Chapter 29: The King of the Forest II

  Two people quietly leaned against each other in the dark night, after a while, she suddenly jumped up, took out a handkerchief from her bag, wet it with spring water, and wiped Jin Huan's face.

  Jin Hao grasped her hand, "What are you doing?"

  Lin Ruo Lan sighed intentionally: "I suddenly thought of the charcoal seller."

  "Charcoal seller? What does it mean?" Jin Huan looked at her in confusion.

  "The Charcoal Seller, Cutting firewood and burning charcoal in the south mountain, Face full of dust and smoke color, Two temples grayish black... Lin Ruo Lan suppressed the strong smile on her lips, and slowly recited the ancient text."

  Jin Hao looked down at his combat uniform, stained with blood, mud and gunpowder, imagining that his face must be dirty beyond recognition. No wonder she compared herself to a charcoal seller. He couldn't help but chuckle. "You reminded me, if I enter the border wearing this US-style jungle combat uniform, holding an assault rifle, the border guards will definitely shoot me on sight. Wait here for me, I'll go up the tree to recon."

  His massive body was as agile as a monkey, and in three or two strokes, he climbed along the vines wrapped around the branches to the top of the tree. Jin Huan picked up his night vision binoculars and carefully searched the jungle within a radius of two kilometers, and it could be confirmed that there were no enemy tracks. Otherwise, with his keen sixth sense, he should have felt the danger approaching long ago.

  "A gentle whisper came from the top of the tree, 'Lan, want to take a bath? I'll keep watch for you from up here. But the water is very cold, so be quick about it and don't catch a chill.'"

  Lin Ruo Lan was overjoyed, just wanting to take off her shoes, but suddenly hesitated and stuttered: "You... you're not allowed to sneak a peek."

  Jin Huang slid down from the tree, his dark eyes scanning her lightly, calm and unruffled. "Don't worry, I won't sneak a peek." He paused for a moment, then leaned in close to her ear and whispered: "I'll only look at you openly and honestly."

  Lin Ruo Lan jumped up in surprise, her small face instantly turning into a red cloth. She retreated backward in a fluster, her feet getting tangled with the backpack on the ground, and she almost fell over. Jin Huan timely stretched out his hand to pull her petite body back into his arms. His hot breath brushed against her ear, and there was a hint of laughter in his voice: "I'm just teasing you, with a great enemy ahead, I wouldn't dare to be reckless. Go quickly, try not to make too much noise."

  Jin Huan returned to the top of the tree, Lin Ruolan secretly let out a breath. She took off her shoes and looked up at Jin Huan on the treetop again, who was holding a night vision telescope to observe the surrounding mountains and forests. Hurriedly taking off his military uniform that had been soaked through with sweat several times, he first dipped his toes in the mountain spring, then took a deep breath, and with a splash, jumped into the spring.

  The weather was very hot, and the spring water wasn't particularly cold, perhaps because it flowed from underground, still carrying a hint of warmth. She didn't know when she would next take a bath, so she squatted in the water, scrubbing herself vigorously.

  A voice came from the top of the tree: "Don't wash for too long, or you'll catch a cold."

  "Uh, I'm fine, don't rush me!" Lin Ruolan protested softly. After a moment, she raised her head and stole a glance at Jin Huang, seeing that he was still intently observing their surroundings. She whispered: "I'm coming out, no looking down."

  "Come out."

  Lin Ruo Lan slowly stood up from the spring water, feeling refreshed and comfortable. "Ah, so refreshing." She muttered to herself, somewhat reluctant to leave the mountain spring. She picked up the dirty combat uniform and wrinkled her nose. "Jin Huang, this uniform is really dirty. I have another set in my backpack, can we change into that?"

  "Change, or I'll come down if you don't dress properly." A smile floated on Jin Huan's thin lips. Even a simple question like whether to change clothes had to be asked of him? His mood suddenly became cheerful.

  "Don't rush me, I'm already very fast." Lin Ruolan was busy putting on her clothes and hadn't even had time to put her feet into her combat boots when Jin Huan jumped down silently from the tree.

  He pulled out the jungle combat uniform from his backpack and put it aside, saying in a low voice: "I'll go wash up, so you won't mistake me for a charcoal seller. We should set off soon." He took off the American combat uniform on his body and threw it to the ground, suddenly laughing: "If you want to sneak a peek, I won't mind."

  In his suppressed, low chuckle, Lin Ruolan suddenly turned around, her back to the spring water. A faint sound of water came from behind her, Jin Huan sat comfortably in the spring with his back to her.

  Lin Ruo Lan couldn't help but sneak a peek at him, his incredibly strong and sturdy chest and the bulging muscles on his arms already showcasing his boundless strength. Water droplets fell from his broad shoulders, sliding down his powerful back along the lines of his muscles, his dark and robust body without an ounce of excess fat, like a wild leopard, every move exuding unparalleled power and ferocity, even his silhouette giving off an overwhelming sense of oppression.

  A splash of water, Lin Ruolan hastily sat up straight, her back to the mountain spring, she held her breath, tense as if even her heartbeat was about to stop, "Hush, don't let him discover that I'm peeking at him."

  Jin Hao's eyebrows slightly raised, his eyes filled with a thick smile, he grabbed the clean clothes and put them on her body, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "Do you like what you see?" He whispered against her earlobe.

