Chapter 38
"Yes, yes, Brother He, I am wrong." Lu Yun quickly admitted his mistake with a sincere attitude. He then turned his eyes to the sky with disappointment, "Didn’t you say that a helicopter was coming? Why don’t I see it?"
"The helicopter should take half an hour to get here. Young Master heard the sound." Wu Ming explained. Lu Yun heard this and a happy expression blossomed on his face. He squeezed in between Ling Yin and sat down next to Young Master Gong.
Ling Yin and Ling Yu looked at each other with a dumbfounded look. The helicopter was still too far away to hear. What are they talking about? Sun Tiantian and Sun Jie had no doubts. They had seen the young master’s skills and understood his strength. If he said he heard it, it must be true. Moreover, at first glance, one could tell that he was a person who scorned lying.
Everyone waited quietly for more than 20 minutes before they heard a sound in the starry dark sky coming closer.
"Over here." He Jin said while adding wood to the bonfire. The rest of the people stood up and looked up at the sky with excitement. They willingly opened their mouths and called out for help when the helicopter came into view.
Gong Lixin’s ear tip moved slightly, his face showing a dignified expression. Aside from the roar of the propeller, he seemed to hear the sound of wings mixed in. An unknown animal was approaching them.
After seeing the mutant mouse, Gong Lixin no longer dared to underestimate any creature during the apocalypse. But now, as the sound seemed unnoticeable under the interference of the propeller, he wasn’t completely sure and could only open his eyes wide and stare at the sky while clenching in his hand the bone-cutting knife.
The closer the helicopter came, the stronger the fire burned as everyone called out for help. Eventually, the helicopter flew straight over and hovered above their heads, the propeller creating strong gusts of wind which blew out the fire.
Holding Gong Lixin tightly in his arms, He Jin calmly looked up at the helicopter overhead. The rest of the people couldn’t hide their joy and shouted, "We are here!"
In a short moment, a rope ladder was dropped from the helicopter and a black figure climbed down the rope rapidly.
"Big Brother Lin?" The darkness of the night couldn’t hinder Gong Lixin’s sharp vision nor his voice from spilling out when he saw the handsome face of the man coming down.
Big Brother? Were they coming for the child? He Jin’s secret thought and the joy of salvation unconsciously faded. His heart became inexplicably anxious.
"Not good! It’s a bat! Big Brother Lin, be careful!" Gong Lixin didn’t give He Jin and his strange mood a second thought as he broke out of the latter’s arms, used his inner force to make sure the warning he yelled out reached Lin Wenbo’s ears, and used his toes to quickly pick up a weapon. Burning firewood was kicked at and went straight towards Lin Wenbo.
The firewood broke past the strong gusts of wind blown by the propeller, even the flame didn’t flicker. It seemed like an arrow was fired from a bow and the shadows in the air quickly darted away. The lightning-fast speed made others, at a glance, know his strength.
A few meters above Lin Wenbo, a special forces soldier, who was holding onto the ladder and was preparing to go down as well, saw the person suddenly attacking their side. He halted his movement, his expression showing terror. Who was this sharp shooter? Could a piece of wood really launched like a rocket? He didn’t see wrong, right? Also, why did they attack them for no reason?
In the second his thoughts flew inside his head, the piece of wood had already reached Lin Wenbo. The two special forces soldiers and the pilot on the helicopter were all staring and watching the figure hanging in midair.
Lin Wenbo saw the "rocket" flying towards him and was shocked. He wanted to avoid it but the sound of Gong Lixin’s warning reached his ear. He immediately gripped the ladder and stopped his extra movements.
The wood passed his cheek and because the speed was so fast, there was no trace of burn on his skin. Between zero and one second, a sharp squeak sounded behind him. It turned out that the flaming wood hit a tiny black spot in the air above him and the wood splashed it with fire, revealing the danger.
There were a few more black spots moving about but they fell into the wild forest not too far away. The people on the ground were dumbfounded, unable to come out of their daze. How was Young Master Gong able to see such small black things? How could he kick a firewood from the ground, make it go against the strong gusts from the helicopter, travel hundreds of meters, and still shoot so accurately? How was he so tough?
Lin Wenbo was also amazed and even forgot about landing. With such a long distance, coupled with the roar of the helicopter, how did he still hear Xiaoxin’s warning? Also, was the person who shot the wood not Xiaoxin? This kind of skill could not be done without having an ability.
But before he could give it more thought, Gong Lixin’s voice came again. "Big Brother Lin, come down. There are still many bats in the sky."
Lin Wenbo no longer hesitated and quickly got down. While he was descending the ladder, Gong Lixin constantly kicked orange blocks of wood from the bonfire and shot down any bat that flew near and tried to attack Lin Wenbo. The piece of wood hit the bats, slamming into a myriad of tiny dark spots behind it. All the bats screamed miserably as the wood exploded like fireworks.
Fireworks exploded one by one, accompanied by the fall of some of the black spots. It was an arrow that did not miss and always hit its target. Not only the people on the helicopter but even the people on the ground were astonished by what they saw.
"That, the person who kicked the flaming wood from below seems to be Young Master Gong!" A special forces soldier had thought of looking at the familiar thin figure below and stuttered out this revelation.
