This time I chose Paladin.

Chapter 238 Among the Stars

Nie Weiyang seemed to be asking Russell, or perhaps talking to himself. His scarlet eyes, reflecting the flickering firelight, appeared somewhat profound.

He knew perfectly well what Bai Yu was thinking—feelings, hopes, expectations…

He had witnessed countless tragic experiences and encountered many people seeking help. But someone like Bai Yu, who was almost obsessively convinced that a stranger, a legendary 'strongman,' could help him, and who was willing to chase after him at all costs, betting everything on him... was a rare sight indeed.

Isn't Bai Yu afraid that, for some greater good or for procedural justice, he might actually stop this revenge?
"He placed his last hope on someone he didn't know at all. It didn't seem like a well-thought-out choice, but more like an instinctive reaction in despair." Russell put away his joking expression, sat up, picked up the water bottle and took a sip.

His heterochromatic eyes gleamed thoughtfully in the firelight.

“Perhaps…” Russell pondered, “You see, the authorities follow rules, evidence, and procedures. But his grudge occurred during the most chaotic period after the arrival of the New World. At that time, order collapsed, the strong preyed on the weak, many things left no evidence, and even… many ‘rules’ had not yet been established. In his stereotype, the authorities are reasonable and follow the rules.”

“But you are different.” He looked at Nie Weiyang. “Nie Weiyang, you are famous throughout the world, but you also break the rules. This name, from the very first global announcement, has meant ‘breaking the rules.’ You killed the world boss, your whereabouts are a mystery, you are powerful and mysterious, you are even… not quite like a completely lawful faction person.”

Russell pointed to Nie Weiyang's red eyes: "Your eyes don't look like those of a law-abiding paladin. I guess Bai Yu, that kid, even though he can't speak fluently, his intuition might tell him that you are the kind of person who might choose a less 'conventional' path for a certain 'result'."

"He doesn't need you to understand all his pain, he might not even expect you to agree with him. He just needs you to be strong enough and willing to do things that he believes the authorities won't or can't do for the sake of 'just' outcomes."

"He's not betting on your kindness, but on your 'ability' and 'possibility.' He's betting that you might be able to bypass those hopeless rules and obstacles and directly achieve his long-cherished goal—to kill Zhao Deming."

Nie Weiyang listened in silence, stopping his fiddling with the branches of the fire.

Russell's words were a wake-up call for him. He had been thinking about the problem from his own perspective, but he had overlooked Bai Yu's predicament and his unique perspective.

In an era where the rules are not yet fully restored and power equals discourse, the revenge of a 'relatively weaker' who is forced to operate outside the rules may only rely on a precise intuition about the stronger and a desperate gamble.

All of this is a delicate matter that hangs in the balance, and it's difficult for mind-reading techniques to grasp every detail.

“Intuition…” Nie Weiyang repeated softly.

His gaze returned to the leaping flames, as if in those flames he saw the resolute, desperate look in the white-haired boy's eyes. But in a fleeting moment, he also seemed to see a pair of scarlet, serene eyes filled with immense darkness. The owner of those eyes also had a full head of white hair, and now, in his spiritual realm, they were eternally locked in a gaze.

Nie Weiyang from last week's episode.

That assassin, the figure now bearing almost all of his negative emotions, his dark side. He even finds it difficult to articulate just how immense a negative force it truly is…

Bai Yu approached him, perhaps partly due to that force—people who value hatred are drawn to each other.

Finally, Nie Weiyang said softly, "An expensive intuition."

It's hard to tell whether it's admiration or regret.

The campfire continued to burn, illuminating the silhouettes of the two men and the tiger.

In a remote underground cave, Zhao Deming, accompanied by two women, left the 'home' he had been running for several months.

"Do we really have to leave?" The plump woman looked somewhat anxious. "Husband..."

Zhao Deming frowned at her, and she immediately fell silent. Zhao Qian, however, struggled to walk, lifting her skirt, which made Zhao Deming's brow furrow even more: "You've thrown away all your normal clothes?"

“This dress is a glamorous piece of clothing…and I can guarantee I can keep up,” Zhao Qian whispered.

“Even if it’s a rare find, you have to replace it,” Zhao Deming said coldly. “Get this straight, now is not the time for you to flaunt your charm. You not only have to keep up, but you also have to make sure you don’t get noticed!”

