I Had No Obligation to Save You Anyway

Old Wang scrambled out the door, rolling and crawling before falling flat on his face. Dust covered half his body as his terrified eyes darted around, trying to find Bai Ye.

But at that moment, the gunfire stopped.

Old Wang was instantly seized by terror. The gunfire had stopped—had Bai Ye died!?

"Ah! Help! Help!"

As Old Wang searched, the gray sparrow flew out of the house after him. Its claws, glinting with cold metallic light, viciously sank into the flesh of his arm.

Old Wang struggled violently, the terror in his eyes nearly taking physical form.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded from the alley nearby.

A flicker of wild joy erupted in Old Wang's terrified gaze. He looked toward the sound and saw a youth slowly emerge from the alley, stepping through bloody footprints with a revolver in hand.

The instant he saw the youth, Old Wang screamed madly as though he had found a lifeline. "Bai—"

Before he could finish, the youth leisurely interrupted him. "Oh? Isn't this Old Wang?"

"Bai Ye, save me! Hurry, save me..." Old Wang desperately gripped the gray sparrow's claws, his eyes filled with the pleading of a dying man.

Bai Ye unhurriedly opened the revolver's cylinder and gave it a light flick. Six golden shell casings fell to the ground with crisp clinks.

"Call me Vice Commander Bai." He took out his remaining bullets and loaded them one by one.

"Vice... Vice Commander Bai, please save me..." Old Wang's face had turned so strained that capillaries began bursting, making him look somewhat grotesque.

Bai Ye casually flicked the gun, snapping the cylinder back into place. Then, under Old Wang's eager and expectant gaze, he slowly raised the gun, aimed it at the gray sparrow... spun it around his finger, and tucked it into his waistband.

The excitement on Old Wang's face instantly froze.

Bai Ye tilted his head slightly. The gray sparrow's blood dripped down his sharp jawline, sketching a grim smile across his face.

He shrugged and apologized without the slightest remorse. "Old Wang, don't blame me for standing by and watching you die. After all... I had no obligation to save you anyway."

The smile on the youth's lips deepened, revealing his pale white teeth.

"No! You can't do this... Save me! I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong! Aahhh!!"

Old Wang's wails gradually turned into agonized screams as the gray sparrow's claws repeatedly tore open his chest and abdomen. It then lowered its beak and pecked at his internal organs like a chick pecking grain.

"You really won't save him? He already knows he was wrong..." Li You emerged from the alley, his face full of exhaustion as he clutched his right hand.

Bai Ye shook his head slightly. "He doesn't know he was wrong. He knows he's about to die."

"Sigh, I always thought Old Wang was one of the few good people in Gray Soil Town. He was educated, understood reason, and longed for the Civilized Era. What a pity..." Li You sighed.

"Being educated doesn't make someone a good person. There's an old saying: those who slaughter dogs are often the righteous ones, while the faithless are often scholars.

Longing for civilization doesn't mean you yourself are civilized."

Li You froze. He did not quite understand what that meant, but he somehow felt... Bai Ye was insulting him.

"What do you mean, slaughtering dogs? Obviously, you've killed more hyenas than anyone."

"You'll understand someday, Li Zuo." Bai Ye pulled out [Breath of Bones] and aimed it at the gray sparrow feeding on Old Wang's corpse.

Bang!

The gray sparrow died in Old Wang's embrace.

"My name is Li You!" Li You snapped.

"Got it, Li Zuo."

"You motherfucker... Forget it. What do we do next? The gunfire over there has stopped. Looks like King Snake and the others are out of bullets too. How many rounds do you have left?"

"The last three." Bai Ye weighed the gun in his hand, then looked up at the gray sparrows circling above the West District. Even if King Snake and the others had emptied their guns, there were still hundreds of gray sparrows.

The remaining gray sparrows were madly attacking the houses, trying to eat the people inside.

Meanwhile, all the gray sparrows near Tire Tavern had been dealt with. Since there were fewer people here, fewer gray sparrows had come to feed as well. That was why Bai Ye had insisted on coming here—to stay away from the crowds.

"You only have three bullets left. How are you going to save them?" Li You asked.

Bai Ye gave him a puzzled look. "When did I say I was going to save them?"

Li You froze. No, didn't you shout louder than anyone else about protecting Gray Soil Town? And now you weren't going to save them?

Bai Ye was already planning to withdraw. His frenzied slaughter of gray sparrows had been for the sake of plundering Blood Qi and increasing his own strength. Now that he only had three bullets left, there was no longer any need to plunder Blood Qi.

More importantly, he only had one minute and nineteen seconds left. Hunting the gray sparrows and making his way to Tire Tavern had cost him far too much time.

One minute was his psychological warning line. If his remaining time dropped below one minute, he would not even be able to sleep soundly.

Though he had spent a great deal of time, the gains had been fairly good. His physical fitness had improved once more, and he could now rival Tan Jie, who had injected a Genetic Potion.

Of course, if they truly fought without weapons, he would still have a hard time defeating Tan Jie. Aside from his strength, Tan Jie also had a body covered in bristles.

Now that his physical fitness had reached this level, the Blood Qi provided by hunting gray sparrows could barely improve him any further. He needed to hunt stronger Mutated Beasts!

"Since you don't plan on saving them, let's hurry and run!" Li You suggested. He had wanted to flee long ago. The prolonged battle had pushed both his mind and body close to their limits.

Bai Ye shook his head. "Running is the stupidest choice. We can't outrun the gray sparrows. Once we reach the open wilderness, we'll be nothing but living targets. The best choice is to hide in a sturdy house and wait for the gray sparrows to leave."

"Fine, I'll listen to you." Li You knew Bai Ye was a wasteland hunter with plenty of experience, so he decisively trusted Bai Ye's judgment.

The two did not choose Tire Tavern. Although it was sturdy, it had too many windows, and some of them were already damaged.

They set their sights on a brick house at the northwest corner, but they would have to cross the street to reach it.

The two did not hesitate for long before charging straight toward the brick house.

Several gray sparrows nearby noticed the two running figures and immediately beat their wings, turning to dive at them.

Li You struggled to raise his right hand. An invisible giant hand blocked the gray sparrows' path. The birds seemed to slam into an invisible wall, dropping from the air one after another as they frantically flapped their wings to steady themselves.

Taking advantage of the opening, Bai Ye raised his gun and fired. After three bangs, three corpses lay on the ground.

Their earlier cooperation had already developed a bit of tacit understanding.

His bullets were completely spent. Two gray sparrows still remained. Bai Ye put away his gun and pulled out his dagger, intending to deal with them before entering the house. Otherwise, if they kept attacking from outside, they might cause considerable damage.

"Fuck! It hurts so much!" Li You suddenly cried out. His right hand hung limply at his side while his remaining left hand clutched his head tightly.