Book 5 Chapter 9 – You Didn’t See Them?

　　“Ha, so it brightens up when after we make a fire?” Eyegla.s.ses chuckled and turned off his torchlight. The sun was gone, but the stars lit up the sky and a bright moonlight fell on the jungle, allowing the group to see almost as well as during the day.

　　"Let's take a break and eat." Lin Lu looked up briefly and went back to what she was doing, disinterested by the spectacular sight.

　　Shen Jianming poured the water Li Yiming brought back into a saucepan and added some pressed beef. Before long, the aroma of cooked beef spread throughout the campsite. Unaffected by the fragrance, Shen Jianming kept his upright posture and looked around alarmingly with his weapon ready.

　　"We'll take turns eating."Lin Lu handed out a few metal lunchboxes and scooped up some beef for herself. She was not particularly hungry, but she needed to hurry for the sake of the next guarding s.h.i.+ft.

　　Both Li Yiming and Liu Meng each took a bowl of beef and began their meal. Liu Meng was visibly excited at her first time eating something of the sort. The beef was salty and had a strange flavor to it, but she enjoyed its peculiar taste and even offered to feed a spoonful to Li Yiming from time to time.

　　'Do they think this is a picnic? How can they be so calm? Is it confidence or ignorance?' Li Lu was becoming increasingly perplexed about Liu Meng and Li Yiming's behavior.

　　"Are we going to be eating this for the next few days?" Mr. You took a bite of the beef and put down his box with disgust.

　　"Our combat rations will last fifteen days." Lin Lu answered.

　　"Fifteen days…" Mr. You muttered to himself. "We have to live on this for fifteen days? But wait… what about after that?" A thought suddenly struck him.

　　The question was met with silence.

　　"Mr. You Fang, you specialize in astrology. Take a look at the stars above you. Do you see anything?" Chen Quan gulped down the last bit of his beef and taunted. He hated people like You Fang, who wanted nothing but money and a luxurious life with the little knowledge they had acquired from a few books.

　　"The stars…" Faced with a sudden question about his expertise, Mr. You put down his metal container and looked upward.

　　"This…" As You Feng stared into the stars above, his apparent tiredness from the journey thus far was slowly replaced by his usual air of dispa.s.sion and confidence.

　　"…Impossible!" You Fang leaped up from his seat with widened eyes, pointing at the skies with a shaking finger.

　　"Did you notice something?" Lin Lu looked upwards and asked. Regardless of what she thought, You Fang was still an expert sent by her superiors, and she had learned her lesson after witnessing Liu Meng's abilities. 'Who knows what the famous You Fang is capable of.'

　　"This… This formation…" You Fang stammered.

　　"Just spit it out!" Chen Quan called out, surprised that his taunting might have actually led to an important clue.

　　"The Dawn of Chaos… Impossible!" Mr. You turned to the others in disbelief, as if they would understand his words.

　　"How would we know? You're the expert! What is this 'Dawn of Chaos'?" Chen Quan clawed at his pants in frustration. 'It seems like the rumors about his expertise in astrology are true. I can only guess that something's off, and yet he's able to find the exact cause.'