Xia He!

Xia He! "I... can I follow you?" Xia He gathered her courage and asked, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

Lin Ming glanced at her, his gaze lingering briefly on her pale face and trembling body before shifting away. His tone was flat and calm. "Follow me?"

"Y-yes." Xia He nodded hard, a trace of pleading in her eyes.

"Everyone in the mercenary group is dead. Alone... I can't survive in this Wilderness. And Zhou Tianlang might have been telling the truth. Word about the Water of Life being on me may have already leaked. A lot of people will come after me... I..."

"Oh." Lin Ming responded and continued walking, going around her.

Xia He froze for a moment, then hurried after him again. "Y-you agreed?"

Lin Ming stopped and turned his head to look at the woman. She was trembling with fear, yet forcing herself to remain composed, her eyes carrying stubbornness and a sliver of hope. Suddenly, he found her... troublesome.

He was decisive in killing and efficient in action. What he hated most were burdens and trouble.

And this woman was clearly an enormous burden. She was powerless, carried a priceless treasure, and was coveted by multiple factions.

"Do you know," Lin Ming said, his voice still without much fluctuation, though his words were icy enough to pierce bone, "there may be more people who want to kill me now than there are people who want to kill you?"

He pointed at the corpses on the ground. "For the Chen Household's twenty-million bounty."

Then he pointed at Xia He. "And now, probably because of your so-called Water of Life too."

"If you follow me, you'll only die faster. And worse."

With that, he did not linger. His figure flashed, vanishing into the darkness beyond the camp as he headed deeper into the Wilderness. His steps were firm, without the slightest hesitation.

Xia He stood where she was, watching Lin Ming's back swiftly disappear into the darkness. Then she looked back at the bloody camp and listened to the increasingly excited roars of more and more Mutated Beasts, drawn by the scent of blood from the darkness in the distance.

A bone-deep chill and terror instantly swallowed her.

She knew Lin Ming was telling the truth. If she stayed here, she would certainly die.

Whether she was torn apart by Mutated Beasts or found by the hunters who would arrive later for the Water of Life or the bounty, she would not escape disaster.

But if she followed that cold, powerful young man, so decisive in slaughter that it chilled the heart... perhaps there was still a chance of survival?

At least, he was strong. Strong enough to wipe out the entire Gray Wolf Mercenary Group with ease.

At least, he... did not seem greedy for the Water of Life.

At least, he had not killed her just now.

Xia He suddenly gritted her teeth, determination flashing through her eyes. She hesitated no longer. Without even stopping to pack anything, she used every ounce of strength in her body to stumble after the direction in which Lin Ming had vanished.

"Wait for me! Lin Ming! I... I'm not afraid of dying!"

"If you don't mind trouble... take me with you!"

"I... I can help you! I know many routes through the Wilderness and the habits of Mutated Beasts! I also know medicine and biology! And the Water of Life... if you need it, I can..."

Her cries drifted through the Wilderness wind, edged with tears but also carrying the stubborn resolve of someone with nothing left to lose.

In the darkness ahead, Lin Ming's footsteps seemed to pause slightly, but he ultimately did not stop or turn around.

Only that receding figure beneath the cold moonlight seemed to... slow down just a little.

Joy surged through Xia He's heart, and she chased after him even more desperately. Even as thorns tore her pant legs and loose stones made her stagger, she kept her eyes fixed on that proud, solitary silhouette flickering in and out of sight ahead.

She knew this was her only way to survive.

It was also the entire gamble she had placed on herself and the Water of Life.

The first ray of dawn barely tore through the lead-gray clouds above the Wilderness, stingily casting down a little pallid light. Yet it could not disperse the thick, unbreakable stench of blood and death hanging over the abandoned roadside camp.

Wrecked off-road vehicles, extinguished campfires, cold corpses twisted into grotesque poses, and tents blown crooked by the night wind and stained with dark red blood... together, they painted a horrifying scene of carnage.

The heavy scent of blood had drawn many nocturnal scavengers to linger in the distance, letting out greedy snarls. But intimidated by the lingering murderous aura at the center of the camp, they did not yet dare approach.

Shortly before this dead silence was broken, another group of uninvited guests stepped into the camp of death.

There were only three of them, but each radiated a powerful aura that made the heart tremble.

They had not come by vehicle, but on foot. Their strides were steady and their steps soundless, making it clear that all of them were experts.

Leading them was a middle-aged man of average build, clad in fitted black leather armor. His face was sinister, and his sharp eyes resembled those of a hawk.

To his left stood a tall, thin young man with a pale face and an eerie smile always playing at the corners of his mouth. To his right was a burly bald man with a face full of flesh, carrying an exaggerated double-handed battle axe over his shoulder.

Pinned to each of their chests was a small silver badge depicting crossed, blood-dripping daggers—the emblem of the Shadow Squad bounty hunters' guild.

They were professional bounty hunters, traveling through dangerous regions in pursuit of high bounties and rare resources.

"This is the place, boss." The tall, thin young man's nostrils twitched slightly, and excitement flashed in his narrow eyes.

"What a strong smell of blood... They died recently, less than three hours ago. Looks like our target is pretty good at running around."

"The Gray Wolf Mercenary Group... Zhou Tianlang, that piece of trash, got taken down."

The bald, burly man looked at Zhou Tianlang's corpse on the ground, his eyes still wide open in death, a horrifying bloody hole in his chest. He spoke in a deep, muffled voice, with a hint of disdain.

"Second Realm Ninth Level, and he couldn't even take down some Tier Two Third Level brat. Worthless trash."

The sinister middle-aged man, codenamed Night Owl, did not speak immediately.

He crouched down and carefully examined Zhou Tianlang's corpse, especially the wound in his chest where a spear had pierced straight through.

The edges of the wound were extremely smooth, with almost no unnecessary tearing. It showed that the attacker's power had been highly concentrated, his speed extremely fast, and his weapon exceptionally sharp.

He then examined the corpses of the other mercenaries around them. Most of their fatal wounds were on vital points—the throat, heart, or brow. Nearly all had been killed in a single strike, cleanly and efficiently.

"The intelligence was wrong." Night Owl slowly rose to his feet, his expression grave.

"This was absolutely not something a Tier Two Third Level martial artist who got lucky killing someone and fled in a panic could have done. The attacker's spearwork was ruthless and precise, his power condensed, and his combat experience abundant. And... he was extremely decisive. He left no survivors. Zhou Tianlang did not last more than a few moves against him."

"Oh? Interesting." The tall, thin young man, codenamed Ghost Bat, smiled even more deeply and licked his slightly dry lips.

"Looks like this little side job won't be so easy after all. The Chen Household's intelligence has quite a bit of padding."

"Boss, what do we do? Still chase them?" the bald, burly man, Wild Bull, asked, eagerness shining in his eyes. He did not care whether the opponent was strong. He only cared whether the bounty was high.

Night Owl pondered for a moment, a calculating glint flashing in his eyes. He walked to a relatively clean spot at the edge of the camp and pulled a palm-sized black communicator with a strange design from his pocket.