Yama Reborn-Chapter 638 - 635: You’ll Get Better

Chen Nuo had already regressed to the level of an ordinary person, both physically and in spiritual power.

In this state, he had survived the harsh environment of the desert for two days, engaged in the mind games with the Mother Clone, with several life-and-death struggles.

And got injured.

Chen Nuo was truly exhausted to the extreme.

In this deep sleep, Chen Nuo didn't even dream, as if he had fallen into endless darkness.

Until…

His foot was gently tapped.

Chen Nuo subconsciously moved, then suddenly jumped up from the ground. Instantly, with a gun-drawing motion, he grasped the pistol in his arms, a gleam of sharpness and killing intent flashed in his eyes!

But in an instant, Chen Nuo saw clearly the little girl named Sally kneeling in front of him, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Slowly, he put the gun back into his arms.

Chen Nuo felt the warmth of the sun above his head.

The sun's height just passed over the mountain peak in front.

After midnight, the bonfire should have been extinguished long ago.

But when Chen Nuo woke up, the bonfire beside him appeared to still be burning, though the fire was smaller.

Chen Nuo was sure that Sally must have collected burning materials around while he was asleep, probably some dead tree branches found in the mountains.

Indeed, there were some dead branches and the like placed beside the bonfire.

The little girl looked dirty on her face, covered in bloodstains, and her hands were also filthy.

Sally sat quietly by the ashes of the bonfire, looking at Chen Nuo, then spoke softly, "I, I saw the sun reach the mountain top... so, I woke you up."

Chen Nuo smiled, "I don't blame you, you did very well. Thank you, Sally."

He shook his head strongly, though Chen Nuo still felt a bit dizzy.

After all, he was exhausted to that extent, and although he finally rested this time.

Calculating the time, he had only slept for four or five hours.

Such short sleep was definitely not enough to restore his spirits.

But, it was at least better than last night's state.

Though his head still had a faint feeling of dizziness, Chen Nuo felt that his spirits were much better than yesterday.

The injured part was still swollen, but it didn't seem to have harmed the bone.

Sally boiled some hot water and tore some jerky into strips, putting them in the hot water to boil.

Chen Nuo drank some of this beef soup, though the taste was hard to describe, it added some protein and salt at least.

Sally competently handled the tasks, making food, heating water, and also got up to continue searching for branches outside as fuel.

The little girl covered her head with a robe, her small figure bustling around.

Chen Nuo sat there carefully checking the supplies in his hands, then attentively studied the map he found yesterday.

Chen Nuo mentally formulated a rough plan.

For him, the most important thing was to heal his injuries and recover his abilities.

All his current predicaments were because he lost his abilities, if he could recover, then all problems could be solved.

In terms of how to restore his strength, Chen Nuo had a vague idea in his mind.

Firstly, he had to cure the injuries on his body.

Whether it was external wounds, that is, the physical trauma on the body's surface, or the trauma in the consciousness space.

Both needed to be restored.

So, the top priority was to find a way to leave this damned place.

In this damned place, it was either anti-government forces, various guerrilla bands, or the M army.

In his current state, landing in anyone's hands wouldn't end well.

So it's best to leave here, return to the civilized world, where there's a chance to seek help.

To find help, even in 1999, Chen Nuo had many ways.

In 1999, the world had no Yama, nor any of his own forces, but... there were still channels to seek help.

He could look for the Son of the Sun of this era, just by throwing out some secrets, he could persuade or leverage that old fellow.

He could even look for Lu Xixi of this era.

Aside from this, for Yama who once stood at the top of the Underground World, there were many other channels and resources to utilize.

But first, to leave here, he had to find a channel to contact the outside world.

·

After eating some food, Chen Nuo talked with Sally for a while.

Sally's English was very poor, she could only understand some simple words and spoke word by word.

But after some communication, Chen Nuo still obtained some useful information.

First, under Chen Nuo's guidance, Sally finally figured out their location on the map Chen Nuo brought back.

Then, according to Sally's account, Chen Nuo could roughly mark some important nearby locations on the map.

According to Sally's introduction, the nearest place to find a phone was a village.

The girl couldn't discern the distance, but through her description, Chen Nuo understood that if they walked, they had to go through the middle of this mountainous area—it was best not to take the main road, as those carrying guns in pickup trucks frequently appeared there.

Sally seemed particularly afraid of those "bad people with guns".

