The black-greyish granules entered the goblins’ bodies with their breath.
“Ukeke… Eeewuhaaaa!?” The expression of the manic goblins suddenly froze, their movement stopped and tears incessantly gushed out of their small, glistening yellow eyes.
“Uuwawa, keh, keh…” The goblin lying on top of Lil’ Sha had no time to care about her as it clutched its chest and began to violently cough. This caused the goblin to lose its balance and tumble down from her body.
After pouring and scattering the black-greyish powder from his waist pouch, Ji Bai had utilized [Tornado Blade] to rapidly spread it throughout the entire area.
“Keh, keh… Wawawa!” The goblins covered their mouths in agony. They could feel an incessant headache caused by the granules that had disseminated in the air. The latter had found a way inside their lungs, attached themselves there, and took away their ability to breathe properly. Under such suffering, they could only choose to flee in defeat.
The goblin’s rear group was unaware of what had transpired as they pushed those ahead of them to the forefront and refused to allow them to withdraw. In order to break away from the influence of the ash-grey granules, the maniacal front group did everything they could; They even raised their blades and threw some granules against their comrades. It didn’t take long for the fighting among the groups to turn into a messy brawl.
Xiaomu promptly took out a mask and covered her mouth with it. However, Lil’ Sha wasn’t lucky enough to do the same. The clothes on her body had been ripped apart and her entire body was covered in disgusting spittle. Her spirit was devoid of any emotions and was in a worse state than her tattered clothes, as it resembled that of someone who had absolutely nothing to live for.
Ji Bai found a tattered mask inside Lil’ Sha’s pocket that was completely unusable. As such, he could only give her his own mask to wear.
“Is everyone…cough, cough…a-alright?” Huo Lei walked towards them with a mask that barely managed to cover his mouth.
“Speaking of which, what is that stuff, brother?”
“Grounded molybdenum powder. By inhaling it through your mouth or nose, it enters your body, attaching itself to your mucus membranes and causing a burning sensation in the process. It is specially used against goblins.” Explained Ji Bai in an indifferent manner.
“Don’t you need to wear a mask too?”
“I have a helmet. Besides, this stuff doesn’t have much of an effect on humans.”
Ji Bai carried Lil’ Sha in his arms wIthout bothering about the transparent, disgusting spittle on her body. Placing his fingers in front of her nose, he inspected the rate of her breathing and conducted another round of examination once more. Although she hadn’t suffered any physical injuries, he could tell that she had received some mental damage.
‘Although nothing much had been done to her as a whole, an unmarried young maiden had been violated by a disgusting creature in this manner. A slightly frailer woman would probably just end her life…. No, even if it happened to an ordinary woman, she would do the same as well.’
“Little sister Sha… What’s wrong with her?” Xiaomu worryingly looked at the vacant and listless eyes of Lil’ Sha. No one was capable of letting such an adorable cat-eared girl develop an indelible psychological trauma from this incident.
His facial features tightly knitted, Huo Lei wore a gloomy expression and remained silent throughout.
“Just think of it as a layer of watery stool on your body. Go back, take a bath, and everything will be fine.” Ji Bai held Lil’ Sha in his embrace. While gently caressing her face soaked in disgusting spittle with his glove-covered hands, he pinched her small nose.
The spiritless eyes of Lil’ Sha twitched as a seemingly similar scene flitted past her mind.
In a palace immersed in a sea of flames, a woman wearing a luxurious cheongsam was holding Lil’ Sha’s face with her hands.
“Sha’er, my child. Grit your teeth and persist in living on. There’s nothing to fret about. Loneliness and frustration might come at any time, but remember, you mustn’t choose to take the easy way out. Even if you’re alone, you need to complete the road that awaits you in the future, because you’re…”
As flames completely enveloped her vision, she awoke from her dreams. Just like before, there was only her, her alone.
Within her vision, an iron helmet was silently staring at her.
“Are you awake?” Ji Bai asked her.
“Little sister Sha! Are you alright??” The other two people also came closer.
Huo Lei leaned forward but did not speak, a trace of self-blame flitting past his eyes.
“…” Lil’ Sha blankly looked around and finally fixed her gaze on the helmet of the person that was holding herself.
“…Middle-aged baddie. We agreed that you would protect me.” Lil’ Sha calmly murmured as she leaned against Ji Bai’s chest.
“…I’m sorry.”
