The Elf woman seemed to understand, she picked up the dagger, glanced at him, got up, peered out of the trench, and started to monitor the surrounding Beastmen.
After sending her away, Luo Chuan picked up a wooden stick, put it in his mouth, then grabbed the half-broken arrow, took a deep breath, and forcefully pulled it out. After the arrow was removed, blood immediately spurted from the wound just like a fountain. Luo Chuan quickly covered the wound tightly with a dressing, the pain making him gasp for breath.
He leaned against the side of the hole, clutching his wound, and examined the half-broken arrow. Fortunately, the arrow was not barbed but a long slender armor-piercing cone, thus explaining how it could penetrate his heavy bulletproof vest.
After tending to his wound, Luo Chuan took a sip of water, which refreshed him quite a bit. He saw a dead medic not far away with a medical bag on him. If he remembered correctly, the Otherworld Gate was about fifty or sixty kilometers away, and it was very likely they were now surrounded by the Otherworld army. Considering his current injury, he crawled over, picked up the medical bag, and slung it over his shoulder, also taking a few spare magazines from the corpse.
Having sorted out his equipment, Luo Chuan returned to his previous spot and started to eat the compressed rations he had found. Upon seeing no other movement, the Elf woman sat down and, seeing the food in his hands, a longing expression appeared in her eyes.
Luo Chuan noticed her desirous look, and although they had once been enemies, in the present context, they were simply two survivors on a battlefield; there was no explicit enmity between them. Thinking this, Luo Chuan hesitated for a moment before handing her a piece of the peeled-off compressed ration.
The Elf woman was taken aback. Her large eyes studied him, trying to gauge his intentions. But in the end, hunger won out. She took the food and started to eat ravenously. This was likely her first time eating such a ration. As a result, she started to cough violently after gobbling it up. Seeing her discomfort, Luo Chuan couldn’t help but smile and passed her the water bottle.
After they had finished eating, both of them leant against the side of the pit and remained silent, seemingly lost in their thoughts. Luo Chuan was studying the other occupant of the hole. She was an Elf woman from the Otherworld, about seventeen or eighteen years old. She sported delicate, tiny features, a symmetrical, slender figure, and was dressed in Elf-like armor. She had draped over her shoulder a curtain of golden hair. Her fair complexion suggested she was Caucasian.
What left the deepest impression on Luo Chuan were her deep, captivating emerald eyes and her low hanging, pointy, long ears. These traits constantly reminded him that the girl was not from Earth.
"Hey, what...what’s your name?" Luo Chuan tried to speak to her using sign language and Chinese. The response was her bewildered face.
"I, me, Luo Chuan." Luo Chuan pointed at himself, emphasizing his name, but she was still at a loss.
"Luo Chuan, Luo Chuan..." Luo Chuan pointed at himself, emphasizing his name over and over again.
"Luo...Luo Chuan..." After Luo Chuan repeated himself several times, the Elf woman seemed to understand his meaning, clumsily and cautiously pronouncing his name.
Luo Chuan nodded in approval, looking pleased. He pointed at her, asking, "What’s your name?"
The Elf woman saw him pointing at her and although she didn’t understand his words, she appeared to grasp his meaning. She uttered a single word: "NINE..."
Luo Chuan tried to pronounce the word, then pointed at her. After he had her confirmation, he repeated it a few times.
"Nina, that’s a lovely name."
After resting for a while, Luo Chuan felt some strength returning to his body. He struggled to get up, pointed at himself, then indicated in the direction of the Otherworld Gate, telling Nina, "I, must go now. You should return as well!"
Nina looked at him with her wide emerald eyes, not seeming to understand his meaning, but the sight of the weapon in Luo Chuan’s hand gave her a sense of unease.
Luo Chuan noticed her reaction and put down the gun, and waved at her, gesturing, "I...I’m leaving. You need to leave too. Be careful not to run into any Beastmen..."
After speaking, he turned his back on Nina’s bewildered expression and started his journey toward the Otherworld Gate, determined to return to it and from there to Earth, no matter what.
Having walked some distance, Luo Chuan glanced back over his shoulder, feeling somewhat uneasy. Nina was still standing there, quietly watching him, seemingly bidding him farewell.
Just now they had been fighting fiercely for survival, yet there was really no animosity between them. They were simply fighting each other due to their differing positions. Thinking about it, this indeed was a truly sad state of affairs.