"Why are you here?" Cham picked up Boshan and limped towards the train. "Where's Xia?"

"She's already joined the others... retreating towards the Hidden Forest," Boshan managed a smile. "As for me... if I hadn't come to help, you'd probably all be dead here, so... are you blaming me for this?"

"Uh, I just—"

"Think I'm not suited for the battlefield?" she retorted weakly. "Don't forget I'm a combat witch, cough... I was fighting for survival when you were still playing in the mud."

Even in this condition, she doesn't forget to criticize herself. Really not cute at all.

But hearing that Xia had already left, Cham suddenly felt relieved.

Probably Hank did a good job with what he was told to do.

At this moment, the sound of squirming came from behind them again.

Cham looked back and saw the worm monster, its mouth full of blood, starting to swell up again.

"Damn it, it never ends..."

He slowly moved to the side of the carriage and placed Boshan on the ground.

"That's right, escape while you still can." Boshan took a long breath. "Your cowardly companions have already run away, leaving me here can at least – hey," her face suddenly changed. "What do you want to do?"

Cham sat down cross-legged and pressed the bullets in his bag into the empty magazines one by one. "Isn't it obvious? You can't outrun the Evil Beasts with you."

"Then you should leave me and run away alone!"

"Is that what you used to do? But in the First Army, His Majesty taught us to fight for ordinary people. I can't abandon you, an ordinary person, and let you buy time while I escape alone."

Boshan couldn't help but be stunned, probably not expecting to be classified as an ordinary person one day.

Cham placed all the magazines beside him, leaned over and propped up his long gun. "Besides... the longer I hold off the enemy, the safer Xia will be, so stop complaining."

He didn't blame the militiamen. They weren't regular soldiers to begin with. Their main responsibility was to protect the yard and the station from theft and robbery. Asking them to deal with monsters like Hellbeasts was really making things difficult for them. It was already good that they had lasted this long.

"You..." Boshan seemed to want to say something, but finally closed her mouth.

"They're coming." Cham aimed at the newly ejected Evil Beast and pulled the trigger—

The crisp sound of gunfire echoed on the plain, much thinner than at the beginning. The muzzle of the gun, emitting wisps of smoke, was always aimed at the most threatening target, while the nimble and small Evil Beasts were completely left to the people around him. There was no communication between the two sides, but a strange tacit understanding was formed. This sense of trust actually gave him some illusions of fighting in the army.

It seemed like he had resisted for a long time, and it seemed like only a short moment. Due to blood loss, his vision gradually became blurred, and his hands and feet became more and more sluggish. On the contrary, Boshan, who was more seriously injured than him, still didn't fall. She wrapped her clothes around one arm as bait, while the other hand was a deadly weapon. Small Evil Beasts like Wolf hybrids and Fox hybrids would be injured or die if they touched her.

Unexpectedly, Cham didn't find much despair on her face. Her expression was completely unlike a seriously injured person. Her highly concentrated attention, decisive movements, and blood-stained eyebrows made Boshan completely different from the impression he had in his memory—this made him realize that this was what a "combat witch" should look like.

She had lost everything she was good at, but at this moment, she became her true self again.

A new hybrid emerged from the worm's body. The two knew this was the last moment.

"What a pity about that theater ticket..." Boshan moved back to his side, with a hint of banter at the corner of her mouth. "If you die here... I can rest assured, at least I don't have to worry about Xia being deceived by you..."

Sure enough... this guy is not cute at all.

Cham snorted angrily. "Yes, the most regrettable thing is you, being stuck with me at the last moment—"

"No..." she interrupted unexpectedly, "Actually, I think—"

"Woo——————————"

The sharp whistle covered her words, and then a group of flames exploded around the worm, and the rising smoke and gravel temporarily stopped the Evil Beast's actions.

Cham suddenly perked up. He propped up his body and looked in the direction of the whistle.

A black armored train appeared on the horizon behind them, and the turrets on top were constantly flashing with fire.