Chen Nuo guessed that perhaps the tribe Sally belonged to was not in the same faction as those guys, so there was hatred between them.

If we insert through the middle of the mountains, at the walking speed of two people, setting off now means we might only reach there by tomorrow afternoon—if luck is on our side.

After all, the mountains also hold their own dangers, and there's always a chance of getting lost.

But regardless, going through the mountains seems to be the most reliable method.

Chen Nuo counted the supplies on hand, and the provisions should be enough for two people, staying economical would make it last for two days.

The problem is water. There are only two water bottles left, with one full and the other only half.

A military canteen generally has a capacity of one liter, meaning the two of them currently have one and a half liters of fresh water.

It should be barely sufficient under normal circumstances. But if walking long distances in the mountains with a high physical expenditure, this amount of water becomes risky.

However, there should be fresh water available in the mountains.

·

After discussing, the two, one big and one small, officially set off.

Chen Nuo still had a gun; a pistol was tucked at his waist, and an AK hung across his chest.

The iron shovel found yesterday still served as a walking stick.

The backpack carrying all their supplies was shouldered by Chen Nuo.

Sally willingly rolled up the blanket and carried it on her slender back. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Chen Nuo glanced at the young girl without saying anything—in this barren and difficult land, precocious and capable children like Sally were a common sight.

·

They set off before noon, heading north through the mountainous terrain.

This region was barren and dry, with most of the ground devoid of greenery or any other form of flora. Looking out, the mountains were a dull yellowish soil and rocky slopes, and the ground was a dried yellowish soil and rocky path.

Walking through the mountains meant picking out gaps between the ravines, struggling over uneven paths, and in some places, bizarre rocky formations.

After about an hour, Chen Nuo found his previous estimates were overly optimistic.

To his speechless surprise, it was not the young Sally holding them back, but himself!

The injuries on Chen Nuo's feet and back, after half a night's rest, couldn't have possibly healed.

The potential fractures or cracks in his ribs, after a few hours of sleep, only allowed him a slight mental rejuvenation upon waking, yet he still felt pain while walking.

That could be dealt with, considering walking with minimized upper body movements could lessen the pain.

But the sprained left foot—there's no way you could walk without using your feet.

While it seemed there was no bone injury, the ankle remained swollen, clearly indicating a severe soft tissue bruise.

Such an injury, if you sat still, didn't hurt much.

But when walking, it was unbearable.

Before setting out, Chen Nuo re-wrapped his ankle with strips of cloth and tightened it.

However, after walking for a bit, the pain became increasingly intense.

At first, it was tolerable, but gradually, despite his best efforts to endure, his walking speed inevitably slowed down.

Chen Nuo realized he couldn't keep forcing it.

The ability to endure pain wasn't the main concern.

The critical issue was that by forcibly walking with an injured ankle, the injured area would worsen.

Pushing through the pain would exacerbate the injury, worsening the injury would slow him down further.

It's a vicious cycle.

Even using the shovel as a walking stick was not helping.

After two hours, Chen Nuo's walking speed was even slower than Sally's.

Often, Sally even stopped to wait for Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo's face was pale with sweat beading on his forehead from the pain, and beyond the pain in his left foot, he began feeling a sensation akin to tearing.

·

"Shall we stop and rest?"

Sally walked up to Chen Nuo, looked up, and asked.

Chen Nuo sighed, thought for a moment, then nodded.

Sally surveyed the surroundings and pointed under a rock ahead: "There."

As Chen Nuo limped over, supported by the shovel, Sally had already spread out the blanket on the ground.

Chen Nuo took a few gulps from the water bottle and then handed it to Sally.

Sally accepted and only took a small sip before returning it to Chen Nuo.

The little girl's lips were cracked and dry, yet she was trying to conserve water.

"Drink a bit more; we still have plenty of water." Chen Nuo pushed the water bottle back to Sally.

Sally blinked and took another sip but stubbornly handed the bottle back to Chen Nuo.

The little girl expressed her concern: "At this speed, tomorrow, we won't make it."

Sally spoke cautiously, gazing at Chen Nuo with an uneasy expression. Although she didn't say it outright, Chen Nuo understood her meaning: you're too slow.

Chen Nuo sighed helplessly, gesturing to his ankle: "My foot is seriously injured; I can't walk fast. I wish I could, but I can't."

