Chapter 10, Uninvited Guest

Well, how did these mercenaries come to this mountain, and also...

"A bar," she said, looking at Nie Mo. "Don't worry, I believe they should be fine. Do you think it could be these mercenaries who killed them?"

On the way, they picked some wild fruits to eat. Nie Mo truly wished to encounter some small animals right now to have some meat, especially since Xia Xiaorong really needed to replenish her nutrition

When they arrived at the forest above, Nie Mo initially intended to continue walking. However, seeing that Xia Xiaorong looked very tired, he decided to take a break first. He found a spot where the trees were not too dense, worried about what would happen if it started to thunder and lightning later. Here, as far as the eye could see, there were trees everywhere. It would have been nice to have a small cave; otherwise, staying in this forest was indeed very dangerous.

Nie Mo turned to glance at the corpses, thinking that these bodies needed to be dealt with; if left here, they would eventually be reduced to nothing but bones. One of the bodies belonged to Xia Xiaorong's relative, and he thought he should ask about it. Just as he was about to speak, Xia Xiaorong spoke first, "I am fine; let us first handle the bodies of Uncle Si and the others." She wiped away the tears on her face and walked over to Captain Xia's body, her body slightly trembling.

Nie Mo pondered for a moment before saying: "How could mercenaries appear here? What are they doing here and what is their purpose? How many armed police came up the mountain before?"

Indeed! We can only rely on our luck

Xia Xiaorong wiped the sweat from her cheeks and exhaled. She was indeed a bit tired. "Hmm, there should be someone over there. Could it be those mercenaries?"

This left Nie Mo perplexed; even if they encountered bandits, how could several of them be shot dead without firing a single shot? This seemed highly improbable. Then he discovered numerous shell casings on the ground. He was not well-versed in firearms and could not identify which gun had fired them. It appeared that they had been killed without any defense. Who could have done this?

Nie Mo picked up the gun that had fallen beside him and took a look; the bullets in the gun were still full. Therefore, the gunfire they had heard might have been fired by the person who was going to kill them. He then checked the guns of the other few individuals, and none had been fired.

Nie Mo felt that it was better to let her cry; after crying enough, her mood would improve. If they were to dig pits and bury them one by one, it would be too time-consuming. They could not stay here for long, especially since they lacked tools. After thinking for a while, he decided to look for any caves nearby to temporarily shelter them. However, at that moment, he felt a slight tremor in the ground. Was it a wild beast? Had they caught the scent of the body before it had even begun to decay? He decided to search for any caves nearby to temporarily shelter them. However, at that moment, he felt a slight tremor in the ground. Was it a wild beast? Had they caught the scent of the body before it had even begun to decay?

After walking for a while, Nie Mo suddenly looked up and saw plumes of black smoke in the northeast direction. From their current location, it was quite distant, and all they could see was a dense expanse of dark trees. Based on Nie Mo's experience, the trees there were much taller than those in the areas they had previously traversed, and the black smoke was emanating from that location.

She started crying again, though her voice was not as loud as before. Sigh, why does this woman have so many tears, as if she could never stop crying? Nie Mo felt somewhat at a loss.

I don't know. Nie Mo glanced around; in fact, he was also a bit confused. He just felt that sometimes his body didn't seem like his own. Thinking of those people from earlier, he wondered if they were the ones who killed these police officers, but then he thought otherwise. After a while, he said: "They should have really left. For now, let's find a place inside a cave to temporarily store their bodies. We can only hope that no wild animals discover them before we take them down the mountain."

You rest here for a while, and I will go look for any caves.

"Let us hide for now and observe the situation before making any decisions," Nie Mo had just finished speaking when they heard footsteps approaching closer. He grabbed Xia Xiaorong and ran into a thicket of low bushes, where they crouched down. After waiting for quite a while, they still did not see anyone.

"Don't just stand there, quickly hide the body in the nearby bushes." As Nie Mo spoke, he picked up the body from the ground and walked towards the bushes. Xia Xiaorong followed closely behind, dragging her fourth uncle's body, and within a few minutes, they had hidden the bodies.

Nie Mo noticed her expression and realized she was somewhat afraid. He thought to himself that he did not know how far he would have to go, and if they could not find a cave, staying here would not be safe. He said, "Alright, let's go together. It's getting late, and there might be a heavy rain tonight. We need to find a cave as soon as possible."

Is that so? Actually, yours isn't clean either, but it looks quite nice this way. Nie Mo said this very seriously, and it was the truth. However, Xia Xiaorong felt something was off upon hearing it. In a fit of anger, she fell silent and walked past Nie Mo.

Xia Xiaorong's face was pale and colorless. She got up and sat down, saying nothing. She was now completely different from the first time Nie Mo saw her.

"I will go with you; I do not want to stay here alone," she said as she stood up from where she had just been sitting. She looked around at the forest, where the trees were so thick that their tops were not visible at a glance. They resembled enormous sentinels surveying them.

Seeing Xia Xiaorong's unhappy expression, Nie Mo felt somewhat perplexed. He believed that what he said was indeed the truth. After walking in the mountains for so long and staying overnight, who wouldn't have a dirty face? Although her face was dirty, she was still beautiful. Just as he was thinking this, he heard Xia Xiaorong's voice: "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and chop these up with the knife; we can't go on."

When they entered the woods again, it was already noon, and the sky was very dark, indicating that a heavy rain was about to fall. They had only eaten two pieces of fruit in the morning and were quite hungry. Upon seeing Xia Xiaorong's haggard face due to the loss of her loved ones, Nie Mo felt a bit worried for her, uncertain about what they would encounter next. In his view, the armed police on the mountain were likely in grave danger as well, but he chose not to mention it, wanting to give her some hope.

