Chapter 129: Chu Xiao’s Life Hangs by a Thread!

Chu Xiao walked slowly down the mountain, blood dripping continuously from his hands, while blood seeped from his feet, staining the grass beneath him crimson.

"Thank you, Lieutenant General Chu, for saving our lives. We will surely repay this debt!"

By the time Chu Xiao reached the base of the mountain, the battle had concluded. The American soldiers knelt on the ground to thank him. Seeing that Chu Xiao was wounded, Wang Yan rushed over to check on his condition.

At that moment, a robot suddenly stirred to life; it had not been destroyed, merely short-circuited. With a jerky motion, it raised its arm, aiming directly at Wang Yan’s heart.

Chu Xiao saw the danger Wang Yan was in. In the split second the robot pulled the trigger, he threw himself behind her, taking the shot intended for her.

The bullet struck Chu Xiao’s right shoulder. By the time Wang Yan realized what had happened, it was already too late. She watched in horror as Chu Xiao slowly collapsed.

She cradled him and began to weep. Blood gushed uncontrollably from his shoulder, and as she pressed her hand against the wound, she screamed for help.

The robot collapsed again after firing. Soldiers swarmed it with their weapons, riddling it with gunfire until they were certain it was destroyed.

Although the Pluto robots had been entirely wiped out, Chu Xiao’s unit had suffered nearly a hundred casualties. The others rushed to apply a makeshift bandage to Chu Xiao’s wound.

Wang Yan ordered a few soldiers to drop everything and carry Chu Xiao back to Jiuzhou for emergency treatment, while the rest of the unit gathered the injured and retrieved the meteorites from the fallen soldiers.

As she ran, Wang Yan kept calling out Chu Xiao’s name, pleading with him to hold on and telling him they were almost at the hospital.

"Doctor! Doctor, please, save him!"

Wang Yan shouted desperately. Upon seeing it was Chu Xiao, the doctor immediately mobilized the staff for surgery. Chu Xiao had lost too much blood and had already fallen into a coma.

After ensuring he was in the operating room, Wang Yan’s first act was to call Number One to report everything that had transpired.

After hanging up, Number One immediately contacted the hospital, ordering them to save Chu Xiao at any cost. Having made the arrangements, Number One departed from Yanjing for Mingzhu City.

Outside the operating room, Wang Yan was sobbing uncontrollably. Suddenly, she remembered Wang Lulu. Though she did not particularly like her, she felt that someone of such importance to him deserved to know.

She dialed Wang Lulu’s number. Wang Lulu was tidying up Chu Xiao’s room and, hearing the phone ring, assumed it was him.

She answered hurriedly, but instead of Chu Xiao’s voice, she heard only relentless weeping.

"Wang... Wang Lulu, Chu Xiao... Chu Xiao is injured. He’s in the hospital operating room. Please, come quickly!"

Wang Yan choked out the words. Upon hearing the news, Wang Lulu’s hand trembled, and the phone fell to the floor.

Her body went limp, and she slumped to the ground. She could not believe this was real, nor could she believe that Chu Xiao could be taken so easily.

Coming to her senses, Wang Lulu rushed to the hospital without even stopping to dress properly, tears streaming down her face, unstoppable.

At the hospital, she found Wang Yan sitting in the hallway, listless, her eyes swollen and red, with tears still clinging to her lashes.

"How... how is Chu Xiao?"

"He’s still in surgery. It’s all my fault, all my fault..."

Wang Yan, consumed by self-reproach, began slapping her own face. Wang Lulu rushed forward to stop her, refusing to believe that Chu Xiao would die.

Just then, Number One arrived. A doctor emerged from the operating room, and everyone anxiously gathered to ask about Chu Xiao’s condition.

"Lieutenant General Chu’s injuries are severe. He is in a coma due to excessive blood loss. We have stopped the bleeding, but we do not have his blood type, Rh-negative, in our blood bank."

It was the rare "panda blood," nearly impossible to find on short notice, and the hospital was out of stock.

"Doctor, I am Rh-negative. Take mine—take as much as you need!"

Wang Yan struggled to her feet. She had no strength left, but when she heard the mention of Rh-negative blood, she practically shouted the words.

"Very well, come with me."

Wang Lulu supported Wang Yan as she followed the doctor. After the blood draw, Wang Yan collapsed from exhaustion—not from the blood loss, but from the sheer toll of the past few days.

After the fierce battle and the frantic dash to the hospital, her body had reached its limit. Once the transfusion was complete, the doctor emerged, and Number One and Wang Lulu asked for an update again.

"Lieutenant General Chu has a strong constitution; he is essentially out of danger, though he remains in a coma."

Hearing this, the heavy hearts of Number One and Wang Lulu finally eased. Though he was out of the critical stage, there was still no room for negligence.

During the days Chu Xiao lay in a coma, Wang Lulu remained by his side almost constantly, with Wang Yan occasionally taking over.

"Brother Xiao, you’ve been asleep for three days now. Why won’t you wake up? I’ll always be here by your side."

Wang Lulu grew anxious; he had been unconscious for days, and she feared he might never wake up.

"Lulu, don’t worry. Chu Xiao will wake up. The doctors said he’s out of the woods, so he’ll be fine!"

Wang Yan comforted her, though in her own heart, she shared the same fear.

Many people came to visit Chu Xiao over those days—high-ranking officials from Number One’s circle, soldiers who had fought alongside him, and admirers who kept watch outside the hospital.

Everyone prayed for his early recovery so he could continue the fight against Pluto. He was a god-like figure to Jiuzhou, the spiritual pillar for them all.

"Lulu, go home and get some sleep. I’ll look after Chu Xiao tonight, you can rest easy."

Wang Yan worried that if Chu Xiao woke up, Wang Lulu would have collapsed from exhaustion. She had already stayed up for three days and three nights, sleeping only in short bursts by his bedside.

"No, I have to stay with Brother Xiao until he wakes up. I’ll just sleep here for a while."

Wang Lulu declined the offer. Even if she left, she would not be at ease. She went out to fetch a basin of warm water, intending to wipe Chu Xiao down.

Wang Yan offered to help, but was shooed away; Wang Lulu did not want another woman seeing Chu Xiao’s body.

"Uncle... Uncle Chu, why are you here?"

Just as Wang Lulu was about to undress Chu Xiao, Chu Renfang pushed the door open in a hurry. He had arrived in Mingzhu City on business and heard the news of Chu Xiao’s injury the moment he landed.

"Are you planning to sponge him down?"

"Yes, Uncle Chu."

"Let me do it. It’s not appropriate for a young woman like you."

Chu Renfang took the towel and asked Wang Lulu to step out. He carefully undressed Chu Xiao and began to wipe him down.

Seeing the severity of his injuries, tears welled up in Chu Renfang’s eyes. His heart ached for Chu Xiao, who was so young and should have been living a carefree life.

Instead, he was constantly battling Pluto for the sake of Jiuzhou, and now, he was hanging by a thread for the nation’s survival. Thinking of this, Chu Renfang broke down in tears.