Chapter 33

On the square of the Mining Town. The officer issued the orders, and under the direction of the “head” of the town more and more refugees were summoned in batches for the search.

At the same time.

In the dark alleys, a short and stout shadow leaped silently among the ruined buildings, like a civet cat.

Thick clothing wrapped the shadow, and it wrapped even the head, leaving only two holes for the eyes.

On the shadow’s back, a backpack was buckled.

It was bulging as if a lot of things were loaded into it; one glance, and you can tell that it isn’t light. Even so, the shadow’s movement doesn’t seem to be affected by much.

Swoosh~

The icy wind was howling.

The shadow finally came at one of the most intact small buildings outside. Using hands and feet together, the shadow climbed upwards along the water pipes.

Next, the shadow went to the second floor, warily opening the unsealed window.

Then the shadow immediately jumped in, rolling over once landed in the house.

Creak. After continuously running in the wasteland, the frozen hard boots finally stepped on a wooden floor, creating a slight noise.

Pieces of snowflakes blew in from the window, causing the fire in the stove to tremble amidst the chilly wind.

This is by no means a big room, but it’s quite “decent” for a room nonetheless.

It was about ten square meters, with a wooden bed and a messy quilt that was not folded. It can be seen that the master was in a hurry when he left.

Next to the bed is an old wooden table with some miscellaneous items, a book, an absorbent pen, and an unlit kerosene lamp.

Looking past them, there was a book with the record of working hours. Obviously, this is the bedroom of the head of the Mining Town, the agent of the Burning Fire Company.

The shadow’s eyes swept past the book and turned to the other side of the room.

A burning stove, a washstand, and a wardrobe.

It seems safe.

The shadow relaxed a little. And instantly, under the bloated clothes, there was a protest from the stomach, caused by hunger.

Guru~

Creak. Gently placing the backpack on the floor, the shadow skillfully got down and poked the small upper half of the body under the bed.

Sure enough, the shadow saw many boxes and bags hidden under the bed, which were stored food.

“Dried bacon, dried vegetables, mutated potatoes, wine… and even canned food!”

As the shadow pulled out many kinds of foods, the shadow with the ass poking out began to pant. Especially when the shadow pulled out canned food; the shadow’s eyes almost became red.

And the shadow’s vigilance dropped.

Suddenly, the shadow felt a hard, thick, and long thing from behind.

“Don’t move!” A youthful voice sounded out.

!!!!

How could someone be there?!

Who is it?

I’ve checked it clearly before!

The shadow’s hair stood up, and as if being splashed with cold water, the entire body stiffened.

“Raise your hands and step back… and don’t move, otherwise…” said the voice, still speaking without haste.

The shadow paused, then raised the hands cooperatively and slowly moved backward—as if surrendering—but at this moment, the shadow’s body contracted and then sprung back!

The shadow quickly turned around like lightning and raised the leg, kicking at the “gun” behind. At the same time, the shadow turned over both of the wrists, drawing out two hidden sharp blades.

Shiing

The shadow then crossed both of the arms, intending to strangle Lin Tuo in a ferocious posture!

Danger!

Lin Tuo’s eyes shrank abruptly!

In the blink of an eye, he saw two cold, shimmering blades coming at his face!

At this moment, his mind was very alert. His body slipped sideways almost instinctively when he tried to dodge backward.

Whoosh

When the figure danced, two knives almost sliced his cheeks, which made Lin Tuo—who had no experience in life and death combat—break out in a cold sweat.

Just when he was about to counterattack, it surprised him to see that the shadow missed a hit. The shadow twisted the body and grasped the huge backpack on the ground.

The shadow’s body then contracted and sprung back again, rushing toward the window like a springboard!

A feint!

With this blow, the shadow didn’t expect to kill him at all, rather, the shadow just wanted to push him back and fight for the chance to escape!

“Want to escape?”

Seeing this scene, Lin Tuo’s heart was full of anger; his entire body’s cells awoke, and his Ether surged.

He took a step back and used his family’s ancient Martial Arts, which forcibly sped up himself. Then, he rushed to the window, his right hand turning into an “eagle claw”, severely locking the ankle of the shadow.

“Come back here!” With a violent cry, Lin Tuo abruptly and forcibly pulled back the shadow who had almost escaped.

At the same time, he hit the shadow’s abdomen fiercely with a knee strike.

The shadow immediately stifled a groan, with sweat oozing out from the forehead and the body curling up in pain like a cooked prawn.

Lin Tuo’s knee strike was incredibly powerful.

Therefore, a second after the strike, he realized he had struck too hard!

After all, if it were an ordinary person, their internal organs would rupture from the sheer force, resulting in them on the verge of death.

It’s fortunate that the shadow’s endurance seems to differ from the norm. Even though the shadow was rolling on the ground in pain, it didn’t seem to be too serious.

Clatter. Seeing this, Lin Tuo just kicked away the short knife in the opponent’s hand, and then pulled a thick hemp rope to tie the opponent’s hands and feet.

“Don’t move and don’t shout. Otherwise, you will attract those people, and I don’t give a damn if you do so.”

Lin Tuo left a sentence before tying the man with a knot, then got up and closed the window. He noticed that the man was really tough after he turned back; he said nothing, even after he heard the words.