It was the Black River, which galloped across the Fertile Plains during the Northern Expedition, connecting the various stations!

He excitedly shook Boshan, "Do you see it! It's the Black River—our reinforcements have arrived!"

The latter didn't give him any reaction.

"Hey..." Cham turned his head sharply, only to see that the other party had closed her eyes and slid softly to the side of the carriage.

"Wake up, hey, wake up!" But no matter how he shook her, Boshan didn't open her eyes again.

...

The next time he saw her was two days later.

"This is her room, do you need me to knock on the door for you?" Camila, the chief steward of the Sleeping Spell, asked.

"No, thank you, I'll do it myself." Cham quickly bowed to the other party. This was the first time he had gone to a witch's residence to visit—this place was not allowed to be entered and exited at will by outsiders, only those invited by the residents could enter. He was holding a try-it-out mentality, but he didn't expect to get approval so quickly.

"Then please pay attention to the time." Camila nodded, then turned and left.

Cham breathed a sigh of relief.

Thinking of the scene two days ago, he felt quite embarrassed. Even now, the medical staff's admonition was still ringing in his ears.

"She hasn't died yet. If you keep shaking her like this, you might actually shake her to death! Honestly, you've been on the battlefield, but you don't know that it's easy to cause exhaustion and syncope after holding on for a breath and suddenly relaxing. Don't railway soldiers receive emergency medical training? You only know how to shout, could she be someone important to you?"

Cham quickly shook his head, forcibly dispelling these annoying memories.

In fact, after learning that Boshan was still alive, he didn't have to rush to see her so much. After all, from the outside, it was difficult to tell who was visiting whom at the moment—he was covered in bandages, and every movement caused pain all over his body, which was really embarrassing. But even after hearing it, he always felt that if he didn't see it with his own eyes, he wouldn't be able to let go of his heart.

Thinking of this, he reached out and knocked on the door.

"Coming."

The door opened in response, and what came into view was Xia.

"It really is you." She showed a happy smile. "When I just received the notice from Lord Camila, she hadn't said her name yet, so I guessed it was you. Thank you for saving Boshan!"

"Hey, you're wrong, I'm the one who saved him." A familiar voice sounded in the room.

Cham walked into the room and saw Boshan sitting on the head of the bed at a glance. The sunlight shone in from the window, illuminating half of her cheek and brown short hair—what surprised him was that the other party's injuries were obviously much more serious, but her spirit seemed to be better than his.

Of course, she was also wrapped in bandages, even her head was no exception.

"There's nothing unusual about it," Boshan shrugged, as if seeing his doubts. "The witch's body is stronger than ordinary people in all aspects, so it will naturally recover much faster. So..." she paused, "Don't think you'll have a chance to be alone with Xia."

A stomach full of comforting words disappeared in an instant. Cham silently rolled his eyes. He could see that this guy didn't need anyone's concern at all.

"In that case, then I'll say goodbye."

"Eh, are you leaving now?" Xia asked in surprise.

"Of course, standing is not conducive to recuperation, especially for me, who is not as good as her in all aspects." Cham looked at Boshan provocatively. "I have to get better quickly, and then ask you before she does... ask you—to see a play."

"Ask me?" Xia smiled with curved eyes, "Okay."

Wait, she agreed so quickly?

"Don't even think about it!" Boshan said coldly, "I will definitely get better faster than you!"

"Then try it."

"Try it and see!"

The two glared at each other and started their usual quarrel. Xia tilted her head and stood aside with a smile, looking like she was happy for the reunion of the two after the disaster.

When he walked out of the door, Cham suddenly remembered the words that were covered by the whistle and turned back to ask, "By the way, what were you saying before you passed out last time?"

"Nothing," Boshan said nonchalantly, "I was already confused when the train arrived, so you probably misremembered it."

"Okay." Cham rubbed his head and closed the door.

"What was he asking about?" Xia asked curiously.

"Just nonsense." Boshan raised the corner of her mouth and tilted her head to meet the sunlight.

——This is not bad either.