The people in Stronghold 178 had all mocked Xu Xianchu for being a jinx. But later on, everyone realized it wasn’t Xu Xianchu when nothing happened to Stronghold 178 since he arrived.
Later, they heard from him that he only managed to join Stronghold 178 thanks to a recommendation letter by his friend. Otherwise, he couldn’t have even gotten inside Stronghold 178. And it was this friend who was the most unfortunate one. Whichever stronghold he went to would surely collapse. After Xu Xianchu came to Stronghold 178, he had only ever mentioned this friend of his. So Zhou Yinglong quickly put two and two together.
While they were traveling here, Zhou Yinglong thought Ren Xiaosu was a normal refugee. On one hand, Ren Xiaosu’s act was very believable. After all, he really was a refugee to begin with. On the other hand, the information Ren Xiaosu mentioned regarding the refugee settlement matched up with what Zhou Yinglong had asked.
So why had his status changed all of a sudden?
Wang Shengyin pursed her lips. She whispered to Wang Shengzhi, “Brother, he lied to us. He’s too deceptive.”
After saving Ren Xiaosu, Wang Shengyin was the one who stitched up his wound. She cleaned off the dirt on his face too. She had thought Ren Xiaosu was a pitiful refugee who looked rather honest. But in the end, he didn’t speak a single truthful word the entire trip.
Women hated being lied to. In just an instant, Wang Shengyin’s impression of Ren Xiaosu had gone down the drain. The only thing she did not expect was that Ren Xiaosu actually had contact with Stronghold 178.
Wang Shengzhi smiled indifferently and said, “He’s not exactly deceptive. It’s quite normal that he didn’t trust us. It must be this cautiousness that helped him to survive in the wilderness. But at his age, I wonder what he’s been through to constantly be so wary.”
“He still lied!” Wang Shengyin got unhappy.
At this moment, Zhang Jinglin got out of a car. There was also a group of people from the convoy standing guard next to him. Zhang Jinglin said to them with a laugh, “You guys don’t have to be so uptight. Everyone here is an old friend.”
But no matter what he said, the burly men behind still followed him closely. Someone mumbled, “What if someone tries to harm you?”
Wang Shengzhi was smiling as he watched this scene play out. He was a little envious of Zhang Jinglin’s high status in Stronghold 178. He was clearly a frail scholar, yet he was being supported by this group of burly Northwestern men.
The people following Zhang Jinglin were all fully armed and looked extremely menacing. If they were deployed to their stronghold in the Central Plains, the AI might think they were bad guys and tell the Public Order Division to arrest them all.
Zhang Jinglin suddenly saw Ren Xiaosu as well. He frowned and greeted Wang Shengzhi briefly before coming over to Ren Xiaosu. “What happened? Where’s Liuyuan? Where’s Xiaoyu?”
Just like Xu Xianchu, Zhang Jinglin lifted Ren Xiaosu’s shirt and took a look at his wound. “It’s a puncture. Could this be the same as the wounds some of our soldiers suffered when they got ambushed?”
Someone behind him leaned forward to have a look. “It’s been stitched up, so I can’t tell. Why don’t we remove the stitches and get a better look?”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless. Who the hell would suggest removing the stitches before a wound healed just so they could have a look?
Zhang Jinglin asked seriously, “Who did this?”
“It was the Zong Consortium’s Zong Cheng.” Ren Xiaosu did not hold back anymore now that Zhang Jinglin was here. They’d known each other for many years and were very good friends. He said, “We had planned on heading to Mt. Kushui to settle down there. But along the way, we encountered Zong Cheng, who led his men in an ambush.”
Zhang Jinglin frowned. “Zong Cheng!”
“Mr. Zhang, do you know Zong Cheng?” Ren Xiaosu was stunned for a moment.
