Chapter 432 - 144: [Going Home] (6400)_2
Tears flowed from Du Li’s eyes, and this time his expression was sincere.
"I’m a coward... I abandoned the honor of the Du Family... I, I’m a weak... cow..."
Chen Yan silently watched Du Li, seeing more blood flow from the wound on the man’s chest, as his face became increasingly pale...
"You, go..." Du Li looked towards the sky, even though there was really nothing to see there, only a haze.
He died, with no breath left.
Chen Yan didn’t know what to feel. He squatted down beside Du Li, looking at this guy’s corpse.
This outcome made Chen Yan feel quite ironic.
"Actually, I lied to you too. I’m not one of your people at all." Chen Yan sighed, then smiled wryly, "But this is okay. You lied to me too, which makes my guilt a little less."
Looking at Du Li’s body, Chen Yan suddenly understood something.
This Du Li probably didn’t have good intentions towards him either!
He had taken him for an undercover agent like himself, and then deceived him into escaping together!
He actually gained nothing, but deceived him just to have an extra hand while fleeing.
But... what if they had really managed to escape together?
Du Li would have killed him!!
Because he lied. He hadn’t obtained any information, simply lied out of fear and cowardice, then fled! And he tricked the other agent into abandoning the mission!
But if he succeeded in going back, his actions would be uncovered, and he would be punished.
So... he would surely have killed him (the other agent) to silence him before returning!
The last trace of guilt in Chen Yan’s heart finally dissipated.
He propped up Du Li’s body—this was the only thing he could do for him.
While on the run, there was no way he could dig a grave to bury him.
After doing all this, Chen Yan took a deep look at Du Li and then turned to leave.
He walked faster and faster through the forest, finally starting to run again.
·
Chen Yan felt that his luck was finally starting to improve!
After running for nearly a dozen minutes, he found a muddy pond.
This Forest Monster was very strange, with the temperature obviously below zero, yet the forest refused to freeze.
The pond was moist, and there was a small amount of liquid water.
Without caring about cleanliness, Chen Yan directly scooped up the muddy water and frantically scrubbed his body!
From head to toe, he scrubbed hard!
One reason was to wash away the bloody scent of Du Li from his body.
Another was to cover his body with the smell of earth.
The leader monster had the ability to recognize scents—Chen Yan wasn’t sure if all monsters had this ability.
But, perhaps they raised some kind of beast similar to hounds?
Scent was his greatest vulnerability!
·
After washing away the blood with muddy water and scrubbing his whole body with it, Chen Yan now looked like a donkey that had rolled in mud.
He finally climbed out of the muddy pond, then continued into the forest covered in mud.
What Chen Yan didn’t know was that his actions had indeed saved his life!
Because just ten minutes after he left the muddy pond, several monsters arrived there, leading a beast covered in spines like a porcupine.
But the porcupine sniffed around for a long time, only to circle the area helplessly.
The scent, here, was impossible to discern.
·
Chen Yan roughly estimated that he had been walking for a few hours.
Along the way, to avoid losing direction, he climbed to the treetops three times to get his bearings.
The two mountain ridges in the distance could be used as reference... but the fog was too thick, making the outlines of the ridges unclear.
So... there was still a big chance it was up to luck.
Maybe he was heading towards the ridges, or maybe he had long since veered off course.
Without a watch or any reference, estimating time became increasingly inaccurate.
In the end, Chen Yan wasn’t sure how long he had been walking.
However, when he walked up a hill, his spirits lifted—he thought he had finally reached a ridge.
But soon, his excitement faded.
This was none of the ridges on the map.
It was merely a low hill.
This kind of hill should be common in the forest.
Chen Yan felt the temperature dropping further, judging it was likely deep into the night—at this time each day, he should have been back in the cabin resting.
Based on this... he had already been running for almost a day?
His hands and feet were already numb, and his legs were getting weaker, barely able to exert any force.
Finally, past the hill, Chen Yan found a cave.
It might have been a beast’s den, but there was no strong stench, just a bit damp.
But he couldn’t care about that now, Chen Yan had no choice.
His strength was already exhausted, he had to rest—he knew clearly that if he continued walking in the cold forest, he would either collapse from exhaustion or freeze to death!
Fortunately, his muddy wash had had another unintended effect.
Once dry, the mud had formed a hard shell on his skin. This thing surprisingly provided some insulation.
But holding on till now, Chen Yan felt he could faint at any moment.
He slipped into the cave, finally confirming—it must have once been an animal’s den, but it seemed to have been abandoned.