Yama Reborn-Chapter 633 - 630: Hidden Motives

Chen Nuo is falling.

Jumping into time, this phrase sounds quite poetic, but when actually doing it...

Chen Nuo felt like he was about to puke!

·

Within the time line, it was as if he had completely lost the concept of "time."

It seemed as though a long time had passed, yet it also seemed as if everything was frozen in one state.

In short, Chen Nuo felt like he was in a state of dizziness, weightlessness, and nausea.

Without the concept of time, he didn't even know how long this state would last, because there was simply no "long" to consider.

·

It was like the sensation of falling from a high altitude, seemingly descending in one direction continuously, further and further!

Fortunately, Chen Nuo was not alone at this moment.

One of his hands was still gripping the ankle of someone—a human ankle.

The owner of the ankle was once Kamisou Ichiro or the Octopus Monster.

But now, it should be said it belonged to the Mother Clone.

·

Finally, whether it was a moment or a long time later, Chen Nuo felt a brightness before him.

Then, there was the sensation of his body hitting the ground.

With a dull thud, Chen Nuo felt his body heavy fall on a surface.

Luckily, the feeling beneath his body wasn't entirely hard; it was somewhat soft—though not completely soft, it had a rough touch within the softness.

Soon after, Chen Nuo felt some friction pain on his exposed skin.

However, he reacted in time!

At the moment of landing, Chen Nuo used all his strength to roll over to the side.

His decision was correct because the next second after he rolled away, there was a thud, and a figure crashed into the spot where he had been lying.

If he hadn't rolled away in time, he would have become the other's cushion.

·

Just from that roll, Chen Nuo felt that all his strength was exhausted.

He lay there gasping, while from the corner of his eye he quickly took in his surroundings.

Above was the scorching sun, the fierce rays unreservedly casting upon the earth, the light glaring and bringing a sense of burning.

And beneath him was gravel!

Surrounding him was an extreme desolation of yellow...

"It's... a desert..."

This was Chen Nuo's final thought.

Then, as his vision blacked out, he finally exhausted all his strength and lost consciousness.

·

Chen Nuo was awakened by the pain.

The stinging pain at his fingertips brought his brain back to life. Chen Nuo struggled to open his eyes.

The first sensation was the pain throughout his body.

His throat too felt as if he had swallowed a blade.

It seemed as if the moisture in the membrane of his throat had evaporated entirely, the dry, rough sensation causing him to instinctively swallow his saliva, only to find the pain awakening him.

Struggling with his limbs for several seconds, he finally felt his body was his own once more. Chen Nuo couldn't sit up; he didn't have enough strength, so he could only barely manage to shift his body and turn over.

Then, he immediately saw Kamisou Ichiro—the Mother Clone—lying beside him.

This guy was facing away from him, motionless, clearly not having woken yet either.

Chen Nuo then realized where the pain at his fingertips was coming from.

A black-shelled bug—Chen Nuo wasn't an entomologist, so he didn't know what kind of bug it was, but from its shape, it looked somewhat like an ant.

This stout creature, about the size of a fingernail, was biting his fingertip.

Chen Nuo took a breath and then squeezed the little bug forcefully, crushing it.

After catching his breath once more, despite the pain throughout his body, Chen Nuo finally sat up—an action he had tried three times before succeeding.

But Chen Nuo knew he had to get up!

With the sun blazing so fiercely and being in a desert...

If he let the sun continue to burn him like that, given his current physical condition, he feared he would turn into a mummy.

After struggling to sit up, Chen Nuo endured the residual dizziness, steadied himself, and began searching his pockets.

Unfortunately, his pockets were empty, with nothing in them.

Unceremoniously, Chen Nuo rummaged through Kamisou Ichiro's pockets.

And sadly, there was nothing there either.

But Chen Nuo confirmed one thing: the guy had not woken up—obviously, his injuries were more severe than his own, and he hadn't recovered either.

·

"Seems like I'm in pretty bad shape."

Chen Nuo sighed.

The voice he spoke to himself with was so parched it seemed as if the sound waves themselves had rough edges.

He quickly assessed his state.

The good news was: his arms and legs were all intact.

The bad news was: he felt as weak as a person on the brink of death from hunger for several days.

All his capabilities and strengths had vanished, unable to be utilized.

All the mental power, telekinesis, space, time...

All were gone!

Nothing was left.

To be precise, he was now just an ordinary person.

Even the abilities as a Special Ability User were inaccessible.

The self-healing of a Controller, the Undying Body of a Seed that could tap into any Life Element in the world—all were deactivated.

Chen Nuo immediately realized a grave issue: he had to rescue himself quickly!

·

Looking around, there was nothing but endless desert and sand dunes.

The harsh sunlight beat down on him, and Chen Nuo felt not just his body's moisture but even his Life Force was rapidly evaporating away.

Recalling scattered survival skills in desert and arid areas in his mind, Chen Nuo crawled over and exerted all his strength to turn Kamisou Ichiro over, then stripped off his coat.

Then, Chen Nuo began digging sand!

