I Am a Rune Engraver, Carrying a Knife Makes Perfect Sense-Chapter 38 - Where’s My Handsome Buzzcut?!

—

In a hazy state, Xu Shen caught a faint, sharp smell. Slowly, he struggled to open his eyes.

Bright, glaring lights gradually came into focus.

What he saw was… a pristine white operating room?

The blinding overhead lights stung his eyes, and waves of weakness and pain surged through his body.

Xu Shen was confused. Why was he in an operating room? His last memory was of killing the Little Blood Ape King, and then… nothing.

“You’re awake? Congratulations, the surgery was a success. You’re a girl now!” A pleasant female voice suddenly spoke from beside him.

Xu Shen: ???

He shot up abruptly, instinctively reaching for his crotch. Feeling what was still there, he let out a sigh of relief. “Still intact.”

He turned to glare at the source of the voice, only to be stunned.

“You again?!” he exclaimed.

Sitting nearby was a beautiful nurse with her hair tied up, wearing a white coat and gold-rimmed glasses. Her shapely legs were clad in flesh-colored stockings.

It was none other than Liu Shaoteng’s younger sister—the same nurse who had patched him up several times before. How was she here at Changbai Mountain?

“Wait… where am I?” Xu Shen suddenly realized something was off. Was this still Changbai Mountain? How did he end up here?

“Where else would you be? This is the frontline living area at Changbai Mountain. This is the most advanced operating room we have,” the nurse replied with a hint of exasperation. “Where did you think you’d be lying?”

She stood up, her hips swaying as she walked over to Xu Shen. With a single finger, she pricked his arm lightly.

Xu Shen felt a strange energy flash through him briefly.

“I really don’t know how you’re cultivating,” she said with a curious tone, licking her lips slightly. “The first time I saw you, you hadn’t even awakened yet and could barely kill a first-tier ghoul.”

“The second time, at my brother’s place, you were already taking down second-tier ghouls.”

“And now… you’ve killed the Little Blood Ape King?”

“Also, what’s your body made of? How is it so durable?” She stared at him with undisguised interest.

When she had been called in for an emergency involving a genius cultivator who was critically injured, with bones and flesh nearly destroyed, she had rushed over only to find it was Xu Shen. To her shock, his bones had already started healing on their own before she even arrived.

Not wanting her trip to be wasted, she had prepared some special medicines to speed up his recovery.

—

“Hahaha! Beautiful nurse, we’ve met so many times, but I still don’t know your name. What’s your name again?” Xu Shen chuckled nervously, trying to change the subject as her intense gaze made him uncomfortable.

“Liu Ling,” she replied, shaking her head as if she could see through his attempt to deflect.

“Sister Ling, am I good to go now?” Xu Shen asked as he began pulling out the tubes attached to his body. He flipped himself off the bed but immediately collapsed to the floor with a loud thud.

“My leg… damn it…” Xu Shen groaned, clutching his right leg as pain shot through it.

Liu Ling’s expression remained indifferent as she explained, “Your right leg was almost completely shattered before I arrived. It’s healed now, but it’s like having a brand-new bone—it’ll feel numb for a while.”

Xu Shen grimaced as he recalled stomping hard on the ground while chasing the Little Blood Ape King. He had heard cracking sounds at the time but hadn’t realized it was his leg breaking.

“How long was I out?” he asked urgently.

“Three days.”

“What about my friends?”

“They’re outside fighting,” Liu Ling replied nonchalantly.

Xu Shen sighed in relief. At least nothing major had happened while he was unconscious.

Liu Ling helped him back onto the bed, her expression unreadable. “Do you know? Killing the Little Blood Ape King almost drew out the Blood Ape King itself.”

“If not for the Guide confronting it from afar in Yuan City, everyone here would’ve died.”

“What?!” Xu Shen nearly jumped out of bed again.

“Relax,” Liu Ling said with a faint smile. “There’s an agreement in place. If the Blood Ape King dares to act, it won’t survive either.”

“What agreement?” Xu Shen asked curiously.

