Chapter 24: No Comment

"Baka!"

Hearing the tiger's roar, Yamamoto panicked, cursed under his breath, and turned to run. Seeing the duck about to fly away, Hua Ning didn't even stop to think before giving chase.

"Bang! Bang!"

Abrupt, sharp cracks of gunfire echoed through the mountain forest. In the blink of an eye, Yamamoto had vanished from sight. Had it not been for the map in her mind providing directions, she might have truly given up. But hearing gunfire deep in these mountains was far from normal.

Hua Ning followed the map's guidance, pursuing the direction where Yamamoto had disappeared. Just as she caught a glimpse of his retreating figure, her keen eyes noticed another group of people lurking in the woods. Thankfully, her invisibility pill had not yet worn off. She trailed Yamamoto at a distance, wanting to see what kind of people this other group might be.

"Pfft!"

Hearing the sound of a bullet piercing flesh, Hua Ning saw Yamamoto stumble. However, he was a resilient one; even after being shot, he still had the energy and stamina to fight for his escape.

After chasing for nearly ten minutes, Yamamoto suddenly reacted to a peculiar bird call. He stiffened, whipped a gun from his waist, and fired blindly toward the location where the shots had originated.

Seeing this, Hua Ning decided she could wait no longer. She dashed quickly behind Yamamoto and silently chanted: "Falling Leaves, Plucking Flowers."

With a soft thud, Yamamoto collapsed, knocked unconscious. As the effect of her invisibility pill faded, Hua Ning quickly consumed another. Once a user of the pill takes action, the invisibility effect ends. Fearing that appearing out of thin air would cause trouble, she gritted her teeth and swallowed another one, despite the cost. Even a landlord’s pantry has limited supplies!

She had collected plenty of these pills back when she played the game; after all, they were the essential tool for any hit-and-run operation. But Hua Ning had been too reckless in the game, leaving her with only a few. If it hadn't been for the system suddenly triggering a bugged mission, she would never have wasted them like this.

More importantly, there was that other group in the woods. Had they not been there, she would have simply killed Yamamoto. She could have boasted for the rest of her life that she had taken down a Japanese invader!

Alas.

Seeing Yamamoto being bound and dragged away by soldiers of her own country, Hua Ning silently retreated, her mission accomplished. The invisibility pill lasted fifteen minutes. She hurried back to the deep mountain area behind the production brigade just before the effect wore off.

As soon as she materialized, a wild boar foraging behind the bushes caught her scent and charged at her with a furious howl.

"Ha!"

Startled, Hua Ning let out a sharp cry, and her novice dagger appeared in her hand out of thin air. Since consuming the only special pill in her inventory to reshape her body, she hadn't had much practical experience. Now, encountering this adolescent boar, she felt the urge to test her skills.

"Grrr!"

The half-grown boar, weighing over a hundred pounds, snarled at her, baring its palm-length tusks. Digging its hooves into the ground, it charged headlong at her. Just as the tusks were about to gore her stomach, she grabbed them with one hand and nimbly vaulted onto the boar's back. With her other hand, she drove the dagger deep into its neck.

True to its game origins, the weapon was top-tier. The sharp blade sank into the thick flesh with a wet squelch, inciting the boar into a frenzy. Crouched on its back, Hua Ning squeezed her legs tight against its belly, her grip on the tusks ironclad. No matter how the beast bucked and thrashed, she remained firmly mounted.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

Knowing the dagger could inflict damage, Hua Ning didn't hold back, stabbing three more times into the boar's neck. A spray of hot, foul-smelling blood splattered all over her. As she continued her assault, the boar's struggles gradually ceased.

Thinking it was dead, Hua Ning jumped off its back. But just as she steadied herself, the boar, seemingly lifeless, suddenly lunged in one last desperate attempt to ram her. Even in death, it wanted to make this human pay! That was the creature's final thought.

"Watch out!"

Following the warning, a gunshot rang out, putting an end to the boar's life. In truth, even without the warning, Hua Ning would have been fine. She turned to see the man who had called out to her.

"Why are you here?" Hua Ning asked, frowning.

Her face was splattered with the boar's blood, and in the dappled light of the forest, she possessed a wild, untamed charm. Xia Juncheng was momentarily stunned by her appearance as she turned. Hearing her question, he holstered his gun and stopped a short distance away.

"I came to find you."

His deep, ink-black eyes held a look of intense inquiry and sincerity. Hua Ning tilted her head, scanning him quickly, and guessed the reason.

"Sorry, no comment."

She could save him for the sake of a mission, but she couldn't expose her secrets and bring danger to herself or her family. Xia Juncheng was taken aback by her answer, stunned for a moment. But he didn't want to give up.

"Comrade, I have come to you with the utmost sincerity."

Thinking of the teammates he had lost in past missions, a look of profound grief flickered in his eyes. He looked at her again, his voice earnest and low. "Whatever conditions you have, just name them."

Hua Ning hadn't wanted to get involved. But having seen the sorrow in Xia Juncheng’s eyes, and recalling that he had been injured both times she had met him, she found it impossible to voice a firm refusal. She didn't consider herself a selfless person, and she would have been content if the country were at peace. But given the current state of the nation... even if she didn't want to admit it, she knew she had softened.

"I need time to consider," Hua Ning said softly, her head bowed.

"Very well."

A look of relief washed over Xia Juncheng’s face, and he agreed readily.

"Greetings, Comrade. My name is Xia Juncheng."

He looked visibly excited, subconsciously rubbing his rough, calloused hands together, a rare and awkward smile gracing his stern face. The way he hesitated to extend his hand made Hua Ning stifle a laugh.

"Greetings, Comrade Xia. My name is Hua Ning."

Watching the young, delicate girl smile at him, her face stained with blood yet her eyes shining brightly, Xia Juncheng felt his heart skip a beat. Abruptly, he turned away, looking at the dead boar on the ground.

"Comrade Hua Ning, how would you like to handle this boar?"

Only then did Hua Ning remember the boar she had just killed. If Xia Juncheng weren't there, she would have simply tucked it into her game inventory. But now...

"Do you want it?" she asked casually.

"Yes!"

For some reason, Xia Juncheng replied loudly, as if afraid she might change her mind.

Hua Ning glanced at him suspiciously before crouching down to inspect the boar. "It weighs over a hundred pounds. If you want it, can you carry it down the mountain?"