Magic

"Hey, you two look pretty miserable." The one who had come was the adventurer who had first alerted the Guard Bees. Seeing his smug expression, Xin Mu felt an urge to beat him to death. She struggled to her feet, leaning against the wall, and picked up the dagger she had dropped. Then she fixed the blond man with a cold stare.

"Don't get worked up, don't get worked up." The man hurriedly raised both hands and looked at Xin Mu. "Judging by your gear, I figured you were still rookie adventurers, so I came back in a hurry, didn't I?"

"This is all your fault." Xin Mu didn't want to hear his excuses. She had already decided he was an enemy. If not for him, she and Zhang Ruofeng wouldn't have twice been put in danger of serious injury, and now he had left Zhang Ruofeng in even greater danger. One small mistake could cost him his life.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was genuinely scared, too. I never expected there to be seven Star-shaped Fruits growing in the Food Storage this time, with four elite monsters gathered around these pricey fruits. So I came back to make up for what I did, didn't I?" the man said apologetically. But Xin Mu still didn't trust him. His flippant attitude, coupled with the fact that he had set her and Zhang Ruofeng up, meant she didn't dare let her guard down for even a moment.

"Impressive!" The man's sudden exclamation made Xin Mu quickly turn around. Zhang Ruofeng had already pinned the Guard Bee whose wing she had crippled to the ground. Although his legs were covered in several bloody gashes, he was still putting everything he had into repeatedly punching down with his left fist. After four blows, the Guard Bee finally turned into fine black sand. Zhang Ruofeng had naturally heard the commotion behind him, too. But he no longer had the strength to deal with the man who had set him up so many times. He got to his feet, keeping his guard up, only to see two Guard Bees charging furiously toward him. Zhang Ruofeng could only smile bitterly. There was no way he could withstand their attacks.

"Ruofeng!!!" Xin Mu knew Zhang Ruofeng no longer had the strength to fight off the Guard Bees. Their head-on charge packed even more power than the Great Barking Dog's. Though the wounds covering Xin Mu's body had yet to heal, she ran as fast as she could. Her injuries tore open at once.

"Don't come over!!" Zhang Ruofeng had already decided to cover Xin Mu's escape. He was prepared to fight even if it meant being gravely wounded or killed. But when he saw Xin Mu about to reach him, even he grew anxious. He sighed inwardly, gritted his teeth, forced himself to muster one last breath, grabbed Xin Mu as she rushed toward him, and rolled sideways across the ground to evade the Guard Bees' attack.

"What do we do?" As he rolled across the ground, Zhang Ruofeng felt panic rising in him. He had no way to save them from their current predicament, and with Xin Mu beside him, trying to escape on a gamble would only make things even riskier. It was all because of his skill, Boiling Dragon Blood, that the thing he cared about most right now was how good Xin Mu's hair smelled. Zhang Ruofeng felt he was beyond saving. They were on the brink of life and death, and he was still noticing things like that.

"I am the endless mountain range, I am the impenetrable wall. The fearless lose their reason; the fearful obey their instincts!" Just as Zhang Ruofeng was at a loss, a strange voice rang out behind him and Xin Mu. The two Guard Bees, poised to attack again, abruptly stopped. Zhang Ruofeng hurriedly scrambled to his feet and shielded Xin Mu. Red light began to flicker around the mysterious blond man some distance away, and a vast, savage aura kept rising from him.

"Face me, fearless warriors!!!" As the man finished his final words, his immense aura made Zhang Ruofeng's heart skip a beat. He realized this was a magic incantation from this world—and the spell had already been completed. Without thinking, Zhang Ruofeng turned and clung tightly to Xin Mu. After being set up so many times by this unlucky stranger, he had no idea what kind of magic the man had cast.

"What are you scared of!!" Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu heard the stranger shout. At the same time, the two Guard Bees abandoned them and charged straight at the stranger as if they had gone mad. "This isn't an attack spell! Quick, they're being forced to attack me!"

The blond man hadn't even finished speaking before the two Guard Bees reached him. He seemed used to this sort of thing. His shield was already off his back, and he blocked their attacks with a shield in each hand, though the blows drove him back several steps.

"Taunt?!!" Zhang Ruofeng was still unsure what to make of it, but both Guard Bees had their backs to him. It would be a waste not to take advantage of the opportunity. He got up and dashed toward the nearer Guard Bee. The man, already beaten by the two Guard Bees to the point where he couldn't attack, brightened. He brought his shields together and charged at Zhang Ruofeng's target. At the same time, Zhang Ruofeng's attack landed. Their combined strength, behind two all-out strikes, crushed the Guard Bee's head!

"Beautiful!!" The mysterious man had barely finished speaking when a Guard Bee struck him from behind. The longsword strapped to his back blocked the blow, leaving him only stumbling a little.

Zhang Ruofeng rushed past him and clamped both hands around the Guard Bee's forelimbs. Ignoring his own injuries, he swung it hard into the wall, leaving it dazed and disoriented.

"Whoosh, whoosh!" Two sharp sounds rang out as Xin Mu's daggers successfully pinned the Guard Bee's wings to the wall. While it struggled frantically, Zhang Ruofeng struck it four times in a row, smashing it to pieces.

"Impressive, impressive!!" the man praised loudly, then began backing away step by step. "It was a pleasure working with you! I'm sure we'll meet again!" Xin Mu and Zhang Ruofeng stared in astonishment as the man took off like the wind, unable to say a word.

"Forget it. The fact that he didn't take advantage of us when we were in trouble means he's not a bad person." Zhang Ruofeng shook his head helplessly. There wasn't a single part of him that wasn't battered, so there was no way he could chase after the man. It was already a blessing that he hadn't robbed him and Xin Mu.

"What a strange guy." Zhang Ruofeng said to Xin Mu helplessly. She shook her head in confusion, too. Even if he hadn't robbed them, there were four Magic Stones from elite Guard Bees on the ground, each as large as a baby's fist and surely worth a pretty penny. And the Food Storage still held Star-shaped Fruits worth 1,000 each, but he didn't seem interested in those, either. Apart from coming back to help them, he hadn't wanted to stay for even a second.

"Forget it. Let's rest a bit, then get going. Looks like today's plans have fallen through." Zhang Ruofeng looked at his bloodstained body and tattered clothes and couldn't help sighing.

Then, as Xin Mu helped Zhang Ruofeng to his feet, she found that when his arm accidentally brushed against her chest, his face turned bright red. Then he crouched down in pain.

"..." This sort of accidental collision had happened before, and Zhang Ruofeng had even carried her on his back. In theory, he should have developed some immunity, but his injuries had sharply lowered his resistance to women.

"Pfft..." Xin Mu tried to hold it in, but she couldn't. Looking at Zhang Ruofeng's utterly grim expression, she finally burst out laughing.