“If apologies can solve everything, who should the dead find to resurrect themselves?” Although this question of Lil’ Sha was seemingly directed at Ji Bai, it also seemed as if she was directing it towards an imaginary being.
“Why…” Carrying traces of a sobbing tone in her voice, the current Lil’ Sha was just like a cat that was holding onto a lifebuoy after falling into an icy lake and narrowly drowning; She was unwilling to let go no matter what.
“The goblins in this den won’t live for much longer.” Ji Bai said, his calm tone capable of causing anyone to feel a sense of fear.
“If making them disappear is capable of making you feel solace…”
“Mhm…’ Lil’ Sha didn’t say anything more, as she nestled her petite body within Ji Bai’s embrace. All she currently wanted to do was to have a good rest and try her best to forget the nightmare earlier.
“How about… We withdraw back to headquarters this time? Everyone has received injuries of various degrees and our mental states also are…” Huo Lei shot a glance at Lil’ Sha.
“No, we can’t return now.” Ji Bai shook his head.
“Why??”
“If my guess is right, the entrance is already blocked by goblins at this moment. They would never commit a foolish blunder like letting their prey run away. We’d certainly fall into their trap if we were to go back now.” Explained Ji Bai in an indifferent manner.
“T-Then what should we do now…??” Xiaomu was trying her best not to cry.
“Find other paths. Molybdenum powder can only serve as an obstruction; It’s not lethal to them. I wouldn’t advise staying here for a long time.”
“Is Mr. Ji Bai trying to say that these goblins might still return??” Xiaomu’s complexion turned pale.
Lil’ Sha, who was in Ji Bai’s embrace, shuddered slightly.
“In that case, we better hurry up and leave this place!”
“Before that, there’s something we need to take care of.” Ji Bai took off some clothes from inside his brigandine armor and draped them over Lil’ Sha shoulders to cover her body… Stabbing his fang-shaped longsword into the ground, he pulled out a dagger and walked towards several small huts made of ragged tree barks.
“That reminds me. How’s your injury, brother?”
“It’s alright.”
Although Xiaomu and Huo Lei were puzzled, they still followed after him.
Ji Bai kicked a door made from tree-bark open, leaned forward, and peeked inside.
Excrements and filthy waste were visible everywhere.
“I-… Is this…?”
“A living human??”
Inside the innermost area of the hut laid a human girl who had been stripped of all clothing. She was all by herself, with a piece of broken fur skin wrapped around her shoulders. What heavily shocked them was the absence of hands and legs on her body, the spiritless and vacuous expression within her eyes, and the presence of sinister scars that covered her entire face. If it weren’t for the breaths she took and her heartbeat, no one would even believe her to actually be a living being.
She had beautiful azure pupils. Perhaps this girl had been an extremely beautiful young girl before getting caught.
“W-What exactly is…” Xiaomu was in a daze as she stared at the incomparably pitiful figure. As for Lil’ Sha, her pupils tightly constricted and the lingering fear inside her heart caused her to lower her head. She didn’t dare to look directly at the girl.
As if she heard a familiar language, the eyes of the limbless girl slowly began to focus. Her head gently turned as she looked at the three people before her, as well as the helmeted person crouching beside her with the dagger.
“Do you want to be freed?” Reverberated a muffled and gentle voice out of the helmet.
“Mr Ji… What are you planning to do?” Xiaomu vaguely sensed that something was wrong while Huo Lei remained silent with his brows knitted.
“Eee…” The young girl seemed to understand what Ji Bai had meant. She tried her best to make a sound, yet to no avail — her throat was already in a state of necrosis. She could only exhaust the last shreds of strength she had to nod her head desperately.
“Swish.” Without a sound, a dagger pierced her body.
The young girl half-opened her tired eyes, forced out a grateful smile, and peacefully fell asleep.
Lil’ Sha slowly closed her eyes and turned her head aside. Meanwhile, the creases between Huo Lei’s brows turned even deeper.
“Mr Ji! Y-You killed her!?” In disbelief, Xiaomu looked at Ji Bai, who was unhurriedly retrieving his dagger and fell into a daze.
“Why… did you have to be this ruthless…” The clueless Xiaomu, for whom this was the first time on a battlefield, couldn’t understand why Ji Bai would viciously strike a child who was already so unfortunate to begin with.
“It might be ruthless to allow her to die. But it’d be cruel to let her live on like this.” Ji Bai didn’t explain further and slowly stood up.