Yama Reborn

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Five [Wolf Among Sheep]

Chen Nuo clenched a cigarette between his lips.

SNAP!

Behind him, a hand reached out with a lighter, the flame flickering.

Chen Nuo looked up at the female mercenary standing in front of him, noting her beautiful face glistening with sweat. He smiled faintly, leaned in to light the cigarette, then took a drag.

"Thank you." Selena stood beside Chen Nuo, gazing at the stream in front of them.

"Thank me for what?"

"A few times on the road, when it was your turn to lead, you deliberately slowed down." Selena murmured softly, "It saved a few of my people."

"Mhm."

"You all are tough guys. I heard the others talking; they were even ready to abandon the team and leave... I'm well aware that if you had left, my people would definitely have been doomed in this Red Mist."

"Don't worry, if they'd gone, they would have taken you with them." Chen Nuo shook his head.

"No, I'd choose to stay with my people," Selena shook her head.

Chen Nuo took a deep drag on his cigarette and then turned to look at the female mercenary. "What? Are you so moved you're about to offer yourself to me? Now is not the right time or place. We don't even have a tent right now, unless you don't mind doing it in the field..."

Selena's face turned red, and she shot Harvey a fierce glare before standing up and walking away.

After two steps, she stopped abruptly, turned around, and spoke coldly, "Mr. Harvey, do you really have to put on such a bastardly facade intentionally?"

"I'm not doing anything intentionally," Chen Nuo said with a smile. "Honestly, if you really don't mind an outdoor romp, then tonight... we can set a time, after dark. What do you say?"

"..." Selena closed her mouth and strode away.

「·」

A makeshift camp was set up by the brook.

Most of their supplies were abandoned during the escape, leaving the team without even a single tent; they had to rest in the open.

Luckily, building a few fires was still possible. Even if they had insufficient solid fuel, they could make do by chopping off some tree branches.

Chen Nuo wandered near the stream for a while, found a secluded spot to relieve himself, and only then sauntered back to camp, cigarette dangling from his mouth.

Selena had not let her guard down; during rest, she had set aside a third of the team for sentry duty.

Dinner consisted of individual soldier rations, plus a few fish the mercenaries had caught in the stream.

The fish were not small, but Chen Nuo hardly had a couple of bites... They had a strong, indescribable earthy taste.

Soon, Sato Ryoko brought over a small packet of beef jerky.

Chen Nuo eyed the beef jerky in front of him and, after a moment's pause, looked at the plump woman. "You didn't forget to bring your snacks even when you were running for your life?"

"...They're really tasty!" Sato Ryoko frowned.

Chen Nuo took the package, tore it open, and started to eat.

"You're actually a very kind person," Sato Ryoko spoke up again.

"Kind?"

"Yes," the woman nodded earnestly, bobbing her head like a chicken pecking at rice, and whispered, "I know they wanted to abandon everyone and flee by themselves, but you opposed it... So..."

"You see, I like the word 'kind', but I also dislike it. Do you understand?" Chen Nuo shook his head.

"Huh?"

"Let me tell you, if it came to a life-or-death situation, I too would abandon these mercenaries and run by myself! If I tell you that, would you still think I'm kind?"

Chen Nuo looked at Sato Ryoko with a smile.

The woman was silent.

"I just don't agree with giving up on these people when it's not absolutely necessary, when there's still a lot of strength to spare. Just to increase the chances of self-preservation a bit, you'd ruthlessly abandon human lives—I can't agree with that. But if it came to a critical moment, a matter of life and death, I fear I might run away too. So, I might be just a tiny bit nobler than them. Just a tiny bit."

"I don't quite understand what you're saying."

Chen Nuo sighed. "At life-or-death moments, not running away oneself but being willing to save others—that's a... saint! I can't be a saint. But, to immediately abandon your own kind when it's just a bad situation, far from a crisis... that's inhuman. Likewise, I can't be inhuman. I just took a middle ground between a saint and being inhuman. I just preserved a bit of humanity for myself."

He continued solemnly, "To me, keeping a bit of humanity is the bottom line of my moral code. This is the bottom line! Since when has meeting just the bottom line been praised as 'kindness'?"

