When Ren Xiaosu saw the Great Hoodwinker’s bright smile, he was a little at a loss for words.
It had crossed his mind before that he might bump into Luo Lan and Zhou Qi. After all, Luo Lan was still strutting around the Wang Consortium’s territory that was not far from here.
He had also thought he might encounter Li Shentan as well. After all, that guy always enjoyed a good commotion.
But Ren Xiaosu had not expected to meet the Great Hoodwinker here.
It seemed that all the people in the room were waiting for the Anjing House members to appear before setting off for the Sacred Mountains together.
Ren Xiaosu pulled the Great Hoodwinker out the door and whispered, “What are you doing here? Don’t you know that this place is very dangerous?”
The Great Hoodwinker chuckled and said, “This is my main job. Now that something so big has happened in the Central Plains, I have to do some intelligence gathering for Fortress 178, right?”
Then he looked at Yang Xiaojin. “You must be Ms. Yang Xiaojin, right? As expected, your extraordinary classiness makes you really compatible with our future commander. Ms. Yang, are you interested in settling down in Fortress 178? We’ll allocate free housing for you.”
The moment the Great Hoodwinker saw Yang Xiaojin, he immediately had an idea. Now that Wang Fugui was already committed to working on the trade route business with Fortress 178, if he could also convince Yang Xiaojin to go to the Northwest as well, could Ren Xiaosu still get away?
Yang Xiaojin looked at Ren Xiaosu. “Future commander?”
“That’s right.” The Great Hoodwinker beamed and said, “Doesn’t that sound really impressive? After Commander Zhang retires, he’ll take over as the commander of our Fortress 178. Now that you know this, don’t you want to go to the Northwest even more?”
Honestly, Yang Xiaojin really did not expect Ren Xiaosu’s current status in the Northwest to have gotten so prominent. She grinned at Ren Xiaosu. “I’ve never heard you mention this before.”
“Why should I bring that up? He’s just kidding you,” Ren Xiaosu said.
When he said that, Yang Xiaojin immediately understood. It was no wonder the Great Hoodwinker was being so attentive towards him. So it turned out Ren Xiaosu had still not agreed yet.
If it was anyone else, they would probably be too excited to even sleep. That was a force that controlled the entire Northwestern region, after all. Besides, if it were anyone else that got chosen by Fortress 178 to be their future commander, they would surely be bragging about it constantly in the presence of any girls, as though they were afraid no one would know about it.
However, Ren Xiaosu was not like that. He did not mention it, nor boast about it to Yang Xiaojin. He was just different from the others.
But Ren Xiaosu was more concerned about other matters at the moment. He said to the Great Hoodwinker, “I feel that the Pyro Company might’ve already prepared a backup plan this time. It might look like a one-off response against the Anjing House’s operation, but I somehow feel that the Pyro Company is doing this to eliminate the Anjing House, their long-term adversary. I have my reasons for going, but you don’t, so I suggest that you stay put here.”
Previously, Ren Xiaosu was hell-bent on intercepting the Pyro Company to save Liuyuan. His brother, his only kin, had been kidnapped by someone, so it was inevitable he would get anxious and unsettled. Ren Xiaosu was not a sage, after all.
However, Yang Xiaojin’s reminder made him start thinking about this matter calmly. The Pyro Company obviously already knew what the Anjing House was up to, so they had prepared a decoy and split up their troops. In that case, could the Pyro Company lay any further ambushes for them inside the Sacred Mountains?
The Anjing House had already revealed their cards, but no one knew what the Pyro Company was up to yet.
The Great Hoodwinker said, “I’ve experienced too many dangers in my life. Future Commander, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a tough one. Moreover, I’m also worried about you going in just like that. If something were to happen to you in the Sacred Mountains, how am I going to answer to the commander and Wang Fengyuan?”
“I’ll be fine,” Ren Xiaosu said firmly.
“That won’t do either.” The Great Hoodwinker said awkwardly, “If I don’t go, you guys can’t go either.”
Ren Xiaosu wondered, “Why?”
At this moment, five people walked in from the hallway of the bomb shelter. It turned out they were none other than the five quails Yang Xiaojin had in her scope earlier. However, they did not recognize Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin. During the attack on the Pyro Company’s convoy, Yang Xiaojin and Ren Xiaosu never once revealed themselves.
The leading supernatural being looked at the Great Hoodwinker and asked, “You must be our guide, right?”
The Great Hoodwinker chuckled and said, “Yes, that’s right. But let me say this first. I’ve only been to the outer periphery of the Sacred Mountains, so I’m not really sure about the situation on the inside.”
Ren Xiaosu was speechless.
Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt really uncomfortable. So it turned out the Great Hoodwinker was the guide Yang Xiaojin was referring to? The person who was said to have traveled around the periphery of the Sacred Mountains?
It was no wonder this fellow had appeared here. So it turned out the Great Hoodwinker did not only wander around the Northwest all these years, but he had also explored most of the Central Plains already.
The supernatural being frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “Whether or not you’ve gone into the Sacred Mountains before, it doesn’t matter. You’ll still have to complete the journey with us before you can leave. How else would I know if you’ll leak our information and route to others?”
The Great Hoodwinker said a little reluctantly, “I’m just a normal person, not some superhuman. Aren’t you sending me to my death by asking me to go into the Sacred Mountains with you all? If you insist that I have to travel into the Sacred Mountains, I’d rather not earn this money.”
Ren Xiaosu nearly rolled his eyes at the side. He did not believe the Great Hoodwinker was a normal person at all. How could a normal person possibly survive through so many dangers?
He was obviously putting on an act here!
The supernatural being standing across from him pondered things for a moment and said, “I also won’t insist that you go into the Sacred Mountains with us for nothing. Our team can pay you more. We’ll add one million yuan to your compensation.”
The Great Hoodwinker hesitated for a long time before reluctantly agreeing to it. He acted so convincingly that it felt like he was really afraid of dying.
To the Great Hoodwinker, money was not important. What was most important was that these people believed he was just a normal person.
It was not Yang Xiaojin and Ren Xiaosu’s exclusive right to hide their identities while waiting for an opportunity to strike. Most people would also choose to do so in an unfamiliar environment or group.
The Great Hoodwinker was only going with them to gather intel, not to die.
Then the supernatural being looked at Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin. “And the two of you are?”
“Oh, we’re both C-rank hitmen. We came here after receiving the text,” Ren Xiaosu answered. “She’s my partner.”
The assistant behind the supernatural being started laughing. “Is there even a need for C-rank hitmen to have partners?”
Ren Xiaosu said nonchalantly, “It’s precisely because we’re weak that we need to find a partner.”
Yang Xiaojin, who was next to him, said nothing. Both of them were calm and collected people. When they made their moves, each of them was more unscrupulous than the other. Since they were planning to hide in the group for now, it would, of course, be better for them to keep a low profile.
The supernatural being introduced himself, “My name is Cheng Yu, and I’ll be leading you all into the Sacred Mountains this time. Actually, I wasn’t expecting that C-rank hitmen would also participate in this mission. I hope there aren’t too many people of your level on the team. I also hope you two won’t be a burden during our infiltration into the Sacred Mountains. I’ll make myself clear: If you can’t keep up with the pace of our march, you’ll be left behind.”
Ren Xiaosu and Yang Xiaojin looked at each other. “Alright.”
“Let’s go inside then,” Cheng Yu said with a frown. He wondered why the Anjing House would mass send those texts to the B and C-rank hitmen as well? Were they screwing around with them?
