# 250
**Chapter 250: Our Cangnan**
Amidst endless wind and snow, a crimson figure wielded twin blades, flickering like a phantom among the giants.
Two pitch-black chains extended from the Yama Hall, linking to the hilts of the blades. With every slash Chen Muye made, the chains pulsed with an eerie dark light.
He flashed forward to a frost giant, and before the creature could swing a fist larger than his entire body, he slashed its chest, leaving a deep gash!
The chains on the hilts surged. The next instant, the frost giant’s soul seemed ripped away—its life snuffed out in a heartbeat.
One after another, frost giants collapsed beneath Chen Muye’s blades. The twin weapons had become the fatal hooks of the Black-and-White Impermanence; wherever they passed, a single strike meant death.
In the space of a breath, he slew several giants of the same rank—power he had never revealed to the rest of Team 136.
Only after the corpses piled up did the remaining giants regard the “ant” before them. Roaring, they condensed endless frost from the void, forging weapons of ice and charging Chen Muye in waves.
Axes, broadswords, javelins, shields…
Rolling cold gnawed at his body, trying to slow him, yet within this Forbidden Ruins he seemed incorporeal; no matter how bitter the chill, his speed never faltered.
He drifted aside from a flurry of strikes, reversed a blade to reap another soul, and with the second weapon parried a frost giant’s axe!
Clang—!
The clear ring echoed as Chen Muye was flung backward. Three more giants surged in, weapons raised!
At the same moment, spears of ice burst from the ground, stabbing toward his spine!
Chen Muye’s face darkened.
A frost long-sword howled in, shattering the ice behind him. Seizing the moment, Chen Muye crossed his blades to catch the descending axes, borrowed their force, spun mid-air, and landed steadily.
He glanced toward the toll station.
A figure in a black windbreaker, hood shadowing his face, walked forward. Reaching into the air, he condensed another frost long-sword.
A gust tore the hood back, revealing a pale, gentle youth.
Chen Muye frowned. “Who are you?”
An Qingyu adjusted his glasses, resignedly pulling the hood up again. “Weren’t you looking for me?”
“The Secret Thief?” Chen Muye’s eyes narrowed. “Why help me?”
“Captain Chen, you misunderstand. I’m not helping you.” An Qingyu stepped beside him. “I’m merely performing a duty any citizen of Cangnan City owes.”
He squinted at the oncoming frost giants, tightening his grip on the frost sword; white light glinted across his lenses.
“After all… if home is destroyed, I’ll truly have nowhere left to go.”
Chen Muye studied him, then the corner of his mouth lifted.
“You’re younger than I imagined. Youth… always carries hope, even without miracles.”
“Miracle?” An Qingyu’s brow knit. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. Perhaps you’ll understand one day.” Chen Muye shook his head, turned, and charged again!
An Qingyu followed.
Crimson and black figures plunged into the giants like twin swords, carving two corridors. An Qingyu flashed atop a giant’s head, raised his frost sword, and split its skull in half!
Blood spattered his lenses. Staring at the exposed brain, a gray film slid across his eyes.
He was analyzing.
“So that’s the structure…” he murmured.
He hurled the frost sword; it pierced another giant’s brow. The moment the tip sank in, the creature bellowed and crashed lifelessly.
“Captain Chen!” he called to Chen Muye, who danced death amid the giants. “Vitals are between the brows and the sixth vertebra!”
Chen Muye raised a brow, drew the star-forged blade from a giant’s chest, and said calmly, “Doesn’t matter. For me, everything dies in one strike.”
An Qingyu: …
“Good news,” he added.
“What?”
“Your teammates are almost here.”
Chen Muye froze. “What?”
Whoosh—!!!
A spear wrapped in rose flames streaked from the sky, skewering a frost giant and slamming into the ground; the blooming fire drove back the surrounding ice.
A lithe figure in a red cloak landed lightly beside the spear, pulled it free, and grinned at the stunned Chen Muye.
“Captain, bet you didn’t expect us back!”
A gauze veil drifted over their bodies. Chen Muye stared at the familiar fabric.
“【Wu Yuan Veil】…”
He turned to see Wu Xiangnan, Wen Qimo, Leng Xuan, and Si Xiaonan already beside him, looking resigned.
“Captain, sneaking us away wasn’t fair,” Wen Qimo chuckled.
“I knew something was off with his expression—still fell for it,” Wu Xiangnan sighed.
“Weren’t you in Shangjing? How’d you return?” Chen Muye gaped.
The four looked sheepish.
Wen Qimo scratched his head. “Captain, any idea how much a wrecked Boeing 737 costs?”
Chen Muye: …
“You… stole a plane and flew back?!”
They nodded.
“Reimbursable, right?” Wen Qimo asked hopefully.
Chen Muye’s mouth twitched. “Maybe… probably.”
They all exhaled in relief.
“Never thought you’d do something so dumb, Chen Muye.”
Wu Xiangnan shook his head and stepped up, Wen Qimo, Leng Xuan, Si Xiaonan, Hongying, and hooded An Qingyu beside him.
“One man playing hero—what kind of hero is that?” Leng Xuan said quietly, glancing toward the distant city. “Cangnan is our Cangnan. If we’re to be heroes, Team 136 does it together… right?”
Chen Muye opened his mouth, closed it, and finally laughed helplessly.
“Can’t talk you out of anything…
Then let’s be heroes—together.”
An Qingyu turned, staring at the line of comrades facing the surging giants, and after a moment the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Seems… not bad at all?”