Daomu Biji Volume 8 Chapter 11

“The village is full of Qiu Dekao's people, but they don't seem to have made any progress. Many logistics support personnel are entrenched in the village and there are a large number of people. They know that you are coming and Qiu Dekao has already sent word that he wants to see you.”

Since the main task this time is to save people, Pan Zi's team is divided into two groups: the team that will go underground and the logistical support team. The magic lake in the remote mountains was too far away from the village, so logistics was particularly important. With good weather, it would take us two or three days to enter the mountain, but now we'll have three bases on the route, with five people at each one waiting for orders round the clock. This could save time for resting at night, and shorten the support time from the village to the lake to less than one day.

In this way, the support staff alone will have 15 people, who will be led by Xiuxiu.  The remaining two good players would come down with us, plus Xiao Hua, Pan Zi, and me, which brought the total to five. Uncle Three's woman— Mute Sister— was even among the five people going underground.

When I asked Pan Zi why he arranged this, he said, “We need her.  I think Master Three trained her because she has real skill.  Of course, I don't know if Master Three slept with her, but she's already suspicious of you. It's safer to take this kind of person with us. “

I said: “Do I have to be on tenterhooks all the time?”

“After entering, we will definitely split up and she will be on Master Hua's team.  It's important to save people using any means, so staying together isn't feasible. Besides, I'm afraid you don't have the heart to keeping pretending that you're Master Three." Pan Zi said.

I nodded. I thought there were too many people before, but I knew it was necessary to save them and to do it in the shortest possible time.  In a place like that, the longer you stay, the more dangerous it is.

The village at the bottom of the magic lake still had too many unsolved mysteries.  If the Zhang Jia ancient building is in the rock formation at the bottom of the lake, judging from the size of the mountain over there, it must be extremely complicated. It can be predicted that after we enter, our progress will be very slow, so good logistics can make up for our last embarra.s.sment.

Among the people who came to the field with us, there was only one kid I didn't know.  He was extremely thin, only 19 years old, nicknamed “Leather Bag”, and was said to have a very good ear. He was an excellent guy who was a minor celebrity in Changsha.  This time, we got him to join our team and his price was the highest.  I think I have to get along with him for a while before I know what kind of person he is.  According to Pan Zi, those with high prices must be difficult to get along with.

As for Qiu Dekao, Pan Zi asked me if I would like to see him, but I refused without a second thought.  At this juncture, all kinds of things were extremely chaotic, so I didn't feel like dealing with social affairs.  I just put on a face and showed a big act to Uncle Three's men. I didn't know how smart this old ghost was compared to those people, and I had no reason to go, so there was no need to touch this bad luck

Pan Zi said: “Not necessarily. The relationship between the white-haired foreigner and Master Three was very complicated before, and I don't know what happened at that time.  He is looking for you, so maybe you can go test it out.”

I knew that it was also true, but to test this old fox, one must have excellent mental and physical strength.  I was thinking about Fatty and the other's safety, and was not anxious to think about these things at the moment. I said to Pan Zi, “Don't worry, there are plenty of opportunities to test it out when everyone's rescued.  Now the arrow is on the string and has to be released.  When we arrive, we will rest for one night, set off immediately the next day, and wait until we reach the lake, so that he will not be able to respond. “

Pan Zi shook his head and said, “This kind of old fox is difficult to avoid. However, we'll do what you say since your thinking is on the right track.”

We worked out our own calculations and discussed all the details again, then closed our eyes and rested.  After seven b.u.mpy hours, we arrived at Banai.

The moment I got out of the vehicle, I saw those tall wooden houses, familiar tropical trees, and villagers dressed in native costumes and felt vaguely that everything I had experienced before going to Sichuan and Changsha was a dream. I could see Fatty and Poker-Face waiting for me when I returned to Agui's home.

The weather had been cool, but it was still much hotter than Changsha and Sichuan.  When I unb.u.t.toned my shirt, I found Mute Sister looking at me. My heart thumped and I immediately b.u.t.toned up again and went to find Agui.

He was still the same.  It was already dark at this moment and I handed him a cigarette and said, “I'm back at last. Where is Yunyun?”

Agui led us to his house and looked at me in surprise: “Boss has been here before? You know my daughter? “

I said that without thinking. I was no longer Wu Xie, but a stranger to Agui.  I couldn't help laughing awkwardly and said, “Yes, I was very young at that time.  Your daughter is also called Yunyun?  Last time I came here, there was a very famous tour guide here, also called Yunyun.”

