Chapter 1616: Little Jackals

Little Jackals

Chen Ling wouldn't forget that he came to the Hidden Clouds Domain precisely because of that mysterious Invitation Card from the Jinghong Theater.

Although there were some twists and turns on the way to the Hidden Clouds Domain, and although the method of entering the city was somewhat unexpected... Chen Ling didn't plan on wasting time in this Clinic.

Regardless of what Doctor Jia's mental journey was, and regardless of whether he had truly exerted his full effort to treat him, since the other party had fished him back, Chen Ling naturally had to give some feedback... Since he liked gold, silver, and jewelry, then such a large Gold Brick was already enough to pay off this favor.

"...Jinghong Theater?" Doctor Jia thought carefully for a moment. "Not sure, I haven't really heard of it."

"Then do you know where Grain Rain Street is?"

"I know this one. It's in the southwest, quite a distance away."

"Alright, thank you."

Chen Ling simply replied and pushed his wheelchair out of the Clinic.

...

The streets of the Hidden Clouds Domain were even more desolate than Chen Ling had imagined.

This wasn't to say that the infrastructure of the Hidden Clouds Domain was dilapidated. On the contrary, whether it was the streets or the buildings, the Hidden Clouds Domain was better than the vast majority of Domains Chen Ling had seen. Just like the South Sea Domain, there were a large number of green belts by the roadside. It was just that perhaps because no one had taken care of them for too long, these plants had all withered and died. Coupled with the fact that there were almost no pedestrians to be seen on the road, it instead gave off a withered and desolate feeling.

Chen Ling's gaze swept across his surroundings. Not a single shop along the street was open. Even most of the storefronts and signboards were covered in dust, as if they hadn't opened for business in a long time. The residential areas behind the Alleyways were even more deathly still, as if hardly anyone lived there at all.

Chen Ling pushed his wheelchair, continuously advancing towards the southwest direction Doctor Jia had pointed out. Right at this moment, a familiar figure entered his line of sight.

"Cut the crap!! Hand over the Bread quickly!!"

"Brother A-Qiang, we all grew up in the same block, and we're really starving... Since you have Bread, take it out and share it with your younger brothers!"

"The government's relief grain hasn't come down yet. Can you bear to just watch us starve like this?"

"..."

The ones speaking were a group of twelve or thirteen-year-old youths. The oldest looked to be fourteen or fifteen, and the youngest was only in his early tens. Each and every one of them had sallow faces and emaciated bodies, wearing tattered clothes. They were currently surrounding a mother and son.

The ones they were surrounding were none other than A-Qiang and his Mother, who had just come out of Doctor Jia's Clinic. A-Qiang carried the basket in one hand and protected the Mother on his back with the other. His expression was somewhat ugly as he looked at these children:

"I... I don't have any Bread!"

"You're lying! I can already smell the Bread!" A little boy immediately shouted loudly. He stared intently at that basket, swallowing a mouthful of saliva fiercely.

"This... This is our family's last ration! Our family has three mouths to feed, there's absolutely no extra to share with you." A-Qiang retreated while warily watching these wolf-like children.

Seeing this, the old Mother on his back had eyes full of sorrow:

"Robbing in broad daylight on the street? Is this how your parents taught you??"

"Parents? Hehe... My dad was forced to go to the Spirit Void Domain and was already executed by firing squad. My mom also died of illness... Now I'm the only one left in my family!"

The tallest fourteen or fifteen-year-old child pulled out a sharp fruit knife from behind his waist, a trace of ferocity surfacing on his tender face. "If you don't give me the Bread, I'll send you down to see them!"

"Give it to me!"

"Hand over the Bread!!"

Under the coercion of this group of children, the young man could only continuously retreat with his Mother on his back. Seeing that he still had no intention of handing over the Bread, the tallest child waved his hand:

"Just snatch it!!"

One young jackal after another swarmed forward.

Although the young man was older and taller than them, carrying his Mother on his back meant he simply couldn't fight. He could only protect the Bread and his Mother while constantly dodging. But these children had truly become ruthless. Each of them held fruit knives or steel pipes, swinging them crazily at the two of them.

The leading boy seized an opportunity. Veins popped out on his neck as he directly thrust a knife toward A-Qiang's lower abdomen. At the same time, another child beside him quickly reached out to snatch that Bread basket...

Right at this moment, a tiny afterimage tore through the air!

Clang—!!

The tip of the knife, which had already touched the young man's skin, was suddenly struck by a flying coin, letting out a crisp buzz. The terrifying force directly sent it flying from the boy's hand!

After knocking away the blade, the coin spun rapidly in the air, precisely ricocheting toward the arm of the boy snatching the basket to the side, directly flipping that child's body away, crashing heavily to the ground like a sandbag.

All of this happened too suddenly. In just the blink of an eye, two children had fallen to the ground, and the rest of the children were directly stunned...

Ding, clang—

They saw a coin fall to the ground, bounce lightly twice, and then continuously roll backward along the road surface... finally hitting the edge of a wheelchair and wobbling to a stop on the ground.

Chen Ling gently raised his hand, and that coin flew back into his hand on its own. His slender knuckles played with it casually. The coin fluttered between his fingers like a butterfly, making one dizzy just looking at it...

This coin was a corner of the Red Star Fragment that Chen Ling had brought out from the depths of the Civilization Embers. Right now, he was continuously relying on the power within it to replenish his Spiritual Power, but to outsiders, this was a naked provocation and showing off.

"Who... who are you??" The boy who had been knocked to the ground scrambled up, looking at the person in the wheelchair with somewhat terrified eyes.

Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to waste breath on this group of children and said coldly:

"Scram."

This simple word seemed to contain extremely strong oppressive force, instantly scaring all the children stiff on the spot... Right at this moment, several figures quickly ran over here!

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

"The City Guard is here!" A child spoke somewhat fearfully.

The leading boy rolled his eyes, and his body, which had just stood up, directly lay back on the ground again. Then, with a tearful face, he pointed at Chen Ling sitting in the wheelchair and shouted:

"Uncles, help!! This person popped out of nowhere! He hit us as soon as he saw us! He even wants to rob us!!"

As soon as these words came out, the other children also reacted and followed suit, pointing at Chen Ling and crying loudly:

"Yeah, uncles!! Quickly catch him!"

"He seems to have special powers. He just raised his hand, and we all fell down... He's obviously not a good person!!"

"My hand hurts so much... I think it's broken!!"

"..."

The crying complaints of a group of children are always the most capable of arousing people's protective desires. Those few figures of the City Guard frowned and looked at Chen Ling. After warily sizing him up for a moment, they walked straight over here.

Looking at the few people trying hard to act before him, Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.

Just as he was about to lose his patience, preparing to directly knock this entire group of people out and then sweep away their memories, a familiar figure in green clothes slowly walked out from behind those arriving City Guards... The instant he saw him, Chen Ling's whole person froze in place.