Therefore, to be safe, Ren Xiaosu asked Wang Fugui to halt his mercantile business for a while.
Based on Ren Xiaosu’s plan, he would only be looking for Yang Xiaojin or the Saboteurs’ members when he went to the Qinghe stronghold. After that, he would settle Wang Yuchi and the others at the college before returning to Stronghold 61. The entire process would not take too long.
But in the time that Zhou Yingxue was unconscious, Ren Xiaosu was also thinking about something. Were Yan Liuyuan and Xiaoyu still alive?
After an entire month, the longer Ren Xiaosu waited, the heavier his mood became.
Over and over again, he would get his hopes up only to see them be dashed, just like how this world was.
But fortunately, he had already found Wang Fugui. This gave him some confidence again.
Unlike other big shots who often traveled in their off-road vehicles when going on a trip, Ren Xiaosu and the others took Wang Fugui’s truck to Luoyang City. This was considered a rather unique form of transport out in the wilderness.
Qin Sheng drove the truck and asked Ren Xiaosu, who was in the front passenger seat, “Brother Xiaosu, I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of the Riders for your help at a time like this. To be honest, there aren’t many people nowadays who are willing to help others.”
Ren Xiaosu said politely, “Don’t worry about it. After all, I’ve won so much money from you, so it would only be right to help out a little.”
Qin Sheng’s face darkened. “Ahem, please don’t mention the fact that we played cards together when you see my teacher.”
Nothing unusual happened along the way, but what surprised Ren Xiaosu was that when they were about to reach Luoyang City, Qin Sheng drove to the black market outside the stronghold and said he wanted to handle something there first.
Ren Xiaosu told him to be quick, but when Qin Sheng got back, there was an extremely strong scent of blood on him. It was as though he had just killed someone and returned.
And he had even killed more than one person.
“Did you kill someone?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
While starting up the truck, Qin Sheng answered, “Yes, I had to take care of some ignorant people who tried to take advantage of the situation. In the past, we didn’t care to deal with those people in the black market. But now it’s no longer alright to keep them around. Ever since the new administrator took over in the black market, those people have not been cooperative at all. They’ve even started stabbing us in the back.”
Only at this moment did Qin Sheng appear like a Rider, instead of a simple young man who played cards with them all day long.
Ren Xiaosu thought to himself that these must be the desperate times calling for desperate measures. Now that the Riders were starting to purge the internal threats in Qinghe, it must mean that they had sensed that great danger was impending.
At this moment, Qin Sheng took out a copy of Hope Media’s newspaper he had just bought from the black market. Ren Xiaosu took a glance and saw it was today’s newspaper.
Why did he suddenly buy a newspaper to read at this time? It was not like he could not do this, but it was a little unusual of him.
Realization dawned upon Ren Xiaosu. Were the more secretive communications between the Riders actually transmitted through the Hope Media newspaper?
“Come on, we’re going back to Luoyang City.” Qin Sheng stepped on the accelerator and said, “I’ve also informed Teacher that you’re coming along this time. He said he would like to treat you guys to a meal. The current acting president of the Qinghe Group, Xu Ke, would also like to meet you. What do you say, Brother Xiaosu?”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “There’s no rush for that. I want to go to Qinghe University first after we get to Luoyang City.”
“I’m afraid you can’t get into Qinghe University right now.” Qin Sheng said, “In order to protect the students, the entire school has been cordoned off. Unless you have a student pass, you can’t get in. If you’d like to go and have a look, I can arrange a student pass for you after I’ve settled my affairs. You can stay in the stronghold for as long as you want.”
“It’s fine. I can climb over the walls and get into the school,” Ren Xiaosu said nonchalantly.
Qin Sheng was in a dilemma. ‘Could you not say something like that in front of me?’
He said to Ren Xiaosu, “Then why don’t you go to Qinghe University first? And say we set the meal for tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” Ren Xiaosu agreed.
After Qin Sheng got Ren Xiaosu’s agreement, he breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the entire Riders’ organization was paying special attention to Ren Xiaosu now. On one hand, they were suspicious of his identity. On the other hand, everyone already knew he was going to be the future commander of Fortress 178, so they definitely would not want to be negligent about it.
Even if Ren Xiaosu were not the person they were looking for, maintaining a good relationship with Fortress 178 was still something everyone would be happy to see. Moreover, the Riders always had a good faith relationship with Fortress 178 and an admiration for their likable soldiers on the frontier.
And this time, with Qinghe facing a crisis, it was definitely better to have a strong ally joining them.
They finally arrived at Luoyang City during the night. Luoyang City was no longer the same as when Ren Xiaosu was here last time. It was already very quiet outside the gates.
The Qinghe Group temporarily canceled the access rights of those holding business visas and work visas. Most of the refugees who needed to work in the stronghold were stopped outside the gates.
The refugees did not know what had happened, but they understood it was very unusual. Since they were not allowed to enter, so be it. In any case, the Qinghe Group would compensate them for their losses.
For the past two days, the Qinghe Group had sent some meat into the town for the refugees to eat and informed those with work visas that they would be compensated for their lost working hours.
This was probably the reason why Luoyang City was not affected as much after the Wang Consortium’s Stronghold 61 announced they were opened to the public. This was because the Qinghe Group had always treated the refugees well, and no one was willing to leave the environment they grew up in.
After Ren Xiaosu got into the stronghold, he first proceeded to the public square where he had met Li Shentan previously. He wanted to find Li Shentan to ask him what he meant by those words.
When he arrived at the square, the entire place was still bustling with people, but he could no longer find Li Shentan.
He also asked Qin Sheng if he had discovered any traces of the various forces in the stronghold, but Qin Sheng did not answer him.
Ren Xiaosu could only rely on himself now.
On the way to Qinghe University, Ren Xiaosu caught sight of a familiar figure.
Ren Xiaosu could not remember who it was for a moment. When he chased after that person, he realized the other party had already disappeared into the crowd.
There was no curfew in Luoyang City yet, so the residents were not really affected. They were still going out to stores at night, enjoying snacks, and watching shows.
It was as though all signs of danger were hidden in this sea of people and drowned out by the crowd.
“Master, who are you looking for?” Zhou Yingxue asked while holding a roasted sweet potato.
“I keep getting the feeling that it’s someone I’ve met before. It’s a woman, but I can’t remember who she is. I only caught a glimpse of her back just now.” Ren Xiaosu frowned as he cycled through his memories.
Zhou Yingxue did not disturb Ren Xiaosu anymore and continued eating the roasted sweet potato happily. She even had another one wrapped in a plastic bag in the pocket of her coat that she was planning to give to her master after he was done thinking.
Ren Xiaosu jolted! He remembered who it was that he had seen earlier. Dong Funan!
She was a supernatural being they encountered at a stronghold back in the Southwest. Her awakened power was similar to that of a vampire. However, his disciple had caused Dong Funan to lose two of her bloodsucking fangs!
That girl had been taken away by Yang Xiaojin’s people at that time, and it was very likely she had joined the Saboteurs.
Therefore, the Saboteurs were really here in Luoyang City. This was the first time he had discovered clues to the Saboteurs since arriving at the Central Plains!