In a full fifteen minutes, Chen Nuo dug out a sand pit, then covered it with Kamisou Ichiro's coat to shield it from the sun, and curled up to hide in the shadow.

This was a survival technique in the desert, which Chen Nuo couldn't remember whether he'd seen on a Bear Grylls show or National Geographic magazine.

But reducing direct sunlight and exposure could slow down the rate at which his body's moisture was evaporating.

As for the Mother Clone's fate...

The best outcome was if it died!

·

Chen Nuo really wanted to choke this guy to death right now.

But...he was too weak. He knew for sure that with his current strength, he couldn't choke anyone to death.

From just digging a little sand, he was already nearly exhausted.

And judging by his strength, Chen Nuo gauged his weakness level—he couldn't even clench a fist.

He had no weapons, nothing sharp or pointed on him.

Not even the strength.

How was he supposed to kill the Mother Clone? Spit on it until it drowned?

This is a desert; he couldn't even muster saliva.

After some thought, Chen Nuo came up with an idea.

How did the most ancient primitive humans kill prey or adversaries in nature?

Besides using tools... they also used their teeth and claws!

Chen Nuo crawled towards the Mother Clone and lifted one of its arms.

Here was the desert!

A harsh and extreme natural environment.

This guy should be as severely injured and exceedingly weak as himself.

So even if he couldn't kill it, if he could wound it and bleed it... under this sun exposure, it could very well succumb.

Chen Nuo clutched the other's arm, then felt for its wrist, searching for a vein.

He calculated the position and angle to bite.

Chen Nuo knew a trick; if you were to cut your wrist to let it bleed, slashing like they show on TV... wouldn't result in death.

It had to be cut diagonally!

Chen Nuo looked at the opponent's wrist before him, took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and prepared to bite down.

"Cough cough cough cough..."

The Mother Clone suddenly coughed a few times and then, in a weak voice, said slowly, "If you want to kill me, don't bleed me at the wrist; you could bite my neck and sever my trachea, that's more effective."

Chen Nuo immediately let go of the other's hand and assumed a wary posture: "You're awake?"

"Hmm."

"When did this happen?"

"While you were digging the sandpit," the Mother Clone spat out a breath, expelling a bit of sand from its mouth.

The Mother Clone struggled to sit up, then lowered its eyes to look at Chen Nuo.

Easily, both simultaneously understood the weakness in each other's eyes.

"Do we continue fighting now?" the Mother Clone asked.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, "Forget it, we're both too weak to stand. In this situation, what's the point of fighting? Chickens pecking at each other?"

"Have you lost all your strength?" the Mother Clone looked at Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo defiantly replied, "Aren't you the same?"

It was true; if the Mother Clone hadn't lost its ability... it should be able to restore full health with just a breath.

After exchanging a glance, both understood each other's intention.

Since they couldn't kill each other now, they had to preserve their own lives first!

The Mother Clone looked at the sandpit behind Chen Nuo and suddenly said, "This pit is dug well."

Chen Nuo snorted, retracting back into the sandpit to sit.

The Mother Clone slowly said, "I think this pit still has room, enough for two people."

Chen Nuo sneered, "Do you think I'd let you in?"

The Mother Clone squinted, "The clothes shading the sun over the sandpit, you ripped them from me."

Chen Nuo coldly stared at the Mother Clone, his gaze unwavering.

If he couldn't kill it, perhaps letting the desert's heat and sun do the job wasn't a bad idea?

Letting it in, dream on!

The Mother Clone took a deep breath, moving slowly but crawling toward the sandpit with a determined look.

Chen Nuo immediately struggled to sit up, glaring fiercely at the Mother Clone.

When the Mother Clone reached out to crawl in, Chen Nuo unhesitatingly kicked towards its head.

The kick was feeble, but it still caused the Mother Clone to wobble and fall, yet it clutched Chen Nuo's ankle with both hands.

The two began to wrestle.

You grab my calf, I tear your fingers.

You poke my eyes, I pull your hair.

Even though both were top-notch powerhouses, at this moment, they fought in the most primitive, inelegant manner, clumsy and fierce.

Finally, their struggle didn't manage to harm either, but the sandpit collapsed.

As a large amount of sand flowed down, their fight gradually ceased — because they both realized that if they continued, they would be buried under the collapsing sand.

They separated, and Chen Nuo immediately struggled to climb out of the sand, the two of them panting about a meter apart.

Finally, the Mother Clone spoke again, "Let's share the sandpit; otherwise, I won't let you hide from the sun alone.

Destruction is easier than construction, you know that."

Chen Nuo glanced at the collapsed sandpit, hesitated for a second, then immediately nodded, "Alright."

His nose was bleeding, hit by the Mother Clone's slap during the struggle.

The corner of the Mother Clone's mouth was bleeding, from being kicked by Chen Nuo.

The mortal enemies finally stopped and, together, began digging sand with their hands...

A moment later, they huddled close together, curled up in the sandpit, using the Mother Clone's coat to cover the top of the pit.

"Since we can't fight for now, let's discuss the current situation."

The Mother Clone spoke slowly, "Where is this place?"

"I don't know," Chen Nuo shook his head.

