A Good-for-Nothing

262. Jinx Chen

 

Translator: Dragon Rider

 

The organizing committee had had cameras installed both in the sky above and in all secluded corners of the island so that they could see each and every move of the contestants.

Of course, these cameras were there for security purposes only. The organizing committee would not help or hinder any of the competing teams.

The instructors were allowed to watch the security video with members of the organizing committee, and of course none of them turned down the offer. However, discontentment arose after they watched for some time. Things had been going so smoothly with He Zheng’s team, so the instructors of other teams naturally were unhappy. They were all here for the championship, but why did this team get to find so many clues so easily? The Lion-Tiger Alliance was still fighting those goddamn vines!

“Li, your team are really lucky. They haven’t encountered any difficulties since the beginning of the competition,” said the instructor of the Lion team, smiling a smile that never reached his eyes which were gazing squarely at Li Zong sitting opposite him.

“Yeah, it seems luck is more important than strength,” said someone else.

Li Zong ignored these sarcastic words, his eyes fixed on the display as always.

These guys were not smart enough to see what was really going on, and he couldn’t be bothered to explain it to them.

“The monsters were assigned to the competing teams at random. Actually, the team of the Republic of Hua is the one having the worst deal.”

The instructor of another country chuckled, “That is a really good joke, Mr. Robbie!”

The old man did not hasten to defend himself. He said patiently, “On the surface, the Hua team and the Rose team have encountered no danger, but in fact they have entered the competition zone before they even walked into the forest. In addition, their landing site is the farthest from the monster, so they were not given any advantages.”

Li Zong glanced at the man named Abbot, who had claimed to leave but was now tailing his team. Abbot had lied to the others and was walking a certain distance behind the team as they progressed, ensuring his safety.

It seemed that he and his captain, Joe, had agreed on this strategy beforehand to make sure that their team had at least one surviving member at the end of the competition.

Li Zong’s eyes were cold but he didn’t make any remarks.

……

The King of the Forest was very far away. He Zheng and the others walked for a long time without finding any other clues.

It was getting dark. As traveling at night was more dangerous, He Zheng decided to have his team stop to have some rest.

In fact, ever since they had entered the forest, everyone had been tense and alert and had not relaxed for a single moment. Having been under stress for a whole day, they were all rather tired.

Luckily, they had come by many extra canned foods and carried a lot of fresh water with them. Therefore, their dinner was a hearty one. Lao Tao scattered a lot of medicinal powder in the vicinity lest any snakes or insects come to bother them. It was unmistakable that bringing Lao Tao, a healer, with them had proved a right decision. At least they did not have to worry about suffering from food poisoning.

Soon, they finished dinner.

They did not have many choices when it came to camping out in this forest. They each picked a spot with enough room and pitched a tent. Those who were not taking the first watch had already ducked into their tents to rest.

He Zheng sat down propped against a tree trunk. Their phones had not received any signal for quite some time but had not run out of power yet. He Zheng produced his cellphone and started tapped its screen.

The phone showed that it was nine o’clock. There were dim stars in the sky, beneath which the foggy forest was cloaked in darkness. They couldn’t even hear any sound of wind. The night seemed as though it would never end.

Nobody knew when, but Chen Kai had climbed onto a tree. As he saw He Zheng sitting there, he slid down onto the ground and glanced at He Zheng’s phone.

“Oh, not bad. That pose’s pretty cocky.”

He Zheng was looking at some photos. There were some photos of cars and video game screenshots in his album, but all the remainder were his and Li Zong’s pictures. Some of them were his selfies, and the others were of him posing with Li Zong.

He Zheng did not mind Chen Kai looking at the photos.

Chen Kai glanced at He Zheng’s shoulder. Dan Zhu had long since gone into hiding in He Zheng’s mind. Dan Zhu would not have come out if Chen Kai had not stimulated the little gray bird when using one of his primordial abilities to pull the others out of the reverie.

After a while, He Zheng pocketed his phone, brushed the dirt off his butt and said, “Bachelors like you could never understand the fun of having a partner.”

Watching He Zheng raise the fly of the tent and enter, Chen Kai smiled, saying nothing.

Then Chen Kai shifted his gaze to Lao Ka and Tao Wujiu, who were going to take the first watch with Luca the Snow Wolf. Whenever the two wolves met, there would be a fight. The two wolves, Luca and Carnotte, seemed to be itching for a kung fu competition, given the provocative glances they shot each other on occasions when they had nothing else to do.

Chen Kai sighed. Pity it was a Yōkai. Otherwise it would make a very cool mount, considering its beautiful fur.

After sighing for a few moments, Chen Kai returned to his own tent to rest.

It was at dawn that things took a turn.

They first heard a commotion. Someone seemed to be speaking obsequiously.

Joe and Xiao Qi were the first to realize that something was wrong and with that they quickly woke up the others.

He Zheng was instantly on the alert.

The sky was beginning to lighten in the east.

Nakayi Hakute and his teammates were following the torchlight.

Nakayi Hakute, who was leading the way, was surprised to see them. He smiled a faint smile. “It never crossed my mind the first team we met in here would be you guys.”

Nakayi Hakute’s Chinese was fluent and idiomatic.