  "I didn't see you." She struggled, but felt her cheeks burning.

  Laughter came from above, but Jin Huan didn't continue to entangle this issue. He took out a trenching shovel from his backpack, dug a hole under the tree, buried the clothes that the two people had exchanged, sprinkled vaseline powder around the hole, and covered it with soil again. He carefully scattered the excess soil evenly among the trees.

  After doing all this, Jin Hwang took out the infrared camouflage cream from his backpack and reapplied the camouflage color to his face.

  Lin Ruo Lan looked at him curiously as he "dressed up" and couldn't help but ask: "How much further do we have to go?"

  "It's 400 kilometers in a straight line." Jin Huan replied calmly.

  "Is it still so far?" Lin Ruolan's eyes widened in surprise.

  Jin Huang didn't respond, as if he was deep in thought. After a long while, he finally came back to his senses, "I won't let you go that far, I'll think of a way when the sky brightens up. With me around, don't worry."

  Yes, with him around, what's there to be afraid of? It can't be denied that being pampered and spoiled by such an excellent man is a very blissful thing.

  Jin Huang cleaned up the traces left by the two of them at the spring, and said in a low voice: "It's time to go, we've been staying here for more than an hour, it's very dangerous."

  Jin Hwang is still leading the way, with Lin Ruo Lan closely following behind him as they head towards their next rest stop.

  ……

  Duoxi moved at a nearly beast-like speed through the dense forest, leaving his teammates far behind. He was eager to catch up with that person who had the same wild style as him and was also proficient in jungle survival and combat, they had already fought three times, this time it should be decided who would win or lose.

  He found a small mountain spring, with clear water constantly flowing out to form a small pool about three or four meters in diameter. He searched for a long time beside the pool, believing that whether it was humans or animals, they would need to drink water and leave traces near the water source. Sure enough, he found half a leaf of Nepenthes palm tree.

  He gently picked up the leaf that was less than two square centimeters in diameter, and judged that after a long march, the woman's physical strength should have been somewhat exhausted. The man was obviously looking for food to replenish her energy. In this case, they might keep stopping to rest. Rather than following them with great effort, it would be better to go around to the front, hide in a possible campsite, and play a game of ambush to get a light result!

  It was the dead of night, and the darkness seemed to grow even thicker and more still. It was the time when the human body felt most tired and sleepy. Closely following behind the tall back of Jin Huang, Lin Ruo Lan walked through the dense forest, already so exhausted that she could hardly move her legs.

  "Hold on for a bit longer, just one more kilometer to the next campsite." Jin Huan carefully skirted around the bushes, so as not to leave too many traces.

  "Hmm." Lin Ruolan panted heavily, wiping away the sweat on her forehead.

  Jin Hao suddenly stopped without warning, his eyes flashing with sharp light, slightly tilting his head, his gaze falling into the dark forest ahead, narrowing his eyes as if thinking. Even though the opponent had hidden their killing intent, he could still accurately sense the enemy's presence.

  Lin Ruo Lan didn't guard against it and bumped into his backpack, covering her nose which was hurt from the bump and complained: "Why did you suddenly stop like that, without even saying a word?"

  Jin Huang suddenly turned around, putting his index finger on his lips and making a silencing gesture. He took off the heavy backpack and hid it in the bushes, pulling out a camouflage net for Lin Ruolan to wear. In an extremely low voice, he said: "Crouch in the grass and don't move, also don't make any noise."

  Lin Ruo Lan immediately tensed up, "Are there enemies?"

  Jin Huang nodded slightly, "The opponent is a master, don't be afraid, I'll go and come back. Pull the camouflage net over your head, remember not to make a sound, he may have accomplices."

  Lin Ruo Lan grasped his arm and said solemnly: "You must be careful."

  Jin Hao gently patted her hand, handed G3SG a silencer, and walked slowly into the darkness. The fallen leaves in the woods were very thick, and the military boots made a faint "rustling" sound when stepped on. With the help of night vision goggles, he carefully chose his footing, trying to avoid stepping on dry branches on the ground to prevent the sound of breaking branches from alerting the enemy.

  When the poisonous thorn hiding in the grass saw Jin Huang, the pupils of his eyes instantly shrunk into a dangerous needle-like shape. Every move this man made was flawless and without any weakness, he could feel that the other party was constantly making progress every time they met.

  This powerful opponent, his footsteps looked no different from those of ordinary people, but he was wearing heavy jungle combat boots. When his feet landed, the sound that came out was so light. It seemed as if there were no vines, fallen leaves and withered branches under his feet at all, but rather walking on flat concrete pavement.

  His body was slightly bent forward, filling his entire being with unpredictable tension, like a fierce beast ready to pounce at any moment. He held the sniper rifle in one hand, looking relaxed and casual, but the almost palpable aura of deadly intent emanating from him made it crystal clear to the poisonous thorn that he was a formidable opponent, always on high alert and possessing terrifying combat power.

  Du Xie carefully controlled his breathing frequency, making his breaths long and gentle. He slightly closed his eyes, controlling his killing aura. His past experience in combat told him that his opponent possessed a sensitivity far beyond that of ordinary people, and would become alert at the slightest movement. However, even the most ferocious beast would have moments of drowsiness, and Du Xie was not in a hurry, waiting for his opponent to reveal an opening.