Clearing Them Out

"You wanted to ask me about something?" The Bald Man looked surprised.

"Yeah." Jiang Cheng nodded. "You said you knew people in the underworld. I figured you'd have pretty good connections." He looked at the Bald Man, his tone casual.

The Bald Man's face suddenly changed. He sprang out of his chair and hurriedly explained, "Don't... don't say that! I'm not one of them. I have nothing to do with those guys. Everything I do is legal. I'd never touch gambling or drugs. We're in a clean industry—we're all about sustainable growth..."

Jiang Cheng couldn't be bothered to listen to the rest of his rambling and cut him off. "A few strange things have happened around Rong City lately. Have you heard about them?"

At Jiang Cheng's question, the Bald Man's face twitched. Slowly, he sat back down. After a long pause, he nodded. "I know a little. A lot of places have been put under lockdown. At first, there were rumors of some kind of attack, but they were quickly quashed. The TV stations came out and denied everything, too."

"But..." The Bald Man's expression tightened. "I know those reports are all fake. A lot of strange things have happened lately."

"You know Luoyun Slope, right? I heard a report today saying there was a wildfire there, but that's not what happened. Someone was firing one of these." The Bald Man made a gun with his fingers. "My buddy—ugh, I mean, a friend of mine—just happened to be taking this girl he'd recently met camping that day. You know, to let loose and get close to nature. Their tent was halfway up the slope, not too far from there. He said the gunfire sounded like firecrackers going off, and there were these rumbling sounds, like explosions. But he didn't