I don't know when it started, but the world began to see many strange things. A person who sticks to the bottom line of morality, just the bottom line, gets praised as kind? A person who's merely unwilling to cross the moral bottom line, just the bottom line, gets fiercely condemned as a self-righteous prig? That would certainly mean something is amiss with our world!

「·」

Vanel hadn't been idle; he quickly delivered some bad news to everyone.

The satellite phones they had brought were unable to contact headquarters. Whether due to malfunctions or some other reason, the team was now in a state of lost communications!

This news was kept secret within a few people, and the mercenaries in the team were not informed.

Moreover, there was an associated effect.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to rendezvous with the Son of the Sun, sir. According to the plan, the Son of the Sun was supposed to meet us at the outpost camp, but now we have fled the campsite and lost contact with the outside world, so..."

By the campfire, the faces of several ability users darkened.

Sato Ryoko, however, seemed to have let her mind wander, her face showing complete indifference. Chen Nuo didn't know if this woman truly didn't understand the English Vanel spoke, or if she actually understood but genuinely didn't care.

Vanel called over the native guide and started studying the map to ascertain the team's location, when Sato Ryoko had already dragged Chen Nuo to the riverside.

This woman actually wanted to catch fish.

Chen Nuo raised an eyebrow, waved his hand carelessly, and, under the control of Telekinesis, a fish the size of a palm jumped out of the water and onto the bank, continuing to flop around.

"As an ability user, what's the fun in catching fish?"

"Of course not like that!" Sato Ryoko exclaimed with wide eyes.

Watching the woman roll up her sleeves and trouser legs to jump into the creek... Chen Nuo shook his head.

Well, thankfully it was a very shallow stream, and not a habitat for piranhas.

「·」

Sato Ryoko did catch some fish after all. However, Chen Nuo wasn't sure whether she had actually caught them or had simply gotten impatient after playing for a while and used Telekinesis to bring them up.

But obviously, this person seemed pretty excited and then monopolized a campfire to start grilling her catch.

There weren't many campfires in the camp, but as an ability user, one did have the privilege to take over one.

A fish, half-charred, Chen Nuo didn't even bother to look at it.

He'd rather stick to compressed biscuits than touch a bite of that!

Just as the woman grabbed the grilled fish, attempting to take her first bite, she immediately spat it back out.

"It's so bitter, so fishy!!"

Chen Nuo laughed. "Hasn't anyone told you... when cooking fish, you should first gut them, remove the innards?"

「·」

The atmosphere in the camp was filled with the feeling of having survived a disaster.

The danger encountered over the past two days had been too much, especially today's terrifying Red Mist attack, which pushed everyone's spirits to the limit.

Now finally free from their predicament, everyone's emotions were excited and jubilant.

"Mr. Harvey, why did you choose to take on this commission?"

"For money, what else? Could it possibly be for world peace?"

"Then why do you need to earn money?"

"Because I love money! What else? Could it possibly be for world peace?"

"But... why do I feel like you're actually doing it for world peace?"

What the fuck? Is this a woman's keen Sixth Sense?

Chen Nuo's heart skipped a beat, but his expression didn't show it.

World peace, huh... Strictly speaking, that seems about right. If it weren't for figuring out whether the Octopus Monster's strange mission was related to the alien Mother... Chen Yanluo wouldn't have left his carefree life in Jinling to come to this tropical rainforest to gnaw on military rations! Was it because Sun CC wasn't soft enough, or Her Majesty, the Empress, wasn't fragrant enough? Even teasing Li Malang or Miss Peach Bottom daily was a million times better than staying here in the rainforest with a bunch of sweaty mercenaries!

"Get some rest tonight, I'll take the night watch," Sato Ryoko said seriously. "You were the main force in today's fight, and you also led the way during our escape, exerting too much strength."

Chen Nuo thought for a moment and didn't refuse.

Though his spiritual power was greatly depleted, for Chen Nuo, it was still far from his limit. But... a rest wouldn't be too bad.