Sally closely observed Chen Nuo's ankle, her small face wrinkled as if weighing whether to speak, but ultimately held her tongue.

Chen Nuo had no better solutions, using the rest time to regain his strength, then took off the cloth from his ankle, re-tightening it—how much this helped was uncertain, but it was a small comfort.

·

After resting for half an hour, the two resumed their journey.

Chen Nuo initially persevered, but after half an hour, his pace inevitably slowed.

This time, Sally didn't urge Chen Nuo; instead, she quietly stayed by his side, her small body leaning against him, proactively supporting him as they walked forward.

·

When night fell, the two found a place to sit down and rest.

However, it was evident that both Chen Nuo and Sally were worried inside.

Their walking speed for the past half-day was far below their initial expectations.

Chen Nuo roughly estimated that the distance they covered in the afternoon might not even be half of what they had planned for that day.

If this pace continued, reaching the destination would take more than twice the expected time.

Spending more time might not be a big problem...

But the issue was the supplies!

The two currently had only some jerky and one or two pieces of compressed biscuits left; nothing more.

This amount of food would barely last until tomorrow night.

If the journey time took twice as long as planned, the food would be nowhere near enough.

Although if they minimized food intake to the bare minimum human consumption, it could work...

But reducing food intake would also bring negative consequences: decreased food intake would rapidly deplete the body's stamina, and decreased stamina would directly slow their pace further.

By then, even twice the time might not be enough; they would need much more time.

·

Both were somewhat anxious, but during their rest, neither mentioned it. Instead, they silently ate a bit of food.

Chen Nuo noticed Sally was eating significantly less than the day before—this child seemed to be trying to conserve more food.

As night fell, they lay down fully clothed by the campfire, although when they lay down, they didn't notice Sally sitting by the fire, watching Chen Nuo's back for a long time, a complex expression in her eyes.

·

At dawn, Chen Nuo woke up, feeling slightly more refreshed than the previous day.

Having some restful sleep improved his mental state.

But his body... the injuries had clearly worsened!

The rib injury was now significantly affecting his movement! Chen Nuo even felt pain simply sitting up from the ground, turning his face pale.

He attempted to stand and take a couple of steps, each breath tugging at his pain points, torturing him relentlessly.

The ankle, too, showed no signs of healing, and the pain was even worse than yesterday—clearly, the injury had worsened.

By noon, struggling to walk an entire morning, Chen Nuo's steps were labored. Despite enduring through it, during their lunch break, Chen Nuo was acutely aware that his undershirt was drenched in sweat!

Worse still, sweating from enduring pain meant losing more body fluids. That required replenishing with more water...

The distance they covered in the morning was shorter than the previous day, moving even slower than before.

Chen Nuo became increasingly silent.

Sally followed him cautiously, and during their noon break, once again consciously reduced her own food intake.

She didn't even dare to drink water.

It wasn't until Chen Nuo saw Sally eating and drinking hesitantly that he realized the young girl was terrified—even worse, that fear was directed at him.

She feared him.

Like an abused slave, cautiously consuming less when noticing her master's irritation to avoid trouble and reduce the chances of being blamed.

Chen Nuo sighed.

He softened a piece of jerky over the fire, then put it into Sally's hand.

"Eat!"

Chen Nuo commanded decidedly and firmly.

Sally looked at Chen Nuo in panic.

Chen Nuo spoke slowly: "Eat! Don't fear me. I'm not a bad person."

Saying so, Chen Nuo pointed to himself, then to Sally: "We, friends!"

On the verge of tears, Sally clenched the jerky in her hand: "But there isn't enough food..."

Chen Nuo smiled, using his dirty hand to ruffle the equally dirty hair of the girl. His tone was kind and gentle: "Don't worry, there will be enough, there will be a way."

Following Chen Nuo's half-persuaded, half-coerced gesture, Sally finally ate another piece of jerky and drank two more mouthfuls of water.

·

Perhaps Chen Nuo's luck finally surfaced; in the afternoon, they encountered something good.

A wild mountain goat running across the rocks caught Chen Nuo's attention.

Sally excitedly pointed and shouted at the wild goat, and Chen Nuo immediately knelt on one knee, picking up his gun.

The gunshot echoed, and the wild goat tumbled down the rocks.

·

Chen Nuo sat on the ground, taking off his boots to gently massage his ankle.

Sally knelt beside him, a knife in hand, diligently carving off a leg of the wild goat, cutting the strips of bloody meat.

