102: Support from Wonton

"How... how could this happen?"

Facing a encirclement of over a hundred men, Deyiao lost all his previous arrogance. His beady, chicken-like eyes widened so much they looked as if they might pop out of their sockets. He had expected to eliminate Ming Tian and claim the Princess in an instant, but he never imagined such a situation would arise at this critical juncture. He had intended to surround others, only to find himself surrounded instead.

Deyiao, previously blinded by his own success, changed his tune instantly. His legs began to tremble with fear, and he retreated two steps involuntarily. Ming Tian’s group had already taken down seven of the burly men; now, including Deyiao himself, there were only nineteen left. As for the Chaos Shredders...

Cui Jue had brought half his organization—a hundred and twenty men! Even if Deyiao’s soldiers were formidable, they couldn't possibly handle a force six times their size. Furthermore, the members of the Chaos Shredders were no mere cannon fodder. Although Liu Jian and the Reaper Twins had met their ends in rather pathetic ways at Ming Tian’s hands, one could not deny that Liu Jian’s swordsmanship was the strongest Ming Tian had ever encountered, and the twins’ infiltration skills were top-tier—had Ming Tian not happened to be opening the door at that exact moment, even An Luo wouldn't have noticed them. Their deaths were simply due to their own sheer stupidity.

"Cui Jue..." Seeing Cui Jue on horseback, Deyiao gritted his teeth in fury. His eyes glared at Ming Tian as if they might split at the corners. "You would actually cooperate with the Chaos Shredders?!"

Ming Tian could barely support his own body. It wasn't that he was severely injured, but rather that he had completely exhausted his physical strength.

"Who I choose to cooperate with is none of your damn business," Ming Tian managed to squeeze out a miserable laugh, his body starved for oxygen from the overexertion.

"You..." Deyiao was incensed. He had never expected this turn of events. "If I had known, I should have killed you directly this afternoon!"

"Oh? Is that so? Well, I remember telling you when I was in the dungeon..." Ming Tian shifted into a more relaxed seated position, resting his hands on his drawn-up knees. "I told you then: you will regret this!"

Seeing this, Cui Jue wasted no words. With a wave of his hand, he commanded, "Take them out!" As the third-in-command of the Chaos Shredders, and having already suffered a setback due to his own talkativeness before, Cui Jue didn't hesitate and issued the order immediately.

Over a hundred and twenty men surged toward Deyiao’s position. Seeing this, Deyiao realized the situation was lost. With a single command, his eighteen burly men closed ranks around him, forming a saber-like formation to charge toward the weakest point in the encirclement. This formation had been taught to them by Yin Chan; like a military saber, it could effectively tear through a perimeter, making it highly efficient for breaking out.

Suddenly, battle cries shook the sky, and Deyiao’s nineteen men dragged the entire circle of over a hundred people along as they ran in one direction.

"Where are the archers? Use your bows, you idiots! Where did the bows from earlier go?" Watching the encirclement on the verge of being broken, Ming Tian, too weak to stand, cursed loudly.

Cui Jue offered an embarrassed smile. "Uh... bows belong to the scout team... I brought the assault unit members. So, those thirty or so arrows from earlier... were all we had."

"Damn it! It's one thing that you Chaos lot are pig-headed opponents, but why are you still such pigs as teammates?! What is this? A replay of F91? Such a massive advantage, and F91 just A-clicked right in! F91 collapsed! F91 typed 'GG'? Are you kidding me?!"

Sure enough, the entire Chaos Shredder force was being dragged around by Deyiao’s dozen-or-so well-trained men. They soon vanished around a corner, and it was impossible to tell if they had actually broken through. Ming Tian was so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood.

"It’s over... I really overestimated Chaos. Over a hundred men being dragged around by a dozen... you’re a disgrace to transmigrators. Why don't you just quit the organization already?! I was just mentally justifying that you weren't cannon fodder, making up excuses for you, and I even managed to convince myself. And you go and slap me in the face ten seconds later? Are you kidding me, brother? Just how incompetent are you? How has your organization even survived until today?"

Cui Jue seemed to realize this as well. His face flushed, and he quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Ming Tian, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Regaining a bit of strength, Ming Tian stood up and gave him an annoyed look. "I just want to crack your skull open and replace your brains with paste; that might at least make you slightly smarter."

Cui Jue’s face twitched. Feeling humiliated, he turned his head away, not daring to meet Ming Tian’s eyes. "Uh... that was just a minor oversight on my part. Next time, I’ll definitely show you the true power of the Chaos Shredders."

"Oh, that sounds so impressive. I almost believed you, damn it." Ming Tian poured a bucket of cold water on him without mercy. *Ah! I thought the moronic twins and Liu Jian were just exceptions, and that you only lost to me because of a bad performance. Was your performance at Purple Flower Mountain actually your peak? Is your whole group really just a bunch of fools? A hundred people, and not one of you thought to bring more arrows?*

Still, after complaining to himself for a while, Ming Tian extended a hand toward Cui Jue on horseback. "Hey, you bastard, I’ll give you credit for keeping your word. I owe you one this time."

Cui Jue looked at Ming Tian’s hand, smiled slightly, and gripped it. The two men, who should have been enemies, temporarily set aside their conflict to face a common foe.

"My name is not 'bastard,' it's Cui Jue."

"Uh... I wasn't cursing you, it’s just that your face really does look like an egg laid by a turtle."

"You... and you don't consider that an insult?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. Bastard, why would I curse you? Bastard, we’re teammates now, aren't we? Bastard. Hey, bastard, say something, bastard."

"..." Cui Jue was clearly not a man of quick wit. Bullied by Ming Tian’s verbal barrage, his face turned blue, yet he couldn't find a single word to retort.

Ming Tian stopped tormenting him and helped Zhao Yu pull the blade from her shoulder. Among the three, this girl was the most severely injured. The blade had pierced straight through the muscle above her collarbone. He wasn't sure if it had damaged any tendons, but since she could move her arm, she should be fine. However, due to the intense pain, the moment the blade was removed, her body went limp and she collapsed to her knees. Had Ming Tian not caught her, she would have face-planted into the gravel-covered ground. An Luo and Feng Mowang were doing better, though they were panting heavily on the ground from exhaustion.

In any case, this trouble had finally come to an end. Now, he only hoped that Deyiao hadn't succeeded in breaking through and had been captured by the Chaos Shredders; that would be perfect.

"My Lord!"

A familiar voice rang out. Looking back, Ming Tian saw Xiao Xinzhu had returned, throwing herself into his arms.

"Xinzhu, how are you..."

Before he could finish, a tearful and emotional Xiao Xinzhu kissed him on the lips. The kiss was intense, filled with the ecstasy of having survived a desperate situation. She sought to claim his soul with her fervor.

*Damn, my Princess's tongue tastes so good, and she's so proactive!* Ming Tian couldn't help but marvel. It seemed that after this ordeal, Xinzhu’s feelings for him had deepened significantly.

As they parted, Ming Tian looked toward the direction Xinzhu had come from and saw Yin Chan leading Mo'er over. It seemed everyone was safe.

"Everyone, let's head into the inn. Yin Chan, help Zhao Yu tend to her wounds. We won this round, but we must plan our next move carefully. We cannot lose the initiative."