"...Your control over time, is it that imprecise?" the Mother Clone frowned.

Chen Nuo's lips were chapped; he instinctively stuck out his tongue to lick them, but unfortunately, his tongue was as dry as his lips.

Chen Nuo shook his head, "I can't be bothered to explain; if I don't know, I don't know. Instead of wasting words, let's save some saliva."

The Mother Clone frowned and continued to ask, "So, what time is it now?"

Chen Nuo still didn't answer.

However, his heart moved.

Because...

It was apparent that the Mother Clone didn't seem to understand the ability of "time" either!

Looking at this guy beside him, Chen Nuo's face showed a peculiar expression.

So... you don't know either.

·

Fortunately, the timing of their arrival seemed relatively fortunate.

After huddling in the sandpit for about an hour, the sun noticeably began to set.

The scorching heat began to fade, and the light in the desert visibly weakened.

When the sun finally dropped behind a distant sand dune... Chen Nuo breathed a sigh of relief.

His body was already extremely weak, but the time spent hiding in the sand pit reduced the continuous depletion.

Chen Nuo was more concerned about his inability to restore his powers...

Could it be... time ability traversal; power exhaustion? Or was it the manipulation of time that caused injury to himself?

But now he couldn't even perform an internal check of his consciousness space.

Hiding in the sand pit couldn't restore him, it only reduced the rate of depletion—yet the depletion continued.

As the heat brought by the sun started to fade, Chen Nuo knew he couldn't stay here any longer.

To survive, he had to get out and find a way to live.

Instinctively, he glanced at the Mother Clone beside him, only to find the Mother Clone also looking at him.

In an instant, Chen Nuo understood the other's gaze—it seemed to convey the same meaning as his own thoughts.

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Nuo slowly said, "While it's not as hot after the sunset and there's still some light, I need to go out and find a way to survive.

You can... stay here and wait."

The Mother Clone sighed, "I've been asleep for hundreds of years, but I'm not an idiot, okay? Do you want to trick me into staying here and waiting to die?"

Saying this, he had already climbed out of the sand pit and was waiting for Chen Nuo to follow.

Chen Nuo rolled his eyes, climbed out of the sand pit, and then took off his jacket, wrapping it around his head to minimize the exposed area of his skin.

Identify the direction...

It's actually very difficult to determine.

Although the direction of the sunset is clear, Chen Nuo had no idea which desert he was in.

And even more clueless as to his position within this desert.

So, even if you know the direction, you have no idea which way to go for survival.

Chen Nuo looked at the Mother Clone, "Where do you think we should go?"

The Mother Clone was acutely aware of the situation, without hesitation, randomly pointed to the left.

Chen Nuo nodded, "Alright."

Then, he turned and started walking to the right.

After taking a couple of steps, the sound of footsteps came from behind; the Mother Clone had caught up.

Chen Nuo turned back with a cold smile, "What's wrong? Can't bear leaving me?"

"I don't possess time abilities," the Mother Clone replied coldly. "So, if I want to get back, I can only rely on you. I won't let you leave.

If you're also unable to use your time abilities anymore, then following you... if you die, I can still eat your flesh, drink your blood, and survive a bit longer."

Looking at this guy calmly saying something so cruel, Chen Nuo just pursed his lips without responding.

·

Walking in the desert was extremely exhausting, and it consumed much more energy than walking on flat ground.

Though the sand was soft, it was too soft and loose; each step caused feet to sink into the sand, requiring an additional [pulling feet] action.

One step wouldn't reveal this extra depletion, but after walking some distance, you'd realize the energy drains much faster.

The two headed in the right direction—essentially towards the direction of sunset, trudging forward.

Chen Nuo walked very carefully, maintaining his energy and condition as best as he could; if he felt it was too much, he would immediately stop to rest.

He was acutely aware that when the Mother Clone said "eat your flesh and drink your blood", it wasn't just empty talk—if said, it would absolutely be put into action.

Furthermore, once the opponent judged that his energy consumption was greater, his condition weaker, the Mother Clone would begin a ruthless combat without hesitation!

Chen Nuo was well aware of this—because he thought the same way.

·

The two of them, each harboring hostility, walked for about an hour in the desert.

Actually, they hadn't covered much distance; to maintain their condition, they walked intermittently without overexerting themselves.

Chen Nuo's advantage lay in the fact that even though he was not a Special Ability User, he was a twenty-year-old young man.

At twenty, it is the peak physical condition age for a normal human.

The Mother Clone's advantage was that his body belonged to the Octopus Monster—Kamisou Ichiro.

This guy was robust, and due to his privileged lifestyle, along with the Octopus Monster's ability to replenish life force at any time, this method kept Kamisou Ichiro's body in an almost perfect condition from a physical standpoint.

·

As the two tried to climb over a sand dune ahead...

Suddenly, from beyond the dune, came the sound like a dense chopping of beans.

Chen Nuo's eyes suddenly brightened! He immediately crouched down, tilting his head to listen carefully.

He quickly determined the source of the sound!

Yet, instead of feeling joy from the sound, Chen Nuo's expression turned grave.

It was gunfire!!