“I do.” Zhang Jinglin said, “Zong Cheng and Zong Xiang are the cream of the crop among the younger generation of the Zong clan. It seems like the higher-ups of the Zong Consortium intend to let Zong Xiang take control of the Zong Consortium, while Zong Cheng will be Zong Xiang’s Shadow. They’re biological brothers.”
Ren Xiaosu remembered the clean-shaven young man named Zong Xiang. He was practically close enough to him that he could have killed him. But it wasn’t exactly a missed opportunity either. By killing Zong Xiang, Zong Cheng would probably get alerted. There were still many more opportunities in the future to kill them together.
However, Zhang Jinglin said, “Zong Cheng is a supernatural being. His superpower seems to allow him to make someone into his puppet, but we still can’t verify that as he keeps a very low-profile and doesn’t act predictably.”
Ren Xiaosu frowned. If Zong Cheng were really as Zhang Jinglin had said, could it be that Zong Cheng had attacked them because he wanted to control him? No! If he wanted to control him, he wouldn’t have tried to kill him. So that meant… he was trying to gain control of Yang Xiaojin?
Wang Shengzhi and the others had been cast aside. Wang Shengyin stared blankly as Zhang Jinglin and Xu Xianchu stood around Ren Xiaosu. Was this young man so highly revered in Stronghold 178? What the hell? They had picked up this young man on the road. How did he turn out to be such an important person? They really did pick him up by chance!
Wang Shengyin turned to look at Zhou Yinglong. “You don’t know this Ren Xiaosu? Isn’t he from Stronghold 178?”
Zhou Yinglong was also a little confused. “I didn’t know he knew the commander either.”
Moreover, Zhang Jinglin’s attitude towards Ren Xiaosu seemed to be a little special. Now that Zhou Yinglong was thinking about it, Xu Xianchu was also recommended to Stronghold 178 by Ren Xiaosu, wasn’t he?
At this moment, Zhang Jinglin whispered something to Ren Xiaosu. Then he turned around and said with embarrassment to Wang Shengzhi, “I’m sorry, Shengzhi, but Ren Xiaosu is my student. I wasn’t expecting to see him here, and he’s even seriously injured too.”
Wang Shengzhi said in surprise, “He’s your student? Then why isn’t he a member of Stronghold 178?”
Zhang Jinglin replied, “This student is a little more peculiar. Let’s head back to Stronghold 178 first before I fill you in further.”
Zhou Yinglong suddenly muttered, “It’s over, we’re done for. The strongholds he’s been to have all collapsed. Our Stronghold 178 has collected two of these great jinxes together. And one of them is even a student of the commander!”
The burly man next to him asked, “Old Zhou, what are you mumbling about?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing…”
When they set off again, Ren Xiaosu was still sitting in Wang Shengyin’s vehicle. But he noticed that something was off about Wang Shengyin’s expression. She looked to be sulking. However, Ren Xiaosu did not give any explanation and only said, “Thank you for saving me. I had no choice, so please understand.”
Wang Shengyin pursed her lips and said, “Yeah, that’s right, you’re a big shot, so of course you had to hide your identity to prevent others from harming you.”
Ren Xiaosu did not say anything further. He just looked out of the window. Zhang Jinglin had told him earlier that they should head to Stronghold 178 first. Stronghold 178 had some ideas for dealing with the Zong Consortium. If he wanted to seek revenge, he could only rely on Stronghold 178 for now. Even the Qing Consortium couldn’t divert their attention as they were busy defending against the Yang Consortium’s desperate counterattacks.
Zhang Jinglin knew exactly what Ren Xiaosu wanted. So he only needed one sentence to convince him.
All of a sudden, Wang Shengyin asked in a soft voice, “Did something happen to your family as well? Was it caused by the Zong Consortium?”
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu continued staring out of the window as he grunted a response.
“Whatever, you’re forgiven.” Wang Shengyin said, “Don’t feel too sad. We’ll help you find your friends in the Central Plains.”
Ren Xiaosu sighed. A woman’s mood was really complicated and volatile. Their attitude could switch faster than flipping through a book!
