The rising sun shatters the darkness!

Chapter 321: Relentless Pursuit (asking for monthly ticket)

Xu Shu fastened his belt, pulled up his collar, walked out of the gate of the Jinbaoshan Mine Office, and walked back to where he came from with a swagger.

This place is quite quiet, and some shops along the street are all closed.

Following my memory, after turning a few forks in the road, I entered the main road. Not far away, the sign of Home Inn was visible.

However, Xu Shu found that this place was not quite what he had imagined.

Based on the scenery he saw last night, he estimated that the town had about 50,000 people and should be very lively in the morning.

However, the expected scene of hawkers hawking their wares and the streets bustling with people did not appear.

Looking around, there were very few pedestrians. Instead, I saw a few men carrying large and small bags, walking in a hurry, rushing to squeeze into a full bus, and driving away on the street in a cloud of dust.

Where is the grandeur of last night’s “happy home in the wasteland”?

"It seems that most of the residents in this town are working social animals."

Xu Shu sighed.

This is normal. This town has been made so "prosperous" and the price level is higher than that in the D8B3 safe zone. If these people don't work hard every day to make money, where will they get the money to support their lives?

However, judging by the way these people are dressed, they all seem to be working in a mine.

Jinbaoshan Mine is the "leading enterprise" here, and it is also mentioned that Xinglongzhuang is the "leading enterprise" of the neighboring town.

The gangs provide "security" to deal with the monsters that occasionally come into the wasteland, creating a large shelter-type town, and ordinary people work in exchange for living supplies. It sounds good...

In this way, the reason why the wasteland in Penglai District can reach such a scale is because of this model.

Under this model, the convenient transportation of materials provided by the railway in the safe zone is secondary. The most important thing is to have a force of extraordinary people responsible for guarding the town.

Without them, it would be impossible to deal with the monsters that sneak into the border in time, and there would be no human towns.

Why is the D8B3 area not so prosperous?
It is because there are almost no extraordinary people stationed in the shelters in the wasteland, and there is only one occasionally.

Relying on patrol teams to patrol the wasteland will not solve the problem. To put it bluntly, with just the 1+11 combination, they can barely protect themselves. If they encounter a slightly stronger monster, they will be nothing but food for the taking.

It is necessary to keep a group of extraordinary people like we do here, and keep an eye on them every day to ensure the primary safety issue.

Just look at Jinbaoshan and you will know that in just one office, there are nearly a hundred well-trained ordinary thugs who are suspected to have been members of the patrol team.

There are also three second-level extraordinary people and more than ten first-level extraordinary people stationed there for a long time, never leaving.

It takes a scale of this magnitude to be able to be responsible for the basic security of a small town of tens of thousands of people in the wasteland.

If a monster sneaks in every now and then and causes the deaths of dozens or hundreds of ordinary people, everyone will be in panic and wish they could hide underground every day, and the foundation of the so-called market town will be destroyed.

However, the cost of maintaining such a large group of extraordinary people and thugs is really not low.

This cannot be supported by just a few kittens and puppies that sneak in from the wasteland, nor can it be supported by the output of ordinary people working. There must be enough things to match it, otherwise they would not be willing to stay here.

This reminds us of the two gangs, Xinglongzhuang and Jinbaoshan, which had a fierce conflict over the ownership of the "Yuntai Mine".

Xu Shu had to guess that the products of these mining areas must be quite valuable, at least more cost-effective than ordinary land development, in order to retain these gang members.

A gold mine, maybe?

For Xu Shu, the concept of mines was really a cultural blind spot. He only knew that mines needed to be refined and selected before they could be further produced into gold.

As for how many people a gold mine needs every day and how much gold it can produce, no one knows.

But I think it should be a mine with considerable output.

However, this has nothing to do with him.

Originally, Xu Shu wanted to follow up on the people in Xinglongzhuang and question them.

After all, the other party's behavior of dragging oneself into the dream without saying hello and trying to frame him was obviously a provocation.

We have no grudges against each other, but you are putting the blame on me. What's going on?
But now, after severely torturing the snake girl Xiaoguang and knowing the whole story, Xu Shu gave up this idea.