Before going to sleep, Chen Nuo lay on the makeshift bed made from outerwear and glanced in a certain direction of the camp.

He saw Selena sitting by a campfire...

Alright, it seems she didn't go hiding in the woods after all, and she even gave him a cold glare.

Chen Nuo turned over and closed his eyes.

「·」

In complete darkness...

Chen Nuo felt himself walking as if in a trance.

Amidst the walking, he seemed to hear a faint crying sound from somewhere ahead.

The sound, growing clearer and more familiar!

A strange feeling!

Chen Nuo suddenly realized he was dreaming again!

In an instant, he awoke!

「·」

"Harvey! Harvey!!"

A plump hand was patting Chen Nuo's face. He suddenly sat up and saw Sato Ryoko squatting beside him and could make out her anxious expression by the dying embers of the campfire.

"What's wrong?"

"The, the fog is back!"

Chen Nuo leapt up but quickly crashed back to the ground as he had barely risen!

Chen Nuo froze for a moment!

His Spiritual Force Tentacles had all been suppressed back! Telekinesis couldn't lift his own body, causing the action he had just leapt to be directly suppressed down by an invisible force! Instantly, a familiar sensation! This feeling of power being suppressed was exactly the same as when he was exploring the location of the Sea Monster's underwater Mother at RB!

Around the camp, there was already widespread panic. Some mercenaries had already jumped up, others had just been woken up by their comrades, and a few had even started to quickly pack up their belongings and run around the camp.

From behind the camp, the jungle where the refugees had arrived today was now a deep red! That terrifying Red Mist had started to spread again, its tendrils slipping out from the jungle and pressing towards the camp!

The same was true for the jungle across the creek!

Upstream too!

The only direction that seemed free of the mist was downstream along the stream.

Vanel's deep voice echoed through the camp, urging everyone to wake up and form up.

Selena was frantically gathering the mercenaries together.

What surprised Chen Nuo was that his attempt to extend his spiritual power was once again suppressed back!

He immediately turned his head to look at Sato Ryoko, whose face was also tense. "My ability has been suppressed, what about you?"

Chen Nuo didn't answer. Instead, he got up and ran toward where Vanel was, along with the Sea Monster and their group.

Soon, the ability users had completed a rapid exchange.

"Our sensory abilities have been greatly suppressed!! I can't even create airflow!" the Sea Monster quickly said. "We must leave here quickly!!"

Bonfrey reacted the fastest; he didn't even wait for a group decision, and immediately started walking briskly downstream along the creek.

Seeing Bonfrey walk away first, the Sea Monster hesitated for a moment—apparently surprised by the noble's forthrightness.

"Vanel! Sorry, we can't be of much help anymore! Every man for himself!"

After the Sea Monster spoke, he too ran off, followed by Golden Bird and Gray Cat Black.

A few ability users took the lead and sprinted out of the camp, immediately causing unrest among the mercenaries. Selena's painstakingly organized group soon had people disregarding orders and chasing after the direction of the fleeing ability users.

When one person ran, others followed, and quickly the group completely disintegrated.

Selena, although still desperately shouting, trying to get the mercenaries to at least take their equipment and carry the injured, most people still ran off.

It was at this moment...

BANG!!!

In the red night, a gunshot rang out!

A mercenary who had been shouting about something was pierced through the neck by a bullet and then fell to the ground, completely still!

"Enemy attack!!!!"

After a scream, a crowd burst from the jungle amongst the thick Red Mist—

The ones in black camouflage were Black Bee, and the ones in yellow-green camouflage were Desert Fox!

The two previously missing mercenary teams attacked again!

The sound of gunfire quickly intensified, with the mercenaries picking up their weapons to return fire. But this time, the assailants charged with remarkable ferocity and outnumbered the defenders, whose morale had already collapsed. The mercenaries were soon suppressed!

More and more mercenaries got shot dead, and some even simply gave up resisting, throwing away their guns and running away.

The camp fell into complete chaos! Only Selena and a few mercenaries kept on resolutely firing back.

Chen Nuo grabbed Sato Ryoko and urged her, "Run! Run now!"

"What?"

