Chapter 392 - 183: Explanation

Chapter 392: Chapter 183: Explanation

Xu Mo’s off-road vehicle surged forward another few dozen meters before coming to a stop. He had originally intended to get out and explain the situation.

But the people in those three vehicles reacted quickly. The moment their feet hit the ground, they formed a combat formation, their guns all aimed at Xu Mo’s vehicle. Every one of them wore a tense and wary expression.

Xu Mo stared at the guns pointed at him. After two seconds of silence, he gave a helpless shrug, stepped on the gas, and drove off.

The off-road vehicle’s engine roared as it plunged back into the wasteland.

In his rearview mirror, the men remained standing there, watching blankly as his vehicle vanished at the edge of the wasteland.

Xu Mo looked away from the mirror and continued driving east.

The previous scene left Xu Mo with a complicated feeling. He had wanted to explain, but judging from how quickly they formed a combat squad, it would have been pointless. Their minds had already been made up by the witness’s words. Anything he said would have been dismissed as a desperate denial.

"Forget it."

Xu Mo shook his head, pushing the chaotic thoughts from his mind and deciding to take a detour.

As night fell, Xu Mo found an earthen slope sheltered from the wind, stopped his vehicle, and reclined in his seat to rest.

The day’s encounter was like a thorn in his heart, leaving him deeply unsettled.

’I hadn’t done anything wrong. It was purely self-defense, yet I was being hunted like some homicidal maniac. If I hadn’t been so quick on my feet, if my marksmanship wasn’t at least decent, I’d probably be tied to some post in Qinglin Town by now, facing their so-called "judgment."’

Xu Mo closed his eyes, the faces of his pursuers flashing through his mind. Their gazes held nothing but vigilance and hostility. He was all too familiar with that look; it was the standard way survivors in this apocalyptic world sized up a potential threat.

’But the problem was, I’m not.’

Xu Mo lay there, his mind a jumble of chaotic thoughts. Then, he heard the sound of an engine.

It was distant, but approaching.

Xu Mo’s eyes snapped open, and he shot up from his reclined position.

The engine noise grew closer, then cut out not far from where he was parked.

"They just don’t quit."

Muttering under his breath, Xu Mo crouched low and, under the cover of darkness, crept silently toward the source of the sound.

The night was pitch-black, which was to Xu Mo’s advantage. He could use sounds and faint shadows to pinpoint their locations.

Xu Mo crept behind a large boulder and peered out.

Four dark figures were sneaking toward the spot where he had just been resting. Their movements were light and clearly trained, forming a loose encirclement as they cautiously closed in.

Xu Mo narrowed his eyes. He confirmed it was the same men from that day. They had actually managed to catch up.

His gaze swept over them, and he quickly assessed the situation. The four of them were clearly planning to ambush him in his sleep, to catch him completely off guard.

Xu Mo’s hand went to the Triangular Spike at his waist. With his skills, taking out these four would be child’s play. One stab from the Triangular Spike, and they wouldn’t even be able to make a sound.

After a moment’s hesitation, however, Xu Mo’s hand loosened its grip on the handle of the Triangular Spike. He clenched his fists, then, like a black shadow, silently slipped up behind the four men.

Before the first man could react, a heavy chop struck the back of his neck, and he crumpled to the ground. Another heard the sound and had just started to turn when he saw a dark shadow lunge at him before his world went black.

The remaining two tried to turn and fight back, but Xu Mo was far too fast. With a few quick strikes, all four men were down, lying unconscious on the ground.

Xu Mo stood in their midst, looking down at the four of them and pursing his lips.

Then, Xu Mo dragged them into a pile, retrieved a coil of spare rope from his vehicle, and bound their hands and feet.

When he was finished, Xu Mo didn’t leave. He sat down nearby and waited for them to wake up.

The first to wake was a young man, his face still dazed from the blow to his neck. He opened his eyes and saw that he was bound. He froze for a second, then began to struggle violently, cursing, "Fuck! Let me go!"

