Xia Yu immediately became alert. He sniffed the air and detected a strong human scent carried by the wind from above.
He kicked awake Awei, who was sleeping on the ground, and then shook Meimei awake.
Awei stood up, still dazed, when he saw a large dark shadow running into the distance. There was no need to say more—it was Xiongyu carrying away Meimei.
Although he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he could sense the bear’s determination to escape. He immediately shouted out loud.
At the same time he shouted, gunshots and furious yelling came from not far away.
Bullets landed around them. Without hesitation, Awei grabbed Ahua and ran in the direction Xia Yu had gone.
The captain of the guards immediately led his men to follow.
Xiongyu had night vision and ran extremely fast. He was glad he hadn’t shouted immediately, but instead kicked Awei first and started running.
By the time Awei shouted, he had already moved out of the range of enemy fire. Otherwise, with the bear’s massive size, the chances of being hit would have been three to four times higher than for a human.
He didn’t know how long he had been running, but even with his endurance skill, Xiongyu began to feel a bit tired.
“Wait for me!” Awei shouted from behind, his voice barely audible over the gunshots.
Wait for you while running for your life? Xia Yu originally had no intention of slowing down, but then he thought about how Awei might not know how to get out of the forest and was clearly unfamiliar with this area. Awei could still be useful.
He sniffed the air again and listened to the gunfire. Xia Yu determined that the pursuers had not caught up and slowed his pace slightly.
Awei and Ahua, along with the guard captain and two soldiers, caught up.
“Stop running. The forest is huge, and we’re only a small group. They won’t find us for now,” the guard captain said.
Xia Yu looked at Awei, who nodded in agreement, and then he stopped.
He put down Meimei, whom he had been carrying, grabbed the captain’s water bottle, opened it with his teeth, and drank half of it.
The remaining people also took sips of water to calm themselves. The sprint had been extremely exhausting.
The captain looked at his water bottle in Xiongyu’s hand, waiting for it to be returned, but instead, he saw Xiongyu clip the bottle onto his belt with no intention of giving it back.
So he grabbed another soldier’s water bottle and drank from it.
The group caught their breath and gathered together, whispering.
The guard captain sighed first, “Those people are crazy—they actually opened fire!”
“They might not be from the interim government, but rebels,” Awei guessed, though it was just a guess without confirmation.
The captain cursed, then said, “Good thing Brother Wei was alert, or we would’ve been surrounded.”
“It wasn’t me. I was sleeping soundly. It was Xiongyu who kicked me awake,” Awei said, sitting on the ground rubbing his foot. He had stepped on a sharp stone while running, and though his shoe hadn’t been pierced, it still hurt.
The group, who had thought Awei was their savior, turned their gazes toward Xiongyu.
Meimei stroked his chest fur.
“What do we do next?” Ahua asked, holding her arm, which had been grazed by a bullet.
“Keep moving—quietly. It’ll be another three or four hours before dawn. We should be able to hide from them by then,” Awei replied.
The group rested for another two minutes before getting up and continuing their journey.
Xia Yu once again carried Meimei on his back. As he walked, one thought kept circling in his mind.
His telepathy had sensed danger, and then the danger suddenly increased. He hadn’t understood the reason before, but now he had some ideas.
Was that team following them from a distance the whole time, waiting for them to fall asleep before attacking?
Otherwise, the timing would be too perfect.
But how had that team known their location?
Was it dogs? Or experienced hunters?
Yet he hadn’t smelled any dogs before.
A bear’s sense of smell was far more sensitive than a dog’s. That group had already been close enough, and they were upwind. Xia Yu was confident that if there had been dogs, he would have smelled them.
So it must have been hunters?
If they really had been tracking them using hunters, the chaos of their escape should have made it extremely difficult for the hunters to follow.
“We’ll go this way,” Awei said, pulling out his compass and taking the lead.
Everyone, startled awake after less than an hour of sleep, was sluggish and couldn’t help yawning.
Xia Yu yawned too.
Suddenly, his telepathy stirred again. The danger alert returned, though not as intense as before.
This meant they were being followed again.
The pursuers hadn’t caught up immediately, likely waiting for daylight.
A night attack relied on surprise. Now that their target was prepared, a nighttime pursuit would be more likely to backfire.
Xia Yu didn’t know how the enemy had tracked them so accurately. He couldn’t help feeling annoyed.
Meimei sensed his frustration and gently stroked his head.
Awei noticed too. He walked up beside Xiongyu and whispered, “The pursuers again?”
Xia Yu nodded, then shook his head.
“They’re following us from behind?” Awei understood what Xiongyu meant.
After Xia Yu nodded again, Awei also grew anxious.
Awei kept changing directions, but as dawn approached, they still hadn’t shaken off the pursuers.
Xiongyu was getting restless, his teeth itching with frustration. At that moment, something sweet-smelling was extended toward his mouth.
Looking down, Xia Yu saw Meimei’s palm, covered in honey.
The girl had brought honey in her bag.
As he licked her palm, Xia Yu calmed down and thought.
Though he didn’t know much about hunters, he felt that these people couldn’t possibly be that skilled to catch up so quickly and accurately.
Maybe it wasn’t tracking—perhaps that team had learned their location through other means?
Thinking about this, Xia Yu glanced at the five people beside him, including Awei.
If it wasn’t tracking, then there must be a traitor among them.
Two soldiers, the guard captain, Awei, and Ahua—who was the traitor?
No, the previous gunfire clearly showed they were ready to kill everyone. In such a life-threatening situation, a traitor would unlikely continue cooperating.
But there was also the possibility that the traitor had already accepted death and was acting for the sake of their family.
Whatever the case, carrying these people meant carrying risks. There was no problem in leaving them behind.
He only needed to bring someone trustworthy.
Xia Yu looked at Awei. Back when the Three Tigers attacked, Awei had risked his life to distract the tigers to save Meimei. He was trustworthy.
He patted Meimei on his back and let the girl down.
His sudden stop made the others, who had been watching him closely and ready to follow if he ran, become alert.
By now, dawn was approaching, and the surroundings were becoming visible.
Xia Yu pulled Awei over, patted both Awei and Meimei on the shoulders, and gestured for them to walk in another direction.
The two understood Xiongyu’s meaning and walked away while glancing back.
The guard captain took a step forward to follow but was stopped by Xiongyu.
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