Chương 10: War God — Chapter 10 - If You Hold Me, I Won't Tell on You!

December 1st, 2024. Today Mom said Dad would come back to see me. I thought I misheard. The last time I saw him was five years ago, one evening. It was my birthday. He came back, tossed down an exquisite gift box, and gave me a hug. I counted silently. 3 minutes 36 seconds total. I can't forget it. That was the third time I'd seen my dad. The first time was when I was just born and opened my eyes. The second was when I was three and deathly ill.

If Mom didn't mention him so often, I'd doubt whether I even had a dad. I asked Mom once.

"Dad is a hero. He has far too many things to do, so... baby, you mustn't blame him."

"Blame him? Why would I blame him? I've barely even seen him." When I said that, Mom went silent for a long time.

"What is a hero?" I asked Mom again. A rare pride appeared on Mom's face:"A hero is... someone who, in any moment of danger, will give everything to save the people from fire and water, to turn the tide!" I nodded and asked again:"Then if Mom and I were in danger, would Dad show up too?"

"He would. Because Dad is our hero."

"Then I won't blame Dad!" Just like right now. The sky collapses, the earth splits. Blood mingles with flames, devouring everything. All around is dead silent. Life slumbers beneath the ruins. The dim, blood-red atmosphere dyes the surroundings into something like hell from a story. But I'm not afraid. Because I believe Dad will appear! Only, I've already waited so long... Until. The fires of hell parted. I didn't wait for my dad. But I waited for my hero.......

"Little one, want me to take you away?" Wang Xian looked at the little girl before him. No impression surfaced in his mind. He just sighed inwardly. Too many people had died in this disaster in his past life. In this rush, aside from Ye Miyue, he could only save one more. Thinking about it left him feeling a bit unwilling. The little girl didn't react. Wang Xian waved his hand and shook his head slightly. Probably scared senseless. Fair enough. Calling this place hell on earth wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Corpses and remains were everywhere. He'd long grown used to it, so he felt no discomfort. But a little girl, in such a dangerous place, suddenly thrown into an apocalyptic scenario like this. Not being scared to death was already good enough. Only...

'This should be a defensive yuan tool above the hundred-thousand energy level, right?' The necklace around the little girl's neck was no ordinary object. It was a martial combat yuan tool, rare in modern martial society. Also called martial protective gear. Equipment, basically. Martial combat protective gear was divided by energy level, just like martial artist realms, into several tiers. Protective gear reaching the hundred-thousand energy level counted as proper fifth-tier equipment.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Martial combat protective gear came in many varieties: attack, defense, interference, amplification, transformation, flight, and so on. Too many to count. High-energy-level gear could generally only be equipped by martial artists with matching life force. For example, hundred-thousand-energy-level gear could typically only be equipped by a fifth-realm martial artist with a hundred thousand life force.

But the kind on this little girl, with automatic defense and no restrictions. That was called unrestricted protective gear. In game terms: no level requirement. Extremely rare equipment! Even ordinary non-martial-artist people could use it, and it triggered automatically when attacked. Without this, the little girl couldn't have survived so long in this environment. But this thing couldn't hold out much longer either. It was probably about to break.

Spirit sha had an extremely strong corrosive effect on this kind of modern high-tech martial combat protective gear. It was also lucky that only a few feathers had fallen.

"Are you from the rescue team?" the little girl suddenly spoke. Her voice was crisp and clear. Hm? Still lucid? Wang Xian smiled:"No. Let me take you away first." He turned his back to her, crouched down, and signaled for her to climb on. The little girl shook her head:"Big brother, can you hold me in your arms?" Wang Xian paused, looking at this girl who was only seven or eight:"Why do you want to be held?"

"In fairy tales, when the prince saves the princess, he always holds her." The little girl spoke very seriously.

"......"

"But I'm not a prince."

"But big brother, you are my prince."

"?" Wang Xian froze, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Seriously, at such a young age, already knowing what to say to tug at heartstrings. What would she be like when she grew up? Who taught her?

"No." Wang Xian waved a hand. With that, he reached out and grabbed the little girl by the back of her neck. Like handling a little piglet. Lifting her up in an instant.

"This will do."

"......" The little girl tilted her head, looking at Wang Xian. She didn't seem angry:"Big brother, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Don't worry. If you hold me, I won't accuse you of molesting a young girl."

