The people who appeared in the stronghold were not the only ones who had come to pick Luo Lan up. Xu Man had also led a team to wait outside of Stronghold 88. It was as though he were afraid that something would go wrong in the process of rescuing Luo Lan.
It seemed that the brotherhood between Luo Lan and Qing Zhen was indeed strong. Qing Zhen was even willing to destroy an entire stronghold for Luo Lan.
When Ren Xiaosu first met Luo Lan at Stronghold 88, Luo Lan said Qing Zhen would definitely rescue him. Meanwhile, Qing Zhen had already made all the preparations for the rescue when he suddenly ordered the withdrawal of the Qing Consortium’s combat troops and left the Yang Consortium’s troops stranded at the front line.
Even if Qing Zhen had not been able to turn the tables on the Board in that chaotic struggle for power, this rescue mission would still have been carried out accordingly, with Qing Yi’s assistance, and the nanosoldiers would still have arrived at Stronghold 88 within the planned time.
On the day Qing Zhen trekked up to Mt. Ginkgo, he had laid out everything for Luo Lan before the snowstorm arrived.
Before they parted, Luo Lan was no longer trying to persuade Ren Xiaosu to go back to the Qing Consortium with them. He said to Ren Xiaosu, “Once you’ve all settled down in the valley, you can contact me. I’ll get Xu Man to send some supplies to you. Consider it my congratulations to you on your new home.”
“Sure!” Ren Xiaosu did not be overly polite as they bade each other farewell.
In this world, all good things had to come to an end. Ren Xiaosu and the others were about to head off towards that hope and light in their hearts.
On their way back to the valley, Yan Liuyuan asked, “Bro, what’s it like in the valley?”
Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “It’s a poor place where the homes are made out of mud. The land for growing crops has also been destroyed, and there’s a gang of bandits so poor that they only have guns, while there’s no one left for them to rob.”
Yan Liuyuan listened to this seriously but did not say anything.
Ren Xiaosu asked, “So are you still willing to go there?”
“Yes, of course.” Yan Liuyuan’s eyes gleamed as he said, “Is Big Sister Xiaojin there too? She…”
“Yeah, she’s also there.” Ren Xiaosu nodded and said, “Together with the bandits, the two of us usually dig for silt to make clay bricks to build houses with. We even give lessons to those bandits too.”
Yan Liuyuan asked, “Can I also build houses with y’all?”
“Of course you can,” Ren Xiaosu said.
Yan Liuyuan was not afraid that life would be tough. As long as there were hope, he would still be very happy even if he had to carry bricks and build houses.
Ren Xiaosu looked at Wang Yuchi, Jiang Wu, and the others behind him. Ms. Jiang had been very quiet ever since several of her female students left the group. No one knew what she was thinking about every day.
Ren Xiaosu said to Yan Liuyuan, “Let’s go! Bro will take you for a spin!”
“How are we going for a spin?” Yan Liuyuan wondered. “We don’t even have a car. I thought we were going to walk to the valley.”
Stronghold 88 was more than 400 kilometers away from the valley, with two strongholds between them. It would even take Ren Xiaosu three days to run back there.
However, Ren Xiaosu suddenly summoned the steam locomotive as though he had no intention of hiding this superpower. When Wang Fugui saw the train, he was stunned. “Xiaosu, this is… a train?!”
“That’s right.” Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, “Let’s go for a ride on the train!”
Everyone behind him started laughing. Other people would take beautiful women out for a spin in their luxury cars, but when it came to Ren Xiaosu, that became a train ride with a bunch of men, women, seniors, and teens.
Why was everything that came out of Ren Xiaosu’s mouth always a little different from imagination?
“Come on, step onto the train,” Ren Xiaosu shouted excitedly. With life full of hope now, he became particularly energetic and motivated in everything he did.
The group sat inside the steam train as they watched the tracks in front of them change from illusion into reality. At the same time, the tracks behind them vanished segment by segment after the train passed by. This moment felt just like a dream.
