Chapter 95: The Mysterious Expert

After a fierce struggle, I counted the survivors. This time the losses were severe: nearly a hundred ordinary members of the Azure Dragon Gang had laid down their lives bravely in battle, and that did not even include the wounded. These zombies seemed stronger than before. We had already encountered evolved zombies once, and I suspected these had mostly evolved as well. In just a few days, they had grown steadily more powerful. If this continued, the end of the world might truly only be a matter of time. Most troubling of all, after Skyfire, the land was in ruins everywhere, and even the roads had become treacherous.

After the battle, and with everyone having eaten nothing since leaving that dilapidated hut, we were all terribly hungry. With the help of Yu Jing and the others, Murong Xue tended to the wounded. I called Qin Tian over, and we went off to look for food. Among us, only Qin Tian and I knew how to use guns and had any real combat experience, so the two of us were best suited to the task. First, the risk would not be too great; second, we both had spatial rings. If we found a living creature, we could simply put it inside. I had never actually tried to see whether a spatial ring could hold living things, though. If it could, then there would be no need to worry about food at all, as we could collect every uninfected animal in the mountains. Thinking of that, I could not help feeling secretly pleased. Qin Tian followed lazily behind me, probably hungry himself.

I said to him, “Let’s go check out that mountain ahead. Maybe we can catch some live animals.”

Not far off to the left stood a great mountain range stretching for several miles. It was not especially high, but it was covered with dense forest. Whether the trees were simply stubbornly resilient or for some other reason, Skyfire had not caused a forest blaze there, and now, even in late autumn, the trees still looked lush and green.

The moment Qin Tian heard there might be living animals, all trace of his dejected expression vanished. He immediately perked up. “Great. Let’s see who gets there first.”

With that, he shot off like an arrow. I shook my head and went after him. In truth, I could have used the wind to overtake him, but I did not want to do that. I wanted to beat him so completely that he would have no excuse to complain. As I urged my inner energy to flow, my body grew lighter and lighter, while the wind howled in my ears. I was almost on Qin Tian’s heels. The boy was fast enough too, nearly on par with high-speed rail. Of course, I poured on the effort and rushed forward. Before long, I had caught up to him, overtaken him, and finally left him far behind before coming to a stop.

“Damn! I’m exhausted. I just can’t figure it out. We’re both magic-martial bodies, so why is it that you’re better than me in every single way?” Qin Tian bent over, gasping for breath.

Did I have to tell him I had trained in the Heavenly Demon Art? I smiled smugly.

“Hm? Old Li, something’s up.” Qin Tian pointed at the weeds not far ahead.

For some reason, this mountain had not been touched by Skyfire, and even the grass and trees around us were perfectly intact. Following the direction he indicated, I quickly saw that something really was there. The grass was stirring. It did not look like the wind. Qin Tian and I crept toward it quietly, and just as I was about to part the grass and see what was inside, a black figure suddenly burst out with astonishing speed.

It was a wild boar.

We had struck it rich this time. Just by its size, it was clearly an adult. I fired immediately, though I could not tell whether I had hit it or not. The boar vanished into the woods nearby.

Could I let it run away right under my nose? If I did that, how could I keep acting so impressive in front of Qin Tian later? So without another word, I gave chase. For some reason, the world outside was bright and sunlit, but the moment I entered the forest, it felt cold and eerie. A gust of chill wind swept by, and I could not help shivering. Then I saw a dark shape ahead darting into a thorny bramble. I jogged two steps to the front, and, to prevent the boar from suddenly attacking, I drew my revolver and aimed it at the thicket, signaling Qin Tian to move up and take a look.

He was reluctant and said the boar’s hide was too thick, and that a revolver might not be enough to kill it, so I should go inspect it while he covered me. I did not argue with him. Fine, I would do it. It was only a wild boar. I would drag it out and skin it alive if I had to.

I used my Ice Sword to part the thorny brush, and sure enough, the boar was hiding inside. So you thought you could hide here and never be found?

The boar tried to bolt, but I drove my sword down. However tough and thick its hide might have been, could it withstand the Ice Sword, sharp enough to slice through iron like mud? The blade pierced straight through its back and pinned it to the ground. Blood gushed out. The boar howled nonstop, thrashing its limbs desperately against the earth. But no matter how hard it struggled, it was useless. I withdrew the Ice Sword, and after staggering a few steps, the boar collapsed.

“Old Li, you killed it?”

“What’s the problem?”

“Why would you do that?” Qin Tian crouched down, lamenting as though I had just killed his girlfriend.

“If I didn’t kill it, how was I supposed to catch it?”

“Did you forget? We have spatial rings. We could have tried to put it inside.”

At his words, I suddenly understood. But it was too late now; the boar was already dead. Still, that did not matter. The woods were so vast that we could keep searching; maybe there were other creatures around. Just as I was about to store the dead boar in my spatial ring, a leaf suddenly sliced past my face and nailed itself to the tree behind me.

“Who’s there?” I sprang up at once and stared ahead. Qin Tian also raised his Desert Eagle and aimed straight forward. For someone to injure me without a sound, his skill had to be formidable indeed. A single leaf could be used as a killing weapon. It seemed we had met a master this time.

A long while passed, and there was no movement ahead. Strange. He could have killed me just now. Why hadn’t he? Who exactly was this person?

“Come out! What kind of hero hides in the shadows?” I shouted toward the front. The cut on my face was bleeding, and the pain was intense. The blow had clearly been no light one. I had the feeling it had even touched bone.

Still, there was only silence. It was as though there had never been anyone there at all. Aside from a few taller trees, there was nothing else in front of us. Could he be hiding behind the trees? I gave a signal, telling Qin Tian to flank with me. He understood immediately and raised his Desert Eagle as he approached quietly. When we reached the trees, I stepped forward at once and took aim.

No one.

We searched every large tree nearby and found nothing unusual.

“Bad news. He’s in the trees.” I quickly swung the gun upward.

Anyone who had seen enough horror films knew that the things lurking in the dark always hid first, waiting to strike the moment you let your guard down. I looked up, but there was still no sign of the person who had ambushed me. This was truly like seeing a ghost. It seemed he had struck and then vanished. What had his purpose been? I could not make sense of it.

I am a man with a rather thick head. If I cannot understand something, I do not force myself to keep thinking about it. I believe the truth will one day come to light on its own. The important thing right now was that my face hurt terribly. It burned. I did not know how much force the man had used, but was he trying to take my life? If that blow had landed on a vital spot, even my magic-martial body might have been done for.

Still, there was no need to panic. Murong Xue was here. I put the boar’s corpse into my spatial ring and called for Qin Tian to head back. Every so often, I looked over my shoulder. In the dimness, it almost seemed as though a figure was standing in the trees.