A Desperate Choice

By the time Han Qingyu had run through every curse he knew and had ever heard to greet Lao Jian, the combat atop the slope ceased with two final, agonizing screams. With a rumbling roll, a corpse tumbled down the earthen slope. It landed less than fifty centimeters in front of Han Qingyu, shuddered a few times, was caught by the shrubs, and came to rest. Han Qingyu: "..." "Where'd he tumble to? I'll go down and take a look," a voice said from the crest of the slope. Han Qingyu's heart instantly leaped into his throat. In this situation, it was impossible to tell friend from foe, good from evil, but for Han Qingyu, it was truly a matter of life and death. Who could guarantee that this person who had just slaughtered someone wouldn't immediately bring down a blade upon discovering him? Against a source energy apparatus, Han Qingyu had no chance of fighting back. "It's just one piece of source energy. What's your fucking rush...? We'll deal with it later. I promise I won't fight you for it," another voice said. "I'm just worried he might not be dead." "He's dead as a doornail. Besides, it's going to be pitch-black any second, and you won't be able to see a damn thing down there anyway. Don't worry. Let's get our business done first. I bet Azure's people who went out will be back soon." The conversation came to an abrupt halt. Afterward, not even footsteps could be heard. The distance between the top and bottom of the slope was actually quite short, but Han Qingyu had been too nervous to hear the exchange clearly. The few scattered words that reached his ears were somewhat muffled, obscure, and hard to understand, such as "Azure's people" and "get our business done." He could not even tell whether the two had already left. Judging by the lack of footsteps, they should not have moved. The problem was that if they had activated their source energy apparatuses and departed cautiously, these people truly could move almost silently. Regardless of which scenario it was... they probably would not be coming down for the time being. Han Qingyu let out a slight breath of relief, only then realizing that cold sweat had drenched his back. After waiting another moment to compose himself, he finally gathered the courage to lift his head slightly and glance at the corpse in front of him. *Why are you looking at me again?* The corpse lay sprawled horizontally in the bushes, its head cocked sideways, a pair of eyes staring straight toward where Han Qingyu was hiding... uncannily similar to the situation with Lao Jian that night. *Looking at me won't do any good. I swear to god I'll never save another person as long as I live. Saving someone just screws me over... Besides, you're already completely dead.* Instinctively, moving in slow motion, Han Qingyu reached out to close the corpse's eyes... yet they opened again on their own. ...Not dead yet? Judging by the look in the eyes, he was certainly dead. Looking at the body, there was a slash across the neck and two bloody holes in the chest, blood still flowing in the encroaching gloom of dusk. He was definitely dead; even the metal straps on his body had been cut through... He simply had died with his eyes wide open. *Stop staring. I can't avenge you anyway... I can barely save my own skin.* Han Qingyu grumbled and made his excuses in his heart. Striving to avoid the corpse's gaze, he steadied his breathing, settled his nerves, and closely inspected the body. He soon noticed something: Not only were the metal straps on this dead man identical to Lao Jian's, but even the uniform—styled like a gray collared shirt—matched the one Lao Jian and his men had worn that night. The epaulets were the same, too. Aside from the color of the star embedded in them—Lao Jian's had been silver, while this man's was like dark iron—everything else was an exact match. It seemed this murdered man was on their side. So the "Azure's people" those two above had mentioned must refer to Lao Jian and his comrades? Then the two on top were enemies?! Enemies who had just killed an Azure warrior and seemed to have some vital business to attend to. The instant he reached this conclusion, cold sweat broke out all over Han Qingyu again. He quickly tucked himself back into the hollow, motionless, straining his ears to listen... For a long while, there was still no sound from above. *Did they leave?* Han Qingyu could not be sure whether they had gone, but he knew very well that he had to leave. Otherwise, once they came down to search the corpse, he would almost certainly be discovered. Staying here offered only a dead end. He lifted his head, preparing to survey his surroundings and choose an escape route. Yet as his gaze swept the ground ahead, it was instantly drawn to an object... Just ahead, a little over a meter away, lay the dead man's metal case, right where it had fallen. Inside it... were source energy blocks. *Might as well take them before running. Doesn't make a difference either way.* Taking a deep breath, and then another, Han Qingyu ultimately could not resist. Moving with the slowest, gentlest motions possible, he raised his upper body slightly and stretched his arm as far as he could... until finally, his fingertips touched the case. Then, with even slower and lighter motions, he felt for the vertical pin on the side of the case, turned it loose, and slowly pushed it upward, millimeter by millimeter... The case opened. For the first time, Han Qingyu had opened a source energy apparatus. He adjusted his posture and peered inside. However, the situation proved somewhat unexpected. What met his eyes was not the dark-gold, semi-molten metal block he had glimpsed that night—and had likely absorbed directly. Sitting in the center of the case was a square, deep-blue crystal, no more than six centimeters across. At first glance, it resembled deep-blue gelatin, yet it was solid. Within were irregular fracture lines, or perhaps constrained, refracted light, or even the frozen twinkle of stars. It was strikingly beautiful, breathtakingly captivating. So was this the refined source energy block issued to them by the military? There was no time to ponder further, nor much room for hesitation. Han Qingyu reached out to touch it... Better to absorb it than just carry it away. *If I really can directly absorb source energy...