The Max-Level Boss Just Wants to Be a Slacker [Apocalypse] – CH36

Chapter 36: Sharing the Burden

Hearing those words, Mo Xiu paused. The anger that had just risen in his chest instantly faded by more than half, replaced instead with worry for the man in front of him.

“Does it hurt a lot? Let me see your wound!” Mo Xiu said anxiously.

Thinking about how powerful that mutated gray wolf was—and the bloody marks on Mo Qi’s shoulder—he couldn’t care about anything else anymore. All he could think about was hoping the man in front of him wouldn’t be seriously hurt.

If something really happened to Mo Qi, then what would be the point of everything he had done all this time?

Fortunately, Mo Qi didn’t actually want Mo Xiu to feel too distressed. After hearing him, he obediently unbuttoned the cotton shirt underneath, revealing the claw marks left on his shoulder.

The claws of the mutated gray wolf were extremely sharp. The wounds had bled quite a bit and looked terrifying, but in reality they weren’t very deep.

Mo Xiu could tell they weren’t fatal injuries, but he still couldn’t help feeling heartache.

Remembering that he had an entire backpack full of medicine, he quickly took off the bag on his shoulder and rummaged through it for hemostatic and anti-inflammatory drugs.

He even felt a bit fortunate. Luckily, before coming to the forest to hunt that mutated beast, he had stopped by the pharmacy and emptied it of all its medicine.

“These two are painkillers. Take them first,” Mo Xiu said to Mo Qi.

After watching him place the pills in his mouth, Mo Xiu unscrewed a small bottle of mineral water from the side of his backpack and held it up to his lips.

Only after Mo Qi swallowed the medicine did Mo Xiu take out the hemostatic powder. Softly, he warned, “It might hurt a bit. Bear with it.”

Mo Qi nodded obediently.

When the powder touched the wound, a faint sting spread across it, but he said nothing. Instead, he simply looked at Mo Xiu with a pitiful expression.

Back in the cultivation world, Mo Qi had experienced countless dangers while striving to grow stronger. Over thousands of years, even if the frequency wasn’t high, he had suffered many injuries.

He had endured pain that felt like his bones were torn apart, like his whole body was being burned to ashes. Even then, he had only frowned and gritted his teeth, never once uttering the word pain.

But in front of Mo Xiu, everything seemed to change.

He wanted to act wronged.
He wanted to say it hurt.
He wanted… he wanted this person in front of him to feel sorry for him.

“It hurts…” Mo Qi said again, looking at Mo Xiu expectantly.

“Does it hurt that much? Try to bear it a little. If it’s too much, bite something.”

While speaking, Mo Xiu hurriedly searched his pockets. In the end, he only found an unopened pack of tissues.

“Do you want to bite this? If that’s still not enough… you can bite me too!”

Mo Xiu looked at him worriedly.

Seeing Mo Qi obediently bite the tissue pack made Mo Xiu feel even more distressed.

“Tell me—how did you suddenly appear here?”

Appearing out of thin air was simply unbelievable. Yet when it happened to Mo Qi, it somehow didn’t seem that strange.

After all, the man was a genius in mystical arts. If he could create those magical talismans and formations, suddenly appearing might also be possible.

Mo Qi didn’t hide anything.

“I was worried something might happen to you earlier, so I left something on you. It lets me sense whether you’re in danger.”

“Just now I felt you were in trouble, so I used a teleportation talisman to come here.”

“A teleportation talisman?”

No wonder he had suddenly appeared.

Mo Xiu had always known Mo Qi usually stayed quietly in the base and rarely went outside. So he had rushed here because he sensed danger.

As for the “something” Mo Qi mentioned, Mo Xiu didn’t know about spiritual sense. He assumed it was some talisman or formation he didn’t understand.

Maybe the protective charm Mo Qi had given him had activated during the fight with the gray wolf.

But no matter what the reason was—Mo Qi had come for him.

If Mo Qi hadn’t been worried about him, if he hadn’t tried to protect him, how could he have ended up injured like this?

“Why are you so foolish?” Mo Xiu said softly, his eyes reddening as he sprinkled the medicine powder more gently.

Afterward, he carefully wrapped Mo Qi’s shoulder with bandages.

Seeing the faint redness at the corners of the young man’s eyes, Mo Qi felt a strange emotion rise within him.

He gently touched the corner of Mo Xiu’s eye.

“Mo Xiu… are you crying?”

“How could I be!” Mo Xiu replied quickly, even raising his voice as if trying to hide something.

He wiped his face hard. Even though he could feel the moisture in his palm, he still stubbornly denied it.

“I’m a grown man—why would I cry? Stop worrying about useless things!”

