Chapter 26 What if?
Bai Chenzhu hugged the tree trunk tightly.
As he pondered whether to go down and how to deal with the man and dog and escape, he saw a familiar, wet figure.
The man sensed something was wrong behind him and turned around to be met with a solid baseball bat.
He was incredibly fast, and although he avoided a fatal blow, his shoulder was still numb from the impact. He staggered back a step, his back slamming hard against the tree trunk with a crack that spread to the middle.
"Jiang Ye!" Bai Chenzhu exclaimed, both surprised and delighted. He looked at Jiang Ye, who was soaking wet, and shouted, "He also has a mutated dog, be careful!"
The mutated dog barked and charged forward with its mouth wide open. Jiang Ye dodged a few times and kicked it away. However, the dog was not afraid of pain or death. It rolled away nimbly and, together with its owner, attacked from both sides, making it very difficult to deal with.
Jiang Ye gripped the uncle's knife-wielding hand with one hand, his tiger's mouth throbbing with pain. He also had to keep an eye on the muscular mutant dog, leaving him in a predicament. His brows furrowed in disarray.
While the man and dog were distracted by Jiang Ye, Bai Chenzhu took the opportunity to climb down from the nearly fallen tree. He glanced at Jiang Ye and took two steps back.
Jiang Ye can handle it, right? After all, he used to be a very capable person.
However, Jiang Ye once said that the only way to become powerful is through innate talent or acquired training. According to this logic, his current body is nowhere near as good as the 'God of War' mentioned in the finale.
Bai Chenzhu was unsure of what to do. He asked himself: If Jiang Ye can't handle it, can I?
Besides, Jiang Ye can run away if he can't win; my presence here will only slow him down. Bai Chenzhu gritted his teeth, confirming that this was the 'optimal solution,' and left without looking back.
Jiang Ye wasn't surprised to hear footsteps fading into the distance.
He shoved the older man away with a backhand elbow. The vicious dog pounced, and he used his baseball bat to brace against the foul-smelling mouth, but was forced to slide back half a meter.
A pungent stench, mixed with the smell of rust, hit them. The vicious dog clung tightly to the baseball bat, refusing to let go. Jiang Ye slammed its head against the tree trunk twice, cracking its skull.
After the vicious dog, dazed and disoriented from being hit, released its grip, Jiang Ye struck it hard on its two rows of teeth with the stick, knocking out all its sharp teeth. The vicious dog cried out miserably, tumbling as it flew out, collapsing to the ground, convulsing, and spitting out several sharp teeth.
A knife sliced through the air, aiming for his back. Jiang Ye spun around and caught it with his baseball bat, leaving a deep gash on the bat.
"Young man, you've got some skills." The middle-aged man didn't seem to care much about the vicious dog. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was arrogant and unruly. "You're the only person I've ever met who can fight me."
"Do you know your death is imminent?" Jiang Ye looked at his crazed demeanor and 'invincible' power, feeling only disgust.
He had just swum out of the small lake, soaking wet, and after wiping his face, he happily brought his things to find Bai Chenzhu, only to encounter a relentless lunatic.
Jiang Ye was merely stating the facts, but the older man took his words as a provocation and became increasingly ruthless.
As the saying goes, those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose. A vicious dog that knows no pain and is not afraid of death is not afraid of humans. As long as it can still get up, it is an extremely sharp and deadly knife.
A smug middle-aged man kept a vicious dog as a weapon, and attacked from both sides with his pet, making it almost impossible for anyone to escape.
Jiang Ye was entangled and unable to leave for the time being.
Their figures appeared and disappeared in the grove, with only the frequent sounds of trees falling and dogs barking. The vicious dog, in coordination with the psychopath, attacked from both sides several times, leaving Jiang Ye unable to defend himself.
Jiang Ye knocked the vicious dog away again, the impact causing blood to seep from his hand and his arm to feel heavy. He suddenly realized that the master and his pet were using a tag-team approach to wear him down.
In that moment of distraction, a whooshing sound came from behind. Jiang Ye turned around abruptly and saw the uncle holding a knife in both hands, raising it with the blade pointing straight at him, as if someone had pressed the freeze button.
