Chapter 215: 215, New member of the outpost

When Ren Xiaosu learned that the old man had come to investigate the disappearance of Li's military officers, he immediately became vigilant, though he showed no outward sign of it.

Ren Xiaosu sat by the bonfire, and a student beside him handed him a roasted chicken leg.

The old man, while eating, smiled at Ren Xiaosu and said, "Young people these days don't pay much attention to their stomachs. Wait until you're my age, and you'll understand—being able to eat is a blessing."

"You're right," Ren Xiaosu glanced at the other party. Diarrhea for six hours was clearly abnormal; he had been praising Chen Wuji's resourcefulness earlier, but now he realized he had been overthinking it.

Chen Wuji said he had diarrhea for six hours, which meant the old man had been here for six hours.

However, the old man didn't ask where he had gone. Instead, he followed the diarrhea excuse, as if he had no intention of probing deeper.

Ren Xiaosu couldn't believe that someone responsible for investigating a case could ignore such a basic common-sense issue. The other party was pretending to be confused while fully understanding.

"Have you found any clues in this investigation?" Ren Xiaosu asked casually.

"They said it was an investigation, but what does Li's disappearance have to do with me?" the old man said with a squinting smile. "At my age, I'm still out here working in this weather. Do you think that's something a person should do?"

Ren Xiaosu examined the other's appearance. "How old are you this year?"

"I'm seventy-three this year," the old man laughed. "I haven't properly introduced myself yet. Everyone, hello, I'm Hu Shuo."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. The name sounded strange, but what concerned Ren Xiaosu more was that the other wasn't surnamed Li.

In this place, anyone with the surname Li deserved Ren Xiaosu's extra attention. Up to now, aside from Li Qingzheng, the Kunshan wolf king, all the Lis he had encountered were mid-to-high-ranking officers in the business military faction.

"Why did you take this case?" Ren Xiaosu asked curiously.

"I didn't want to take it either," Hu Shuo scratched his head with his thumb and laughed. "But Li's side ordered me to investigate this case, or they wouldn't pay my salary. I had to come and do the job. I didn't expect to find so much game here. I've made a profit."

Ren Xiaosu felt this matter was probably not as simple as the other claimed. A seventy-three-year-old man coming here—how could he be an ordinary person?

Moreover, Li's side had summoned him only because there was a problem. There had to be a reason.

At that moment, Hu Shuo stood up and patted the dust off his pants. "Alright, I'm full now."

Ren Xiaosu suddenly asked, "How many outposts did you visit today?"

Hu Shuo smiled. "Just yours."

At that moment, Ren Xiaosu felt the other had probably already discovered some clues, which was why he had come directly here. For a moment, he hesitated whether to let the other stay.

Hu Shuo suddenly said, "Um... which room am I staying in?"

This left everyone stunned. Ren Xiaosu was still considering keeping the other, but he didn't expect the other to want to stay here directly.

Li Qingzheng, who was standing nearby, smiled and said, "We'll clean out a room for you."

The outpost had seven rooms, and one was originally used as a storage room with little in it. Now that Hu Shuo wanted to stay, Li Qingzheng, as the squad leader, was willing to build a relationship with this suspected high-ranking figure.

Most refugees had an instinctive belief that getting close to a high-ranking figure in the fortress would make life easier. They were superstitious about such connections.

However, this put Ren Xiaosu in a bit of a dilemma. He decided to wait and see, and it wouldn't be too late to decide what to do once he confirmed the old man's purpose.

Ren Xiaosu felt that Hu Shuo had clearly found some clues, but he couldn't figure out what basis the other had for staying here.

What surprised Ren Xiaosu even more was that Hu Shuo wasn't just staying for one night—he wasn't leaving at all!

The next morning, as promised, the wolf king delivered a pile of wild chickens, which were stacked at the outpost's entrance.

This strange scene didn't prompt Hu Shuo to ask questions. He acted as if nothing had happened, merely praising the place as a good spot for eating meat.

Ren Xiaosu observed his expression. Everyone knew something was off, but Hu Shuo didn't ask, instead practicing tai chi at the outpost entrance. After finishing, he asked Li Qingzheng and the others to cook, saying he wanted to eat meat again.

As a result, everyone started roasting meat early in the morning, and Ren Xiaosu felt his whole body smelled of roasted meat.

"Don't you ask where this prey came from?" Ren Xiaosu asked while eating meat.

Hu Shuo squinted and said, "As long as there's something to eat, why worry about where the food comes from? It's not like wolves brought it, is it?"

Ren Xiaosu was speechless. He was becoming more and more confused about Hu Shuo's intentions.

On the third morning, Hu Shuo woke up as usual and practiced tai chi. After finishing, he asked everyone to cook again.

However, something was different this time. Another truck came from the mountain, but the soldiers were special—they brought bedding, teapots, and other daily necessities, and rearranged Hu Shuo's room...

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. It seemed Hu Shuo was planning to stay here long-term.

While the soldiers were cleaning the room, Ren Xiaosu carefully observed whether Hu Shuo had instructed them to do anything strange, such as hinting at bringing heavy troops to besiege the outpost. But there was no such thing.

Instead, when the soldiers reported to Hu Shuo, he didn't hide anything from Ren Xiaosu. The report mentioned Ren Xiaosu: another outpost on a small hill had been attacked by wolves, and wolf blood and fur were found. The army had taken the matter seriously and planned to send troops to eliminate the wolves in the mountains.

Ren Xiaosu observed Hu Shuo's reaction, but Hu Shuo only smiled and said, "The wolf pack has nothing to do with our case. Don't get involved in such trivial matters."

From beginning to end, the other seemed to have no connection to the wild chickens at the outpost entrance.

But Ren Xiaosu understood clearly that the other was pretending to be confused while fully comprehending.

At that moment, Li Qingzheng whispered to Ren Xiaosu, "The officer who sent things to this old man is a major general!"

Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. Someone who could command a major general—what level would that be within Li's faction?

After that, no one else came to the outpost, and Hu Shuo stayed for a week. Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that the other might be planning to spend the New Year here...