"Our abilities are being suppressed! Without them, you're worse than an ordinary person! Go!!"

Chen Nuo pushed Sato Ryoko forcefully, picked up a gun that some mercenary had dropped on the ground, and knelt on one knee, firing back in a crouching position while shouting at Sato Ryoko, "Run!!"

"Bastard!" Sato Ryoko's face twisted with rage. Suddenly, she took a deep breath, making a move that nearly made Chen Nuo pop his eyes out!

The woman flung her arms, and immediately the creek water behind her surged into the sky, swirling into a whirlpool before violently rushing toward a group of night attackers emerging from the edge of the jungle.

With a thunderous crash of water, several attackers were thrown into the jungle, some even twisting their bodies in pain!

Sato Ryoko, with anger and killing intent on her face, yelled, "You should be the one to run!! I'm stronger than you!!"

Chen Nuo gaped at the woman.

Just at that moment... a figure suddenly darted out from a patch of scarlet woods!

To be precise, the figure floated out!

No matter how wide Chen Nuo opened his eyes, he could not quite make out the figure's gaze, as if it were shrouded in a blur.

Chen Nuo immediately realized that this was some kind of ability creating refracted light!

Once the figure emerged, Chen Nuo instantly felt an immense, invisible pressure in the air!

With a wave of the figure's arms, several mercenaries, still valiantly trying to shoot back at the edge of the camp, were sent flying into the air before crashing to the ground in a mangled heap!

This person charged into the camp at top speed. Mercenaries' bullets struck him, only to be arrested in mid-air! With a backward wave of his hand, a fierce storm headed straight for Chen Nuo...

Sato Ryoko screamed and threw herself in front of Chen Nuo, leaping out as her figure slashed through the Telekinetic tempest like a steel blade!

Chen Nuo felt his clothing being slit open in several places by the violent airflow, while Sato Ryoko launched herself into the air, colliding with the figure suspended mid-air!

BOOM!!

This loud noise, with its immense shockwave, swept through like a gale across a wheat field, knocking down many figures on the ground!

After the clash of forces in the air, the figure fell like a bird with broken wings, retreating back into the woods draped in Red Mist.

Sato Ryoko also plummeted from the air. Chen Nuo quickly ran over and caught her, the force of her fall bringing him to the ground as well.

Sato Ryoko was unconscious, with trickles of fresh blood coming from her nose and mouth.

"Harvey!" Selena, accompanied by two others, quickly ran to his side.

Chen Nuo handed Sato Ryoko to Selena. "Take her and leave! Go now!"

"What about you?"

"Dammit, of course I'm running too! Did you think I'd stay to cover your escape!!" Chen Nuo swore indignantly.

As he spoke, Chen Nuo picked up the gun and fired a burst of bullets towards the direction of the night attackers who had already run into the camp, then yelled, "Go, fast! Carry her! Go!"

Two mercenaries immediately propped up Sato Ryoko. Selena and Chen Nuo grabbed their guns and ran alongside, continuously firing to hold back the night attackers.

The camp was now left with only sporadic gunfire in resistance, and this scant resistance was quickly extinguished completely.

The group was about to run past the downstream side of the camp when suddenly, the dense fog behind them seemed to surge forward, sweeping in!

Chen Nuo's gun was out of bullets. Facing a night attacker who charged at him, he quickly drew his military saber and fiercely stabbed it into the assailant's neck, then kicked the attacker away with a leap.

Even though his abilities were suppressed, Chen Nuo was still invincible at a distance of two meters!

Selena was also out of bullets. As more and more night attackers emerged from the jungle, they quickly became entangled with the two of them.

Chen Nuo cut down a night attacker in front of him at one breath and then leaped over to Selena, who had been knocked down, pulling her up with one hand and tossing her with force. Selena plunged into the stream with a SPLASH.

Seeing Selena being carried away by the current, Chen Nuo also yelled quickly, "Jump into the water!"

The two mercenaries quickly carried Sato Ryoko and jumped into the river. Just as Chen Nuo stepped into the stream, gunfire sounded again from behind.

