Chapter 42-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation

 The tall, thin monster, like a clock tower, was almost completely controlled by Bai Muqing. Only the short, fine bug legs on its sides were still twitching and struggling. If you listened closely, you could even hear a whimper.

Wu Shu walked to the base of the giant bug, put her arm around Ye Zheng's waist, and asked, "You said the weak spot is at the back of its neck?"

"Yes."

As soon as Ye Zheng's voice fell, a violent sense of weightlessness hit her. Her head and vision were dizzy for a moment. When her vision refocused, she found herself in mid-air, a strange sensation under her feet. She was standing on the smooth, hard shell.

Wu Shu was still close to her. The monster's body was long and narrow. The two of them were now standing on what would be the monster's shoulders.

Ye Zheng moved her arm, her elbow accidentally brushing against the soft skin on Wu Shu's waist. A subtle expression crossed her face. Wu Shu's fighting style was a combination of teleportation and powerful combat skills, making her a formidable close-quarters fighter. Such a fighting style was completely unsuitable for clothes that exposed a lot of skin. No warrior would willingly expose their weaknesses.

Ye Zheng couldn't help but sigh again at the creator's idiotic, illogical costume design.

"Are you scared?"

Wu Shu noticed Ye Zheng's momentary distraction and asked in a low voice.

"Nothing to be scared of."

"It's okay to be scared. Ten minutes ago, when I saw this strange human head up close for the first time, I even hesitated for a second with my knife."

Ye Zheng followed Wu Shu's downward gaze to her lower left.

A disheveled human head was connected to the huge, hard bug body. The human face showed a deeply human expression. Tear streaks covered her, or its, face, and its eyes seemed to be pleading for help.

This extremely bizarre and disharmonious sensation made Ye Zheng frown in discomfort.

She had seen many anthropomorphic monsters in Demonic Domains before. These monsters, when disguised as humans, gave off a powerful feeling of cold inhumanity. The one in front of her, however, was too disjointed. The part below the neck was a horrifying monster, while the part above the neck seemed like a human being trapped inside a monster's body.

Ye Zheng had a vague guess. She first put her thoughts aside and said to Wu Shu, "Let's move."

She took Wu Shu's hand, and a stream of water condensed into a bracelet on Wu Shu's wrist.

Wu Shu raised her wrist, and a flash of surprise appeared in her eyes. The bracelet was as translucent and lustrous as a piece of aquamarine jade. It felt cool and comfortable on her wrist, but—

"Does this chain on the bracelet have to be there?"

The aquamarine bracelet was connected by a thin water chain, with the other end held in Ye Zheng's hand. Wu Shu's expression became a bit hard to describe.

Ye Zheng blinked innocently and explained, "My [Stream] must be linked to me personally to work. When you teleport to attack the monster's weak point later, my [Stream] will protect you from the corrosive green blood."

She was telling the truth. The [Stream] couldn't be broken. It wasn't that she deliberately wanted to create something like a shackle.

She had only hidden one small thing: with the true range of her ability, the [Stream] could protect her from the green blood from a long distance without Wu Shu needing to bring her up.

Wu Shu stared at the leash-like object on her wrist and couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth. "I should really thank you for not putting the ring on my neck."

A flicker of light appeared in Ye Zheng's eyes, and her voice became subtly coaxing. "If you don't mind, putting it on the neck is actually the most effective way to protect your face..."

Wu Shu's nonchalant expression finally broke. She glanced at Ye Zheng, flipped her palm to reveal her dagger, and leaned back, letting herself fall.

In mid-air, she plunged the dagger into the monster's body. The blade, deep in the flesh, slid down along the monster's spine. Green blood and minced flesh rained down on her!

Wu Shu looked up and gave a light click of her tongue. She had already braced herself for her messy appearance and closed her eyes, but she didn't feel the expected corrosive pain.

A warm, cool film of water covered her body, blocking the splashing green blood. Through the film, she suddenly felt a strong energy field.

Her other dagger, already prepared, was resolutely plunged into the monster's flesh. The two daggers, deep in the flesh, stopped Wu Shu's fall. She used her arm strength to pull herself up, her firm arm muscles bulging.

"This Saintess really has some tricks."

She said with a laugh. Ye Zheng had kept her promise to protect her from the green blood and had given her the opportunity to kill the core monster.

Wu Shu had already smelled the location of the abnormal energy Ye Zheng had mentioned. She violently pulled out the dagger in her right hand. Minced flesh and blood gushed out together. She raised the dagger high and viciously plunged it in again—

"Found it."