An excessive amount of mental energy was relentlessly assaulting the middle-aged man's mind, causing him to shudder, feel dizzy, and momentarily lose his composure.
Bai Chenzhu? Feeling the familiar chill surrounding him, Jiang Ye raised his hand without hesitation, grabbed the uncle's hands, and stabbed his heart with the knife in the backhand.
At the same time, the ferocious barking of the dogs, sensing the spiritual energy, rang out excitedly, and they shot off like arrows towards the figure that had reappeared in the woods.
Things went more smoothly than he had expected; his mental power successfully seized the madman's consciousness, even if only for a moment. Bai Chenzhu's head throbbed with pain, and he saw a kaleidoscope of colors before his eyes, losing his balance as he leaned against a tree trunk.
This was the first time he had used his mental power on a human. The reckless output left him with a hollow, illusory feeling, as if his soul had been half-extracted.
"Get out of the way!" Jiang Ye shouted urgently.
Upon hearing Jiang Ye's voice, Bai Chenzhu realized that danger was approaching and turned to run. Unexpectedly, he was pounced on by the vicious dog with its powerful limbs and bit down on its prey's throat.
At the critical moment of life and death, Bai Chenzhu's vision finally cleared. Under the threat of the gaping maw, he mustered all his strength to shake off the vicious dog and get up.
The vicious, hungry dog chased after him and bit him, its sharp teeth clamping down on his calf, drawing blood immediately from Bai Chenzhu's trousers.
Bai Chenzhu was drenched in cold sweat, clenching his teeth, fear belatedly rising with the chill down his back.
The baseball bat smashed open the vicious dog's skull, splattering its white brain matter all over the ground.
Jiang Ye, panting heavily, knelt down and reached out to pry open the vicious dog's mouth, freeing the bloodied calf. He quickly took off his coat, tore it into strips, and bandaged the leg, all in one swift motion.
"Why are you back?" Jiang Ye asked.
Bai Chenzhu's forehead was covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily in pain. He glanced at the still-warm corpse and said, "Hurry up, he has a gang. It will be troublesome if they come over."
Jiang Ye laughed, but his expression turned serious. He stuffed the dirty baseball bat into Bai Chenzhu's arms, turned around and squatted down, his back to Bai Chenzhu.
Bai Chenzhu stood up with a limp, holding a baseball bat. There were many small knife wounds on his arm. Perhaps he had used too much force. His forearm was still trembling against its owner's will, and it looked like it might lose strength at any moment.
They're all injured; we can't let them get hurt even more.
"No need. I can walk on one leg, you can help me." Bai Chenzhu declined, but at the same time took out the half-used handkerchief from her pocket, limped over, and threw it at the man's face.
If a mutant comes along, it will probably devour the handkerchief and the things underneath it in no time.
"Oh," Jiang Ye deliberately misunderstood, using a goading tactic, "You don't like carrying me on your back, do you prefer to be carried horizontally?"
Footsteps and barking dogs echoed through the woods, growing closer, until a faint voice called out, "Uncle Duan, where are you? We've found something good!"
Bai Chenzhu's expression changed slightly, and without saying a word, she climbed onto his back.
To be honest, Jiang Ye was soaked to the bone, his body was radiating heat from the exercise, and he was covered in blood and dirt, so he was hardly comfortable.
But as he ran quickly on the road, his steady footsteps brought a sense of warmth and trust that gradually welled up from Bai Chenzhu's heart, enveloping his entire body.
The barking dogs and footsteps faded into the distance. A hazy, iridescent light floated before Bai Chenzhu's eyes. He clutched his aching forehead, clenched his teeth, and made no sound.
Jiang Ye led him back, and as they moved further away from the group, his pace slowed as they retraced their steps. Bai Chenzhu heard his heavy breathing.
Not only did his head ache, but Bai Chenzhu's calves were also throbbing and even a little numb. However, remembering that Jiang Ye was also injured, he refused to give in and didn't utter a sound.
