80 Time to Hun (1/2)

Chu Yue wrestled with her misgivings for a moment, before finally deciding to obey Xiao Luo and hide in the filthy mud.

”Don't forget about me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to climb out of here by myself!”

She lowered herself in backward, slowly, and her voice was little as a mosquito, but the words clearly embedded themselves in Xiao Luo's heart. Perhaps it was normal for a man to feel some sympathy for a beauty like her.

”I won't!”

Xiao Luo heaped mud on her, concealing her entirely from sight, before wading into the river. The river was neither broad nor deep, and the water only came up to his thigh.

”Papapa!”

Chu Yue heard the sound of footsteps. It sounded as if they were walking right next to her, and she held her breath in fear.

The strong one-eyed man codenamed Eagle noticed the muddy footprints near the boulders. There were two sets of prints, one small and one large, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He boomed in a frosty tone, ”They passed through here, after all, the sneaky fellow. If he follows the river, soon we won't be able to track him. Quickly now, spread out downstream, and whistle if you see any trace of mud in the water. He's carrying the girl, so he can't be moving faster than us.”

The row of men hurried along the river.

Experience was a good thing, but sometimes it backfired. At the moment, they were dancing in the palm of Xiao Luo's hand, as he had planned to make them split up.

No longer held back by Chu Yue, Xiao Luo doubled his speed. Moving like a phantom through the forest, he began his hunt.

...

”This is unbelievable. Where the hell did that guy go? We've been following him for so long and haven't found any trace of him yet!”

”Hmm. To evade us while carrying a girl, this guy must really be something.”

Two members of the Red Scorpion Mercenary Corps searched their surroundings, feeling despondent. Neither of them noticed a vine silently lowering from the tree branch above and closing in on the head of a burly mercenary with a red face.

The vine tightened around his neck, and the burly man instinctively grabbed at it, but a large force pulled him upward. His neck was caught tightly by the noose, and he was unable to breathe, let alone make any sound. He struggled in a silent panic, trying to reach out and tap his partner. But the man was two paces ahead of him, and his fingers were just a few inches too short.

His face swelled up with blood, becoming beet red, and he watched helplessly as his oblivious partner walked away.

”Whoosh!”

The burly man was yanked up into the tree canopy. Through the dappled light filtering in through the leaves, he saw a handsome emotionless face. His eyes widened in shock as he tried to suck in air, but it seemed to solidify around him, and none of it entered his windpipe.

With a face full of agony, the burly red-faced man gaped at Xiao Luo. His hand reached for his intercom, but Xiao Luo lightly pressed down on it, so he could no longer move. His struggling became weaker as the noose around his neck tightened as he struggled. He felt death by asphyxiation approaching.

His partner, who was ahead of him, finally noticed that something was off and turned around. What? Where did he go?

”Red Ghost? Red Ghost?”

He yelled out his partner's code name twice. His voice carried through the forest, but there was no reply. As though his voice was swallowed by a monster lurking in the shadows, he could not hear a sound, not even an echo. He began to feel completely flustered and surveyed his surroundings warily while reporting to Eagle on his walkie.

”Eagle, come in. Red Ghost is missing. I repeat, Red Ghost is missing!”

”What do you mean missing? He's right behind you! The GPS shows your positions overlapping!” Eagle's voice came back through the intercom.