"So we can't bring any slaves with us?"

"Ah."

Zhao Qian realized the seriousness of the situation. A hint of anxiety flashed across her beautiful face, but she quickly calmed down, changed her gear, and in the blink of an eye, was dressed in ordinary clothes. Zhao Deming nodded in satisfaction. His daughter wasn't stupid; she just had a few harmless little quirks that were understandable.

“Let’s go,” he said. “We can relax a bit once we’re far away. Nie Weiyang won’t be taking Xiaoyu with him; he’s probably afraid I’ll have Xiaoyu suddenly stab him. And if he doesn’t take Xiaoyu, he’ll never find us!”

……

The campfire gradually died down, and the first rays of dawn appeared. After a brief rest, Nie Weiyang and Russell resumed their hunt. Nie Weiyang had already briefly explained the situation to Liang Zhenduan in Gushi via communicator—they were hunting down an important target, and their return would be delayed. Liang Zhenduan's reply was concise and powerful: "Go ahead, don't worry, we can handle things here."

In the days that followed, they endured wind and rain, sleeping in the open and traversing mountains and valleys.

During breaks, aside from eating and showering, whenever he had free time, Nie Weiyang would take out a thick notebook and write furiously by the light of the campfire, compiling a dictionary temporarily titled "A Preliminary Explanation of Pre-Civilization Languages".

Russell was responsible for vigilance, and he would usually communicate with the surrounding natural environment to ensure the optimal route and avoid unnecessary trouble.

On the ninth night, Nie Weiyang finally closed his notebook and let out a long sigh of relief.

The first draft is complete. Although it is rough, the key information it contains is enough to greatly advance the research progress in Pingdu.

"We need to send it back as soon as possible." Nie Weiyang stroked the cover of the notebook.

“Leave it to me,” Russell said.

He let out a long whistle. A moment later, a giant eagle with a wingspan of nearly three meters and metallic feathers glided silently down and landed precisely on his arm armor. This was the elder of the mutated falcon that had delivered the message to Nie Weiyang earlier. The skies of the new world still only allowed these animals native to this land to soar.

Nie Weiyang carefully wrapped the notebook and tied it to the giant eagle's leg.

"Send it to the Pingdu Research Institute and hand it directly to the person in charge," he instructed. The giant eagle glanced at Nie Weiyang with its sharp eyes, nodded as if it understood human nature, then flapped its wings and soared into the sky, quickly disappearing into the night.

“Alright, the last of the trivial matters are taken care of…” Nie Weiyang looked to the southwest, his gaze sharp. “It’s time to pay a visit to some successful people.”

Evening of the tenth day.

The setting sun dyed the rugged mountains blood red. Nie Weiyang and Russell stood in front of an extremely hidden cave entrance, which was cleverly concealed by vines and illusions. If it weren't for the fact that Nie Weiyang's spiritual energy ultimately pointed here, it would have been almost impossible to find them.

"This is it," Nie Weiyang said in a low voice.

The faint energy fluctuations remaining in the air prove that people were active here not long ago.

Russell stepped forward, placed his hands on the rock face, and closed his eyes to sense the movement. The surrounding plants swayed slightly, conveying information to him.

"Hmm... Quite a few traps, and they're quite insidious. However... most of them are in a dormant state, so they must have left in a hurry." He opened his eyes, a cold glint in them. "I'll clear the way."

He uttered a strange low groan, and the vines on the rock wall began to writhe as if alive, precisely probing into several crevices. After a few extremely faint clicks of mechanisms, the seemingly solid rock wall quietly slid open, revealing a pitch-black opening just wide enough for one person to pass through, and a chilling aura rushed out.

The two slipped in silently, one after the other. The cave was more spacious and winding than they had imagined, with traces of human excavation intertwined with natural caverns. They passed several caves that were clearly living areas, where some furniture and household waste remained, but all valuable and energy-related items had been removed, leaving the place in a state of disarray.

"They ran away cleanly," Russell clicked his tongue.

Nie Weiyang remained silent, his senses spreading like mercury across the ground. Suddenly, he stopped, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Below…” He looked at a narrow passage leading deep underground, “there’s something there.”

Russell also composed himself and focused intently on sensing. After a moment, his expression turned somewhat grim.

(End of this chapter)