* The answer was yes. Moreover, unlike the previous occasion, where he had felt nothing—whether from sheer panic or simple ignorance—the moment his fingertips made contact with the source energy block this time, Han Qingyu felt something surging toward him. It felt like a drop of warm, pure spring water flowing slowly from his fingertips through his palm, wrist, pulse, and forearm into his body, followed by another drop, and another... "Gone?!" After repeatedly testing it, Han Qingyu finally confirmed that the source energy block was empty. Its blue, crystalline form remained unchanged, but the energy within was gone. *I shouldn't have drained it completely,* he thought with a flicker of regret. Just a flicker. Han Qingyu did not even have time to carefully feel whether his body had changed. Because right now, what mattered most was his life. He had to get out of here as quickly as possible. * * * Surveying his surroundings once more, using the faint remnants of daylight, Han Qingyu looked closely and thoroughly this time. Then, his heart sank. He was finished. Han Qingyu had no idea why he had chosen such a spot in the first place... a place with no path forward, while both the left and right were blanketed in dry branches. The brittle twigs lay piled in dense layers, looking like accumulated debris discarded from years of clearing. Under the current circumstances, whichever way he moved, whether crawling or walking, there would undoubtedly be an immediate crackle... a dense burst of noise from twigs snapping or dry wood rattling as it was compressed and shifted. Thinking back, he had indeed stepped on them when he arrived, making that exact noise. But his situation had been different then; he hadn't thought anything was wrong with the sounds, and had even felt that these piles of brush offered good cover. At the time, he had thought only of hiding, never of retreating. So what now... what was he supposed to do? Push the corpse down the slope, gambling that the people above would assume it had slipped on its own, so that when they came down to check, they would leap straight past him to the bottom...? No, that was pure self-deception. Exhausting his thoughts to no avail, Han Qingyu's spirits plummeted. Subconsciously, he turned his head back to glance up at the earthen slope, giving a bleak, bitter smile inside: *Maybe they aren't even up there anymore.* Such a possibility certainly existed; it was just that he had zero information on which to base a judgment. It was a completely blind gamble. At the same time, that backward glance made Han Qingyu realize something else: there was one direction he could climb where no dry branches would snap... The direction of the earthen slope. The incline was not overly steep. There was only firm, slightly damp red clay and clusters of green grass. *But why would I climb up there? To see if they're still around?* Three seconds later... Han Qingyu decided to see whether they were still around. If they weren't, he would run for his life. If they were? He would retreat, push the corpse down, and take his gamble. He was unwilling to gamble blindly, nor did he want to sit here waiting to die. He did not want cowardice and despair to make him miss a real chance at escape... only to waste precious time through sheer bad luck until the enemies returned. Leaning out from the hollow, Han Qingyu felt around for the warrior's blade, retrieved it, and tucked it into the back of his belt... He felt around for the conical dagger, retrieved it, and gripped it in his hand. Then, he slowly turned around. With one hand, he twisted the dagger into the red clay like a drill; with the other, he gripped a clump of grass. Han Qingyu took his first step crawling up the slope. The moment his entire body tightened with concentrated force, he discovered something: the blue-crystal source energy he had just absorbed had not been fully assimilated into his body like the dark metal block before. Instead, it was like a small puddle of water in his palm—a very small amount, yet something he could clearly feel within his meridians. Of course, that small puddle was likely being digested as well, only the process was not fast enough to be clearly perceived. Instead, it acted outward. For instance, when Han Qingyu applied force with his arms, this portion of source energy surged into them according to his intent, taking effect while being consumed at the same time. The effect was striking. Han Qingyu could distinctly feel the short-term boost in his strength, speed, and explosive power. This made his climb far easier. The slope was not high to begin with. Despite his cautious, careful movements, Han Qingyu quickly neared the crest. Over the final few paces, there happened to be a small reverse slope against which he could press his body flat. Han Qingyu pressed himself tight against the reverse slope. He steadied his breathing, then slowly eased his body upward... His line of sight rose... Just a final fraction of an inch of obstruction remained before he could see what was atop the slope. That final fraction of an inch felt to Han Qingyu like waiting for fate to reveal its verdict. Taking a deep breath, he held it and made his final move. Then, he saw. ...They were there. Through the gaps in the grass, Han Qingyu could clearly see two men with their backs to him, lying silently side by side in the grass... Less than three meters away from him. Both men wore source energy apparatuses, but their design differed from Lao Jian's. Theirs resembled black discs embedded with equilateral triangles, from which metal straps extended. However, the apparatuses did not appear to be running at the moment, resting instead in an inactive, dormant state. Their clothes seemed somewhat different as well... None of that mattered now. Han Qingyu suppressed the overwhelming despair and profound fear of death in his heart, holding back his trembling and weakness. He prepared to back away, retreat down the slope, and push the corpse to take his gamble. He began pulling back... The moment his gaze was about to dip below the crest... he suddenly froze. The shift in Han Qingyu's mind during that split second was hard to describe. It was like a sudden, severe frost instantly flash-freezing the surface of a lake into dead silence; or like a glowing-red iron sword thrusting through ice, piercing straight to the bottom. Two seconds later. Han Qingyu's body was already airborne, skimming forward at a low height like an arrow in full flight. In his left hand was the conical four-fullered dagger. In his right hand was the straight blade held in a reverse grip, its spine braced against his forearm. The two men lying on the ground instantly detected the movement behind them, and the source energy apparatuses on their backs shuddered at once. A flash of light—and the light died. Too late. Two men—two corpses. One had his neck slashed open by the straight blade; the other had the conical dagger driven into the back of his head. Both the blade and the dagger remained firmly in Han Qingyu's grip. Three hours earlier, in the jeep, Lao Jian had said to Han Qingyu: "Take me, for instance. After nearly ten years, if I don't activate the apparatus and you stab me with a blade, I'll die just the same."