should have been dead. He watched carelessly as the star power in his body gradually dissipated, watched as his companions around him slowly turned from weapons into lifeless cold iron, and then slowly corroded into worthless rust. He even wished that he could extinguish his own soul as soon as possible, so that he could be freed sooner.
But just as he was lost in his thoughts, aimlessly waiting to die, a warm hand lifted him out of the surrounding wreckage.
He met the face of a pretty and clean girl. The girl was looking at him with clear and gentle eyes, slightly excited. The enchanting moonlight shone through her shiny and smooth black hair, illuminating her delicate cheeks.
Her eyes said she needed him.
Just with this one glance, Wuming's heart, which had long since sunk into the dead sea, gradually and involuntarily warmed up.
Even though he repeatedly emphasized how useless he was, the girl still put him into the scabbard at her waist. Although her sword-holding posture was very unkind and her physical fitness was not very good, she had an extremely strong contract power in her body. She could easily sign a contract with any weapon below the five-string level. A defective product like himself had no qualifications to stay with her.
But she said it.
"Since you can't find your own strengths, let me find them for you."
Wuming even had a moment when he felt that it was worth it for him to be torn to pieces for this sentence.
——Compared to the countless defective companions who were abandoned like him, he was already so lucky.
Coming back to his senses from his memories, Wuming returned to the Weapon Tomb and found Beichen sleeping in a small corner of the ruins.
Perhaps she was too tired, Beichen frowned and curled up in the shadow of the ruins. The temperature was very low at night, and she did not sleep well. Her limbs were trembling and she hugged each other tightly. Her face was covered with mud from the ground, and she looked like an abandoned and helpless kitten.
There was an inexplicable stab in his chest. Wuming bent down, freed one hand, pulled her out of the shadows, held her in his arms, and then sat down.
Her body was very light and soft. A hint of embarrassment flashed across Wuming's face. As if to remind himself, he cleared his throat and kept repeating to himself in his mind: Miss Beichen's body temperature is very low. This is to keep her warm. ...Just to keep her warm, don't think about anything else.
Beichen gradually woke up when Wuming moved his body. When he opened his eyes, he saw himself lying in Wuming's arms. His face immediately turned red and he screamed softly. He wanted to get out of Wuming's arms, but was held tightly by Wuming's strong right arm and sat back down.
"I know this behavior is very rude, but please be patient, Miss Beichen. Your temperature is very low, and any further drop would be life-threatening."
Seeing that there was no strange look on Wuming's face, Beichen realized that he had been overthinking it. He stammered and thanked him with a red face.
"This is Tianfeng Fruit. It's a good food to quench your hunger and thirst when you're walking in the wild."
Knowing that Beichen was a visitor from another world, Wuming explained and handed the small fiery red fruits in his hand to Beichen.
Beichen was already starving, and he had no time to say thank you and didn't care about his image at all. He grabbed the fruits and took big bites. The way he wolfed them down surprised Wuming for a moment, and then he laughed silently.
In a short while, Beichen had eaten up all six Tianfeng fruits. Beichen patted his slightly bulging belly with satisfaction and turned to look at Wuming with a smile.
"I'm finally alive! Thank you, Wuming!"
Wuming looked back at Beichen with a faint smile and was about to speak, but suddenly his expression changed. He put Beichen down and stood up.
"Wuming, what's wrong?"
Seeing Wuming's look, Beichen's expression also became solemn, but before Wuming could answer, she gasped loudly, jumped up from where she was and took a few steps back.
──A few dozen meters in front of the two people, a wolf-like creature about the height of a man appeared. It looked a bit like the wild dogs that had just attacked them, but the difference was that those wild dogs only had blue-purple crystal blocks embedded in their chests, while this wolf-like creature was densely covered with many of the same type of crystal blocks from chest to head.
Although I don’t know what those crystals represent, I can tell from the visual that this wolf-like creature is much more powerful than the wild dog just now.
"Wuming, that's—"
"I'll stop it, you run!"
"What? Wait!"
But Wuming completely ignored her obstruction. A white light flashed in his hand, and a long sword that looked exactly like his original form appeared in his hand. Then he lowered his body and rushed straight towards the giant wolf in front.
Roar──
The giant wolf let out an earth-shaking roar, causing the surrounding debris to fall down with a ping-pong sound. At this moment, Wuming had already rushed to the front of the giant wolf, jumped up, raised his sword, and stabbed it hard in the giant wolf's eyes!
The giant wolf reacted quickly as well, dodging Wuming's sharp stab by turning its head, then twisting its body. Its sharp claws drew three fierce streaks of light in the night sky and attacked Wuming. Wuming turned the sword and opened his claws, then landed on the ground and actually rushed in front of the giant beast, aiming at its chest and slashing again!
The giant wolf growled and leaped back, narrowly avoiding the attack. Then it opened its massive mouth and lowered its head to bite Wuming. From Beichen's direction, one could clearly see its fangs, which gleamed with cold light and were dripping with saliva.
