"If you kneel down in front of me and beg for mercy, I will spare your life," Bruce shouted grimly.
Upon hearing that, Zachary sneered. Although he could feel excruciating pain all over his body, he managed to stand. That was because he knew that falling down would convey his defeat.
Seeing that Zachary was refusing to fall down, Bruce felt even angrier. Lunging forward, he attacked Zachary at lightning speed. And had Zachary taken it this time, he would have been killed, as he was in no condition to withstand the blow.
"That's enough, Bruce." A shadow suddenly appeared in front of Bruce, blocked his next move, and protected Zachary.
"Elva?" Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Zachary immediately recognized the shadow that had saved his life. It was none other than Elva!
"Elva?" Seeing Elva, Bruce raised his eyebrows and told her to get out of his way, as his fight was with Zachary and not her.
"You know very well that he is no match for you. If you really want to fight, fight me," Elva replied coldly.
"You are going to fight against me for him?!" After hearing Elva's words, Bruce became even more furious.
"Yes, he is mine. He can only be killed by me. I will not allow anyone else to kill him," Elva said, bluntly.
"Elva, when did I become yours? You did not do anything to me, did you?" Zachary was stunned when he heard what Elva had said.
However, Elva's words had a different meaning for Bruce and the other Welkin Sect's disciples present.
At once, they shouted aloud.
"Oh, come on! Elva, the Welkin Sect's aloof beauty, has just said that this loser is hers."
"What did I hear you say, Elva? Did I understand what I just heard, correctly? Have you fallen in love with this loser, and you just said that he was yours..."
"Oh, my god! It is like casting pearls before swine!"
"What is your relationship with this guy?" Bruce questioned Elva in an extremely cold tone.
"It is none of your business! Just go! Otherwise, you cannot blame me for not showing mercy to you." Saying that, Elva immediately assumed her combat pose.
When Bruce saw that Elva was ready to fight him, he gave Zachary a black look. Of course, he did not want to fight her. However, now that he had seen that she was protecting Zachary, he snorted and left.
"Bruce..." Benjamin, who was standing on the sidelines, was not happy seeing how the situation had developed. Just when he thought Zachary was finally doomed, Elva had come there and saved him. Therefore, as soon as Bruce left, he glowered at Zachary and immediately followed Bruce, for there was nothing else he could do.
"Are you leaving? Let us keep fighting with each other!" Zachary yelled arrogantly when he saw Bruce leave.
Elva, too, immediately looked back at Zachary, and asked coldly, "Are you ok?"
"I think I should be fine." However, he was not sure about that.
"Just make sure you don't die. Even if you are killed, you must die at my hands!" Elva declared.
Zachary was surprised at what Elva had said. However, before he could think about her words and what she meant by them, he felt dizzy and fell unconscious onto the ground.
"Zachary?" Seeing Zachary faint suddenly, Elva was shocked, as he had been smiling cheekily earlier. She leaned over, placed the back of her hand against his nose, and found that his breathing was becoming weak rapidly. Her expression immediately changed because clearly, Elva was concerned about his health. Instantaneously, in full view of those present, she picked up Zachary and disappeared, leaving behind some shocked Welkin Sect's disciples. They were astounded seeing the drama of the beauty saving the hero unfolded before their eyes.
Zachary woke up after two hours and found that he was in a bamboo house. He could see that someone had treated h
is wounds. On looking around warily, Zachary realized that he was in a woman's bedroom, as he could smell sandalwood's scent everywhere. He also had the uncanny feeling that he knew whose bedroom it was, for it felt familiar to him.
'I wonder if this is Elva's room. But she can't be so kind, can she?' Zachary thought. He could not imagine that Elva would ever be kind to him and heal him.
Just then, the door opened, and a graceful figure entered.
"Elva?" Zachary was surprised to see the figure come in. Now that he knew she had saved him, he was surprised by her act of kindness, as he could never have expected her to do so. However, he saw it as an opportunity to explain the earlier misunderstanding that had happened between them.
"Are you awake? If you are, then, get out of my bed and my room!" Seeing that he was awake, Elva immediately ordered Zachary to leave.
"Why did you save me?" Zachary could not help but ask. According to him, Elva was only supposed to want to kill him. So, it did not make sense that she saved him from Bruce's attack, and then, even healed him in her room.
"I did not save you. You were badly hurt and at least five of your meridians were broken. And as you know, repairing them is next to impossible, unless one can get some kind of precious pill," Elva replied coldly.
"What?" Zachary was stunned on learning from Elva about how severely he had been injured. That was because he had no idea that he had been hurt so badly.
"Now, you can no longer release your martial energy. If you do that, you will be playing with fire," Elva warned.
Zachary frowned, and it was but natural that he was upset at having got so severely wound at that crucial point in his life.
"Don't mess with Bruce any more. You are no match for him. And your injuries tell you exactly what is going to happen to you in case you mess with him," Elva continued. Then she turned and left the room.
After Zachary saw Elva turn and leave, he, too, got out of the bed, picked up his neatly folded robe that was by his bedside, and wore it.
'I could have never imagined that Elva would be my savior. I wonder if it is possible that the system knew I was going to land in a catastrophe and get seriously hurt. Is that why it asked me to steal Elva's brassiere? It probably wanted to let me run into Elva that night because it knew about the series of events that were to take place. Was the system doing all this to attract her attention to me, and let her watch my every move and keep me safe? But why did she save me when she was supposed to wish me ill?' Zachary wondered.
After getting dressed, Zachary walked out of Elva's bamboo house. As soon as he did so, he immediately attracted the attention of numerous female disciples, who lived there. On seeing him, they started whispering to one another and commenting on him. And Zachary could not release his martial energy and even could not use the Shadow Pace, so he had to walk back to the treehouse.
"He's really bold. He dared to take on Bruce, even though doing so was no less than committing suicide!"
"I heard that he was beaten so badly that if Elva had not saved him, he would have died at Bruce's hands."
"He deserved to die. He is the sort of man who does not even deserve to be Bruce's rival."
"He may become a wreck right now. He is so pathetic!"
'Am I really going to be ruined? No! I cannot reconcile myself to becoming a wreck! I cannot be the same, pathetic Zachary, like the one before...' As Zachary walked, he listened to those female disciples who were pointing towards him as they gossiped about him. However, he walked on, looking indifferent, though his clenched fists told a different story—that he would not be discouraged into stopping. He would make Bruce pay for what he had endured this day.