Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Encirclement

Wang Jie’s gaze went ice-cold as two men gripped his arms and marched him through the base like a prisoner.

If they weren’t inside Jin Ling Base, those two would already be dead.

But the base was unstable. Too many eyes. Too many moving parts. Wang Jie swallowed his anger.

He only prayed none of his acquaintances saw him like this.

The hundred-person squad assembled outside the east gate. A wide area had been cordoned off—no one allowed to approach without permission.

Wang Jie and Hui Zhua were brought in.

Hui Zhua failed the screening and was eliminated immediately.

Wang Jie assumed he’d be eliminated too. Publicly, he had only shown two imprints.

But the older man from Madam Zhao insisted Wang Jie was a guide, blamed him for Madam Zhao’s losses, and argued that Wang Jie might be able to locate where the Moon Plant would surface.

It was ridiculous.

But in a situation like this, even a ridiculous thread was worth gripping.

So Wang Jie was kept.

For him, it was pure bad luck.

He stayed in a corner, silent.

People kept arriving. Soon he saw Lian Fei from South Base come in with her people. Her face was tight, expression dark.

She didn’t look like she’d joined willingly.

Then the people from Shou Qing Group arrived. A middle-aged man was greeted with unmistakable respect. Wang Jie glanced at him once and looked away.

More than sixty had gathered.

That night, Wang Jie slept on-site. The next day, Feng Yu arrived, accompanied by another captain—a fierce-looking man with a cigar clenched between his teeth.

Captain Da Hu.

An hour later, Hong Jian arrived.

Yan Si was with him.

Hong Jian’s presence meant it was time to move.

And Wang Jie was dragged straight in front of him.

Wang Jie almost laughed.

They really were clinging to nonsense.

“Madam Zhao’s group was swallowed by the Moon Plant,” Hong Jian said, studying Wang Jie. “You led them?”

Feng Yu stood behind Hong Jian. She hadn’t expected to run into Wang Jie again so soon.

This man was always in the wild, always taking teams out—and somehow, always coming back alive.

Wang Jie kept his tone controlled. “I only picked a place for them to camp. Who would’ve thought the Moon Plant would surface there?”

“Then we go there,” Hong Jian said.

Wang Jie had no choice but to lead.

“Chief Commander,” Feng Yu said quietly as they walked, “the Moon Plant probably won’t appear twice in the same place.”

“I’m not going because I expect it to,” Hong Jian replied. “I want to see why Madam Zhao’s hunting squad had a sixth seal expert, yet their Young Master still died. When the Moon Plant surfaces, there’s always movement. Even if he couldn’t save the Young Master, he shouldn’t have died there himself.”

“You suspect something?” Feng Yu asked, her gaze sliding toward Wang Jie’s back.

Hong Jian shook his head. “We’ll see when we get there.”

Yan Si didn’t question the route. On the surface, Hong Jian was still in command.

Yan Si had already recovered. Both he and Hong Jian were seventh seal. No one could say who would win if they fought.

And the cultivators of Jin Ling Base still preferred Hong Jian.

Having Wang Jie lead simply shoved him to the front, like a target.

The South Base group recognized him almost immediately.

“Miss Lian—him,” someone hissed at Lian Fei. It was the young man who had once handed Wang Jie the signal device. “He gave the fake signal. We fought the mutated vines because of him. One brother was badly injured. That’s why we had to enter Jin Ling Base.”

Lian Fei’s eyes turned cold as she stared at Wang Jie. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll make sure he suffers.”

They reached a massive crater. It looked bottomless. The area around it was pulverized rubble—no intact ground, no standing structures.

This was where the Moon Plant had surfaced and swallowed Madam Zhao’s group.

Wang Jie stepped onto a twisted shard of metal from an armored vehicle. “This is it.”

Hong Jian sent people to scout and search. Madam Zhao’s men were silent, faces drawn with grief, rummaging through debris as if they could find bones.

That night had also been the night the beast tide attacked Jin Ling Base. No one had been able to come out. When they searched the next day, it had looked like this—empty, clean, as if the dead had never existed.

Wang Jie stayed far away.

The older man from Madam Zhao had dragged him here to vent. He didn’t truly believe Wang Jie had killed their Young Master. Wang Jie didn’t look strong enough for that.

But Feng Yu kept watching Wang Jie.

Once could be luck. Twice could still be luck.

Three times surviving death traps?

Even fourth seal fighters wouldn’t bet on odds like that.

Something felt wrong.

They found nothing.

Night fell. With darkness spreading, there was no way to predict where the Moon Plant would surface. Hong Jian ordered them to camp nearby and wait.

Wait for it to appear.

A full moon rose.

Wang Jie looked up. Every full moon felt soaked in blood.

Footsteps approached.

The South Base group came toward him, led by Lian Fei.

Wang Jie lifted his eyes to meet hers. They had met before—but last time, she hadn’t recognized him.

“Why did you lie to us?” the young man behind her snarled.

Wang Jie glanced around, then forced fear into his voice. “Don’t do this. This is Jin Ling Base, not South Base.”

“I asked why you lied!”

The young man shouted louder. Heads turned. People watched.

Feng Yu came over too. She frowned when she heard the accusation, then, after a moment, her expression shifted.

So he really had activated the signal device where Hu Guan said he would. He hadn’t lied to her.

That meant the person who had crushed her in that small house probably wasn’t him.

She turned and walked away.

