Chapter 78: No retreat
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
If they could not retreat, they had to go forward.
It seemed like Ren Xiaosu, Xu Xianchu, and Yang Xiaojin were the most interested in the secret of the Jing Mountains. Luo Xinyu, Liu Bu, and Wang Lei were different. They only hoped to quickly join up with those from the Qing Consortium!
Regardless of the secret, they would only have a chance of survival if they headed somewhere with a lot of people!
They had seen the Qing Consortium’s combat brigade in Stronghold 113 before, and the private troops definitely paled in comparison. So they believed they would be safe once they joined up with them.
And besides, both Luo Xinyu and Liu Bu could say that they were on good terms with the Qing Consortium. Although they were not particularly close, they had met Boss Luo on several occasions.
Therefore, if they brought up Boss Luo’s name and made known their identities when the time came, they would immediately get returned to “human civilization.”
To them, the wilderness was a world that belonged to the beasts.
There was also another point. As they almost had an encounter with the mysterious monster of the forest last night, they wanted to quickly get out of this place before it got dark again.
Worried about the monster, Ren Xiaosu tried his best to travel in the open areas of the mountains instead of going through the forest.
Who knew if that monster would be active during the day? It was not as though it had personally informed them that it wouldn’t venture out in the day! What if it just liked being a night owl and was actually not afraid of daylight? What if its daily routine had been messed up today?
No one knew for sure!
Their cave was about several dozen kilometers away from the sound of the explosion in the Jing Mountains. If they hurried up, they could reach the range by evening.
Of course, Ren Xiaosu was also afraid of any potential accidents. He held a discussion with Xu Xianchu and Yang Xiaojin. “We can’t only consider the straight line distance of the route in the mountains. We have to account for the winding paths that we might need to take. We may need to walk for several more days based on the distance that we worked out before we can get there.”
“What do you mean?” Xu Xianchu asked.
“If we can’t get there by today, we must not take the risk of traveling through the night.” Ren Xiaosu said firmly, “If y’all insist on it, I’ll find a place by myself and wait until dawn.”
Xu Xianchu thought for a moment and said, “I agree. We won’t travel through the night.”
Xu Xianchu and Ren Xiaosu looked over to Yang Xiaojin, and she said, “I agree.”
“Let’s hope the journey won’t be too difficult,” Ren Xiaosu said.
Nobody knew where Luo Xinyu and Liu Bu found their strength from for today’s march. They had just burst the blisters on their feet last night by picking at them. But with the intensity of walking to be done today, the skin on their soles would probably be torn off by the time they were finished.
Seeing this, Ren Xiaosu teased them by suggesting that they could rest for the day. However, Liu Bu stated matter-of-factly that he was fine with carrying on.
As Liu Bu, Luo Xinyu, and Wang Lei were just normal people, it was obvious they had unleashed their greatest potential due to their desire to survive.
Suddenly, Xu Xianchu said, “There’s a human body up front.”
Ren Xiaosu looked up and spotted a human body lying quietly in the middle of the valley of the mountain pass. But what surprised him was that there were scattered pieces of clothing lying next to the nearly skeletal remains of the body. The blood had dried into a dark purple patch on the rocky ground.
Ren Xiaosu said in bewilderment, “Since there’s still flesh and blood and no decomposition, it means that this person died not too long ago!” ‘Wait a minute, why would a relatively fresh human corpse appear here?’ “Could it be someone from the Qing Consortium?”
“No.” Xu Xianchu shook his head and said, “Look at what he was wearing. That’s the uniform of the private army. The uniform of the private army is dark blue while the Qing Consortium’s uniform is black.”
“The private army? Which private army? Does Stronghold 112’s private army also wear the same uniform?” Ren Xiaosu wondered.
They warily approached it and had an ominous feeling. Xu Xianchu saw a small dog tag that was supposed to be hanging around the neck of the corpse. In this way, everyone would know the identity of the deceased.
But he was stunned when he picked up the dog tag. “Xu Xia? How could this be Xu Xia?”
Ren Xiaosu felt a chill in his heart. “Are you sure this is Xu Xia?”
“Look at this. The name on the dog tag wouldn’t be wrong,” Xu Xianchu said. As he spoke, he had his automatic rifle up in the fear that something terrible would charge from next to him.
Ren Xiaosu looked at the dog tag. “It’s really Xu Xia. Why would his corpse be here?”
Xu Xia’s corpse had gone missing before they entered the canyon. As they had walked almost a 100 kilometers over the past two days, how could Xu Xia’s corpse suddenly appear here by itself?
What could have brought Xu Xia’s corpse here?
While Yang Xiaojin and Xu Xianchu raised their guns in response to this discovery, Ren Xiaosu squatted down and inspected the corpse. Luo Xinyu and Liu Bu were sickened by this sight from the start and after vomiting for a while, Luo Xinyu asked, “Aren’t you afraid?”
Ren Xiaosu’s expression did not change at all. “I’ve seen worse.... Wait, there’s something off about the wounds on this corpse. Although that monster ate his organs, look at the wounds on the edge of the abdomen. What could create such neat bite marks? I’ve never come across any animal with a set of teeth like this.”
Even Yang Xiaojin and Xu Xianchu couldn’t help but look over when Ren Xiaosu said that. They understood just how much Ren Xiaosu knew about the wilderness. If Ren Xiaosu said that he hadn’t seen it before, it would have to be an unusual animal.
But when Xu Xianchu saw it, he frowned. “Fuck, these are the bite marks of a human!”
It seemed that Xu Xianchu had even started spouting obscenities due to a deep kind of fear. But not just Xu Xianchu. Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin were also getting the chills. Ren Xiaosu looked up and asked, “Are you sure?”
“I’m very sure.” Xu Xianchu said, “I was bitten on the arm by my first love when I broke up with her in school.”
Ren Xiaosu snapped, “Why the hell are you telling us that when we were scared to death?”
Ren Xiaosu was truly afraid now!
Xu Xianchu also felt a little scared. “Why are there human bite marks on the corpse?”
“I wonder.” Ren Xiaosu asked, “Could it be possible that the one dragging the chains last night... was a human?”
“Let’s get out of here.” Yang Xiaojin said, “Set up a three-man tactical formation in case something attacks us! If that thing can silently take the corpse away, it can silently sneak up on us as well!”
Ren Xiaosu asked nervously, “What’s a tactical formation?”
He was not fooling around as he really did not know!
“You stand on my left!” Yang Xiaojin did not explain too much. “Each of us will take care of whatever comes into our field of view. If any strange creatures approach us, shoot them down.”
All of a sudden, Yang Xiaojin had taken command of the team. However, neither Ren Xiaosu nor Xu Xianchu said anything.
At this moment, everyone understood that they were walking a tightrope. If they were not careful, they would be doomed.
Everyone wanted to survive, especially Ren Xiaosu.