Spades, Spades Again

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"Why do you say that Jiang Yichen has ulterior motives?" Qi Duo, somewhat puzzled.

"That young man's name is Qing Zhade, the older one next to the old man. They're both from the Qing family," Hu Xiaoniu casually said. "He's an agent for the PCE Public Security Management Committee. After meeting this neighbor, he discovered that he suddenly appeared in City No. 18 without warning, saying he was coming to take the entrance exam for Qinghe University. But he hasn't attended any tutoring classes and is always acting suspiciously. You know about the Shadow Struggle? Qing Zhade suspects he was involved in the murder of Qing Zhong and is currently being hunted by the Qing family. He might not have any ill intentions towards you, but it's very likely he wants to use your team to escape the pursuit."

Zard is a transliteration of Zard.

The main reason is that Qing Chen really doesn't know Zard's real name, otherwise he would have just used the other person's real name.

The reason they are surnamed Qing is because they drive cars with the Qing family logo, and only having the Qing family logo makes sense.

Hu Xiaoniu continued, "You should know that in the Shadow Struggle, if an outsider kills Shadow Candidate, the Qing Clan Secret Intelligence Department will hunt down the murderer to the ends of the earth."

After Hu Xiaoniu finished speaking, he felt like he was playing Werewolf.

Qing Chen first gave himself the identity of a PCE federal agent (police officer), then directly ordered Jiang Yichen's arrest, labeling him a "wolf"...

At this point, Qing Chen's identity as an NPC is a natural disguise.

What malicious intent could an NPC possibly have?

Qi Duo recalled.

In fact, neither of them actively invited Jiang Yichen in the Outer World; rather, he took the initiative to come to them, saying he wanted to go to the wilderness with them.

Looking back now, that proactive approach does seem a bit suspicious.

However, Qi Duo wasn't stupid; he felt something was amiss. "Could Qing Zhade be here to hunt down Jiang Yichen?"

"No," Hu Xiaoniu shook his head. "Who would bring an old person and a child along when they're hunting someone down? I overheard him talking to the old man in private. The old man told him not to get involved in the Shadow Struggle, and even if Jiang Yichen is confirmed to be the murderer, Qing Zhade shouldn't be the one to kill him. These side branches of the conglomerate don't want to get involved in the Shadow Struggle. They plan to part ways with you tomorrow to avoid being dragged down by this Jiang Yichen."

Qi Duo was stunned. Indeed, if Qing Zhade came to kill Jiang Yichen, why would he bring an old man and a child? That definitely doesn't make sense.

So, Hu Xiaoniu was genuinely reminding them to prevent them from being tricked by Jiang Yichen.

After Qi Duo left, Qing Chen slowly emerged from the woods and said with a smile, "Xiao Niu's acting was good, and his logic was good too."

Hu Xiaoniu scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Actually, Zhang Tianzhen is more suited for this kind of thing. If Tianzhen were here, she could probably fool them into kicking Jiang Yichen out of the team tonight."

"Brother Chen, are you planning to take Jiang Yichen's Forbidden Item?" Hu Xiaoniu asked.

"No," Qing Chen shook his head and said, "Our main purpose this time is to fulfill the old man's wish; everything else is secondary."

For Qing Chen, whether Jiang Yichen had any Forbidden Item or not was not the most important thing.

What he needs is to get to Forbidden Zone No. 002 as soon as possible.

Qing Chen wasn't entirely sure what level Jiang Yichen was or what the strength of the highest-ranking student in the Freemasons was, so he didn't plan to directly steal anything.

"Then why did you trick him like that?" Hu Xiaoniu asked curiously.

Qing Chen said, "I want to see if he feels guilty after the news gets out, to confirm whether he is really Lu Ya."

"By the way, Brother Chen, what exactly are we going to do at Forbidden Zone No. 002 this time?" Hu Xiaoniu asked in a low voice. "I know it's the old man going to fulfill his wish, but I'm asking, why are we taking me along?"

"You should already have the answer in your heart," Qing Chen replied with a smile.

At dawn the next day, before it was fully light, Qing Chen took the old man, Li Ke, and Hu Xiaoniu to the wilderness.

That was the place where Li Shutong had taken him to practice rock climbing.

Before reaching the Green Mountain Cliff, he wanted to teach Li Ke and Hu Xiaoniu all the skills they would need.

Before this, Hu Xiaoniu and Li Ke had practiced for a long time. Even before Qing Chen entered the Li Clan Academy, Li Ke had been secretly practicing, hoping to be selected by his Uncle Qi one day.

Although no one knows what challenges the knights will face next, the Green Mountain Cliff are no secret to the Li family.

There is also a cliff several tens of meters high in the back mountain of the Banshan Manor.

The old man sat panting on a rock, watching Li Ke and Hu Xiaoniu nimbly climb upwards, the rising sun shining brightly on the horizon behind them.

"Is the sunrise on the Green Mountain Cliff more beautiful than this?" the old man asked softly.

