Chapter 168: He Can Save Me

Chapter 168: He Can Save Me

"No, no, no, no! It's too much trouble for you, really not necessary!"

"No, no! We can just wait in the back of the queue; we're not in a rush anyway!"

Upon hearing Chen Yan’s words, Lu Qian and Lu Xiaozhao were both startled into a cold sweat, frantically shaking their heads like rattles. Joking aside, they were trying to avoid attention; how could they be the first ones to get tested? That would be courting death.

Chen Yan, however, thought they were being modest. Grabbing one under each arm, he dragged them towards the detector. "What's there to be embarrassed about? You two are heroes who saved Sky City; what's wrong with getting some special treatment? Listen to me, take the VIP lane, or you'll be queuing until nightfall with this crowd!"

Lu Xiaozhao was dragged forward several steps by Chen Yan, almost crying out. "Really, it's not necessary. Please let me go!"

Just as they were arguing, gunshots suddenly rang out from a nearby inn. The second-story window shattered, and a white figure leaped out. A patrolling soldier shouted in alarm, "Quick, catch her! We've found a wanderer!"

There were psychics among the escort team, and upon hearing this, two metal psychics' faces changed. Instantly, they conjured sharp spikes and shot them at the white figure. Already wounded by gunfire, she was now pierced through the shoulders by the metal spikes, falling heavily to the ground like a kite whose string had been cut, emitting a muffled groan of pain.

"Whoa—!"

The crowd that had gathered immediately scattered in shock, forming a vacuum around the center. There, they saw that the wanderer was actually a young, beautiful girl. She wore a long, nearly floor-length white dress. Though she looked remarkably human, the black mist resembling a snake's tail beneath her skirt betrayed her identity.

Chen Yan's expression changed when he heard the commotion. He rushed forward, pushing through the crowd to see what was happening. Lu Qian and Lu Xiaozhao exchanged a glance before following behind him.

Chen Yan: "Make way! Make way! What happened?!"

The patrolling soldiers saluted when they saw Chen Yan approach. "Captain, we discovered this wanderer's trail in a room on the seventh floor of this inn. She was trying to escape but was caught by us!"

Capturing a wanderer should have been a cause for celebration, but for some reason, Chen Yan's face looked grim and complicated. Staring at the girl on the ground in pain, he finally turned his head away, issuing an order, "Take her away!"

"You can't take her away! She hasn't harmed anyone! She really hasn't harmed anyone!"

Suddenly, over a dozen women and children emerged from the small inn. One of them, a middle-aged, slightly plump woman with short hair, stepped in front of the wanderer, shielding her protectively. With her hands clasped together and tears welling up in her eyes, she pleaded, "Sir, Rou is a good girl. Although she's a wanderer, she has never harmed anyone. She works hard with us every day to earn money. For years, nothing bad has happened. Please show mercy and let her go!"

One of the metal psychics sneered. "What a joke. She's a wanderer. When wanderers get hungry, they eat people. Just because you say she's a good person doesn't make it true. Take them all away!"

Chen Yan's expression changed slightly as he said sternly, "They are just women and children. Now that the wanderer has been caught, why do you want to take them away?!"

The psychic replied matter-of-factly, "If you associate with good people, you become good; if you associate with bad people, you become bad. They're defending the wanderer so strongly; they might be accomplices. Of course, they need to be taken back for investigation."

Chen Yan visibly became angry. "Chang Xin, you're making a mess of things!"

Psychics ranked higher than patrol soldiers, and this metal psychic naturally didn't take Chen Yan seriously. "Chen Yan, don't yell at me. The son of Minister Liu was attacked and killed by a wanderer last night for no reason. The higher-ups have been pressing us to close the case. Now that we've caught the murderer, we can't let the accomplices go free. This street has always been your responsibility to patrol. For years, you didn't notice that this inn was hiding a wanderer. If we really look into it, you can't escape blame either!"

Chen Yan was speechless with anger. "You!"

Chang Xin issued an order directly. "Take them away. Send the wanderer to the monitoring institute, and detain this group at the patrol bureau for questioning!"

After giving his command, he turned to leave. Suddenly, a little girl beside him lunged forward and bit fiercely onto his calf, like a fierce and vicious little beast. Chang Xin cried out in pain, trying to shake her off, but to no avail. Finally, he raised his hand angrily, intending to strike her. Seeing this, the wanderer somehow mustered the strength to break free from the patrol soldiers' grip and lunged forward. She snatched the little girl and held her tightly in her arms. Her originally black eyes turned blood red, and she emitted a warning growl from her throat.

Chang Xin muttered a curse under his breath. "She's truly a wanderer! If we don't capture her now, who knows how many more people she'll harm. What are you all waiting for? Hurry up and grab her!"

Lu Xiaozhao saw the delicate, thin girl covered in gunshot wounds and injuries inflicted by psychic abilities, and her face paled in fear. She clutched tightly onto Lu Qian's sleeve. "Brother, I'm scared."

For some reason, Lu Qian felt that the high-rise buildings nearby were shrouded in a black mist, tinged with the smell of blood that wouldn't dissipate. In contrast, the captured wanderer was clean, clearly not having shed any blood. Frowning deeply, he said solemnly, "When will you ever not be afraid? Stay here and wait for me; don't come over."