“──”
Beichen covered her mouth tightly. She wanted to scream, but was afraid that her scream would distract Wuming, so she bit her tongue and dared not make a sound.
Wuming did not avoid the giant wolf's attack, but instead went forward to meet it. The long sword in his hand followed the attack direction of the fangs, and then passed through the gap between the fangs at a clever angle and pierced the giant wolf's throat!
Roar────
The giant wolf roared in pain again, shaking its head violently and forcing Wuming back a few steps. Then it suddenly arched its body and lowered its center of gravity. The hair on its body stood on end, and it opened its mouth wide. Suddenly, a dazzling blue-purple ball of light condensed from its mouth, and then -
A beam of light as thick as a washbasin shot out from the giant wolf's mouth and rushed towards Wuming with a roar. Wuming waved his sword to resist for a few seconds, but in the end he still groaned and was hit by the beam of light and flew away more than ten meters.
"nameless!!"
Beichen's anxious voice came from not far away. Upon hearing her voice, Wuming's originally scattered mind immediately focused. He used his sword to support himself on the ground and struggled to get up.
"What are you doing! Run! I can't defeat it with my strength!"
He roared and blocked Beichen's way, facing the giant beast in front of him that was growling and growling.
"But—"
"No buts, I'm just discarded trash. I'm satisfied as long as I can ensure your safe departure! Go away!!"
“…”
Beichen didn't say anything, just stamped his feet, turned around and ran into the shadow of the ruins. Seeing this, Wuming breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the giant beast with his sword in hand, swaying step by step.
The wolf had just fired a Star Spirit Cannon and would need to fire again in the near future, which would probably take three minutes. As long as he could delay for three minutes, Beichen should be able to run far enough.
A satisfied smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes. He gathered all his strength again and attacked the giant wolf. However, the injured and mad giant wolf moved much faster than before. After a few rounds, Wuming was defeated again and was pounced on by the giant wolf and pinned to the ground. The giant wolf took advantage of the victory and bit Wuming's head hard!
Is it over?
At the last moment, Wuming just closed his eyes and calmly evaluated in his mind: I... am indeed a worthless trash.
“Wuming────!!!!”
At this moment, a familiar roar sounded in my ears, followed by the sound of a hard object piercing my flesh!
Wuming suddenly opened his eyes and saw Beichen - the thin and weak girl who even stumbled when holding the sword. She was holding a broken sword in her hand, and the tip of the blade was deeply buried in the giant wolf's right eye!
Instantly, boundless power surged through Wuming's body. He tensed all his muscles, hugged Beichen's body, and rolled to the side. At the critical moment, he dodged the giant wolf's claws that swept across with a scream.
Then, he let out a roar he had never made before, raised the sword in his hand, and chopped it down with all his strength, cutting off the giant wolf's entire right claw with one sword!
The giant wolf let out another miserable howl, and Wuming immediately dodged to the side of Beichen, his whole body emitting a dazzling white light.
"I can't kill it in my human form, so I'll use my real body to chop off its head!!"
After he finished speaking, he had already changed back into the form of a sword and was floating in the air. Beichen didn't have time to think about it and grabbed the hilt. Immediately, waves of heat like the beating of a heart came from the hilt. Beichen felt her body lighten. The long sword in her hand had already carried her high up, and then aimed at the neck of the giant wolf. With a whistling sound that split the air, she cut off the huge wolf's head from the body!
“…”
Beichen landed on the ground, gasping for breath, looking at the cut surface that was rhythmically spurting out strange blue-purple blood. Her knees went weak and she sat on the ground holding the sword, tilted her head, and began to retch.
"Miss Beichen..."
Wuming regained his human form, picked up the exhausted girl, and slowly walked towards the edge of the ruins.
The sky in the east turned white. Wuming and Beichen had left the weapon tomb and entered the Lasha Forest right next to the edge of the weapon tomb. Beichen had slowly recovered from the shock just now, and his breathing gradually became steady.
Seeing this, Wuming walked to an old tree and gently put her down.
Then he half-knelt in front of her, his pair of silver-gray eyes staring at her face without blinking.
Beichen felt uncomfortable being stared at, and shrank back towards the tree roots behind him: "What, what's wrong? Wuming?"
Wuming sighed softly, carefully pulled up her hand, and pried open her palm, which was covered with several dark red bloodstains. The wound was sticking outward hideously, revealing a slightly white cross-section.
"Miss Beichen, that thing just now was a third-level 'Possessed Moon Envoy.' Over 70% of the weapons on this continent could easily kill it, yet I was beaten to the point of being unable to fight back by something like this. Now you understand how useless I am, don't you?"
“…” Beichen did not reply.
"Why would you come back for something like me?"
Wuming lowered his head, held Beichen's hand, looked at the wound on it, and could no longer speak.