Ye Zheng let out a soft laugh.

The girl sat next to the terrified head, shaking the water chain in her hand. Colorful butterflies fluttered around her.

Below, Wu Shu plunged her dagger deep into the bug's body. She felt herself getting closer and closer to that spot. As the flesh was split open, that alluring power became even sweeter...

She couldn't help but take a sniff. Under this temptation, she didn't notice the faint stream of water wrapping around her blade.

The blade suddenly got stuck and couldn't go any deeper.

Wu Shu had already realized that there was something hidden inside. As she was about to make another move, the rigid bug body under her knife suddenly seemed to be released from its restraint. It began to twist madly. The hand holding the knife was suddenly thrown open, and her body was immediately flung out!

The moment she was thrown into the air, Wu Shu quickly activated her ability, allowing her to land on the ground steadily. She stood up and looked down, and the bracelet and water chain were gone.

Wu Shu's expression suddenly changed, and she immediately looked up.

High in the air, a thin figure was dangling from the monster's body. Ye Zheng was apparently also thrown off by the monster's sudden frenzy. Fortunately, as she fell, she had caught the knife that Wu Shu had firmly plunged into the monster's body.

Wu Shu first breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at that figure, a look of scrutiny flashed in her deep purple eyes.

Setting aside luck, for her to have the quick reflexes to grab that knife in the middle of a fall and to hang from it with just one arm, her physical fitness...

Wu Shu suspected that under the Saintess's soft, white long sleeves were arm muscles that were no less impressive than her own.

She was about to gather some strength to teleport up and rescue the teetering Saintess when the human-headed bug monster went into a frenzy again. Its giant tail hook swung at her. Wu Shu quickly rolled to dodge the monster's attack. Just as she adjusted her posture, she heard a bang from above.

Bang!

The struggling monster suddenly went still. Its tail hook fell in front of Wu Shu with a dull thud.

Wu Shu looked up as if she had just remembered something. She saw fluttering butterflies catching the descending white figure. Not far away, Lucy shouted excitedly, "I told you my butterflies are useful!"

Ye Zheng landed safely, held up by the butterflies, with no harm done. Her steps were a little wobbly, but her pale face was astonishingly radiant. Soon, however, she returned to her fragile, listless expression, as if she had been terrified by her near-death experience.

Lucy immediately rushed over. "Are you okay? I'm glad my butterflies were following you all this time, or else you would have—"

She stopped talking. Percy and Roy had taught her not to say inauspicious things to others.

Wu Shu, however, did not continue to look at the now-safe Ye Zheng. She looked up at the motionless monster with a blank expression. She couldn't help but walk closer, then closer, finally accepting that the sweet, alluring energy was truly gone.

The short-haired, purple-eyed woman looked at Ye Zheng again. There was no trace of her previous concern or worry in her eyes. She stared at the hand Ye Zheng was holding the gun with. That hand was still stained with red blood, which could only be Ye Zheng's own.

"What did you do?"

Ye Zheng, who was just quietly praising Lucy, slowly looked at her when she heard her question.

"I'm sorry, I used the gun to shoot the weak point and killed the monster."

"I was about to be flung off by the monster, and I thought that Muqing seemed to be losing control of it. I figured I might as well take the chance with this short distance and take it out to prevent it from going into a frenzy and hurting more people."

The Saintess's face was apologetic. Her explanation had no flaws. As a Saintess, or more accurately, a holy warrior, she made the best judgment that benefited everyone, except for Wu Shu.

Lucy's confused gaze wandered between them. She seemed to sense the subtle, tense atmosphere.

Wu Shu's dark eyes were fixed on Ye Zheng. When she wasn't smiling, her demeanor was especially cold and sharp, just like the snowy peaks of the blades she used, as if a destructive avalanche could fall at any moment.

The small, high-ponytail boy quietly took a step forward, shielding Ye Zheng behind him.

Suddenly, Wu Shu ruffled Lucy's hair, who was standing between them. She gave Ye Zheng her usual carefree, enthusiastic smile, and stared at Ye Zheng's bleeding hand.

"Are your hands okay? From what I know, a gun shouldn't hurt your hand, right?"

"I accidentally cut it when I grabbed your knife. Don't worry, I've already healed it."

"That's good. By the way, where did my knife fall? That's my treasure."

Ye Zheng turned and looked at the rigid monster's body, indicating that the knife had probably fallen next to the monster.

