pjbooks Chapter 27 Is this sweat? No! This is urine!
Chapter 27 Is this sweat? No! This is urine!
The owl felt his heart stop beating.
This is not a metaphor. In that instant, the formidable physique of a peak A-level awakened being within him, the extraordinary senses granted by his "Eagle Eye" ability, and the iron will honed by years of killing all converged within him.
All of these crumbled before Jiang Chen's single glance.
What did he see?
He saw a pair of eyes. But they weren't human eyes.
Those eyes held the collapse of stars, the fall of the sun and moon, and entire star systems silently vanishing into nothingness. Those eyes had witnessed far too much—the rise and fall of civilizations, the birth and demise of gods, and the agonizing death of beings larger than this planet in the void.
He, an A-level Awakened who had lived for thirty-three years, was not even a speck of dust in front of those eyes.
How could that be?!
It was just a glance, how could I see these things?!
Hallucination?
Could the other party be an awakened being with a mental ability? No, no, Jiang Chen is a powerless person; this information is accurate!
Night Owl's finger slipped from the trigger. Not that he released it, but his finger wouldn't obey him. His muscles spasmed, veins bulged, and his entire hand curled up like a convulsing chicken claw.
He wanted to shout, to warn the mantis to run, to give the order to retreat. But his throat felt like it was being choked, and he couldn't make a sound. His mouth was open, saliva dripping from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were bulging out.
He saw the corners of Jiang Chen's mouth turn up slightly.
The smile was faint, almost imperceptible. But the owl recognized it: it was the smile of a hunter seeing its prey walk right into its trap. No, that wasn't right. A hunter seeing its prey at least indicates interest. But the boy's smile held no interest whatsoever.
Only indifference.
It's like someone seeing an ant at their feet; they don't even bother to look down before crushing it.
In the alley, the mantis's fist had already been thrown.
A full-force strike. A perfect combination of steel-like body and monstrous strength, this punch was powerful enough to smash a heavy truck into scrap metal, or shatter the head of an S-class monster. His fist whistled through the air, compressing it into a visible shockwave that hurtled towards Shen Qingxue's face.
Shen Qingxue closed her eyes.
She wasn't giving up. Within her body, ice-type spiritual energy was frantically flowing in reverse—a forbidden technique of S-rank ice-type talent, reversing spiritual energy to create a small ice explosion within her body. Its power was enough to obliterate everything within a ten-meter radius.
The price is that her spiritual roots will be permanently damaged, rendering her a cripple.
But she didn't care anymore.
This was the only thing she could do. Block that punch, kill this person, and let Jiang Chen live.
Even if Jiang Chen doesn't need it at all.
Even if her sacrifice was meaningless.
At least, she tried her best.
Three meters. Two meters. One meter.
The mantis stopped when its fist was only half a meter away from Shen Qingxue's face.
It wasn't that he wanted to stop. It was that his body wouldn't obey him.
An invisible force pressed in from all directions, pinning him to the spot. His fist hovered in mid-air, only a palm's distance from Shen Qingxue's face, yet it could not advance even an inch further.
"What!?"
The mantis's pupils contracted sharply. He tried to struggle, to pull his fist back, to turn and run away. But his body felt as if it were encased in cement; he couldn't move even a finger.
He looked down and saw nothing binding him. There was no ice, no ropes, no chains of spiritual energy.
But he just couldn't move his body.
Like the space itself, it refused to let him move.
This feeling was more terrifying than any fear he had ever experienced in his life.
"You..." He struggled to turn his eyes and look in the direction behind Shen Qingxue.
The boy was still standing there, holding that cup of milk tea in his hand.
But he didn't look at the praying mantis. He looked at Shen Qingxue.
Jiang Chen looked at the girl covered in blood in front of him, at the ice-type spiritual power flowing in reverse within her body, and at her preparing to sacrifice everything to block this punch.
He sighed softly.
That silly girl.
He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, and casually waved it towards the praying mantis.
There was no sound. There was no light. There was no sign whatsoever.
The mantis's right arm, a legendary steel arm capable of piercing a tank, was severed cleanly at the shoulder.
The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a single drop of blood flowing out. The blood vessels, muscles, and bones at the wound site were all sealed off by an incomprehensible force.
The praying mantis's eyes widened. He hadn't even felt any pain. His arm had simply fallen off, silently, like a piece being torn from a building block set.
His severed arm fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Then, Jiang Chen's finger twitched again.
The mantis's left arm also fell off.
Then the right leg.
Then it's the left leg.
Limbs severed at the roots, torso lying on the ground. No blood, no screams. The praying mantis lay in the middle of the alley, like a human stump stripped of its branches. Its eyes were wide open, its mouth gaping, emitting a silent roar.