"No wonder he could run so far! How did Master Gong cultivate his son? If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would have thought they were making a movie!" The pilot couldn’t help but look down as he controlled the helicopter, watching with surprise.
Lin Wenbo landed safely on the ground. The two men on the helicopter started to return to the ground. When they prepared themselves to descend, a mutant bat slammed into the windshield at the front of the helicopter, causing the glass to form a small crack.
The pilot was shocked and quickly stabilized his grip before speaking into the communicator: "Stop, there are too many bats! You guys can’t jump anymore. The ground is insufficient and unsuitable for landing. I’ll drive to Xianyang Town. There’s some vegetable field there, I’ll land there."
Lin Wenbo heard the pilot’s voice and agreed, his eyes curving up as he saw the thin teenager near the campfire running towards him. At the same time, the bats high in the air saw the helicopter fly away and immediately shifted their target. The black cloud rushed towards the people on the ground.
"There are too many bats. Get in the car." Gong Lixin took the thin blanket from the ground and covered Sun Tiantian and Sun Jie as he calmly ordered everyone while he rushed towards Lin Wenbo with serene and happy eyes.
He Jin saw this, threw the blanket at his feet towards Wu Ming, then repeated the order before following Gong Lixin.
Wu Ming caught the blanket, wrapped it around Lu Yun, and dragged him towards the Hummer on the side of the road. Along the way, he waved his knife, splitting into two any bat that came near them.
Their sticky and smoky black blood splashed on the ground and the Ling sisters beside Lu Yun were filled with fear. Ling Yu screamed as she was splashed in the face with the blood. Her legs went soft and she couldn’t move anymore.
Wu Ming wanted to leave her and bring Lu Yun to safety but seeing Lu Yun frequently looking back with worry, he had no choice but to turn around and pick her up. He then pulled Lu Yun and stumbled before running towards the car.
Sun Tiantian and her younger brother had already climbed into the Hummer. Da Liu and Wang Tao pulled themselves into the car as well, with Wu Ming, who frequently waved his knife, not too far behind. Ling Yin was guarded by Gu Nan and Ma Jun as they ran towards the Ford car.
On the grassland, only Gong Lixin, Lin Wenbo, and He Jin were surrounded by black bats. Their situation didn’t look good.
While wielding their knives, the three men gradually approached each other and watched their surroundings. Suddenly, Lin Wenbo jumped and pushed Gong Lixin away as he rolled down the valley towards the edge of the grass.
At the same time, a mutant civet cat that suddenly emerged from the rear bush fell to the ground after being sliced in half by Gong Lixin’s precise hit. Looking at the corpse of the civet cat on the ground and then at the two people who rolled down the hill until the edge of the grassland, He Jin cursed and quickly followed.
He Jin was very angry right now. There was no need to come and save the child. Lixin had already discovered the approaching civet cat and launched an attack. If it wasn’t for the other person, Lixin would have not rolled down the valley. The situation at the bottom of the valley was unknown and they no longer had the safety of the grass.
The group of bats lost their target and flew back and forth on the empty plain. However, dozens of bats spotted them at the edge of the grassland and chased them down the valley.
Lin Wenbo was afraid of Gong Lixin getting hurt. He had already thrown the knives in his hand and rolled the other into his arms. The valley was not steep and there was lush green grass that served as a cushion on the ground. The two rolled down to the bottom of the valley and were not injured except for a few cuts from the grass.
Lin Wenbo wanted to see if the person in his arms was safe but before he could speak, the valley was bombarded with the sound of wings. He knew without a doubt that the bats had chased them down.
Gong Lixin quickly left Lin Wenbo’s arms and slashed with his knife. Several bats five meters away were slashed into two from his sword wave.
Lin Wenbo’s eyes went wide but it was not the time to be surprised. More bats followed behind the dead ones. He quickly gathered up his ability and covered his palms with the metal ability, tearing the bats flying in front of him.
Seeing Lin Wenbo’s courageous performance, He Jin followed his example and created a wind blade, sent several out, and shot down the bats that were higher in altitude while he wielded the knife and cut the bats that were closer at hand.
The three men joined forces and the valley was soaked with a small bloody rain. The dozens of bats that had followed them were killed in less than five minutes, their broken limbs and wings falling to the ground.
"Hey, how are you?"
Lin Wenbo rushed to Gong Lixin’s side in two or three steps and reached out, wanting to look him over. But seeing his palm thick with black blood, he immediately withdrew and removed his metal ability that covered the surface of his skin. With the disappearance of his metal film, the black blood fell to the grass all at once. Only then did Lin Wenbo take the young boy, whom he thought about day and night, into his arms. His heart, which had been mad and sullen for the past few days, finally calmed.
"Big Brother Lin, I’m very well!" The voice of the teenager was crisp and mellow and his tone was calm and indifferent but if one listened carefully, it was not difficult to hear the joyful excitement and a few undetectable tones of relief and happiness at finally returning into familiar arms. Being sprinkled with his delicate kitten’s affection, Lin Wenbo’s heart was gently scratched, his love unable to be stopped.
Looking at the two people hugging not too far away, the emotion in He Jin’s dark eyes was unclear and his cold lips were tightly stretched into a thin line. [1]
[1] Wuxian: One of the MLs lowkey sipping vinegar, I see.