“Instead, I should be lecturing you! Mo Qi, why didn’t you just stay obediently at the base? Why run here? Now you’re injured—do you know it hurts?”

He grabbed Mo Qi’s arm firmly and stared straight into his eyes with a serious expression.

Seeing Mo Xiu like this for once, Mo Qi obediently nodded and didn’t try to change the subject.

But in his heart he thought:

Yes, I got hurt. Yes, it was dangerous. Yes, it hurt a little…

Next time I’d still do it.

My meal ticket—I’ll protect him.

After confirming that Mo Qi’s wound was treated and the medicine taken, and that the man’s condition seemed stable, Mo Xiu finally relaxed.

Then he turned to look at the corpse of the mutated gray wolf lying beneath a large tree not far away.

Mo Xiu walked over quickly, pulled out the dagger at his waist, and skillfully cut open the wolf’s abdomen.

The wolf’s fur was extremely tough, but there was a soft seam along its belly—perfect for cutting.

After opening the wolf’s stomach, a round golden sphere lay quietly inside.

That was the beast core Mo Xiu had been searching for from the start.

Mutated animals and plants weren’t rare, but not all of them had cores. Only particularly powerful ones developed them, and they were extremely rare.

But possessing even a single one could greatly help an ability user’s cultivation and advancement.

When Mo Qi saw the golden sphere, he raised an eyebrow in surprise.

The feeling was familiar.

When he had devoured the rhombus-shaped crystal core from the mutated sunflower earlier, he hadn’t been completely sure. But seeing this one again and thinking carefully—

Wasn’t this basically a demon core?

This apocalypse was truly strange. Not only had demonic energy spread everywhere, creating countless monsters called zombies, it had also turned many animals and plants into demons.

A chaotic world indeed.

But how did Mo Xiu know there was a demon core inside this wolf?

This gray wolf’s level was quite high—probably the strongest mutated creature Mo Qi had seen since arriving in this world. That sunflower couldn’t compare at all.

Mo Xiu wiped the blood from the golden core and held it in his hand. Then he turned to Mo Qi and said:

“Mo Qi, I need to do something. Can you wait here for me? It might take a while.”

Mo Xiu planned to absorb the crystal core right there.

They were currently in the gray wolf’s territory, so other dangerous creatures likely wouldn’t come nearby. It was relatively safe.

If he returned to the base, there would be too many people around. If something unusual happened during the absorption, it might attract attention.

So he decided to absorb it here.

Mo Qi could already guess what Mo Xiu intended and nodded.

On the surface he seemed calm, but his spiritual sense quietly spread across the entire area, guarding the surroundings for Mo Xiu.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling worried.

When he had absorbed the sunflower’s demon core earlier, he discovered that although cores in this world were easier to absorb than those in the cultivation world, the energy was extremely violent.

The pain concentrated all at once.

This wolf’s core looked even stronger.

Mo Qi wondered if Mo Xiu could endure it.

He sat on a rock nearby, watching Mo Xiu carefully.

Mo Xiu began absorbing the energy from the golden core. As the power entered his body, his breathing grew heavier, and cold sweat covered his forehead.

Mo Qi felt as if an invisible hand had clenched his heart. Watching Mo Xiu suffer was even more painful than experiencing it himself.

Mo Xiu indeed was enduring immense agony.

Instinctively absorbing the core’s energy, his consciousness gradually blurred. His teeth clenched tightly, and even a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his lips.

Seeing this, Mo Qi could no longer endure it.

He grabbed Mo Xiu’s hand and used his powerful spiritual sense to forcibly share part of the pain.

Mo Qi had never done such a thing before, but controlling spiritual sense was second nature to him.

Even so, when his spiritual sense entered Mo Xiu’s meridians and mind without the slightest obstruction, he was surprised.

Was Mo Xiu completely defenseless toward him?

Even so… their bodies seemed unusually compatible.

It felt almost as if they were bonded cultivation partners.

Shaking his head, Mo Qi dismissed the strange thought.

Now wasn’t the time for that.

The important thing was helping Mo Xiu.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Mo Qi easily endured the burden and took on most of the pain caused by the energy absorption.

Because of that, Mo Xiu quickly regained consciousness.

When Mo Xiu opened his eyes, the crystal core’s absorption was still ongoing.

At first he was confused. The pain this time seemed much lighter than in his previous life.

But then he saw Mo Qi sitting close beside him, holding his hand tightly.

Mo Qi’s face was pale, his body drenched in cold sweat.

Mo Xiu instantly understood.

Mo Qi… once again it was Mo Qi.

Why did this man always do things like this?

Did he want Mo Xiu to feel guilty and heartbroken to death before he’d be satisfied?

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