Xiaoyu asked, “Xiaosu, is this train your superpower?” To her memory, Ren Xiaosu had never revealed his superpowers before, and this was the first time he was showing it. “What does this power of yours do?”
Ren Xiaosu thought carefully. “I can use it to run some deliveries? When Stronghold 178 opens up the trade route in the future, I can go and pick up some goods to deliver. I wonder how much money I can make by delivering a trainload of goods?”
In reality, it was not about the money. Je just wanted to put into service what he had learned.
He wondered what Wang Congyang would think if he found out about this idea of his. Wang Congyang had probably not even thought about using his superpower to run a freight business.
This was mainly because supernatural beings had a limit to their willpower. Even Wang Congyang could only “drive” the train for half a day without carrying any load, and this was not even traveling at full speed.
But it was different for Ren Xiaosu. From the moment he copied the “Steam Locomotive” power, he already had 12 more carriages than Wang Congyang’s version. Moreover, he did not even feel his mental strength being drained while using it.
Actually, Ren Xiaosu had still not realized that his most advantageous skill was not in being able to copy other people’s superpowers but that he had a mysterious mental strength that greatly surpassed that of other supernatural beings.
It was extremely quick to travel using the steam locomotive without the constraint of doing so with one’s own limbs. Currently, there were no consortiums in the Northwest that had the power to stop supernatural beings. In fact, those consortiums were already busy up to the ears with their own matters. Meanwhile, the relationships between Ren Xiaosu and both the Qing Consortium and Stronghold 178 right now could also be considered as quite friendly, right?
As the steam locomotive crossed the river en route to the valley, the natural moat that it provided was navigated over as though it were flat ground. All of the worries everyone had were instantly cast out of their minds.
Ren Xiaosu reminded them, “When we get to the settlement, don’t mention this power of mine. Those bandits still can’t be trusted.”
Wang Fugui and the others nodded in agreement. They still understood the seriousness of the situation. When they were about to arrive at the valley, Ren Xiaosu put away the steam locomotive and led everyone there on foot.
When they finally arrived, the settlement was still in ruins. Yang Xiaojin, who had her sleeves rolled up, was helping the refugees carry the harvested corn and sweet potatoes to store them in the trucks left behind by Xu Man.
Her face was very dirty, and it did not look like she was the heiress of a consortium. She looked like she was a refugee her whole life.
When Yang Xiaojin turned around and saw Ren Xiaosu and the others walking over, she waved happily to them. Yan Liuyuan did not seem saddened by the sight of the ruins at all. He waved at Yang Xiaojin and shouted, “Sister-in-law!”
As this was the first time Yan Liuyuan had addressed Yang Xiaojin as “sister-in-law,” she was stunned.
Suddenly, Yan Liuyuan felt someone kick his butt. When he turned around, he saw Ren Xiaosu blushing furiously. “Stop messing around!”
Meanwhile, Yang Xiaojin had a calm expression on her face. This was mainly because the bandits had already been addressing her as “Boss Lady”[1] for the past few days, so she was used to it and was willing to be addressed this way.
Xiaoyu came over to Yang Xiaojin and took out a handkerchief to wipe her face. She smiled and said, “What a terrible shame for a nice girl like you! It’s akin to planting a beautiful flower in cow dung.
Ren Xiaosu said unhappily, “Hey, watch your words. Who’re you saying is cow dung?!”
Xiaoyu ignored him. Instead, she took out a gold bracelet and put it on for Yang Xiaojin. “Big Sis doesn’t have much money, and this bracelet is not heavy enough either, so please don’t mind it. When Big Sis has more money, I’ll buy another more expensive one for you.”
Yang Xiaojin did not decline it. Rather, she smiled gleefully and said, “Of course. I don’t mind, I like it a lot.”
[1] Boss Lady and Sister-in-law mean the same thing here.
