chsdbacks Chapter 265 Night
Chapter 265 Night
Nie Lingfeng pulled Chen Duo to a relatively clean, large rock under the shade of a roadside tree to sit and rest. Chen Duo curiously looked around at the completely unfamiliar surroundings—low, dilapidated bamboo houses, dark-skinned pedestrians dressed in unusual ways, the strange smell of fried food mixed with some kind of spice permeating the air, and the distant, incomprehensible cries of vendors and the roar of motorcycles. All of this was new and…a bit noisy to her. She subconsciously moved closer to Nie Lingfeng, her small hand clutching the hem of his clothes.
"Don't be afraid, it's just another country. The people are a bit dark-skinned and speak a little strangely," Nie Lingfeng comforted them softly, while cautiously observing their surroundings. He could sense several gazes subtly sweeping over them from different directions, scrutinizing and probing. In this lawless border region, their unfamiliar faces, especially with a little girl who was clearly from another ethnic group (Chen Duo's skin was too fair, and her eyes too innocent), were indeed conspicuous.
Not long after, Wang returned. He didn't come back alone; behind him was a short, stout, oily-skinned, middle-aged Burmese man wearing a floral shirt, with a beaming smile and a constant bowing and scraping, and a... dilapidated Japanese pickup truck with peeling paint, badly worn tires, a dent in the hood, and looking like it might fall apart at any moment.
"It's all settled. Boss Wu is a very nice guy. He was willing to rent the car to us and even gave us a discount." Wang Ye patted the door of the beat-up pickup truck, dust falling in a flurry. He introduced it to Nie Lingfeng without changing his expression, "This is Boss Wu Angji. He's a local. He's well-connected and has a kind heart."
The fat man named Wu Angji rubbed his hands together and said to Nie Lingfeng in heavily accented, halting Chinese, "Boss, great car! Cheap! I know the way to Hpakant! I can lead the way!"
Nie Lingfeng glanced at the pickup truck, which looked like it had just been towed from a junkyard, then at Wang Ye's "this car is pretty good" expression, and his eye twitched almost imperceptibly. But he knew that in this kind of place, an overly flashy luxury car would be a hindrance, while this beat-up vehicle would go unnoticed. He nodded and said in simple Burmese mixed with Chinese, "Thank you. The car is fine. No need to lead the way, we'll get there ourselves."
After paying the money (which Wang also gave, though it's unclear how much he "borrowed" from "Fei Long"), Wu Angji enthusiastically pointed out the general direction to Hpakant and a few checkpoints to be careful of, then happily took the money and left.
Wang Ye opened the driver's side door, and dust rushed out. He waved it away in disgust but got in anyway. Nie Lingfeng took Chen Duo to the back seat. The interior of the pickup truck was even worse; the seat foam was exposed, and only a few of the gauges on the dashboard were working properly. The air was filled with a strange smell, a mixture of engine oil, sweat, and mold.
As soon as Chen Duo got on the bus, the smell made her frown and instinctively cover her nose. Her bright green eyes were filled with accusation that "this smell is so strange." (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)
"Bear with it, Xiao Chenduo, this is already considered a 'luxury car'." Wang Ye lazily comforted her as he tried to start the car (the engine made a coughing sound like an old ox panting after several turns of the key) "When we get to Hpakant, if we're lucky, we might be able to get... well, a newer one than this."
The beat-up pickup truck sputtered and puffed out black smoke as it bumped along the potholed dirt road at an absurdly slow pace. But at least it was moving, and as Wang Ye had said, the wrecked vehicle was so inconspicuous that the locals they encountered on the road didn't even bother to give it a second glance.
The rest of the journey was tedious and long. The beat-up pickup truck trudged along the dusty dirt road, traversing the rolling mountains and dense forests of northern Myanmar. Occasionally, they would encounter makeshift checkpoints set up by local armed groups or militia. Usually, there were only a few soldiers or militiamen carrying old-fashioned rifles, looking listless. Seeing their dilapidated vehicle and "technician" attire, they would ask a few simple questions, slip in some small change (the exact amount Wang had prepared), and then wave them through, not even bothering to carefully examine their forged documents.
The further north they went, the higher the terrain became, the denser the forests, and the sparser the population. The roads also became increasingly difficult to traverse; often, what were called "roads" were merely muddy ruts left by tire tracks. The beat-up pickup truck bounced like a small boat in a raging storm, and Nie Lingfeng had to constantly brace himself against Chen Duo to prevent her from being tossed about. Chen Duo, however, was quite resilient. Although her face was pale from the jolting, and she clutched her toy tightly, she remained silent, her bright green eyes fixed on the seemingly endless, unfamiliar green mountains and fields outside the window, lost in thought.