Wu Shu quickly found her knife next to the monster's body. The dagger was wet, seemingly soaked with Ye Zheng's blood.

She couldn't help but look up at the mountain-like monster body, unable to believe that such a behemoth was taken down by a single bullet?

While hitting the weak point was the most efficient and useful method, Wu Shu just felt that something was off about this battle. This suspicion reached its peak when she noticed that the head on top of the bug's body was gone.

"Why is that woman's head gone?"

Wu Shu asked loudly, full of doubt.

Lucy jumped up a few times, but couldn't see anything. She could only guess based on her experience, "It's normal. When the core monster dies, the entire Demonic Domain will disappear soon. Sometimes the monster's body will also quickly decompose and disappear. We ability users from the lower district are used to it."

Bai Muqing also walked over. She stared at the monster for a while and quickly came to a conclusion. "This bug is indeed dead."

Wu Shu's tightly furrowed brows did not relax. As an ability user from the Middle District, she had also been into many Demonic Domains.

The short-haired woman was about to say something else, but when she turned and met Ye Zheng's face, which was as calm as a perfect statue, Wu Shu remained silent.

She thought she was standing on solid ground, but she realized it was a thin layer of ice. The massive iceberg was buried deep beneath the ice. She shouldn't move forward.

"Fine, what a strange coincidence."

A strange unicorn.

Wu Shu scoffed, retracted her dagger, and left without looking back.

She walked up the stairs with a chaotic mind, still thinking about it unwillingly. Unconsciously, she reached the main entrance. She pushed open the dark door of the shelter.

Pleasant sunlight shone on her face. Wu Shu narrowed her eyes. The Demonic Domain had indeed been destroyed.

She walked out, ready to find her teammates and end a fruitless day. Suddenly, a middle-aged man in a magnificent white robe blocked her path.

"Little contestant, is the shelter in this direction? I'm a little lost."

Wu Shu was getting annoyed just by looking at white clothes now. She was about to snap a response when she saw the man's face and her mouth dropped open in shock. "You, you are..."

Ye Zheng and her two companions were organizing people to evacuate the shelter in an orderly fashion. Many people were enthusiastically thanking them, which helplessly slowed down the evacuation.

Especially the Saintess, Ye Zheng, who had the highest popularity. Everyone seemed eager to greet the gentle and brave Saintess.

Everyone had witnessed the Saintess, a healer, fight desperately with a monster to save them. Finally, with a determination to go down with the monster, she killed it. Her blood-stained white figure fell like a fallen feather, and was miraculously caught by butterflies, landing safely.

—In reality, most people couldn't see anything clearly. These ordinary people with vivid imaginations pieced together a grand tale of the Saintess's heroic rescue.

Ye Zheng dutifully maintained her Saintess persona until she saw the last person out of the shelter.

She leaned against the dark door and looked at the empty shelter, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

From the beginning, her plan was to have Wu Shu go first. The water chain, besides protecting Wu Shu, was meant to be linked to Wu Shu's knife.

That right-handed knife would be the first to touch the dragon bone. The stream of water wrapped around the knife would seize the opportunity to take out the dragon bone first. But if she did that, Wu Shu would likely notice something was off and discover the dragon bone's existence.

Therefore, Ye Zheng deliberately created a sudden frenzy in the monster. In such a critical moment, Wu Shu would not have time to pay attention to anything else.

—The surprise was that while she was intentionally making the monster go wild, she had a little bonus gain. This bonus had just temporarily left with the crowd.

Then, Ye Zheng would jump down and take out the dragon bone, and in the process, use a gun to destroy all traces of it, making her actions seem reasonable. Even if Wu Shu realized something was wrong, she wouldn't have a chance to get close to that mysterious power again.

Because the dragon bone was now hidden within her own flesh.

Ye Zheng looked down at her palm. Her bleeding hand had indeed been cut by Wu Shu's knife, but it wasn't an accident. She did it on purpose.

She owed Wu Shu a favor for this. She had used Wu Shu as a cover for her true strength and intentions, so it was no wonder the other woman was so angry.

Sigh, she would definitely pay her back next time.

Ye Zheng turned around, ready to push the door open. She still had one more thing to handle.

"Is anyone still in there?"

Just as she placed her hand on the door, a voice so familiar it made her sick sounded from outside.

"Is our little Saintess in there?"

The voice, intentionally gentle, asked with a smile from the other side of the door.

Ye Zheng pulled at the corner of her mouth from behind the door, her dark eyes looking particularly gloomy.

← Previous Chapter Next Chapter →