There was no other way. He had to take them with him to look for a breach, lie in a ditch waiting for the Great Spikes to pass, or inch forward together little by little.
The problem was that the Great Spikes' advance was neither a clean circle nor a simple line. In other words, they were not advancing in a single layer. A passing squad did not mean clear roads ahead; they held depth. Along the way, the refugees were likely to encounter several such sweeps.
Could they slip through every single time? That was virtually impossible.
Liu Shiheng racked his brains over what he could do if an accident occurred. He was D-tier, possessed practically no combat experience, and was definitely not strong. Still, compared to an ordinary soldier, he had consumed quite a few source energy blocks over the past year.
*If I land a slash to draw their attention and just run, I should be able to hold them off for a bit, right?*
*And then, I'll be dead.*
At one end of the gully, he cupped water trickling down the rock face to wash his face. As he looked up, his hands swept his hair back, and he blew out a long breath toward the sky.
Pondering his options, Liu Shiheng scrambled up from the ditch. Even though the Great Spike swarms were sweeping forward at a relatively slow pace, he needed to make this scouting trip as fast as possible.
A tug caught the back of his right trouser leg, pulling gently.
Liu Shiheng turned his head and saw a small hand with a reddish back gripping the fabric.
"Soldier Uncle, I called you softly several times."
Jiayina's voice sounded timid, as did her eyes. She had just made a mistake earlier and provoked him to anger, after all.
Behind her stood two elderly men and a woman.
Evidently, the little girl was here to serve as their little interpreter. Liu Shiheng turned around with a warm smile, gesturing for the elders to speak.
"Grandpa Suochi says they know your plan. They know the monsters are fierce and that there are many more along the way. He said you can factor them into your calculations..."
Liu Shiheng blinked in bewilderment. "Factor them in how?"
"They... can be the ones who draw the Great Spikes away on the road," Jiayina said, looking up at him.
A surge of blood rushed straight to Liu Shiheng's head.
Jiayina's own eyes reddened in an instant, tears spilling over. She understood what this meant. When they first encountered the Great Spikes, the young and able-bodied men of their tribe had done the very same thing.
The old man continued to speak.
Fighting back tears, Jiayina translated, "Every adult here is willing. At any moment, any one of us can go. Please protect the children and lead them out. And please... you and your comrades, return one day to shelter this land and its living souls."
When Jiayina fell silent, the old man ceased his low murmurs as well. An honest, plain smile touched his face as he looked at Liu Shiheng.
Liu Shiheng could not detect the dramatic grimness or fierce resolve one might expect on their faces. Nor did they appear agitated. If there was anything to be seen, it was perhaps a touch of reverence and serene calm in their eyes.
At this moment, Liu Shiheng desperately wanted to say, *There's no need for that.* But the reality was otherwise. He was alone, and he was far too weak. He could make no promises to keep everyone safe. Perhaps he really would need them to do just that.
After a brief silence, Liu Shiheng abruptly took a step forward and extended his hand.
The leader, the old man named Suochi, looked at him and somewhat clumsily offered his hand in return.
They shook hands.
"I will treat you as my comrades in arms. This time, I won't just save my own skin."
With that, Liu Shiheng turned on his heel.
His voice had been somewhat low. Jiayina hurried to catch up. "Soldier Uncle, I couldn't hear what you just said."
"I said..." Liu Shiheng paused and turned, resting his hand gently on Jiayina's head. Hesitating for a moment, he told her, "My name is Liu Shiheng."
"Uncle... Liu Shiheng." *Soldier Uncle is named Liu Shiheng.* Jiayina repeated the words, earnestly committing them to memory.
"Yeah." The corners of Liu Shiheng's mouth curled up. Then a cunning glint flashed across his eyes as he added, "If someone asks you about what happened here later on, Jiayina, remember to tell them the whole story in detail, okay?"
"After all, this is your uncle's first time being a hero," he added under his breath. Since he was really going to do it, and might even lose his life in the process, he sure as hell needed to brag about it afterward.