"Is my face very dirty?" Nie Mo was somewhat surprised to see the other person staring at him.

Xia Xiaorong's face flushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed and unsure of what to say. She thought to herself, this person is really a fool, but she just smiled and said, "Well, it's just that there is no mirror right now; otherwise, you could take a good look at your face."

Xia Xiaorong stood up, brushed off her clothes, her expression serious, and said: "I understand your thoughts, and I do not wish to descend the mountain either. I must find out who killed them"

Nie Mo was unaware that they had discovered him and Xia Xiaorong, as he could not understand foreign languages. He merely observed one person gesturing towards the ground and speaking a few words to one of the leaders. It seemed that they were about to search the surroundings. Two individuals were approaching their direction, causing him to feel a tightening in his chest. He glanced at Xia Xiaorong beside him, signaling her to be prepared

"It's fine, let's keep going," hearing her voice, Nie Mo knew that at this moment, Xia Xiaorong was already struggling to walk, but this girl remained very strong

Seeing that Xia Xiaorong might not wake up immediately, Nie Mo decided to first check on the several corpses. He walked directly to Captain Xia's body and examined it closely. Although he was not a forensic expert and could not determine how the person had died, it was evident from the wounds on the corpse that they were gunshot wounds

Nie Mo's face revealed a resolute expression "Foreign mercenaries have come here; even if I do not seek out Mo Zining and the others, I must ascertain their purpose for being here"

This is very dangerous. Previously, we saw seven or eight people. If it is them, I estimate that this should be their stronghold, where there will be many people, all well-armed.

Xia Xiaorong looked at him with some surprise, but did not move

There are mercenaries from all countries, I think it should be international mercenaries at hetushu.com. Just now, two of them were speaking Russian, which I also couldn't understand. If it were in English, I could barely comprehend it.

He climbed down and pressed his ear to the ground, feeling a sudden shock in his heart; it was the sound of footsteps, and there were quite a few. He shouted to Xia Xiaorong, "Quick, hide the body first; it seems someone is coming." The approaching individuals seemed to be at a certain distance from them, though he could not explain how he sensed it.

Xia Xiaorong looked around and said, "What if we can't find it? This place doesn't seem like it has any caves."

Xia Xiaorong looked at Nie Mo's fearless expression, and the tone in which he spoke reminded her of her time in the military, adding to her fondness for him. As they journeyed together, his abilities surprised her time and again, and this man became increasingly enigmatic to her

Alright, Officer Xia, stop crying. What is important now is to handle the body first

A sudden cough interrupted Nie Mo's thoughts; it was Xia Xiaorong who had woken up. Nie Mo rushed over and asked, "How are you? You fainted all of a sudden just now."

Xia Xiaorong, however, remained oblivious, merely sobbing softly. After a long while, she finally spoke: "I know, I just want to see him a little longer"

"I can't hear anything at all," Xia Xiaorong said, somewhat puzzled. Just as Nie Mo was about to speak, the trees in front began to sway. Xia Xiaorong looked at him in surprise, not daring to make a sound.

Xia Xiaorong suddenly recalled the events of last night, feeling a lingering sense of fear in her heart. She began to worry and thought of her deceased relatives, which made her quite sad. Nie Mo patted her shoulder without saying a word and walked straight towards the bushes where they had hidden the bodies.

What appeared before their eyes were seven or eight fully armed individuals, looking like soldiers, though it was difficult to discern their nationality. Among them were a few foreigners, who were conversing and began to survey their surroundings

It is very likely that after a pause, Nie Mo continued, "As long as we finish this stretch of road, there should be a forest up ahead, and the path is relatively flat. At that time, we can go and take a look at the situation"

They spent over an hour handling the bodies of those police officers, primarily due to the time taken to locate the bullet holes

Did you see it? Nie Mo stopped and pointed in the direction of the black smoke

He hesitated for a moment, looking at Xia Xiaorong. Given the current situation, she could have descended the mountain first, but he was not at ease with her going alone. If he accompanied her down the mountain and then returned, the time to find Mo Ziqing would be delayed again. More than a day had already passed, and having just seen those armed personnel, Mo Ziqing and her companions were in a more dangerous situation than he had previously thought.

You have served in the military; which country do you think those people just now belong to in terms of their military?

"It shouldn't be," Nie Mo shook his head, "If it were them, they wouldn't leave easily upon discovering that the body had suddenly disappeared"

As they advanced further, the sturdy trees became increasingly sparse, and the path grew more rugged. In some areas, they had to climb up, surrounded by dense forest, where passage was impossible without cutting through with a knife. After more than two hours, they were still ascending. Fortunately, the slopes were not steep; they were merely covered by dense thickets of low shrubs, making it somewhat difficult for Nie Mo to clear a path with his machete. "Are you alright?" he turned to glance at Xia Xiaorong behind him. Fortunately, the slopes were not steep; they were merely covered by dense thickets of low shrubs, making it somewhat difficult for Nie Mo to clear a path with his machete. "Are you alright?" he turned to glance at Xia Xiaorong behind him

Xia Xiaorong nodded slightly, and was just about to aim her gun at the front when those people unexpectedly turned back. It was unclear what the leader said to them, but everyone walked back into the woods. She breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "How did you know someone was coming? Given the time they took to get here, they should have been quite far from us at that moment."

Nie Mo walked up with a smile, clearing the way for her. The sky had darkened for quite some time, yet not a single drop of rain had fallen, making the air increasingly oppressive. It seemed that when the rain did come, it would be quite heavy. They had already finished their water, and he certainly did not recommend drinking rainwater. However, if the rain were too heavy, it would pose significant difficulties for their journey.