The First Order

Everyone around him fell silent. They did not know how to explain it to Ren Xiaosu, nor did they even want to explain it to him. They only hoped that he could be kept in the dark forever.

Wang Fugui said, “Senior Apprentice Brother said that he has something to attend to and had to leave for a while….”

Ren Xiaosu looked at Wang Fugui in a daze. He was not an idiot, or rather, he was a little smarter than most people. There was no need to say anything else. He could guess the truth.

So when Wang Fugui said this, Ren Xiaosu, who was lying down, started tearing up. “How did he depart?”

After Yan Liuyuan got the doctor to leave, he sat down beside Ren Xiaosu and said, “When Big Brother Wudi departed, he totally drubbed those demons and monsters all around him. He trampled over a million of them with clouds of rainbow blooming in the sky. A bright light shone down upon him from the sky like it was opening the heavenly gates for him. I guessed that someone from the Heavens must have come to pick him up.”

Ren Xiaosu did not say anything, and everyone around him fell silent again.

However, Yan Liuyuan realized that Ren Xiaosu was trembling all over, and even his face was turning red. Yan Liuyuan pulled up Ren Xiaosu’s pants and sleeves and saw that the blood vessels in his legs and arms had turned silver.

Yan Liuyuan also had the nanomachines, so he knew what was going on. Ren Xiaosu was forcibly using the nanomachines to straighten his bones without any use of anesthetics.

There were always people who would describe their pain to be down to the bone, but that was mostly an exaggeration on their part.

However, it would not be an exaggeration to describe Ren Xiaosu’s pain to be deep within his bones at this moment.

His bones had been shattered to pieces and were stuck within his flesh. He needed to use the nanomachines to constantly remove the fragments of bones and reattach them onto his broken bones.

It was just like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes, the fragments would have to be removed and reattached again if they were fitted back wrong.

With that kind of pain, Ren Xiaosu fainted right after he finished fixing an arm.

After a while, Ren Xiaosu woke up again. After coming to, he continued to use the nanomachines to set his bones without any complaints.

Next to him, Yan Liuyuan was sobbing so hard he could not speak properly. “Bro, why don’t you rest for a bit? I beg of you, please stop for a while.”

However, Ren Xiaosu clenched his teeth and did not say anything.

He could not stop now. He had to set his bones as quickly as possible, then fix them securely with the nanomachines so that he would not have any complications in the future

It was simply too dangerous in these wastelands. If he became disabled, how was he going to face unknown danger?

After falling in and out of consciousness for an umpteen number of times, Yan Liuyuan suddenly understood that Ren Xiaosu was using the physical pain to suppress his mental anguish. The anguish was like getting stabbed in the heart by someone, and there was a sense of emptiness within.

When Wang Fugui and Li Qingzheng realized what Ren Xiaosu was doing, they were shocked. If they did not witness it with their own eyes, they would find it very difficult to believe that someone could actually bear the pain of fixing their own bones.

Normal people would probably cry out in pain even if they were slashed just once. Meanwhile, Ren Xiaosu was performing countless cuts on his own body. Only by doing so could he retrieve the fragments of bones stuck within his flesh.

It wasn’t until Ren Xiaosu had finally repaired all his broken bones and secured them with the nanomachines that he fell asleep groggily. His clothes were completely drenched with sweat.

Xiaoyu dried her tears while wiping off his sweat at the same time. Yan Liuyuan suddenly said, “When my brother did not know how to hunt in the past, we would just eat some wild vegetables.”

The others were stunned. They did not know why Yan Liuyuan was saying this.

Yan Liuyuan continued, “No one taught him which type of wild vegetables were inedible and which were edible. Some wild vegetables can taste super bitter, while some are slightly poisonous. How do you think he knows which type can be eaten? He left the edible ones for me after tasting them himself. Uncle Fugui is right about my brother being hardy. If he weren’t, he would’ve already been poisoned to death in the wilderness.”

For the moment, the escapees decided to stay put at the campsite and wait for the Li Consortium to come rescue them, because they felt they were no longer in any danger. They firmly believed the Li Consortium would come to save them since they were legal residents of the stronghold, after all.

During the day, Yan Liuyuan took a short nap. There were no stronghold residents who dared to approach them again during the day.

Furthermore, the refugees who escaped from Stronghold 108’s town noticed a sense of familiarity for Yan Liuyuan. It was the same ferocity they used to have while trying to earn a living in the wilderness.

In the evening, Yan Liuyuan stayed by Ren Xiaosu’s side without stepping away once. In the past, he used to keep watch for them during the night, and he still did the same now.

In the middle of the night, everyone was jolted awake by a scream. They looked in the direction of the sound and saw Yan Liuyuan’s hands covered in blood as he stood next to Ren Xiaosu. Meanwhile, two adults were lying at his feet, and one of them looked like he was barely clinging to life.

Yan Liuyuan grabbed the man by his hair and lifted him. He calmly sliced his neck with the dagger and said, “This is the outcome you’ll suffer if you try to sneak up on us again. If you want to find food, go and look for it yourselves in the wilderness!”

Previously, Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan wondered why Yan Liuyuan’s physical strength did not seem to have increased much even though he was also a supernatural being.

Based on the progression of other supernatural beings who had awakened their powers for some time, their physical fitness should be much better than the average adult’s. But Yan Liuyuan was different. It was as though his identity as a supernatural being was not real since he could not even withstand the simple backlash of his power.

But now, Ren Xiaosu had helped him mitigate his shortcomings with the nanomachines.

The stronghold residents looked at Yan Liuyuan in fear when they realized the child was about to go crazy. He would not hesitate to kill as long as someone might pose a threat to the unconscious young man next to him. Moreover, they could feel Yan Liuyuan’s deep-seated hatred for them.

Someone who was standing very far away whispered, “When the troops return, let’s report all their evil deeds. Severe punishments will await them!”

“That’s right, the Li Consortium’s troops should be here soon!”

But even as they said these words, they felt a little unsure. Why wasn’t the Li Consortium’s troops here yet even though a day had already passed?

Even if there was a war going on at the front line of Mt. Qingsheng, there should still be some troops at the strongholds in the rear. So why didn’t anyone come?

But at this moment, the lights from some vehicles in the north could vaguely be seen approaching. All the escapees got excited at the sight. “The Li Consortium’s troops have finally arrived!”

“We’re saved!”

However, as the convoy approached, they did not look like they were going to stop even after the soldiers saw the escapees. The long convoy of vehicles just continued heading straight for the south!

By the time the rearmost infantry units passed by, someone finally stopped one of the soldiers and shouted, “Sir, where are you heading? Please help us!”

“Please save us! Give us some food!”