novelraw Chapter 499: Triumph
Chapter 499: Triumph
"General!"
"General!"
...
All of a sudden, everyone finally realized that Ruan Tiansheng was nowhere to be seen — how come they hadn’t spotted him? Thinking thus, they rushed to the collapsed ruins of the house and began to dig...
After a long time, they finally unearthed a foot and then stopped moving because the shoe on the foot was the one Ruan Tiansheng wore all year round; in other words, Ruan Tiansheng, who used to Summon Wind and Call Rain in Golden Triangle, had vanished forever!
What would they do from now on?
All of them felt lost at heart, looking at the ruins before them, and without further care, they all dispersed with their respective people.
It was long after everyone had left that Zhu Tao finally woke up in that deep ditch.
Was he really not dead?
Zhu Tao opened his eyes, simply unable to believe that, in such dire circumstances, his body’s cultivation power had already dispersed, and he had survived despite being gravely injured. Lin Feng’s medical skills were indeed too profound; such a certain-death situation was reversed by Lin Feng!
If nothing unexpected happened, Ruan Tiansheng and his son would have died...
With that in mind, Zhu Tao struggled to get up and go to take care of Ruan Tiansheng and his son’s bodies, but he would never have dreamed that just moving a bit, he discovered that not only was he not dead, there were still silver needles embedded in his body, and... and most importantly, his cultivation power had... actually remained at an S-level realm!
How... how is this possible!
Not only had he not died, but he had also succeeded in advancing — how... how could this be, what... what exactly was going on?
Zhu Tao was completely baffled by the situation in front of him. He thought he had already lost his cultivation power, and even if Lin Feng’s medical skills were extraordinary, reviving him would be inconceivable, let alone maintaining his strength at an S-level. Zhu Tao realized at this moment that all this was thanks to Lin Feng. Without Lin Feng’s acupuncture, it would have been impossible for him to retain his power at S-level. This... this was too miraculous and incredible, utterly unimaginable that anyone in the world could achieve such a feat!
Lin Feng was so young, and his martial prowess had reached such a terrifying degree which was beyond any cultivator’s wildest thoughts. If he also possessed such unbelievable medical skills, then... was Lin Feng even human? How could anyone be at such a level, it was simply impossible, yet the impossible was happening right before Zhu Tao’s eyes, forcing him to believe it. But why would Lin Feng save him, and even help him maintain the realm of an S-level expert?
Suddenly, Zhu Tao remembered the words Lin Feng had said before he lost consciousness. After deeply contemplating for a while, he finally understood that Lin Feng had never intended to take his life. He simply wanted him to sever all ties with the Ruan Family completely.
However, this was probably for the best. At least he no longer had any connection with the Ruan Family and didn’t owe them anything. From now on, he wouldn’t have to protect and escort them anymore. Zhu Tao had actually grown tired of such a life a long time ago.
Having thought everything through, Zhu Tao got up from the ground again, casually removed the silver needles from his body, walked over to the pile of rubble, and dug out the bodies of Ruan Tiansheng and his son. He made a pit on the edge of the village to bury them and even made a simple tombstone on the spot.
"Old Family Head, I have repaid the Ruan Family’s kindness. Now it’s time for me to leave." After simply uttering these words, Zhu Tao stood up from the gravesite, ready to leave the Golden Triangle, where he had stayed for decades.
But when Zhu Tao stood up, he felt lost. He had never left the Golden Triangle in decades; where should he go next...
...
Similarly, the loud noise from Lin Feng’s battle with Zhu Tao puzzled the members of the Field Combat Division’s scout team. The sound was different from a usual bomb or shell explosion, and they couldn’t figure out what had happened on Lin Feng’s side, which naturally made them worried for him.
"Cap, is Instructor Lin okay?"
"Cap! What happened over there?"
"Captain, should we go help Instructor Lin?"
...
The members of the scout team circled around Xia Yong, incessantly asking, because they were all very concerned that something might have happened to Lin Feng. Even though they knew Lin Feng’s abilities were beyond everyone’s imagination, they couldn’t help but worry for him. They all wanted to see what was going on and, if possible, to help Lin Feng — that would be even better!
"No need. We don’t have to worry about Instructor Lin’s matters. Just carry out his orders, and he’ll be fine! Let’s go!" Xia Yong decided to strictly follow Lin Feng’s orders. Although he was very concerned that Lin Feng might be in danger, Xia Yong had even more faith that, with Lin Feng’s incredible abilities, he would be able to turn any peril into safety. If the scout team went over, they might even become a hindrance to Lin Feng, which would be more loss than gain.
