Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ambush and Unexpected Events

Although Xia Zili was somewhat polite and formal during their very first meeting, as the two of them grew closer, one would realize that she was actually a very easygoing and friendly young girl without any pretense of being a major celebrity—even easier to talk to than most ordinary people.

"Actually, the elf race can be roughly divided into five branches," Xia Zili said, sitting on the sofa and explaining with great enthusiasm. "Of course, humans probably think they all look the same."

"The five major branches are High Elves, Wood Elves, Wild Elves, Snow Elves, and Dark Elves. They have different languages and different cultures, and can even be roughly distinguished by their facial features."

"High Elves have golden hair and blue eyes, Wood Elves have red hair and freckles, Wild Elves have black hair and like to stick together, Snow Elves are accustomed to the cold and are crude and barbarous, and Dark Elves have hook noses and are calculating... Of course, some of these are stereotypes, but overall they are pretty close."

"Is it really that simple?" Chen Zi'ang said with a chuckle, "Identifying races by their hair and habits?"

"If they have been mixed-blood for many generations, it might become rather difficult to tell," Xia Zili replied. "By the way, doesn't humanity have similar divisions over here? Like the Land Clan, the Island Clan, and so on."

"Mm, though we all look pretty much the same over here; it's mainly cultural differences," Chen Zi'ang answered. "To use stereotypes again: the Land Clan values authority and honor, the Island Clan is forbearing and cunning, the Mountain Clan is hot-tempered and shortsighted, and the Marsh Clan is primitive and ignorant. It's just that because the Empire here implements a policy of unification, everyone takes the Land Clan as a role model, so the habits of various clans are basically converging at present."

"Take the Takamagahara Star Zone, for example; over ninety percent are Island Clan, right? Yet everyone speaks the Land Clan language and writes the Land Clan script. Unless someone explicitly states their ancestry, even a pure-blood Island Clan member of generations past is very hard to distinguish."

"Perhaps precisely because all human clans look more or less the same, they are extremely sensitive to the appearances of alien races," Xia Zili said with a wry smile. "I remember that no matter where I went in the past, everyone would stare at my golden hair and pointed ears, making me feel like an outcast."

"So in order to get rid of this 'alien attention,' you had to embark on another path full of fame and fortune," Chen Zi'ang joked. "Now, no matter where you go, nobody stares at your hair and ears anymore; they just rush over to ask for autographs and group photos."

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have gone into music," Xia Zili said with depression. "Now I get recognized even when going to the convenience store, so I can only order takeout."

"Order takeout?" Chen Zi'ang asked in confusion. "Really, doesn't your home have a butler and servants?"

"Hey, you've been to my house!" Xia Zili said in a coquettish tone. "I'm not some kind of aristocrat!"

For some reason, the second half of her sentence seemed to carry a trace of a guilty conscience, but Chen Zi'ang didn't think much of it. Just as he was about to continue teasing the major celebrity, he suddenly heard the sound of glass shattering outside.

The direction of the sound... was the kitchen?

Chen Zi'ang quickly stood up and rushed to the kitchen doorway, just in time to see another stone crash through the window and fly inside.

"Land Clan get out of Takamagahara!" sporadic shouts echoed from outside.

Chen Zi'ang: ? ? ? ! ! !

What the hell, I was just explaining the unification of our human race to a half-elf a moment ago, and now you lot are out here causing trouble for me?

"Stay inside the house and don't move around," he quickly walked over to the entrance foyer, instructing Xia Zili, "I'll go out and take a look."

"Be careful," Xia Zili said with concern.

"Don't worry," Chen Zi'ang patted the sidearm at his waist.

Firearms were not very high in killing efficiency against anomalies, which was why he preferred using the Mandragora magical sword when fighting anomalies in the past.

However, when dealing with humans... wearing a long sword at your waist has very little deterrence, whereas carrying a sidearm—even without firing it—can intimidate many scoundrels with ill intentions.

