Courage

Screech!

A piercing grinding sound rang out. The off-road vehicle's rear swung violently under the force of inertia, spraying yellow dust in every direction like an explosion and gouging several charred tire tracks into the ground.

Bai Ye narrowed his eyes and looked at Tan Jie and his five lackeys as they stepped out of the off-road vehicle.

They held machetes, their expressions vicious and feral. Their guns were out of bullets, so they had simply discarded them in favor of blades.

The rusted machetes glinted coldly beneath the sunlight. They were Tetanus Blades imbued with magical damage; even if they did not strike a vital spot, any wound on this medicine-less wasteland was practically a death sentence.

Looking at Tan Jie and the others charging toward him menacingly, Bai Ye knew there would be no peaceful resolution today.

Li You had basically lost his ability to fight. Even if he stayed, he would only be a burden, so Bai Ye had not intended to make him fight.

"Li Zuo, they're here for me. You go first... Hm!?"

"Bai Ye, I'll definitely avenge you!" Li You's voice drifted in from the distance. Sprinting away at full speed, he left a trail of dust across the yellow earth—in short, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Bai Ye: "..."

Bai Ye did not blame Li You for running away. The other man had already risked himself to help earlier, which was more than enough. Now that he saw the situation was hopeless, fleeing early was only human nature.

Besides, when they had teamed up, Li You had said that he would help, but if they truly encountered an insurmountable danger, he would not save him, because his mother was still waiting for him.

But... wasn't he running a little too fast?

Just as Bai Ye was thinking that, Li You unexpectedly came running back in a puff of smoke.

"Why did you come back?" Bai Ye asked in surprise.

Li You panted heavily, but his eyes had become exceptionally resolute. "I may be greedy for life and afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid of spending the rest of my life drowning in regret and self-reproach for abandoning a friend and escaping alone."

Bai Ye looked deeply at Li You.

Li You's face was pale, and he trembled like a leaf, yet he stood firmly at Bai Ye's side, as if he had just gone through an intense internal struggle.

A friend?

Bai Ye smiled and patted Li You's trembling shoulder.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, we won't die."

Although Li You had first fled in fear before turning back, wavering repeatedly between courage and fear—

That was precisely why this courage was all the more precious, wasn't it?

The fearless valor of the strong was certainly astonishing, but the weak turning back was just as moving.

When instinct roared in one's ear to retreat, yet courage insisted on carving out a path amid those desperate cries—

That was the mean—hm!?

Rumble...

The roar of an off-road vehicle interrupted Bai Ye's thoughts. He turned toward the sound and saw an off-road vehicle driving over from the direction Li You had just fled.

Screech!

The vehicle came to an abrupt halt. King Snake climbed out with his lackeys, a cold sneer plastered across his face.

He shot Li You a mocking glance. "Li You, why don't you keep running? Heh... I knew you'd split up and run, so I blocked off your escape route in advance. Otherwise, you brat might have actually gotten away!"

A polite yet awkward smile appeared on Li You's face.

Bai Ye: "..."

"Bai Ye, listen to my excu... explanation, actually..."

"Stop. It'll become impolite if you keep talking."

Bai Ye wanted to hit someone right now. Damn it, Li You had almost fooled him. The kid sure knew how to make himself sound good.

I may be greedy for life and afraid of death, but I'm even more afraid of spending the rest of my life drowning in regret and self-reproach for abandoning a friend and escaping alone.

Fuck! He had clearly been driven back by King Snake, yet he had pretended to be some righteous hero willing to take a knife to the ribs for a friend.

"Vice Commander Bai... Pah! Bai Ye, hand over the forbidden artifact, and I can spare your life!" Tan Jie shouted, raising his machete.

"Bai Ye, if you want someone to blame, blame yourself for being stupid. You had the chance to join the Silent Court, yet you refused it. If you had truly joined, we definitely wouldn't have dared come looking for trouble. Too bad you chose to cut off your own path to survival." King Snake sneered.

Tan Jie stood in front, and King Snake stood behind. Their escape routes had been completely blocked.

"It seems you're very wary of the Silent Court?" Bai Ye's expression did not change. He even had the leisure to pry for a little more information.

King Snake had not intended to say much, but Tan Jie, who believed victory was already in hand, began showing off at an unhurried pace. Most people found it difficult to resist the pleasure of taunting an enemy when they had the upper hand.

"A lowlife who got lucky and was chosen by a forbidden artifact—it's only natural you wouldn't know about the Silent Court. Otherwise, you wouldn't have refused to join.

The Silent Court is an extremist supernatural organization. Anyone who has had contact with the supernatural world knows of it. They claim to stand for justice, but in truth, they abuse vigilante justice and slaughter people across the wasteland in the name of righteousness. Anyone they brand a criminal never lives to see the next day.

Heh... they're just a bunch of lunatics. What era is this? They still pursue justice? By their standards, everyone in the entire wasteland deserves to die! Crows are black all over!"

Bai Ye understood. No wonder Tan Jie and the others feared the Silent Court so much. If that young woman had learned of what they usually did in Gray Soil Town, they would likely have been judged long ago.

Silent Court... court... so it meant judging evil. But why was it called silent?

"Enough nonsense. Hurry up and do it. We can't let Li You, a supernatural, recover." The more cautious King Snake could no longer hold himself back. He did not want any unexpected complications.

However, he did not act personally. Instead, he had his men attack first to test the waters. Tan Jie made the same choice.

At the signal from the two leaders, more than a dozen lackeys wielding rusted machetes formed a pincer attack from front and back, advancing toward Bai Ye and Li You step by step.

They could not be completely certain whether Bai Ye's gun still had bullets, nor did they know whether Li You could still use his supernatural ability, so they moved with extreme caution at every step.

"Ah." A long sigh shattered the tense atmosphere.

"Actually..." Bai Ye began slowly, drawing everyone's attention.

"We got along fairly well before. There's no need for this to become a fight to the death. I really don't want to waste time killing you all, so how about this? Get on your knees and beg me, and we'll call this matter settled. What do you say?"

When Tan Jie and the others heard that, they nearly burst out laughing.

"Do you even hear yourself? We should beg you? Bai Ye, I thought you were pretending to be crazy and stupid before, but it turns out you're genuinely insane. First figure out who's in control of the situation right now, will you?" Tan Jie sneered.

The lackeys also broke into laughter, as though mocking Bai Ye's overestimation of himself.

Bai Ye ignored their ridicule and said in an extremely earnest tone, "Really. Just kneel and beg me. I hate wasting time more than anything in life."