Just inhaling steadily, even though he seems in pain.

Lin Tuo hesitated, but at the end he stretched out his hands, intending to cut the man’s clothes to see the injury. But he would never have thought that the man would suddenly struggle violently.

“Do not touch me!”

The voice is tender, delicate—and full of threat.

“A girl?” Lin Tuo was taken aback when he heard this voice. This really surprised him. After all, the clothes were really bloated, from the outside it just looked like a short and fat person, making it hard to distinguish the gender.

He stretched out his hand and forcibly tore off the girl’s hat, headgear, mask, and the cold-proof goggles. Under the firelight, a very immature, delicate, and fair face was revealed.

This is a very young girl, with traces of childishness still remaining on her face. He estimated she was only fifteen or sixteen years old, perhaps even younger.

Her face was pale and weak, forehead full of sweat, and she was inhaling painfully. Yet, her eyes were staring at him fiercely.

“Uh…”

Lin Tuo paused his action as he was stupefied. He thought that the person being pursued was a dangerous person.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t send out two military vehicles to arrest her, as evidenced by the brief fight just now.

This differs totally from what I imagined!

However, seeing that the other party was only in pain with no fatal injury—without vomiting blood or anything—Lin Tuo was only shocked for a moment before he said with a poker face: “Well, it seems you are now my captive.”

The girl, on the other hand, still maintained her vicious expression as she sized Lin Tuo up and down. A trace of surprise flashed in her eyes. “You are not with them?”

Lin Tuo’s clothing and temperament were obviously very different from those soldiers.

No, in her opinion, this mysterious person in front of her seemed to be out of place in this world, different from everyone she had seen in all the past years.

“If I’m?” Lin Tuo exhaled gently. He bent down and picked up a rusty steel pipe that was kicked by the girl, then dragged a chair over and sat on it. He sneered. “In the case I have a gun, what is the chance of you being able to resist?”

This sentence is the tacit approval. The hostility in the girl’s eyes slowly reduced, though, she still said nervously, “Then who are you? The Old Eastern District? A Wasteland hunter? Or a thug from the Gray Mountain Group?”

What the hell are these names… he ridiculed in his heart. Lin Tuo sat on the chair leisurely and crossed his legs. He said indifferently, “You need to understand your identity. You are now my captive, you need only to answer my questions, nothing else.”

After a pause, Lin Tuo asked the first question: “Your name?”

Silence.

In the room, the girl bit her lips tightly when she heard the question, turning her head away in apparent refusal of cooperating.

“Your name?” Lin Tuo asked again. He tsked before suddenly, his eyes moved; he used the steel pipe to point toward something on the girl’s neck—a metal necklace.

“Ah! What are you doing?” The girl shrank back in horror, which affected her wounds, causing her to grunt in pain.

Lin Tuo ignored her and forcibly tore off the necklace. He found it was not a decorative “necklace”, but an identity card.

At the bottom of the necklace was a piece of brass-colored metal with crossed swords on it. The words “Apocalypse Wanderer” were written on it. [1]

Turning it over, on the back he saw a string of codes and a name that had a distinct style compared to the Wasteland.

“Hua Xi? Is this your name?” Lin Tuo raised his head and asked. [2]

The girl said nothing, just shaking her head even harder.

It seems so.

Lin Tuo secretly said in his heart. Feeling the residual body temperature on the necklace, he continued to ask, “What is Apocalypse Wanderer? An organization? The name sounds like one. Well, I guess it’s the organization you belong to? So, the name you just listed before ought to be the name of some organizations, right? Then, where do those soldiers who tried to capture you, belong to?

“Tsk… I didn’t accidentally enter a clash between organizations right…”

Listening to Lin Tuo’s chatter, the girl named Hua Xi’s eyes grew more and more confused.

She knew keenly that this mysterious person should not have lied.

After all, I’m like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered now… So, does that mean that he really doesn’t know?

But how is that possible?

Forget about the Old Eastern District, it’s just a small organization.

In this era where communication was inconvenient, it’s normal for one to not know them.

But to not know the Gray Mountain Group and the Apocalypse Wanderer while having such combat power, this is really incredible.

Thinking of combat power… Hua Xi has deeper doubts.

Through the fight just now, she has confirmed that the other party’s strength and fighting skills far exceed her.

It can even be said to obliterate her completely.

But his “battle experience” seems to be lacking.

This is also the reason why she almost managed to escape at the fight just now.

Yes, a contradiction. He has great strength and skill. Yet, a serious lack of “experience”.

On the other party’s face, there was no such thing as the viciousness and violence of the Wasteland people. Even if he tried to be stern, it’s still gentle.

In short, this is really weird.

Besides, brother, you are interrogating me, oy!

If I don’t answer, shouldn’t you use torture? Like the usual?

Like breaking my hands or feet?

Or heat a steel pipe and plug it into myself or something?

What is the reasoning behind your own analysis there, and why are you in joy??

Do you know how to interrogate a captive?

Want me to teach you?

At this moment, in the small building of Mining Town. Hua Xi, whom Lin Tuo tied to the floor in a “duck sitting” position, suffered a powerful impact from the “outside world” at her small mind. [3]