Wang Jie swallowed hard, acting panicked. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I stumbled into that area and tried to hide. A mutated plant attacked me. I thought I couldn’t escape, so I tried to lure you in… but then a cultivator fought nearby and drew it away. By the time it left, the signal was already on. I couldn’t stop it.”

The young man grabbed Wang Jie by the collar, fury shaking his arms. “Do you have any idea what you cost us? Because of you, we had to enter Jin Ling Base. We had to join this damned hunt.”

His eyes were wild. “You could sell your whole family and still never repay that loss!”

He threw Wang Jie to the ground.

Lian Fei stepped forward, cold as winter. A white ruler appeared in her hand, and her killing intent sharpened so hard it felt like a blade.

No one moved to stop her.

In this era, death was ordinary. And Lian Fei’s group was strong.

Then a calm voice cut in.

“He’s just a small guide,” someone said. “No need for Miss Lian to dirty her hands.”

A middle-aged man approached.

Lian Fei’s eyes widened. “Uncle Wu?”

The man nodded at her with a faint smile. “Didn’t expect to meet you in Jin Ling Base. You’re chasing Hu Guan, aren’t you?”

Lian Fei nodded. “That bastard stole the Hibiscus Tears. I’ll tear him apart.”

Uncle Wu glanced at Wang Jie. “What does this have to do with him?”

Lian Fei explained, voice clipped.

Uncle Wu listened, then said, “You’re not from Jin Ling Base. You’re participating in the hundred-person hunt. Killing him now would cause trouble.”

Lian Fei’s jaw tightened. “If I don’t kill him, I can’t swallow this anger.”

Uncle Wu’s smile didn’t change. “Do you think he’ll survive the hunt?”

Lian Fei stared at Wang Jie for a long moment, then nodded slowly. “Understood. Thank you for the advice.”

As she turned to leave, curiosity flickered across her face. “Uncle Wu… why are you helping him? What does he have to do with Shou Qing Group?”

“No reason to hide it,” Uncle Wu said. “He’s one of the orphans Shou Qing Group rescued. I was the one who brought them to Jin Ling Base back then.”

Lian Fei nodded and left.

Shou Qing Group had helped countless people in the first days of the apocalypse. Before calamity fell, they had handled logistics—millions of employees, mapped routes, warehouses packed with resources.

When the world collapsed, they rose with what they had and became a giant.

Even so, they kept rescuing orphans. Quiet, constant kindness in a world that had forgotten what kindness was.

No one knew how many they’d saved.

Wang Jie’s age fit.

After Lian Fei and the others left, Wang Jie stood, brushed dust from his clothes, and looked at Uncle Wu.

“Long time no see,” Wang Jie said softly. “Uncle Wu.”

Uncle Wu stared at him for a long moment. He didn’t answer.

Then he turned and walked away.

Wang Jie lowered his head and brushed the dust again, hiding the complicated look in his eyes.

At the edge of the crater, Hong Jian and Yan Si stood together, indifferent to the conflict that had unfolded.

Yan Si asked, “That Shou Qing Group is your Blue Star’s largest consortium? So they hold the most calamity materials?”

Hong Jian shook his head. “They did years ago. Now I don’t know. The five major bases are collecting calamity materials too.”

Yan Si’s gaze flickered. “Even if they have less than the five major bases, it won’t be much less.”

Hong Jian didn’t bite. His voice turned grim instead. “Today is the fifth day. What happens if we can’t kill the Moon Plant?”

Yan Si’s tone went flat. “Then Jin Ling Base is gone.”

Hong Jian frowned. “Jin Ling Base has the Moon Plant, the hawk… other bases have their own threats too.”

“That’s not my concern,” Yan Si said. “I’ve already told you enough. When the five days are up, if you haven’t killed the Moon Plant, it will undergo metamorphosis. And so will other plants and beasts.”

His eyes were cold. “That’s when the trial truly begins.”

“How many of your people survive—if any—depends on your fate.”

He glanced at Hong Jian, voice sharpening. “I can help you, but only if you help me. Otherwise, even if you endure the trial, you’ll still become war slaves.”

Hong Jian’s face tightened.

The wild was too quiet.

Wang Jie felt it in his bones. He’d spent years out here. This silence was wrong.

He lifted his hand and stared at his palm. Even the imprint power drifting through the air felt different, as if something unseen had shifted.

Then the ground trembled.

To the north, the Moon Plant rose from beneath the earth, climbing toward the moonlight, growing taller and taller.

Hong Jian’s voice snapped through the camp. “Move!”

The Moon Plant had appeared.

Everyone’s eyes sharpened—fear, hatred, dread—but no one could retreat.

This was the strongest mutated plant near Jin Ling Base. If it lived, Jin Ling would never know peace.

Hong Jian issued orders without hesitation.

“Group One, ranged attacks. Front and center.”

Twenty-eight ranged cultivators stepped forward.

“Do not retreat,” Hong Jian barked. “Your attacks do not stop. No matter what happens—do not stop attacking.”

“Groups Two and Three, strike from the sides. Restrict its branches.”

Those groups were led by Captain Da Hu and Feng Yu, both sixth seal.

Hong Jian, Yan Si, Wu Fei, and the other sixth seal fighters would lead the fifth seal fighters straight for the Moon Plant’s crown—the head with the teeth.

Hong Jian’s voice dropped into a killing growl. “No one retreats. Only attack. Anyone who runs will be executed.”

A beat of silence.

Then Hong Jian roared, “Kill!”