Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Wang Yao squatted down. After carefully looking at the man he said, “Let’s just help him to end it painlessly.”
This man was in agony. He would be better off dead. Countless insects were gnawing at him, devouring his organs, blood, brain, and bone marrow. It was a terrible and terrifying punishment. It would be difficult to even end his own life even if he wanted to. He could only die in endless pain. A quick death was his greatest wish.
“I will do it!” Su Zhixing took out his pistol.
With a loud bang, the man’s suffering ended.
“What about the body?” Su Zhixing asked.
“Let’s burn it,” Wang Yao replied. “These insects should not be able to reproduce indefinitely, but we still need to be cautious.”
A soldier went to burn the body.
“Captain, this man over here died very strangely,” Meng Wushuang said.
“What is strange about it?” Su Zhixing asked.
“As far as I can tell, his head was torn straight off his neck,” Meng Wushuang replied.
“Torn straight off? Like with bare hands?” Su Zhixing asked.
“It is not definite, but it certainly seems like it,” Meng Wushuang replied.
“How is that possible?” Su Zhixing asked.
It was now clear to the team that there was another force in the jungle beside the invading foreign armed forces. The other force had just clashed and exchanged fire with these foreign armed forces and killed them all.
“Could they be our troops?” Meng Wushuang asked.
“Our troops?” Su Zhixing thought for a moment and said, “No, I haven’t received any notice from the higher-ups about any news of our troops. If they were our troops, our mission would be over.”
“Who are those people then?” Meng Wushuang asked.
“Connect me to the team,” Su Zhixing said.
The satellite phone was connected. Su Zhixing communicated with the command center about their situation. After hanging up he said, “We will rest here.”
“Come here for a minute,” Wang Yao said, leading Su Zhixing to the side. “Why are we not continuing to chase after them? It is a good opportunity now. The other group has not gone far. We can still catch them in time if we chase after them now. If we wait, we might not be able to catch them.”
“Take it easy,” Su Zhixing said. “Let’s not rush to do anything. Don’t be impatient. The higher-ups are still discussing it.”
“Does this kind of thing has to be discussed too?” Wang Yao was stunned.
“These are procedural issues,” Su Zhixing said.
“Alright, we will just wait,” Wang Yao said.
In less than 10 minutes, news arrived. They were to continue tracking the traces of the other group of armed forces and identify them.
The team began to move. Before long, they found a white man’s head on the road.
Meng Wushuang observed it carefully for a while. His expression quickly changed. “Captain, this head had been torn straight off.”
“What?” Su Zhixing was shocked.
“Look, there are still handprints here,” Meng Wushuang said.
He pointed to the chin area of the head. The bones had been crushed, but a handprint could be seen.
“How is that even possible?” Su Zhixing asked.
“How powerful must he be to do that?” Meng Wushuang remarked. “Is he still even a human?”
“Could it be kung fu?” Su Zhixing looked at Wang Yao beside him, who was also looking at the head.
“I do not know.” Wang Yao shook his head.
Upon seeing Wang Yao’s calm expression, Su Zhixing was somewhat surprised and asked, “Wait, are you not even afraid?”
Throughout the journey, they had encountered more than one dead person. From the very start, Wang Yao had been calm without a hint of fear in his expression. This was somewhat abnormal in itself. After all, when normal people saw a dead person for the first time, no matter what the cause of death was, they would feel afraid. It was an unavoidable response. It would be wrong not to be afraid.
“I have seen dead people more than once,” Wang Yao said.
“Is it that all doctors are born bold?” Su Zhixing asked.
“Maybe.” Wang Yao shrugged his shoulders.
The dark jungle was quiet. Su Zhixing’s team continued to pursue the other group of people. This time, they moved much slower than before because the other group left very little traces. Since it was night, even if the others had left footprints or other traces, it would be very difficult to detect them.
Just as Wang Yao had said, it would have been easier if they had started pursuing them earlier. One should not underestimate a mere 10 minutes. They were in a vast jungle, so they could completely lose track of the other group.
The smell in the air was very light. Wang Yao stood under a tree and sniffed. In the beginning, he had proposed to pursue them immediately because he could detect the traces of those people by the special smells left in the air. After the delay, the special smells had dissipated. Although his five senses were far superior to others, it could not be compared to wolves, dogs, and other animals. Their innate sense of smell was sensitive and thousands of times that of a human’s.
“Let’s rest here,” Su Zhixing said.
After a night of rushing, it was better to be careful. It required a lot of energy to concentrate on preventing any attack that could occur at any time.
The soldiers stopped and began to replenish their energy. Wang Yao sat down under a big tree and ate something. This amount of activity was actually nothing to him.
Su Zhixing came to him and sat down. He softly asked, “Can we still catch up?”
“It will be quite tough.” Wang Yao shook his head gently. He thought for a moment and said, “There is another plan we can try.”
“What plan is that?” Su Zhixing asked.
“I will go and take a look by myself,” Wang Yao said.
He could roam across the jungle alone. His speed would be dozens of times faster without the soldiers. He might be able to trace the group.
“No, that is too dangerous!” Su Zhixing immediately refused without any hesitation.
“Actually, this jungle is nothing to me,” Wang Yao said.
“What about those people?” Su Zhixing asked. “Anyway, I do not agree with the plan.”
“Forget it then.” Wang Yao did not continue to insist. He knew Su Zhixing was worried about his safety. “If that is the case, this mission is just going to drag on.”
Finding someone in this jungle was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Somewhere in the jungle, dozens of men dressed in the same clothes gathered at the top of a mountain and looked down. They could only see trees.
“Senior,” a man said.
“Have those people been disposed of?” another man asked.
“Yes, they have all been disposed of,” the first man said. “There is another group besides them.”
“Who are they?” the other man asked.
“Soldiers from the army,” the first man replied.
“Have we been discovered?” the other man asked.
“No, they were following the outsiders,” the first man said.
“That is good,” the other man said. “Don’t fight with them. It is not easy for them to protect our homeland.”
“I see,” the first man said.
“Let’s get the things from inside and get out of here,” the other man said.
“Alright, I will stay here,” the first man said. “Senior, you can just go back.”
“Alright, let me know if anything happens,” the other man said.
Time slowly passed. Finally, the sky began to brighten.
“Phew, the night has finally passed!” Su Zhixing quietly heaved a sigh of relief.
In the jungle, traveling by day was also dangerous, let alone at night. Up until now, their team had not lost a single person. Although no fighting had taken place, they had encountered many traps. The foreign invading armed forces could be considered to have been eliminated. The purpose of their initial arrival had been achieved. Nine people had come. The best outcome would be to bring back all nine in one piece.
The previous day, they had traveled dozens of miles in the jungle and only rested for less than three hours. They were exhausted.
“Big Brother, they need a rest,” Wang Yao whispered to Su Zhixing.
He was a doctor. Determining illness via sight and smell were the most basic and profound things. Looking at their faces and listening to their voices, these soldiers were exhausted. If they bumped into the enemy, it would be bad. They would probably be unable to exert their normal combat power.
Su Zhixing looked at the comrades beside him and thought for a moment before he gave the order to rest in place. “Rest here for an hour!”
“How long have we been walking?” a soldier asked.
“Almost two miles and there hasn’t been a single trace of them along the way,” another soldier replied.
