Reincarnation Paradise Park

Chapter 454: Chapter 26: Chase

After the Stone Spear Tribesman self-detonated, the surrounding natives lowered their heads in silence, as if accustomed to such occurrences.

The acrid smell of burning flesh lingered in the air, and amidst this odor, Su Xiao could faintly detect a sour scent.

This tribe is becoming more bizarre; if Su Xiao’s guess is correct, this self-detonating Stone Spear Tribesman is the Blood Vine Warrior mentioned by Old Bar.

What exactly is this Blood Vine Warrior? A kind of pain-insensitive modified human?

Su Xiao thought it unlikely; with the technological level of the red-skinned natives, modified humans were nothing but a pipe dream.

His gaze shifted towards the rear mountain of the tribe, where the secret was likely hidden.

It’s not the right time yet. Before obtaining that compass, Su Xiao wouldn’t confront these red-skinned natives.

Old Bar’s intentions were certainly not good, but to know the secret of the rear mountain and obtain the compass, Su Xiao must go through Old Bar.

The natives at the rear mountain gradually dispersed, while Old Bar stood in place, staring blankly at the giant pit.

In the depths of his eyes, Su Xiao clearly saw both fear and the kind of madness that arises from being cornered.

This old fellow might also be one of the so-called Blood Vine Warriors, ready to self-detonate at any moment.

The distinguishing features of Blood Vine Warriors from ordinary people are: a lack of clear pain perception, a dull expression, ruthless bloodlust, and being extremely powerful in sunlight.

Old Bar had mentioned the last point; its truth unknown. However, Old Bar did not appear to have a dull expression or bloodlust; whether he had no pain sensation was still unclear.

Rear mountain, Blood Vine Warrior, self-detonation, sunlight.

The clues were becoming clearer, and Su Xiao began to vaguely piece things together.

As midnight approached, while Su Xiao was preparing to rest in a stone hut, the prompt from Reincarnation Paradise appeared.

Su Xiao’s brow furrowed, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

[Warning: A Contractor has learned of the Hunter’s identity; the Hunter must clean up the mess themselves.]

[A mark ’Hunting (Blue)’ has formed on the Contractor; the Hunter can sense the position of the hunting mark.]

[This exposure of identity is unrelated to the Hunter, deduced independently by the Contractor.]

[The Hunter must clear any informants within 12 hours, or the Hunter status will be stripped.]

The successive prompts left Su Xiao bewildered; since entering the survival trial, he had never interacted with any Contractor, making the prompts utterly mystifying.

Yet the exposure of his identity was no trifling matter, so Su Xiao immediately sensed the ’Hunting Mark.’

The mark’s position was neither too far nor too close, roughly 30 kilometers from Su Xiao.

Clearing away any Contractor knowing his identity took priority, so Su Xiao quickly walked over to Old Bar.

”Provide me with some food and fresh water.”

Old Bar snapped out of his daze.

”What?”

”Provide me with some food and water.”

”Are you leaving the tribe?”

Though Old Bar’s tone was calm, he inwardly didn’t want to let Su Xiao leave, as his plan was yet to be executed.

”Yes, out to handle something.”

Su Xiao stared at Old Bar, and Old Bar stared back at Su Xiao.

”Alright, I’ll have someone prepare the food right away.”

Weighing the pros and cons, Old Bar didn’t prevent Su Xiao from leaving the tribe.

The food and fresh water were quickly ready; Su Xiao tied the provisions to Bubu Wang and mounted it.

Pointing out the direction, Bubu Wang swiftly dashed towards the destination.

Though puzzled, Su Xiao speculated in his mind how his identity got exposed.

Even after much deliberation, Su Xiao had no clue.

It’s no wonder; the manipulative woman could guess Su Xiao’s identity purely by a few coincidences and her exceptionally high intelligence. Even if Su Xiao racked his brain, he couldn’t fathom that the Other Shore Flower Adventure Group had guessed his identity.

It wasn’t Su Xiao exposing his identity, but being guessed, which was an incredibly unlucky situation.

Although Su Xiao was racing on rapidly, the exposure of his identity was no longer a catastrophic scenario for him.

Firstly, he had grown stronger, unlike before, when he feared being attacked en masse after an identity exposure.

Secondly, even if his identity was exposed, only two kinds of people would come to besiege him: Violators and those intending to kill him to take his place, with the latter likely being the majority.

As for ordinary Contractors, Su Xiao wasn’t concerned about being besieged by them; he had already experienced several Derivative Worlds, and occasions of large congregations of Contractors were rare.

The reason Su Xiao didn’t want to expose his identity was to prevent the emergence of inexplicable enemies.

For example, some Contractors might have done violating things but hadn’t reached the Violator level; upon learning Su Xiao’s existence, they might come to attack him.

Furthermore, all Contractors would ostracize him; nobody would team up or cooperate with a Hunter, a fact that’s obvious even without thinking.

Thus, although the exposure of the Hunter’s identity wouldn’t be fatal, it would surely be highly troublesome, seriously hindering his future growth speed.

...

Red Soil Area. Night.

Within a sparse forest, a silhouette darted rapidly through the trees.

Just as the figure dashed through the forest, a streak of green flashed; it was a vividly green snake, as thick as a finger.

Crunch.

The poison fang snapped, and the green snake writhed in agony on the ground.

The forward-moving figure halted, enveloped in a protective barrier.

The manipulative woman panted heavily, with no teammates around, only her alone.

The manipulative woman was the team’s Barrier Master, which classified as large-scale control, requiring a good sense of the overall situation at times for what should or shouldn’t be sealed.

Unfortunately, while her intelligence was high, her overall situational awareness was merely average.

Looking at the two holes in her small barrier, the manipulative woman felt a wave of fear; without this barrier, she would have been dead.

”I’ve screwed up big time this time, knowing something I shouldn’t have.”

The manipulative woman deeply regretted it; she shouldn’t have attempted to deduce that Sword Man’s identity. Killing him was alright, but guessing his identity was absolutely forbidden.

Now that she had a rough idea of his identity, it brought disastrous consequences.

A blue mark on the back of her hand flickered, and with her intelligence, she quickly deduced what it was.

Hence, the manipulative woman left her teammates behind, enduring the all attributes -3 penalty to forcibly leave the team.

”Not enough yet; this place isn’t a dead end. Damn, if I could enter the Black Forest, that would be best.”

The manipulative woman continued deeper into the Red Soil Area’s center, where the edges had red-skinned natives and the Insect Tribe, while the center was home to various wild beasts.

After running for a while, the manipulative woman felt softness underfoot.

...

On the prairie at the edge of the Red Soil Area, Su Xiao was pursuing the direction of the ’Hunting Mark.’

The number of enemies was unknown, their strength unclear; those matters could wait. Catching up first took priority.

The night breeze blew gently as Su Xiao chased behind, and the manipulative woman fled ahead, both parties unaware of the other’s situation.

After half an hour of pursuit, Su Xiao became aware of the opponent’s intentions: the opponent aimed to escape to the Red Soil Area’s center.

This indicated two things: the opponent had detected being hunted and had some level of understanding about Su Xiao.

Su Xiao reached the edge of the Red Soil Area’s central zone, where one needed to be wary of the wild beasts appearing at any moment.

A dark cyan python, as thick as a water barrel, slithered nearby. Having just fed, this python showed no interest in Su Xiao.

Encountering such terrifying creatures was a common occurrence in the central area.