Wang Ye, on the other hand, seemed to have a "what's done is done" attitude. He held the steering wheel, which might break down at any moment, with one hand, and occasionally pulled out a compressed biscuit or beef jerky from his pocket and took a bite. He would also hum a few off-key tunes from time to time, as if he were not traversing the treacherous mountains of northern Myanmar, but on a picnic.
As darkness fell, night descended swiftly in the mountains of northern Myanmar. The last rays of the setting sun had barely been swallowed by the peaks when the thick, chilly darkness spread like ink. The mountain winds howled, the forests rustled, and the occasional howl of an unknown wild animal added to the desolation and danger.
"We need to find a place to spend the night." Wang Ye glanced at the fuel gauge (the needle hovering near the red line), then at the pitch-black mountain road outside, finally abandoning his lazy expression and becoming more serious. "This old car is almost out of gas, and driving on roads like this at night is practically suicide. There seems to be a town light up ahead. Let's go check it out, find a place to rest, and grab some gas while we're at it."
After another bumpy half hour, a few scattered lights appeared in the valley ahead, and the outlines of some low buildings could be vaguely seen. It was a typical small town in the mountains of northern Myanmar, very small, and looked not much bigger than the villages we had passed before.
The beat-up pickup truck, panting heavily, struggled up a hill and finally entered the town's only, bumpy "main street." Scattered along both sides of the street were a few dimly lit shops built of planks and corrugated iron—a general store, a makeshift restaurant, a "repair shop" with a tattered tire hanging outside, and a few dark, seemingly uninhabited bamboo houses. There were hardly any pedestrians on the street, only a few skinny stray dogs rummaging for food near garbage heaps, startled by the car headlights and scurrying away with their tails between their legs.
The air was filled with the smells of firewood, cheap grease, and an indescribable sense of decay that belonged to the impoverished mountain area.
Wang parked his beat-up pickup truck in front of the "repair shop" with its tattered tires. The shop door was open, and dim light shone from inside. A gaunt old man was squatting on the ground, fiddling with a pile of rusted parts. Hearing the car, the old man looked up, revealing a wrinkled face with cloudy eyes.
Wang jumped out of the car and began communicating with the old man in a mix of Burmese and Chinese, using gestures and words. He explained that the car was out of gas and needed refueling, and also needed to stay the night and pay for the accommodation.
The old man seemed to understand. His cloudy eyes swept over the broken Pikachu, Nie Lingfeng, and Chen Duo. His gaze flickered for a moment when he saw Chen Duo, but quickly returned to its blank expression. He nodded, pointed to a lower, dilapidated bamboo house behind the shop that looked like it could collapse at any moment, and gestured a number, meaning that people could stay there, but it would cost money.
Wang readily paid (in small change), and the old man slowly got up, dragged a greasy plastic bucket from the corner of the shop, and began to fill up the beat-up pickup truck. The gasoline looked murky and emitted a pungent, strange smell, but he couldn't care less at the moment.
After refueling, the old man pointed to the bamboo house behind him and then ignored them, continuing to squat back down and tinker with his parts.
The three carried simple luggage (mainly tool bags and some dry food) and headed towards the bamboo house that served as their "inn." The bamboo house was only one story high, supported by a few crooked bamboo poles; the floorboards creaked underfoot, as if they might collapse at any moment. Inside, it was divided into several small, dimly lit cubicles, the so-called "doors" being nothing more than tattered curtains. The air was thick with the smells of mildew, sweat, and the stench of some unknown insect.
Wang Ye chose two adjacent cubicles that were relatively close to the back and looked a little more "complete," and said to Nie Lingfeng, "Let's make do for the night. Xiao Chenduo and I will share one, and you can have a separate one, so we can look after each other. This place... doesn't feel quite right, so be careful at night."
Nie Lingfeng nodded; he had sensed it too. The town was too quiet, eerily quiet. And the old man's gaze, and the faint, lingering feeling of being watched in the air… all made him wary.
Chen Duo seemed very uncomfortable with the environment. Her brows were constantly furrowed, and she covered her nose, especially when she smelled the musty and strange odor. Her bright green eyes were filled with disgust as she whispered to Nie Lingfeng, "It smells so bad here. It smells even worse than in the car."
