Treasure Chest?

Qu Jianlei understood very well just how much fervor Wasteland people could unleash when faced with astronomical profits.

And Mr. Sai himself had more than enough ability to cast a wide net and eventually find him.

That guy might even have followed the trail and learned that he wanted to go to Hong Yi Settlement.

Hairless Freak said Hong Yi Settlement was relatively orderly, but even so, it still had to obey the Main Settlement, right? Time was of the essence. He had to leave at once!

As for the still-usable items in the ruined camp... Qu Jianlei absolutely would not touch them.

He did not want anyone to know that someone had come here.

There might be no one guarding this place now, but with Mr. Sai's brains, how could he possibly give up such a potential lead so easily?

And since the Alloy Ring was a high-tech item that could be tracked, who knew whether the remaining supplies had any hidden traps?

Having thought it through, Qu Jianlei took one deep look at the ruined Luan Shi Camp, then turned and hurried away in a crouch.

Farewell, Luan Shi Camp! There was nothing here worth missing, but it was still his first stop after arriving in the Wasteland.

Yet the next moment, a trace of guilt rose in his heart. So many people had died because of him.

He truly had no feelings for the people of Luan Shi Camp. If he had to name a few, they would be Third Master and Morrison.

He owed Third Master a freight run, but that debt could no longer be repaid, and he felt somewhat guilty about it.

Still, that did not stop him from killing Third Master's two disciples, so his guilt toward Third Master... amounted to only that much.

Morrison, that scumbag, was the one Qu Jianlei cared about a little more.

There was no other reason. If he had to say why, this man was the only person he had exploited since crossing over.

But what had these hundreds of lives done to deserve this? It felt as though a huge stone weighed on Qu Jianlei's heart, heavy and oppressive.

Lives were cheap in the Wasteland, and he had killed more than one or two people himself, but these people had died because of him. That was different! Qu Jianlei truly felt awful. He could only silently make a vow: Once I grow strong enough, I will take that bastard Sai's life! Even if not for these innocent people who had been dragged into this, Mr. Sai had to die for Qu Jianlei's own safety!

After pulling himself together, Qu Jianlei hurried to the motorcycle and headed for Sweetwater Camp.

The trip there had taken six days. The return trip took four and a half.

He had needed to find the way on the journey there, but going back was much easier.

Traveling day and night, he reached Sweetwater right at dusk.

When he arrived beside that shallow pit, he immediately saw Hairless Freak with a bruised and swollen face.

He frowned and asked impatiently, "Who did this?"

Hairless Freak hesitated before answering, "I... accidentally fell."

Only a ghost would believe that! Qu Jianlei's mouth twitched.

But since the other party would not tell the truth, he could not be bothered to ask further. Heaven helps those who help themselves. If you had given up, why should anyone else help you?

Finding an opportunity, he quietly said, "Get a good rest today. We leave first thing tomorrow."

"Leave?" Hairless Freak was stunned. "Are we leaving this camp?"

Ever since Black Sky Bro had come to this camp, he had always gone out alone, and this time he had been gone for more than ten days.

Now he was actually taking him along. Clearly, this was not a temporary departure.

Qu Jianlei nodded without explaining.

He had originally planned to leave alone, but then he thought that if Mr. Sai came after him, Xiao Jing would definitely die, given that man's way of doing things.

Hairless Freak's eyes shifted, and he asked in a low voice, "Are we going to Hong Yi?"

"No," Qu Jianlei shook his head decisively. "If Mr. Sai is capable of tracking us here, he definitely knows my destination."

"Winter is coming soon. We'll go gather some resources, then find somewhere to hole up for the winter."

What he did not know was that at the same time, a convoy had barged into one of Hong Liu's Settlements.

Hong Liu's Patrol Members stepped out of the vehicles.

They held up a portrait and asked, "Has anyone seen this person? Also, have any strangers on motorcycles come by recently?"

For ordinary wilderness camps, such incidents were neither particularly common nor particularly rare.

Before long, information was gathered. Among it was a report about a guy who towed two motorcycles by himself.

The man had covered his face, so no one could identify him, but... he was highly skilled at machining and modifications.

Towing two motorcycles was possible, because a small team had disappeared from a camp in Hong Four, and they had been riding two motorcycles.

More importantly, the owner of a general store connected to the target had been in that camp.

In any case, they would rather kill the wrong person than let one go. Thus, they also learned that after the man had disappeared for some time and returned, he had brought back a child.

No one remembered clearly what the child looked like. They only knew that the child had wandered outside the camp for several days, with no hair or eyebrows.

"Hole up for the winter?" Hairless Freak thought for a moment, then nodded. "Going to Hong Yi at this time of year would not only be dangerous, but exhausting."

Then he raised his brows. "Winter supplies are easy enough for me, but you eat so much. Just gathering a little in resources probably won't be enough."

"Then we'll gather as much as we can," Qu Jianlei sighed. Every winter before this had felt like hell to him.

If he got hungry enough, he still had to go out to look for food in winter. Better to freeze to death than starve to death, right?