In the silence, Bai Chenzhu suddenly had the urge to say something. At this moment when the danger had turned into safety, and when it seemed like there were only the two of them, he suddenly wanted to say something to Jiang Ye.
So, after pondering for a while, he asked a pointless question, "Am I a little heavy?"
“Yeah, it’s so heavy,” Jiang Ye said with a look of disgust.
Even though he knew that an adult man couldn't possibly be that light, Bai Chenzhu was still annoyed by the answer after asking the question. He took a breath and, imitating Zhou Zhuohua, pulled his ear.
"Please, Uncle Bai, have mercy!" Jiang Ye pleaded repeatedly. "You're so light, so light, you're lighter than a feather!"
That's so fake. Bai Chenzhu was even more annoyed, and in doing so, he pulled the other ear red as well.
"You really are my boss." Jiang Ye gritted his teeth.
Realizing what childish thing he was doing, Bai Chenzhu chuckled silently on his back. With his attention diverted, the pain in his body seemed to lessen.
“Alright Jiang Ye,” Bai Chenzhu gently touched his neatly trimmed veil and said softly, “You saved me in the Blooming Flowers before, so we’re even this time.”
"Are you a humanities student or a science student?" Jiang Ye suddenly asked.
Bai Chenzhu exclaimed "Ah!" in confusion.
Jiang Ye said, "They're probably science students, that's why they love balancing so much."
Bai Chenzhu was amused by him, but her face grew even paler.
After a while, the sound from his back ceased, leaving only warm breath, sometimes strong, sometimes weak, falling on his shoulder. Jiang Ye sighed, "Bai Chenzhu..."
He murmured his name, but remained silent for a long time.
When Bai Chenzhu woke up, she saw the hotel ceiling, followed by Zhou Zhuohua's concerned face.
His leg had been bandaged by Zhou Zhuohua using professional techniques, and he was told to move it as little as possible in the near future.
He rubbed his swollen temples, looked around the room, and found that only Zhou Zhuohua was with him. "Where's Jiang Ye?"
“She went out with Bai Tao, I don’t know where she went, she can’t stay still for a moment.” Zhou Zhuohua said solemnly, “Xiao Bai, Jiang Ye is a strange person, I thank you on Jiang Ye’s behalf.”
Bai Chenzhu was taken aback, but then heard Zhou Zhuohua sigh deeply and say helplessly, "He's always so arrogant and likes to show off. I heard that he got injured because he asked you to lure away a group of monsters?"
"Not entirely." Bai Chenzhu propped himself up on the quilt and sat up, feeling weak and sore all over. Even when he got up, his back was stiff and creaking, like a rusty robot.
Zhou Zhuohua rushed over to help him up, but Bai Chenzhu felt uncomfortable halfway up and simply lay back down.
He could have left then, and if he had, he might have been unharmed. But after running a few hundred meters, he saw several people feeding dogs with mutated birds.
It is said that two hands can't beat four fists. One mutant plus a mutant dog is already difficult enough to deal with. If this group of people were to face Jiang Ye, Bai Chenzhu estimated the combat strength and turned around and ran back.
What if? Bai Chenzhu was thinking at the time, what if Jiang Ye wasn't actually that invincible? If he just left like that, Jiang Ye might be doomed here.
He only intended to go back and inform them, but for some reason, when the uncle was about to do something drastic to Jiang Ye, he couldn't help but worry and intervened.
Bai Chenzhu reached under the covers and touched her bandaged calf. She thought to herself, "If only I had been more careful. I should have climbed the tree first before attacking that lunatic. But if I had, I don't know if Jiang Ye could have dodged that knife..."
If I hadn't gone that way when I lured the mutated swans away, I might not have run into that 'Uncle Duan' all alone...
If Jiang Ye and I could have come up with a safer approach from the beginning...
He began to review his actions, gradually finding himself in a dead end. Bai Chenzhu shuddered, clutching his forehead. Something was wrong. What was he doing? The past couldn't be turned back; why was he thinking about things that couldn't be reversed?
