Chapter 211: 211, Investigation team (Third update, requesting monthly votes)

The salt in the entire outpost was barely enough to cure a sheep, and Li Qingzheng seemed to have discovered a new path, a bit overexcited.

"Isn't it time for the Spring Festival? Even refugees want to have a few good days. Our meat is free, as long as the Wolf King keeps sending us game, we can keep selling it in the market," Li Qingzheng said.

Thinking of this, Li Qingzheng seemed to dream of becoming a respected figure in the market town.

Ren Xiaosu glanced up at him while sprinkling salt on the meat: "Won't the Li Army bother you?"

"I'll sell it secretly," Li Qingzheng said with a grin.

Ren Xiaosu asked, "Do you know any familiar shopkeepers?"

"No," Li Qingzheng replied, "but meat is in high demand, so it should sell well."

Ren Xiaosu sighed, "Did you eat meat during the New Year before? Everyone just had some pork fat and considered it a holiday. This stuff needs to be sold into the Walled City to be valuable. Let me introduce someone—my friend Wang Fugui. With his connections, it shouldn't be hard to establish this relationship."

Li Qingzheng's eyes lit up, "Really?"

He knew Ren Xiaosu was telling the truth. The outpost had suddenly become a meat wholesale market, but the market town's purchasing power was too low to make much money, and might not even sell unless he lowered prices.

Thus, a competent distributor was crucial.

Ren Xiaosu still needed to hide in the outpost, waiting for the opportunity, waiting for the nanobots... So he needed Li Qingzheng to take the spotlight.

Let Li Qingzheng and Wang Fugui connect, and he could frequently travel between the outpost and the market town, with the bulk of the money going to them...

Old Wang was quite capable in this area...

But now Li Qingzheng was puzzled, "Aren't you a student from the Walled City? How do you know about life in the market town?"

Ren Xiaosu glanced at him and said, "I'm also a refugee."

On the day of the scheduled supply delivery, Li Qingzheng organized everyone to hide the cured meat, fearing the soldiers would covet it: "Make sure it's well hidden, or those bastards will grab a lot of meat when they see it."

The supply truck came up the mountain road, but the soldiers unloaded a bag of rice and noodles, not even a grain of salt. Li Qingzheng was stunned, "Where's the salt?"

"Having rice and noodles is already good," the two soldiers said, dangling their cigarettes, "Sign for it quickly, or you won't even get the rice and noodles."

"At least give us some salt," Li Qingzheng said after a long pause.

"Do you want it? If not, we'll take it back," the supply soldier said.

Li Qingzheng gritted his teeth, "Yes!"

"Still picky, how many refugees can't even get a meal!" The soldier threw down the words and left, and Li Qingzheng didn't dare to say anything more.

After the truck left, he cursed loudly, "These bastards must be embezzling military pay. Are they making us dig wild vegetables to go with rice on the mountain?"

When everyone opened the rice and noodle bags, they found half of them mixed with sand!

"This is too much, they don't even treat us like humans," someone muttered angrily.

Ren Xiaosu sighed to the students, "This is the world you've never touched."

Just as the supply vehicle left, another military vehicle came up the mountain. Everyone watched silently as the vehicle arrived, unsure of its purpose.

A fully armed combat squad got out of the car. Everyone realized this was probably the regular Li Clan troops. Li Qingzheng composed himself and went over with a smile, "What brings you here, gentlemen?"

The leading officer said coldly, "Has anyone from the patrol come to check the outpost recently?"

Ren Xiaosu's heart raced when he heard this. He had been waiting for someone to investigate, and now they had come.

He had thought of using this opportunity to find more people with nanobots, but the other side wasn't foolish—they brought a combat squad.

Of course, this was expected. After all, two elite members of the clan had mysteriously disappeared, and they should strengthen their vigilance.

Ren Xiaosu felt the officer might also have a nanobot, but he couldn't risk taking action.

Li Qingzheng explained, "Yes, two very young officers came by. They stayed for ten minutes and left."

"Is that so?" The officer paced in front of the outpost and suddenly asked, "Do you smell blood? Have you had a battle here?"

Everyone was stunned. No one expected his nose to be so keen. After all, the skinning and butchering had been days ago, and the bloody smell should have dissipated.

At that moment, the soldiers behind the officer all raised their guns, pointing at Ren Xiaosu and the others. Li Qingzheng quickly apologized, "We were just shooting some game, and the freshly cured meat hasn't been taken out to dry yet."

As he spoke, Li Qingzheng hurriedly opened the kitchen door, revealing the cured meat on the stove.

The officer raised an eyebrow, "No wonder there's a strong smell of mutton."

Then the officer said, "Search the outpost."

The soldiers left five people behind and swarmed into the house to search. Ren Xiaosu and the others didn't dare move.

Soon, the soldiers returned to report, "No abnormalities found."

The officer sneered, "Just a routine check, don't mind it, colleagues."

In fact, he didn't think there was anything wrong with the outpost. Hunting happened in other outposts too, just not as much game here.

What he mainly paid attention to were the vehicles, bodies, and the belongings of the two officers. After all, killing people but not hiding the car would leave clues if they coveted the officers' property.

But he hadn't seen any signs of battle on the way, nor any abandoned vehicles, so he had already let his guard down.

Based on the patrol route of the two officers, they should have had an accident near these outposts, but the officer in charge of the search found nothing unusual.

He questioned each person individually, while someone took detailed notes. During the questioning, he didn't detect any emotional anomalies from anyone.

After half a day of questioning, he realized that the people here were either honest refugees or former drifters, none of whom even had a few sets of military uniforms and weapons. How could they kill two elite officers?

"Go to the next outpost," the officer said coldly, deciding to check the other nearby outposts first.

Ren Xiaosu felt a bit regretful, such a big nanobot had left...

However, he knew the investigation wouldn't end so simply. There would be more thorough checks, and the two dead... they were clan heirs after all.

Yet, as the military truck descended the mountain, everyone suddenly saw a pack of wolves lurking in the forest. The wolves seemed to be organized, trailing behind the truck.

Ren Xiaosu's heart jolted. Were the wolves planning to kill the Li Clan soldiers?

...

Please vote for the monthly ticket! May good people have a peaceful life!