"Don’t waste your energy," Xu Mo’s voice came from the darkness.

The man looked up and saw Xu Mo sitting nearby, holding an AK-47, though its muzzle wasn’t pointed at them.

"It’s you!" Hatred and hostility flared in the man’s eyes. "You murderer!"

Xu Mo tilted his head but didn’t reply.

The other three men gradually came to. Upon finding themselves bound, their reactions were much like the first young man’s: first terror, then rage, and finally a stream of curses.

"If you’ve got the guts, then kill us!"

"Our people will find you!"

"You murderous beast! You’re not even human anymore!"

Xu Mo just watched them quietly. He waited until they had cursed themselves tired, until their voices gradually faded, before he finally spoke.

"Are you done?"

The four men panted heavily, glaring at him.

"I have never killed an innocent person," Xu Mo said, his tone calm. "The witness you mentioned saw me kill a few people, yes. But what he didn’t see was them opening fire on me first. I was only defending myself."

"Bullshit!" the young man shouted, agitated once more. "One of our people saw it with his own eyes! You killed them!"

"Saw what, exactly?" Xu Mo retorted. "Saw me shooting? Did he also see them shoot at me first?"

The young man opened his mouth but was at a loss for words.

"Even if he didn’t see everything, it’s still a fact that you killed people!" another man shouted. "A life for a life! You’re a danger to everyone!"

Xu Mo looked at him and suddenly smiled, but there was no warmth in it.

"Alright." Xu Mo clapped his hands. "So, by your logic, anyone who’s killed someone is no longer human? They’ve lost all their humanity, is that it?"

"That’s right!"

"Okay then." Xu Mo nodded. "In that case, let me ask you a few questions."

Xu Mo got to his feet, looking down on the four of them.

"If I were to kill the four of you right now and bury your bodies, would that be the same as if I’d never killed you at all?"

The four men were stunned.

"You didn’t see me kill those men, but you believed that witness and branded me a murderer." Xu Mo’s tone remained unnervingly calm. "So, if I kill you, no one will know. By your logic, if no one sees it, it’s the same as it never happening. Does that mean that by killing you, I’ll become innocent again?"

"You—"

"Not so fast, I’m not done." Xu Mo cut him off. "I didn’t kill you. I knocked you out and sat here waiting for you to wake up. I wanted to explain myself, to tell you that your witness’s story was flawed. But the moment you woke up, you gave me no chance to explain. You immediately branded me a murderer—inhuman and impossible to reason with."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over each of their faces.

"So you tell me, what’s left for us to discuss?"

The four men were speechless.

One of them seemed to want to say something, but though he opened his mouth, no words came out.

Xu Mo looked at the four silent men and shook his head in exasperation. He turned and walked back to his vehicle, leaving the four to stare at one another in dismay.

Xu Mo got in the car and started the engine.

The headlights flared to life, illuminating the four men still bound on the ground. Their faces were a whirlwind of emotions—anger, confusion, doubt, and bewilderment.

"Stop hunting me. Next time, I won’t hesitate to kill."

With those words, Xu Mo turned the off-road vehicle around and drove off into the night.

He had left a small blade on the ground where he had been standing. The four of them would likely find it soon enough; escaping their bonds wouldn’t be difficult.

However, after what had just transpired, Xu Mo was no longer in the mood to rest there.

Xu Mo didn’t regret letting the four men go, nor did he regret his decision not to kill them to tie up loose ends.

’In today’s incident, there were no purely evil people. The pickup truck driver had likely reported his "truth" out of fear or a desire to protect his home. The pursuers were just dutifully enforcing their settlement’s rules. And as for me, I was acting purely in self-defense.’

’Everyone had their own position, their own sense of justice. It was the collision of these differing justices that created such an unavoidable conflict.’

’This was the most complex gray area of human nature. Everyone was doing what they believed to be right, but the sum of their actions resulted in a tragedy.’

If they still insisted on hunting him down and slapping a defamatory label on him after his explanation, then Xu Mo could only wish them the best of luck.