111: Chapter 111 Night Falls

Wang Sheng rushed up and caught her.

His arm wrapped around her waist, the coldness of her silver armor and the warmth of the Savage Beast blood hitting him at the same time, like ice and fire meeting in his palm.

Her body leaned against his chest, and the cracks in the silver armor were like fissures in the metallic casing.

Through these fissures came not just the warmth of the Savage Beast blood, but the heat of her toned body, as if a volcano about to erupt lay hidden beneath that silver armor.

"I'm fine." Her voice was hoarse, like a silver spear that had struggled in the Beast Tide for too long, or a silver string that had trembled in a storm for too long.

"Just… a little tired."

But blood was still flowing from the wound on her left shoulder.

It seeped out from the cracks in the silver armor, winding down her toned arm like the slenderest of streams, dripping onto the back of his hand—warm, like the first drop of rain falling into a palm at dawn.

It was like a red rose blooming on the silver armor, each petal resembling every drop of blood she shed while guarding the North Gate.

Wang Sheng pressed his hand against her wound, and the golden light of the Light Healing Technique covered it, like a golden palm gently cupping the wound on her left shoulder.

"Don't move."

Murong Xue looked up at his face.

A resolute expression, pale lips, and golden eyes filled with worry.

In his golden eyes, it was as if two miniature suns were obscured by clouds of worry; their brilliance was no longer searing, but instead shone with the gentlest light, like the sun filtered through a veil.

Her heartbeat was like the drumbeat of Holy Light Resonance, each throb more intense than the last, as if a silver spear had been tempered by platinum flames, causing the silver string to emit its clearest note in resonance.

But she didn't speak; she just closed her eyes and leaned against his chest.

Silver armor stained with blood, spear propped against the ground.

At this moment, she was the most dazzling war god on the battlefield, and also the most exhausted girl in his arms.

The Beast Tide receded, Chief Shi Ba fled, and Guangming Village was temporarily safe.

But the price was heavy.

Nearly half of the girls in the combat unit had sustained injuries of varying severity, the defensive wall was damaged in three places, the spirit field area had been trampled by Savage Beasts, and the granary had been rammed crooked.

The setting sun dyed the surface of the Lingxi River a golden-red, like a bolt of blood-soaked silk spread between the village and the Savage Beast Forest; the broken ice on the water looked like golden-red gems in the sunset, refracting the broken shadows of the post-battle village.

Wang Sheng helped Murong Xue to the medical area of Hua Jieyu in the central square.

The blood-stained Murong Xue leaned against a Savage Beast hide couch; her silver armor was covered in bloodstains and cracks, and her brown ponytail was scattered like the last few silver threads falling after a suit of silver armor shatters.

Her resolute face was full of fatigue, like a silver iron plate that had been repeatedly forged by war and had finally developed its first crack.

But her brown eyes were still watching him, like two pieces of amber tempered by war—exhausted, yet still burning bright.

When Hua Jieyu examined Murong Xue's wound, a flash of gravity crossed her gentle face.

Her slender, fair fingers probed into the wound on Murong Xue's left shoulder like the most precise probe.

The diagnosis of the Hundred Herb Medical Immortal was like the most accurate scalpel, every inch of touch precise to the millimeter.

"The flesh wound on her left shoulder isn't deep, but her internal spirit energy is severely overdrawn." She whispered to Wang Sheng, her gentle voice carrying a hint of imperceptible gravity, like a dark cloud drifting into a spring breeze.

"Furthermore, there is shadow residue in the wound on her left shoulder, left behind by the claws of a Shadow-Corrupted Savage Beast.

It needs to be purified with the Power of Holy Light, otherwise, the shadow residue will travel along her meridians and erode her spirit energy channels."

Wang Sheng clenched his fists, the golden Holy Light between his fingers flickering like the faintest of flames.

"I will do it."

But Hua Jieyu pressed down on his hand, shaking her head gently but firmly.

Her almond eyes were filled with worry, like the gentlest spring breeze blowing over a flower scorched by the fires of war.

"Your spirit energy is also overdrawn; the Holy Light Domain consumed too much.

You need to rest. Using the Light Healing Technique to purify the shadow residue right now would cause too much damage to your body."

"Murong Xue." Wang Sheng looked at the blood-stained Holy Light Knight.

She leaned against the Savage Beast hide couch; her silver armor was covered in bloodstains and cracks, and her brown ponytail was scattered like the last few silver threads falling after a suit of silver armor shatters.

Her resolute face was full of fatigue, like a silver iron plate that had been repeatedly forged by war and had finally developed its first crack.

But her brown eyes were still watching him, like two pieces of amber tempered by war—exhausted, yet still burning bright.

"I said… I'm fine."

Her lips curved, like the tip of a silver spear, carrying a hint of stubbornness.

It was as if what was revealed after the silver armor shattered wasn't fragility, but a smile harder than the armor itself.

But Wang Sheng saw it; her hand was trembling slightly.

It wasn't fear, and it wasn't fatigue; it was the trembling of a bowstring pulled to its absolute limit after her Barbarian Warrior Rank 3 spirit energy had been drained to the breaking point.

It was like a silver spear on the verge of snapping under the immense pressure of the Beast Tide, yet her hand did not let go.