It's not that he doesn't want to call out. It's that he can't bring himself to do it.
His throat was also blocked.
Jiang Chen walked past Shen Qingxue and stood in front of the mantis.
He looked down at the A-level peak Awakened being, who was now just a torso, his expression as calm as if he were looking at a roadside stone.
"Your men are up there," Jiang Chen said. His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
He raised his left hand, palm up.
Fifty meters away, a window on the third floor.
Night Owl was still trembling. He huddled under the windowsill, his hands covering his head, muttering something to himself. His "Eagle Eye" ability was still functioning, but his brain was refusing to process the information.
He didn't want to see it. He didn't want to know it. He didn't want to face it.
Then, a hand reached in through the window and grabbed his hair.
Before the owl could even react, he was pulled out of the window by an irresistible force. Twenty meters high, he was like a chick being lifted up, tracing an arc in the air before crashing heavily into the alley.
boom!
The ground cracked, and Night Owl's right leg was broken, the bone protruding from his kneecap, blood trickling from the white bone fragments. He finally made a sound—a piercing scream, like a wildcat whose tail had been stepped on.
Jiang Chen released his grip, and Night Owl collapsed to the ground, like a snake whose bones had been removed. His right leg was bent at an impossible angle, the sound of shattered bones grinding together was sickening. He was covered in blood and dirt, and there was no trace of an A-level peak awakened being left.
Jiang Chen bent down and picked up the mantis's head from the ground.
The head was still alive. The eyes were still moving, and the mouth was still opening and closing silently. That's how tenacious the vitality of a peak A-level Awakened is—limbs severed, torso shaved into a human stump, yet the brain remains conscious.
Jiang Chen brought the head to Night Owl's face.
Eyes facing each other.
The praying mantis's eyes were filled with fear and despair, his face streaked with tears and snot. He wanted to say something, to cry for help, to beg the night owl to kill him—but no sound came out.
Night Owl stared at that face, the face he had known for ten years. They had carried out seventeen missions together, killed thirty-seven targets together, and struggled with life and death countless times together.
Now, only the head remains of this face, held in the hand of a high school student.
"Ah!" The owl let out a howl that was not human. It was not anger, nor sadness, but a pure fear that came from the depths of its soul.
Jiang Chen tossed the mantis's head in front of Night Owl. The head rolled twice on the ground before coming to a stop right in front of him. The mantis's eyes were still looking at him, its mouth still opening and closing silently.
"I'm asking you a question," Jiang Chen's voice rang out.
"Who sent you?"
The owl's howl abruptly ceased. He lay on the ground, trembling, staring at the mantis's still-living head, his lips quivering, unable to utter a single word.
Jiang Chen waited for five seconds.
"You're not going to tell me, are you?"
He raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, pointing at the mantis's head.
The owl's pupils contracted sharply.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!" he shouted frantically, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows, "It's Liu Mingxia! Someone from the Liu family! She paid a ten million deposit to buy your life! Thirty million in full! Payment will be made after the mission is completed!"
Jiang Chen's finger stopped in mid-air.
"Liu Mingxia".
"Yes! Liu Mingxia! Liu Mingxuan's sister! The one who married into the Wang family in the capital!" Night Owl's voice trembled, and he spoke incoherently.
"It has nothing to do with us! We're just doing our jobs for money! Let me go! Please, please let me go!"
Jiang Chen remained silent for a moment.
Then, he tapped it lightly with his finger.
The mantis's head, along with its limbs and torso that fell into the alley, turned to ashes in the same instant. Not burning, not exploding, but being erased from existence itself. As if it had never existed at all.
Seeing this, Night Owl completely broke down.
His crotch was soaked, urine mixed with blood flowing all over the ground. He lay on the ground like a wild dog with a broken back, his body convulsing, making incoherent whimpering sounds.
Jiang Chen looked at him, his eyes showing no pity, no disgust, and not even any emotion.
"Go back and tell your leader," Jiang Chen said softly, "Dark Night, you only have one chance."
He turned around and walked towards Shen Qingxue.
"Next time we come, it won't be as simple as just two people dying."
The owl lay prone on the ground, listening to the footsteps fade into the distance. He wanted to stand up, to run away, to escape this hell. But his leg was broken, and every part of his body ached; he could only writhe on the ground like a maggot.
It took him a full ten minutes to climb out of the alley.
At the alley entrance, he finally propped himself up and looked back.
The alley was deserted, completely empty. The praying mantis was gone, the cicada was gone, there wasn't even a trace of the battle. Only the large hole blasted into the wall and a pool of blood and urine that had flowed from his body remained.
