Chapter 1123: Gratitude

The person who escaped ran forward while shouting loudly, exposing the group's whereabouts. In mere moments, twenty to thirty people rushed towards them.

Lin Geng reacted quickly, grabbing Doctor Zhao and starting to run, but Doctor Zhao insisted on bringing the now delirious Han Yimo.

Xiao Xiao had no choice but to agree, hoisting Han Yimo onto her shoulder before following the others in a hasty retreat.

Behind them, a crowd began to gather. Doctor Zhao and Lin Geng weren't good runners, and Xiao Xiao was carrying Han Yimo while dealing with a self-inflicted leg injury, so they were quickly overtaken.

The pursuers were armed with makeshift wooden sticks and iron rods, swinging them relentlessly at the four.

Xiao Xiao brought up the rear and, in desperation, used "Jiapo" to redirect the blows aimed at her, but for some reason, the attackers behind her weren't affected at all—instead, Han Yimo on her shoulder cried out in increasing pain.

"I can't take it anymore..." Han Yimo gasped weakly. "Big sister, maybe you should just leave me behind... Why does it hurt more the further we run?"

"No way!" Xiao Xiao shouted. "If I wasn't holding you, you'd be dead by now! Don't worry—the attacks coming at us are basically all getting 'Jiapo'-ed away!"

"All of them 'Jiapo'-ed away... So why am I still in so much pain?"

"Oh, that's because my 'Jiapo' doesn't activate one hundred percent of the time—it's about sixty percent effective. If you're feeling pain, it's probably from the forty percent that still hit you." Xiao Xiao explained seriously as she kept running.

Han Yimo raised his hands to protect his head, blocking the attacks while marveling at the situation.

Even with sixty percent 'Jiapo'-ed away, it hurt this much, which meant the actual attacks were even more intense than he realized. Still, he felt like he'd never been in this much pain in his life—as if every bone in his body had been shattered.

The pursuers noticed that none of the strikes on Xiao Xiao were slowing her down, and their leader quickly figured it out: "She has 'Huixiang'! Don't hit her—go for the ones in front!"

The others heard this but didn't fully understand whether "she" referred to the one running or the one on her shoulder. They only caught "hit the ones in front," so they sped up, skirted around Xiao Xiao and Han Yimo, and instantly surrounded Doctor Zhao and Lin Geng.

Before the two could even react, wooden sticks and iron rods were flying toward them.

The real brawl was nothing like the one-on-one fights in action movies—it was everyone piling on at once, targeting the heads and legs of the two with lethal force.

Once hit, they were hit again and again—in such a swarm, ordinary people had no chance to break free.

In the nick of time, the two felt a flash before their eyes as a young man suddenly appeared in front of them.

His arrival was completely unexpected, as if he'd parted the air to descend or had been standing there invisibly all along.

"Hey, what's all this commotion about?" a fresh, clear voice rang out, startling the nearby crowd.

"Huh?!" Doctor Zhao recognized him instantly. "Jin Yuanxun...!!"

The sudden appearance of the young man made the surrounding attackers pause for a moment, their blows halting briefly.

"Don't say anything—just come with me." Jin Yuanxun reached out, grabbed their arms, and in an instant, the three vanished from the spot.

At that moment, the man who could phase his body pushed through the crowd to the front and saw that Lin Geng and Doctor Zhao had disappeared. He quickly realized: "They mentioned they had teammates! It must be their teammates coming to their aid!"

"Damn it..." another man said. "These 'rebels' disrupting everything—just beat them to death!"

The crowd turned and spotted Lin Geng and Doctor Zhao teleported only a few steps away on the open ground. It seemed the young man's "Huixiang" wasn't all that powerful.

"Beat them to death!" The mob erupted into chaos again.

Almost simultaneously, an explosive sound came from the other side of the crowd, like a missile striking the ground.

Everyone looked over to see several "supporters" being launched into the sky by a burly man. The "supporters" in front of him scattered in terror, clearing a small space.

"What the... This mess—hope I didn't hit the wrong people?" Zhang Shan's gruff voice boomed out.

Lin Geng looked closely and saw Zhang Shan leading a group of over twenty people, full of familiar faces.

Even if they didn't recognize the individuals, the "supporters" sensed that this team had an unusual aura.

Chu Tianqiu, draped in a coat, walked forward with a casual expression: "Zhang Shan, don't you need to rest a bit?"

"Hell no, do I need rest? I feel like it's the crack of dawn—fresh as can be." Zhang Shan replied. "But what was that 'Cangjie Qi' you mentioned earlier...? I only have a vague memory of it, but I can't recall the details at all."

Chu Tianqiu smiled lightly: "If we make it out alive today, I'll grab a couple of beers and explain it to you over drinks."

"Ha, sounds good." Zhang Shan nodded.

Zhang Shan stepped aside, and Chu Tianqiu strode forward, his movement prompting the group behind him to follow.

Their imposing presence forced the "supporters" to back away continuously.

Yun Yao walked beside him, glancing around impatiently and sighing: "Chu Tianqiu, just so we're clear, I'm not with 'Tianguokou'. I'm only here to find Tiantian—once I do, I'm out."

"No problem." Chu Tianqiu nodded, then turned back and said, "Li Xiangling, you and Zhang Shan take the lead. We need to rendezvous with the rebellion's leader as soon as possible."

"Understood!" A dark-skinned, handsome young woman stepped out from behind Chu Tianqiu, wielding a long stick. "This'll be a piece of cake."

Chu Tianqiu turned to Jin Yuanxun again: "You handle getting Doctor Zhao to the destination. I have a pretty good idea what 'Jidao' is up to."

"Got it, bro."

Lin Geng watched the scene unfold, puzzled... Although they had saved his life, what did this have to do with 'Tianguokou'?

So many 'Tianguokou' members had shown up to help, including Xu Liunian, Xiao Yanjing, Wen Qiaoyun, and even Yun Yao, who had long declared she was leaving 'Tianguokou'.

"Chu Tianqiu..." Lin Geng asked cautiously, "Is there something here that's drawing you in?"

"Drawing me in?" Chu Tianqiu smiled at Lin Geng. "Why do you say that?"

"I'm just not sure about your motivation for coming here."

"Then don't overthink it." Chu Tianqiu brushed past Lin Geng and said lightly, "I'm just here to repay Yan Zhichun's two 'words' of favor."