Atlas of Heaven and Man

After exiting the Patrol Bureau headquarters, Chen Chuan stood in front of the wide gate and pondered for a moment. Since deciding to confront the Mutual Aid Society last time, he hadn't returned to the company or made any phone calls. The company wasn't far from here, so he should go take a look.

He remembered that Ren Shu and those other wealthy young men had some business dealings with powerful families, even relying on them to some extent. However, in Yangzhi City, anyone wanting to do business had to go through those people.

Ren Shu and the others were actually disciples who were not highly valued by their families. Therefore, they were neither cultivated as heirs to the family business nor sent to the Wu Yi Academy, which is why they chose to start their own company.

He wondered if they had been implicated in this matter.

Just as he was about to leave, he saw a line of Patrol Bureau vehicles driving out of the headquarters. Suddenly, a car window rolled down, and someone leaned out to greet him: "Brother Chen?"

Chen Chuan recognized Xu Gui, the patrolman he had met at the station after the training ended a few days ago, and responded, "Oh, it's Brother Xu."

"Alone? Where are you headed? How about Brother Xu gives you a ride?"

Chen Chuan asked, "Brother Xu, aren't you on official business?"

Xu Gui said, "It's nothing. I'm under orders to investigate and seize the assets of certain people. Those things aren't going anywhere, so there's no rush."

Chen Chuan politely declined, "No, thank you, Brother Xu. I'm just going a short distance."

"Alright, give my regards to Captain Nian." Xu Gui didn't insist, finally glancing at his colleagues in the car and saying loudly before retracting his head. Soon, the armored vehicle drove away in a cloud of dust.

After leaving, Chen Chuan walked only a few blocks before arriving near the company building. The security guards were pleasantly surprised to see him and opened the gate, saying, "Mr. Chen, Manager Ren and the others are here too."

Chen Chuan was a little surprised, "Oh, they are?"

"Yes, they're all here."

As Chen Chuan entered the company building, Ren Shu came out of the elevator, looking delighted, and quickly walked towards him. Ren Shu said with slight excitement, "Mr. Chen, it's really great that you're okay." Then, he said apologetically, "When we heard about your situation, we wanted to support you, but we were restricted by our families."

Xiao Jiang beside him said, "Brother Chen, you don't know, but when our families heard that we were associated with you, they immediately told us to remove your name from the company and warned us not to associate with you in the future."

"Who listens to them?"

"Exactly! They even threatened to cut off our funding and make us close the company. Pshaw, we used our own pocket money and assets given to us by our elders to start the company. Did they really think we were using their money?"

"If you ask me, Brother Chen did a great job. Shao Xiaobie and his group always look down on people, never giving them a second glance. They disgust me."

The others echoed his sentiments, apparently having been subjected to such treatment often. Mainly because their family elders often compared them to Wei Jun, Jiang Wei, and Shao Xiaobie, which they were already fed up with.

Chen Chuan looked at them and saw that they didn't seem to be affected yet, but things might not be so easy going forward. He reminded them, "Brother Ren, the situation might change soon. Be careful."

Because it was almost lunchtime, he had a meal with everyone at the company. Afterwards, he left the company and returned to his aunt's house in the car driven by Little Wei.

From the moment he returned, the sound of Patrol Bureau patrol cars could be heard outside, lasting all night.

When Chen Chuan turned on the radio in the morning, the news reported that certain powerful families in Yangzhi City were colluding with Molan Company to seize water sources, intending to use toxic substances to hold the people around Yangzhi City hostage against the government.

Hearing this news, he was certain that the Molan Company's matter should have come to an end.

He believed that after today, all the upper-class people who had colluded with Molan Company would be denounced by everyone. From then on, Yangzhi City would turn over a new leaf and usher in a new chapter.

After practicing his fist outside, the telephone rang in the living room. He went to pick it up, and Cheng Zitong's happy voice came through: "Xiao Chuan, have you heard the news? Molan Company has fallen."

Chen Chuan said, "Yes, Teacher, I know. I listened to the radio this morning too."

Cheng Zitong said with a laugh, "School will start in a few days. I've already prepared your application materials. Once school starts, you can apply for a spot in Central City. If there are no changes, it should be approved soon."

Chen Chuan raised his head and said seriously, "Thank you, Teacher."

Cheng Zitong let out a hearty laugh: "You student, you're just too polite. Alright, you've been too stressed these past few days. Since there are still a few days before school starts, take a good rest. We'll talk more when we meet."

After Chen Chuan hung up the phone, he walked out of the room and stood on the steps at the door, looking up at the morning sun shining down from above, watching the lush green leaves swaying gently in the wind, feeling a rare sense of relaxation in his body and mind.

He reached out his hand, watching his hand enter the sunlight, feeling the breeze blowing, and then slowly clenched it. His aunt's voice came from the living room, "Chan'er, time to eat."

"Time to eat, time to eat!" His younger cousins' voices came.

Chen Chuan replied, "Okay, I'm coming."

From inside the room came the voices of Nian Fuli and his aunt:

"I have things to do at the bureau today, I have to leave early."

"I know, remember, one pack of cigarettes a day, no more."

"Alright, you say it every day, my ears are calloused."

"You never remember, so I have to say it more."

Chen Chuan smiled, took his hand back, and turned to walk into the room.

