The recently threatened Pu Yuan was quite unhappy, so she joined in the clamor from the side.
"I already said it, now you say it too."
Actually, apart from Li Maocai and Zhao Dekai, no one else spoke, but silence could sometimes be a form of coercion.
Zhu Xi Ning's face flushed red with anger, but Nan Yue wasn't surprised.
Human nature couldn't be tested; in life-or-death situations, everyone wanted to know if others had clues for survival.
The fact that they hadn't openly fought for it yet showed they still had some conscience; in a way, they were much smarter than Li Maocai and the other who spoke up directly.
Sure enough, what Gu Xiang Kai said was true: sometimes, the trouble in a mission wasn't just the monsters, but also the people.
If it weren't for He Jiang, it wouldn't be this troublesome.
Nan Yue had indeed just come from school, and was still lacking in social interactions.
And although Zhu Xi Ning was very good at interacting with people, such shameless individuals were rare. Her own combat strength was average, and she relied mainly on other abilities to complete missions.
This meant that apart from verbally cursing their ancestors, she had no actual offensive power.
But the problem was, no one had ancestors; everyone was bred and raised by the government, unlike in missions. So the curses Zhu Xi Ning learned in missions had no real attacking effect.
Yet, Zhu Xi Ning cursed for so long that even without fathers, being insulted like this truly angered the two men. Zhao Dekai stepped forward, ready to strike.
Zhu Xi Ning wasn't good at fighting but was very agile. She had already dodged a good distance away, her mouth still going.
"Damn it, you're taking advantage of my kindness! Do you really think I won't hit a woman?"
Zhao Dekai was furious. He rolled up his sleeves, intending to grab Zhu Xi Ning, but as soon as his hand went up, someone gripped his wrist.
Nan Yue's hand was very cold, sending a jolt through Zhao Dekai.
Seeing that it was Nan Yue holding him, Zhao Dekai laughed loudly, intending to pull Nan Yue down directly. To his surprise, no matter how much he struggled, Nan Yue didn't budge, and the immense force on his wrist caused his bones excruciating pain.
"You woman..."
Zhao Dekai was drenched in sweat from the pain, but he still wouldn't admit defeat. "Are you trying to go against all the scavengers? The clues belong to everyone! Are you going to attack a companion just because of this?"
Zhao Dekai's hand was hurting, and his words were contradictory. He was clearly the one who had tried to hit Zhu Xi Ning first, but he twisted it to say Nan Yue was attacking him for not sharing clues.
His ability to muddy the waters was always effective; almost everyone would argue with him, and with his shameless antics, no one could win against him.
Moreover, his wrist was now throbbing with piercing pain. He didn't know where this woman got such strength; he was almost unable to stop himself from crying out.
But he couldn't lose face like that. As long as Nan Yue's attention was drawn to his words, he could break free.
Zhao Dekai's trick had worked a hundred times, so when he heard Nan Yue's reply, he didn't react immediately.
Nan Yue seemed not to have heard his deliberate misrepresentation, simply stating, "I said I'd break both your arms, didn't I?"
"What?"
Zhao Dekai didn't react, but he had a bad feeling. "Wait! You want to... Ah!!!"
Before he could finish, everyone present heard a "crack." Before the chill could even set in, they saw Nan Yue drop Zhao Dekai's hand, which was now limp like a noodle. With a flash, she grabbed his other hand.
"Wait!"
At this moment, Zhao Dekai was still wailing. Everything happened too fast; in an instant, he could no longer feel his right hand, only intense pain that made him want to roll on the ground.
He Jiang hadn't expected Nan Yue to act so decisively. He inwardly cursed Zhao Dekai and Li Maocai as fools, but these two were still useful, so he had to speak up.
"Look, everyone here is a companion. There's no need to resort to violence. It's only the second day; you don't want to become everyone's target, do you?"
Nan Yue held Zhao Dekai's left hand. Although Zhao Dekai was in so much pain he was about to collapse, Nan Yue pulling his other hand kept him suspended in a comical posture.
She looked at He Jiang and smiled softly.
"Since you know that, why did you instigate them to come after me?"
Nan Yue's gaze was dark and deep, as if it would absorb all the surrounding light. He Jiang's heart skipped a beat as he met her eyes.
"I remember, you've already been taught a lesson, haven't you?"
He Jiang instinctively took two steps back. He stopped when he saw others looking at him, but he couldn't say anything more.
"Crack!"
Accompanied by an even more tragic scream, Zhao Dekai collapsed to the ground, unable to even struggle, his two hands spread out as he shrieked in agony.
Nan Yue looked around. Everyone who met her gaze took two steps back, except for Dongfang Yuelai and Chang'an.
The two had maintained a spectating posture, and Chang'an even smiled when Nan Yue looked his way.
Nan Yue nonchalantly withdrew her gaze. "You want to pick on a soft target and get something for nothing, using the pressure of moral blackmail to force me to share clues?"
With every word Nan Yue spoke, the heads of those present lowered a bit more.
Moral blackmail was worthless under strong armed suppression; at this point, only they would lose face by arguing.
Nan Yue heard footsteps approaching from not far away and chuckled softly. "You chose the wrong person."
With that, she no longer looked at Zhao Dekai, who lay like a dead fish on the ground, and turned to face the person who had just returned.
Gu Xiang Kai had run a loop, covered in sweat. As soon as he rushed back to their lodging, he heard someone screaming.
Sensing trouble, he ran towards the sound, and eventually saw Zhao Dekai lying on the ground, with Nan Yue standing in front of him.
His ears were sharp, and he heard Nan Yue's two sentences, so his steps slowed.
So, she taught a lesson to some idiot.
Zhao Dekai had originally been most afraid of reckless hotheads like Gu Xiang Kai who fought without regard for their lives. Now, seeing him return and Nan Yue's attention diverted, he was overjoyed.
Taking this opportunity, Li Maocai and He Hongyun quickly helped him up.
Nan Yue, with her back to them, said, "Oh, right. I only broke both his arms, but we all know what the conditions for death are tonight."
"Without hands, and unable to move around, he'll actually be safer."
Nan Yue's voice took on a hint of a smile. "Zhao Dekai has always followed Brother He. At a time like this, Brother He must take good care of him. If anything happens to him, you can't blame it on me."
"Isn't the point of having a big brother to be useful in times of crisis? Don't let him be pushed out as a scapegoat."
He Jiang's face turned crimson with rage. He had originally planned to use this incident to completely isolate Nan Yue.
He hadn't expected this woman to be so strong-fisted and intelligent, speaking flawlessly and sealing off all his avenues.
Zhao Dekai truly couldn't afford to have anything happen to him today.
He Jiang directed people to help Zhao Dekai back to his room to rest. Pu Yuan and her two companions, realizing they had not only failed to help but had also kicked him when he was down, quickly slipped away.
Gu Xiang Kai's brow twitched. Nan Yue looks like a villain now.
Rate on N.U.
