Chapter Twenty: The Angel Qingxue

Chapter 20: Angel Qingxue

Angel Qingxue was among the youngest of the angels who had followed the Holy Kaisha to Earth. Though young, her strength was not to be underestimated; this was evident from the fact that she had been chosen to accompany Holy Kaisha to Earth. It was well known that the minimum requirement for Kaisha’s guard was to be a second-generation angel warrior, a high-ranking angel.

During the brutal battle between Holy Kaisha and the demons, Qingxue became separated from her squad and was hunted by three demon lieutenants, fleeing all the way to Guanzhong. Relying on her keen combat instincts, she managed to slay them one against three, but not without sustaining grave injuries and depleting her energy reserves.

Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have been a grave concern. The connection to the Sacred Knowledge Treasury meant her energy could be quickly restored, and her wounds would soon heal. Yet, what had proved her salvation became her downfall. When Holy Kaisha’s terminal went offline, the Sacred Knowledge Treasury shut down automatically, and all its blessings vanished like mist.

This turn of fate left Qingxue in dire straits. After receiving a transmission from Angel Yan, she encountered five reborn demons while passing through Qilu. Spying an injured angel, the demons charged at her with frenzied howls.

Under normal circumstances, these reborn demons were nothing to fear, but Qingxue’s situation was dire—her energy exhausted, her wounds severe. She was an exceptional angel warrior, but when circumstances turned against her, she had no choice but to flee. She escaped all the way to the area controlled by Commander Li’s forces, and thus the previous scene unfolded.

Originally, Qingxue had planned to avoid the humans altogether. She knew that their small arms were useless against reborn demons, and heavy weapons, unless guided, were unlikely to hit their mark. Not wanting to bring calamity upon the human troops, she meant to head north toward Polaris, though she wasn’t sure if her energy would last. For the sake of justice, she was willing to fall here rather than drag humans into death’s shadow.

But to her astonishment, a sudden volley of gunfire rang out, felling four of the reborn demons behind her. Her finely honed instincts made her decide in a flash, and she decapitated the last demon with a single, sweeping sword stroke.

That strike, however, drained the final remnants of her energy. Even the wings of time and space behind her flickered and then vanished. The soldiers below saw the angel, after slaying the last demon, lose the support of her wings. And without the backing of the wings of time and space, even an angel could not escape Earth’s gravity—she plummeted swiftly toward the ground.

Fortunately, Yunyang arrived at that moment. Seeing a beautiful young woman falling from the heavens, he didn’t hesitate—he teleported to the spot and opened his arms, ready to catch her.

Catching the young woman, Yunyang took in her shining silver armor and flowing golden hair, and judged at once that she must be an angel, though her iconic white wings were nowhere to be seen.

Despite holding a delicate beauty in his arms, Yunyang felt nothing romantic. After all, she was gravely wounded and clad in hard, unyielding mithril armor—it left little room for other thoughts.

Even Yunyang, with his half-second-generation body, felt the pain of the armor’s weight. Only out of respect for the lady in his arms did he refrain from dropping her.

Angel Qingxue, realizing her predicament, blushed slightly and spoke, her voice soft.

“Sir… thank you, but you can put me down now. I can still stand—my energy is simply depleted.”

She could tell at a glance that Yunyang was a super soldier; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to withstand her full weight in armor without injury.

Upon hearing Qingxue’s thanks, Yunyang set her down gently, supporting her as they made their way to the patrolling soldiers. Qingxue thanked them each in turn, receiving a slew of concerned greetings before proceeding to the command tent.

Inside the tent, Commander Li was poring over the next day's route when Yunyang entered, supporting a striking young woman. He looked up, surprised—this kid’s only been off duty for a day and already brought back a girl? Impressive. Looks like I can’t let him wander about unchecked. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have him upgrade a tank or two.

Unaware of Old Li’s musings, Yunyang called out as he entered, “Old Li, look who I’ve brought back!”

Old Li searched his memory, but found no recollection of this woman. Then, as realization dawned, he exclaimed, “Your girlfriend? Not bad, she’s pretty. But what happened—did aliens attack you? Niece, come have a seat, tell your uncle who hurt you. I’ll make sure they pay tomorrow.”

Yunyang looked embarrassed, while Qingxue blushed as well. To an angel, with her ageless lifespan, being under a thousand years old was still considered childlike.

