Hu Dashan and Tan Xiao on his back crashed to the ground together, both hitting the earth simultaneously with a dull grunt!

Ye Chong walked toward them, step by step.

Tan Xiao was already severely injured and lay paralyzed on the ground, unable to move. And Hu Dashan, with his ankle shot through, could not move either.

Ye Chong came to stand beside the two of them and slowly crouched down, smiling mildly as he looked at them both.

“Truly touching…” he said slowly. “Hu Dashan, how did I never see before that you were a man of such deep loyalty? It seems… only when pressed to the very edge of despair can anyone discover what kind of person they really are.”

Hu Dashan was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, staring at Ye Chong in terror.

Tan Xiao forced out the words with great effort: “He… he’s your… teammate. If he dies… your side will be… one short…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Ye Chong rose with unhurried ease, his voice very light. “As long as I’m alive, that’s enough.”

In his eyes, this wildlife zoo showdown had never been eight against eight — it had always been one against fifteen.

Winning the game brought him nowhere near the excitement and joy that killing did. The only reason he wanted to win at all was to extend this intoxicating thrill of the hunt…

He looked down at Hu Dashan on the ground, his gaze soft, yet utterly without warmth. He raised his hand and held it flat above Hu Dashan’s body —

The next instant, a steel rod pierced through Hu Dashan’s back, pinning him savagely to the ground!

Hu Dashan opened his mouth wide in agony, yet could not even produce a scream — only a hoarse, rasping howl, and the violent convulsing of flesh in extreme pain.

Then it was Tan Xiao’s turn.

Considering Tan Xiao’s wounds were already too severe — and wanting to avoid killing him — Ye Chong avoided the vital areas and drove only a single steel rod through Tan Xiao’s shoulder.

Blood seeped from the corner of Tan Xiao’s mouth. His hatred was so intense he nearly ground his teeth to pieces.

The two of them, like insects roughly pinned into a specimen collection, lay prone on the ground, unable to move a muscle.

Ye Chong’s gaze swept lightly over the two “specimens,” retracted his wrist, and turned to leave. As he walked away, he pressed the call button:

“Come clean this up. The hostage and the lion are at the ten o’clock position… yes, they can’t run now.”

—

He was gone.

The forest. Silent.

Tan Xiao twisted his face, straining to look at Hu Dashan. Hu Dashan’s body was not as strong as Tan Xiao’s — by now he was barely clinging to life.

“Brother Shan, Brother Shan… Hu Dashan…” Tan Xiao called his name in a hoarse voice. “Hu Dashan, don’t you die on me… I’ve got mud in my pocket. I still have the mud…”

He wanted to get the mud out, but his body wouldn’t obey him. Like a dragonfly or a grasshopper caught by someone’s hand, futilely beating its wings — only causing its body to fall apart faster.

Hu Dashan’s eyes were open, but his vision couldn’t focus. He could only see a blur of green.

He lay there muttering, “I shouldn’t have come to save you, damn it… went and threw myself in too…”

After a moment, he asked Tan Xiao: “Are we still brothers?”

His thoughts seemed to drift and tangle. He grew more and more delirious, murmuring on and on: “Damn it… you’re gonna be the death of me…”

“This rotten world…”

“This rotten game…”

“Tan Xiao… if this stupid game didn’t exist, you and I would still be good brothers…”

Hu Dashan’s pupils slowly lost focus. His voice grew as faint as a withered leaf, each breath exhaling quietly, crumbling away in the wind: “I… I don’t want to die yet…”

Tan Xiao had his face buried in the grass, crying like a child.

—

*Beep —*

One white dot on the map disappeared.

Ye Chong noticed, indifferent, and lowered his wrist. He said to the people beside him:

“The drone window is almost up. Let’s move. Bring the hostage — we’re going to negotiate a trade with Bai Youwei.”

—