Chapter Thirty-Five: The Little Sister of the Traveling Shop

Oda Shinichisuke, standing off to the side, stared at the enormous fireball that had suddenly materialized above Xiao Zhang’s head. His expression abruptly changed, and he shouted, “How—how is this possible? Wraith, quick—”

But he had no chance to finish his sentence.

With a thunderous roar, a massive orange fireball erupted from Xiao Zhang’s hands! And as soon as he cast this skill, Xiao Zhang collapsed to the ground.

The surging, roaring flames obliterated the barrier in an instant and engulfed Oda Shinichisuke. The wraiths on the fringes didn’t even have time to scream before the flames swept them away completely.

A series of explosive bangs rang out as two globes of fire burst apart.

The wraith had already become a charred corpse, dropping heavily to the ground.

As for Oda Shinichisuke, he seemed to be still struggling to shout. Ghostly apparitions flickered around his body, but these specters vanished rapidly. Swallowed by the flames, they lasted no more than a few breaths before dissipating entirely.

“How—how could this be…ah!”

The fire, transformed into streaming flames, tore through his defenses and poured directly into his gaping mouth. Soon, a fiery light blazed from his eyes—flames burst forth from his sockets! His entire body was consumed by the inferno…until, at last, nothing remained but drifting ashes.

Xiao Zhang was completely dumbfounded. Damn, was it really that powerful? I’ve been fighting all this time, and one skill just wipes them out? What the hell is this game? After collecting the items dropped, Xiao Zhang prepared to make his escape.

…

About a kilometer away.

On a hillside, a small figure darted swiftly between the trees, heading straight in the direction of Xiao Zhang and his companions.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the figure halted abruptly, coming to a standstill.

Meanwhile, after the S City patrol squad spotted the blaze outside the city walls, they quickly dispatched someone to investigate.

Xiao Zhang made a few quick adjustments, discarding his tattered protective suit and changing into a new one. He found Zhao Bai and gave him a restorative potion. Zhao Bai slowly regained consciousness. But after giving Mo Xiaoxiao the potion, she still did not wake up—clearly, she wasn’t just unconscious; someone had tampered with her in some way.

So Xiao Zhang scooped up Mo Xiaoxiao and began heading towards the far side of the mountain, with Zhao Bai following behind.

On the way, Zhao Bai started rambling, “Doggy, who do you think would win if I fought Superman right now?”

“That’s a DC character—he doesn’t exist in the real world!”

“Then do you think someday we’ll have gear like Iron Man?”

Xiao Zhang was growing thoroughly annoyed. “Come here, come over here!”

He projected his system interface into reality in front of Zhao Bai. Zhao Bai stared at the glowing screen in shock. “Damn, this is some kind of super tech!”

“Well…you could say that,” Xiao Zhang replied helplessly.

“Dog Bro, Dog Bro, can you get me a set of Iron Man armor?”

Xiao Zhang was speechless. “That’s not actually available…”

In fact, he wasn’t sure. Based on the settings in the novels he’d read, if there was an exchange shop, there ought to be something similar. Unfortunately, the system had promised him an exchange function but bailed halfway through! If he had an exchange system, he could at least trade for something to wake people up.

“Sigh…” Xiao Zhang let out a breath, then slapped himself on the forehead with a loud smack. Huh, that actually felt pretty good, so he slapped himself a couple more times.

Zhao Bai stared, wide-eyed. “Have you lost your mind? Do you know how fierce that girl is?”

Xiao Zhang felt a bit guilty and glanced at Mo Xiaoxiao, still unconscious on his shoulder. “Aren’t you a man? Why are you so afraid of a woman?” He punctuated this by giving Mo Xiaoxiao a solid slap on the butt.

The loud smack made Zhao Bai’s face twitch. Fine, let him be cocky—for now. When she wakes up, I’ll see how you deal with it.

Suddenly, Xiao Zhang noticed a strange symbol appearing on his map, slowly approaching their position.

“What the hell is that?”

“What?” Zhao Bai was puzzled.

“Oh.” Xiao Zhang manifested the map screen. “Look, what do you think this is?”

“That looks like a shop icon!” Zhao Bai examined it closely. “But whatever it is, it’s almost on top of us.”

“Yeah!” Xiao Zhang snapped to attention. It was nearly here. Damn, he quickly pulled out his wrench. Even though he’d taken a good knife from the wraith, he still felt more comfortable with his wrench.

Seeing Xiao Zhang arm himself, Zhao Bai itched for a weapon too. “Doggy, give me back the knife I was using before.”

“Sure.” Xiao Zhang handed the knife over. After all, Zhao Bai didn’t have a system inventory.

The symbol kept drawing nearer, though its pace grew slower, as if the other side was being cautious.

“Who’s there? Come out!” Xiao Zhang deliberately called out in a loud voice.

A small figure emerged timidly from the trees and approached them carefully.

…

It was a child, no more than ten years old, dressed in what looked like traditional Chinese clothing, a little cap perched on his head, a hint of fear and nervousness on his face.

“Who are you?” Xiao Zhang demanded in a deep voice, raising the wrench in his hand for emphasis.

Zhao Bai brandished his sword as well. After all, it wasn’t normal for a child to appear out here in the wilderness.

“P-please, don’t hurt me…” the child whimpered, voice trembling with tears.

“Holy crap, it really is a kid?” Xiao Zhang stared at the boy, who looked no older than ten. “Hey, little buddy, why are you out here all alone?”

“Mister, are you a minion?” the child sobbed.

Zhao Bai couldn’t help but snort with laughter, while Xiao Zhang’s face was a mask of exasperation.

As he thought about it, Xiao Zhang realized the term sounded suspiciously like something the system would say. “Hey, who sent you here?”

The child rummaged in his pocket, producing a short piece of metal and handing it to Xiao Zhang.

…

After three minutes listening to the message the system had left with the little girl, Xiao Zhang had a rough grasp of the situation.

“Xiao Bai, you’ll stick with me from now on. I’ll protect you,” Xiao Zhang smiled. After all, this was his shop, and such an adorable little girl was far preferable to that annoying system.

Tushan Bai, who had been sobbing moments before, quieted down. “Okay, big brother!”

Zhao Bai was left baffled by the sudden appearance of a little sister. “Doggy, who is she?”

Xiao Zhang pulled Tushan Bai closer and introduced her to Zhao Bai. “This is my sister, Tushan Bai.”