“What are you talking about? She’s not my girlfriend—don’t say things like that!” he protested, giving Qingxue an apologetic glance before continuing. “You’ve got to take responsibility for your words. This is…” At this point, Yunyang faltered; though they’d chatted along the way and he’d confirmed she was an angel, he’d forgotten to ask her name. The air grew awkward.

“Qingxue. Angel Qingxue,” she whispered helpfully, sensing his embarrassment.

With gratitude, Yunyang continued, “Yes, Angel Qingxue—an honest-to-goodness angel. Surprised? Excited?”

Old Li gave Yunyang a look of godlike scorn, fetched a chair for Qingxue, and summoned the medic before addressing her directly. “You’re Yunyang’s friend, and I’m his uncle, so I’ll just call you Xiaoxue. My name’s Li Feng; you can call me Uncle Li from now on.”

Qingxue glanced at Yunyang; seeing no objection, she quietly addressed Old Li as Uncle Li.

Old Li’s face split into a wide grin—what soldier wouldn’t be delighted? He’d just gained a beautiful niece, and an angel at that.

After listening to Qingxue’s tale, Old Li’s heart ached for her. He set aside a cot in the medical tent for her, insisting she stay with the medics for proper care.

Once Qingxue had left with the medical staff, Old Li turned to Yunyang with a mock-serious face. “Not bad! You’ve been off duty for a single day and already brought back an angel. Give you a couple more days and you’ll drag in a demon, I suppose.”

Yunyang wanted to protest his innocence—demons weren’t his type, not even the demon queen, too hot-tempered. But before he could get a word out, Old Li interrupted, talking to himself. “Still, demons are the enemy; we can’t have you defecting. Here’s what: we have thirty tanks here. Since you look so idle, go upgrade them.”

He finished with a look that said he was doing Yunyang a favor, nearly earning himself a slap from Yunyang.

In the end, threatened with the loss of their uncle-nephew bond, Yunyang relented. After much argument, he managed to negotiate an extra dish for himself at lunch each day. Both considered themselves the winner, not realizing each thought they’d gotten the better bargain.

The next afternoon, after pitching camp, Yunyang brought Qingxue to the logistics camp. She’d been sent by Old Li, ostensibly as a supervisor, though Yunyang suspected something fishy after hearing laughter behind him as he left his tent.

Determined to do his job well, he set to work analyzing the structure of the tanks. In less than half a minute, he’d figured it out and set about the upgrades. Three hours later, he flopped down in utter exhaustion. The task was superhuman—he’d nearly drained all his energy, and had only managed to strengthen half the tanks, and even then, only improved the material strength. Tanks had far too many parts; there was no comparison with rifles or field guns.

Yunyang gave up with a clear conscience and went to sleep. That night, Qingxue—unconcerned about their friendship—promptly reported his dereliction to Old Li, who cursed Yunyang thoroughly for his laziness.

The next day, after camp was set up, Yunyang was carrying a basin of laundry out of his tent when Qingxue appeared.

“Going to the logistics camp?” she asked.

“No way, not even if you paid me. That’s inhuman work,” Yunyang replied, shaking his head vigorously.

“Then where are you going?” Qingxue looked puzzled.

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m going to do my laundry,” Yunyang said, exasperated. Couldn’t she see he was carrying clothes?

The man and the angel found the laundry area and, to Yunyang’s astonishment, there was a washing machine. In wartime? Was this really appropriate?

He stuffed his clothes in. Just as he was about to toss in the last item, Qingxue spoke up.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Underwear,” Yunyang answered.

“What are you doing?”

“Washing clothes, obviously.”

“You’re just going to throw your underwear in the washing machine?”

“What else would I do?”

“You’re washing your underwear together with your other clothes?”

“What else would I do?”

“There are lots of bacteria on underwear. You shouldn’t wash them with other clothes.”

“That’s why I’m washing them.”

“Underwear should be washed by hand.”

“Then what’s the washing machine for?”

“You can’t wash underwear in a machine. They have to be hand-washed.”

“Then you wash them for me.”

Qingxue blushed and shook her head. Seeing the angel give in, Yunyang nonchalantly tossed his underwear into the machine and hit start.

A true genius, he thought. Even an angel couldn’t out-argue him. Humming a tune, he strolled back to his tent, only to find Old Li waiting at the entrance.

Glancing at Yunyang’s leisurely stroll, then at Qingxue following demurely behind like a shy bride, Old Li could barely contain his exasperation.