Chapter 10: 10, Side Story

At that moment, a rough voice came from outside the hut, speaking to the new neighbor Xiao Yu: "Xiao Yu, I only found out you moved here when I came to your place tonight. I brought you some cigarettes."

Ren Xiaoshi and Yan Liuyuan exchanged a glance, both frowning. They heard Xiao Yu say: "I won't do that kind of thing anymore."

"Haha," the owner of the rough voice seemed to find something amusing: "If you don't do that kind of thing, what will you eat and drink? Who will give you cigarettes to smoke in the future?"

"Let go of me," Xiao Yu's voice carried anger, and the two seemed to engage in a physical struggle, a tearing sound as if someone's clothes were ripped.

Yan Liuyuan looked at Ren Xiaoshi, but Ren Xiaoshi still frowned tightly. He whispered: "Brother, help her."

Ren Xiaoshi stood up, unfastening the bone knife from his calf, and walked toward the hut with the blade held upside down.

At that moment, in Ren Xiaoshi's mind, the palace's brass typewriter keys clacked one by one on parchment, forming words as the grand palace spoke: "Mission: Assist..."

He coldly interrupted the palace in his mind: "I don't need your mission to help."

From the moment Ren Xiaoshi drew his knife and stepped out until he charged at the man, only a second or two had passed.

Ren Xiaoshi didn't say any threats like "Let her go" or "Try moving again and see what happens," because he knew that any unnecessary actions would lead to failure.

What he needed to do was solve the simplest problem in the simplest way.

When Ren Xiaoshi's slender yet sturdy figure charged forward like a leopard, the man quickly drew his own knife from his waist and slashed at him. Everyone in the settlement carried weapons for self-defense.

The man's mind was filled with mockery, for he was nearly a head taller than Ren Xiaoshi, and his blade was real iron, not some bone knife.

Yet in the next instant, his mocking emotion came to an abrupt halt.

Iron was superior to bone, a common sense, even though the beasts' muscles and bones were now as strong as steel.

But steel-like strength was still not as strong as actual steel.

Though the settlement didn't ban cold weapons, obtaining a good iron blade was as hard as reaching the sky. Although some industries were slowly catching up to pre-disaster levels, resources were limited.

When Ren Xiaoshi arrived at the man's side like a shadow, his running motion landed on his left foot, and the right leg that supported his entire weight suddenly tensed, its sole gripping the ground firmly. All his strength originated from the ground, spreading rapidly through his waist and abdomen, then to his arms!

Ren Xiaoshi's knife, like a ravine on the earth, slashed upward, splitting the night with a crack.

Click, the bone knife and iron blade collided, and the onlookers who had been secretly watching were shocked to see both blades shatter into two pieces. They had thought only the bone knife would break!

In an instant, while the man was stunned, Ren Xiaoshi discarded the bone knife without hesitation. The motion was fluid, as if he had known from the start that the bone knife would break, so he had another plan.

He grabbed the man's wrist, and his other fist hammered down on the opponent's undefended armpit nerve.

The man tried to struggle, but he suddenly realized this youth was stronger than him!

How was that possible? How old was he? The youth was only as tall as his own neck!

But the man saw the muscles on Ren Xiaoshi's neck, as strong as iron—that was power.

The armpit nerve, about three inches from the armpit, didn't require precision, as the fist was enough to cover the margin of error.

This was one of the body's weak points. When struck violently, the nerve would dislocate, causing an electrical current and uncontrolled release of signals.

The receiver in the brain would overload, sending pain signals, and the overloaded nerves would send chaotic signals to the limbs.

The body would secrete large amounts of calcium and potassium, and an electrical storm could temporarily paralyze the entire system!

The man cried out in pain and collapsed, his limbs twitching. By the time he understood what had happened, he had no strength left to resist Ren Xiaoshi.

Ren Xiaoshi stood silently beside him, seemingly contemplating something. The man gasped for a while and begged for mercy: "I don't hold grudges. Let me go, and I'll forget about today."

Now, anyone with sense knew they had become fish on a chopping block. What they should do was not continue to act recklessly, but to bide their time.

Ren Xiaoshi looked at Xiao Yu: "Who is he?"

"He's a foreman from the coal mine. The man who was stabbed to death in the settlement last night was led by him. He heard that man had a habit of saving money, and since he owed the gambling house, he harbored ill intent," Xiao Yu recounted the man's boasts from the previous night.

