Chapter 43 - Dangerous Choice

The direct train from the provincial capital Yongchun City to the border town Tumeng City takes a total of six hours to travel.

Board the train at noon and by the time the train hits the station, it’s precisely nighttime.

Mosquito, who had calculated the time precisely, flew out of the station.

And no one noticed him!

Jia Yan was flying above the city, and compared to the cosmopolitan sprawl of Yongchun and Shanghu, this county-level city with only 120,000 inhabitants seemed eerily quiet.

But every city has its own charm, and a small city has its own unique flavor too.

After spending so much time in the hustle and bustle of Shanghu, Jia Yan felt a peaceful sensation upon arriving in this quiet little city…

There weren’t many people at the station, so Jia Yan hitched a ride in a taxicab with a passenger.

During the night, hardly any of the passengers who were eager to get home would look up at the sky.

Jia Yan chose to fly in the dark as much as possible, reducing the likelihood of detection.

In public places like this, Jia Yan always flew at the highest speed.

Even if someone happened to spot him, by the time they looked again, they would only see the silhouette of a huge mosquito.

The night was so dark that it would be difficult for the passengers to spot the bottle he was holding; even if they did, they would be likely to mistake it for a part of the insect’s body.

A gigantic bug isn’t all that strange, or is it?

“Master, how much for a ride to Liangshui Town?” The young man who had presumably just returned from working in Yongchun, excitedly asked as soon as they got on the car.

Liangshui Town?

At the mention of the name, Jia Yan’s heart leapt with joy!

The places he had circled on the map were very close to Liangshui Town.

They weren’t actually near Liangshui Town but in the deep forests on its outskirts.

Being able to get off the train and be there directly was definitely considered lucky.

“I’ll give it to you cheap, 100!

No bargaining.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

The young man cheerfully agreed, showing his exhilaration about going home.

With the taxi setting off, Jia Yan stayed hidden under the front seat, also excited to arrive in Liangshui Town sooner, getting him one step closer to his destination.

After travelling for quite a while, maybe about an hour’s time, Jia Yan caught glimpses of the passing landscape transforming from a small city to a rural road and finally to a desolate wilderness.

After a long shake, the taxi came to a sudden stop.

“Thanks, master, here’s one hundred.” The young man happily paid the fare before he moved to collect his luggage piece by piece.

“Huh…”

As he was collecting his things, he spotted a shadow bolting out from the car.

The young man instinctively followed with his gaze, but only saw a bug carrying something disappearing into the dark.

Jia Yan disappeared from the young man’s sight very quickly.

Whether the young man spotted his unique ‘mosquito’ that could fly with a little bottle in the sky was not his concern any longer.

After all, he had flown far away, how could it possibly chase him?!

Jia Yan looked at the small town.

It had the unique character of a frontier town: low buildings and not thriving due to the sparse population, but it exuded a certain charm.

“It’s a bit like my hometown, but I didn’t come here for that.

It’s now a bit past nine, should I take action just now?”

Jia Yan’s compound eyes flashed.

He wondered if he should fly to the place marked with a circle right now, the distance is at least ten to twenty kilometers.

There were many forests around, such an environment in the wild was absolutely a horrifying place for a mosquito like him.

Moreover, those places marked with circles seemed uninhabited.

Even if there were some small villages, Jia Yan didn’t know the way for the time being.

So, if he doesn’t want to fly there himself, could he just wait in Liangshui Town?

If the Northeast Wild Tiger’s alleged factory is of significant scale, then it would definitely need to go out to replenish resources like food.

He can then sneak onto their vehicles or other transportation!

Between the two choices: one is to rely on own’s abilities, and trek through the forest in order to find the factory.

The other choice is to wait in this town until the Northeast Wild Tiger’s convoy or supply team shows up, and then secretly follow them into the factory.

The first is extremely dangerous, Jia Yan had never truly stayed in the wild from the time he had metamorphosed from a Pupa into mosquito till now.

Even in the environment near a city, he had run into dangerous animals like bats and sparrows.

Considering the dangers he encountered in the city outskirts, one can only imagine the dangers of the wild would be far greater!

What about the other choice?