"......" Wang Xian. What young girl? A little brat who hasn't even grown all her hair yet. At most, she counted as a child. Wang Xian was genuinely amused. As if sensing what Wang Xian was thinking, the little girl said:"Big brother, do you think I'm very small?" Wang Xian countered:"You're only seven or eight. Isn't that small?" The little girl shook her head:"But you're at most ten years older than me."

"Ten years isn't a lot? That's almost a full zodiac cycle." Wang Xian said.

"But later, when we're both martial artists." The little girl counted on her fingers: "Living to one or two hundred years old is easy. By then, you'll be 110, and I'll be 100. You won't be much older than me." Wang Xian: "......" That kind of made sense.

"Still no."

"Sigh..." The little girl sighed.

"Then big brother, just carry me on your back... I'm not a little cat or puppy. You carrying me like this hurts my self-esteem a bit."

"You've got quite a lot going on in that head." Wang Xian put her down and crouched. The little girl smoothed her little skirt, straightened her bangs, wrapped her arms around Wang Xian's neck, and climbed onto his back. Wang Xian used his hands to support her feet and jumped off the balcony. That azure-blue glow enveloped the two of them.

"Big brother, are you a martial artist?"

"Not yet..."

"Not a martial artist, and not from the rescue team. Why did you come here to save people? I get it now! You wouldn't happen to be my future lover, who reincarnated back to make up for regrets and came specifically to save me?"

"...... Read fewer novels."

"Then why did you come to save me?"

"Saving people doesn't need a why."

"But none of them came." Wang Xian felt a sudden surprise.

"You can see outside?"

"I can see very clearly."

"They didn't come because they wanted to come but couldn't, and didn't dare to. I came because I wanted to come, and I could come, and I dared to come."

"That simple?" The little girl's voice held a trace of disappointment.

"That simple." Wang Xian patiently kept the little girl company, one line from you, one line from me... When the big man walked out, he collapsed limp right by the railing. Fortunately, the first wave of rescue team members had already arrived.

"Brother Xiong!" The woman who had been gazing with desperate eyes rushed forward, tears brimming in her eyes. Not many had left that line. Countless pairs of eyes seemed to be waiting in hope. By his reckoning, half an hour had already passed. Not only was the first rescue wave here, but even news reporters who had rushed to the scene first, and special martial officers maintaining order.

"Uncle, may I ask, did you find..." A voice, anxious yet tinged with a certain cool detachment, reached the big man's ears. He looked up. It was that high schooler's classmate. The martial artists traveling with them also felt the silent yet hopeful gazes around them. One of the martial artists spoke in a low voice:"Sorry, we didn't find..." At those words, everyone's hearts sank. Ye Miyue suddenly clasped her hands together. Her eyes grew faint. She felt the world spinning.

In truth, this was probably within everyone's expectations. Especially seeing how these few third-realm martial artists came out, collapsed and barely clinging to a single breath. Even martial artists of this level, just making one round trip through the disaster zone, had already lost half their lives. Let alone a fragile young life inside, and a high school student. The big man remained silent. He wanted to say, perhaps, that youth might still be alive.

But he didn't want to give people hope only to disappoint them again.

"My name is Cheng Wu. I'm a garrison officer from the Tianfu District Security Branch. We've been fully briefed on the specific situation." A special martial garrison officer in azure-blue uniform walked over. He looked at the several third-realm martial artists, his face full of seriousness and respect.

"Even if you didn't find anyone, no one blames you."

"Martial artists who dare to enter the disaster zone to search for people under these conditions are all commendable!"

"We'll take it from here." Having said this, he sighed inwardly. Because he had experience handling such disaster zones, he understood better than these ordinary people. If it was a disaster zone caused by an A-rank beast, the survival probability for ordinary people was roughly around ten percent. But for a spirit-sha disaster zone caused by an S-rank beast, the survival probability for ordinary people approached zero infinitely.

He could only hope that a few more martial artists might survive in the disaster zone. Just then, a startled voice came from nearby:"Captain, we've detected life fluctuations... It looks like someone is walking out of the disaster zone!" He immediately turned to look. Along with him, a whole field of gazes suddenly converged. From within the hazy, mist-shrouded ruins, a human figure gradually emerged, walking out clearly... ➤ Next: They Are the True Heroes