It wasn't a complete loss. Bai Chenzhu thought, at least this trip surprised him by discovering that his mental power could actually be used to attack people. And he was dealing with someone with very powerful superpowers; what would happen if he were dealing with ordinary people…
Seeing that he was somewhat lost in thought, Zhou Zhuohua gently patted his blanket to comfort him, "It's okay, it's okay. I've disinfected it. Jiang Ye said you won't get infected, so it's just a superficial wound. You'll recover well."
"Hmm." Bai Chenzhu hugged the blanket and pondered whether he was qualified to be the 'number one underling'. After thinking for a while, he pulled the blanket over his head and fell asleep.
When he woke up again, he was alone in the room. Bai Chenzhu found that the backpack he had thrown in the grass had been picked up by someone and was now neatly placed at the foot of the bed.
A glass of water was thoughtfully placed on his bedside table. Bai Chenzhu was extremely thirsty, so he got up and drank the whole glass of water. Just as he was about to get out of bed, the aroma wafted in through the crack in the door.
He sniffed carefully and could vaguely smell some kind of meat. But having seen all sorts of strange meat since his mutation, the smell of hot meat made Bai Chenzhu feel nauseous.
Is it some kind of weird or strange meat?
The door opened, and Jiang Ye, who had changed into clean clothes, came over with a plate on it. On the plate was a roast chicken with a golden and crispy skin and tender and delicious meat.
"You made this?" Bai Chenzhu became interested, the nausea subsided, and her appetite returned.
"Didn't you say you wanted to eat this?" Jiang Ye placed the plate next to him and took out a knife.
Bai Chenzhu's gaze suddenly fell on the knife, and he hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"Don't worry, it's clean." Jiang Ye carefully cut the roast chicken into pieces.
"Mmm." Bai Chenzhu suppressed her craving and immediately picked up her chopsticks after Jiang Ye said it was okay.
Jiang Ye sat on the side with his arms crossed, quietly watching him eat.
Bai Chenzhu ate slowly, enjoying every bite. As he ate, he heard a laugh, looked at Jiang Ye who had suddenly laughed, and frowned. "Am I that funny?"
"Cough, no, no." Jiang Ye covered his mouth. "I just suddenly remembered the way you ate bread before."
Upon hearing Jiang Ye's words, Bai Chenzhu remembered that it was the time he went to find Zhou Mengmeng. He ate slowly, but Jiang Ye ate very quickly. After finishing his meal, Jiang Ye even stole a bite of his bread, which led to Bai Chenzhu stepping on his foot.
Bai Chenzhu, who was somewhat possessive of his food, stared at him expressionlessly, which made Jiang Ye unable to laugh.
Is this about bringing up old grievances? Jiang Ye tried to guess Bai Chenzhu's thoughts.
Unexpectedly, Bai Chenzhu picked up a chicken leg and handed it to Jiang Ye. Jiang Ye was quite flattered and tentatively raised his hand to take it.
"You eat too." Bai Chenzhu's expression softened.
This is rare, almost like a miser willing to share his gold. Jiang Ye gripped the roasted chicken leg tightly, looking at it again and again with a hint of reluctance, and a strange thought popped into his head: Should I frame it?
Bai Chenzhu wiped his hands and suddenly asked, "By the way, what was that thing you were looking for that day?"
Jiang Ye had no intention of hiding it. In other words, now that there was concrete evidence, he could finally tell Bai Chenzhu what he had always wanted to say.
Jiang Ye pulled a strange object out of his pocket. Bai Chenzhu squinted at it; it was a semi-circular arc, gleaming silver, and about the length of a hand.
He took the item from Jiang Ye, turned it over and it felt heavy in his hand, cool to the touch, and not warmed by his body heat.
Bai Chenzhu looked at this novel thing again and again, but couldn't see anything special about it.
He closed his eyes and used his remaining spiritual energy to examine it, and unexpectedly discovered that there was a small amount of pure spiritual energy remaining on this thing.
However, the aura was strange. Bai Chenzhu had only seen his own and Bai Tao's spiritual energy before, and their spiritual energy was completely different from the spiritual energy above.
Compared to a small stream, their spiritual power is far inferior.
Thinking this way, Bai Chenzhu asked, "What exactly is it?"
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