Maybe one day, when everything about Azure was made public, his parents would feel proud of their profligate son for once. They would share in his glory.
And those girls in the Gangcheng entertainment district would all boast about having once entertained Young Master Liu.
*Hell, they might even jack up their prices because of it,* Liu Shiheng thought, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
In fact, Liu Shiheng had envisioned this before: if he truly stayed with Azure until the day everything was revealed, he would definitely pay a visit to the Gangcheng nightclubs, relishing the fawning adulation and company of beauties without spending a single cent.
Back then, he had even debated whether to bring Plague Chicken and the rest along—especially that prick Han Qingyu.
Jiayina had not caught that last muttered sentence either, and found the whole sentiment rather difficult to comprehend. She gazed up at Liu Shiheng's expression with hesitation, then nodded vigorously.
Reining in his thoughts, Liu Shiheng did not press the point. Instead, he asked, "Right, do you still remember that phrase I taught you earlier?"
"I remember."
"Good... but don't ever actually do that sort of thing."
The last sentence was laced with immense grievance. Having said his piece, Liu Shiheng turned once more, activated his source energy apparatus, and sprinted across the grassland.
***
Lush grass cloaked the terrain. Liu Shiheng lay flat inside a hollow, resting the side of his head against the ground while angling his gaze slightly upward. He listened to the earth's vibrations while peering intently through the blades of grass.
He had learned all these tricks from Han Qingyu. He wished he could imagine himself as Han Qingyu, but in truth, he obviously was not.
Gathering his courage, he gradually let his breathing grow louder as a test, his nerves making him tremble faintly. At this moment, roughly nine hundred meters to his right, a group of three black-armored Great Spikes was roaming forward, moving roughly parallel to his line.
Through observation, Liu Shiheng hoped to glean some pattern in their movements and the range of their hearing and sight. At the same time, he needed to slip past this outer layer to check the conditions deeper within.
Otherwise, once he began moving with the elderly and the children, running head-on into a large swarm in the deep sector would strip them of any chance whatsoever.
Not far off, the rush of a stream was fairly loud.
This was one reason Liu Shiheng had chosen this spot; the sound of flowing water could mask minor rustles to some extent.
His legs felt a bit weak. Remaining on his belly, Liu Shiheng crawled forward on his knees. The three Great Spikes nearby did not detect him. He crawled over a thousand meters in this manner, ascending a low slope.
The instant he poked his head over the crest—*fuck!* Young Master Liu's bad luck remained unbroken.
In the distance, three groups of Great Spikes appeared in his line of sight, gathered somewhat densely. If it were just Liu Shiheng alone, he might still have a chance of slipping through, but with so many elderly folk and children...
*A straight line is out of the question. We'll have to take a long, winding detour.*
Even as he pondered, Liu Shiheng began crawling sideways. He moved very slowly to simulate the pace of civilians, estimating the space and distance required for lateral or diagonal movement.
*"Baa! Baa!"*
Two sudden bleats shattered the silence. A stray sheep left behind on the grassland suddenly burst out from an unknown corner.
In an instant, the entire surrounding area shook violently.
At least seven Great Spikes from two separate groups launched into a ferocious sprint toward the sheep.
"Holy fuck!"
Liu Shiheng had no idea why he was cursed with such rotten luck. Ever since he left his unit that night, he had endured days of relentless misfortune. Not a single good thing had happened; everything pushed him closer to danger and death.
And right now, that little creature was sprinting desperately in his direction.
*Even a damn sheep has it out for me! How the hell am I supposed to lead a bunch of kids through this?!*
Liu Shiheng spun around and scrambled away. He could not afford to die just yet!
Soon, the thudding vibrations behind him grew louder and louder; the Great Spikes were simply too fast.
A short, agonized squeal sounded. The sheep was dead.
That meant Liu Shiheng was now uncomfortably close to multiple Great Spikes.
He held his breath... and after a while, cautiously tried breathing again.
