Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 43

The little bird was a native of the Fifth Great Bend of the Jiudu River. It had been alive for about two years and had seen its fair share of fishing and cargo boats traveling up and down the river. However, its species wasn’t particularly intelligent—just smart enough to distinguish between boats, humans, and dangerous weapons. As for recognizing specific types of boats or people, that was beyond its abilities.

When Jing Ling’s group had just entered the Fifth Great Bend section of the Jiudu River, the bird had flown onto their boat. Jing Ling, with nothing better to do, had teased it a bit, and then casually sent it ahead to scout.

The little creature, having received a bit of kindness from Jing Ling, flew back and forth several times. This time, it brought back news again and even hopped twice on Da Bao’s head, indicating that it had seen someone.

A fast-moving boat with something resembling a police dog on board—Jing Ling leaned toward the idea that it was a military vessel, and this stretch of river was within Huguer’s territory.

“One kilogram of goods is already enough for a life sentence domestically. But things are different here. If the people coming after us are from the Huguer military and they even brought a police dog, launching an operation in the middle of the night just for that small amount of goods seems excessive. It’s more likely they’re coming for someone. Captain, I think you should take another good look at those people,” Jing Ling suggested.

This analysis wasn’t unreasonable. Fei Hu nodded and led his men into the cabin, turning over and carefully inspecting the drug dealers who had been knocked unconscious and tied up together. But nothing seemed off.

“They’re all just small fry,” Fei Hu said, casually tossing them back.

Upon hearing this, Jing Ling walked over and squatted down to take a look. Although Fei Hu had already said there was nothing wrong, he still felt something was off. His gaze lingered on one of the drug dealers’ faces for a moment, finally stopping behind the ear.

“Almost forgot,” he said with a smile. He reached out and touched the spot. Sure enough, he felt an uneven patch. He pinched the protruding piece with two fingers and pulled hard. With a ripping sound, the disguise on the drug dealer’s face was peeled away. Visually, it looked as though a layer of skin had been torn off his face, but in reality, it was just a human-skin mask. Jing Ling himself was also wearing such a disguise. Thinking of this, he reached for the man’s hair—sure enough, it was a wig, and it came off easily.

Jing Ling held the man’s head up to face Fei Hu. “Captain, take another look.”

Fei Hu was speechless. “How did you notice?”

“Coincidence,” Jing Ling brushed it off lightly.

Fei Hu didn’t ask further and stared carefully at the drug dealers who had been stripped of their disguises, comparing their faces to his memory. He quickly recognized one. “Connie—one of the top subordinates of Roz, a key member of Marcus’s core team, a major drug lord in the Heduo District. He’s usually responsible for helping transport drugs and gathering intelligence.”

As for the other three, Jing Ling stripped them again. Their faces were real and unaltered—they were still just minor characters. But catching Connie alone was already a big enough catch.

“Captain, what do you think about that boat coming up behind us?” Jing Ling asked.

Fei Hu thought for a moment. “I think your earlier guess might be right. Connie might not be as important as the core members, but he still knows a lot. If the people following us really are from the Huguer military, it’s very likely they’re after him. Honestly, the best way would be to wake them up and get them to talk, but these guys are tough nuts to crack. We won’t get anything out of them in a short time.”

“They probably don’t know about us or this fishing boat. Here’s the plan—transfer everyone from this boat to the fishing boat and head back at full speed. We’ll dock this cargo boat and prepare in advance. If anything goes wrong, we retreat to shore immediately. Now that we’ve got him, we’re not letting him slip away!”

“Yes!” the others responded.

They docked the ship, and about twenty minutes later, a boat appeared on the river. Sure enough, it was the Huguer military. As if they already knew there was a boat docked onshore, the searchlights swept directly toward it. The cargo ship, which had turned off all its lights to try and slip by unnoticed, was instantly exposed.

A voice soon boomed from the military ship. Someone in the group, fluent in Huguer’s language, translated it: the military had received an anonymous tip-off claiming that there were large quantities of drugs hidden on board and demanded everyone cooperate for inspection.

Jing Ling and Fei Hu exchanged glances.

“Something’s wrong,” Fei Hu said in a low voice. Not to mention the cargo ship had been hijacked by drug dealers halfway through, Da Bao had already searched the entire vessel and only found about one kilogram of goods. They had originally thought the military was after the three drug dealers. But now, with the Huguer military claiming the cargo ship had large quantities of drugs based on a tip-off, it smelled more like a setup between officials and criminals.

