Huai Shi was momentarily stunned, then sniffed the hand-rolled cigarette, which didn't even have a filter. It seemed to contain some spices, and it smelled refreshingly clear and sharp.
"Metallic reinforced shell, incense nourishes the Soul," Raven said calmly. "You'll get used to it, but be careful not to use it to get high when it's not necessary. Addiction can cause a lot of trouble.
"Apart from a very few kinds of Thousand-Year Incense, most incense works by stimulating the Source Substance to achieve a stimulating effect—like an upgraded version of Red Bull and cigarettes. Overuse makes it very easy to turn into an idiot."
Huai Shi nodded without saying anything more.
Moments later, he watched the Source of fire dissipate from his fingertips and twisted his neck. "Let's go again."
Then darkness struck.
Soon, he opened his eyes again and sighed. "Continue."
Raven nodded.
The long afternoon passed in continuous repetition until the last time he opened his eyes, the sky had already turned pitch black, utterly silent.
"Do you want to rest for a bit?" Raven asked. "After all, you've reached your limit."
"One more time."
Huai Shi finally understood the troubles of hardcore gamers, rubbing his temples and yawning. "I'm close to cracking it."
"Okay, so, the last round?"
"The last round."
Huai Shi nodded.
So, with a bout of vertigo, he opened his eyes from within the train carriage, silently listening to the commands coming from up ahead, not uttering a word.
He even took advantage of the last bit of time, closed his eyes, and slept for a while.
"Call me when we get there."
He patted the shoulder of the teammate beside him, very affectionately.
Before long, the car stopped outside the village.
He was rudely kicked awake.
Huai Shi smiled nonchalantly and clumsily got up, following his teammate. During a brief moment lurking in the bushes, he suddenly patted the shoulder of the person ahead of him.
The teammate turned around unhappily.
Then he saw Huai Shi expressionlessly extend his hand, holding a dagger, and thrust it into the teammate's throat, sweeping it sideways.
"Goodbye," Huai Shi whispered softly.
Blood soaked the parched land and Wild Grass.
On the barren ground, he crawled, swiftly making his way towards another teammate. He moved on all fours while crawling.
Like a Spider that had crawled through the brambles.
One after another, according to the radio information, he enjoyed the sensation of striking down his teammates.
The experience of backstabbing as a Second fifth was truly pleasurable. Huai Shi felt he was getting quite proficient at it.
These pleasant moments continued until the sounds of Team A engaging in combat reached him from up ahead.
He sighed, hearing the alert from the radio. Someone had noticed something was off since four or five people hadn't responded in over five minutes.
It seemed he could no longer blend in.
He shook his head, sat down on the ground, and pulled the pins from several small grenades, weighing them in his hand before throwing them with all his might.
The booming of explosions came from the distance.
Gunshots rang out, and the shrubs around him trembled, peppered with bullets like wild grass in a downpour.
Huai Shi sighed, rolled up his sleeve to wipe the blood off his face, and stood up from the bodies of his teammates. His uniform was now stained crimson with the blood of his comrades.
A large patch on his backside was red.
"What's this? Looks like a monkey with hemorrhoids," Huai Shi complained to himself, picked up his rifle, and headed toward the direction of the gunfire, yelling out, "Don't shoot, friendly!"
Then he pulled the trigger, firing at those stunned faces.
He emptied one magazine without resistance, then another. A bullet hit his shoulder, as if a chisel had gouged out a large hole. Amidst the intense pain, he seemed to no longer feel his left hand.
"Going overboard, aren't you, Old Pal? My hand is broken again?" Huai Shi sighed in resignation. "I haven't learned how to reload with one hand yet."
Discarding the automatic rifle he was holding, he drew his pistol and walked toward the village.
An angry roar came from the radio: "7794! What are you doing!"
"Of course, I'm striking down my teammates, friend. Didn't you know? I chose Black Lily, you chose Hanzo, and together we can rebuild the Empire."
But there was no response from the radio, only brooding silence until the instructor's indifferent voice sounded, "Mission changed, eliminate 7794."
He was being targeted.
"Don't make decisions so quickly," Huai Shi sighed. Before the channel was cut off, he lifted the radio and tentatively said, "I think I could still be saved."
CRACK!
Huai Shi instinctively tilted his head, seeing the radio he had tossed in the air burst into a mess.