Pushing the door open, Chen Zi'ang quietly stepped outside and saw a few delinquent youths laughing uproariously outside his courtyard wall.

They seemed drunk, as there were discarded liquor bottles scattered around them, and a few of them were bent over searching the ground for stones.

Chen Zi'ang quickly counted the heads: five. Not very many. The key was to scare them off as quickly as possible.

If the opponents came to their senses and tried to put up stubborn resistance using their numerical advantage, he would have no choice but to use his sidearm... Once a gun was fired, regardless of whether anyone was hit, the severity of the matter would escalate to a whole new level.

So, it was best to resolve this without bloodshed if possible.

He suddenly rushed out from his hiding spot and swiftly kicked the youth standing closest to him.

His physical fitness, enhanced by the Seed, combined with years of experience fighting anomalies, meant that ordinary adult men were simply no match for him.

Taken completely by surprise, the delinquent youth took a direct kick to the chest and flew backward before he even had time to scream.

Chen Zi'ang used the momentum of the kick to check his forward rush, spun around, and delivered a straight punch directly at the second hoodlum standing nearby.

The force of a punch was far inferior to a kick, so it merely sent the opponent stumbling. The remaining three reacted immediately: one tried to circle around to cut off his escape route, while the other two rapidly advanced from the left and right, hurling insults in dialect like "teme" and "shine."

Chen Zi'ang drew his pistol from his waist.

The moment the handgun appeared, the scene suddenly fell quiet.

Aside from the hoodlum who had been kicked flying at the very start and was now sprawled on the ground, all the others wore expressions of terror and cowardice, resembling a pack of wolves that had charged into an abandoned sheepfold to slaughter, only to find a tiger crouching inside...

"Scram!" Chen Zi'ang roared angrily, flicking off the safety with his thumb.

However, the three hoodlums in front did not immediately turn and flee. Instead, they raised their hands, slowly backing away while staring at him without blinking an eye.

This was a very ominous sign, indicating that the men opposite had not truly lost their courage to fight and seemed to be testing the authenticity of the firearm in his hand.

Of course, the moment Chen Zi'ang pulled the trigger toward the sky, the hoodlums would scatter instantly, but the gunshot would alert or frighten the neighbors, and he would subsequently have to report to the security office on "why he fired"—things would become extremely troublesome.

Therefore, Chen Zi'ang merely maintained his gun-raising posture and shouted harshly:

"Keep backing up!"

The three men were still retreating slowly; their expressions showed lingering fear, yet they also seemed to be waiting for something.

"Careful!" Xia Zili's cry suddenly rang out from behind.

A fierce rush of wind came from the back of his head. Without even thinking, Chen Zi'ang instinctively stepped forward while a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

Five people: three in front, one on the ground—where was the last one?

Before he could turn around to confirm the situation, the sneak attack from behind failed to land as expected, replaced instead by a sharp, agonizing scream.

Taking advantage of the moment, Chen Zi'ang dashed forward another short distance and then whipped his head around like lightning.

Then he saw that the hoodlum who had attempted to ambush him from behind still had a shattered glass liquor bottle in his right hand, his face filled with terror and... pain?

Because the lower half of the man's body had already been swallowed inside the mouth of a monster.

The monster's appearance was quite bizarre: its lower half consisted of thick, robust legs and hooves like those of an ox or sheep, while its upper half possessed numerous upward-reaching tentacles like an octopus. At the center of its body was a gruesome, giant maw, writhing as it devoured the struggling hoodlum. No matter how frantically the man stabbed at it with the jagged bottle shards or struggled, its movements never stopped for even a fraction of a second.

Standing behind the monster was a bewildered and flustered Xia Zili.

She still maintained the posture of commanding the monster to "go save him," her right arm raised and pointing straight ahead, but her exquisite and beautiful face was likewise filled with shock and dismay.