According to the snake girl, the sneak attack on Jinbaoshan office and the murder of Hong Qiangwei, the third supervisor of Jinbaoshan, were done by their master, Yan Xiong, the second in command of Xinglongzhuang.

The white snake Xiaoguang, and the silver snake Xiaoliang above, they are both Yan Xiong's "snake servants".

Among them, Silver Snake and Yan Xiong both targeted Red Rose.

Xiaoguang took the opportunity to settle her own personal grudge.

It turned out that she had suffered a great disaster. At that time, she was still a small snake monster hiding in the wasteland. She lived a carefree life. It was a great happiness for her to be able to secretly eat a living person every week.

As a result, one day a few years ago, their entire nest was seized by a hunter and sold on the black market.

A peripheral member of Xinglongzhuang, a young girl, bought them.

The Xinglongzhuang gang possesses a very unique secret skill, which is a rare "snake cultivation" that can cast a spell on a snake monster to make it its "companion species." It is said that this can greatly enhance its combat power, and they are well-known in the vicinity.

Many people want to join, but the prerequisite for joining is to have a fairly high "snake affinity".

This resulted in nearby basilisks being hunted frequently.

From then on, Xiaoguang's family went from being free basilisks to being slaves of humans, working like slaves.

Originally they were getting by just fine, and Xiaoguang's master was pretty good to them.

But things don't always go as planned. During a mission, the girl's parents were killed. The helpless girl was captured by her enemies and sold on the black market.

This time, they met the middle-aged man from before.

This man was a highly perverted person. After buying the girl, he not only defiled her, but also forced her to entertain customers to make money. The girl had a strong temper and could not bear the humiliation, so she committed suicide not long after.

In addition, this man actually defiled Xiaoguang's mother and insulted all of her sisters in front of her mother. Afterwards, he dug out their sperm, cut open their stomachs, took out their hearts, and drank them with wine. He is simply a beast among beasts.

Xiaoguang struggled for her life to escape from there, but this huge wasteland was filled with human towns. Where could a little snake monster like her find shelter?
So she was caught again in great shame.

The person who arrested her this time was still from Xinglongzhuang, but his status and identity were extraordinary. He was Yan Xiong, the second in command of Xinglongzhuang!
He could tell at a glance that Xiaoguang was actually a snake monster with quite good qualifications, so he took it in, trained it into a snake servant, and kept it in captivity.

Xiao Guang, who could eat a human being every day, grew rapidly in strength and made rapid progress in his cultivation. Within a year or two, he had the opportunity to reach the second level.

This time when she went out to perform the mission, she happened to meet her old enemy. The hatred for the murder of her mother was irreconcilable, so she deliberately ate a waitress in the Jinbaoshan Office, and took her place, went to seduce her enemy, and finally caused her death at her hands!

——To be honest, after hearing this story, Xu Shu found it difficult to comment for a moment.

Whether the man who raped the basilisk was a pervert or not was not an issue. He thought everyone had different hobbies and there was nothing much to say.

The people of Jinbaoshan are tyrannical and often do evil things such as forcing women of good families into prostitution. They deserve to die.

But how can Xinglong Village, which raises snakes and eats people, be a serious thing? The snake girl also said that everyone in that place is very kind, which is simply nonsense... But think about it, it is normal. A place that can make a snake monster feel kind must not be so kind to ordinary people.

The fight between the two gangs made Xu Shu feel that the wasteland of Penglai District... was not as peaceful as it seemed.

However, many troubles in the world can actually be solved with just one sentence.

For example, "None of your business."

For example, "It's none of my business."

Therefore, after careful consideration, Xu Shu decided not to pursue the matter of being inexplicably dragged into a dream through "hypnosis" by someone.

Although the other party tried to frame him, considering that both of the other party's snake servants died at his hands, Xu Shu just regarded it as interest paid.

Moreover, he felt that Yan Xiong was indeed a bit mentally ill.

Since you are here to challenge me today, it is obvious that you want to kidnap Red Rose so that you can take advantage of the subsequent negotiations with Jinbaoshan and obtain a larger share of the Yuntai Mine...

