34: Chapter 34 A Sudden Confession
The following morning.
The cafeteria at the temporary base was converted from a semi-underground supply warehouse. Long folding tables were arranged in two rows, and the air was filled with the rich, distinct aroma of stewed meat.
But when Lin Mo took his first bite, he couldn't help but frown.
It was too tough.
And the taste wasn't good—it was very astringent, with a sour, foul stench.
He didn't know which unlucky beast this meat came from, but the fibers were as thick as hemp rope, requiring a great deal of effort just to chew.
Moreover, at least five different spices had been added, yet they could hardly mask that sour, rotten smell. The texture was truly hard to describe.
There was no other choice; the defense line had been lost, and all supplies remained at the original base. With dozens of mouths to feed, having anything to eat at all was already lucky.
"Hehe, not used to it, are you?"
A veteran sitting opposite him grinned and pointed at the meat in Lin Mo's bowl.
"Tier 2 Elite Wind Wolf. It's as tall as your shoulder when it stands up. You students probably haven't seen one before!"
Lin Mo nodded without saying a word, continuing to bury his head in cutting that stubbornly resistant piece of Wind Wolf meat.
He didn't actually care much about the taste; as long as he could fill his stomach, it was fine.
While he was calculating which part of the forest he should try his luck in later to gather those final eight points of slaughter value, several figures suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision.
"Student Lin Mo! Student Lin Mo!"
The voice was very crisp, carrying a deliberate cheerfulness.
Lin Mo looked up.
Three girls were standing by the table, led by the one with the round face.
Lin Mo remembered her; she was the first one to shout "he's so handsome" in the defense zone after the battle yesterday.
The two behind her were a bit shy—one had a ponytail, the other had straight bangs—and each was carrying something.
"You're injured, so eating such tough meat isn't good for your body."
The round-faced girl said as she gently placed a bowl of hot soup by his hand.
"This is a soup I got up early to stew today. I added some medicinal herbs; give it a try."
Before Lin Mo could respond, the girl with the ponytail had already set a water flask on the table.
"This is clean fresh water. I filtered it five times."
The girl with the straight bangs was even more direct. She held a neatly folded towel and timidly held it out: "You... you still have bloodstains on your face... should I help you wipe them?"
As she spoke, she actually raised her hand.
Lin Mo leaned back to avoid it.
"Don't! I don't need it."
The girl's hand stopped in mid-air, and her face instantly turned red, looking somewhat embarrassed.
The round-faced girl quickly smoothed things over: "Oh, he's just shy! Put the things down, let's go, let's go—"
The three of them sat down at a neighboring table, still glancing over here from time to time and whispering.
Lin Mo lowered his head and continued to struggle with that piece of Wind Wolf meat.
But vaguely, he felt a gaze filled with killing intent coming from across the room.
At a table diagonally opposite him, Yi Xiaoyu was drinking soup with her head down. Her short hair hung down, covering half her face and hiding her expression.
However, the way she scraped the bottom of the bowl with her spoon and the screeching sound it made all indicated that she was angry...
Very angry!
Yi Xiaoyu noticed Lin Mo looking at her, so she jabbed her spoon into the bowl, stood up, and walked away with her bowl.
Lin Mo didn't think much of it.
He was just thinking about where to find some beasts to slay later. Tier 1 would do, but Tier 2 would be even better!
...
As breakfast was nearing its end, the face that made Lin Mo feel a bit nauseous appeared.
Li Chengxi walked into the cafeteria with a smile plastered on his face, followed as usual by those three Tier 2 veterans serving as his "dedicated guards."
He had changed into a new set of combat fatigues, with even the creases ironed sharp. He didn't look like a front-line commander at all; if one didn't know better, they would think he was attending an important banquet.
"Ah, Captain Wu! Student Lin Mo!"
"How did you rest last night? Was the room cold? Were the blankets enough? If not, I'll have someone bring two new sets!"
He raised his hand from afar, being excessively enthusiastic.
Wu Feng put down his chopsticks and stood up to leave.
Li Chengxi didn't feel awkward in the slightest. He sat down at the table of his own accord and waved to the veterans behind him: "Go, get some good tea for our heroes."
He turned to Lin Mo, his smile growing even wider.
"Student Lin Mo, I just heard that you killed over twenty Wind Wolves by yourself? Tsk tsk, a hero truly emerges from the youth! Compared to you, those so-called geniuses at our headquarters are simply..."
He made a gesture indicating they were no good, his tone as familiar as that of an old friend of many years.
Lin Mo looked at him.
He looked at the undisguised fawning beneath that smiling face.
He's afraid we'll leave.
He wants to recruit more obedient bodyguards...
Lin Mo instantly guessed Li Chengxi's intentions.
"Major!" Wu Feng finally spoke, interrupting Li Chengxi's non-stop flattery.
"We are members of the Sixth Battalion. Our mission was to support the 16th Patrol District. The mission is complete, and we will be returning to headquarters today."
Li Chengxi's smile froze for a split second.
Then it piled back on even more brilliantly: "No rush, no rush! Captain Wu, you've all just been through a bloody battle and need to rest! I've already submitted a report to the higher-ups to request your temporary assignment to the Second Defense Line. Of course, it's just temporary, temporary..."
He rambled on, as if saying "temporary" enough times would allow him to keep these people permanently.
Lin Mo stood up.
"I'm going out for a walk," he said to Wu Feng.
Li Chengxi hurriedly said, "Where is Student Lin Mo going? I'll have someone accompany you; you're not familiar with this area yet—"
"No need."
Lin Mo had already walked out of the cafeteria.
But before long, Lin Mo felt deflated.
Within a half-kilometer radius of the base, it was as clean as if it had been shaved by a razor.
Lin Mo walked around twice. Forget Tier 2 beasts, he didn't even see a single unranked small fry.
Only a few Gray-Feathered Crows perched on withered trees, their cawing annoyingly loud.
At that moment, footsteps sounded behind him.
Very light, and somewhat familiar.
Lin Mo turned around.
Sure enough, it was Yi Xiaoyu.
She was standing five meters away.
A few strands of her short hair were tossed by the wind, and her fingers were twisting the hem of her clothes.
She wasn't wearing her combat uniform today, just a white shirt with sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing a section of her slender forearms.
"Why... did you come out alone?"
Lin Mo: "Looking for beasts."
Yi Xiaoyu paused and lowered her head: "You won't find any. During a beast tide, lone beasts have either grouped up or been eaten."
Lin Mo didn't deny it.
Silence.
Yi Xiaoyu stood there for a long time before finally gathering her courage, walking forward, and sitting on a rock beside him.
She didn't look at him, only staring at the distant mountains.
"Lin Mo," she called softly.
"Yeah."
"I..."
Her voice was trembling slightly.
"I was thinking all night—if you hadn't been on that cliff, I would definitely be dead."
"You killed so many Rock Armor Beasts by yourself, and even that Rock-Armored Earth Dragon..."
"When you stood there covered in blood, I thought you were going to die too."
She kept her head down, but her peripheral vision was fixed on Lin Mo.
Lin Mo didn't speak. He had probably guessed Yi Xiaoyu's intention and was suddenly a bit at a loss.
"I don't even know when it started."
Yi Xiaoyu's voice grew softer and softer.
"Maybe it was in the Black Needle Forest when you killed that spider lunging at me with one strike. Maybe it was on the cliff when you told me to stay put and then jumped down alone. Or maybe even earlier..."
"Lin Mo, I like you."
She took a deep breath and finally looked up, staring directly into Lin Mo's eyes.