Trickster Hunter.

Chapter 574 The Red World

“Sun Hang, do you think this guy is hiding his strength, or like I said, he suddenly had a breakthrough and opened up his Ren and Du meridians?” Yang Qiaoxi looked at Sun Hang.

"I don't know," Sun Hang shrugged, giving a concise and effective answer.

“To be honest, I still can’t quite believe it. Are you really that Sun Hang?” Charles looked at Sun Hang. “Why don’t you tell that young master of the Chen family your true identity? If he knew that you were the one who killed Chimera Seventeen, he might treat you like an ancestor.”

“Too much trouble.” Sun Hang gazed at the chaotic camps of the three major family hunting groups in the distance. As time passed, the discipline that had initially been relatively strict began to crumble. Many hunters were sitting in twos and threes on the ground playing cards, while others had removed the tires from their off-road vehicles and were using them as barbells to lift weights. Some were even engaging in certain unspeakable businesses. Sun Hang even saw two grown men chat for a few minutes before getting into a car with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Then the car began to shake.

Damn, could these two be from Tianfu City?

“You don’t expect to pick any hunters from this group to go with you to that… oh, Egypt?” Charles lifted his gas mask a crack, took out his water bottle, and took a small sip. “I’ve been in this godforsaken place, Yumen, for two and a half years now. I know all too well what these guys are capable of… Top hunters like you would definitely look down on these people. As for the real experts, they wouldn’t even bother joining this kind of hunting party.”

“As I said, those capable guys don’t lack money at all,” Yang Qiaoxi added. “Sun Hangfei said that as long as the bounty is large enough, quantitative change can lead to qualitative change… Now it seems that the sky-high bounty has only attracted a bunch of scoundrels who want to share the money. Moreover, the more scoundrels there are, the less willing the experts are to participate. This is called Gresham’s Law.”

"Is that how the saying 'bad money drives out good money' is used?" Sun Hang glanced at Yang Qiaoxi. "Besides, I didn't come away empty-handed; that guy is still lying in his permafrost coffin."

"Ha... The probability of you running into someone like Jin Hongyi is about the same as winning the lottery." Charles screwed the cap on his water bottle and stuffed it back into his bag. "In novels, that's real protagonist treatment... I've seen too many guys who think they have a protagonist's halo, but in the end, they all..."

Charles suddenly stopped speaking. Sun Hang turned around and looked at him with a hint of surprise, only to find that Charles was radiating a negative emotion called "sadness".

"What happened in the end?" Zhulong asked.

“In the end, they were all crushed to death like ants.” Charles let out a long sigh, and his sadness faded away. “Just like those guys who died in Giant Hill, there was no funeral, no grave, no compensation. At most, they would be marked as ‘missing’ in the Hunter Management Bureau’s files. After a few years, they would be completely forgotten, as if they had never been in this world.”

"I didn't know you had a bit of an artistic side, talking so sadly," Yang Qiaoxi teased. "What's wrong? Were any of your friends among those who got trampled to death?"

“I guess we were friends,” Charles chuckled dryly. “He saved my life, but I couldn’t save his. I can’t find his remains, and I don’t even know if he has any family left in this world… The only thing I can do is remember him, for as many years as I can. Once I die, I guess nobody will even know that such a guy ever existed… I remember there’s a saying, something like, ‘Someone dies three times’?”

"The first death is the cessation of breathing, symbolizing death in a biological sense; the second death is his funeral, symbolizing death in a sociological sense; and the third is the forgetting or death of the last person in the world who remembers him, at which point this person is truly dead," Zhulong said slowly.

“So it seems death really is a troublesome thing,” Charles whistled. “It’s tedious and not at all neat.”

……

……

The Hexi Corridor is a no-man's-land.

Cheng Ming looked out the car window at the seemingly endless wasteland, his mood completely calm and undisturbed—even though the convoy had just escaped a "death sandstorm," losing nearly one-fifth of its members.

Cheng Ming witnessed two slower-moving cars being swept into the vortex-like sandstorm. The people in the cars didn't even have time to scream before they were swallowed up by the sandstorm. All that could be seen were two numbers on the communication channel flashing a few times before going offline.

A grain of sand the size of a grain of rice hit Cheng Ming less than 30 centimeters away, shattering the right-side rearview mirror of the car he was in. The car window was covered with fine scratches and cracks, and it was only thanks to the thin film sandwiched inside the glass that the window did not shatter completely.

"Is this your first time in the uninhabited area of ​​the Hexi Corridor? Are you finding it a little difficult to adjust?" the woman sitting next to Cheng Ming asked.

This is the masked woman who stood behind Bai Lingqiu during the interview that day. She claims to be Bai Lingqiu's personal bodyguard, codenamed "Miss Shadow," and is a free hunter hired by the Bai family.

What puzzled Cheng Ming was that, logically speaking, the passenger seat should be the seat for a bodyguard, but now Bai Lingqiu, with a stern face, was sitting in the passenger seat, while the relatively safer back seat was given to this bodyguard.

"It's alright," Cheng Ming said casually. "It's just that the air is a bit dry, and my lips always feel very dry."

“The Hexi Corridor is indeed no match for the water towns of your Jiangnan region.” Miss Shadow smiled. “It is a place with scarce resources, teeming with strange creatures, not to mention that as soon as any living person sets foot on this land, a deadly sandstorm will immediately follow… This place is truly awful.”

Cheng Ming did not deny it—no matter how you look at it, it was indeed a terrible place.

“Although Giant Hill has returned to calm, considering that we brought too many members here who are entering the no-man's land for the first time, we have chosen another route for safety,” Miss Shadow said. “It is estimated that it will take three days to reach Nanhua Town... For everyone, these three days can also be considered another selection process.”

