Cao Wei had been tracking Qing Chen down for nearly 8 hours.
He chased him from noon until night, but only midway did he finally discover the first signs of the boy. As a result, every time he was about to catch up with the traces Qing Chen left, the boy would cover them up by using all kinds of methods to clear the terrain.
Dense mimosa shrubbery, streams with crystal clear water, dangerous plants.
The boy was seemingly able to constantly find some strange things he could use as a cover, as if the entirety of the Forbidden Land's outskirts had been imprinted in his mind.
But now, he could no longer escape.
Cao Wei picked up the chewed bark that had been spat out on the ground, as well as the aluminium foil that had been licked clean, and carefully sniffed them to memorize the scent.
Following the smell, Cao Wei continued his chase, victory already secured in his mind.
Throughout the course of his career, he was injected with four doses of genetic medicine, and by now, he had experienced being a C-level superhuman for several years.
The boy's speed and strength were by no means comparable to him.
As long as Qing Huai's task could be completed, the Fourth Branch of the Qing Family would give him the subsequent B-level genetic medicine.
That boy should be running out of rules he could use. In fact, meeting all the right conditions in order to use the rules was a very difficult thing to accomplish. Take how the boy failed to trick him to read the word carved on the tree trunk, for example.
In the dark night, Cao Wei kept tracking the direction of the smell.
The unique human scent left in the air was like a taut thread guiding him to his destination.
Cao Wei felt that he was getting closer and closer to his target, and he could even use his powerful sense of hearing to perceive the sound of the boy's running and heavy breathing.
The prey was intensely panting, obviously exhausted.
This was a wolf's favourite sound.
The distance between them was quickly closing up. Cao Wei would never give him the chance to set up another trap.
He could already see the boy's back.
200 meters.
100 metres.
50 meters.
But right at this moment, Cao Wei heard a click coming from beneath his foot.
His entire body abruptly stopped moving.
It was a landmine especially used to target infantry soldiers.
Cao Wei had been a soldier for more than ten years. He couldn't be more familiar with this crisp sound produced by the activation of the device.
He didn't even have to bow his head to check which type of mine it was.
This was a mine his own field operations team had carried!
Out of a total of fifty, 41 of them were used in the minefield, and the other nine were kept by Platoon 1. He had never expected them to fall into the hands of this boy.
When Cao Wei spotted the big willow tree, he had observed it from afar and saw the uniform and equipment of the soldiers scattered under the tree. Their corpses had long been eaten clean by the ants.
He couldn't fathom it, didn't all the equipment fall nearby the willow tree? This boy really dare to come close to that murderous tree to pick them up?!
Moreover, he didn't know when the boy managed to bury the landmine in this place.
Wait, Cao Wei figured it out now. It turned out that the boy deliberately spat out the bark and threw away the aluminium foil because he had already discovered Cao Wei's keen sense of smell. He did everything to lure Cao Wei with the scent all in order to let him step on this landmine!
Cao Wei didn't have time to think about anything else. Without moving his feet, he took off his bag and fished out an exquisite crossbow from inside it.
With sharp sound, the arm-length arrow cut through the air like a thunderbolt. Hearing the sound, the boy who was running in front of him wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.
In Cao Wei's line of sight, the arrow grazed the outside of the boy's thigh, opening up a bloody gash on his leg.
The boy stumbled and rolled on the ground, but he immediately stood up again and continued to run away limpingly.
Cao Wei sniffed the smell of blood permeating the air. With this, the boy wouldn't be able to throw him off and escape his pursuit anymore.
He stopped looking at the boy's back.
"This Cao Wei, calling for Sir Qing Huai," Cao Wei used the communication channel to request for assistance.
Qing Huai, "Brother Cao Wei? Did you encounter any difficulties?"
"Yes, I stepped on a landmine. I need sappers to come and help me defuse it," Cao Wei replied.
Qing Huai, "We're about 20 kilometers away from you, wait for us to come!"
However, Cao Wei suddenly smelled the scent of blood approaching closer… That boy was actually running back to him. Had he prepared some kind of trump card to finish him off?
If the boy brought a grenade and threw it at him while he was completely unable to move, then he would certainly die!
Cao Wei sneered and took out his dagger, slowly cutting around the leather of his boot. After he finished detaching the sole, Cao Wei followed up by pressing it with his hands.
The movies often depicted special forces soldiers using rocks to weigh down the landmine, showing how those who stepped on it could calmly leave after doing so.
But in reality, the rebound force of these mechanisms was very strong. If the pressure applied on it was less than 80 kilograms, then the mine would instantly explode.
In the wilderness, it was practically impossible to find rocks weighing over 80 kilograms near the location of the landmines.
Moreover, he couldn't even see a single stone lying around him. The boy must've carefully removed all the stones in advance before choosing to bury the landmines in this place!
Cao Wei took off his other boot and put it on top of his cut-off sole above the mine — the tough leather would be able to absorb some of the force from the explosion. Then, he slowly covered the pile with his bulletproof military bag, using it as the final layer of his makeshift shield.
After doing all that, Cao Wei allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.
He knew he had no other choice than to get through this, but at least the power of the explosion wouldn't be too great because this was a landmine specialized for infantrymen. As long as the propelled steel ball didn't pierce inside his body, a C-level master wouldn't die from the blast.
In the past, the military had actually invested in the research and development of a PVR super glue to deal with this kind of landmine in a surefire way.
If you stepped on a mine, you only needed to drop the glue into the crevices of the device and wait for 2 minutes. After that, the glue would dry and firmly lock the mechanism of the landmine, preventing it from blowing off.
Cao Wei took a deep breath. He lay on his stomach on the ground, pressing down on the landmine with his elbows as he firmly protected his chest with his arms.
The next moment, he shifted up his weight. With a loud bang, his whole body was blasted up into the air, but the steel ball failed to penetrate through his protective measures.
Cao Wei coughed, the fishy sweet taste of blood filling his mouth. His internal organs were bleeding from the force of the explosion.
As blood kept pouring into his mouth, this man who was known to be ruthless in the Second Army actually swallowed it back in one gulp.
He crawled up and picked up his crossbow, slowly breaking into a run to chase after the smell of blood in the air.
But despite previously coming closer, the scent of that boy's blood unexpectedly retreated once again.
Cao Wei immediately realized that he didn't have any trump card in his hands — the boy had merely been using psychological tactics to force him to make a move!
Translator: Zee
