Chapter 620: Chapter 513: Dragon No.243
It was at this moment that Yang Xiao realized why his first glimpse of the clown had made him feel that something was off.
The balloons, the clown’s balloons were gone!
Now, the thin string from the balloons was strangling Lu Chenzhou’s neck, the wound muddled with blood and flesh. Had they discovered this just a few seconds later, Lu Chenzhou would have been hoisted into the sky by the balloons. No wonder those missing tourists were never found dead or alive!
Lu Chenzhou was hanging his head low at the moment, his bloodshot eyes staring desperately at Yang Xiao, as blood-foamed spittle gushed from his mouth whenever he tried to open it. He wanted to beg Yang Xiao to save him, but alas, he couldn’t make a sound. Putting himself in Yang Xiao’s shoes, he figured the most likely action at this moment would be to take the chance to run away.
But the next second, he saw Yang Xiao swing his club, bringing it down on him. With his life hanging by a thread, Lu Chenzhou closed his eyes in despair, but the blow didn’t land on him. Instead, it hit the balloons above his head. But it made little difference; the string of balloons just shook violently a couple of times before continuing to drift towards the dark sky, the thin string around his neck nearly suffocating him.
Given that they were strangers, Lu Chenzhou was already filled with gratitude for Yang having gone that far. Even if Yang left now, he wouldn’t have been able to say anything.
As expected, seeing that it was hopeless to save him, Yang gave him one last look before running away. He rushed towards the clown, who was already getting up not far away. From a high position, Lu Chenzhou caught a glimpse of Yang Xiao pulling out a silver horsetail whisk from nowhere, charging at the clown. With an extremely suave leap, he fiercely lashed the whisk across the clown’s face.
Lu Chenzhou was dumbfounded by this sight; his previously groggy mind was suddenly injected with a dose of adrenaline. He even suspected it was a hallucination as death drew near. Yang Xiao’s strike was horrifying in its effectiveness, with the clown being sent flying away again. Its oil-painted ghost face shattered instantly, its flesh disintegrating to reveal twisted and deformed bones. The clown, after being sent flying for more than ten meters, landed in a ludicrously comical position, face up on the ground.
Before Lu Chenzhou had time to react, suddenly, the string around his neck loosened, and he fell from mid-air onto the ground.
The fall was not slight, but fortunately, some tourists passing by cushioned his fall, sparing him from instant death or severe injury.
However, the unfortunate tourist who had broken their neck under his fall, within a few seconds, got up with a twisted neck, as if nothing had happened, and walked away chatting and laughing with their companion.
After being hit by Yang Xiao’s whisk, the rain stopped, and the balloons flew high and out of sight. Yang turned around, pulled up Lu Chenzhou, and ran.
"I... my clay figurine!" Amidst fleeing for his life, Lu Chenzhou didn’t forget to pick up the tool he relied on for a living. After all, if that were taken by the ghosts, he would rather be dead.
The two ran dozens of meters before daring to look back. Through the gaps in the crowd, Lu Chenzhou vaguely saw the clown still lying on the ground, its limbs occasionally twitching.
Having narrowly escaped death, Lu Chenzhou knelt down before Yang Xiao with a thud, "Yang, no, Yang, I’ll never forget the twice-rendered life-saving grace. From now on, whoever opposes you will be crossing me, Lu Chenzhou!"
"It’s good to have your word. I think everyone still alive has clustered together by now. I saved you as much for my own sake as yours. Whatever happens later, I hope we can stick together and advance or retreat as one," Yang Xiao said earnestly.
"Absolutely! Absolutely! Hai... Hai Hai..." Lu Chenzhou, excited, began to cough violently. Yang Xiao helped him check his injuries—mostly superficial wounds that looked worse than they were. He could hold on for a few more hours without issue.
"Yang... Yang, that treasure of yours is really powerful. To think it could harm a ghost that way must almost reach the Ghost Level threshold," Lu Chenzhou said, feeling genuine happiness for his savior’s treasure, without any trace of envy. What surprised him even more was that Yang Xiao had more than one valuable possession on him, each seeming to be of high quality.
"Just luck," Yang Xiao explained casually, his understatement adding to his cool demeanor. Lu Chenzhou speculated that Yang must come from a major family and was a direct descendent—otherwise, it made no sense for someone so young to possess so many precious items.
Yang Xiao wasn’t particularly concerned with what Lu Chenzhou thought of him. He only needed an assistant to cope with the possibility of a tough fight ahead.
Yang wasn’t too afraid of a one-on-one confrontation, but if there were two, or even three against him, that would be troublesome. He needed someone to help share the burden.
Whether it was a premonition or not, the number Dragon No.243 kept flashing across his mind, making him nervous about his fellow townsman from Rongcheng.
And to this moment, still no news of Dragon No.243 had surfaced. It was unclear whether he was alive or had been taken out by someone.
They walked from Zone F to E, then to D, and finally to C. After more than an hour of tedious searching, they finally found the old man with the pushcart in an inconspicuous corner near the small square in Zone C.
The old man was hunched over, still occasionally striking up conversations with passing tourists. Yang Xiao and his companion approached enthusiastically. Since they had no money in their pockets, they had to find a different way to chat with the old man.
After a few pleasantries, the old man took two bottles of mineral water from the foam box covered by the quilt, opened one, and handed it to Yang Xiao. This made Yang tense, wondering why he was being offered water when he hadn’t asked for it, fearing he might have stumbled into a forceful sale.