He Zheng and his teammates had some time ago analyzed Nakayi Hakute’s skill set. They noticed that all the exorcists on the Neon team were unharmed except for some minor injuries. There was a strong man with yellowish black skin standing beside them. If He Zheng’s memory served him correctly, the man’s name was Bantu, and he was one of the Jiangtou-casters on the Southeast Asian team.

Bantu was covered with congealed crimson blood, looking a little scary.

He was showing a stark contrast with exorcists of the Neon team.

This made He Zheng more vigilant. His team and the Rose team were allies, but all other teams they encountered in the forest were their rivals.

Nakayi Hakute was smiling. When he spoke again, he was using fluent English. “We just killed a snake and found a message in its belly.”

“You guys must have obtained quite some information as well. We may exchange what we’ve got. Since two teams can form an alliance, four teams can do the same.”

The look in Joe’s eyes flickered. He seemed fairly interested in the suggestion.

In fact, Joe was sick and tired of the long aimless search!

He Zheng and the others had already been informed of the history between Nakayi Hakute and Li Zong. There was no doubt that Nakayi Hakute had entered the competition to take revenge rather than win the championship.

“That won’t be necessary. There is no way we’re cooperating with you. Get out of our sight if you don’t want to fight us.”

“Ha ha, you’re much grumpier than Li Zong was.”

“I’m not Li Zong, and I’m not like him.” He Zheng left no room for maneuver. He flipped his hand and with that the Shadow Sword materialized in it. A mutinous smile appeared on He Zheng’s face. “I’m not known for my good temper.”

He Zheng glanced at the girl standing beside Nakayi Hakute, whose features were exquisite. She was not grown-up yet, but he could imagine how beautiful a woman she would be in the future.

Nakayi Hakute still had a smile at the corners of his mouth. This time, he switched his gaze to Joe, the captain of the Rose team – or maybe his target had been Joe all along.

“I think the information we’ve obtained is more useful than your. From the looks of it, you have not yet figured out where the King of the Forest is, but we have.”

Joe’s eyelids twitched. However, they had previously agreed that He Zheng was the one in charge, so he would be going back on his word if he disobeyed He Zheng’s decision. On top of that, all the other members were present, so he didn’t do anything rash. He turned to He Zheng and said, “Zheng, they’re making overtures. Why don’t we try cooperating with them?”

He Zheng glanced at Joe coldly and replied warningly, “I won’t cooperate with him. You may join them if you want to.

But Joe, I have to remind you this – Nakayi Hakute is no good Samaritan. You see that Bantu guy standing beside him? The one from the Southeast Asian team? He’s the only one present. Where are his teammates?”

Joke was obviously hesitant.

Smiling, Nakayi Hakute explained, “We encountered some monsters. Other members of the Southeast Asian team were seriously injured in the fighting and temporarily lost their mobility, so some staff members sent by the organizing committee took them back to treat their wounds.”

He Zheng sneered, “We both know that’s a blatant lie.”

Bantu was avoiding other people’s eyes, appearing very scared of Nakayi Hakute. It was only too obvious that Nakayi Hakute had done something!

“Zheng?”

He Zheng waved his hand, indicating that his decision was final. Then he twisted his head aside and said to Chen Qianlin and the others, “Gather up your things. We’ll keep going forward.”

Joe felt a little embarrassed as he saw this, but he didn’t show anything on his face. Joe was silent for a while. He knew what the right thing to do was when it was a choice between the unacquainted Neon team and the familiar Hua team. Reluctant as he was, Joe still told his teammates to put their things together.

They left very soon. A young man beside Nakayi Hakute, staring at their receding backs, asked, “We’re not stopping them, Mr. Nakayi?”

Nakayi Hakute smiled and went in another direction. “Let’s go. We’ll meet them again.”

Right after Nakayi Hakute turned around, a small paper man quietly disappeared behind the hem of Joe’s clothes and hid itself inside.

No one noticed it.

Joe had been uncharacteristically silent since they had parted from Nakayi Hakute and the others. If it were someone else, He Zheng would have tried to cheer them up. Although they were in a temporary partnership, the Rose team were not his teammates, and he had done his best to explain.

Chen Qianlin and He Zheng were walking abreast. Feeling the obviously awkward atmosphere, he poked He Zheng in the shoulder and said, “Good-for-nothing, I feel that something’s not quite right.

“I mean, we’ve just met Nakayi Hakute’s team in this area. They’re in league with the Lion-Tiger Alliance. Why have we not seen any of them?”

“Do you really miss them so much?” He Zheng cast a sidelong glance at him. “Stop jinxing us, and don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, okay?”

No sooner had He Zheng finished speaking than a babble of voices of people speaking in a foreign language came from a distance, who sounded like members of the Lion-Tiger Alliance.

He Zheng was speechless with annoyance for a moment and then reprimanded Chen Qianlin, “This is on you, you stupid jinx! You’re not to speak until I say otherwise!”

Chen Qianlin, “…”

Qiu Luo dissolved into chuckle. Lao Ka said, “Well, we’d better start thinking about how to deal with those people.”

There were formidable rivals both ahead of and behind them, and not all their teammates were trustworthy. The situation brooked no optimism!

“There’s no need to think about that, because our only option is to make a detour to avoid meeting them.” A faint smile curved the corners of He Zheng’s mouth. They would be fools to fight those people in these circumstances!