Agui nodded and said vaguely, “Oh, there are many people by this name, then you are an old expert.”

I gave a quick laugh and glanced at Mute Sister but she didn't seem to be looking at me.  The others alighted, and several of Agui's friends took their luggage and equipment to their respective arranged homes. There was no hotel here, so everyone had to stay with the villagers.

“You'll be in this one.”  Agui pointed to the wooden building where Poker-Face and Fatty and I lived before. I sighed and walked to the door.  I was stunned when I lifted the curtain and went in.

There was already a familiar man in the house, sitting on the ground with a small oil lamp lit in front of him.

It was a foreigner, a very, very old foreigner.  I recognized his face—Qiu Dekao.

“Sit down, old friend.”  The foreigner saw me come in and made an action, “We finally meet again.”

I took a deep breath and felt the cold sweat come down, thinking that I really couldn't avoid it, it came too fast. I glanced outside to see where Pan Zi and the others were.

Qiu Dekao immediately said: “When old friends meet, you don't need to be such a stranger. I'll leave after a little chat, don't bother your men.”

I didn't see Pan Zi, and the other guys were all talking and laughing.  I darkly scolded in my heart, turned to look at Qiu Dekao, forced a smile, and almost at the same time, saw something by his side.

It was a blade. And one I knew. That was the ancient blade Xiao Hua gave Poker-Face before they came here.

My heart thumped and my first thought turned out to be: I lost control again so quickly, I'm really a f.u.c.king failure.  My second thought wasn't a good one. How was this found? Did Qiu Dekao's people enter the bottom of the lake?

Qiu Dekao looked at me staring at the ancient blade and pushed it toward me. He spread his hands and said "It should be yours. My people picked it up by chance and now it's back to its owner.”

“Where did you get this?”  I walked over pretending to be calm and sat down to take a look. I knew there was absolutely no mistake. It was Poker-Face's blade.

It was very heavy, but compared with his original black sword, its weight was not so much that even I could barely lift it.  The body of the sword was covered with mud and didn't seem to have been wiped.

“Why ask when you know perfectly well?”  Qiu Dekao took a sip of tea. “Unfortunately, my men carried too much weight to bring the dead bodies out together. I pity your men, doing such a dangerous job and not even getting a funeral.  However, you Chinese do not seem to care about these things. This is an advantage that I have not been able to learn. “

“Dead bodies?” I felt something explode in my head, “Is he dead?”

“This was taken from a corpse. If you are talking about the owner, I think he's dead.”  Qiu Dekao was surprised to see my expression. “Why, is this person very important? Master Wu, you seldom showed this expression at the mention of death before. “

I looked at the blade as if I had entered a trance. My heart said, absolutely impossible, Poker-Face!

How did Poker-Face die?  If Poker-Face is dead, isn't Fatty no better off?  No way, no way, Poker-Face is completely insulated from death.  In this world, where else could he die?! He would never die.

After a moment, I immediately forced myself to calm down and look at the sword carefully.  I asked Qiu Dekao, “What were the characteristics of the body?”

Qiu Dekao was confused by my reaction. Maybe he had been trying to stand up to the Chinese with such a profound att.i.tude. He may have played mind games with Uncle Three before, but I am not Uncle Three after all and can't cooperate with him. I just wanted to know the answer to my question.

He looked at me in surprise, burst into laughter, took a sip of tea, and suddenly said, “Are you really Master Wu or am I mistaken?”

I went up and slapped his teacup away, grabbed him by the collar, and said, “Don't talk nonsense, answer my question.”

Qiu Dekao was very old. After he was surprised, his face darkened and he asked, “What's wrong with you?  You're crazy to be so rude to me. Aren't you afraid that I will disclose your secret? Wu Sanxing, where is your awe? “

f.u.c.k!  My heart said, who the f.u.c.k taught you Chinese, Yu Qiuyu?  But when I thought about it, I was so rude that he couldn't talk to me normally.  As soon as I came to this conclusion, I let him go and said, “Answer my question first. This is a serious matter.  Do you still remember what happened to you at Jiaozi Mountain?  Do you want to do it again? “

Qiu Dekao paused and tidied up his clothes, then asked, “Is it so serious?”

“Answer me, what did that person look like?”

Qiu Dekao said: “I don't know. My man found him.”

“Take me to see him and I'll ask him personally.”  I said.

Qiu Dekao stared at me for a few seconds and finding that my anxiety was not fake, he immediately stood up: “Okay, follow me.  However, his condition is very bad, so you have to be mentally prepared.”

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