Chapter 129: The Boy

Recalling that ability which countered his own and could make bullets swerve, Yuan Kun’s face turned extremely ugly as he slowly climbed to his feet and said with hesitation:
“A Jiajian, fine. I, Yuan Kun, acknowledge you as a friend. Let everyone apologize to the host together.”
Several team members obediently spoke words like “sorry” and “our apologies” toward the over twenty people ahead.
“Us.” The boy in the wilderness looked at the incense pill in Yuan Kun’s hand.
Yuan Kun had no interest in even acknowledging them.
“I remember now—it’s him! The Jiajian!”
One of the wilderness boys pointed at Yang Zicang in surprise. “Rumor has it that the Wild Wagon Freight Team was obliterated by him!”
The few men in Qiongshan’s freight team thought it over. Though they hadn’t witnessed the scene themselves, word had already spread: “The Wild Wagon Freight Team had designs on a quadrilateral shed master’s model, but was wiped out by a passerby.”
Recalling the description from the rumor, Yuan Kun suddenly aligned the few in front of him with what he had heard before, and a chill ran down his spine.
He looked at Shed Master Song: “You… it really was you?”
Yang Zicang ceased the activation of his secret technique, and the oppressive, uneasy feeling in everyone’s chest instantly lifted.
A subtle fragrance permeated the air, and the few men took several deep breaths, gradually calming themselves.
“Be careful. The Desolate Cart has a figure who appears and disappears like a ghost. He’s the most dangerous one, seemingly called Nethershade.” Yuan Kun quickly offered a well-intentioned warning to mend the unpleasantness among the group.
“We’ve already crossed paths with him.”
“Already crossed paths!”
This time, Yuan Kun was completely convinced.
If there was anyone on this wilderness who could send chills down your spine and make you remain on constant guard, it had to be Nethershade. He never expected that during this Jiazi cycle, they had already faced off against that great deity of the Desolate Cart.
Yang Zicang said, “He can turn invisible, but he must break his invisibility to attack someone—that’s his weakness.”
Everyone present was speechless. It seemed Nethershade had suffered no small losses at Yang Zicang’s hands, to have his weaknesses even exposed.
These people really keep a low profile. If it weren’t for this action, who would have known that such formidable figures existed on the wilderness?
Yuan Kun sighed inwardly. Luckily, no bigger disaster had brewed today, or he’d surely be meeting his maker. He only hoped he could acquire more of Fang Leader’s requested mountain entry items—the incense pellets.
……
Meanwhile, a surge of excitement bubbled up in the middle camp, Aya.
The model link on her chest had remained almost uninterrupted. By this point, two teams had already witnessed the actions of the Twilight Pass crew, casting no doubt on the incense pellets’ effects.
The contact on the other side of the Mental Link was already asking Aya enthusiastically to please reserve some incense pellets for them, as someone would come to collect them later in the afternoon.
Time had unknowingly crept to noon.
“Captain Jia, we failed to recognize your worth earlier. Please forgive us.”
“Please sell us a few more incense pellets. Next week is too long—we want to enter the mountain earlier.”
“Yes, just name your price.”
Just as the group was speaking, another team approached.
“Five hundred per pellet.”
Aya said to the group. This was the pricing set by Yang Zicang based on order timing.
Yuan Kun, who had been lingering shamelessly, stepped forward. “At that price, sell us ten more too.”
Aya looked at Yang Zicang.
“Let’s go with five hundred for today. But aside from what we’ve already agreed on, no more sales.”
Aya acknowledged.
That night, Aya kept reviewing the records in her ledger from inside the tent.
—Kongshan Encampment, 3 pellets, 1,100 years.
—Backwoods Boy, 2 pellets, 1,000 years.
—Li Brothers, 1+5 pellets, 3,000 years.
—Lijiang Encampment, 2+7 pellets, 4,650 years…
A full page—this was the day’s earnings.
Even though she had counted it several times, Aya couldn’t help but keep looking again and again.
The tent flap lifted, and Ning Yang entered.
“Ya’er, I…”
“Chief.”
Ning Yang paused, mid-sentence, then shifted topic:
“How much did they make today?”
Only then did Aya break into a genuine smile:
“Twenty-one thousand seven hundred fifty! My god, and this is only the first day.”
Ning Yang walked over, looking at the paper. The final total was the number 21,750—written in Aya’s handwriting.
His heart was pounding.
“I knew we earned a lot today, but I didn’t expect this much. Ah, when will I ever achieve something like that.”
He now understood why the progress of the greenhouse was worlds apart from his own small shelter area.
The gap was too immense.
“I didn’t expect that someone would be eager to send Time Sequence even for five hundred coins each. If Brother Yang hadn’t settled on that final figure, I bet people would have paid even higher prices.”
“Yeah. And once the supplies from his place are sold off, that’ll bring in another decent sum.”
Ning Yang felt no hint of jealousy, but disappointment was inevitable.
……
Luo Bin, who had been sent back to the camp by Yang Zicang, lay on the bed. He quietly pulled the quilt over himself, and beneath the covers, the light of the rectangle model flickered.
