Chapter 67: 67, You don't have nothing

The tobacco obtained by the private armies was all transported from elsewhere by the Qing family consortium. You must have seen the convoy of trucks, right? The supplies they brought were nothing but tobacco," Lu Xinyu said: "Actually, the other strongholds are more or less the same. Although the stronghold managers are well aware they are puppets, there are always a few who wish to break free from their shackles..."

Ren Xiaosu nodded, realizing he couldn't measure the consortium's power by the strength of the private armies. Today, Ren Xiaosu had already gathered enough information from Lu Xinyu and needed to process it first.

"One last question," Ren Xiaosu asked curiously: "Why did you choose someone like Liu Bu as your agent?"

This left Lu Xinyu looking rather foolish. Why choose Liu Bu?

Lu Xinyu explained: "He is the younger brother of a platoon leader in the Logistics Division of the stronghold."

Ren Xiaosu roughly understood the reason, but he still didn't grasp what authority a Logistics Division platoon leader could wield.

At this moment, Lu Xinyu wondered if her relationship with Yang Xiaoju and Ren Xiaosu had grown closer. After hesitating, she said: "Can you take me out alive? I have nothing left in this wilderness, and I can only rely on you..."

Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said: "You don't have nothing left."

Lu Xinyu was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"You still have the face to ask me to take you out alive," Ren Xiaosu said, then ignored Lu Xinyu.

On this dark rainy night, Ren Xiaosu left Lu Xinyu alone in the wind, not having nothing... she still had her face...

What the hell is this language level? Are we even speaking the same language?

Only then did Lu Xinyu realize that her supposed closeness to everyone was all an illusion.

In truth, Ren Xiaosu found Lu Xinyu rather pitiable—a girl in this desolate place, unable to trust anyone, not even someone willing to help her, surrounded only by private army thugs with ill intentions.

But who isn't pitiable? Isn't Yan Liuyuan, suffering from wish backlash in the market town, pitiable?

At this moment, if Ren Xiaosu agreed to take others out, it would mean being irresponsible toward Yan Liuyuan.

The more Ren Xiaosu relied on luck, the more severe Yan Liuyuan's backlash would become.

Though Yan Liuyuan usually only suffered from headaches and fever, the problem was—if Ren Xiaosu borrowed luck to escape a life-or-death crisis, Yan Liuyuan's backlash might not be so simple!

This was a conserved ability; the more fortunate one side was, the more unfortunate the other became.

The moment Yan Liuyuan made a wish for Ren Xiaosu, it meant he had placed his life in Ren Xiaosu's hands.

Therefore, even for Yan Liuyuan's sake, Ren Xiaosu couldn't agree to save others.

Other people's lives weren't worth as much as Yan Liuyuan's.

In the middle of the night, Yang Xiaoju woke up and looked at Ren Xiaosu, saying: "Go to sleep."

Ren Xiaosu nodded and began to close his eyes. He had been awake for nearly thirty hours, and even his current physical condition was struggling.

Half-asleep, a question lingered in Ren Xiaosu's mind: What exactly was Yang Xiaoju's identity? Did she belong to the Qing family consortium's so-called combat brigade?

No, if she belonged to that brigade, she wouldn't have hidden her identity to join the team, nor would she have paid Lu Xinyu and the others.

In Ren Xiaosu's view, if the Qing family consortium stationed a combat brigade at the 113th stronghold, these private army thugs would treat this person like a deity.

After all, that was the force that truly controlled life and death within the stronghold.

Ren Xiaosu couldn't figure out Yang Xiaoju's purpose, so he could only tentatively question her identity.

The cave in the early morning was silent. After waking up, Yang Xiaoju felt her spirit was in full vigor. She had received relevant training, allowing her to sleep in ways beyond ordinary comprehension, even maintaining vigilance in her dreams.

This was something ordinary people couldn't understand, just as they still couldn't grasp the supernatural.

Outside, the rain gradually ceased. As Ren Xiaosu had said, the forest floor became particularly muddy after the rain. Tomorrow's journey might see some people falling behind.

In the cave, there were still private army soldiers awake, whispering among themselves. Liu Bu, meanwhile, drank water with his mouth open, only getting his turn when the others had finished.

Yang Xiaoju peeled open the leftover pine nuts from the evening, popping each seed into her mouth to replenish her nutrition.

At this moment, Yang Xiaoju, sitting across from Ren Xiaosu, ate pine nuts while observing the sleeping Ren Xiaosu—was he truly asleep, or in a half-awake state?

In the end, Yang Xiaoju heard Ren Xiaosu's snoring. Not only did she hear it, but the entire cave could hear it! The sound was so loud!

At that moment, two private army soldiers approached Xu Xiance and said: "We'll take turns with you. Go rest."

Xu Xiance nodded: "Stay alert. Don't let your guard down."

"Don't worry," one of the private army soldiers replied.

The two walked slowly toward the cave entrance, seemingly to guard the entrance.

Yang Xiaoju lowered her head, her gaze hidden beneath her duckbill cap. When she saw the two thugs, her lips curled slightly, for she sensed that Ren Xiaosu's snoring... had stopped.

Yet the two thugs seemed unaware, and one chatted idly: "I wonder if we'll make it back alive."

"Who knows?" the other replied.

Their conversation was ordinary, but as they reached Yang Xiaoju and Ren Xiaosu, they suddenly erupted into violence. Now the rain had stopped, and all sounds were hushed.

The two thugs, one on each side, drew their military daggers, intending to strike down Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaoju!

Within three paces, was it the person or the gun that was faster? This question had been debated by many, and most believed that within three paces, the person might be faster. Now, the two attackers were only a step away from Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaoju. At this distance, neither had a chance to draw their guns.

They weren't fools, so they chose the moment when Ren Xiaosu had just fallen into deep sleep and Yang Xiaoju had just awakened. When people first wake up, their muscles are sluggish—not because of poor health, but because their bodily functions hadn't fully kicked in yet.

This ambush might have been for the guns on Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaoju, or for the water, or for Lu Xinyu. Yet they didn't know what kind of opponents they were facing!

Bang!

After a gunshot, the thug opposite Yang Xiaoju stared in disbelief at the blood hole in his abdomen. He had clearly seen Yang Xiaoju peeling pine nuts, her gun never drawn—why was her speed so much faster than his?

On the other side, the other thug let out a cry of pain. Just as he approached Ren Xiaosu and revealed his dagger, Ren Xiaosu rose like a sudden bolt of lightning in the air, grabbing his neck.

The thug tried to plunge his dagger into Ren Xiaosu's body, but found his arm seized by Ren Xiaosu, unable to move an inch.

A 170-pound adult male was lifted by the neck with one hand by Ren Xiaosu. Then, the thug's eyes blurred as a massive pain struck his back—Ren Xiaosu had pinned him against the rock wall with a single hand!

Clang! The thug could no longer grip his dagger.