Chapter 150: Encountering a Tiger

The needle pierced the blood blister, and a drop of fluid was squeezed out.

It could not be completely torn open yet, otherwise walking the next day would be entirely impossible. Next came disinfection to prevent infection.

Anti-inflammatory powder was then sprinkled on, wrapped with gauze, followed by a fresh pair of socks. Of course, the damp insoles also needed to be replaced, and the lining dried out.

All these items had been prepared for him by Bai Yulan. Having a wise and virtuous wife at home was truly prescient.

Without these supplies, if he had waited until reaching the special training base to treat this foot injury, there would have been a high risk of infection.

"Never walked this kind of mountain path before?"

"I've walked them in the past." Zhou Sen smiled sheepishly. That was many years ago; even during his training at the police academy, he had never encountered such a mountain trail.

"You'll get used to it." Anna smiled slightly.

"Is your foot alright? I noticed your gait wasn't quite natural when you entered the cave just now. If you've rubbed blisters too, you should tend to them. With this massive avalanche blocking the way, we have no idea when we'll arrive tomorrow." Zhou Sen handed over the medical kit.

"Thank you." Anna hesitated for a moment before taking the small medical kit, turning away to treat the chafed skin on her foot.

Ever since Front refused to return Zhou Sen's ring and private seal at the riding club, their relationship had grown much more distant.

Ozawa's subordinates went back out to gather some branches. The immense impact force of the avalanche had snapped quite a few trees, which ended up helping them considerably.

"Vadim, thank you." Anna whispered her gratitude.

"You're welcome." Zhou Sen took the medical kit back.

"Did you bring a gun?"

"No." Zhou Sen shook his head. He had left his service pistol in the custody of Wuen, knowing that without his orders, Wuen would never hand the weapon to anyone.

Besides, that firearm concealed a massive secret.

"We were lucky today not to encounter bandits, but tomorrow might be different. There are quite a few small-time outlaws in this region—about five or six factions. Some specialize in robbery and plunder, while others are mountain militias and guerrillas fighting against the Great Japanese Empire. The strongest are the Anti-Japanese United Army, though under the suppression of the Empire and Manchukuo, they can no longer make much of a wave..." Anna whispered, "Still, with an avalanche this large, they might not venture out."

"Anna, are you familiar with this place?"

"I came here once before and left after staying a few days." Anna nodded.

"I heard there are tigers in the mountains. Have you ever seen one?" Zhou Sen asked out of curiosity. He had seen tigers in circuses, but never a wild one.

Roar...

Just as his voice trailed off, a deep roar echoed from outside the cave, a sound unmistakably belonging to a tiger.

In an instant, everyone inside the cave tensed up. Those with weapons subconsciously tightened their grips.

Jinx, bah, bah!

Zhou Sen wore a rather colorful expression, while everyone around him stared at him with deeply hostile gazes, clearly conveying the message: you'd better just keep your mouth shut.

Sleep, go to sleep!

Tigers generally do not actively attack humans unless they are utterly desperate with hunger or humans cross their bottom line.

After roaring a few times, the tiger fell silent, presumably having just vented its frustrations.

Zhou Sen took off his overcoat and handed it to Anna. Although a fire was burning in the cave, the nighttime temperature was extremely low, and falling asleep without it would invite freezing.

"You're giving your coat to me, but what about you?"

"I'm fine. I'm a man, my internal fire burns hot." Zhou Sen rubbed his hands together and blew a puff of warm air as he spoke.

"Then I'll sleep first, and wake you for a shift later?"

"Mm, alright." Zhou Sen had slept on the train earlier in the morning, and with his foot still throbbing in pain, he wasn't able to sleep anyway.

"Vadim, you must be careful. That fellow Sato joined this special training specifically to replace you." Front actively walked over and whispered in Russian.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Like you, I am not Japanese. Even though we work for them, it's hard to gain their trust. We are natural allies." Front explained.

"Humph!" Zhou Sen let out a cold snort.

"Vadim, I know that at the riding club, momentary greed overtook me, preventing you from retrieving Mr. Antony's relics. But I was pressed by circumstances. Even if you had managed to get those two items, you would have had to hand them over in the end. What difference does it make whether I took them and turned them in?"

"My handing them in is different from you handing them in."

"Very well, forgive my frankness, but compared to that Sato fellow, your qualifications in every aspect are far inferior—except, except for your face and your knack for chasing women. He certainly can't match you there." Front said.

"That particular skill might just come in handy at a critical moment?" Zhou Sen chuckled.

"Do you know? Besides being a master of hand-to-hand combat, that guy is a kendo expert. Furthermore, he spent a year studying at the Munich Intelligence School in Germany, mastering all kinds of special operations skills. His marksmanship is exceptional..."

Hearing this, Zhou Sen's heart truly sank to the bottom. The guy was actually this formidable. Even with his own foundational skills and advanced concepts, the odds of winning after forty days of special training were exceptionally slim.

However, human effort is the deciding factor; how can one know if they cannot do something without trying?

Being an agent relies on the brain. No matter how strong individual combat prowess is, it's only an auxiliary tool. A weak mind is the real problem.

His own overall capabilities weren't actually bad either, and forty days could bring about a complete metamorphosis.

Since he was already here, he might as well fight for it.

"Mr. Front, do you hope I win?" Zhou Sen countered.

"Here, my codename is Hippo."

"Hippo, interesting." Zhou Sen squeezed out a smile.

Waking up, Anna returned the overcoat to Zhou Sen, stood up, gathered some branches, and stoked the dying fire until it blazed brighter.

Zhou Sen didn't stand on ceremony; he draped the overcoat over himself and settled into a comfortable posture to sleep.

