Chapter 5: Counter-kill a Man
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After they retreated a distance, Jiang Cheng immediately grabbed Tong Xiaorou and increased their pace. She was extremely nervous, and he shared her sentiment. Even though he had become an Evolver, there were still Evolvers among the camp settlers, and they were likely stronger than him.
Suddenly, two men ran toward them from the side. Jiang Cheng quickly released Tong Xiaorou and pulled out a wooden stick with a flick of his wrist. However, those two were Wildlings; they wore tattered clothes and held a wooden spear in their hands. After glancing at Jiang Cheng and his companions, they quickly scanned Tong Xiaorou and Yaya before moving on without stopping. The two Wildlings veered away from them and hastened their departure. Only then did Jiang Cheng resume their journey.
"Are we leaving?" Tong Xiaorou asked softly.
"I'm afraid we can't stay here anymore. Elmwood Camp is a big camp. If they're really targeting the Wildlings for real, things will turn very bad," Jiang Cheng responded in a deep voice, maintaining his speed.
Two minutes later, Jiang Cheng and the girls encountered a group of Wildlings who were also fleeing. Those Wildlings were visibly panicked. Apparently, they were aware that Elmwood Camp were targeting Wildlings. In fact, they might have known about it earlier than Jiang Cheng did.
As Jiang Cheng and the girls continued on their journey, they encountered more people, including the man with the broken knife that they had seen earlier in the day. However, they only exchanged a glance from afar and did not interact.
The sky gradually darkened.
"Follow me closely. If you can't walk anymore, let me know, understand?" Jiang Cheng said to Tong Xiaorou.
"Understood," Tong Xiaorou replied. She then hesitated for a moment before mustering her courage to ask, "You really won't hit me again?"
Jiang Cheng turned his head to look at her, and she quickly lowered hers, regretting her question.
Jiang Cheng smiled and reassured her, "I used to have a sickness that caused me to lash out randomly. But now that I've evolved, and my illness has been cured, you don't have to worry. I won't ever do that again."
Tong Xiaorou looked up in surprise and concern, "You were sick before? What kind of illness was it? Was it serious?"
Jiang Cheng searched his memories and replied, "It was a type of epilepsy called 'Incompetent Rage', but I'm fine now. I'm back to my normal self."
Tong Xiaorou was taken aback. She felt a surge of emotions, like a weight lifted off her shoulders. Her eyes grew slightly moist, but she didn't ask any further questions. She thought to herself, 'As long as he doesn't hit me again, even if he starves me occasionally, I'll be content.'
Jiang Cheng remained silent and quickened his pace, carrying Yaya in one hand and a wooden stick in the other. He was practically racewalking, while Tong Xiaorou had to jog to keep up. He was worried about the camp settlers catching up with them, as there could be both Evolvers and those armed with firearms among them.
Yaya, who was initially restless, gradually fell asleep in his arms. The little girl had gone through a lot since she followed the previous owner of Jiang Cheng's body but had always been well-behaved and never caused any trouble for others.
As the sky grew darker, stars twinkled overhead, but the towering trees obstructed most of the starlight, making it difficult to see on the forest floor.
The area was originally a tropical rainforest, and even though the Wildlings had dug out and eaten the weeds, the forest floor was still uneven. Besides the rocks, there was a thick layer of decomposing leaves that posed a threat of tripping and falling. But these would only result in minor injuries. There was a possibility of encountering hunting traps set up by the Wildlings. Falling into one would cause more than just a minor injury. Therefore, Jiang Cheng took care to follow the same path as the others.
As they made their way through the forest, towering trees loomed overhead, casting deep shadows beneath their branches. They had entered a remote area of the primeval forest.
Jiang Cheng did not know if this world was a continent or a planet, because even camp settlers had limited means of communication, and communication devices could only be used within a certain range. Therefore, the original owner of the body had very little information.
Suddenly, Jiang Cheng sensed something and quickly turned to the side.
WHOOSH!
A wooden spear shot out from the side, brushing past his shoulder.
Jiang Cheng felt a lingering fear in his heart. He was furious. Without hesitation, he hurled the wooden stick he was holding toward the direction of the attack.
THUD!
"Ahhh..." A pained cry from the perpetrator came.
At this moment, someone sprang up from the decayed leaf layer beside him and lunged at him with a sword.
But Jiang Cheng was ready. In a lightning-fast movement, he caught the blade with his bare hand and delivered a swift kick to the attacker's abdomen. With a loud bang, the assailant was sent flying backward, while the knife remained firmly in Jiang Cheng's grasp.
This was the difference between ordinary people and Evolvers. Even though Jiang Cheng had just started evolving, his reaction speed was already on a different level.
"Quick, run!" Jiang Cheng kept the sword into his Item Box and pulled Tong Xiaorou to run faster. He didn't want to engage in a meaningless and uncertain fight, not knowing how many enemies lay hidden in the darkness.
Those people were chasing him from behind, but they were so quiet, like hungry wolves. Faintly visible were three or four dark figures and seven or eight cold, merciless eyes, obviously seeing Jiang Cheng and the rest as prey.
There were even people blocking him from the front, and he had no idea how many of them there were. However, Jiang Cheng relied on his heightened perception to evade them in advance.
As an Evolver, although Jiang Cheng did not have night vision, his eyesight was good enough. With the help of the faint starlight in the sky, he could see the road and would not bump into anything.
Because it was dark, Jiang Cheng didn't fight. He only pulled Tong Xiaorou and ran.
Yaya was startled awake, but she only covered her mouth and did not dare to make a sound.
Soon, a faint cursing sound came from behind.
"He's fast!"
"D*mn it..."
"We've lost another man. But it's not a bad thing. Let's split the food among everyone, like what we said earlier. We won't have to starve tonight..."
"But... he's not dead yet."
"Make sure he is…"
Jiang Cheng continued to sprint without stopping, the ominous words fading into the background — words that would have struck terror in the heart of any civilized person.
As someone from a peaceful world, he felt anxious. In fact, he was the most anxious among the three of them. The presence of many people following them only added to his apprehension. To make matters worse, the darkness offered no confidence to fight back.
More than an hour had passed, and Tong Xiaorou, who was running behind Jiang Cheng, gasped for breath and said, "I...I can't run anymore." She looked at Jiang Cheng carefully as she spoke.
Jiang Cheng stopped slowly upon hearing her words. Despite being an Evolver, he was also very tired. He was surprised that Tong Xiaorou had only just informed him. He truly admired the tenacity of the Wildlings.
First, Jiang Cheng glanced at Tong Xiaorou and confirmed that the teenage girl was fine. Then he looked around and said, "Let's find a place to rest nearby and continue our journey tomorrow."
'He really doesn't scold me or hit me?' said Tong Xiaorou to herself before letting out a sigh of relief. She believed Jiang Cheng's words and was happy.
Jiang Cheng let go of Tong Xiaorou's hand and took out a wood log to probe the decayed leaves before walking in a direction where no one was around.
Tong Xiaorou put her hands on her hips and panted heavily as she silently followed.
The place should be very far from Elmwood Camp, but it might not be safe.
Fortunately, they had drunk some wolf blood before. Otherwise, they would not have been able to run so far.
Jiang Cheng looked around and finally stopped under the largest tree nearby. "Let's stay the night here. Take this for me. " He handed the wooden stick to Tong Xiaorou and placed his hand on the giant tree in front of him, then focused his mind.
"Directional Collect!"
He was experimenting to see if he could gather only the specific parts he wanted instead of the entire tree. An inexplicable force spread out, but his perception was not strong enough to tell whether the invisible force covered the entire tree or only the parts he wanted.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone