Zhou Yingxue made a show of her newfound authority at many places in Luoyang City. She took over all of the places Ren Xiaosu wanted her to take control of, as well as a number of places Ren Xiaosu did not ask her to.
It was not that she was hardworking but that she enjoyed the feeling of being in the limelight today.
The maidservant had led a very oppressive life ever since she was young. When she was a child, she was really poor and did not have any money. After joining the Yang Consortium, she still had to obey her superiors’ orders. But after she met Ren Xiaosu, not only did she become stronger and could do whatever she wanted, but others also started looking at her with reverence.
This made the maidservant feel like her life had been raised to a higher level.
However, some people were just this strange. Even though she had become stronger, her mentality was still that of a simple woman. She only wanted to go around and show off, but she did not think that since she was already so powerful, there was actually no need for her to act so flamboyantly.
Moreover, theoretically speaking, Ren Xiaosu could not at all beat her, and neither could Yang Xiaojin. However, Zhou Yingxue seemed to have gotten used to her role as a maid.
Ren Xiaosu and the others moved into the residence Luo Lan had prepared for them. In fact, the Qing Consortium was extremely rich, as they went around purchasing houses and land in Luoyang City. In the entire neighborhood of National Treasure Garden on Peony Avenue, the Qing Consortium alone had purchased eight villas.
During the war in the Southwest, many of the big shots from the Li Consortium and the Yang Consortium had fled here and concealed their identities, living in the properties they had bought here long ago.
On the same night, Zhou Yingxue returned with her subordinates. Her younger brothers behind her were carrying black boxes in their hands that were filled with external hard drives that contained surveillance footage spanning nearly a month. All of the surveillance footage in the city had been gathered together.
Ren Xiaosu looked at Wang Yuchi and the others. “The Central Plains have descended into chaos. From now on, no matter who tries to seize control of the world, Luoyang City will no longer be peaceful. Moreover, your identities have been made public this time. If anyone targets me in the future, I’m afraid that they’ll make a move on y’all as well. So I want y’all to bring these boxes back to the Northwest. Wang Yun’s already waiting at Stronghold 144, so you can just hand them over to him.”
It would take at least three days to drive from Luoyang City to Stronghold 144, and five days to Fortress 178. With Wang Yuchi and the others escorting the boxes, Ren Xiaosu could feel at ease.
If the students were intercepted, not even a regiment of soldiers could catch the eight of them once they transformed into armored beings and ran off into the wilderness.
Wang Yuchi looked at Ren Xiaosu. “Brother Xiaosu, we want to stay behind and help you.”
“No need.” Ren Xiaosu patted Wang Yuchi on the shoulder. “The surveillance footage is more important. We can only find the murderer of Mr. Jiang Xu if we send it back in time. Moreover, Uncle Fugui and the others miss y’all heaps. It’s time to reunite with them.”
But Zhou Yingxue suddenly said, “Why don’t I send the surveillance footage back to the Northwest instead? It would be much safer if I did it….”
To be honest, Zhou Yingxue found it really satisfying to strut around during the day. But when she came back at night and saw Yang Xiaojin here, she felt oppressed again. Therefore, Luoyang City was not as good as the Northwest. It was still more exciting to be in the Northwest where she would be far away from her master and mistress.
Ren Xiaosu shook his head. “No, you have to stay behind. I still need you to lock down the city.”
Zhou Yingxue hurriedly said, “Master, look at how cooperative the Qinghe Group is now. The garrison troops have gone onto the walls and started implementing martial law. All of the city gates have also been shut. You should also know the mastermind behind this is definitely one of the consortiums. If it’s really the Wang Consortium, Wang Yuchi and the others will be in great danger. That artificial intelligence of theirs feels pretty powerful.”
These words reminded Ren Xiaosu of something. Luo Lan had mentioned Zero might’ve taken control of the Qing Consortium’s nanosoldiers, especially the 2,000 nanosoldiers that supported the battle at Mt. Zuoyun.
If it were really Zero that killed Jiang Xu, the eight students would probably be in danger if the other party used those 2,000 nanosoldiers to intercept them to destroy the evidence.
Ren Xiaosu thought for a moment and said, “Alright, you can go with them then. Remember, don’t stop along the way. I need y’all to deliver these boxes to Wang Yun as quickly as possible.”
The maidservant broke into a smile. “Alright, Master, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter who tries to intercept us. They can’t stop us anyway.”
After that, the maidservant happily went off to pack her things.
With this, the boxes would definitely be safe. There were not many people in the world who could stop the maidservant, not even Zero.
After everything was handled, Ren Xiaosu finally heaved a sigh of relief. Next to him, Luo Lan said, “Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find the mastermind.”
“Mhm.” Ren Xiaosu nodded.
All he needed to do now was wait patiently. There had to still be people in Luoyang City they had not identified yet. Ren Xiaosu needed to turn Luoyang City upside down and find the answer.
Ren Xiaosu thought of something. “By the way, Luo Lan, aren’t you already a supernatural being? Why do you still need the black medicine?”
Luo Lan’s expression became strange. “Ahem, how can you bring that up in public?”
Ren Xiaosu chuckled. “What’s so secretive about it? There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Well, it’s like this. I think my body is a little frail.” Luo Lan explained, “Ever since I was 15, my urine started split-streaming. When I went to the hospital, the doctors could not find anything wrong with me. But when the doctors heard that I started split-streaming at such a young age, they said I might have inflammation or that my bladder control is not strong enough.”
Ren Xiaosu was taken aback. “No way. They diagnosed that just because you had a split stream?”
Luo Lan glanced to the side and saw that Yang Xiaojin and the others had gone outside to talk about something else, so he whispered, “It’s mainly because it splits a little too much….”
Ren Xiaosu also had a strange expression on his face. Just how many streams did his urine split into to make the doctors think Fatty Luo was frail?
Luo Lan hurriedly said, “That’s why I’ve always placed a lot of emphasis on improving my health by taking all kinds of tonics after that. However, my condition would sometimes get better and sometimes worse. The split-streaming happens on and off. It’s really strange. But after I took the black medicine, I felt extremely energetic and I didn’t have any problems during that period. Later, when I came to the Central Plains and stopped taking the black medicine, it started splitting again. That’s why I asked you for the black medicine.”
“Is that so?” Ren Xiaosu lowered his head and pondered it. “Let me ask you something. When did Zhou Qi awaken his power?”
“I don’t know.” Luo Lan said, “That guy’s really smart. We didn’t even know he had awakened his power for many years until one time I went to the reservoir for a swim. I had a cramp and had to be saved by him, which was when I found out he had awakened his powers.”
Ren Xiaosu nodded. “Then try to remember. Is it possible that the frequency of your urine split-streaming happened like this? When you were with Zhou Qi, you would experience the split-streaming. But when you were not with Zhou Qi, there was no split-streaming?”
Luo Lan was speechless.
Luo Lan suddenly looked at Zhou Qi, next to him. Then he threw a punch straight at him!
Before Zhou Qi knew what was going on, he was punched in the face. He roared, “Damn, fatty, have you gone crazy?”
The two of them started wrestling each other.
