Chapter 22: Card Friend

Obtained E-level Occupation: Experienced Quack Doctor.

Explanation: On the path of medicine, you have failed again. You inexplicably feel bewildered, helpless, cold; a huge sense of guilt envelops you. Yet deep inside, a feeling of unwillingness wells up—you want to prove yourself, you tell yourself this is merely a coincidence. But——why are you smiling?

Obtained Occupation Specialty: Precise Mis-blade.

Precise Mis-blade: Agility bonus increases by one level; you gain surgical‑grade knife‑handling experience, and your medical tools involuntarily veer toward the patient's vital spots. When treating vital spots, the damage dealt is doubled.

Path: Continue accumulating experience from treating patients who die, and you will gain a new D-level Occupation: Black-heart Chief Physician (2/100), along with the occupation‑specific ceremonial attire.

You have taken another step forward on the path of legend!

The battle ended.

The enhancement status attached to the body faded,

A wave of uncontrollable fatigue and soreness surged throughout the body,

Although I really wanted to complain about this newly obtained path,

but Su Ya simply had no strength left.

Life force was draining, stamina nearly exhausted, and the magic circuit etched into the body seemed to keep devouring the little remaining strength.

He thudded onto Xiugusi's corpse, feeling as if his eyelids were fighting each other.

and the pungent smell of blood roused him again,

now is not the time to rest.

He braced himself on the ground and barely stood up, looking around.

On the plain,

two warhorses collided into a heap and lay motionless on the ground, no longer usable for riding.

In the distance, the ruined city shrouded in smoke stood like a mirage, visible yet unattainable.

and his destination lay even beyond that conquered city.

Su Ya stared blankly toward the direction past the ruined city, slightly dazed.

At that moment,

"Hey, are you alright?"

Mei Li's voice came from behind; Su Ya turned his head and saw her shakily rise to her feet, hands supporting her legs, walking toward him.

Despite having just gone through such a fierce battle, her clothes were still clean, making Su Ya feel envious.

Su Ya instinctively wanted to retort, "I'm not "Hey," my name is…," but thinking that made the scene feel like it was being filmed as an idol drama,

that would be too creepy,

as a buddy, I've sworn to become a tough guy like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger, or at least a protagonist like Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin,

So, although his wounds all over hurt enough to make him grit his teeth, Su Ya still turned away, crossed his arms, and gave a muffled hum,

"I'm fine."

Mei Li gave Su Ya a strange look as his demeanor suddenly turned tough,

No, there's no audience here,

why does your posture look so resolute, as if you're about to mount a horse, draw your gun, and charge another round against the Conquest King's army?

Mei Li rubbed her forehead: "What on earth are you thinking?"

Su Ya, with his back turned, stayed silent for a moment, then spoke hopefully:

"I'm wondering, do you have a magical conch or a magic broom—you know, uh, a magic carpet would work too—we could ride the broom back to the capital, then I'll inherit the throne and appoint you as Britannia's Chief Grand Mage!"

"Is that how the plot goes?"

"How could such a thing possibly exist!?"

Mei Li said: "I'm a magician, not a mage—do you understand?"

"But without that, how are we supposed to run!?"

Su Ya turned his head, his expression almost breaking, as if squeezing out an ugly smile from extreme despair and pain.

He drew the silver treasure reins,

"Shall I ride you?"

"I'll bite you to death!"

Mei Li firmly gritted her teeth and retorted:

"If you keep using the treasure, you'll die, and besides, your condition no longer supports continuing combat."

"So what?" Su Ya stared at him, asking blankly:

"The horses are gone, we can't run—are we just going to wait here to die?"

"Foolish!" Mei Li snorted coldly,

"If the horses are gone, just steal another; if you can't run, then don't run."

"There are always more solutions than problems!"

"Like this, listen to me—later we'll head back."

"Head back?" Su Ya raised his voice, looking at Mei Li with shock, thinking, "Has this sand‑avoidance formation worn off?"

Mei Li took a deep breath, nodded solemnly,

her rose‑red pupils fixed on Su Ya, showing an expression of utter helplessness toward him,

"We'll stay right here, annihilate the Conquest King's entire legion, then seize a horse and ride back to the capital."

Su Ya thought to himself, "As expected, this sand‑avoidance formation has worn off."

Is this due to excessive magic consumption? Does overuse of magic also lower IQ? Don't you realize you look completely spacey right now?

Su Ya couldn't help laughing: "You're really an idea king!"

Mei Li blinked, asking: "What's an 'idea king'?"

"I'm bragging about you."

"Humph."

Su Ya stared at the small, unrefuted proud expression that rose on Mei Li's face, and couldn't help but be stunned.

Then he laughed heartily.

If this is a dream,

but before the dream ends, I can still, after such a thrilling battle, meet such an interesting person.

"Then, let's stop here."

Even though I still want to keep going, even though I still want to continue this marvelous adventure in this world,

but,

if it ends just like this.

Su Ya clenched his fists, feeling the emotion rising from deep within his heart.

So, still unwilling, huh?

At that moment,

In the distance, a thunderous, thunderclap‑like warhorse sound already rang out.

At the high point at the far end of his sight, at the western pass, a black dot suddenly appeared.

Immediately after, more black dots emerged, gathering into a tide,

A cavalry corps of thousands surged forward at the death god's dance step!

Facing such a formation, Su Ya couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva hard, and beside him, Mei Li's expression also turned serious.

"Can you play cards?"

Su Ya thought he heard things, blinked, and suddenly turned his head,

"What?"

No, you damn woman, what are you saying?

Why would you ask me if I can play cards at such a life‑or‑death moment? Moreover, playing cards in Britannia should correspond to a medieval fictional kingdom of the 5th century AD, and poker shouldn't have been invented yet at that era, right?

"Let me ask again, can you play cards? Or, would you be willing to learn how to play?"

Mei Li's expression was quite serious, as if this mattered greatly to her.

Su Ya was baffled, but instinctively nodded,

He felt as if he were hallucinating a bizarre scene where a magical girl, about to be tricked into signing a contract, pulls out a wand and starts transforming with flashy effects.

"I can still play Dou Di Zhu, and poker, of course."

"If it's not Dou Di Zhu, then what is it? Never mind, what you need to learn is—"

Mei Li opened her mouth with a solemn face and said:

"Blackjack."

"Are you willing to learn?"

Su Ya thought for a moment; Blackjack is also a poker variant,

that is, using four decks of cards minus the jokers, totaling 208 cards, the players aim to make the sum of their hand's points not exceed 21 and be as high as possible.

The reason this poker game stuck in the memory of a generally non‑gambler Su Ya is that in *Dragon Tribe 4*, Senior Brother Chu opened by force‑memorizing twelve decks and beat the legendary Gambling King Vincent to the point of exhaustion,

but what does Blackjack have to do with the current situation?!

Could playing cards actually defeat this whole Macedonian cavalry?

"I can learn, but don't expect me to be as awesome as Chu Zihang; I'm not good at memorizing cards."

"Chu Zihang, who is that?" Mei Li frowned oddly, then nodded,

"That's enough."

"Rest assured, I won't let the important card partner get into trouble—"

Mei Li, with a solemn face, raised her arm, extended a finger, pointing at the approaching allied cavalry army,

"Next, I will unleash a very powerful strike to force them back, then you find the right moment to seize a horse, understand?"

(End of Chapter)