With those words, he pushed through the crowd and walked over. At this moment, the patrol soldiers were attempting to forcibly separate the wanderer from the little girl, causing quite a commotion. Unable to resolve the situation, Chen Yan stepped forward, forcefully picking up the little girl. Squatting down in front of her, he said sternly, "Little girl, stop making a fuss. If you continue, you'll all be locked up..."

"Ptooey!"

The frail little girl stared at Chen Yan with her pitch-black eyes and suddenly spat at his shoulder insignia without warning. Her malnourished face was filled with stubbornness and wariness as she called out crisply, "You're the bad guys!"

Chen Yan frowned. "We are the ones protecting you."

The little girl spat again. Her eyes, which should have been as innocent as a blank sheet of paper, burned with astonishing rage, even harboring a hint of hatred. "You are the bad guys!"

The surrounding women, seeing this, quickly pulled her into their embrace, covering her mouth tightly as they pleaded, "Girl, don't talk anymore, don't talk anymore!"

The little girl struggled desperately. Hearing this, she couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, "They are the bad guys! They are the bad guys! Sister Rou works hard every day to earn money to help us get medical treatment. She has never hurt anyone. Why are they arresting her? They will kill Sister Rou!"

Her childish cries stabbed at the hearts of everyone present. "You are all bad guys! Every day, you force those who don't have enough time to live outside the city walls, where they will die! Every day, you kill more people than the wanderers do! You are the real killers!"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the patrol soldiers turned pale, and even Chen Yan looked uncomfortable. The girl's words seemed to turn into a heavy hammer, striking their hearts. It was unclear whether they felt shame or guilt. Even the crowd fell silent for a moment.

In that cramped single room of the inn lived over thirty women and children. Their clothing was simple and shabby, out of place in Sky City. Most likely, they were "relocated" individuals from Devil City. Some were missing fingers, others had leg disabilities, looking like refugees from a camp.

The stingy owner of the inn chose to "turn a blind eye" to the overcrowded room. Chen Yan, who patrolled daily, may not have failed to notice something amiss, but he also chose to "turn a blind eye."

It wasn't until later that Lu Qian learned the situation from Chen Yan. The room was occupied by severely ill patients. The medical facilities in Devil City were too poor, so they could only come to Sky City for treatment. The time units they spent were earned by a girl named Rou. At night, she secretly hunted wanderers to obtain time units, while during the day, she worked like an ordinary person. However, her identity was accidentally exposed during a thorough search.

It was hard to imagine that the truth behind this incident would be so shocking—a wanderer with intelligence doing everything possible to help the weak, while humans wielded the butcher's knife against their own kind.

Today's sun was scorching hot. Already injured, Rou lay on the ground, emitting painful whimpers under the blazing sun. She was like a fish pulled out of water and left to dry in the sun, barely able to maintain her human form.

It was at this moment that Lu Qian stepped forward. First, he took off his jacket and draped it over Rou, shielding her from the glaring sunlight. Then, he surveyed the surroundings, fixing his gaze on Chang Xin. He asked, "Excuse me, may I ask what you plan to do with this wanderer after capturing her?"

Without hesitation, Chang Xin replied, "Of course, we'll kill her!"

Lu Qian nodded. "Wanderers consume humans, so they should indeed be killed. But if this wanderer hasn't harmed anyone and has instead been helping others, would you still kill her?"

This question was not easy to answer. Whether answering "yes" or "no" would lead to trouble. Sensibly, Chang Xin avoided the topic. "Who says she hasn't killed anyone? Yesterday, we received news that a single man was found dead in his home, his body mutilated. Clearly, it was the work of a wanderer. The crime scene was only two streets away from the inn. Murder deserves punishment; what's wrong with us catching her?"

Lu Qian smiled. "But you have no evidence. Currently, it's just speculation. How can you say she's the killer without proof?"

Chang Xin found this question stupid and spoke impatiently. "So many people have been tested, and she's the only wanderer. Who else could the murderer be?"

Lu Qian suddenly looked up at the sky and said something incomprehensible. "Perhaps there's another wanderer, but you just haven't detected them yet."

Hearing this, Chang Xin frowned, about to ask what Lu Qian meant. Suddenly, he saw Lu Qian raise his hand and attack someone behind him. A bolt of lightning shot out without warning, heading straight for the rear of a distant commercial building. Accompanied by an explosive "boom," a dark red mist suddenly flew out, emitting a piercing scream of pain. It was another wanderer!

"It's not good! It's a wanderer!!"

The patrol team was taken aback at the sight, immediately raising their guns to load and aim at the sky, firing wildly. The crowd screamed in terror, scattering and hiding in small shops by the roadside. The dense gunfire numbed their ears.

"Roar—!"

That mass of black mist was clearly of a high level, with a tinge of red that suggested it was saturated with blood. Bullets couldn't harm it at all. The attacks from those two metal-type ability users infuriated it, causing its body to rapidly dive down, directly knocking over the team. Its crimson mouth opened wide, viciously biting into Chang Xin, who panicked and cried out, "Help! Save me!!"

