The shadow's backlash is becoming increasingly fierce, more frequent, and longer in duration. Previously, the shadow could at least sense it in advance and find a place to lie down beforehand.
Now, even the shadow itself doesn't know when the next backlash will come.
Qingchen sat by the campfire, waiting silently, unconsciously poking at the firewood with a twig.
Yangyang said, "Brother Shadow's force field is already very weak. Actually... the reason he wanted to be with you in his last period of time was because you were the only person he could unconditionally trust now."
The wait for the shadow to awaken felt exceptionally long; every minute felt like an eternity to Qingchen.
Half an hour later, with a thud, his heartbeat returned to normal.
Shadow slowly sat up and smiled, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
But Qingchen couldn't laugh.
Chapter 635, The Pledge of Allegiance
“There’s a saying someone in your world said that I really like,” Shadow said, sitting by the campfire and slowly watching the flames dance: “People don’t live a lifetime, or a few years, months, or days, but rather a few moments.”
Shadow: "Rather than wasting my life in mediocrity, I feel that I have lived a very brilliant life. I have a lover and have seen different scenery from the top of the mountain. So Xiao Chen, don't feel sad for me. Just treat me as a scene on your life's journey."
Qingchen complained, "Next time I come back, I'll challenge a life-or-death trial, then have someone deliver the news of my death to you, and see if you can still be so calm. You're just talking without thinking. If I were the one who had to go first, I wouldn't be so relaxed."
shadow:"……"
Qing Chen said, "From now on, you should stop using your abilities. I will find rare plants myself in the future; you don't need to come."
Shadow: "Okay, okay, I won't rob anyone."
By this time, Qingchen had already grilled the dragonfish. He used a wooden stick to skewer the dragonfish, grilling the fish until the meat was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
The fish was placed in a bag and marinated with ginger juice and chopped green onions for two hours. There was no fishy smell at all. Qingchen then sprinkled some salt on it to keep the fish fresh and tender.
Sun Chuci and Tuanzi, who were standing nearby, were so envious they cried.
Today is the last dragonfish for Yangyang and Xiaomengqian. After eating it, they can complete their transformation.
Qingchen called out, "Mengqian, come and eat the fish."
Xiao Mengqian shouted, "The tent is almost set up, boss, I'm coming right away!"
Just now, while he was securing the tent with rivets, he accidentally punched his finger.
But he just blew on it and continued working.
I don’t know when it started, but certain beliefs have become his obsessions.
He didn't know how to get onto that path, but he was just unwilling to give up.
Yangyang complained, "Are you really going to let him do all the work? Look at the wounds on his hands, you can hardly see the lines on them anymore, and he's still just a child."
Qingchen shook his head and said, "He chose this path himself, I don't care."
He opened the compressed biscuits he had brought and carefully ate them, not leaving even a crumb behind.
Watching this scene, Shadow knew that this was a habit Qingchen had developed after leaving Base A02.
At this moment, Zhang Mengqian came over and sat down, carefully eating all the fish meat. She cleaned every fish bone, and her eating manner was exactly the same as Qing Chen's. Even the way she ate by the campfire was almost identical.
The shadow chuckled, noticing that Zhang Mengqian bore a resemblance to Qing Chen.
When Yangyang and Zhang Mengqian ate their last dragonfish, thunderous sounds emanated from their bodies, and the warm currents flowing within them stimulated their bones to undergo a transformation.
Zhang Mengqian shut down her mechanical eye, and the sudden increase in her heightened hearing allowed her to hear every subtle change in the world.
The sound of insects crawling out of the soil in spring, rustling over dead branches and decaying leaves.
New, tender branches sprouted from the tree trunk, their sounds slow and soft.
A breeze blew in from the horizon, sketching out the shape of the world in his mind.
It has no color, but it is more vivid.
Just then, he heard the sound of an engine approaching from afar.
"Boss, someone's here," Zhang Mengqian said, opening her eyes and pointing east.
Everyone looked east, and soon dozens of off-road vehicles appeared on the distant horizon, their flashing headlights casting huge beams of light.
The car was still blasting loud and energetic music, and the people inside were swaying to the music.
After pondering for a moment, Shadow said, "The spring hunt of the Qing and Li families has begun."
Qing Chen calmly said, "Zard, puncture all these people's tires. Don't let them continue south, and don't even let them get close."
"Alright," Zard chuckled, turning into a cloud of sand and flowing into the ground.
The next moment, the ground began to ripple like water.
A sapling was underground, rapidly approaching the convoy.
Inside the car, amidst deafening music, the driver of the lead car suddenly turned down the volume and asked in confusion, "Have you seen a small sapling moving quickly on the ground? There's a red fruit growing on that sapling."
The young man in the passenger seat, who was still having fun, looked towards the road ahead.
"What the hell?!" he exclaimed in astonishment.
The sapling was rapidly approaching them!
Moreover, right next to the sapling, the soil in the wilderness was being strangely stirred.
"Stop the car! Stop the car! Something's fishy!" someone shouted.
But it was too late.
Before the convoy of the Spring Hunt could even get within 300 meters, one after another, vehicles suffered tire blowouts while traveling at high speed.
