Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Nothing Happened
"Ugh, it hurts."
Xiaopang slowly opened his eyes, lifted his hand, and covered his swollen face.
Huh, my hand—
His eyes suddenly widened. He looked down and found the ropes that had bound his hands and feet had been cut without him knowing when. He turned his head and saw that Xiong Gang’s ropes had also been severed.
"Da Xiong, Da Xiong, wake up."
Xiaopang shook Xiong Gang’s shoulder vigorously to wake him up.
Xiong Gang opened his eyes and was greeted by a face swollen like a pig’s head.
Memories surged like a tide, and Xiong Gang’s heart tightened. He quickly asked:
"Xiaopang, are you alright?"
"I’m fine."
Xiaopang raised his hand and waved it, saying, "The ropes on both of us have been cut. I guess someone came to save us."
"Are we saved?"
Xiong Gang propped himself up with his hands, but his face showed a glimpse of pain before he could stabilize his body.
"What’s wrong?"
Xiaopang hurriedly asked.
Xiong Gang clutched his rib area, gritting his teeth, "My rib is fractured."
He still remembered a man punching and kicking him and Xiaopang before he passed out.
Because he cultivated the Metal Element Technique, his body was tough, which led them to go hard on him, trampling his rib to the point of fracture, making him lose consciousness from the pain.
Xiaopang stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder, and casually said:
"When we get back, use the medicine from our family, Zhu’s Secret Medicine, it’s for treating..."
"Shut up!"
Xiong Gang couldn’t help but reprimand, "It’s not the time to be advertising."
"Ah, sorry."
Xiaopang awkwardly smiled, "I’m just used to it."
While speaking, he seemed to catch sight of something strange from the corner of his eye.
Focusing his gaze, he was immediately startled, jumped up, and pointed to the brook beside them:
"Da Xiong, look!"
Xiong Gang turned his head to look, and his body suddenly stiffened.
They saw four naked dried corpses floating on the surface of the stream. The water current was too slow to push them downstream.
Each corpse looked like it had been drained of blood, the skin shriveled and severely shrunken.
Yet, Xiaopang and Xiong Gang still recognized a few individuals at a glance.
"One, two, three, four, four people, two more are missing."
Xiaopang counted the number of bodies and, suddenly, he and Xiong Gang thought of something at the same time. After exchanging a glance, they rushed towards the cave.
Very soon, they reached the deepest part of the cave.
In the dim environment, a small figure was faintly visible.
"Jiajia!"
"Jiajia!"
The two boys immediately dashed over. As they got closer, they relaxed seeing Huang Xiaojia’s condition.
Although Huang Xiaojia was still unconscious, her clothes were intact, not looking like someone who had been violated.
"Jiajia."
"Huang Xiaojia!"
The two boys gently patted the girl’s arm.
Soon, the girl opened her eyes and first saw two blackened faces.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
A terrified scream echoed through the cave.
Scenes from before losing consciousness flooded back, causing Huang Xiaojia’s entire body to tremble as she frantically slapped the air in front of her.
"Don’t come any closer, don’t come any closer!"
"Huang Xiaojia, it’s us, me and Da Xiong!"
Xiaopang covered his face, raised his volume, and said with a voice full of grievance.
Originally, his face was already swollen from being beaten; now, he got slapped hard by Huang Xiaojia, and the pain was unbearable.
"Jiajia, it’s the two of us."
Hearing the familiar voices, Huang Xiaojia’s actions abruptly stopped, followed by a trembling, teary voice.
"Xiaopang, Da Xiong, is it really you?"
"It’s us," the two said in unison.
It really was them.
Huang Xiaojia’s body quivered, and then she burst into tears.
The girl’s cries were hysterical, as if trying to vent all of her previous despair, helplessness, and grievances.
The two boys watched Huang Xiaojia with deep sympathy. They could imagine just how cruel the previous experiences must have been for a newly-adult girl who grew up in a wealthy family.
Xiaopang gently patted Huang Xiaojia’s back, softly comforting her.
"It’s all over now. You’re okay; we’re all okay."
The crying continued for a few minutes until Huang Xiaojia began to calm down, and she started to sob softly.
