Wuxia Novel

"What a shame... alright then."

Luo Ping uttered a word of regret but didn't push the matter. Following Lu Xi'an's lead, he said, "My base is north of Shanyang County in Pingchuan City, to the south. If you meet any good people, please introduce them to me. If someone can make it there, I'll find them."

He suddenly returned to his car and rummaged for something, saying, "Here, this is something I got from those people in the county town. Consider it payment for your rations."

It was a small black cloth bag. The bag had clearly changed hands many times and was heavily soiled, making it look quite unsightly.

Lu Xi'an took it and opened it to find six or seven compressed biscuits inside.

These were far more valuable than the instant noodles he had given Luo Ping.

He asked, "You gave us the oil barrels, why are you still giving us this?"

Luo Ping shook his head and said, "The oil barrels were something I promised to get for you. This is payment for your rations; it's different."

Lu Xi'an didn't hesitate and accepted them, smiling, "You've lost out big time."

Luo Ping also laughed, "How have I lost out? Oil barrels plus seven compressed biscuits in exchange for... hmm... let me count... six lives. Do I lose out?"

Lu Xi'an replied, "If you put it that way, you certainly don't lose out."

He hesitated for a moment, then turned to Yao Wei and said, "Let's return the favor and give this guy something too, shall we?"

He expected Yao Wei to hesitate or refuse outright, but to his surprise, she agreed readily, saying, "Okay."

After speaking, Yao Wei went straight to her car and brought out a bag of vacuum-sealed white rice that hadn't been opened.

Luo Ping's eyes widened instantly, "Is this... the white rice you gave me before?!"

Lu Xi'an smiled, "What, never seen it before?" He looked like a nouveau riche looking down on a country bumpkin.

Luo Ping stared intently at the bag of rice, swallowed, and said, "I've only seen it in books before. This is my first time eating it. It's really great..."

He then turned to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, "Are you really giving this to me?"

Yao Wei didn't say anything and simply tossed the entire bag of rice into Luo Ping's car, which had its door open.

Lu Xi'an smiled, carried the oil barrel back to his car, tidied up a bit, and moved the other bag of rice to a different spot. He then made some space and fit the oil barrel in.

After doing all that, he got into the driver's seat.

Yao Wei followed closely. After dropping off the rice, she turned and walked away, opened the passenger door, sat down, and completely ignored Luo Ping.

"Alright, farewell for now, we'll meet again!"

Lu Xi'an waved at Luo Ping from his car, started the engine, and sped off to the west.

Luo Ping stared blankly at Lu Xi'an's departing car. After a long moment, he chuckled and returned to his own car, then sped off to follow.

...He also had to head west, then turn south.

His car was much faster than Yao Wei's.

So, he soon caught up to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei.

"Beep beep beep—"

He honked his horn, then picked up the loudspeaker in his car and said, "The road of life is long, we'll meet again!"

After speaking, he tossed the loudspeaker aside, stepped on the gas, and gave Lu Xi'an a view of his car's rear.

"This guy must have Wuxia novels too. He talks like a pro, just like me."

Luo Ping grinned, looked straight ahead, and muttered, "Forgot to ask him what kind of novels he has. Oh well, if we meet again, I'll ask."

His sunglasses hadn't been damaged by the people in Fengcheng County town and were still on the passenger seat. He reached out, grabbed them, and put them on his ears and nose, feeling quite dashing.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, who were behind him, soon couldn't see Luo Ping's car anymore.

Lu Xi'an savored the words from Luo Ping's car horn and laughed, "This guy must have read Wuxia novels or something similar."

He hadn't expected there to be Wuxia novels, or things like them, in this world.

Yao Wei had no concept of Wuxia novels. Hearing Lu Xi'an say that, she subconsciously glanced at the back seat.

Lu Xi'an's backpack was there, with the small side pocket holding the book she couldn't bear to look at.

These two were birds of a feather. Did the Wuxia novels they spoke of have any connection to that kind of thing?

Lost in thought, she suddenly saw Lu Xi'an turn to look at her and ask, "Why did you give that Luo Ping the white rice?"

Yao Wei also looked at Lu Xi'an, "Didn't you want to give it to him?"

Lu Xi'an replied, "But I didn't say I wanted to give him the white rice."

Yao Wei asked, "Then wasn't that what you wanted to give?"

"...Yes."

Lu Xi'an was silent for a moment, then laughed, "Is this what they call 'telepathy'?"

"What?"

Yao Wei didn't understand.

Lu Xi'an explained, "It's like the saying, 'Without colorful phoenix wings to fly side-by-side, hearts can still connect with a single thought.' It means that without speaking, we can understand each other's thoughts."

Yao Wei suddenly became a little flustered and quickly turned her head back, looking at the car window glass in front of her, feeling inexplicably nervous.

"No, no!"

She said, "I, I just thought, the car is already crowded, and if we bring the oil barrels, there won't be enough space. If I clear out a bag of rice for him, it'll be just enough to fit the oil barrels."

Lu Xi'an smiled and said, "That's what I was thinking too. Look, we cleared out a bag of rice from this car, and it was still a struggle to fit the oil barrels in. If we didn't give him a bag, we really wouldn't have been able to fit them."

"Mm."

Yao Wei nodded, pursed her lips, and said nothing more.

She didn't know what to say, nor did she want to say anything.

But she knew that Lu Xi'an genuinely wanted to give that Sharp Brother a bag of white rice, which was why she had taken out the white rice.

The lack of space in the car might have been a reason, but it certainly wasn't Lu Xi'an's primary reason for wanting to give away the white rice.

Luo Ping's thoughts and actions must have been very admirable to Lu Xi'an, which is why Lu Xi'an, even though he hadn't agreed to go with Luo Ping, would still do his best to help him.

She was the same.

Speaking of which, this was really nothing, just a clash of thoughts and viewpoints, which was quite normal, but for some reason, upon hearing Lu Xi'an say "telepathy," she suddenly felt too embarrassed to voice her thoughts.

How awkward!

The car drove forward, reaching the road where she had previously met Luo Ping. Yao Wei stopped overthinking and perked up, increasing her vigilance.

It was here that she had met Luo Ping and the people from Liangshui Village. Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei could still see the scrapped pickup truck parked off the road, its doors open, the steering wheel and seats gone, clearly having been looted.

She wondered if the people from Liangshui Village would still try to stop them.

"Beep beep beep—"

The familiar sound of a car horn rang out again.

Luo Ping's sedan had somehow fallen behind them again and overtaken them once more.

As he overtook them, Luo Ping turned his head, grinned widely, revealing his uneven white teeth, and said through a loudspeaker, "Don't worry, big brother and big sister, I've already been to Liangshui Village.

"I dealt with those guys from the county town pretty badly, so they won't dare to mess with us anymore. The county town is their new goldmine now, and they're all heading there in droves. See you around!"

After saying that, he showed Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei his car's rear and disappeared.