"Bear with it tonight, we'll leave tomorrow," Nie Lingfeng reassured them in a low voice, while taking out clean water and compressed biscuits from his backpack and distributing them to the two. "Eat something first, then get some rest. Wang Ye, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Wang had already plopped down on the creaky "bed" made of a few planks in the cubicle, leaned back, and let out a long sigh: "I'm exhausted... This lousy road is so bumpy, it's like my bones are about to fall apart. I'm going to take a nap. As for the night watch, Lao Nie, you can arrange it. Anyway, once I'm asleep, I won't be awake. Just wake me up if anything happens."
After saying that, he actually closed his eyes, and in less than three seconds, even breathing began to sound. He actually... fell asleep instantly!
Nie Lingfeng: "..."
Chen Duo blinked her emerald green eyes, looked at Wang Ye who had fallen asleep instantly, then at Nie Lingfeng who looked helpless, and whispered, "Brother Wang Ye... falls asleep so fast."
"That's just how he is." Nie Lingfeng shook his head helplessly and said to Chen Duo, "You should eat something and go to sleep early. I'll keep watch for the first half of the night, and I'll call Wang Ye for the second half. Don't worry, I'm here."
Chen Duo nodded, taking small bites of the compressed biscuits and drinking water. Although the environment was terrible, she seemed to have gotten used to this nomadic, wind-swept life and didn't complain much. However, as she ate, her eyelids began to droop, and she was clearly exhausted.
Soon, Chen Duo leaned against the wall, hugging her doll, and fell into a deep sleep. Cookie crumbs still clung to her little face, making her look especially innocent and endearing in the dim light.
Nie Lingfeng sat cross-legged at the entrance of the cubicle, his back to the curtain. While regulating his breathing, he subtly extended his senses like a spider web, covering the entire bamboo building and a hundred-meter radius around the town's streets. He could "hear" Wang Ye's even breathing and Chen Duo's soft snoring, he could "hear" the faint sounds of the old man at the repair shop fiddling with parts, he could "hear" the wind in the distant mountains and the cries of night birds... Everything seemed normal.
But that vague feeling of being watched never dissipated; instead, it grew clearer as the night deepened. It was a gaze filled with malice, greed, and a hint of…excitement—and not just one! From the dark corners surrounding the bamboo house, perhaps even from…the neighboring house?
Nie Lingfeng's eyes turned slightly cold, and the fused power within his body began to slowly circulate, gathering momentum. The "Suppressing Mountain" scepter on his chest seemed to sense the malice around him, emitting a faint, wary tremor.
Sure enough, the seemingly peaceful night in this small town in northern Myanmar was anything but peaceful.
Time passed by, the night grew deeper, and the town seemed to fall into a deep sleep, with only the howling wind.
Around midnight.
"Shh...shh..."
An extremely faint sound, yet not the sound of wind, like something crawling on the ground, came clearly from the darkness surrounding the bamboo house, approaching from afar! It wasn't from just one direction! At the same time, the air thickened with an aura of malice and greed!
coming!
Nie Lingfeng suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of dark golden light in them! He stood up silently, his hand on his waist (although he didn't bring the Snow Drinking Blade, he always carried several sharp daggers and specially made steel needles with him).
Almost at the same time, in the next cubicle, Wang Ye, who was originally "unmoved" and snoring evenly, paused for a very slight pause in his breathing, and then resumed his "sound sleep" rhythm. However, the corners of his mouth seemed to curve upwards in a cold, mocking arc that was almost imperceptible.
Chen Duo, who was fast asleep, seemed to sense the approaching danger. Her long eyelashes trembled and her emerald eyes moved under her eyelids, but she did not wake up immediately. Instead, she unconsciously tightened her grip on the doll.
The rustling sound grew closer and closer, reaching the foot of the bamboo house, and even... climbing the rickety stairs!
Outside the curtain, under the dim moonlight (sunlight filtering through the broken window), several twisted, slender, gecko-like or elongated human-shaped shadows moved rapidly along the ground and walls, silently spreading and enveloping the room where Nie Lingfeng and the others were, like a tide, from the stairwell, from the cracks in the broken window, and even from the cracks in the bamboo floor!
Their eyes gleamed with a greedy, inhuman green light in the darkness, and they emitted a faint, teeth-grinding hissing sound, carrying a strong stench and an evil aura!
Not human! It's some kind of corrupted, twisted, or domesticated dark creature! Is it the work of the "Parliament"? Or a monster born from the land of northern Myanmar itself?
Nie Lingfeng's eyes were icy as he slowly drew the dagger from his waist. Dark golden flames began to silently gather and flow in his palm.
Next door, Wang Ye's snoring had completely stopped at some point.
The night is still long.
Battle is imminent.