Chapter 2468: A Real Man Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales Translated by XephiZ Edited by Aelryinth The attack was totally unexpected. The enemy had been hiding nearby a long time. It had waited until they lowered their guard when they were busy firing the signal. Feathers of the Wind Spirits circled Zhang Xiaohou as the spear sliced through the Water Curtain. They gathered in front of Zhang Xiaohou’s chest to protect him. The protection knocked the spear off its initial angle, causing it to miss Zhang Xiaohou’s heart! However, the spear went through his chest and headed right at the defenseless Zhao Manyan. Luckily, it only scratched Zhao Manyan’s neck a little after it was knocked off its initial angle. Zhao Manyan barely survived the attack. “Damn it!” Zhao Manyan was enraged. His heart, glowing like a new sun, pounded heavily and released waves of light at the black figure. The black figure immediately backed away. The bright light revealed its identity. To Zhang Xiaohou and Zhao Manyan’s surprise, it was not a sea monster, but a man! The man was wearing a military uniform. His disheveled hair and the vicious look in his eyes no longer resembled a human, but a demon from the deep sea! “Advisor Zheng Wu!” Zhang Xiaohou recognized the man, but blood was pouring out from his chest as he was shouting. The spear was still stuck in his chest. “Zhang Xiaohou, you should treat your injuries first… don’t you die on me!” Zhao Manyan yelled. Zhao Manyan was relieved to see Zhang Xiaohou was still alive. He would have felt guilty for the rest of his life knowing Zhang Xiaohou had died to save him. Zhao Manyan glared at the soldier, whose eyes were brimming with hostility. “Brother Zhao, I’m fine. We don’t have much time left. You have to send the signal out of the Gravitational Vortex to tell Brother Fan and Mu Bai...” Zhang Xiaohou did not back down. Blood was pouring out of his chest and his back. The Feathers of the Wind Spirits transformed into a pair of hands and pulled the spear out of his body. Blood jetted out like a fountain after the spear was pulled out from Zhang Xiaohou’s body, but his body did not sway, nor was he showing any pain on his face. “Brother Zhao, I won’t let anything come close to you, including that man! You just have to fire the signal!” Zhang Xiaohou declared. The Gravitational Vortex had complicated the process of firing off a signal. Zhao Manyan wanted to fight the enemy with Zhang Xiaohou, but he realized Mo Fan and Mu Bai needed time to stop the Forbidden Curse. He understood why Zhang Xiaohou insisted on standing in front of him, even though he was in great pain! “Fine, I’ll do it! The Gravitational Vortex won’t stop my light!” Zhao Manyan promised. The enemy did not have to kill them both, he just had to stop them from firing the signal. If they decided to focus on him, he would just kite them instead. He just had to waste their time to win the battle! Zhang Xiaohou and Zhao Manyan were well aware of the situation. Their first priority was to fire the signal out of the Gravitational Vortex! “Feather of the Wind Spirits, grant me your protection!” Zhang Xiaohou opened his palm and blew the feathers at Zhao Manyan like petals A gust of wind wrapped around Zhao Manyan. He could feel its protection, even though he could not see it. Zhao Manyan had learned during the battle in Xiamen that the Feathers of the Wind Spirits was Zhang Xiaohou’s strongest ability of the Wind Element. He was extremely touched when Zhang Xiaohou gave him the Feathers of the Wind Spirits. Zhang Xiaohou had a bleeding hole in him. He had suffered serious injuries, even if the spear had missed his heart. But he had no time to stop the bleeding. Their enemy had already found an opening through the waves of lights. The man was flying at him like a black fang. He thought their enemy was aiming at his heart again, but he realized the man was targeting his eyes instead once he was close enough! It was extremely difficult to defend against a stab. A destructive spell with a wide area would spread its power over the area, but an attack was a lot deadlier when the force was gathered on a single point. Therefore, Zhang Xiaohou had to gather his defense on a single point as well. If he defended his whole body, the enemy’s attack would break through his blocking with ease. If Zhang Xiaohou still had the Feathers of the Wind Spirits, he could use them to protect his eyes, but now he had to figure out another way to defend himself. “Intercepting Claw!” A cold light flickered like lightning down Zhang Xiaohou’s arm, from his shoulder to his fingertips. Sharp blades poked out of his fingers like claws! He did not have a better way to defend himself. The enemy was attacking him at a close distance. He decided to give the enemy a taste of its own medicine. He swung his claws at the enemy’s throat! If the enemy was going to stab his eyes, he would pierce the enemy’s throat! Zhang Xiaohou made his move decisively, even though he might die to the man’s attack. Zheng Wu hesitated in the nick of time. He might stab Zhang Xiaohou in the eyes and puncture his brain to kill him, but he would also be killed by Zhang Xiaohou’s attack. It meant he would not be able to stop the other guy from firing the signal! Zheng Wu quickly canceled his attack and backed away. He dodged the claw and moved away to prevent Zhang Xiaohou from following up with another attack. “Damn it, do you really have to risk your life like that!?” Zhao Manyan was soaked in cold sweat after seeing what had happened. Zhang Xiaohou was too reckless. The traitor was most likely going to die after being stuck in the Gravitational Vortex. What if their enemy was not afraid of dying? “I know what I’m doing!” Zhang Xiaohou grinned. “Nonsense, you should treasure your life more. Dying for a greater cause is just a child’s ideology of heroes. Not only should we fight for a greater cause, we should try our best to stay alive too! That’s what a real man would do!” Zhao Manyan proclaimed. Why did their options have to be sad? Were they only limited to dying for the greater cause, or living like a coward? They had to save the world, but they had to live too! Zhang Xiaohou was stunned by Zhao Manyan’s words. He did not expect to hear that from someone like Zhao Manyan. His impression of Zhao Manyan had changed once again. Dying was very simple. All he had to do was to give up! It was more difficult to stay alive in difficult and deadly situations. Wasn’t it more impressive to survive after giving his everything? Zhao Manyan was absolutely right! Not only did they have to fight for a greater cause, they had to stay alive, too! It was what a strong real man would do!