At this moment, Qingchen extinguished the campfire with a bucket of water and ordered everyone to hide behind tree trunks.
The shadow, hiding behind a tree, laughed and asked Qingchen, "Do we need to be so cautious? They're just a bunch of kids."
Qing Chen glanced at him expressionlessly: "Only if I'm cautious can I avoid a situation where you have to waste your life. Please, as long as I'm alive, don't interfere again."
The shadow paused for a moment.
It seems that ever since he was once again attacked by the power tonight, Qing Chen has suddenly changed his attitude and started to control him, not letting him steal things or take action to deal with crises.
However, the most fundamental purpose is to prevent him from using his abilities to overdraw his life force.
When has a shadow ever been controlled by anyone?
During a shadow meeting within the Qing clan, the shadow once jokingly told the leaders of various factions within the Qing clan, "The person who can control me has not yet been born."
Back then, the shadow was sharp and cunning, and its actions were elusive and unpredictable.
Just like this robbery of Chen Yu and Li Bingxi, who would have thought that he released the news to scare away the two demigods, but he was only eyeing their vegetable garden?
Now, suddenly someone has started to discipline his shadow, and aside from feeling a little uncomfortable, he also feels a sense of warmth...
Shadow muttered under his breath, "This is fucking terrible!"
My mother passed away early, and my father was someone who locked himself in a dark room every day, so no one ever cared about him.
wrong.
some.
The woman named Ning Xiu had managed him before; Qing Chen was the second.
Thinking of this, Shadow suddenly laughed.
However, at that moment, dozens of people suddenly jumped out of the off-road vehicles from the cars behind the Spring Hunting Convoy.
They advanced rapidly in tactical formation.
At this moment.
Two other people climbed onto the roof of the vehicle, where they set up their sniper rifles and used night vision goggles to aim into the woods.
One of them held his breath and saw the other person's figure through the night vision scope.
But what he saw was Qing Chen holding an anti-material sniper rifle that looked like a cannon, and had already pulled the trigger.
With a deafening roar, a long bullet shot out from the muzzle of the black sniper rifle, piercing through the sniper's barrel like lightning.
The sniper had just pulled the trigger, before he could even fire the bullet, when it met Qing Chen's bullet inside the barrel. The entire barrel exploded, blinding the sniper.
Meanwhile, the sniper on the other car roof had already been knocked over and tilted away by Zard using dirt.
This small sapling that kept moving on the ground was as terrifying as a land shark, destroying all resistance wherever it went.
Qing Chen fired shot after shot, and in just a few seconds, he had decimated the advancing troops.
He asked with some doubt, "Who would send these chickens and dogs to kill us?"
Shadow laughed, "This isn't an assassin, it's cannon fodder."
"What is the point of cannon fodder?" Qing Chen asked. "They are so weak... that they can't even deplete our energy."
"Because someone from the Qing clan wants to kill you and me, we have to join forces with Chen Yu and Li Bingxi. But the two demigods don't trust them, so they need those people from the Qing clan to offer their pledge of loyalty," Shadow explained with a smile. "These people are just ordinary soldiers. I can find out who's behind them in less than a month by using their identities. So, once this group of soldiers is sent to attack us, there's no turning back. We have to go all the way."
Shadow said, "It's gratifying that someone from the Qing family has made a move. They've waited for so many years, but they've all been cowards and have long forgotten the courage of the Qing family's ancestors."
Qing Chen muttered, "They're all here to kill you, so why are they so happy?"
“They’re not here to kill me, they’re here to kill us,” the shadow explained cheerfully. “They’d rather see you die than me.”
"Why?" Qingchen asked, puzzled.
“Some people may have guessed your identity,” Shadow said patiently. “There’s something I need to tell you. Outsiders only know how dangerous the Shadow Struggle is, but they don’t know that the sons of the past patriarchs who participate in the Shadow Struggle never live past the age of 20. They are bound to face both open and covert attacks. Those collateral branches are willing to participate in the Shadow Struggle and absolutely do not want to see the Qing family become the exclusive property of one lineage… Don’t underestimate the power of the Qing family’s collateral branches. They have survived for nearly ten years under the shadow of my rule and have been planning for ten years. Xiao Chen, the people of the Qing family are all wolf cubs, but some will grow into jackals and some will grow into wolf kings.”
Once the head of the family's son participates in the Shadow Struggle, he will become the first target of everyone. The real Shadow Struggle will only begin after the head of the family's son has been eliminated.
Originally, Shadow Qingzhun was also going to die and be besieged.
But he stepped into the realm of demigods in one step, and had no rivals left.
People from all factions could only grit their teeth and accept the situation, waiting for the shadow to die.
But now that they know the head of the family actually has a younger son, the collateral branches of the Qing family have gone mad. If they don't take action now, they will never have a chance to rise to power.
Qing Chen asked, "But... why couldn't it have been done by the head of the family? For example, the death of Sister Ningxiu, or the people in the Qing family who wanted to kill you this time?"
Shadow suddenly said seriously, "Xiao Chen, I choose to believe him. Of course, you can believe him like I do, or you can not. It's all up to you."