Wouldn't it be more useful if you just left your name honestly?
What does it mean to try to plot against me and frame me?
This is not illogical...

It's simply that he has a serious illness!
At this point, Xu Shu was too lazy to investigate further.

Anyway, he finally understood that no matter where the wasteland was, it was not good and there would be many problems. It was still more reliable in the safe zone!

However, is this safe zone really reliable enough?

Xu Shu smiled and patted the white snake's head at his waist. He already had a plan in mind to test it.

Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a cry in my ear: "Help... Help... Sir, save me..."

The sound was very close, coming right against the skin.

Xu Shu was stunned and quickly lifted up his clothes to take a look, only to find a small white light wrapped around his waist as a belt. An egg-sized snake head had been swallowed by the open illusory mouth of the Narrow-sleeved Guanyin and was struggling and calling for help.

"Stop it!" Xu Shu hurriedly held down the little jade Buddha, pried open Yin's lips, and rescued the white snake.

Suddenly, a hesitant cry came from the little jade Buddha:
"That damned unfaithful man has a new lover and has forgotten his old love. He even refused to let us enjoy a little snake. He is so heartless and makes me feel so sad."

The ups and downs of the voice were naturally caused by Empress Heishan, Gu Lanshan.

Once she took the lead, the others, including Ji Yu and Xiao Ai, also pretended to be pitiful, and the corpse dogs kept howling.

The Thousand-Year-Old Lady sneered gracefully: "A bunch of mediocre women."

This is still a wasteland, and they dare to come out and shout.

If they were in the safe zone, only Ji Yu would dare to speak.

Xu Shu was so annoyed by the noise that he said speechlessly, "Stop it. Am I that kind of person? I'll keep this white snake for my own use."

As soon as he spoke, the little jade Buddha immediately quieted down.

I don’t know whether the Yin and Yang gods really listened to it, or they were “silenced” by the Narrow-sleeved Guanyin.

After returning to the hotel, Xu Shu saw his adoptive parents and their family who were anxiously waiting for him.

"Brother, what took you so long? Did they give you any trouble?"

Zhou Shiyu was holding a fat orange baby in her arms, and Zhou's father and mother also asked over with concern on their faces.

"What a joke! What kind of status do I have now? They can't even curry favor with me. Let's stop talking nonsense and go to the safe zone first. Then I'll contact my former boss, the senior prosecutor from our small place. Maybe I can get a job here."

Xu Shu smiled and touched his sister's head to comfort her, then he took the orange cat Alice, put her on his back again, and gave her a small cookie as a reward.

"You smell like an alien species... Damn it, why did you bring a snake back? Don't let her get close to meow!" Alice's voice turned into a thread and entered Xu Shu's ears.

Such keen perception?

Xu Shu raised his eyebrows but ignored her.

One is on her waist, the other on her back, and there is a cat bag in between. I don’t know what she is screaming about.

Orange cats are just pretentious.

Next, Xu Shu did not delay and went straight to the station to buy tickets to the safe zone. Four tickets cost 1200 yuan.

This time, with the "pass" given by Jin Baoshan, he naturally was not troubled again.

After waiting for more than an hour, I saw the train coming into the station, but the second train was not scheduled to depart until noon and the ticket check time was fifteen minutes earlier, which meant I had to wait about another hour before I could get on the train.

Xu Shu went to a nearby food stall and bought some oden to serve as lunch for the family on the road.

While waiting, many people gathered in the waiting room. Some were fashionable gentlemen and ladies, some were dusty travelers, and some well-mannered scholars wearing glasses, but there were no more of the obviously strong workers who had appeared in the morning.

Everyone was a little wary of each other, and there was no scene of strangers chatting loudly like a family. Instead, it was quite quiet and not noisy at all.

Well, apart from the high prices, the residents are relatively honest and the public security is not that chaotic. This shows that although life is hard, there is still hope...

Just as this thought flashed through Xu Shu's mind, as the ticket checking number sounded, he saw a boy about ten years old, wearing very shabby clothes and with a pale face and thin body, and he couldn't help but feel moved.

