Chapter 100: Brother Shen

Buzz buzz buzz——!

Several drones emerged from the woods to the right. Shen Qingzhu's expression changed, and he shouted, "Run!"

Without another word, he turned around, stepping quickly on the rocks that were exposed in the stream, and hurriedly ran in the opposite direction.

Deng Wei adjusted the heavy load on his back, gritting his teeth, and followed Shen Qingzhu, each step carefully placed on the rocks.

At that moment, the drones had already reached a distance and aimed their guns at the two of them, firing several missiles.

Deng Wei's gaze was drawn to the missiles, and he immediately panicked. He bent down to avoid the missiles, but the rock under his foot suddenly slipped, and he fell straight into the stream.

Splash——!

Shen Qingzhu turned around quickly, his face changing drastically. After a moment's hesitation, he gritted his teeth and grabbed Deng Wei's shoulder, helping him up.

"Damn it, I told you not to follow me, now you're causing me trouble!"

Shen Qingzhu cursed under his breath, lifting Deng Wei's shoulder, his steps quickening. Deng Wei's right foot seemed to be injured, and he moved with great difficulty.

Tat-tat-tat-tat——!

Two drones continued to follow them closely. It seemed as if they were doing it on purpose, occasionally firing shots, but none of the bullets managed to hit.

Shen Qingzhu's brows furrowed, his gaze falling on the thicket of bushes ahead, and his pace quickened, almost carrying Deng Wei forward as he ran.

Despite the drones' precise shooting, Shen Qingzhu led Deng Wei into the thicket, and the drones circled outside the thicket for two rounds but didn't follow in.

The two crouched low, struggling through the thicket.

Finally, Shen Qingzhu used up all his strength, and with Deng Wei on his shoulder, he stumbled and fell to the ground. Deng Wei clutched his right ankle, his face twisted in pain.

"How's your foot?" Shen Qingzhu, drenched in sweat, reached to check Deng Wei's ankle.

"It's... it's fine, I think I just twisted it."

Shen Qingzhu felt a large, swollen area on his ankle and his face immediately darkened. "You can't run anymore."

Deng Wei panted heavily, looking at Shen Qingzhu, then grinned.

"Damn, what are you smiling about?!"

"Shen Ge, you came back for me."

"... Shut up! I just happened to be able to reach you!"

"Shen Ge, go ahead and leave. Take my load. I can't walk anymore, I'll just wait here for the instructor to eliminate me."

"My load, I carry it myself."

"Shen Ge, you're destined for great things! As a strong person, you should survive till the end." Deng Wei stretched out his hand, grabbing Shen Qingzhu's load. "Anyway, I'm going to be eliminated. Helping you take some of the weight off is like putting my remaining strength to use."

Shen Qingzhu looked at Deng Wei's dark grin, falling into silence.

"Give it to me!"

"Don't snatch it!" Shen Qingzhu grabbed the load and, after a moment's thought, said, "Alright, I'll give you 25 kilograms of weight, I'll keep 10 kilograms."

"Alright, I'll listen to you."

Shen Qingzhu unloaded 25 kilograms from his load and placed it on Deng Wei's shoulders. He immediately felt lighter, and his whole body relaxed.

"Shen Ge, go ahead. The drones will be coming soon."

"... Fine, take care of yourself."

"Mm."

Shen Qingzhu, now carrying only 10 kilograms of weight, slowly stood up. He looked back at Deng Wei, who was sprawled on the ground, before turning and diving into the thicket.

He used his knife to cut a small path that was barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Struggling through the dense forest, Shen Qingzhu was alone, with only the sound of rustling branches around him. The forest was silent.

Shen Qingzhu walked for a long time, then looked up at the sky. He noticed that the position of the sun hadn't changed at all. His brows furrowed once more.

"These instructors... are they really messing with us?!"

"To trap us like lab rats just to watch us make fools of ourselves? Damn it…"

As he cursed, he gradually stopped walking.

He looked back in the direction of Deng Wei, a hint of hesitation crossing his face. But soon, he shook his head.

"No... Shen Qingzhu, you're meant to be strong! A strong person must be ruthless!"

"You have to survive to the end, to let those who look down on you see... just how strong you really are!"

He clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and continued forward.

At that moment, a familiar voice came through the load's speaker.

"You're Li Liang, right?"

"Yeah."

"Mm... tell me about the person you like."

"I don't have anyone I like."

"Ha, so you're the cold and emotionless type? How about someone you admire? There must be someone, right?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Shen Ge."

"Shen Qingzhu?" The instructor's voice seemed surprised. "Why?"

"In my first year of high school, my younger brother, Li Jia, got tricked and ended up in trouble with a group of local thugs. Every day after school, we were blocked at the school gates, bullied and extorted...

Later, Shen Ge, who was one grade above us, couldn't stand it and helped us. He fought with the thugs, taking down ten of them on his own. Four of them ended up in the hospital. Because of that, he was expelled from school and couldn't take the college entrance exam. He had to return home and farm.

From that day on, my brother and I swore to follow Shen Ge. Even though he's got a terrible temper and curses us all the time, if you spend enough time with him, you'll realize... he's actually the kindest person in the world."

"..."

Shen Qingzhu's actions froze mid-step, like a statue, rooted in the thicket.

After a long pause, he muttered to himself:

"Damn it, what's this guy spouting? It's not me who's being punished, but you, yet I'm the one getting embarrassed…"

Slowly, he turned around, looking back in the direction he came from, his grip tightening on the knife.

...

In the thicket.

Deng Wei, who had been resting with his eyes closed, had a slight smile on his lips.

"Li Liang... really gets to the heart of things. I wonder what kind of expression Shen Ge will have when he hears this."

Buzz buzz buzz——

The sound of drones came again. Deng Wei opened his eyes and saw several drones descending from the sky. He smiled.

"Come on, come and eliminate me!"

Several drones turned, their guns aimed at the fallen Deng Wei.

Deng Wei took a deep breath and muttered, "Just don't ask me any weird questions. If they hear it, they'll laugh at me…"

He slowly closed his eyes.

Tat-tat-tat-tat——!

A series of missile sounds rang out. Deng Wei waited for a long time but didn't feel any hits...

He opened his eyes, only to see Shen Qingzhu, holding a small knife in one hand, his load held in front of him like a shield, blocking all the missiles for Deng Wei.

Deng Wei froze for a moment, then said, "Shen Ge, the rules say we can't use the load to block bullets…"

Shen Qingzhu raised an eyebrow, tossing the load aside. A slight smile appeared on his face.

"Rules? When have I ever followed the rules?"

With that, he leapt into the air, the small knife in his hand flying out. In Deng Wei's astonished gaze, he directly pierced and destroyed a drone!

"Rules say we can't attack drones? I'll do it anyway!" Shen Qingzhu landed on the ground, watching the drone plummet to the ground in flames, and snorted.

He turned around and glanced at Deng Wei, who was still lying on the ground, and said arrogantly:

"Waste. Your Shen Ge came to save you... ugh~"

Just as he spoke, a gunshot rang out. A missile accurately struck Shen Qingzhu's back. He grunted, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.