"Only those with real strength can survive these three days?" Cheng Ming asked.

“You need to have the ability, and you also need to be lucky enough,” Miss Shadow said. “Or rather, luck is part of ability.”

Cheng Ming didn't reply, but instead looked up at the skylight.

From this angle, you can see the moon perfectly. I don't know why, but the moon in the desert is always big and round, like a jade plate that's right in front of you, as if you could reach out and scoop it up.

"Do you want to rest for a while? It's almost midnight," Miss Shadow asked. "According to the Dragon City Sandstorm Observation Station, the deadly sandstorm that just chased us has dissipated. The next sandstorm won't form for at least twelve hours, so this is a rare safe time."

"Hmm." Cheng Ming nodded, reclined the chair slightly, and rested his head on the back of the chair.

The woman sitting next to him took out an eye mask from her backpack and put it on her head.

On the contrary, Bai Lingqiu, who was sitting in the passenger seat, showed no intention of resting and was still staring intently at the screen on the passenger control panel.

Compared to her, the leader of the hunting party, this strange bodyguard was surprisingly relaxed in every move.

However strange it was for Cheng Ming, it was impossible for him to ask. He turned slightly to the side, found a relatively comfortable position, and then closed his eyes. The car's excellent suspension system filtered out more than 90% of the bumps at high speeds, and almost as soon as Cheng Ming closed his eyes, a strong drowsiness surged up and instantly invaded his brain.

He felt his consciousness sinking rapidly, as if he were falling into a bottomless well, sinking deeper and deeper...

Gradually, everything around him slowly changed from black to dark red. Cheng Ming opened his eyes with some difficulty and found himself standing at a somewhat familiar intersection. Around him were vehicles constantly shuttling back and forth and crowds of people coming and going. The traffic lights at the intersection seemed to be malfunctioning, with all three colors of the signal lights lit up red. A traffic policeman with an indistinct face stood on a platform not far away, directing traffic with some difficulty.

Cheng Ming felt his memory becoming very blurry; he couldn't remember what he had just been doing. But the familiar feeling of the intersection made him unconsciously follow the flow of people in one direction.

Everything he saw was an eerie red—the sky, the streets, the buildings, and the pedestrians. This red was different from the vision of someone wearing red sunglasses; it was as if paint had spread from the air, dyeing everything it touched the same shade.

But Cheng Ming didn't find anything unusual at all, as if the world was supposed to be red all along.

After crossing another intersection, Cheng Ming stopped.

He turned his head to look at the very familiar building on the right side of the intersection, and he suddenly remembered where he was—this was the largest cancer hospital in Kuaiji. He would walk through this intersection almost every weekend, cross the zebra crossing, and enter the old stone archway covered with green vines.

Cheng Ming's mother lives in this hospital.

A sense of unease stirred within Cheng Ming, and he quickened his pace, heading towards the hospital.

But as he walked, an indescribable fear began to spread in his heart.

He noticed that the facial features of the pedestrians on the road were as blurry as those of the traffic policeman; even those who brushed past him, he couldn't make out their faces.

He suddenly realized he couldn't remember which ward his mother was in, and the next moment, he realized he couldn't even remember what his mother looked like.

As if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him from head to toe, Cheng Ming stood rooted to the spot, his back trembling with cold, too afraid to move.

Why? Why can't I remember?
What happened here?
Why can't I see everyone's faces?

Cheng Ming's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart skipped a beat—he suddenly realized that everything around him was dark red, which was extremely abnormal!

"A strange creature?!"

This was Cheng Ming's first reaction.

A strange creature has invaded this area! That's why everything in sight looks like this, and why the faces of passersby are blurred!

However, none of the passersby seemed to notice anything unusual...

No! I didn't notice anything unusual just now, and I'm only just waking up now... Moreover, I might be the only person on this street who is conscious!
Cheng Ming's first reaction was to report it to the research institute, but when he reached into his pocket, he realized that his phone was missing and even the hunter bracelet on his wrist was no longer working.

Cheng Ming raised his head and looked at the blood-red sky, a feeling of retreat rising in his heart.

He knew very well that any kind of strange creature capable of affecting an entire area was definitely beyond his ability to handle. His best course of action right now was to escape the area as quickly as possible, find a working communication device, and report the matter to the research institute.

But soon, Cheng Ming's gaze fell on the hospital's inpatient building.

Cheng Ming didn't know how the research institute would deal with this strange creature, but he had heard that when an area was completely "contaminated" by a strange creature, the higher-ups would consider the area beyond saving and would use methods such as bombing to destroy the entire contaminated area along with the strange creature...

If I choose to escape at this point...

Cheng Ming swallowed.

Perhaps there is still time... perhaps he can still take his mother with him...

If he could take his mother away from this place, then whatever the higher-ups planned to do with the area would be none of his concern.

Cheng Ming made up his mind, quickly crossed the road, and ran to the hospital's guardhouse.

He stopped again. He suddenly realized that he didn't remember which ward his mother was in, and he had completely forgotten what his mother looked like.

However, he is now certain that these forgetfulnesses are due to the strange creature distorting his perception, just like how everything he sees appears red.

Fortunately, he still remembered his name.

He still remembered the old man in the guardhouse; he had once offered the old man cigarettes and talked to him about his mother's illness.

Cheng Ming rushed to the guardhouse, grabbed the window sill, and shouted to the old man sitting inside, "Grandpa! Do you remember me? I'm Cheng Ming! Hunter Cheng Ming! The one who used to chat with you all the time!"

However, the old man sitting in the guardhouse seemed not to hear him at all, and continued to play with his mobile phone.

(End of this chapter)