The other person's appearance reminded him of himself when he was wandering on the streets.

It's just that I was younger at that time.

While pretending to look for his parents in the crowd, the boy carefully observed the passengers who were queuing for ticket checking and seemed a little crowded.

He observed for a long time and finally chose Zhou Shiyu, who was well-dressed, young and beautiful, and looked obviously unguarded.

His eyes rolled around as he approached his sister, reaching for the wallet behind her waist with his hand as a shield.

Tsk, kid, if I tell you that my sister is an unlucky high school student, who looks glamorous but actually has no more than one hundred yuan in cash in her bag, how would you respond?

Xu Shu burst out laughing, squeezed over, and stood between the boy and his sister with his tall and majestic figure.

This caused the other party to miss the best opportunity to strike, and missed the "hunting" operation. He could only watch Xu Shu and others enter the stairs and walk towards the platform, gritting his teeth in anger.

Just as the little boy was about to look for a new target in frustration, he was suddenly stunned to find that he had a handful of banknotes in his hand.

A total of eight hundred yuan, with a star tower pattern with obvious lines and golden "sun" spots on the banknotes, and also with a strong smell, some of which is the smell of sweat, and some of which is the smell of women's perfume.

The boy was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly held the money tightly, put it into his pocket, and left the waiting room quickly with a shifty look in his eyes.

He had to rush to the ticket hall to return his ticket as soon as possible while there was still time, which would allow him to get his ticket back with only a 20 yuan handling fee.

……

Oh oh oh!
Accompanied by the sound of the whistle, the train finally drove out of the platform and sped eastward with a clanging sound.

After a while, several very dedicated flight attendants started checking tickets.

In Carriage No. 12, Xu Shu looked at the approaching attendant and suddenly had an idea. He asked casually, "Beautiful lady, let me ask you, what will happen if someone sneaks in without paying the fare?"

"Of course you need to buy a ticket..." The woman, who was about 30 years old, was slightly stunned, then she smiled and opened her waist bag and said, "Brother, did you offend the local company and they won't issue you a ticket? Oh, it's okay, don't worry, you can buy a ticket here. Which station do you want to get off?"

"To the safe zone." Xu Shu replied.

The stewardess smiled even more: "So you are from another place! That's easy, 600 yuan a ticket, how many people do you want?

When Xu Shu heard this, he thought to himself, "My sister has an accent. How come I'm recognized as not a local again?" But at the same time, he felt relieved.

As expected, the railway was set up by the Bureau of Control. The real authority of local gangs like Jinbaoshan should actually be to help the Bureau of Control and inspect personnel, but they are just idling around...

But why did you double the price? Isn't that too heartless?
He resisted the urge to complain, took out his ticket and said, "No, I have a ticket."

"...Are you crazy? You have tickets but you're still asking?" The conductor was so angry that he checked the tickets while cursing and went to the next carriage.

Her smile did not disappear, but instead shifted to the faces of Xu Shu and his family.

Xu Shu immediately looked out the window, at the receding town, at the endless plains and jungles, and at the large fields of ripe yellow peaches and corns in the farmlands on both sides of the railway.

He suddenly felt happy, squinted his eyes, and hummed softly:

"We agreed to forget the mistakes we made in the melon field before dawn...years~months! Forgive me for constantly disturbing you~"

He felt the rare peaceful time, and the white snake around his waist shed tears of shame.

Then she spit out her tongue stealthily in a very regular pattern, as if she was responding to something in the distance.

Not long after, the arrival announcement was made in the carriage.

"Dear passengers, the next stop is Xinglongzhuang. Passengers getting off please prepare in advance..."

As the broadcast sounded, the car, which was not particularly fast to begin with, slowed down even further.

At this moment, Xu Shu suddenly pricked up his ears and looked up out the window.

I saw a figure in a black robe slowly leaning out from the car window. It was a head almost completely covered with fancy tattoos, clinging to the window like a python.

He looked inside the car, at Xu Shu sitting on the seat, and his mouth stretched back to the back of his head, revealing a cruel smile, and he said with his mouth shape:
"Got you!"

(End of this chapter)