Most of the weapons in the weapon tomb were broken. In order to find something with offensive power, she actually used her soft hands to directly grasp the tip of the sword without a hilt, turned back, and regardless of the blood on her hands, she rushed towards the monster that could take her life with a single claw, just to help this worthless defective product -
"You, you don't have to feel guilty. It's just a minor injury. It will be healed in a few days."
Beichen probably couldn't stand such a depressing atmosphere. She twisted her body slightly and tried to pull her hand out, but Wuming held it tightly and refused to let go.
"I'm sorry. ...I'm sorry, Miss Beichen, I couldn't protect you."
A low, trembling voice.
"Please rest assured, I will do my best to escort you to the nearby town. Then, I will help you find a weapon worthy of you. A master like you deserves a weapon a thousand times better than mine—"
With a "pa" sound, a crisp clapping sound was heard. Beichen raised his hand and gave Wuming a slap with little impact power. Then he immediately screamed in pain and kept blowing on the wound on his palm.
Wuming's face was stained with Beichen's warm blood. He reached out and touched his face in a daze, then looked down at the blood on his hands.
"Is this what you really think, Wuming?"
When the pain in her palm subsided, Beichen's expression turned cold. She looked at Wuming's face quietly and asked softly.
"I don't want to see you acting like a spoiled brat. If you really want to go back to that garbage dump and wait to die, then go ahead."
As she spoke, she slowly stood up from the tree roots, brushed past Wuming, and walked towards the depths of the forest.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
"etc!!"
Beichen's body was suddenly hugged tightly by Wuming from behind. As if he had used up all his determination and strength, Wuming leaned almost all his weight on Beichen, causing Beichen to stagger.
"I'm sorry, please forgive my selfishness."
Wuming leaned his forehead against Beichen's shoulder, and Beichen felt a slight dampness through the fabric of the school uniform.
"Please don't abandon me... Please let me be your weapon."
"OK."
Beichen gently placed his hands on Wuming's arms that were tightly around him.
"You said you were useless, and I'm even more useless. But it doesn't matter. Just because you're useless now doesn't mean you'll be useless in the future, right?"
"Um."
"Don't forget, if it weren't for you, I would have died several times. I can't see why you're useless."
"Um."
"I don't know when I will return, but while I stay in this world, let's grow together and become stronger together, right?"
"……Um."
The morning light gradually rose, casting transparent, mottled light in the woods, shining on the two people hugging each other, and there was a wonderful sense of holiness. The sound of unknown birds rang out, and a new day began.
"Then, please sign a battle line contract with me, Miss Beichen."
"Okay, what do we do?"
"You don't have to do anything, it's already there."
Wuming smiled, took out his sword, and cut a wound on his palm. Light golden blood flowed out. Then he pulled up Beichen's palm, which was still bleeding slightly, and put their palms together.
The moment their blood mixed together, a slight heat rushed from Wuming's body into Beichen's body. Beichen only felt a pain in her forehead. After a few seconds, a delicate and tiny pattern composed of white light appeared on her forehead. After the pattern lit up for a few seconds, it gradually dimmed and finally disappeared into the skin.
"Alright? Is there something on my forehead?"
"Yes, it's the brand emblem that symbolizes our contract. It will appear when you use me from now on."
"Hey, is that so? Is it cool? Does it look good?"
"this……"
Wuming smiled bitterly, a white light rose from his palm, and pressed it on the wound on Beichen's palm.
"It's not ugly, but there are many better-looking brands."
"Oh, that doesn't matter. When Wuming becomes more powerful in the future, maybe it will look better." Beichen smiled indifferently, then looked at his palm in surprise.
"The wound is slowly healing. Can you heal it? You're amazing!"
"As long as a contract is signed, almost every combatant can perform this level of treatment."
Wuming continued to explain in a serious manner, and then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he lowered his head to look at Beichen.
"By the way, do you need to change my name?"
"Huh? Can you change your name at will?"
"Of course, you are my master now. ...I want a formal name."
"Official name? ...Well, 'Nameless' is too weird."
"Well, Nameless is the default name for our Quantized species. All weapons that haven't been given a name are called Nameless."
Beichen looked at the man in front of him who was smiling happily with some heartache - it turned out that he didn't even have a real name.
But no matter how much he felt sorry for him, Beichen did not agree to give him a name.
"I won't give you one. Since you want a formal name, then it's up to you to choose it. This is your right. You can decide your own life, just like you decided to stay with me. So, it's up to you to decide what name you want."
Beichen gave Wuming an encouraging smile as he spoke - in the morning light of the forest, the black-haired girl had shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, and a pair of dark eyes that exuded a bright and brilliant look. Faced with this scene, Wuming felt his heart become passionate and crazy again.
He took a breath and steadied his breathing.
"...Your name is Xiang Beichen."
"Well, yes."
"So, from today on, my name is Xiang Ying, Long Sword, Xiang Ying, Wings, Quantized."
"...Xiang Ying?"
"Yes, I am your shadow. Wherever you go, I will go there. I will never leave you until the end of my life!"
As long as you still need me, no matter where you are, I will do my best to be by your side!
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