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"Cough—cough—cough—" Ken Lin's weak coughing came from ahead. Shawn Young hurried over and saw Ken Lin leaning against a wall, his face pale as gold paper, chest heaving violently, and dried blood at the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he’d suffered serious internal injuries; it seemed that the swipe from that Blackblood Sewer Fiend had thrown even the skilled Ken Lin hard against the wall.
"Ken, are you—are you holding up?" Shawn Young supported Ken Lin and asked with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, not dead yet. Damn, that thousand-year-old rat demon is really fierce! Good thing you were prepared, bro! I never thought regular high-concentration musk could take it down! Cough, cough—" Ken Lin said with deep emotion. He hadn’t passed out, so he knew exactly what had happened.
Meanwhile, Leo Bright—the 'Fat Dragon'—had already run a dozen meters away, scooping up the unconscious 'Lean Tiger,' Gavin Strong, from the water. Without even checking if he was breathing, Leo excitedly slapped Gavin’s thin face, shook him hard, and shouted, "Gavin! Gavin, buddy! You’re not dead, are you? Don’t scare me, man! I don’t want to wander the streets alone! Boohoo—Gavin—"
Leo Bright kept shaking the unconscious Gavin Strong, slapping his monkey-thin face and pounding his chest in despair. The scene was just like the second brother in Journey to the West calling out for the big brother—tragic and hilarious.
"Cough—cough—damn it—who’s slapping my face? Is this fun for you? When I wake up, I’ll cut your little—cut it into three pieces! Feed it to the dogs, to the turtles, to the birds—" Gavin Strong was jolted awake by Leo Bright’s endless shaking. Always one to never take a loss, Gavin started grumbling the moment he came to.
Actually, Gavin Strong had only been thrown too far and knocked out on impact—no real injuries to his bones or muscles. His situation was much better than Ken Lin, who’d been slammed into the wall.
"Whoa! Gavin, you’re not dead!? I’m so happy, really so happy!! Damn, I haven’t been this sad in ages—you sure know how to surprise people! Boohoo—" Leo Bright got so emotional, his fat hands shook Gavin Strong even harder, making the barely-awake Gavin feel dizzy. Gavin was already pretty scrawny, and with Leo’s wild shaking, he nearly threw up his dinner from the night before.
"Damn it, Leo, stop shaking me! If you keep it up, I’ll fall apart! I’m not dead yet, but if you don’t let go, I’ll flip out! Let go, now! Or I swear I’ll lose it—" Gavin Strong shouted, thoroughly exasperated.
"Oh—got a bit too excited—" At that moment, Leo Bright finally realized his impulsiveness and let go instinctively. Gavin Strong fell face-first onto the floor, ending up covered in dust.
"Damn it—Leo Bright, you jerk! Is this fun for you? You want to drop me? Take this!" Gavin Strong scrambled up from the floor and immediately kicked Leo Bright hard on his big butt, sending him tumbling into the water.
"Whoa—Gavin, I didn’t mean to drop you! You told me to let go—" Leo Bright poked his head out of the water, shouting in protest, looking utterly wronged.
"Just because I said let go doesn’t mean you should! Are you brain-dead? Damn it—" Gavin Strong grumbled, still annoyed.
"So what do you want from me? No matter what I do, you complain. Did that fall knock your brains loose?" Leo Bright shot back, refusing to back down.
"Alright, enough! You two, quit it! Between the two of you, you’re almost a hundred years old and still acting like this! Let’s go, things are settled here for now—let’s head back! None of you have it worse than me!" Ken Lin, leaning on Shawn Young for support, walked over and addressed them both.
"True enough—Ken, you really do look miserable. Probably broke a few bones, huh? Poor guy!" Leo Bright said after seriously eyeing Ken Lin up and down.
"Yeah, looks like you’re way worse off than me! Poor Ken—" Gavin Strong looked relieved; seeing someone worse off made him feel a lot better.
"Damn it! You two illiterate idiots! Don’t ask me to write your reports when we get back—cough—cough—" Ken Lin was so pissed by their words that he started coughing violently.
"Uh—what’s wrong, Ken?" The two brothers seemed either clueless or just pretending not to know.
"Damn it, time to pull out!" Ken Lin mustered his strength and shouted at them.
Shawn Young shook his head, speechless, as he helped Ken Lin forward to a nearby tunnel entrance. The 'Lean Tiger & Fat Dragon' brothers followed behind, muttering to each other, and the four of them climbed a metal ladder out of the sewer.
As soon as they surfaced, the armed police officers guarding the perimeter were still on duty. A fresh breeze blew by, and Shawn Young looked up to see the sky growing pale—it was already dawn. The cool air was refreshing, and the four of them took deep breaths, grateful to escape the foul stench of the sewer.
The officers quickly noticed the four, reported their appearance, and soon the squad leader arrived with several medics and police carrying stretchers.
"I'm gonna go lie down for a bit. Damn, we’ve been at this all night, I’m dead tired—and that rat demon bit me, so I need a rabies shot ASAP. If I turn into a rat one day, that’ll be a disaster—" Leo Bright complained as he climbed onto a stretcher without hesitation.
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"I’m gonna lie down too. Damn, my head’s still spinning. Only a pretty nurse at the hospital can fix me up! Hey guys, can you give me a shake? That feels good, I need some comfort—this is a work injury!" Gavin Strong, never one to miss out, climbed onto a stretcher, squinting and humming, acting so annoyingly that the police carrying him looked ready to drop him.
After the 'Lean Tiger & Fat Dragon' brothers were loaded into the ambulance, Ken Lin lay down on a stretcher and quietly asked Shawn Young, "Hey, brother, I really owe you for this one. But—I don’t even know your name yet. How am I going to write the report? Don’t worry, I won’t put your name in the official paperwork. I really just want to be friends."
"Haha—sure! My name’s Shawn Young. I’m a student at Southern University. I should head back now. Ken, take care and rest up!" Shawn Young replied with a smile. After all, they’d been through life and death together, and Ken was a decent guy. With his skills, if he really wanted to find Shawn, it wouldn’t be hard, so Shawn decided to tell him.
"Alright, Shawn, you’re officially my friend! If I get the chance, I’ll have a good chat with you. Don’t worry, I’ll come to you as a friend, not officially. I’ll have someone drive you back to campus—" Ken Lin smiled, called over the squad leader, and arranged for a military jeep.
"Thanks, Ken! Take care and get some rest. I’m heading back—" Shawn Young got into the jeep, waved to Ken Lin, and the car started up, heading toward Southern University.