A fragrant aroma drifted into his nostrils. Zhou Sen opened his eyes to see Anna boiling something in a tin can.

She had mixed the leftover canned beef with a cold rice ball, grabbed a handful of pristine natural snow, and boiled it into a bowl of beef porridge.

The scent wafting out was precisely the fragrance of beef.

"Hungry? Have some. It's already dawn, and we'll probably be setting off soon. Second Lieutenant Ozawa has already taken men out to scout the path!" Anna explained.

"Thank you." Zhou Sen went to the cave entrance, scooped up a handful of snow, and scrubbed his face fiercely to wash up before coming over to eat.

After finishing a can of beef porridge, his stomach instantly warmed up, and his limbs felt much warmer than before.

Once finished, he wiped the tin can clean with snow and tucked it away again. Unsure if they would reach the base today, the item might still prove useful.

Using her dagger, Anna fashioned two walking sticks—one for herself and one for Zhou Sen. They were far more reliable than casually picked-up branches along the path.

The mountain trails were blanketed in heavy snow, rendering horses useless for carrying luggage, so they had to be temporarily abandoned. Everyone had to carry their own gear.

Zhou Sen's large leather trunk was the most conspicuous, but unwilling to abandon it just yet, he and Anna teamed up to carry it forward.

"There's a trail ahead along a sheer cliff face. I walked it once with an old hunter, but that was in the summer. I don't know if it's passable right now, but if we can get through, we can shave off a good chunk of the distance!" Second Lieutenant Ozawa pointed at a winding upward path ahead and said.

Everyone fell silent at the question.

No one uttered a sound; clearly, this route carried inherent risks.

No one wanted to stick their neck out to voice an opinion prematurely.

Amidst the general silence, Sato raised his hand and asked, "Captain Ozawa, if we take this route, can we reach the base today?"

"Theoretically, yes!"

"And if we take the detour?"

"Hard to say. This is the only path into the base. Taking a detour will likely require a very long march, and we might not even arrive tomorrow." Second Lieutenant Ozawa paused briefly before answering.

"Ha, what do you think, milord weakling?" Sato directly targeted Zhou Sen.

"If Brother Assassin wishes to take this road, this young master is more than happy to accompany you!" Zhou Sen chuckled. This was not the time to show weakness.

"Good." Sato nodded. "Captain Ozawa, rather than dragging our feet, we might as well make a direct choice. I'm taking this route. Whoever is willing to follow, come along!"

With that, Sato shouldered his pack and took the lead on the trail.

"Lilac, let's go too." Zhou Sen called out to Anna, hoisted the luggage trunk, grabbed his wooden staff, and followed closely behind.

The remaining people had no real choice either. To put it bluntly, they were merely the supporting entourage; Sato and Zhou Sen were the main characters. Since the two of them had made their decision, the rest had no choice but to obey.

Second Lieutenant Ozawa said nothing. Although taking the detour was safer, it would delay their reporting time, for which he would also be reprimanded.

Though dangerous, he had walked this path before. As long as they exercised caution, there should be no problem. Furthermore, there were multiple people on this trail, meaning timely rescue was possible if anything happened.

Ozawa called his subordinates over to give instructions, having two of them hand their heavy gear to the others before moving ahead unburdened to scout the way.

The two scouts took the middle position, while the rest helped carry the luggage. Zhou Sen and Anna's trunk was also taken off their hands.

This made things much easier for the pair.

Both of them had injuries on their feet, and navigating the rugged mountain trail while lugging a heavy trunk would have been exceptionally taxing. Without the luggage, the journey instantly became much more manageable.

At noon, they ate a casual meal. The pastries Zhou Sen had brought were nearly gone. To be honest, had they taken the detour, they would have run out of rations by tonight.

In this frozen world, hunting was an arduous task.

Therefore, taking the cliffside route was actually their most sensible choice, because once they crossed it, they would arrive directly at the base.

"Be careful, everyone hold onto the ropes tightly. The wind is fierce up here, watch your footing..."

The gale along the cliff was indeed ferocious, howling in successive gusts like razor blades slicing across their faces. Their lips had chapped and split, revealing raw, bleeding cuts.

Wiping his mouth, his hand came away smeared with blood.

"Ah..." Anna let out a startled cry as her foot slipped, sending the rock she stepped on tumbling down into the abyss with a clatter.

Zhou Sen lunged forward, grabbed her arm, and stabilized her center of gravity.

Anna glanced down at the bottomless precipice; falling down there would mean certain death, even if she somehow avoided being smashed to pieces.

"Thank you, Young Master."

"Since you called me Young Master, how could I not save you?" Zhou Sen smiled lightly.

A flush of red appeared on Anna's pale face. Interrupted like that, the paralyzing fear in her heart subsided significantly.

"Step where I step, don't walk blindly." Zhou Sen instructed. Though he possessed no supernatural abilities, his eyesight was keen, and every step he took was remarkably steady.

"Look, that's our special training base right down there." Ozawa looked up and pointed down toward the valley floor, where seven or eight wooden buildings were partially concealed among the trees, wisps of white smoke curling from their chimneys.

"Tiger, tiger..."

The last person in the line suddenly shrieked in terror. Everyone turned their heads back to look, only to see a magnificent, stripe-patterned king of beasts standing regally atop a giant boulder, gazing down at them.

The distance between the animal and the procession was barely a few hundred meters!

"Baka!" Sato let out a strange cry, unslung his rifle from his back, chambered a round, raised the weapon, and pulled the trigger!

"Don't!"

The gunshot rang out.

Ignoring everything else, Zhou Sen roared at the top of his lungs, "Run!"