God-Tier Awakening: The Dead Can Still Level Up

Chapter 25: Clean Up

"What the—"

Shen Wuxia stopped halfway through his words and stared at Xingluo like he had just heard something worse than the bear explosion.

Xingluo also froze after realizing what she had said, and the broken laugh on her face stiffened almost immediately.

Seeing Wuxia’s strange gaze, her ears turned slightly red, and she hurriedly raised one hand. "No, I mean the survival part."

Shen Wuxia did not answer.

"I mean surviving was exhilarating," Xingluo quickly added, her voice becoming more awkward. "Not the killing part."

Shen Wuxia silently floated backward and hid behind the bear-shaped Soul Soldier.

Seeing this, Xingluo’s expression darkened, and the embarrassment on her face quickly turned into annoyance.

"Hey," she said, pointing at him. "Stop acting now."

Shen Wuxia slowly floated out from behind the Soul Soldier and nodded with a serious expression. "Indeed."

Xingluo stared at him for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "You are definitely mocking me."

"Not definitely," Wuxia replied calmly. "Only slightly."

Xingluo clicked her tongue, but before she could say anything else, Wuxia’s gaze moved across the ruined battlefield.

The three corpses lay in the snow, the Black Stone Armored Bear’s body was still half-destroyed nearby, and blood had already started soaking into the ground.

His expression returned to normal. "Enough. Time to clean up."

Xingluo looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Wuxia pointed toward the three bodies without changing his tone. "Their bracelets and equipment."

Xingluo’s expression froze for a moment. "Isn’t that illegal?"

Wuxia gave a small laugh. "They attacked first, tried to rob you and almost killed you twice."

He glanced at the cracked armor on her side before continuing, "We also need compensation for damages."

Xingluo looked at the three bodies, then at her broken armor, then at the ruined Platinum-grade necklace beneath her coat.

After thinking for only a few breaths, a small smile slowly appeared on her face seeing which Wuxia suddenly felt a bad feeling.

A few moments later, that feeling became correct, Xingluo moved through the bodies with a clean efficiency that made even Shen Wuxia stare in silence.

Storage bracelets, weapons, armor pieces, medicine bottles, credit chips, spare daggers, and even small tool kits were all removed one by one.

By the time she finished, the three men and even the two others killed by the bear had almost nothing useful left on them.

Shen Wuxia looked at the pile of stolen goods and slowly said, "You were definitely a thief in your last life."

Xingluo immediately turned toward him with an offended expression. "You were the one who told me to do it."

"That does not explain why you are so skilled."

"I am not skilled," Xingluo said, placing one hand against her chest. "I would never do such a filthy thing normally."

Wuxia looked at the empty wrists of the three corpses, then looked back at her.

Xingluo’s face did not change. "This was your idea, so the sin is yours."

"Ask them if you are weak enough," Wuxia replied, pointing toward the dead bodies.

Xingluo’s mouth twitched.

Then Wuxia pointed toward the bear-shaped Soul Soldier and the Soul Soldier slowly raised its head, looked at Xingluo, and nodded once with an exaggeratedly serious posture.

Xingluo stared at it for a moment before her face darkened. "You are controlling it."

The Soul Soldier lowered its head slightly, as if pretending to be afraid.

"Do not make a fool of me," Xingluo said, grabbing a small stone from the snow and throwing it at Wuxia.

The stone passed straight through his soul body, Shen Wuxia looked down at the stone, then back at her. "That was very threatening."

Xingluo ignored him and walked toward the Black Stone Armored Bear’s corpse.

Compared to taking equipment from the three men, harvesting the bear was much harder.

Even though its back had been destroyed, the claws and teeth were still deeply connected to bone, and pulling them out needed strength, tools, and patience.

Xingluo used one of the scavengers’ knives and slowly began cutting around the joints while Wuxia guided her from the side.

"Not there," he said. "Cut deeper near the base, or you will damage the claw."

Despite complaining, Xingluo still followed his instructions and gradually removed the usable claws, teeth, and parts of the exposed spine.

Her hands were already shaking from exhaustion, but she continued until everything valuable was separated from the ruined corpse.

After that, she threw the scavengers’ empty storage bracelets away and moved all the useful items into the necklace’s storage space.

The protective function of the necklace had faded, but the storage space inside still remained usable.

Only after finishing everything did Xingluo sit back on her heels and release a long breath. "Where do we go now?" she asked, wiping blood and dirt from her fingers.

Shen Wuxia was about to answer when the ground beneath them trembled and both of them froze for a moment.

A second tremor followed, then a third, and this time the sound came from more than one direction.

Xingluo’s expression changed as trees began falling in the distance, one after another, from the opposite side of the forest.

Heavy roars rang through the trees, mixed with the sound of claws tearing through snow and roots. "Climb," Wuxia said at once.

Xingluo moved before he finished speaking, grabbing the nearest tree and climbing up despite the pain in her ribs.

When she reached a high branch and looked ahead, her face went pale almost immediately.

A large pack of wolves was rushing through the forest, their grey-black bodies moving between the trees like a wave.

There were too many to count quickly, but even a rough glance told her there were close to a hundred.

Several of them were larger than the rest, with bone growths across their backs and blood already dripping from their mouths.

Xingluo stared at the scene for a moment. "Why are there so many?"

Shen Wuxia’s face darkened as he looked toward the blood covering the battlefield, then toward the dried beast-attracting solution still staining her armor.

"The fight, the corpses and that solution on you," he said. "All of it is pulling them here."

Xingluo’s face turned even paler.

"Run," Wuxia said sharply. "Do not think about fighting, if that pack surrounds you, they will tear you apart."

The wolves were getting closer, and more trees began shaking as the front of the pack pushed through the forest.

Xingluo jumped down from the branch, landing hard enough that pain shot through her side again.

She almost stumbled, but the bear-shaped Soul Soldier moved beside her and lowered its body as if ready to block the first wave.

"Do not waste time," Wuxia said. "The Soul Soldier cannot hold a pack this large."

Xingluo clenched her teeth, turned away from the battlefield, and started running through the forest.

The Soul Soldier followed behind her, its heavy soul body moving between the trees while Wuxia floated at her side.

Behind them, the first wolf reached the ruined battlefield and let out a sharp howl and a moment later, the entire pack answered.

Xingluo did not look back again, She lowered her body, forced mana into her legs, and ran as fast as she could while the forest behind her erupted with roars.