The Self-Cultivation of a Reborn Massage Therapist

Chapter 306 The Beginning of the Road

Zhao Xiaochui is using metaphysics to fight against technology.

Technology, tactics, firepower, and teamwork are like a game-changer when facing the extraordinary individual abilities brought about by internal strength, especially "perception."

"His movement routes are completely illogical, and he always seems to anticipate our encirclement. Our psychological profiling experts believe he has battlefield precognition abilities."

"He was shot. According to the data model, he should have already gone into shock from blood loss. Why was he still able to move at high speed?"

The US analysis of Zhao Xiaochui using modern science and military theory leads to only one conclusion: impossible.

This is precisely why Zhao Xiaochui survived the previous six ambushes.

…………

Gunshots rang out!

A hail of bullets instantly tore through the pickup truck's wreckage, turning the metal body into a sieve. But it was all just a futile spectacle of sound and light.

Curled up in a ball, Zhao Xiaochui sensed the entire battlefield as clearly as daytime through the surging heat within him.

Taking advantage of the lulls in the shooting, they moved stealthily through the thick fog and darkness.

As he circled around to the side and behind one of the soldiers, the other soldier was completely unaware. Zhao Xiaochui sprang from the shadows, slicing precisely across the soldier's vagus nerve with a chop to the side of his neck, while his other hand caught him, causing him to collapse silently to the ground, instantly losing consciousness.

Almost simultaneously, he pushed off with his feet and pounced on the second person like a ghost. The soldier sensed something was wrong and was about to turn around when he was struck precisely on the back of the head by a heavy but not fatal force. His vision went black and he lost consciousness.

The third soldier finally reacted, turning his gun in terror, but all he found was an empty, seemingly all-consuming fog.

Zhao Xiaochui had long since left the battle and disappeared into the deeper mountains and forests.

A few minutes later, the pass returned to deathly silence.

A well-equipped commander wearing night vision goggles strode forward to check on the two fallen team members.

He found that they were breathing steadily, but had only temporarily lost the ability to move. He was not angry; instead, a look of seriousness appeared in his eyes.

This is a rapid reaction force from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, tasked with capturing a high-value target codenamed "Old Man"—a mysterious entity whose identity is unknown but who destroyed the entire Bogotá intelligence station.

Capture alive is the highest order.

The commander stood up, picked up a high-powered thermal imaging telescope, and scanned the only possible escape route after the road was cut off—the ancient smuggling route that led north along the western side of the Andes Mountains and was known locally as the "Devil's Spine."

Just then, his camera captured a figure.

At a pass on a mountain ridge a few hundred meters away, Zhao Xiaochui stopped and turned around.

There were no words, no gestures.

Through the cold night fog and the vast distance, their eyes met precisely.

The commander slowly lowered his binoculars, a slight smile playing on his lips. He turned and whispered an order to his deputy beside him:
“Deploy a ‘gatekeeper’ type III unmanned sensor array at the entrance, covering all paths. I don’t need it to sound an alarm, I just need it to record—to record whether anything… comes out from inside. Launch the micro-drone, fly it one kilometer along the inside of the pass, and then self-destruct. I just need to confirm that it is not lying in ambush near the entrance.”

The deputy asked, somewhat puzzled, "Sir, shouldn't we send a small team to follow up? At least..."

The commander raised his hand to interrupt him: "Follow up? Sergeant, are you suggesting we send someone to be buried with him?"

Seeing the puzzled look on his deputy's face, the commander explained softly:

"Before the 'Devil's Spine,' he was merely a protein heat source that would bleed, tire, and despair. A month later, his body would be devoured by vultures; two months later, a flood would wash his bones into the swamp, becoming nourishment for some mangrove forest."

"Notify headquarters that the target codenamed 'Old Man' has been permanently banished. We're going home."

The commander ignored the order to 'capture alive' because the target had attempted to kill the CIA 'thugs,' but in subsequent conflicts, he maintained restraint. He only wounded, not killed!

It could be considered a reciprocal gesture; in reality, the 'sober' commander genuinely didn't want to provoke that monstrous 'old man' any further!

…………

The Darien Pass between Colombia and Panama.

This primeval rainforest, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an absolute no-go zone for modern civilization.

There are no roads here, only swamps that devour everything, dense vegetation that can wear people down to death, mosquitoes carrying deadly viruses, and elusive drug lords and guerrillas.

Historically, no human has ever completed a full trek from Columbia to the United States on foot.

Countless explorers, special forces soldiers, and outlaws have attempted a section of it, but all have ended up disappearing or dying.

Taking this path cannot be called 'seeking survival,' but rather a slow and agonizing death sentence!
2020年9月5日，22:05。

After escaping the pursuit of the Americans, Zhao Xiaochui embarked on a thorny path.

…………

August 9, 6:14.

Take your time in Beijing.

There are 30 minutes left before the A-share market closes.

On the huge electronic screen, the stock price of "Jin Dayang" was firmly nailed to the limit down, a glaring blood red, with sell orders piled up layer upon layer, as if they could never be digested.

On online forums, insults and ridicule directed at Zhou Yaqin continue to flood the screen. A company with a market value of only 4 billion yuan has encountered a black swan event, yet it seems as if countless retail investors are wailing in despair, as if a stock market crash has occurred.

…………

South America, primeval jungle.

The rotting leaves mixed with the slippery mud formed a deadly trap, sinking deep into the calves with every step.

Zhao Xiaochui's shoes were nowhere to be found, and his lower body was soaked in mud and water, feeling as heavy as iron.

The air was thick with the stench of decaying plants and unknown wild beasts.

He stopped and listened intently, not with his ears, but with the warmth flowing through his body.

Darian Pass itself is a huge swamp delta formed by the alluvial deposits of countless rivers.

The most famous of these are the Atlato and Tuila rivers. Here, Zhao Xiaochui's challenge is not crossing the river, but surviving it.

He needed to traverse not a single line, but a labyrinth of main channels, tributaries, streams, seasonal floodplains, and permanent swamps.

…………

Beijing, 14:45.

Zhou Yaqin picked up the teacup, gently blew on the almost non-existent steam, and then put the cup back in its original position.

The instant the bottom of the cup touched the table, a command was silently issued in the trading room.

On the seemingly unmoving limit-down board of "Jin Dayang," a massive buy order that nearly swallowed up all the sell orders appeared without warning.

(End of this chapter)