Chapter 127: Gaining legal resident status in the stronghold!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Damaged cars?
After hearing what the driver said, many of those in the truck were startled. How could there be cars around here?
“All of you, stay in the truck.” Ren Xiaosu turned to Chen Wudi and said, “Wudi, get out with me and look.”
The truck was already stationary. After jumping off the back of the truck, Ren Xiaosu discovered Luo Lan had also jumped down with them. The three of them slowly advanced towards the damaged cars. But before they even got close, Ren Xiaosu could smell blood in the air.
Just as the driver had mentioned, three cars were blocking the road up ahead. They were all badly damaged and dripping with blood.
“Be careful,” Ren Xiaosu said. As he spoke, he inspected the nearby pavement to see what on earth could have attacked the convoy.
“Strange,” Luo Lan said in surprise, “these are indeed vehicles from Stronghold 109, but why did they send them out at this hour? And they were even headed in the direction of Stronghold 113?”
At present, Luo Lan had no idea that Qing Zhen had threatened the Stronghold 109 overseer. Lu Yuan, who was the overseer of that stronghold, had no choice but to hold off the pressure from the Li Consortium and send out a small group of private troops to search for Luo Lan’s whereabouts.
However, they ran into an accident.
The three cars were parked in a crooked manner on the road. The trio of Ren Xiaosu, Chen Wudi, and Luo Lan did not see any bodies and were only greeted by a trail of blood that led into the depths of the dark wilderness.
The bloodstains had already dried. Judging by the color, Ren Xiaosu deduced that the battle must have taken place around half a day ago.
Wait a minute! Ren Xiaosu noticed a strand of white fur on the ground. Following, his expression turned to one of great shock. “This is the fur of a wolf!” Ren Xiaosu retreated with Chen Wudi. He finally realized what the bloodstains leading into the wilderness meant. It was the blood of the victims as they got dragged off in the mouths of the wolves.
What were the wolves doing here half a day ago?
But Ren Xiaosu didn’t care think too much. He just wanted to get back to the truck and get out of here!
“Wait a second for me!” Luo Lan whispered.
Ren Xiaosu watched him jog all the way over to the three cars. It seemed that he was looking for something in them.
A second later, Luo Lan took out a device Ren Xiaosu hadn’t seen before. “I found it!”
When the three of them returned to the truck, Ren Xiaosu asked, “What were you searching for in their cars?”
“Hehe,” Luo Lan chuckled. “A satellite phone! I hope the PIN on this hasn’t been changed from the original ‘1111,’ or I won’t be able to use it. We’re going to have to take a gamble.”
Ren Xiaosu examined it. So this was what the legendary satellite phone looked like? But what was that PIN Luo Lan mentioned? Ren Xiaosu had never even remotely heard of it before.
When the truck started moving again, Luo Lan said in surprise after keying in “1111” on the satellite phone, “It works!” Right after, he dialed another series of numbers with a sense of familiarity. He had memorized this number a long time ago.
“Who are you calling?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“My little brother,” Luo Lan replied and then waited patiently for the call to connect.
Suddenly, a man’s voice could be heard on the other end. “Hello, who is this?”
“I’m Luo Lan. Get my little brother on the line!” Luo Lan said in delight.
Very quickly, someone else spoke on the phone. “Where are you?”
“I’m trying to escape. I can probably get to Stronghold 109 in a day and a half at the latest,” Luo Lan replied. “How is everything on your side? Have you made it out of the Jing Mountains yet?”
On the other end, Qing Zhen paused and said, “I’m still in the Jing Mountains.... Xu Xianchu, god fucking damn you!”
The call volume of the satellite phone was a little loud. Ren Xiaosu felt a little guilty after hearing what Qing Zhen said. He knew exactly why Qing Zhen was still stuck in the Jing Mountains. He was the one who slashed all of their vehicles’ tires.
Apparently reining in his emotions, Qing Zhen asked calmly, “Whose phone are you calling from? Have Lu Yuan’s men picked you up?”
Only then did Luo Lan realize the three cars were sent out by Lu Yuan under Qing Zhen’s orders. He answered, “Something happened to Lu Yuan’s men along the way. I found this satellite phone in one of their cars.”
Qing Zhen did not care about what happened to Lu Yuan’s men. He thought for a while and said, “Reorganize yourselves once you get to Stronghold 109, and don’t return to the Qing Consortium for the time being.”
“Why?” Luo Lan was taken aback but reacted quickly. “Have those old fogeys of the Board decided to punish you?”
“They’re just going to put me under house arrest in Stronghold 111,” Qing Zhen said in a relaxed tone. “But a lot of people have been very unhappy with you. If you go back now, you might receive a heavier punishment. Since they don’t know you’re still alive, you should stay at Stronghold 109 for the time being.”
“OK,” Luo Lan acknowledged in a low voice.
“By the way,” Qing Zhen said, “when you get to Stronghold 109, tell Lu Yuan to arrest Ren Xiaosu, Xu Xianchu, Yang Xiaojin, and Luo Xinyu. I suspect these four people might’ve headed there after escaping from the Jing Mountains. After all, Stronghold 111 and 109 are the nearest to the Jing Mountains.”
Luo Lan gave an embarrassed glance at Ren Xiaosu: “Ren Xiaosu is right next to me....”
Qing Zhen was silent for a while, then asked in bewilderment, “You’ve caught him already?!”
Luo Lan got even more embarrassed. “You might not believe it when I say this, but based on the current circumstances, I’m probably the one who’s been caught....”
Qing Zhen was speechless.
Ren Xiaosu looked calmly at Luo Lan, who was stressed a great deal, as he quickly sought to explain it was Ren Xiaosu who saved him. He would probably have died if not for that action.
Qing Zhen finally understood what had happened. Qing Zhen said from the other end, “Tell him we’ll forget all the unpleasantness between him and our Qing Consortium. On top of that, I, Qing Zhen, now owes him a favor and a life.”
“They want to enter Stronghold 109 and become legal residents there,” Luo Lan said.
“You can speak directly to Lu Yuan.” Qing Zhen did not seem too concerned about this matter.
Phew! Ren Xiaosu heaved a sigh of relief. The name of the Qing Consortium had been weighing on his mind recently.
It was quite terrifying to be on the radar of such a huge corporation. Who in this era would be willing to go against a corporation that controlled over 20 strongholds?
Of course, Ren Xiaosu was even more determined now to not let Qing Zhen find out he was the one who slashed all of their vehicles’ tires that night. Just based on how Qing Zhen had sworn at Xu Xianchu earlier, Ren Xiaosu got the feeling this matter wasn’t over yet.
But Ren Xiaosu remembered what Qing Zhen just said. He wondered where Yang Xiaojin would go after escaping from the Jing Mountains. Would it be to Stronghold 109 or Stronghold 111? Or perhaps somewhere even further away?
Since there were limitations to Luo Xinyu’s power to travel through the shadows, Yang Xiaojin and she couldn’t have gone too far, right?
Ren Xiaosu glanced at Yan Liuyuan and Xiaoyu. Everyone heard the conversation between Luo Lan and Qing Zhen. At this very moment, there was visible excitement in both Ren Xiaosu’s and Yan Liuyuan’s eyes. They understood they were no longer going to be refugees. From this moment onward, they would become legal residents of Stronghold 109!