"Jiajia, when we came in, you were wearing your clothes properly, which means you’re okay." Xiong Gang bluntly comforted her.
Hearing this, Huang Xiaojia’s delicate body shivered, as if recalling scenes from before.
This idiot!
Xiaopang cursed silently in his heart and quickly changed the subject.
"Jiajia, let’s go outside first and find a safe place to inform the academy."
"Okay."
Huang Xiaojia didn’t want to stay in this nightmare-like place any longer.
The group quickly exited the cave, and only then was Huang Xiaojia able to see Xiaopang and Xiong Gang’s faces clearly.
Xiaopang’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, his eyes puffy to mere slits, and there were bloodstains around his mouth. Xiong Gang’s face looked better, but every step he took, his expression showed significant pain, clearly indicating internal injuries.
After seeing their condition, Huang Xiaojia felt extremely conflicted. As Xiong Gang had said, when she woke up, she found that her clothes were intact, and there was no pain below the waist as she’d feared, indicating that she hadn’t been violated.
Even so, she still believed she was the most seriously harmed among the three, but now it seemed that Xiaopang and Xiong Gang were in worse shape than she was.
"Da Xiong, you...?" Huang Xiaojia looked at Xiong Gang.
Xiong Gang’s face was pale, and he said hoarsely, "My ribs are broken."
Hearing this, Huang Xiaojia fell into silence.
"Look over there."
At that moment, Xiaopang pointed to the ground in astonishment and said, "I didn’t notice before, there’s so much blood on the ground."
The two looked down at the ground, which was stained a dark red, and the pebbles by the stream were speckled with blood, as if they’d been through a rain of blood.
The group exchanged glances, unable to imagine the brutal battle that must have taken place here to make it look like this.
Woo~~
At that moment, the sound of aircraft slicing through the air was heard from above.
Several flying devices flew speedily from afar and hovered above the group.
Then, dozens of figures jumped down from the aircraft, landing firmly on the ground.
"Young master, it’s them."
A black clothed man pointed at a few dry corpses in the stream, shouting excitedly.
Wen Chengxian moved closer, furrowing his brows slightly.
It was indeed the people he was looking for.
But the most important one was missing.
Klaus
Wen Chengxian noticed the few slightly nervous young people nearby, approached them, and asked with authority:
"Are you students from the Eagle Military Academy? Tell me, what happened here? Where is Klaus?"
Klaus?
Who’s Klaus?
Is he the leader?
Xiaopang shook his head and said truthfully, "Sorry, we were knocked out before, and we woke up to this scene."
Wen Chengxian furrowed his brow. He could tell this chubby guy wasn’t lying.
But these three were the only lead he had for now.
He couldn’t afford to miss any clue.
"Take them away!" Wen Chengxian commanded in a low voice.
"Yes!"
As soon as he spoke, a dozen people quickly surrounded Xiaopang and the other two.
"No, we don’t know anything!"
Xiaopang shouted loudly, his face tightened with anxiety.
Wen Chengxian’s expression remained unchanged, ignoring their shouts and struggles.
Shush~
At that moment, the sound of leaves being trampled came suddenly from the depths of the forest.
Everyone turned their heads to look.
Sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting patches of light on the ground. A figure emerged from the woods, carrying a corpse in one hand, holding a knife in the other, with a black sniper rifle slung across his back. His half-naked body was muscular, covered in dried, dark red blood, completely obscuring his features, like a monster emerging from the Blood Pool.
In an instant, the scene fell silent.
Under the gaze of numerous eyes, the bloodied figure walked slowly, dropping the corpse to the ground.
"You’re... Brother Tian!"
Xiaopang exclaimed, recognizing Qin Tian by his physique, eyes, and other features despite his bloodied face.
What, he’s Qin Tian?
Xiong Gang and Huang Xiaojia’s eyes widened as they looked at Qin Tian’s scabbed body and the dead Star Thief on the ground, their hearts filled with shocking waves.
So it was Qin Tian who saved us.
The blood on the ground was shed to save us.
In an instant, the three of them had tears in their eyes.
Xiaopang asked, his voice trembling, "Brother Tian, what exactly happened here?"
Qin Tian turned his head, meeting a pair of sharp, scrutinizing eyes, and said calmly:
"Nothing happened."