There was no clean water for washing; they had to manage like this.

Cutting off strips of meat, Sally packed them away without hesitation.

The goat's innards were surely unusable, and they couldn't peel its hide.

But the cut meat should be sufficient to last them a while.

Sally's eyes were filled with joy and delight, unaware that Chen Nuo's complexion was growing increasingly grim.

·

Watching Sally pack a lot of mutton, Chen Nuo sat there quietly, just watching the little girl.

Then, he called Sally over in front of him.

"You should go."

"?"

Sally looked at Chen Nuo in confusion.

Chen Nuo pointed at his own foot, "I can't walk anymore."

He shook his head and sighed.

He wasn't a weak person, but after walking with injuries for two days, he knew that now he really couldn't walk anymore.

The swelling on his ankle was becoming more pronounced.

He wasn't sure if he had injured the bone when he got hurt the day before yesterday, but Chen Nuo was certain that the bone at this spot was definitely injured now.

Every step he took caused heart-wrenching pain.

The rib injury was also becoming unbearable; every breath brought intense pain to Chen Nuo.

Fighting against the pain had already consumed too much of Chen Nuo's energy.

And calculating the distance, they had covered less than half of the journey to this point.

Moreover, more importantly...

Chen Nuo realized he had a fever.

He wasn't sure if the fever was due to an infection or because his body was overexerted, leading to a stress response.

But regardless, being injured and having a fever now... Chen Nuo knew he was at his limits.

He sat on the ground, his body already limp and exhausted, breathing more rapidly, only able to suppress these sensations and speak to Sally as gently as possible.

Sally widened her eyes, looking at Chen Nuo in panic, "What about you?"

"I'll rest here, and when I'm better, I'll walk on my own."

Chen Nuo tried to maintain a smile.

"I'll stay, I can help you." Sally's body was trembling.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, "If you want to help me, do it my way." He paused, pointing to a location he had marked on the map, "We need to go to this place, this village. You can go there on your own first. Once you arrive, ask for help and bring someone back to rescue me."

Sally looked at Chen Nuo with some fear.

Chen Nuo thought the girl was afraid to walk the mountain path alone, so he gently said, "Sally, you are capable and strong. In these mountains, you are actually more familiar and adapted than I am. You can reach the village by yourself."

Saying this, Chen Nuo took out a pistol and gently placed it in front of Sally, "Take this with you. If you encounter wolves, use it."

Sally looked at Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo sighed, "If you want to help me, then go alone. You're not abandoning me to run away; rather, I need you to seek help for me—do you understand?"

Sally suddenly wiped her eyes vigorously—she was really crying.

Then, the little girl looked at Chen Nuo with a determined gaze, "You think I'm a fool!"

Sally pointed at Chen Nuo, "You're injured, and you're burning up!"

She paused, quickly adding, "This way, you will die here alone! After I leave, you won't survive even one night of cold! Even if I find the village tomorrow and bring people back, it will be the day after tomorrow!

By then, you'll be dead!"

Chen Nuo took a deep breath, "I promise I won't die, you..."

"You're lying to me!" Sally screamed, "You're lying! Just like Dad! Just like Mom!!

Dad and Mom lied to me!

Bad people came!

Dad and Mom said, Sally, run first, we'll come to find you!

In the end, they all died!

You're the same, you think I'm just a kid! A kid who doesn't understand anything!

But I do understand!"

After speaking, Sally jumped up, screamed, and turned to run away.

Her small figure quickly disappeared into the mountain stream.

Chen Nuo was stunned for a moment, he seemed to want to get up, but his body was limp, and he no longer had any strength.

Forget it...

She ran away, that's fine, going alone, she's actually very familiar with this mountain area, she can survive.

Chen Nuo simply relaxed his body, leaning against the rock.

He looked up at the sky.

Damn it, am I really going to die here?

Hmm...

His eyelids grew heavier, and Chen Nuo's feverish mind drifted into a daze, then he closed his eyes.

He didn't know how much time had passed, when Chen Nuo groggily opened his eyes, he seemed to see a small figure sitting beside him.

Entering his blurred vision was Sally's small, dirty face.

The girl was grabbing his arm forcefully, then pulling up his sleeve with effort.

Chen Nuo felt that his mouth wasn't dry, he should have been given water...

"You'll get better."

Sally quickly whispered in Chen Nuo's ear.