Hairless Freak hesitated before speaking. "Black Sky Bro, you have a plate made of silver... that might be very valuable."

Qu Jianlei remembered. On this trip to Luan Shi Camp, he had not even brought that plate.

He had needed to carry too many things: food, water, fuel, ammunition, wilderness supplies...

The motorcycle was simply too small. Carrying even one extra silver plate had been unnecessary.

The plate was Third Master's relic. Hearing this, he asked in a deep voice, "How much is it worth?"

"That is a Secret Silver Plate. It is actually a key," Xiao Jing answered quietly. "It can open a treasure chest in the Residential Area."

"A treasure chest?" Qu Jianlei immediately became interested. Was this like opening a treasure chest in a game? "What's inside?"

"This..." Xiao Jing felt that the other party was truly ignorant. "What is inside depends on what the original owner put there."

"Ahem, ahem." Qu Jianlei coughed twice awkwardly. "I got this silver plate by chance."

He now somewhat understood why Third Master had always carried the silver plate. So it was the key to a bank safe deposit box.

So when I offered five Silver Coins last time... was that still too low?

"If you say it was by chance, then it was by chance," Xiao Jing did not care. "The important thing is that there must be something good inside."

His eyes gleamed slightly. "And the storage vault for this Secret Silver Plate is in Hong Wu Settlement!"

Qu Jianlei could not help being surprised. "You can actually tell what the silver plate is for?"

Hairless Freak thrust out his neck and answered proudly, "I told you, I know the Wasteland well!"

He had been somewhat surprised to discover the silver plate, but he had absolutely never thought of grabbing it and running away.

Just as Qu Jianlei had thought, with his abilities, he would be lucky to keep even one Silver Horn, let alone a Secret Silver Plate.

Qu Jianlei considered it. "Do you know the procedure for taking out the things inside?"

"I do." Hairless Freak nodded without hesitation. "It is anonymous. Taking out the things inside is very simple."

Qu Jianlei's mood immediately improved.

But then he became a little anxious again. "This safe deposit box... treasure chest isn't empty, is it?"

Hairless Freak gave him a surprised look. "Who would rent a treasure chest at a high price if there was nothing inside?"

Qu Jianlei felt a little embarrassed at that, but he still asked, "Getting into the Settlement... won't be easy, right?"

"The Secret Silver Plate is the pass," Hairless Freak said with certainty. "Just hold the silver plate and go in."

Qu Jianlei's eyes shifted. "Then if we don't rush to open the treasure chest, can we stay inside the Settlement indefinitely?"

If they could hole up there for the winter, that would not be bad. He had heard the conditions inside Settlements were far better than outside.

"You can't afford to live in a Settlement." Hairless Freak shook his head like a Pellet Drum.

"Unless you have status in the Settlement and can find work, even if they don't investigate you, people from outside the city can't last more than a few days."

Then if we take out the good things from the safe deposit box, won't we be able to stay longer?

The next moment, Qu Jianlei nearly slapped himself. If he took out the things, there would be no Secret Silver Plate left. Why would they let him stay in the Settlement?

After thinking it over, he asked again, "Are you sure entering the Settlement with this doesn't cost money?"

Hairless Freak calmly shook his head. "I've never heard of it costing money. But after taking out the things... we should probably be careful when leaving the city?"

Though he claimed to know a lot, he was still young in the end. He could only make assumptions about many things.

"Of course we need to be careful," Qu Jianlei sighed softly.

Third Master had been respected among the Scavengers and was not weak either, yet he had not dared come to Hong Wu Settlement to retrieve the treasure.

Of course, it was also possible that he had not recognized the Secret Silver Plate, but Qu Jianlei thought that possibility was unlikely.

Scavengers might not be good at other things, but every one of them had sharp eyes. And Third Master was an old hand among Scavengers.

Then... there might have been other factors. Qu Jianlei could not be bothered to think further.

He then went to the general store and bought a map, obtaining one of Hong Wu Settlement.

There were no better maps. A map of this Settlement was already the best they had.

Early the next morning, the two got up and packed their belongings, piling everything onto the flatbed cart.

Anyone could tell at a glance that they were moving, and people began whispering among themselves.

The motorcycle was towing the flatbed cart, so it really could not go very fast, only around thirty kilometers per hour.

Without the cart, the motorcycle could manage thirty-five kilometers per hour.

Less than half an hour after the two left the camp, dust rose behind them and engine noise sounded out.

Qu Jianlei was driving... he had a better sense of direction, so he would not go wrong.

Xiao Jing held binoculars and looked behind them. "Three, four, five motorcycles... and an open-top truck!"

Qu Jianlei concentrated on driving. The motorcycle engine was loud, so he could not hear the commotion behind them clearly.

But he heard Hairless Freak's words clearly enough, so he asked in a deep voice, "How far away are they?"

"I... can't judge distances very well," Hairless Freak answered sheepishly. "Someone has already set up a machine gun."

So not only was he directionally challenged, his sense of distance was equally terrible.