424: Chapter 421 The Sudden Attack.

Wei Ziqing stood up and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

He turned around and looked at Ye Ouyang and Zhou Zihui, spinning the bone sword once in his hand before steadily sheathing it at his waist.

"It's settled."

Ye Ouyang scratched his head, his gaze falling on the now motionless corpse of the Dinosaur Person.

"Um... You just killed him directly?" He looked at Wei Ziqing with some surprise. "I thought you would use that nerve-paralyzing toxin like you used to, Senior."

Wei Ziqing fell silent for a second.

Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the clouds, shining on his plain white armor and reflecting the cold, hard lines of the black patterns.

"From the moment he killed the first police officer," he spoke, his voice not loud but carrying a heavy weight, "I didn't intend to let him live."

He looked at Ye Ouyang.

"The prerequisite for me to leave a way out for someone is that they haven't killed anyone, or... in slightly better circumstances." He paused. "I am an extremist; I admit I am relatively extreme. As long as you kill, I will kill you. At worst, I'll take the punishment, but I'll kill regardless, by force if necessary."

Ye Ouyang was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.

"It's not like I'm objecting." He spread his hands. "Anyway, when I injected the Super Regeneration at the start, I was aiming to kill too. I was just asking. Don't mind me, Senior."

Wei Ziqing nodded and was about to say something—

"Wait!"

Zhou Zihui's voice suddenly exploded, sharp enough to pierce the night.

"Wei Ziqing, get out of the way!"

It was too late.

A ball-shaped object shot out from the darkness of the forest, its speed so fast that its trajectory was impossible to see. Like a cannonball wrapped in a piercing whistle of breaking air, it slammed hard into Wei Ziqing's head—

Bang!

Wei Ziqing was sent flying horizontally, snapping a tree as thick as a bowl before hitting the ground and rolling several times before stopping. Under the moonlight, cracks spread outward from the impact point on his plain white helmet like a shattered spiderweb.

The ball bounced back the moment it struck, tracing a bizarre arc in the air and retracting into the darkness deep within the woods.

Zhou Zihui's reaction was incredibly fast.

His tail slammed into the ground, prying up a stone the size of a millstone. Using the strength of his waist, he spun and hurled the stone fiercely toward the direction where the ball had disappeared!

The stone had just flown into the woods—

Bang!

The ball bounced out again, directly shattering the stone into flying debris. Its trajectory didn't change in the slightest as it smashed straight toward Zhou Zihui!

Zhou Zihui had no time to dodge; the sphere hit him right in the abdomen!

Pfft—!

He was sent flying, plowing a furrow in the ground until he stopped against the roots of an old tree, a mouthful of blood gushing from his mouth.

Ye Ouyang's pupils constricted.

He didn't hesitate, exerting force with his feet as his golden figure rushed toward the two. It wasn't an attack; it was a rescue!

He grabbed Zhou Zihui's arm with one hand and hoisted Wei Ziqing with the other, dragging both of them into the nearby dense forest!

Behind them, the ball bounced out once more!

Bang!

It smashed into the spot where Ye Ouyang had just been standing, blasting a crater into the ground. Ye Ouyang ducked behind a tree with the two men, and the sphere grazed the trunk, shaving off a large chunk of bark.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sphere bounced repeatedly like a homing missile, chasing their trail. Ye Ouyang sprinted through the woods dragging the two wounded men, constantly changing direction and barely avoiding the impact each time the sphere hit the ground.

Stone fragments pelted him, and wood chips stuck to his face.

Wei Ziqing's helmet was already shattered, revealing his pale face and tightly closed eyes beneath. Blood was still trickling from the corner of Zhou Zihui's mouth, but he remained conscious, one hand clutching his abdomen tightly.

"Hold on!"

Ye Ouyang's sharp claws pierced into their bodies—injecting a minute, trace amount of Gold Weave Cells. He couldn't give them more; any more would harm them.

The golden fluid dispersed within their bodies, beginning to repair the most fatal injuries.

Behind them, the frequency of the sphere's pursuit gradually slowed down.

After chasing for another dozen meters, it bounced one last time, smashing into an old tree. The trunk snapped directly, and the upper half came crashing down. Then, it did not bounce out again.

Quiet returned to the forest.

There was only the rustling of the night wind through the treetops and Ye Ouyang's heavy breathing.

He dragged the two behind a giant boulder and looked back—nothing else came out of that darkness.

The ball had given up.

In the distance, the Researcher poked half a head out from behind a tree, his face deathly pale and his lips trembling.

"Over here... over here..." he beckoned in a low voice.

Ye Ouyang nodded to him, then looked at Wei Ziqing and Zhou Zihui beside him.

The terrifying impact wounds on their bodies were healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The opponent hadn't pursued them.

Panting heavily, Ye Ouyang glanced back at the pitch-black forest. The moonlight was blocked by the canopy, and he could see nothing.

"Let's get out of here quickly."

He hoisted Wei Ziqing onto his back, the plain white armor pressing painfully into his shoulder. Beside him, the Researcher had picked up Zhou Zihui. Zhou Zihui's tail hung down, dragging on the ground and rustling against the fallen leaves.

The four of them stumbled out of the forest.

The Researcher started panting after just a few steps, his breathing as heavy as a bellows. He wasn't a combatant, after all; carrying a person on uneven ground made his face flush red.

"The opponent... didn't chase us..." he squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth while running.

Ye Ouyang nodded but didn't speak.

But his mind was racing.

They didn't chase... they probably have something else to do.

What else was back there?

The Dinosaur Person's corpse.

What do they want with that corpse?

He didn't know.

Damn it.

He looked down at Wei Ziqing slumped over his shoulder; his face was pale, his eyes were closed, and his breathing was shallow. With the helmet shattered, the wound on his forehead was visible and healing—the golden cells were still working, but the healing speed was slower than usual.

Because the situation was urgent, he could only inject a trace amount.

"Senior," he called out softly.

Wei Ziqing's eyelids flickered.

"...Put me down." His voice was raspy, nearly inaudible. "Over there... the corpse..."

"No." Ye Ouyang didn't stop. "I'm worried about your condition. I could only inject a trace amount then, so we need to get back quickly. Besides, the damage to your brain..."

He paused.

"Getting back is the priority."

Wei Ziqing said nothing more. His head slumped again as he fell into unconsciousness.

Zhou Zihui's voice came from the side.

"I can walk now."

Ye Ouyang turned to look—Zhou Zihui had pulled away from the Researcher's support and landed on the ground. Although his steps were still a bit shaky, he could indeed walk on his own. The wounds from the impact had mostly healed, leaving only the holes and bloodstains on his clothes as evidence.

The Researcher was relieved, panting heavily as he leaned over with his hands on his knees, sweat dripping from his chin.

"Good... good..."

The four of them quickened their pace and finally burst out of the edge of the forest.

In the distance, the city lights flickered in the night.

—

On the way back, no one spoke much.

They hailed a taxi, got in, and drove in silence toward the base. The streetlights outside passed one by one, stretching and shortening the shadows inside the car.

By the time the car stopped at the base entrance, Wei Ziqing was still unconscious. Zhou Zihui's complexion looked much better, and he pushed open the car door to step out himself. The Researcher's legs were weak, and he leaned against the car door for a long while before steadying himself.

Ye Ouyang pulled Wei Ziqing out of the car and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

"Let's go."