Chapter 87: I’m Not Dead Yet
The tall man suddenly pulled his companion back and spoke another string of words in a foreign language that Zhao Wenwu couldn’t understand.
The woman understood them perfectly. The tall man was worried that killing someone from Dragon Country would cause trouble.
The shorter man glanced at Zhao Wenwu with contempt and sneered.
"He’s obviously just some ordinary guy from Dragon Country. Plenty of people like him die in these mountains every year. How could that possibly cause a diplomatic incident? Besides, their country isn’t on good terms with our boss right now, so what’s the big deal if we kill one of them?!"
"Let’s kill them both and head straight back home to collect our reward. I’m not interested in this woman anymore. Just kill them so we can go back!"
Sprawled on the ground, Zhao Wenwu whispered to the woman.
"What’re they saying?"
The woman was about to have a breakdown from anxiety, yet here was Zhao Wenwu, asking questions like a curious child. ’How is his brain even wired?!’
"They’re discussing whether killing you will cause them trouble!"
The woman explained anyway, deciding she might as well grant his last wish. After all, she had gotten him involved in this mess, and soon they would both be dead.
"Kill me?"
Zhao Wenwu’s gaze suddenly sharpened. He clenched his jaw, his features hardening until his face seemed chiseled from stone.
Zhao Wenwu shoved the woman aside and exploded into action. He shot up like a cheetah, lunging forward and grabbing the shorter man’s gun hand as he tackled him to the ground, roaring furiously.
"You wanna kill me? I’ll kill you first!"
Neither of them had expected Zhao Wenwu to be so ferocious, daring to fight back with two guns aimed at him. Caught completely by surprise, his sneak attack succeeded. The two men tumbled into a heap, rolling around in the snow until the shorter man’s pistol was sent flying to the side.
The tall man quickly raised his gun to aim, but Zhao Wenwu and his companion were a tangled mess of limbs. They rolled over and over, one moment on top, the next on the bottom. Afraid of hitting his partner, the tall man could only stand by anxiously, his pistol raised, searching for a clear shot.
Zhao Wenwu’s shoulder was injured, so one of his arms was weak. However, the shorter man was at a clear physical disadvantage, so they were evenly matched. After they rolled a few more times, the tall man finally saw his chance. The shorter man had locked his legs around Zhao Wenwu’s waist.
"AHH!!"
Zhao Wenwu strained with all his might to break free, but the shorter man was using some sort of grappling hold, and he couldn’t escape.
"Shoot! Kill him now!"
The shorter man roared at his companion. The tall man knew this was his chance and hastily raised his gun to aim at Zhao Wenwu’s head. At the critical moment, the woman Zhao Wenwu had saved charged forward like a madwoman and shoved the tall man’s wrist skyward.
BANG!
The shot meant for Zhao Wenwu’s head fired harmlessly into the air. The report echoed through the forest, refusing to fade.
"Aishibal!"
Enraged, the tall man lifted his leg and drove his knee hard into the woman’s stomach. She cried out in pain as the blow landed squarely, but her grip on his gun hand remained iron-tight. She knew that if he managed to fire, both she and Zhao Wenwu were dead.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
The sound of barking came from the distance. All three people locked in the struggle instinctively looked toward the sound. Zhao Wenwu broke into a triumphant laugh.
"San’s here! You bastards are dead meat!"
Hearing Zhao Wenwu’s words, the expression on the face of the shorter man pinned beneath him changed dramatically. He hurriedly shouted to his partner, warning him that Zhao Wenwu had backup!
The tall man grew anxious as well. He viciously kneed the woman a few more times. Seeing that she still wouldn’t let go, even with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, he roared, grabbed her with all his might, lifted her clean off the ground, and slammed her into a nearby pine tree.
CRASH!
The tree shuddered violently with a loud CRACK, and a cascade of snow poured down, nearly burying both the man and the woman. The woman was already exhausted and dizzy; after being slammed so hard, she felt as if her body was about to fall apart. Her hands went limp, no longer able to grip the man’s gun.
The tall man got to his feet, a vicious smile spreading across his face as he raised his pistol and aimed at Zhao Wenwu once more.
"WOOF!"
At the critical moment, a yellow blur leaped through the air and sank its teeth precisely into the man’s gun-wielding wrist.
"Ah!"
The tall man screamed in pain, the pistol slipping from his grasp and falling into the snow. He stared and saw that his attacker was a yellow Chinese Rural Dog. It had two white spots above its eyes, giving it the appearance of having four eyes, and it was viciously tearing at his wrist.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF!"
Before the tall man could react, two more black dogs charged out. The three dogs surrounded him, biting frantically. The man flailed and kicked, trying to shake off the three Gouzi. The dogs were whipped through the air by his movements, but they bit down and refused to let go. Still, due to the momentum, they were in danger of being thrown off at any moment.
"YELP! YELP!"
Just as the Gouzi were about to lose their grip, reinforcements arrived. A white figure, fast as lightning, raked its claws across the tall man’s face. The man’s screams grew even more wretched as several bloody scratches appeared. Blood quickly blurred his vision, turning his entire world red. Losing his footing, he fell to the ground.
With Xiaobai’s help, the Gouzi got a moment’s respite and clamped down on the tall man again, refusing to let go.
Meanwhile, despite his injured shoulder, Zhao Wenwu’s physical superiority was gradually giving him the upper hand. He finally broke the shorter man’s leg lock with brute force. A fist the size of a soup bowl smashed into the shorter man’s face, collapsing his nose and distorting his features. The shorter man’s eyes rolled back, and he seemed to pass out.
Worried about the Gouzi, Zhao Wenwu scrambled to his feet to help. He saw the tall man on the ground, face covered in blood, screaming and kicking wildly. Zhao Wenwu charged over and began stomping viciously on the man’s head, his new leather boots instantly becoming splattered with blood.
"This is for trying to shoot me."
"Die, you bastard!"
The sudden turn of events and the appearance of the three Gouzi pulled the woman back from despair. She had a vague sense that Zhao Wenwu might not be all there in the head, but watching him vent his anger by childishly stomping on the tall man’s head, she somehow found him a little... cute.
But soon, her expression turned to terror. Behind Zhao Wenwu, the shorter man who was supposed to be unconscious had started to move. He crawled a few feet to the side and grabbed the pistol he had dropped!
"Look out!"
The woman shrieked. She wanted to dive in front of Zhao Wenwu to block the bullet again, but this time she was too far away. There wasn’t enough time. Hearing her scream, Zhao Wenwu turned his head and found himself staring straight down the dark, gaping barrel of the gun.
BANG!
The gun fired!
"NO!!!"
The woman screamed, squeezing her eyes shut in despair.
’Why? Why does everyone who is kind to me have to die?!’
’I dragged this simple, foolishly cute villager from Dragon Country into this. He could have lived a happy life. It’s all my fault. My family is already dead, there’s no point in me being alive anyway. If I’d known this would happen, I would have just let them catch me. At least then I wouldn’t have gotten another good person killed.’
*Sob...*
At that moment, the woman completely broke down.
"You shouldn’t have saved me!"
"Don’t worry, I’ll join you soon!"
"I’m so sorry! It’s all my fault! I’m the one who got you killed!"
*Sob...*
Just as she was drowning in grief and despair, a simple, honest-sounding voice spoke up, full of confusion.
"I’m not dead yet. What’s with all the crying?"