Chapter 396 - 184: Kill

Chapter 396: Chapter 184: Kill

A hint of exhaustion crept into Xu Mo’s voice.

"But you wouldn’t listen. You insisted on hunting me down. You blew up my car, and with it, my last means of escape."

Xu Mo pointed at the burning SUV.

"My paraglider was in that vehicle. My supplies, too. Now they’re all gone. You burned it all."

The man opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.

"So, I can only wish you good luck."

After wishing the man good luck, Xu Mo pulled the trigger.

"BANG!"

With the sound of the gunshot, the third man fell.

Xu Mo holstered his gun and stood amidst the three bodies. The firelight flickered across his face, making his expression look particularly complex.

He didn’t leave right away. Instead, he looked down at the three corpses. They thought they were doing the right thing, that they were upholding the camp’s rules. They had chased him, opened fire, and blown up his vehicle without a moment’s hesitation.

And now they were dead, killed by their own sense of justice.

Xu Mo watched the flames, silent for a few seconds.

Then he bent down, grabbed a body with one hand, and threw it into the fire.

One. Two. Three.

The three bodies were tossed into the burning grass, and the flames instantly devoured them. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air, mingling with the scent of gunpowder.

Xu Mo stood by the fire, watching the three bodies twist and curl in the flames until they became charred shapes.

Xu Mo felt neither guilt nor satisfaction.

He hadn’t wanted to kill, but he wanted to die even less.

Turning around, Xu Mo walked toward the three men’s vehicle. It was a modified SUV, in even better condition than his own. The doors were unlocked, and the key was still in the ignition.

Xu Mo got in and started the engine. In the rearview mirror, the burning wilderness grew smaller and smaller, finally vanishing into the darkness.

As dawn approached, Xu Mo found a place to park and rest.

This time, he chose a well-hidden spot. The vehicle was parked in a dry riverbed, concealed by earthen slopes on both sides.

He wasn’t tired, just thinking about what happened last night.

Looking back on it now, Xu Mo still had no regrets. Those three men wanted to kill him; he fought back. It was only natural.

’I gave them a chance,’ he thought. ’I let them go once and warned them. But they wouldn’t listen. They insisted on chasing me, opening fire, and even blowing up my car.’

’This is the apocalypse. There are no judges, no juries, and no chances for appeal. Every decision is a matter of life and death, and every moment of hesitation could cost you your life.’

Xu Mo took a deep breath and slowly relaxed his body.

’In any case, what’s done is done. What I need to do now is keep moving forward and complete my mission.’

「Meanwhile, in Qinglin Town, the sky was just beginning to lighten.」

Old Qi stood outside the command post in the center of town, waiting to be summoned. He had rushed back overnight, his legs nearly broken from the journey. But he couldn’t afford to rest; he had come straight here the moment he entered town.

"Old Qi?" a familiar voice called from behind.

Old Qi turned to see Captain Zheng Guodong walking toward him. Zheng Guodong was in his forties and an army veteran, now serving as the captain of Qinglin Town’s patrol team. He always wore a stern, unsmiling expression, but those who knew him knew he was a man with a strong sense of judgment.

"Captain," Old Qi said, walking up to him.

"Why are you alone?" Zheng Guodong asked, glancing behind him. "Where are Chen Hu and the others?"

Old Qi opened his mouth, unsure of how to answer for a moment.

Zheng Guodong frowned. "Come inside and talk."

The two entered the command post. Zheng Guodong closed the door and gestured for Old Qi to sit. Old Qi didn’t sit. He remained standing and recounted the events of the previous night in full detail.

From sneaking up to capture the man, to being knocked out and tied up by him, to the words the man had said, to Chen Hu and the others insisting on giving chase, and finally to his own return to report...

Zheng Guodong listened, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"You’re saying the man let you go?" he asked.

"He did," said Old Qi. "He knocked us out and tied us up, then waited for us to wake up to say all that. When he left, he even left a blade for us to cut the ropes."

Zheng Guodong was silent for a moment.

"He said he was unjustly accused?"

"Yes," Old Qi said. "He said those four people hunted him first, and he fought back in self-defense. He said Old Zheng only saw the aftermath, not what led to it."

Zheng Guodong’s fingers tapped on the desktop.

Old Zheng was his clansman and also a member of the patrol team. Yesterday, Old Zheng had come back with a report, saying he’d seen a survivor in the wild standing over four bodies he had just killed.

Now Old Qi had brought back a different version of the story.

"Do you believe him?" Zheng Guodong asked.

Old Qi was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I believe half of it."

"Which half?"

"I believe he’s not someone who kills indiscriminately," Old Qi said. "If he really wanted to kill us, the four of us would’ve been dead long ago. He didn’t kill us, and he even left us a way to survive. That’s not the kind of person who’s a madman, killing on sight."

Zheng Guodong nodded.

"And the other half?"

"The other half," said Old Qi, "is that I don’t know if what he said is true—that those four hunted him first. We have no way to verify it now. Old Zheng only saw the aftermath, not what led to it. Those four are all dead, so there’s no one to testify."

Zheng Guodong fell silent again.

After a while, he stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the gradually brightening sky.

"What about Chen Hu and the others?" he asked.

A knot formed in Old Qi’s stomach. "They went after him."

"Did they catch up?"

"I don’t know," Old Qi said. "They had just set out when I left."

Zheng Guodong said nothing.

Old Qi watched his back, a sense of unease washing over him. It was a feeling that had been with him since last night, and it was only growing stronger.