Lu Yan's speed far exceeded that of the other metal-type ability user. He summoned a bolt of lightning from thin air, which immediately entangled the black-red mist, then tightened fiercely. The entity spat out Chang Xin in pain, changing its target in anger and charging towards Lu Yan.

This wanderer's level was around T3. Lu Yan could have killed it with one strike, but he suddenly remembered Xiao Rou's false accusation of murder. His move changed mid-execution, instead shooting out a dense web of lightning that trapped the black mist inside. The entity charged about wildly, its body crashing heavily to the ground, fighting a futile battle like a cornered beast.

Seeing the black mist trapped, the surrounding patrol soldiers gathered the courage to form an encircling formation and slowly approached. After confirming that it wouldn't break through the electric net, they hurriedly urged, "Quickly! Get the restraining cage!"

They were clearly well-prepared for this hunt. Soon, someone carried a large restraining cage from the patrol vehicle and used tools to lock the black mist inside.

Chang Xin had a large bloody wound on his waist, his face pale from the pain. With the help of his teammates, he struggled to stand up, his gaze towards Lu Yan filled with shock. "You're a lightning-type ability user?!"

He had long heard rumors of a lightning-type ability user in Sky City whose strength rivaled Xing Yuan's. The Chief Director had tried several times to recruit him but failed. He never expected to encounter him on the street today, and even more unexpectedly, be saved by him.

Standing not far away, Lu Yan didn't appear disheveled despite having just subdued a third-level wanderer. Such matters seemed routine to him, as easy as squashing an ant: "Whether I'm an ability user or not isn't important. What's important is that there must be more than one wanderer lurking in Sky City. You also have wounds on your body. It would be best to compare them with the marks on yesterday's corpse to see who did it. Don't wrongfully accuse someone."

Chang Xin's face was ghastly white and ugly. "Even if she hasn't killed anyone, Sky City can't tolerate the existence of a wanderer!"

It was indeed a problem. Even if Xiao Rou hadn't harmed anyone, she would inevitably cause public panic. Before Lu Yan could say anything, the little girl suddenly ran forward and said, "We won't stay in Sky City anymore. We'll return to Devil City ourselves. Please don't kill Sister Xiao Rou, okay?"

Hearing this, Lu Yan crouched down and asked softly, "You've finally come to Sky City. Wouldn't it be a pity to leave now?"

In Devil City, countless people spent their entire lives trying to obtain a pass, yet she was willing to give it up so easily?

The little girl pursed her lips stubbornly as she looked at him. "Sky City is terrible. I don't like it here. They push the sick poor out every day, and there are more wanderers here than in Devil City."

In her heart, those cold-blooded compatriots might not be much different from wanderers, perhaps even less kind than the wanderer Ah Rou.

Lu Yan reached out to touch the malnourished hair of the little girl. "But Devil City is very dangerous. You should temporarily stay in Sky City to receive treatment. If Sister Xiao Rou hasn't harmed humans, we will all help her."

The little girl seemed somewhat doubtful. "Really?"

Lu Yan nodded. "Of course it's true."

After that brief interruption, the street testing was forced to stop. Chen Yan walked forward, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, but we may need to trouble you to come back to the Patrol Bureau with us to make a statement and record the events."

Lu Yan was curious about how they planned to deal with Xiao Rou. "No problem. I'll go with you, but my brother..."

Chen Yan didn't expect him to be so agreeable, visibly relieved. "A minor issue. I'll send someone to inform the hotel. He can wait for you in the room."

They left in a large group, sitting in the patrol vehicles. Even the women and children from the inn were taken along. The onlookers around them only emerged from their hiding places in twos and threes after seeing this. A few sharp-eyed young men whispered to each other, "Hey, didn't you notice that the man in black looked really familiar? And he could shoot lightning from his hands, just like that popular streamer from before."

"Yes, yes, yes. I remember his cap. Little Lu has worn the same style before!"

A little girl suddenly stomped her feet and screamed in excitement, her face flushed with excitement. "Ahhhhhhhhh! He's actually Little Lu?! He's too handsome! I always saw him wearing a mask during his broadcasts, thinking he was insecure about his looks!!"

On the other side, Lu Yan had already boarded the vehicle heading to the Patrol Bureau. He declined Chen Yan's offer to switch seats, insisting on sitting next to the restraining cage where Xiao Rou was confined. The metal spikes on her shoulder had been removed, but they still left two terrifying wounds. Strands of black mist seeped out from them, akin to the blood of a wanderer.

Xiao Rou looked palely at Lu Yan, her fingertips tightly gripping the bars of the cage. In a voice audible only to the two of them, she pleaded, "Please... save me... I didn't kill anyone... Ya Tou and the others need to go to the hospital for treatment every day... If I'm not there, no one will take care of them..."

Lu Yan asked softly, "But you're a wanderer. Why do you help humans?"

Xiao Rou fell silent. She closed her eyes and leaned against the cage, as if recalling some painful memories. After a long while, she choked out a sentence, "Can you do me a favor... Help me find a person named Xing Yuan... He should be able to save me..."

Lu Yan was surprised.