With his abilities suppressed to less than two meters, Chen Nuo no longer dared to attempt to stop bullets midair. He could only roll continuously to dodge the bullets, but more and more armed night attackers closed in on him.

And soon, the fog also began to spread here...

Chen Nuo forcefully overcame a night attacker in front of him, looking as the dense fog was already enveloping his body...

Looking back, in the stream, Selena and the others had already floated far with the river, and they had managed to grab onto a piece of driftwood that had come from somewhere.

The woman was still shouting loudly and gesturing to him, but soon, the dense fog obscured Chen Nuo's vision.

Chen Nuo was holding his breath—heaven knows how this dense fog could drive someone insane.

He leaped into the water, but soon felt his leg grabbed fiercely. After struggling in the water for a few times, Chen Nuo turned around and forcefully stabbed at a night attacker clinging to his leg.

But under the water, Chen Nuo clearly saw that the surface was bathed in a scarlet hue!

The mist had completely enveloped the area!

He struggled underwater for a while, but still couldn't swim out of the area covered by the fog, and he could clearly feel that there was less and less air in his lungs.

Chen Nuo cursed inwardly.

In an instant, he made a decision!

He turned around underwater and swam back towards the upstream direction of the camp!

Underwater, Chen Nuo found a night attacker whose neck he had broken and quickly stripped off his combat uniform.

It was the uniform of the Black Bee Mercenary Corps.

Chen Nuo quickly put the jacket on himself. Then under the water, he vigorously rubbed his face and body.

Soon, he rubbed off all the materials used in his disguise as "Harvey."

One minute later, when Chen Nuo's oxygen supply finally ran out, he had put on the Black Bee uniform underwater and then finally spluttered to the surface.

It seemed as if the world was now completely shrouded in a Red Mist.

Chen Nuo strained to activate his spiritual power, maintaining only a little over a meter around him, barely sustaining this small barrier.

Lying on the ground by the riverbank, Chen Nuo saw that from time to time, night attackers holding guns with cold, numb expressions slowly passed by.

Some people seemed to notice Chen Nuo, but their gaze merely swept over the uniform on his body, and quickly looked away.

Chen Nuo carefully retracted his Telekinesis again, shrinking the mist-repelling barrier until it was only a few centimeters thick, practically clinging to his skin.

Then, he slowly crawled up and stood straight, taking a few steps through the mist.

Within ten steps around him, there were two night attackers wearing Desert Fox uniforms. The two guys glanced over carelessly and then moved on.

Chen Nuo knew he had won his gamble.

It seemed that in the Red Mist, the reactions of these night attackers had slowed down considerably.

More and more night attackers were entering the camp. And soon, like wooden stakes, everyone stopped moving and stood rigidly in place!

Chen Nuo immediately stopped too, mimicking those guys around him, standing straight and motionless.

The eerie Red Fog began to dissipate mysteriously!

The disappearing speed was even faster than when it arrived.

The world around him regained its original colors, and Chen Nuo could even see the starry night sky above him.

And right by the riverbank, the ground was a messy camp, scattered with corpses everywhere.

Nearly a hundred fully armed night attackers stood as stiff as statues!

Standing among them, Chen Nuo found it incredibly bizarre.

From the jungle, the figure quickly floated out again.

From the floating posture of this figure, Chen Nuo deduced that the guy's strength was clearly greatly damaged. It seemed the guy hadn't gained much of an advantage from his fierce clash with Sato Ryoko.

Just at that moment, a rapid scan of spiritual power swept over!

Chen Nuo's heart tightened!

He simply let go of all resistance, retracted all his Mentality Tentacles and barriers, and forcefully condensed all his consciousness back into his Consciousness Space...

Chen Nuo's gamble paid off!

The spiritual power scan passed over the crowd, did not linger on him, and was swiftly withdrawn.

Afterward, the hundred or so clay-like night attackers began to move slowly. They started to function like machines, formed a line, and the one in the lead began to walk, crossing the stream towards the depths of the jungle.

And Chen Nuo, carefully waiting for the right moment, followed behind the very last one in the procession, trailing this group of zombie-like night attackers on their way...