My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

135  Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.

Han Li raked his brain and understood his situation soon enough, and explaining it to his mom seemed a good choice, too, since it made it clearer for himself. Currently, there is an ongoing conflict between two Power Born.

The Power Born Woman, whom Han Li knew by the nickname—Demonic Ice Fairy, was going after Starlight Clan Head's Son, Li Shuanwei, for some reason while also stirring up the other two clans using her underlings. And then, there was also that Evolution Stage woman with the Illusion of Dao Soul, for whom he had special consideration due to how dangerous she was to him when he had to protect his mother. So overall, he was in the middle of a quagmire if he decided to move.

And even if he won, he wouldn't have much substantial benefit to show for it. It would be a wasteful way of putting himself in danger—not to mention his mother. So, there was only one thing to do: get out of this situation and get back with Liyue and Li Yao. Then, he simply had to wait for the storm to calm down.

As simple as that.

Honestly speaking, one choice was to lay low inside the Elephant Rock for some time and go out when it was all over, but that had a lot of issues: the blood outside for one, and the second, he would be in a very passive situation.

He can't make the Elephant Rock fight without it being midnight, so he would be utterly passive. He chose to run back instead, of course, not in plain sight; that would be stupid.

Yue Li was carried on his back, and he gently got out of the Elephant Rock, his heart calm, his Soul Sense expanded and searched for issues and, without stopping, ran away, as alert as he could be. His mother looked at the blood on the ground around him and hugged him tightly, but she didn't say anything, and before she knew it, Han Li was running at full speed. The fact that his Soul Sense was entirely hidden helped him have a huge advantage in the area of the senses, so he didn't fear an Evolved finding him. The only fear he had was a Power Born finding him, in which case, he would have to scheme or show them one of his cardinal secrets.

One tree after the other flickered by, and Yue Li wondered how fast they were going. As fast as a car?

Suddenly, Han Li came to an abrupt halt, and his face paled slightly.

The ground was shaking slightly.

"Power Borns are fighting around this area," he muttered and turned around resolutely. Without pause, he ran towards the Southern Dragon River.

That was the only place he was sure no one would be fighting at. After healing himself, Hou Mang planned to go there.

Soon enough, he reached the Elephant Rock and ran towards its left, thick with rocks and forestry. Jumping down a meter-long cliff, he asked his mom. "Mom, trade the Light-Type fruit in your hand with Rainbow Leg Fruit."

Yue Li could see he was serious and didn't waste time. She turned on her [Luck-Chat System] and wished for a Rainbow Leg Fruit in trade with the Starlight Flower in her hands.

The resource in her hand vanished, but Han Li didn't stop and ran towards the river non-stop. He didn't even bother with hiding his tracks anymore; he knew once he reached the river, he had a hundred escape routes, whatever that may happen.

Just like that, minutes passed, and suddenly, he smelled a faint scent of blood. His expanded Soul sense blasted towards the source, and he halted his steps.

"What is it?" Yue Li asked. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Don't expand your Soul sense. They can sense yours but not mine." Han Li warned while his Soul Sense checked around what he found with scrutiny.

It was a caravan turned upside down, as tens of corpses lay strewn around it. Dead horses, dead men, dead women. But what he found next made his heart clench. Stuck to the slowly rotating caravan wheels was an inconspicuous fruit, almost crushed but not at all damaged.

He changed his route and ran towards it while saying calmly, "If you love me, Mom, close your eyes."

"What is there?" Yue Li asked, her face paling. "Another died? But you were always with me; how can you kill when…"

She stopped while Han Li looked at her briefly.

He could see she was traumatized by him killing someone, and that was still in her thoughts. He knew it would be.

It was her first encounter with death, after all. Naturally, it will stick to her like gum. "Mom, just listen, okay?" the dark night made his red eyes rather scary instead of the gentleness she was used to seeing in them. "We are now in the middle of a quagmire, a shithole. If we just as much as touch it, it will start to stink, and the next thing we know, we will be in one hell of a lot of trouble, so just know that you can convert me into a good samaritan back when we're home, for now, stay calm and listen to me till we are safe."

"Xiao Li…"

Han Li sighed. "Close your eyes; I will do the rest."

She clenched her teeth and hid her face into his back, closing her eyes.

Han Li walked into the middle of the caravan, full of fleas and a disgusting smell, and gently picked up the inconspicuous fruit near the caravan wheels. He wondered whether it was here before his mom used the System.

Or did it just… pop up?

Then it would have been better to pop up in Yue Li's hand, so it must have been here. Looking at its position, it was just in place to get crushed and was just lucky to have survived by a hair's width.

Immediately after, he shook his head and ran away from there, back towards the river area. He would care about it some other day. For now, he had to get safe first before anything.

Handing his mother the fruit, he said while on the run, "If I end up having to fight, use this and get to a safe distance; eating it will temporarily make your speed even faster than me. Don't worry about me. I have myself to rely on."

In his original plans, he would go to another area where he knew he would probably find another Light Type Resource, but there was no need now; now, it was best to run straightforwardly.

His mom nodded silently, but he could feel her tears streaming down his neck. "Xiao Li, it stunk there," she muttered.

Han Li ran faster, silent.