Late at night.

The lights of Guangming Village gradually lit up, like stars flickering on one by one in the ruins after the battle.

A layer of mist floated over the surface of the Lingxi River, as if someone had draped a piece of translucent white gauze over the water, covering the remnants of Savage Beast blood and broken ice beneath the surface.

The runes on the defensive wall flickered with a faint blue light in the night, like a necklace soaked in the night, quietly encircling Guangming Village.

Wang Sheng sat by the bedside of Murong Xue.

Hua Jieyu had cleaned the wound with Hundred Herb medicine, and the Savage Beast hide couch was covered with clean Savage Beast hide; the air was filled with the faint, bitter fragrance of the medicine, like the gentlest of comforts.

The shadow residue spread from the wound to the surrounding skin like a spiderweb; the dark purple veins moved in the moonlight like the most insidious venomous snakes writhing beneath silver armor.

Only the Power of Holy Light could thoroughly purify them, as if pulling out a venomous barb.

Wang Sheng's spirit energy had recovered by twenty percent after resting; it was enough.

He reached out, and the golden light of the Light Healing Technique covered the left shoulder of Murong Xue.

The golden light was like the warmest palm covering the dark purple spiderweb, as if the light of the sun had pierced through the gloomiest of clouds.

"It might hurt." His voice was very soft, like the gentlest ray within the golden light.

"I'm not afraid of pain." The voice of Murong Xue was like an unsheathed silver spear—clear, cold, and resolute.

Her brown eyes stared straight at him, like the tip of a silver spear—sharp, clear, and unyielding.

It was as if her silver armor, even while shattered, still reflected the most resolute light, just as the oath of a Holy Light Knight would never break, even in the most exhausted of times.

But the next second, when the golden Holy Light touched the shadow residue, the stinging pain was like being burned by raging fire.

The shadow residue struggled violently in the Holy Light like the most insidious venomous snake being scorched by raging fire; the dark purple veins disintegrated layer by layer like ice sculptures being melted by the sun.

But the process of disintegration was like pulling out a venomous barb embedded in a nerve—every inch pulled felt like the agonizing pain of fire burning the nerves.

Her body suddenly tensed; her toned body beneath the silver armor was like a bowstring pulled to its limit.

Every inch of muscle resembled a silver iron bow stretched to the breaking point by brute force.

The ab muscles beneath her white undergarment were like silver harp strings stretched to the maximum tension in the midst of the agonizing pain, as if what was hidden beneath the silver armor wasn't soft flesh and blood, but the hardest silver iron.

She bit her lip and made no sound.

Her teeth biting into her pale lips were like silver armor locking onto the hardest rivet; her lips were bitten until they bled, as if another red plum blossom had appeared on the silver armor.

But Wang Sheng saw it; at the corner of her eye, a single tear slipped down.

It was like the light shining through the cracks in the silver armor, like moonlight falling into the Lingxi River, like a silver spear finally letting go of its last bit of stubbornness when it was at its most exhausted during the Beast Tide.

That tear was the clearest water seeping from her brown eyes, as if from two pieces of amber tempered by war.

It slid down her resolute face like it was sliding down the surface of silver armor, like silver rain falling on a silver shield.

That was Murong Xue, for the first time since she transmigrated… shedding tears in front of anyone.

In the Beast Tide, she did not cry; when Chief Shi Ba coveted her, she did not cry; when she stood alone guarding the North Gate, she did not cry; when her silver armor was stained with blood and her spear was propped against the ground, she did not cry.

But at this moment, in front of Wang Sheng, when the golden Light Healing Technique was like the warmest palm covering her most painful wound, her tears were like the light shining through the cracks in the silver armor, like moonlight falling into the Lingxi River, like a silver spear that had finally found a place to rest during the most exhausting moments of the Beast Tide.

She didn't speak, just closed her eyes.

She let the tears slide down her resolute face like silver rain, as if what was revealed after the silver armor shattered wasn't fragility, but something deeper than the armor… light.

The golden Light Healing Technique, in the process of purifying the shadow residue, was like a golden sun disintegrating the dark purple ice sculpture inch by inch.

With every inch purified, her brow unfurled a little, as if the silver armor was being pieced back together during repairs, like a silver spear being recast inch by inch during tempering.

The tears were still flowing, but not because of pain; it was because after the shadow residue—like the most insidious venomous snake—was purified in the Holy Light, the meridians eroded by the shadows were like a frozen river thawing in spring.

The pain vanished like ice and snow, and relief surged in like a spring breeze.

Wang Sheng's hand did not leave her left shoulder; the golden Light Healing Technique was like the warmest palm covering her wound, like a golden sun casting the warmest light upon the silver armor.

He did not speak, because he knew that what she needed right now was not comfort, but companionship.

Just like that day on the battlefield when she leaned in his arms with her silver armor stained with blood, she didn't need him to say anything; she only needed his arm wrapped around her waist, just as a silver spear only needs a place to be propped up.

The night was deep; the golden Light Healing Technique on the left shoulder of Murong Xue was like the warmest lamp, quietly burning in the night after the battle in Guangming Village, like the light revealed after the silver armor shattered—in the darkest night of the Savage Continent, it was like the gentlest sun.