Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Could it be the Zong Consortium? Didn’t you say that the bandits originated because of them?”
Yang Xiaojin shook her head. “No, it seems the forces supporting the bandits with their resources are likely to be against the Zong Consortium. That’s also why the Zong Consortium is helpless about the situation. The people behind it are especially hard to seek out. It’s like they’re rats or something.”
Ren Xiaosu had been confused. But when Yang Xiaojin mentioned the word “rat,” he suddenly thought of Luo Lan for some reason. Although there was an extreme difference in their body size, they had one thing in common, and that was how they loved scuttling around in the sewers.
At this moment, Ren Xiaosu felt he could guess who was supporting the bandits to gross the Zong Consortium out. If it was really as he had guessed, Qing Zhen and Luo Lan’s foresight would be much greater than the Yang Consortium’s.
After all, the Yang Consortium had only thought of forming an alliance with the Zong Consortium in the past one or two years, while the bandits had been troubling the Zong Consortium for five to six years.
If it were really Qing Zhen and Luo Lan who were behind this, just how scheming would they have to be? What were they really after?
Of course, Ren Xiaosu was unaware of the entire story behind the change in leadership at the Qing Consortium, nor did he know how long Qing Zhen had been planning for it.
And now, it seemed like the Zong Consortium truly had a problem with the bandits. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sought the Yang Consortium and Stronghold 178’s help. After all, they were the ones who developed the bandits at the beginning, but the issue got out of control in the end. If the problem were leaked, wouldn’t they become the butt of the joke?
Ren Xiaosu shared his assumptions with Yang Xiaojin. “I think it’s the Qing Consortium who’s secretly helping them.”
“It doesn’t really matter.” Yang Xiaojin shook her head and said, “It doesn’t really have anything to do with me.”
“Your relationship with the Yang Consortium…” Ren Xiaosu hesitated for a moment but did not ask further.
“You don’t need to be apprehensive.” Yang Xiaojin said, “The Yang Consortium is starting to decline, and family ties are something that’s become dispensable. Let’s head to Mt. Daban now. There’s some small bandit lairs and refugee settlements congregated there.”
“Are you familiar with this region?” Ren Xiaosu asked.
“I’m pretty familiar with the outer perimeter of the valley.” Yang Xiaojin said, “I came by here frequently some years back.”
Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. “What were you doing here?”
“I came to practice shooting,” Yang Xiaojin answered.
Ren Xiaosu realized Yang Xiaojin had actually used the bandits out here in the wilderness for target practice. It was no wonder Ren Xiaosu felt like Yang Xiaojin was sometimes very similar to him. They were like the grass that grew in the wilderness.
“Would you like to learn?” Yang Xiaojin looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, “I can teach you.”
Ren Xiaosu’s eyes twitched. “My marksmanship is also quite good.”
“I don’t know what kind of power you have that you can actually learn the skills of others directly,” Yang Xiaojin said, “but you didn’t manage to learn it completely, right? Your breathing technique is wrong.”
Ren Xiaosu smiled. As expected of someone with Perfect Firearms Proficiency, she immediately noticed his shortcomings at a single glance. Although he had managed to copy her proficiency, there had to be a huge gap in proficiency between the Advanced Firearms Proficiency and Perfect Firearms Proficiency.
He stopped acting unreasonable. “How do you plan to teach me?”
“I’ll teach you through actual combat,” Yang Xiaojin said calmly.
Ren Xiaosu muttered, “And I was thinking you would place your hand on mine to teach me.”
“What?” As Ren Xiaosu’s voice was too soft, Yang Xiaojin could not hear him.
Ren Xiaosu said, “Nothing!”
Yang Xiaojin looked at him and asked, “How should I make myself look more like a refugee?”
“You’ve asked the right person. You can’t wear this cap anymore.” Ren Xiaosu said, “What refugee wears a cap?”
Yang Xiaojin decisively took off her cap. Ren Xiaosu was stunned as he rarely saw her without her cap.
“And then?” Yang Xiaojin asked.
Ren Xiaosu examined her and said, “Your hair is too neat, but you don’t have to make it too untidy. You can just leave it slightly disheveled.” Although her clothes seemed rather refugeelike, some details were still quite different upon closer inspection. As refugees tended to cut their own hair, everyone’s hairstyle was always unkempt.
But after he finished saying that, he saw Yang Xiaojin take out a dagger from her sleeve and cut off her hair without hesitation. After that, she ruffled it a little.
Yang Xiaojin originally had a chin-length bob that was neat and tidy. But after she cut it off with the dagger, her hair became disheveled.
Although she would return to her original appearance in another month or two, Ren Xiaosu was surprised by how Yang Xiaojin did not care about her image just so that she could look more like a refugee. He knew that some girls in the stronghold cherished their hair as much as their lives. This Yang Xiaojin was really willing to go all out to get things done.
Yang Xiaojin gave a few slight shakes of her head and said, “What about now? Do I look more like one now?”
“Mhm, that’s more like it.” Ren Xiaosu held in his laughter and said, “Your face still looks a little clean, as well as the lining of your clothes. But never mind that. Based on what you said earlier, it will still take us another day before we arrive at Mt. Daban. After we travel in the dusty wilderness for a day, we won’t be clean anymore.”
“OK.” Yang Xiaojin nodded. “Let’s come up with a narrative first. I don’t want us to blow our cover when we find a human settlement and someone asks us about our relationship. H-How old are you?”
It seemed like this was the first time the two of them were asking each other the more personal questions. They had never discussed these matters before. Back at the Jing Mountains, they talked about what might lie in the mountains. When they were at Stronghold 109, they talked about the Li Consortium’s breakthrough in their research. These days, they discussed the banditry that was going on in the valley. Somehow, they had never really gotten to know each other. It was as though they were not too worried about that.
Ren Xiaosu vaguely remembered that Yang Xiaojin should be 18, while he was 17. If he told the truth, he would probably have to address her as big sister, and that would be quite unfortunate for him.
Ren Xiaosu gave it some consideration. “I’m 20 this year.”
Yang Xiaojin nodded. “Well, I’m 21, so you can just call me Big Sis. Don’t have a slip of tongue when we encounter other people.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless.
Wasn’t she fucking lying through her teeth? In the past, Ren Xiaosu was always the one who tricked others, so how did he end up getting tricked by someone else today!
“You’re 21?” Ren Xiaosu said unconvinced, “Take out your ID card and let me have a look.”
“I lost it.” Yang Xiaojin said nonchalantly, “Enough, you don’t have to mind those details. You were the one who lied first.”
Ren Xiaosu could only take the loss silently. Even as the two of them advanced northwest, he was still thinking about how to get back at her.
In the vast wilderness, the two of them were two tiny black dots, and the hills on the land were waves rolling across the ground.
During the evening, their shadows were stretched extremely long on the ground. The sparse clouds above their heads also extended all the way into the distance and connected with the ground.
At night, the sea of stars in the sky was so dense that they looked like they could be touched with an outstretched arm.
Yang Xiaojin said while hurrying along, “I’m hungry.”
Ren Xiaosu echoed, “Me too.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
“Hey, why didn’t you bring any food with you?”
“I’m a refugee now. How can a refugee have any food?” Yang Xiaojin justified. “And with you following me, there isn’t a need to bring any food either.”