*I have to factor in random accidents like this, too... Getting them out is going to be far too difficult.*
The findings of his scouting trip left Liu Shiheng deeply disheartened. The emotion this failure stirred was neither indignation nor a desire to quit, but distress—profound, suffocating distress, bearing down on him like an immense weight.
For once in his life, he had resolved to lay it all on the line, only to find himself utterly powerless. The sheer helplessness made him want to weep.
*Clack-clack, clack-clack... Rumble, rumble!*
Judging by the tremors in the earth, something was moving forward along the sector roughly a thousand meters away.
*What the hell is that?!*
Great Spikes? No. Liu Shiheng had grown intimately familiar with the sound of Great Spikes on the move.
Could it be... a herd of horses?!
For a herd of horses to appear under these circumstances stunned Liu Shiheng. Staying close to the ground, he turned and peered in that direction.
No riders or steeds entered his view, only the backs of the nearby Great Spikes as they charged rapidly toward the commotion.
Soon, the surrounding area cleared out completely. Liu Shiheng was temporarily safe.
Meanwhile, the thundering sound of the horses faded into the distance.
*Which idiot just did me a favor?*
*No, that's just too foolish... What a shame. How could horses ever outrun Great Spikes?*
***
Having slipped out of the Great Spikes' current search perimeter, Liu Shiheng spent the entire trek back to the ruined shack wondering if their chances might drastically improve if he and the elders had horses to draw attention away.
Yet with horses in tow, how could they stay hidden in the initial stages?
Besides, where on earth could he find horses right now?!
Liu Shiheng looked up, halted, and saw horses.
He blinked. Indeed, they were horses—living, breathing horses.
In the distance, twenty to thirty horses were flicking their tails in the small valley behind the ruined shack, grazing and drinking from the stream.
"This..."
His mind descended into chaos. Not knowing whether to celebrate or panic, Liu Shiheng drew his blade and sprinted toward the shack.
...The children and elders were strolling about outside the dilapidated house with absolute ease! It was as if normal life had suddenly resumed.
*What is going on?! Have they lost their minds?* Unable to make sense of it, Liu Shiheng froze where he stood, thoroughly dazed.
Several children spotted him from afar. Calling out, they raced over with excitement, tugging him toward the shack while chattering gleefully:
"My dad found us! And Uncle Duoji and the others... so many of them!"
They were the young and able-bodied herders who had initially drawn the Great Spikes away. Not all of them had perished. By scattering in different directions on horseback during their flight, several had ultimately managed to survive.
Naturally, these men knew of the ruined shack. They had tracked their way back to rescue their elders and children.
"There are two other soldier uncles just like you, Uncle Liu!" another child suddenly piped up.
*Soldier uncles... our people?!* Liu Shiheng's heart leaped.
*Wait, two?!*
A spike of vigilance hit Liu Shiheng, but it was already too late. Guided by the children, he stepped around a side wall, his gaze falling upon the profiles of two men.
Both wore combat gear and sat together, each holding a bowl of butter tea and sipping quietly with lowered heads.
One leaned a hefty, metallic sniper rifle against his shoulder. Beside the other rested a rectangular black wooden case, with twin sabers protruding behind his shoulders.
The pair tilted their heads to glance at Liu Shiheng, then turned back to continue sipping their butter tea.
"They said they know you," one of the children said. "They were going to look for you just now, but the uncle with the rifle climbed the hill, took a peek, said there was no need, and came back."
"Uncle Liu, do you know them?!"
The children were understandably puzzled. Since they knew each other and had made eye contact, why wasn't anyone greeting the other or speaking?
"Like hell I know them."
Liu Shiheng's voice choked with an emotional wobble. That fellow sitting right there... his name was Han Qingyu...
*God, it feels so damn good not having to be a hero after all.*
The abrupt reversal from life-or-death peril nearly brought Young Master Liu to tears.
Wanting to save face before the children, Liu Shiheng did his utmost to keep his composure intact.
Wen Jifei set down his bowl, walked over, and tossed him a cigarette.
Liu Shiheng raised a hand to catch it.
"You bastards aren't here to arrest me, are you?!"
Chapter 326