Escape

"Boss!"

The rest of the group shouted, seeing their boss be suddenly attacked.

"You,"

One of them glared at Zhi Luan and reached for the gun on his waist. Zhi Luan was already prepared for the guards to react, but before he could move, he heard a loud sound, like an explosion was set off close by.

Almost instantly he heard the said explosion, he felt his left thigh assaulted by an inexplicable wave of pain. His eyes widened till they resembled saucers, as he looked at his thigh. His pretty clothes were dyed red as blood spurted uncontrollably out of his thigh. Zhi Luan's expression of shock became more pronounced as he looked at the man who just wounded him. He couldn't understand it one bit. He was completely fine a second ago, waiting for the guards to make their move. Yet all he saw was one of them reaching for something on his waist, and the explosion that followed shortly after. All this happened in a matter of seconds, and he had wound up getting injured without realizing how.

Zhi Luan clutched his thigh as he fell on one knee. He firmly held his knee to stop the bleeding, but blood seeped through the gaps of his fingers.

"See what you made me do,"

The man who had just attacked Zhi Luan drew closer as he spoke.

At this point, Zhi Luan was starting to get light-headed from blood loss. All he could see was the man coming closer while pointing something at him.

'Is that what wounded me?'

He thought.

By this time, the rest of the guards gathered around their boss, helping him to his feet. But the man was out cold.

"Keep him restrained, we'll take the boss to the infirmary. Don't let him bleed out or we'll be in trouble."

The rest of the guards carried their boss away.

The one who remained was the man who had shot Zhi Luan, and he once again reached for his waist. Zhi Luan's head was already spinning, and he couldn't see clearly, but he saw the man take out a little chain with two holes that could fit a hand at their ends.

'He wants to chain me?'

And true enough, the guard drew closer.

"I don't know if you can hear me but put your hands in the air where I can see them, or I'll shoot again!"

The guard was a bit surprised to see Zhi Luan comply so easily, raising his blood-soaked hands in the air. The guard had a smug look on his face with no one but he knowing what went on in his head.

However, in that brief lax moment when he reached out to chain Zhi Luan, the guard felt his arm suddenly be seized, almost like it was caught in a clamp. This sudden action caught the guard by surprise. The sheer force of the grip seemed like his arm would be torn off if a little more force was applied. Being griped like this, the guard was about to react, when his face was completely covered by Zhi Luan's other hand with a similar grip. The guard tried to call for help, but Zhi Luan's grip tightened to the point where breathing properly was a problem for the guard.

Whilst suffering from Zhi Luan's two-point counter, the guard felt his body heavily slam onto the ground. A metallic taste instantly rushed up his throat. An intense feeling of fear and shock caused a chill to run down his spine, as he thought this intruder's face would be the last face he would see before being sent to the afterlife. And just as he thought this, his mind suddenly went blank, as he plopped helplessly on the ground.

"You shouldn't be rude to someone you just met."

Zhi Luan's expression was stern.

He reached out and tore a portion of the guard's clothes, then he bound it firmly around his thigh to slow the blood loss.

"It's like getting shot by an arrow… only ten times worse. And the damn thing is deep inside, I can't take it out."

Zhi Luan unceasingly grumbled as he applied first aid.

He was confident that an arrow would have been easier to dodge even if it was shot at such a close distance. But in this case, it was only after he had been injured that he realized that the guard had attacked.

Zhi Luan didn't know what to make of the things he had just seen in the little time spent here so far. He managed to get on his feet, and with that, he sought an exit, carefully avoiding the path the other guards took.

As he moved swiftly about, Zhi Luan was stunned at the structure of the place. There was a statue of a man on a warhorse made from bronze. It appeared so life-like, that Zhi Luan thought the man would move at any moment. He walked around a bit more and saw other things as well. There were little houses with straw roofs. He wanted to move closer when he heard footsteps approaching. To avoid drawing any attention, Zhi Luan quietly left the place, still looking for an exit.

Zhi Luan finally came across what he felt was the edge of this place. It was an iron fence with pointy metallic bars. There were signs with lightning symbols on them, which Zhi Luan understood as a warning. However, the fence wasn't high. All he had to do was jump high enough to scale the fence in a single leap, which might be tasking for him, given he had injured his leg earlier. But Zhi Luan took a deep breath and went a couple of paces back. He inhaled again before bursting into a sprint. With a heavy trod, his feet lifted off the ground as he scaled past the fence in a single leap.