Therefore, the best course of action was to follow Lin Feng’s orders to make a breakout, not letting Lin Feng worry about them. That was the best solution. Thinking this, Xia Yong bit his lip, suppressing the impulse to take his men to help, and quickly led the team away.
Seeing that the captain had made his decision, the other members had no choice but to suppress their worries for Lin Feng, and followed their captain to make their escape.
When everyone successfully broke out of the woods, they unexpectedly discovered that there was no encirclement as Lin Feng had mentioned, nor were there any people setting fires. They all felt very strange. What... what on earth was going on? Hadn’t Lin Feng said that there were people outside ready to set the fire? Where were they?
"Find cover, stay alert, rest in place!" Xia Yong, although also surprised, still issued the orders to wait there for Lin Feng to find them.
Upon hearing Xia Yong’s orders, the team members hurriedly took their responsibilities to stay alert for any surrounding noises, taking a brief rest while waiting for Lin Feng, although they grew increasingly anxious and concerned for Lin Feng’s safety.
Little did Xia Yong and his team know that it was because of the loud clash between Lin Feng and Zhu Tao that had drawn back those who were setting the fires. Otherwise, how could it have been possible that they encountered not a single enemy upon their escape?
...
Lin Feng left the scene that had just been destroyed into ruins and headed directly toward the scout squad’s position...
After a short chase, Lin Feng saw from afar the scout squad members hiding in the grass at the edge of the woods, waiting for him. He lifted the corner of his mouth; these fellows were quite fast. It seemed their progress over the past dozen days was notable.
With that thought in mind, he proceeded directly to where the scout squad was still resting and staying alert.
"Instructor Lin! Instructor Lin is back!" Zhou Dao, who was responsible for surveillance, spotted Lin Feng approaching from a distance and called out joyfully. Lin Feng had returned safe and sound. How could they not be happy?
As soon as they heard Lin Feng was back, they all quickly stood up and rushed to Lin Feng’s side. Upon seeing that Lin Feng was unharmed, everyone finally relaxed and started bombarding him with questions.
"Instructor Lin, what just happened?"
"Instructor Lin, did you kill Ruan Tiansheng?"
"Instructor Lin..."
...
At the moment, everyone was curious about what exactly had happened because the noise they had just heard was awfully loud, like thunder, and they were extremely worried for Lin Feng’s safety. Seeing that Lin Feng had returned unharmed, they eagerly asked him, hoping Lin Feng would tell them what had occurred.
"There was a bit of an accident, but nothing major. Ruan Tiansheng and his son have been killed, and our objective has been completed," Lin Feng said, looking at the nine people in front of him, feeling a headache with all their queries and deciding to gloss over the details. He couldn’t possibly recount the entire incident to them; they weren’t suited to know about the cultivators’ matters.
"Instructor Lin, what happened?"
"Instructor Lin, tell us!"
"Instructor Lin..."
...
Upon hearing Lin Feng’s casual response and noticing that he had skimmed over the important points, they couldn’t help but start questioning him again, even more curious about what the loud noise had been about. If it wasn’t anything significant, why wouldn’t Lin Feng tell them?
"All have energy, do you? Fine, the next exercise is an ultra-long-distance forced march. The destination is the Field Combat Division’s base, with the last person to arrive receiving a thirty-second ’special treatment’!" Having no choice under the circumstances, Lin Feng resorted to his trump card to silence their curiosity, knowing that once they started running back to the base, they wouldn’t talk anymore. Then he raised a finger and shook it at the nine people in front of him.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
...
The members of the scout squad were stunned upon hearing Lin Feng’s words, knowing that the base was nearly a hundred kilometers away. A forced march back would be exhausting. But then, seeing Lin Feng shake his finger, they were instantly filled with dread and spoke no more, shouldering their backpacks and racing crazily toward the base.
Not running wasn’t an option. They knew all too well the pain Lin Feng’s finger could bring. While in the jungle, Lin Feng had taught them how to extract confessions, and each of them had experienced a taste of agony, ten seconds of sheer unendurable pain that was beyond words. Merely ten seconds had left these tough men, who would normally shrug off broken bones, utterly broken. Not a single one could endure it; in just ten seconds, they were soaked with sweat as if they had been pulled from water!
Ten seconds were excruciating, and thirty seconds could very well be deadly!
With tremendous fear in their hearts, they all ran desperately, no one wanting to be the last. Lin Feng’s word was law, and he never made exceptions, something they had learned very well over the past dozen days. So, they could only run with all their might, determined not to be the last one!