After breakfast, Nian Fuli went to the bureau, and the aunt also took her younger cousins out, while Chen Chuan stayed alone in his room reading, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

Around noon, a voice came from outside: "Is Xiao Chuan home?"

Chen Chuan recognized the voice as that of the owner of the small shop at the entrance of the alley, who was also a member of the police bureau's family, and whose son often helped deliver things to the house.

He walked out from inside, opened the door and asked, "Aunt Qiu, what's the matter?"

Aunt Qiu was a middle-aged woman of about fifty years old. She said, "Xiao Chuan, I saw you come back yesterday, and I was thinking you must be home. There's a phone call for you. I asked him who he was, and he said he practiced martial arts with you. I thought you were a student of the Wuyi Academy, but the person didn't sound like he was from Wuyi, so I asked him again…"

Chen Chuan smiled and said, "Thank you, Aunt Qiu. I know who it is," without waiting for her to finish.

"You know already? Oh well, I thought so." Aunt Qiu stopped speaking, feeling somewhat unsatisfied, and walked with him towards the entrance of the alley, asking again, "By the way, is your aunt home today? The pattern of the sweater she knitted last time was really nice. I'll have to ask your aunt to knit another one for me someday… Nian Da… Nian D队 I saw him leave earlier than usual…"

Chen Chuan responded to her rambling conversation while walking to the front of the small shop. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello, this is Chen Chuan. Is this Brother Lu?"

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He guessed that the caller should be Lu Ke, because Yu Gang had a criminal record, so he couldn't leave his aunt's phone number. Therefore, he had left the phone number of the small shop at the entrance of the alley before, and he had only given it out once.

As expected, Lu Ke's voice came from the other end, "Brother Chen, it's me… Brother Chen, are you free to come over? Teacher wants to see you. Same place, Fist Home…"

At this moment, Chen Chuan suddenly remembered what Lao Feng had said about the Iron Chain Gang when he came back yesterday. He didn't ask too much on the phone, "Okay, I'll be right over."

After hanging up the phone, he thanked Aunt Qiu next to him, returned to the courtyard, pushed out the bicycle he hadn't ridden, and rode towards Fist Home.

Since Yu Gang had joined the Iron Chain Gang, he seemed to not want him to be involved in anything, so he didn't contact him again. Later, he went to look for him once, but he couldn't see him. Thinking about it, it's been almost a year since then.

A quarter of an hour later, he arrived at the entrance of the Fist Home alley, got off his bike, and walked in. He saw Lu Ke sitting on an old tire, as if waiting for him. When he saw him, the latter immediately stood up, but after seeing Chen Chuan clearly, he was stunned for a moment.

Chen Chuan had grown taller in the past year, and as a Second Threshold Fighter, he had even killed two Third Threshold Fighters. His energy and spirit were completely different from before, so he almost didn't recognize him at first glance.

When Chen Chuan saw him, he smiled and said, "Brother Lu, long time no see."

Seeing that familiar smile, Lu Ke then walked up. He also smiled, came up and slapped his hand, then his eyes darkened, and he said, "Master he…"

Chen Chuan looked into the building and asked, "What's wrong with Teacher Yu?"

Lu Ke pursed his lips, turned his head and walked into the room. Chen Chuan also followed. When he got inside, he saw Yu Gang sitting in a chair. His face was a little pale, and his originally strong body looked a little thin. He only had one arm left. Both his legs and the other arm were gone, and there was still bright red blood on the gauze wrapped around them.

He said, "Teacher Yu, you…"

Yu Gang was very calm, "It's nothing. Yesterday, I was responsible for blocking the Molan Company with the people from the Iron Chain Gang. Since I promised others to do things, and the Iron Chain Gang also helped me solve the problem, then I should also have something to repay."

Lu Ke said with red eyes, "Master crawled back with one hand last night."

Yu Gang shook his head and said, "Compared to those who died there, I'm already much better. I still have a life left." He looked at Chen Chuan a few times, "I can see that you have learned a lot in the Wuyi Academy this year. Very good. I called you here today to say goodbye."

Lu Ke said beside him, "Teacher is preparing to go to the Central City for implant surgery and is preparing to leave this afternoon."

Lu Ke said, "I inquired about it from the Iron Chain Gang. A good implant should be able to help Teacher return to a normal life, and it is not impossible to restore his original strength."

Yu Gang said, "Well, this time the Iron Chain Gang is still considered generous, giving me a lot of injury money and retirement money. It's just that there is no such condition in Yangzhi City, so I plan to go to the Central City. By the way, give this to you."

He took a booklet and stretched out his hand to hand it out. Chen Chuan quickly stepped forward to take it.

"I know Lu Ke taught you the throwing method, but that's just the simplest one. This booklet contains the usage of force generation, which shouldn't be difficult for you now. This is not a profound technique. In today's world, this kind of thing is useful and useless. Keep it as a souvenir."

Chen Chuan solemnly put it away and said, "Thank you, Teacher Yu." He also said, "If Teacher Yu needs any help here, please be sure to tell your student."

Yu Gang said, "No need."

Lu Ke said, "Teacher used to have a student who settled in the lower city of the Central City. We have already called her, and she said she can contact the implant doctor, so there should be no problem."

Chen Chuan thought for a while and said, "In that case, Teacher Yu, what time are you leaving? I'll see you off."

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