"Yes," Qing Chen replied, "That was the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen."

"Thank you," the old man suddenly said.

"Why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Qing Chen smiled. "You are my master's father, so it's only right that I help you fulfill your last wish. If he were still in City No. 18, he would have done the same."

"Actually, I didn't have such high hopes," the old man shook his head, "But I saw a glimmer of hope when you appeared at the Banshan Manor."

At this moment, he pointed to Li Ke and Hu Xiaoniu and said to Qing Chen beside him with emotion, "I also practiced this back then. The place where that kid Li Ke secretly practiced rock climbing in the back mountain was also a place I used to go to often."

"I was wondering why there was a place there specifically for rock climbing practice. Did you have it built?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"No, it's been around for hundreds of years. The Li family are descendants of knights, and there have been knights for generations," the old man said with a smile.

At 9 a. m., Li Ke and Hu Xiaoniu stopped practicing, drenched in sweat.

Li Ke said, "Master, although I have rock climbing skills, the Green Mountain Cliff is 600 meters high, and I may not be able to keep up with the physical strength."

Hu Xiaoniu thought for a moment and said, "Me too. I roughly calculated in my mind that I would probably be exhausted when I climbed to about 200 meters."

Qing Chen smiled and shook his head, "It's alright, don't worry about it."

He figured that since he was bringing two successors of knights with him, it would be only natural for the old guys in those Forbidden Zone to part with some of their wealth.

At this point, the old man said, "Let me rest a little longer; I can't walk much further."

Qing Chen thought for a moment and said, "I'll carry you on my back."

With that, he hoisted the old man onto his back and slowly walked toward the camp.

The old man was very light, like a feather, as if he might float away at any moment.

Qing Chen suddenly felt a pang of sadness. He didn't know when he had come to regard the old man as his own grandfather, and he even hoped that they would slow down their journey to the Forbidden Zone, so that the old man could hold onto that lingering hope for a few more days.

Back at camp, the Freemasons asked curiously, "Where did you go?"

Before Qing Chen could explain anything, he saw the old man nimbly get off Qing Chen's back and walk towards the female students. "I see you are packing your things. Are you leaving? I'll ride with you today, so I can continue telling you stories about the Upper Third District on the way."

The female students exclaimed excitedly, "Great!"

Qing Chen stared expressionlessly at the old man's back. So the old man's exhausted and seemingly ready-to-die appearance was just a ploy to trick him into carrying him back!

Is this old man really the Head of the Li Clan? Where did that dignified old man from the news go?

However, at that moment, an off-road vehicle rushed over from the north. Strangely, the off-road vehicle did not take the main road, but came along the dirt road.

Qing Chen frowned; it was clearly aimed at them.

He took two steps back, opened their car door, and reached into his gun holster.

The next moment, the SUV screeched to a halt in front of everyone, and a burly, bald man jumped out. He looked around, then smiled at Nangong Yuanyu and asked, "Everyone, where are you all going?"

Nangong Yuanyu said, "To the south."

The bald man laughed and asked, "What are we going south for?"

Nangong Yuanyu said, "Let's go south and see the scenery."

"I'm also heading south, why don't we travel together? There are robbers on the road, so it's good to have someone to look out for you," the bald man said.

Nangong Yuanyu laughed and said, "Okay."

At this moment, Qing Chen had already removed his hand from the gun holster.

Because he recognized the bald man.

Spades, Guo Huzhan!

Qing Chen was extremely familiar with that iconic bald head!

Although this guy pretended not to know Nangong Yuanyu, his acting was so bad that anyone with eyes could tell he was just there to meet up.

At this moment, Qing Chen had a sudden realization: the Freemasons' trip to the southern wilderness was most likely related to Spades.

He had observed this convoy; clearly, none of the cars were full, and the vacancy rate was even quite high, yet they still drove out so many cars.

They're transporting something!

As for what exactly was being transported, Qing Chen was still unsure.

According to Li Shutong, Spade is now the protector of the Wilderness People and has an excellent relationship with the fire pit. These people are probably secretly transporting supplies to support the Wilderness People.

Spade has always roamed the wilderness and has no power within the Federation, so the fact that the Freemasons were able to transport so many supplies suggests that Mr. Shadow and Spade likely reached some kind of deal behind the scenes.

But the problem is, aren't the Wilderness and the Federation opposed to each other?

The other party made deals with both Li Shutong and Spade.

What exactly is that Mr. Shadow up to?

At this moment, Guo Huzhan also noticed Qing Chen and the others. When he saw the ginkgo leaf symbol on the car, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Who are these people?"

"I just happened to be passing by with someone from the same group," Nangong Yuanyu explained.

"Oh," Guo Huzhan rubbed his bald head, "Perfect timing, we're friends since we met by fate, let's go together."

Qing Chen thought to himself, if this guy knew that he had impersonated his boss Xu Linsen and almost caused him to get a beating, he wondered if he would still be willing to be his friend...

Wait, if we head south, will we run into Yang Yang?