“You’ll find out eventually,” Liu Ling replied as she stood up. “Next time we meet, try not to look so pitiful.” With that, she turned and walked out, her long legs carrying her gracefully away.

—

Feeling bored after she left, Xu Shen grabbed his phone and started browsing.

[Shocking! A peerless warrior kills the Little Blood Ape King, causing the Blood Ape King to roar in fury!]

[Who is this mysterious warrior?]

[Reporters head to Changbai Mountain’s frontlines but find no answers—identity remains a mystery!]

[The Guide manifests a colossal form to confront the Blood Ape King—the sky nearly tears apart!]

Xu Shen narrowed his eyes as he read the headlines. It seemed his actions had caused quite a stir. Yet all information about him had been sealed—no one knew who he was.

Scrolling through thousands of comments speculating about the identity of the “peerless warrior,” Xu Shen added his own:

“Probably some ridiculously handsome buzzcut guy.”

Satisfied with himself, he closed his phone and got up. Using a nearby stand as a makeshift crutch, he hobbled out of the room like an old man.

—

Outside, medical staff bustled about while injured Xinhuo Guards received treatment. Some were missing limbs; others limped along with heavily bandaged legs. The most severely injured had gaping wounds that bled profusely.

Even so, these were the lucky ones—they had survived. Many others had perished on the icy plains beyond…

Xu Shen’s mood darkened as he took in the grim scene. Letting go of his crutch, he slowly made his way toward the entrance.

Cold wind blew through the open doors, ruffling his hair as he stepped outside in his hospital gown.

He froze in surprise.

There was no ongoing battle or cries of war as he had expected. Instead, people sat around campfires drinking and eating. Others rested inside tents, snoring loudly from exhaustion.

The vast snowy plains were littered with ghoul corpses—no living ghouls in sight.

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Suddenly, someone draped a thick black coat over Xu Shen’s shoulders.

“Thanks to you killing the Little Blood Ape King, the corpse apes’ attacks have weakened significantly,” said an elderly man who appeared beside him with a kind smile. The coat clearly belonged to him.

One of his eyes was blind, but the other shone brightly like a star in the night sky.

“And you are…?” Xu Shen asked cautiously, sensing the immense power emanating from this man.

“I’m Xu Wei, one of the captains of Xinhuo Guard here,” the old man replied, patting Xu Shen on the shoulder with a sigh. “What are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know,” Xu Shen admitted after a pause. “I never imagined the frontlines would be this brutal.”

“I always thought battles weren’t this frequent.”

Xu Wei chuckled softly. “Do you know why Xia Nation has endured for so many years?”

“It’s not just because we chose the right path.”

“It’s because we hold onto things we can’t let go of…”

“For family, for brothers and sisters—we’ll give everything to protect them.”

“Even knowing it’s dangerous—even knowing we might die—we still move forward without hesitation.”

His single bright eye fixed on Xu Shen. “That’s the spirit passed down through generations in Xia Nation.”

“You, me, and everyone else standing here—we’re all protecting what lies behind us.”

“Isn’t that right?”

Xu Shen nodded slowly.

“So yes—this brutality can’t be avoided. All we can do is become stronger…” Xu Wei lit a cigarette and took a slow drag before continuing. “Sometimes… anyone can die.”

—

Looking back at the injured being brought in from the plains, Xu Wei added with a smile, “Most of them were just recovered from the battlefield.”

“What about my friends? Are they hurt?” Xu Shen asked, scanning for Wang Qingqing and the others but not seeing them.

“They’re fine—just minor injuries. They’re inside recovering now,” Xu Wei reassured him. “I came to find you because the commander wants to meet you.”

“Meet me?”

“Come along,” Xu Wei said with a smile before turning to lead the way.

—

They entered a tower-like building and took an elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened, they were greeted by a man with graying temples who looked relatively young. He smiled warmly at Xu Shen.

“Hello, Xu Shen. I’m Dong Tianming, commander of Changbai Mountain’s war zone,” he said. “It’s been ten years since we last met.”