[Host's HP decreasing… 50%… 31%… 9%…]
[System startup delayed reward mode]
[Ding—Summary commencing]
[Detected host entering the Bronze Door, matching the Mysterious Brother's experience. Role-playing degree +2, current role-playing degree 78%]
[Reward activated: HP cap increased]
[Detected host's amnesia, matching the Mysterious Brother's character setting. Role-playing degree +2, current role-playing degree 80%]
[Reward activated: Wound healing]
[Detected host becoming the Zhang family patriarch, matching the Mysterious Brother's experience. Role-playing degree +1, current role-playing degree 81%]
[Reward activated: Enhanced hematopoiesis (temporary)]
…
Wu Tianzhen and Fatty didn't know what had happened, and in fact, they didn't care.
"He's alive… he's alive!" Fatty had been holding Zhang Qiling's wrist, and now feeling the slight but real pulse, he was almost ready to hug Wu Tianzhen and celebrate.
"Quick, quick, carry Xiao Ge and run!" With a sudden leap, he grabbed the Black Gold Ancient Saber, nearly falling headfirst. "Don't let anything else happen, Fatty really can't take it anymore!"
Wu Tianzhen understood Fatty's concern. He wasn't just worried about the immediate danger, but also about Zhang Qiling's condition.
… His resurrection was too bizarre. Who knew if it was some time-limited secret technique? Zhang Qiling's condition was still unstable. Only by getting out quickly and arranging for observation could they feel at ease.
Wu Tianzhen untied the bandage he had just wrapped and took a look. Indeed, the previously gruesome, crisscrossing wounds had disappeared. He thought for a moment, rewrapped the bandage, and with Fatty's help, hoisted Zhang Qiling onto his back.
… This was no simple feat, as Xiao Zhang was heavier than Wu Tianzhen had imagined.
Much heavier.
Wu Tianzhen: That's not right, Xiao Ge looks so thin… Have I become this weak?!
His pupils dilated with shock, and he began to doubt his own abilities more than ever. Driven by a desire to prove himself, he gritted his teeth and straightened up, determined to appear effortless in front of Fatty.
And as Xiao Wu was diligently developing his acting talents, in reality, Fatty, who seemed to be handling it with ease beside him, was also silently enduring the pain from the weight of the Black Gold Ancient Saber.
The two, each with their own thoughts, hurried to the secret chamber door. Peering outside, they saw the milky white substance, intimidated by the potent aura of Qilin blood within, dared not cross the threshold. It could only pile up layer by layer outside, raging ineffectually.
"Zhang Haike said that the main road in front of the sacred land had been cleared by Xiao Ge. If we can get out from there, it will be much safer." Wu Tianzhen struggled to compare the map, barely finding the entrance marked on it. It was already blocked by numerous milky white objects, obscuring the specifics.
"Alright, you wait here with Xiao Ge, and I'll go take a look!" Fatty immediately seized the opportunity to put down the Black Gold Ancient Saber for a brief rest.
Then, he circled around Wu Tianzhen, who was carrying the limp Zhang Qiling on his back, and gently untied a blood-soaked bandage, wrapping it around his own hand.
The milky white substances parted like the Red Sea, instantly creating a path for him. Fatty walked through almost swaggeringly, in a sideways crab-like manner, exuding an air of arrogance and defiance.
Then, he sheepishly returned the same way.
"No way, that door over there is completely blocked," Fatty gestured. "It's a massive stone slab, probably as thick as I am. We're out of explosives now, so we can't do anything about it."
The two found themselves in a stalemate.
Just as they were about to make a desperate attempt to break down the door with bullets, Wu Tianzhen heard a faint, weak breath beside his ear—
"Yo…"
"Xiao Ge? Xiao Ge, you're awake? How are you, are you okay? … What did you say, yo?!" Wu Tianzhen's mind reeled. He was almost ecstatic about Zhang Qiling's awakening, but this peculiar greeting made him doubt his hearing for a moment. He dumbfoundedly repeated it, looking as if he were petrified.
"What do you mean 'yo'?" Fatty couldn't stand it. "Isn't it obvious he said 'oily'? Xiao Ge is saying you're greasy and he's disgusted!"
As he spoke, he leaned in to sniff and was almost knocked over by the strong smell of corpse oil that Wu Tianzhen had been covered in earlier. "Damn it, I didn't notice it before, but smelling it now, it's so strong it feels like it's knocking my wisdom teeth into my front teeth. It must have been tough for Xiao Ge to be on your back."
"… Is that true?" Wu Tianzhen had grown accustomed to the smell, and this comment felt quite insulting. He retorted with his neck stiffened, "I don't believe it. How could Xiao Ge dislike me being oily? I think he definitely said 'meat', Xiao Ge wants to eat meat!"
"Hiss—" Hearing the word "meat," Fatty hesitated. He swallowed and replied, "Xiao Ge wants to eat meat… it's not impossible, is it?"
Zhang Qiling, who had barely regained consciousness: …
Wu Tianzhen, still wanting to argue, felt a chill on his neck. He felt Zhang Qiling's pale fingers slide down his Adam's apple. It seemed Xiao Zhang wanted to grab him by the back of the neck but gave up halfway due to lack of strength.
Then Zhang Qiling let out a difficult breath on his back.
"… Right."
Wu Tianzhen: …
Fatty: …
"Oh, the 'right' in 'right' hahahaha…" Wu Tianzhen could barely maintain a smile, feeling completely numb.
This was just like how they usually worked diligently to prove themselves, only for both brothers to falter at a crucial moment and show their unreliability to Zhang Qiling!
He exchanged a look with Fatty, not daring to say anything, and trotted to the right side of the secret chamber. There, they watched as Zhang Qiling slowly raised his hand, fumbled on the wall for a moment, and then with a "click," a hidden passage opened from within the secret chamber.
The moment the passage opened, that hand went limp again. Wu Tianzhen turned his head to look and found that Zhang Qiling had lost consciousness again.
"Whoa, it's like he's been unplugged!" Fatty assessed Zhang Qiling's condition, finding it relatively stable. He then examined the extremely well-hidden passage.
"Tianzhen, do you think there might be one of Xiao Ge's ancestors in here?" Fatty said ominously, then clapped his hands together in a gesture of reverence.
Wu Tianzhen looked speechlessly at Fatty muttering to himself, coughed lightly to attract Fatty's attention.
Then he nodded his lips outwards, signaling Fatty to look outside. "Look, those guys outside that Xiao Ge chopped to pieces are probably his grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather. Go pay your respects properly!"
Fatty: …
He suddenly realized that they had already done a whole basketful of disrespectful things.
So Wu Tianzhen watched as Fatty pulled out a cigarette butt from somewhere, took a deep drag, then suddenly threw it away and took out a gun from his pocket.
"The art of war states: courtesy before force!"