“Er Tiao, Sanbing, Siwan—keep an eye on those three drug dealers! Everyone prepare to retreat! If they bring the dogs, Jiang Yang, deal with them as needed!”

“Got it!”

The loudspeaker repeated the message four or five times before their side turned the lights on and used the speaker to offer a defense. When falsely accused of something they didn’t do, most people’s first reaction is to shout their innocence. However, barely two seconds after they spoke, the other side suddenly opened fire without warning. The S-80 series machine guns chattered violently, startling birds and beasts in the forest.

“F*ck, these bastards!” Only Qi Wan could speak Huguer among them, so naturally, the shouting had to be done by him. But they hadn’t expected the military to act so irrationally—no explanation, just bullets. It was obvious they were trying to silence witnesses. Bullets slammed into the metal cabin walls, the sound enough to make your scalp go numb. While cursing, Qi Wan didn’t waste time—he leaped from the cabin, stepped onto the railing, and dashed ashore, joining Fei Hu and the others in fleeing into the woods.

To avoid being detected, none of them dared use lights. They felt their way forward in the dark while dragging three unconscious and bound men. The gunfire continued for almost five minutes, but they hadn’t gotten very far. Jing Ling, with his sharp hearing, picked up on movement from the riverbank. About eight members of the Huguer military had already landed, preparing to pursue with a police dog.

He summoned the scouting bird. “Xiao Xiao, go on ahead and lead the way. Don’t fly too fast.” Then he spoke to Da Bao at his feet, “Da Bao, follow Xiao Xiao and guide the others.”

“Tweet tweet.”

“Woof.”

Two sounds of reply.

Fei Hu asked, “Jiang Yang, what are you trying to do?! They’re military—not the same as those drug dealers. You can’t touch them!”

Jing Ling smiled. “Don’t be so nervous, Captain. I’ve always been a man of peace. Didn’t you tell me earlier to take care of their dog? I’m just going to do that now. You all go on ahead—remember to follow Xiao Xiao and Da Bao. I’ll catch up soon.”

“Nervous my ass! You stay with the team and don’t go anywhere!” Fei Hu growled. But it was no use. By the time he finished speaking, the man had vanished. Only the slight trembling of nearby plants showed where he’d left.

“Little bastard! Can’t you follow orders even once?” Fei Hu gritted his teeth. 

These were real soldiers they were dealing with now—well-prepared, and with police dogs. This wasn’t like facing a few amateur drug dealers.

“Er Tiao, lead the group. I’ll go check on him!” he ordered, then took off after Jing Ling.

While the main group took five minutes to retreat, Jing Ling circled back in less than a minute. The night posed no obstacle to him, and he moved through the trees, avoiding terrain that might slow him down. But because the enemy had a dog, he couldn’t get too close. Armed and ready to shoot at the slightest provocation, even someone made of iron wouldn’t survive, let alone someone of flesh and blood.

Compared to their side, sneaking away in total darkness, the enemy pursued brazenly, lights blazing and led by a police dog. At this pace, they’d catch up soon.

Jing Ling hid on a tree about ten meters away, eyes locked on the police dog running in front. In his hand was the same kind of dagger he’d used to take out the sentry before. Ten meters… nine… eight… The police dog, previously nose-down and charging ahead, suddenly stopped and raised its head, looking in Jing Ling’s direction.

Now!

The moment the dog made a sound, Jing Ling’s dagger flew out, piercing through its mouth and straight into its brain. A clean kill.

He didn’t even need to check the outcome—it was what he’d expected. The instant the knife left his hand, he turned and ran. Sure enough, less than five seconds later, gunfire erupted behind him, riddling the area where he had just been hiding. Had he stayed, he would’ve been turned into a sieve.

Now that the dog was gone, and it was night, the enemy had no advantage. If he wanted, he could take out the entire squad by himself. But Jing Ling had no interest in killing, and the captain had said not to touch them. Their whole squad had entered Huguer under false identities. Their weapons were locally sourced, of all kinds, from various countries—but none were domestic. This was to ensure that if anything went wrong and they were exposed, they wouldn’t leave evidence that could trigger a diplomatic incident.

As expected, after a minute of blind shooting and careful searching, the enemy found nothing and didn’t dare continue forward. Confirming this, Jing Ling returned to rejoin the team. On the way, he ran into Fei Hu, who had come to help. After Jing Ling informed him that the dog had been dealt with, Fei Hu, though clearly furious, only gave him a half-hearted scolding before they continued on together.