[I am conducting a second intelligence gathering on Yang Zicang’s near-term goals. This will cost me 10N principal.]
[Second intelligence gathering failed.]
No new information was obtained. Luo Bin let out a soft breath and sank into thought.
Liang Xi walked into the room, yawning.
“Brother Luo, I heard Brother Yang had a pretty good day today. Uh, keep your snoring down, alright?”
“Heh heh, you get some good rest. I’ll keep watch.”
Luo Bin propped his head up sideways and could faintly hear the laughter of Fan Xiuyun and the others from the next room.
A strong start—everyone was pumped today, except for Liang Xi.
Because he had just become familiar with the place, and right at this critical moment when the team was making their first big earnings back in the city, an A-class interwoven space had emerged that needed his help to stabilize.
“Still, thinking about it another way, I guess I’m kind of impressive.”
Liang Xi, under the covers, smiled and drifted off to sleep.
……
Earth.
Countless different landscapes churned in his mind, then gradually faded away.
Hong Haocheng opened his dazed eyes.
Beside the bed sat a figure with a straight back, like a soldier, though it was uncertain—he wore a navy-blue uniform with black trim.
“Where is this?” Hong Haocheng turned his head to look at the person beside him.
“At sea.”
“At sea?”
Hong Haocheng tried to get up, but found he couldn’t seem to feel any part where he could generate force—there was a numb, tingling sensation at his hips, rendering him unable to exert strength.
“Or rather, beneath the sea,” said the man with the soldier-like demeanor.
A buzzing sound echoed in his ears, the resonance of machinery. Everything here felt strange, even the air had an unfamiliar tautness.
“What… happened to me?” The boy looked around.
The iron-walled room was very small, and now he could finally feel his body swaying.
The entire room was swaying.
The numbness was fading, but his tactile sense grew stronger.
Only then did fragmented memories rush back.
He remembered one foot on the computer chair, holding an empty teacup like a microphone, the other hand gripping a page of script, passionately shouting out the play’s lines on the paper.
— “I, heaven’s favored son!”
— “I shall roam this earth…”
In the living room, his friends gathered around, some holding popcorn, others with drinks, occasionally bursting into laughter and applause.
Senior Sister Zhang Shumin laughed and said, “Haocheng, you’re really our ‘chosen one,’ hahaha.”
“Using this show to welcome the new students, the advisor will definitely roll their eyes at you.”
The phone rang…
The fragmented scenes quickly faded away.
Back then, I was rehearsing a play and then received a strange call that came twice. The unfamiliar woman on the other end told me to leave quickly and not stay.
But I hung up without paying any attention.
After that, here I am.
Clank! The thick yet small round iron door swung open.
Hong Haocheng looked up as two people in masks and sky-blue uniforms walked in, followed last by a middle-aged man with gold trim on his uniform.
“Awake? Hmm, recovering well. Come on, young man, try to sit up.”
“Who are you? “
“I’m surnamed Feng. You can think of us as a non-governmental department that handles special incidents.”
“Non-governmental?”
Hong Haocheng looked at these people somewhat bewildered as they started directing him.
But at that moment, he had no choice, and besides, it seemed like something was wrong with his own body. Hong Haocheng tried to prop himself up, only succeeding after several attempts.
Only then did he notice that his skin color was different—from the waist down it was almost entirely pale and tender, while his chest area was similarly shaded.
He clenched his hand into a fist and then released it.
His entire body exuded a vigorous aura, like a human leopard, with a powerful sensation in his fists.
“What’s going on with me?”
Your rental house was attacked, and we found you in the ruins.” this person said.
“What about my friends? Are they still alive? Who did this—terrorists?”
Terrorists—though it was just a word he’d heard on TV, it was the first thing that came to Hong Haocheng’s mind. Or who else would attack ordinary people in a city?
“Your friends?” The three exchanged glances, their expressions shifting slightly.
The dignified middle-aged man who entered last said,
“Young man, if you want to know the truth, from now on, your life no longer belongs to you. In fact, it already pretty much doesn’t.”
“I don’t know anything.” Hong Haocheng raised his hands in panic.
The other man pulled out his phone, unlocked the screen and displayed a phone number.
“This is the last number that called you. We’ve already identified who the person is. Have you met her?”
He swiped the screen, revealing the image of a beautiful girl with a smiling face.
Looking at the girl on the phone, Hong Haocheng thought for a moment. He recognized her.
“I bumped into her on the street a couple of days ago. Her documents scattered everywhere, and I even grumbled at her. Her name was… something…”
“Her surname is Wang.”
“Oh, right, I saw it on the documents—something like that. Hey? Why would she call me? You guys… uh, how come my body feels like…”
“Hong Haocheng sensed something was off about the atmosphere.
“Miss Wang deliberately let you bump into her. According to her, that was the opportunity to meet you. Without it, you two would never have come to know and understand each other.”
Hong Haocheng felt a chill, as if he were being targeted by someone who seemed normal on the surface but was actually a crazed lunatic.