The owl turned around, dragging its broken leg, and disappeared into the night.
He has to go back. He'll crawl back if he has to.
Tell the leader that the Dark Night clan can't afford to mess with that guy named Jiang Chen.
They are people you can never afford to mess with.
In the alley, Shen Qingxue was still standing in the same spot.
She watched Jiang Chen walk towards her, holding that cup of milk tea in his hand. His school uniform was a little dusty, but there wasn't a drop of blood.
"You..." Shen Qingxue opened her mouth, wanting to say something.
"Don't move." Jiang Chen walked up to her and interrupted her.
He glanced down at her injuries. Her left shoulder was ripped open by bullet shrapnel, revealing a deep gash to the bone; her back was badly burned from the explosion; and her internal organs suffered varying degrees of shock damage. Most seriously, however, was the reversed flow of her ice-elemental spiritual energy. If it had been a few seconds later, even her S-rank talent would likely have been ruined.
Jiang Chen reached out and gently touched her brow with his fingertips.
A warm current flowed into Shen Qingxue's body, like a comforting river flowing through her limbs and bones. The reversed flow of ice-elemental spiritual energy was instantly calmed, like a raging beast being gently restrained by a hand. The wounds on her back and shoulders healed at a visible speed, the new skin as tender and delicate as ever. The internal injuries were also repaired by a gentle force; the ruptured blood vessels and torn muscles recovered completely with each breath.
The whole process took less than three seconds.
Shen Qingxue was stunned. She looked down at her hands.
The wound, which was just a bloody mess a moment ago, has now completely healed. There isn't even a trace of it, let alone a scar.
"How...how did you do that?" Her voice trembled.
A healing-type awakened being can heal injuries, but not this quickly, without leaving scars, and certainly not to repair damage to their spiritual roots. She had never even heard of such a method.
Jiang Chen withdrew his hand without answering her question.
"By the way, what's your name?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingxue was completely stunned.
I've been classmates with Jiang Chen for three days now. The teacher introduced me on the first day, and I've been chatting and spending time with him every day since. How could this guy not know my name?!
Although she really wanted to say something, Shen Qingxue eventually told him her name honestly.
"Shen Qingxue".
Shen Qingxue subconsciously straightened up, like a student being called on by the teacher.
"Do you know what you just did?" Jiang Chen's voice was calm.
"I..." Shen Qingxue lowered her head somewhat embarrassed.
"I know. I'm protecting you. And why don't you know my name?"
"Protect me?" Jiang Chen chuckled.
"The ice-type spiritual energy within your body is circulating in reverse; you're trying to self-destruct, aren't you? Your spiritual root is damaged, you're now a cripple. All for blocking that one punch?"
Shen Qingxue bit her lip and remained silent.
"Is it worth it?" Jiang Chen asked.
Shen Qingxue raised her head and looked into his eyes. Those eyes were still calm as water, but she noticed that there seemed to be a hint of warmth in them.
"It's worth it," she said, her voice soft but firm.
"It's not because of the Shen family's mission, nor is it because I want you to owe them a favor."
"What is that?"
Shen Qingxue remained silent for a few seconds.
"Because you deserve it." She took a deep breath.
"I don't know who you are, or how strong you are. But I know one thing—with you standing here, there is hope for this world. And I don't want that hope to disappear."
The alleyway fell silent.
A night breeze blew, ruffling Shen Qingxue's disheveled hair. Her school uniform was tattered, and there was blood on her face.
Jiang Chen looked at her and remained silent for a moment.
"Foolish," he said.
But Shen Qingxue noticed that when he said those two words, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
"Next time," Jiang Chen turned around and walked out of the alley, "don't block my way."
Shen Qingxue stood there, stunned.
"I don't need anyone to protect me." Jiang Chen's voice came from ahead, carrying a gentleness she had never heard before, "But I accept your kindness."
Shen Qingxue stood there, watching his figure disappear into the alleyway.
A night breeze blew by, and she shivered.
She paused for a moment, then chased after him.
"Jiang Chen!" she called from behind.
Your milk tea is cold!
A soft laugh came from ahead.
"Then let's buy another cup."
Shen Qingxue quickened her pace and caught up with that figure.
Under the moonlight, the two shadows overlapped, stretching out very long.
In the distance, sirens blared.
The people from the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs finally arrived.
But there was nothing left at the scene. No body, no blood, no signs of any crime.
There was only a wall with a huge hole blown out, and a small patch of wet, unidentifiable liquid on the ground.
The police officers who arrived at the scene looked at each other in bewilderment.
"What is this?"
"I don't know... but it smells like urine?"
"..."
"Let's call it a day. This case is beyond our jurisdiction."