Chapter 36: Substitute Savior in the Apocalypse, Part 13

Half a day later, Wan Yuanheng suddenly stopped the car. Mu Yin, who had been resting with her eyes closed, opened them and turned to look at him, asking, “What’s wrong?”

“They’ve changed direction. That way doesn’t lead to Congxia Base,” Wan Yuanheng replied, opening up the map. “Based on their previous route, they must have shifted directions around here.”

“Where does that way lead?” Mu Yin leaned over to ask.

“There’s also one of our bases over there. What are they planning to do?” By “our bases,” Wan Yuanheng naturally meant the official bases.

“Who cares what they’re up to? Let’s just catch up to them first.” Mu Yin didn’t much care about their intentions; as long as she dealt with them beforehand, that was enough. The pests in every world had their abilities suppressed to match the highest level of the world they were in. In her own world, thanks to the vastness of the interstellar realm, those pests’ powers were especially strong, but here, at most, they would be no stronger than the planet’s own ability users.

“That’s true.” Wan Yuanheng caught her meaning and nodded, then sped up.

After years of dealing with such pests, Mu Yin was not unfamiliar with their weaknesses. Still, knowing them didn’t make handling them any less troublesome. Their major weakness seemed to be their bodies—if their bodies remained unscathed, it was fine, but once injured, their decline was swift. Perhaps it was because they were not native beings. One could say the denser the spiritual energy in a place, the less they could afford to be hurt. She didn’t know if the same held true in this world, but Mu Yin doubted it would be so simple.

Though the aura on these people was the same, it still felt subtly different—rather like the traffickers she’d captured on Blue Star: there was a familiar presence, yet it felt somewhat muddled.

“We’re about to catch up. It looks like they’re preparing to rest.” After a long chase over rough roads, they were fortunate that their targets faced the same difficulties, so the distance hadn’t grown too far.

“Then let’s speed up and close in,” Mu Yin said, instantly invigorated.

“Someone’s coming.” Meanwhile, Yu Xinling and her group, who were setting up camp, noticed the car approaching. Though it made little noise, it was clearly visible.

“Be careful,” Peng Xi said, frowning as he stood up.

“What is it? Does it look hostile?” Yu Xinling tensed.

The car barreled straight toward them, forcing the group to scatter as attacks landed upon the vehicle. The passengers leapt out as the car, already battered by elemental strikes, crashed into their own vehicle.

Upon landing, Mu Yin and Wan Yuanheng rolled to the side, dodging a hail of bullets and flaming wind blades. The earth itself erupted with spikes under their feet, but they were protected by their golden bell shields and iron skin techniques.

Wan Yuanheng quickly got up and retaliated, while Mu Yin drew her weapon and charged in. Several talismans in her hand vanished in quick succession. Her ability wasn’t suited for direct attack, so she relied on close combat weapons, using her power for support—boosting her speed, strength, and the sharpness of her blade.

Her attacks were swift and ruthless, each strike aimed decisively at vital points. Though her opponents reacted quickly, they lacked her experience fighting through seas of corpses and rivers of blood. Before long, several were wounded.

But the way they reacted to injury was not what Mu Yin expected. There was obviously more to their nature. In a flash of thought, drawing on her wide reading of novels, she realized: perhaps these were not purebred pests, but hybrids, born of both the invaders and local natives.

She wondered how they’d overcome the inherent incompatibility, but it was clear they had succeeded. Her mind raced, but her hand never stopped—she quickly cut one down.

Her foes tried desperately to put distance between themselves and Mu Yin, but she simply would not allow it. Their powers and guns were rendered useless, though they were far from powerless and quickly adapted. Mu Yin could gain no further advantage.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, Mu Yin killed three, and Wan Yuanheng two, but three managed to escape—Yu Xinling, Peng Xi, and Peng Hao, the most notable among them.

Yu Xinling possessed spatial abilities. Peng Xi appeared to be the leader of this group of pests, and Peng Hao’s power was formidable as well. With superior numbers, even with Mu Yin augmenting her attacks with suppressive talismans, she couldn’t prevent all of them from escaping.

Seeing her own wounded shoulder and her blood-soaked side, and noticing Wan Yuanheng’s face sporting a fresh scar, Mu Yin did not pursue further. She took out the healing talismans she had prepared, applying one to herself and another to Wan Yuanheng. Only when the bleeding at his throat stopped did she breathe a sigh of relief.

Earlier, she’d nearly managed to cut down Yu Xinling, but Wan Yuanheng was caught by Peng Xi, forcing her to release her grip on her opponent. The hostages were exchanged. Mu Yin herself bore multiple wounds, but since it wasn’t her own body, she fought recklessly, slaying several foes. She didn’t care for her own wellbeing, but she couldn’t ignore her allies.

After all, she could return if she died, but others only had one life. Having spent so long in the apocalypse, Mu Yin had come to both disregard and cherish life.

She checked their vehicles: the three escapees had taken one, leaving two behind—both beyond repair. From the state of things, her talismans couldn’t fix them either. She gathered whatever useful items were left in the cars, mostly some food and a bit of fuel—not much, since Yu Xinling possessed a spatial ability.

She then set defensive and concealment talismans around the area, settled Wan Yuanheng in the tent, and began preparing dinner. Both were seriously wounded; Mu Yin's injuries were not fatal, so she could manage, but Wan Yuanheng had been hurt in vital spots and lost much blood—he still hadn’t awakened.

After eating a little, Mu Yin began practicing martial arts to hasten her recovery. Circulating her internal energy sped up the healing of wounds; this was why, in martial arts novels, internal force could be used for healing.

The martial arts she practiced were created by cultivators combining science and traditional techniques—external skills as well as mental disciplines. The internal discipline was a simplified set of laws that directed energy to flow along specific routes.

After several cycles, her internal injuries improved greatly, and her external wounds began to close. Wound healing was, after all, a matter of cell regeneration; with energy to fuel it, the process was naturally much faster.

Once she was mostly healed, Mu Yin recalled the martial arts novels she’d recently read, and went to Wan Yuanheng’s side. She propped him up and tried to help heal his wounds as well. To her surprise, it actually worked—perhaps those stories weren’t as far-fetched as she’d thought.