The Chef Rules the Last Days
Chapter 216 - 114: Overnight

Chapter 216: Chapter 114: Overnight

In the end, they had only found this one spot. Once night had completely fallen, they would have completely lost their sense of direction.

Su Mo watched as he crawled in first, then followed, curling up in a corner with her hands around her neck.

The night was cold, so Su Mo took out a sleeping bag to sit on, and the darkness inside was so complete that even her night vision was a blur, barely making out the man’s silhouette.

With her back against the hollowed-out tree, she saw Lu Jin stand and bend over to leave.

Despite herself, she couldn’t help but call out a warning, "There are many wild animals at night, where are you going?"

He ignored her, simply walking out on his own and disappearing into the dense thicket.

Furrowing her brow, Su Mo sat in place, feeling annoyed.

When Lu Jin returned, he was carrying a large bundle of firewood in his hands.

Then, he dragged over many thorny vines to cover up the tree hollow before sitting down again.

The "click" was the sound of a lighter.

A light from a small fire illuminated the cramped space as he lit the pile of sticks in front of them, casting a warmth that enveloped Su Mo’s body.

Her face, lit by the fire, showed an indecipherable expression. Eventually, she softened her demeanor, took out a flat pot, placed it on the fire, and asked him, "Want instant noodles?"

Lu Jin didn’t speak. Su Mo took his silence for agreement and pulled out two packets of instant noodles and utensils from her system bag, "Do you have any bottled water?"

When she was almost out of patience, two bottles of water were handed to her.

Su Mo took them, and as the water boiled, she added the noodles. For a moment, silence fell between them until she was the one to break it, "Are you sick?"

She had noticed him taking medicine. Even back at the B city base, she had felt it, thinking she wouldn’t get an answer, but he spoke up anyway.

"Yeah."

"Is it because of me?" Su Mo asked, finding the notion rather amusing herself. She was just about to change the subject when her noodle-stirring chopsticks came to a halt.

"How clever," Lu Jin’s gaze often held a touch of madness and ferocity, yet his words struck Su Mo hard.

She looked up in shock, "That doesn’t make sense."

Lu Jin’s eyes were full of mockery, but he was too lazy to keep talking, so Su Mo looked down and handed him the prepared noodles, "Yours."

Silence fell again.

After eating the noodles, she cleaned up briefly and then crawled into her sleeping bag. She glanced at the person still leaning against the tree wall and finally closed her eyes.

From the stone beach to here, after another day of climbing cliffs, she was truly exhausted.

Time passed.

Lu Jin leaned nearby, his gaze fixed intently on her and never moved away.

Eventually, he stood up, his shadow under the firelight stretching long, enveloping her entire body within it.

He walked over to her and crouched down. As his eyes touched upon her scarred hand, another silence fell. Taking her hand, where the blood had clotted and blisters had risen, he spoke, "Does it hurt?" asking to himself as he leant down, his nose sniffing at her palm, her blood always managing to make him boil with heat, indulging in it.

Unconsciously, his hand climbed up to her neck.

There, so thin and tender, Lu Jin’s hand only lingered on her neck for a moment before pulling away, his tone dark and unclear, "So fragile."

The movements beside her ceased, and Su Mo, tense beneath the sleeping bag, slowly relaxed, knowing she was safe.

The flames in the fire died down gradually.

At the break of dawn, snippets of conversation pierced her ears.

Su Mo opened her eyes and climbed out of the sleeping bag. Across from her, Lu Jin was still leaning there, only now his eyes were open, emitting a dangerous aura.

She packed up her sleeping bag, her fingers moved a little, and then she lowered her head, noticing the blisters on her palm had been popped and the blood had been cleaned. She looked at Lu Jin in astonishment, "You..."

"Want to thank me?" Lu Jin patted his pants and stood up.

Su Mo glanced at the mark she had left under his hair and silently stood up.

Her ears twitched as she tuned into the conversation outside.

"Don’t even know if we caught a Mutant Beast yesterday, this mission’s been out for two days and we haven’t caught a single one."

"Let’s hurry over and see, if not we’ll just switch to another mission."

"Ah, that guy who returned to B city these past two days sure made a scene."

"This weather, it’s about to change."

"..."

Clearly, she was nearing B city now, and Su Mo turned to whisper, "Are we almost there?"

Without responding, Lu Jin’s stormy expression gave her the answer.

He kicked away the vines blocking the tree hollow and stepped out.

The sound of the plants being crushed startled the people whispering to each other.

A fireball was hurled their way.

In front of Lu Jin, the Space distorted, and the fireball entered a crack only to appear directly above the head of the superpower user who had launched it.

Instantly, the superpower user was set ablaze by his own fireball, luckily a Water Element Superpower User was nearby and quickly extinguished the flames.

"Who are you!" Those people looked at him with vigilant eyes.

Lu Jin’s face was overcast, he promptly grabbed one of the men by the neck and threw him to the ground, stepping on his chest. The terrifying pressure emanating from him made them kneel down all together, powerless to fight back.

"In B city, who has returned?"

"Vice Commander Jiang’s so... son!"

"It’s him!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"How long has he been back?" Su Mo hurriedly asked, joy evident in her eyes, but she suppressed it upon meeting Lu Jin’s fiercely glaring eyes.

"Almost... almost a month now!"

Lu Jin’s foot gradually sank into the chest of the man on the ground, as if intending to crush him alive.

"Mercy! Mercy, my lord!"

"Lu Jin, that’s enough!" Su Mo called out to stop him, "We still need them to get back."

The man paid no heed to her, instead growing even angrier.

The man on the ground spat out a mouthful of blood while his companions didn’t dare breathe too loudly as they were pressed to the ground.

Su Mo frowned and grabbed his arm, "Getting angry won’t help, Lu Chen has already gone back! Don’t cause a fatality, they haven’t done anything wrong!"

Lu Jin let go of his foot and with a backhanded grip, he forced her to draw close to him, "Are you very happy about it?"

His presence felt too dangerous, and Su Mo pulled out a Flat Pot, ready to smack it against his face, "Take medicine if you’re sick! What’s there to rage about!"

Lu Jin stared at her for a long while before finally stepping back and popping a couple of pills into his mouth.

Su Mo was momentarily taken aback by his sudden obedient cooperation.

The blood-spitting superpower user was helped up by his companion, and the leading man watched Lu Jin with caution, "Are you two also heading back to B city base?"

Su Mo gave him a friendly smile, "Could you possibly give us a lift?"

"But..." The superpower user hesitated, looking at her before adopting a resigned expression, "We only have one car, it might not fit everyone."

This left Su Mo worried. She looked to Lu Jin who was still not looking well and ventured to ask, "Do you have space for a car in your Space?"