Waiting for the Northeast Wild Tiger’s supply team is completely dependant on luck, and he currently doesn’t know how large the ‘factory’ of Northeast Wild Tiger is.

If it was a small-scale operation with just a dozen people, then they could get supplies once and not need to go out for one or two months.

Jia Yan had been rebirthed only for just over a month till now, wasting so much time waiting would be a waste of his short lifespan!

Besides, he could even die before any opportunity presented itself for waiting!

Moreover, even though there aren’t many vehicles and pedestrians on the roads of Liangshui Town each day, they are certainly not sparse.

How would he possibly know which vehicle belongs to the Northeast Wild Tiger?

Since those guys have hidden their factory so well, they certainly wouldn’t swagger about openly outside.

Even the Assassin Organization hadn’t obtained much information, he was just a mosquito, even if relevant vehicles did appear, he would certainly miss it!

After pondering for a long time…

Jia Yan finally made a determined decision!

“Compared to when I was chased by bats and sparrows, I have undergone a mutation due to the purple-red potion and am certainly much stronger now!”

“My exoskeleton is harder!”

“My speed and agility in flight have drastically improved!”

“Moreover, I have human intelligence and emergency abilities!”

“Therefore…I can do it!”

Jia Yan decides to enter the forest.

Relying on his own strength, he seeks Northeast Wild Tiger’s factory!

“Once decided, there is no room for delay.”

Jia Yan flies towards the outskirts of Liangshui Town.

The sparse population of Liangshui town’s outskirts has no street lights.

The silent, dark forest-like environment seems like a bloodthirsty beast with wide-open jaws, waiting for its prey!

Jia Yan flew along the highway.

However, he quickly realized that the direction of the road did not match the map in his mind.

The reference he used was the moon.

In the light of the stars and moon, people with some astronomical knowledge can determine their direction based on the moon.

“There’s only one road here, but the circle drawn on the map is in a different direction.

Does the Northeast Wild Tiger’s factory not even have a road?!”

Jia Yan thought about it.

Maybe the Northeast Wild Tiger has a secret road.

If he continues along this road, he will only get farther away.

He looked in the direction of the circle with his compound eyes.

If he went in this direction, he would be plunging deeper into the forest!

“I hope those two assassins didn’t deceive me; otherwise, this risk would be for nothing…”

Jia Yan let out a long sigh.

Then, from a high altitude, he flies into the forest in that direction.

Buzz, buzz, buzz…

Jia Yan dived headlong into the trees and brush.

The surrounding environment was very dark.

All sounds seemed to vanish, and all he could hear was the sound of his wings beating.

However, in his infrared vision, the world was crystal clear…

Jia Yan flew in the pitch black.

His thermal sensing ability wasn’t enhanced much after the mutation, but he could generally determine where the temperature was colder or hotter.

He wasn’t used to the pictures in his senses.

Jia Yan tried hard to analyze these images.

There was also the ability to detect carbon dioxide.

He was smelling the odor of air…

Jia Yan felt like he was going to vomit.

He seldom deliberately used these inherent senses of the mosquito, preferring to use his human eyes and other organs, but in this dark environment, he was forced to use these unfamiliar senses, almost causing him to faint!

Squeak, squeak!

Just as Jia Yan had journeyed about 100 meters into the forest, he suddenly heard the sound of objects swiftly brushing past leaves!

At the same time, his thermal sensing ability suddenly detected a swiftly-flying creature not far away, charging straight towards him!

The creature had a familiar shape.

Long ears, big eyes, a scrawny body, and thin wings that resembled a silk moth’s with numerous tiny blood vessels!

He encountered a bat once again!

“Danger!” Almost instantly, Jia Yan issued a horrified warning to himself!

He desperately twisted his body, and the purple-red potion bottle fell from his hand to the ground.

He twisted his wings to make himself enter a freefall!

Scratch!

Almost simultaneously, the bat’s sharp claws brushed past Jia Yan’s tail.

That sharp feeling made his heart skip a beat.

Squeak, squeak!

The bat let out a high-frequency scream, pivoted in mid-air, and once again chased in Jia Yan’s direction.

To be continued.

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