Ren Xiaoshi walked to the roadside to pick up the man's iron blade, then returned to the man's side, looking down at him from above. He calculated the time; the man had at most four or five seconds before he could act again.

Suddenly, the silent palace spoke again: "Mission: Let the enemy go."

But as soon as the palace's words fell, Ren Xiaoshi decisively crouched down, thrusting the iron blade into the man's abdomen. The sharp weapon tore through leather-like sounds, sending a chill down the spines of all onlookers, and the man's blood began to flow out.

"You have about three minutes left. If you go to the clinic in the settlement for stitching in time, you might survive," Ren Xiaoshi said calmly.

The man, no longer concerned with pain, said nothing and immediately got up to run to the clinic.

"Mission complete. Reward: Basic learning chart."

"Mission complete. Reward: Basic learning chart."

"Due to your lack of weapon, a side mission is initiated..."

Before Ren Xiaoshi could finish listening, he was stunned. The first mission was to save Xiao Yu, which he had completed, but he hadn't expected the second to count as completed as well.

How did this palace judge?

Yan Liuyuan, curious, asked: "Brother, you just let him go? What if he recovers and seeks revenge? He's not a good person."

Ren Xiaoshi gazed at the night: "That broken clinic in our settlement, what kind of stitching can they do?"

"Brother, seeing you act so ruthlessly, I feel relieved..."

Because of this, Ren Xiaoshi marveled that this could count as completing the mission. The man was doomed to die. Moreover, even if he survived, the rusted iron blade was practically a relic that would give him tetanus. He would be crippled even if he lived.

Though the man had an iron blade, he could only get the cheapest kind. Otherwise, Ren Xiaoshi might not have broken that iron sword.

Ren Xiaoshi was a person of unwavering principles. Even with supernatural abilities, it couldn't change his way of dealing with others.

If he wanted to change, he had to do it himself; no one else could.

Therefore, the judgment of mission completion was not strict. What the palace valued... was the attitude Ren Xiaoshi displayed?

At that moment, someone whispered in the hut by the roadside. They had long known what kind of ruthless person Ren Xiaoshi was, but today they were shocked again.

Because the disparity in their physiques was too great, and the strength Ren Xiaoshi displayed was not inferior to the man's, even surpassing him.

This was quite unbelievable.

Someone in a hut muttered: "I told you not to provoke him."

Ren Xiaoshi went to retrieve his bone knife. This blade had accompanied him for over a year, and now it had finally met its end.

He turned to look at Xiao Yu, who seemed frail in the night. Though Xiao Yu was eight years older than Ren Xiaoshi, she looked eight years younger.

Ren Xiaoshi spoke directly: "Can you quit smoking?"

Xiao Yu nodded vigorously.

"That stuff isn't that addictive. It's probably just mixed with some poppy shells. Old Wang said the additive ratio is low. You can quit if you want," Ren Xiaoshi said, walking to the door of Xiao Yu's hut and crouching down, driving half of his white bone knife into the dirt, leaving only a small portion exposed.

The people by the roadside who had harbored improper thoughts about Xiao Yu suddenly deflated.

In the settlement, this half-bone knife was a symbol of willpower. No one wanted to offend this ruthless man, Ren Xiaoshi, in a moment of folly.

Ren Xiaoshi turned to Xiao Yu: "But I need to say this in advance. Though I'm quite handsome, though... we can't be together..."

Xiao Yu's expression instantly froze in shock: "I only see you as a younger brother."

Now it was Ren Xiaoshi's turn to be stunned: "Hahahaha, how embarrassing."

Ren Xiaoshi immediately took Yan Liuyuan to their own hut, glaring at Yan Liuyuan with his eyes as he walked. It was all because you kept talking nonsense every day!

Yan Liuyuan secretly winked at Xiao Yu. Seeing Yan Liuyuan's expression, Xiao Yu smiled, as if all her bad moods had dissipated.

She crouched by the ground, staring at the half-bone knife for a long time, then went back to sleep with a smile on her lips.

Meanwhile, Ren Xiaoshi closed his eyes to carefully observe the palace in his mind and the words just typed out by the typewriter.

Side quest, a touch intriguing.

……

Gratitude to Yu Fu Yao, the one who refuses the title of book friend, Yang Tuo Xiao Xiong Xu, Karl's elder brother, Mo Cheng Kong and fellow students for becoming the new alliance leader of this book!

Today, ten chapters are released. Due to the new book period, subsequent updates will be two chapters daily at 6 PM, with a guaranteed ten chapters on the shelf. Thank you all for your support.

I have returned.