The wind rolled past, bringing up a handful of yellow sand, threading through the steel ruins. The woman walking among them was like a newly bloomed flower after the destruction, dazzling and eye-catching in this uninhabited broken city, but also out of place.
Strolling elegantly and calmly along the street, one of the woman's hands pressed on the sheathed sword by her side, while the other brushed past the surrounding debris and broken walls. In her eyes, everything here was the sediment of history, and the human world should have been like this too.
The woman stopped in her tracks. One step away, the dust on a signboard had been wiped away by someone, and the faint palm prints could still be seen.
Taking a step forward, she noticed a few drops of relatively fresh red blood, and the woman turned her head southward.
"Got shot in the calf, then went into the store." The woman muttered to herself, while pushing away the big rock blocking the store entrance, and stood in the place where Li Changan had previously taken shelter.
"Bandaged the wound here, broke off the arrow shaft, was very calm in dealing with the injury, and deduced the opponent's position and possible abilities." The woman looked towards the small door on the other side.
If Li Changan was here, he would realize the woman's every step overlapped with where he had been.
Standing by the manhole, the woman hesitated.
After a while, the woman shook her head, "No, it's too dirty down there. Let's spare this guy."
She turned and left without any reluctance, her steps light and breezy, as if she was hunting, but even more like picking flowers.
----
"Wow, maybe gods really exist." Li Changan shrugged his shoulders, having just come out of the sewers, and a supermarket was right in front of him.
Expired food generally wouldn't hurt superhumans, let alone Li Changan who was in excellent physical condition despite not having any abilities.
But what delighted Li Changan the most wasn't the food and water, but the time!
He could estimate when this place was destroyed based on the food package dates, and by the way, he could also...
No, I'm here for the Trial, I need to restrain my curiosity! Li Changan smiled wryly and shook his head, carefully entering the supermarket.
Get water first... Distilled water? What's this, isn't it sterile water? Whatever, grab a can... Pork stewed in soy sauce... Did pre-apocalypse humans eat this well?
Even while "shopping", Li Changan didn't let down his guard, still not making a sound, his small backpack couldn't fit too many things. He tried his best to pick out what was usable, since there were many extinct things here that he needed some time to screen through.
"Leading my beloved little donkey~"
"Gently skinning it~"
"White and tender with a faint fragrance~"
Someone was humming a song while dragging something heavy into the supermarket, the sound of cloth rubbing against the floor could be heard.
Li Changan crouched down like a spider, noiselessly crawling on the ground, listening closely to the change in direction of the sounds, while crawling up the wall from the other person's blind spot, hiding amidst the intertwined pipes above the ceiling.
The voice sounded like a boy's, but not Wen Anran's. Li Changan couldn't look directly at the person, in case he was noticed, he could only glance from the corner of his eyes.
"Strange, it's like someone looked at me." An innocent boyish voice, but it came from the twisted face of a dwarf, about 1.3 meters tall, with criss-crossing knife scars on his face, the rough positions of his features could barely be made out.
The dwarf was dragging an unconscious girl, he looked left and right but didn't notice anyone, dismissing it as just his imagination, this wasn't the first or second time anyway.
Keen senses, but can exclude perception abilities! Li Changan turned his body to completely hide behind the pipe, it was convenient that the other party was a dwarf and less likely to spot him.
He had seen these two in the hall earlier, the dwarf was still wearing a mask then, while the girl was reading a book, looking quite gentle and refined, truly wondering why such a person would come for the Trial.
Did they think this was child's play?
The dwarf hummed as he dragged the girl to the kitchen cabinet. The stainless steel utensils were in an almost sealed environment and hadn't rusted, still completely pristine.
"Wake up." The dwarf seemed to be smiling as he roused the girl awake.
"Mmm mmm mmm!" The girl who had just woken up struggled in panic, but her hands, feet and mouth were all tied up.
The dwarf grinned, "I wanted to untie you, but I'm afraid you'll scream too loudly, attracting others wouldn't be good. Bear with it for now."
"Don't think about calling for help either, this is the Trial. Killing you gets me a point, who would spare you? Just endure it, at least I'll leave you a chaste body, don't know if you're still pure, I'll take a look myself later."
After speaking, the dwarf selected a bone-chopping knife from the utensils, tore off the packaging, weighed it in his hand, and showed a satisfied grin.
"Alright, let's start. Living is painful, I'll help shorten your pains, no need to thank me, just feel it properly."
The knife slashed down, chopping into the girl's knee. She didn't even have time to think before the extreme pain hit, the screams muffled by the gag in her mouth, only urgent breathing and gulping sounds could be heard from her throat.
The knife was stuck in the bone. The dwarf stepped on the girl's calf with one leg, forcefully wrenching the knife, blood splattering everywhere. He had just pulled out the knife and brought it down heavily again, severing the girl's calf from her body.
"Mmm mmm mmm!" By this point, the girl still hadn't given up hope for survival. Perhaps wanting a quick death, she struggled to crawl forward. But with both legs gone, no amount of struggle was futile.
Holding the knife, the dwarf followed beside the crawling, fleeing girl with his short legs. He was enjoying every moment, the warm blood on his face, the fleeing and crawling prey before him, only regretting that he couldn't hear her wails.
Long trails of blood were left on the floor. The viscous blood quickly coagulated upon contact with air, forming a membrane on the surface like milk skin.
The dwarf held up his deformed fingers, "Five, four, three...", and when the last number fell, he raised the bone-chopping knife again.
The girl's face was pale white. The sudden pain made her body convulse, and in the next moment she crawled forward even faster, but having lost both legs, no amount of struggle was futile.
"After you die, I'll use clean water to wash your body clean, don't worry, not a single drop of blood will remain, I know you hate me, so I'll take your eyeballs with me, you can watch me forever, just like now." The dwarf took out another sharp knife, stabbing it into the girl's back.
The sharp blade cut open the skin, exposing the spine beneath.
Now! Li Changan leapt down, twisting his waist in midair. Unfortunately the dwarf was too short, the kick went slightly off, only hitting the dwarf's shoulder in the end.
Even so, that tiny body still flew out like a cannonball, crashing into seven or eight shelves before landing with a muffled groan.
"What a pity, didn't kick the head." Li Changan shook his head regretfully, the kick had only smashed the dwarf's shoulder.
Missing with the first strike meant he had to start moving unpredictably.
"Teeheehee." Laughter mixed with delight came from within the shelves. The dwarf clawed away the messy goods on him, barely standing up again, one arm dangling limply by his side.
"Do you know why this woman didn't resist?"
"Even the lowest-ranked superhuman should have some ability to resist right?"
"Because I'm the protagonist of this world! I restrain all abilities!"
Ah, he restrains all abilities? Li Changan was shocked.
You're the protagonist of the world, then what am I?