Reunion

"Captain Wang, we've been walking all night. Let's take a break."

"Yeah, Captain Wang. You're a veteran, but we don't have your stamina. Let's rest for a bit."

The officers following behind began to complain.

Captain Wang looked at the seemingly endless forest ahead, his heart as anxious as a cat being scratched. But when he turned to look at the officers behind him, they were clearly exhausted. He nodded and let everyone rest for a while.

He walked over to Old Bart and asked, "How much farther?"

Old Bart shook his head. "Five years ago, my girl told me there was an abandoned ancient city in the mountains, but I don't know exactly where it is. I've been a herdsman for twenty years and haven't gone up the mountain in a long time."

Old Bart looked around at the mountains and forest, his expression troubled.

He wasn't lying. Even hunters who spent all year in the mountains would be disoriented for a while if they stopped going for three or four years and then returned.

Besides, he hadn't been in these mountains for twenty years. Now, looking at them again, everything felt unfamiliar.

"Your daughter saw that ancient city? What did it look like?"

Zhou Huasheng hurried over when he heard that, hoping to get some clues out of Old Bart.

But when Old Bart saw him, his face turned cold. He snorted and turned away, clearly unwilling to say a word to him.

Zhou Huasheng got the cold shoulder and could only sit back down on his rock, looking awkward.

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the grass in the distance.

"Something's there!"

One of the officers pointed at the grass ahead and shouted. Everyone's expression changed, and they quickly raised their guns, warily on guard.

This was deep in the mountains, where the wild beasts were no joke. They only had pistols; if they ran into a tiger or a bear, they might not get away unscathed.

"Don't move!"

Captain Wang waved a hand, signaling for everyone to stay calm. He stared at the grass as it rustled. It seemed the sound had alerted whatever was inside, because the rustling suddenly stopped.

After a long while, a woman's voice came from the grass. "Is anyone there? Who is it?"

At the sound of her voice, Old Bart's eyes lit up where he sat on the ground. "Guanjin!" He slapped his thigh. "Guanjin, over here!"

As he spoke, Old Bart leaped up and ran toward the grass.

Captain Wang hurried after him. Everyone parted the grass, and sure enough, there was Yang Guanjin, whom Yang Zixuan and the others had taken away.

Her face was smeared with mud. The moment she saw Old Bart, her eyes reddened, and she rushed forward to hug him tightly, beginning to sob.

"Are you hurt? Let me see!"

Old Bart held her head and checked her anxiously, afraid his precious daughter had been hurt in the slightest.

Captain Wang and the others also breathed a sigh of relief. The father and daughter's reunion was a little out of place, but Captain Wang still mustered the nerve to ask, "Comrade Yang, I'm glad you're all right. We were all worried about you. By the way, how did you get away? And where are those men?"

Yang Guanjin froze for a moment. Her tear-filled eyes could no longer hold back, and fat tears rolled down her cheeks, breaking Old Bart's heart.

"They wanted me to lead them. Then a thick fog rolled in, and I ran away while they weren't looking. They're still chasing me. Captain Wang, please don't let them get away."

Yang Guanjin's face was deathly pale, her eyes brimming with tears. Her trembling eyelashes looked as though they'd been soaked in water.

Any man would feel protective seeing her like that, especially since their whole reason for coming here was to find Yang Zixuan and his group.

They all thumped their chests, wishing they could charge over right then, capture those three audacious men, and make them kneel to apologize to Comrade Yang.

In the bushes not far away, Xu Tong and Mad Dog slowly crouched down.

"That girl's a quick learner. You only taught her once, and she already made it look real." Mad Dog gave her a thumbs-up, looking impressed.

"Passable."

Xu Tong shook his head, clearly not entirely satisfied with Yang Guanjin's performance. But the fact that he called it passable showed how much she'd improved.

After all, he'd previously shown nothing but disdain and disapproval for Yang Guanjin's acting every time.

"You weren't a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama in real life, or an actor, were you?" Mad Dog suddenly grew curious about Xu Tong's real-world identity.

Xu Tong narrowed his eyes at Mad Dog. "Why don't you come find me? We could put a team together."

"No, no..." Mad Dog's expression changed, and he shook his head repeatedly.

"You're way too wild. It's enough that I went along with you this once." As he spoke, he pointed at the Zhang Hu outfit he was wearing.

Three hundred script points weren't easy to come by. He'd barely gotten them when Xu Tong asked him to put on Zhang Hu's clothes and lead Captain Wang toward Yang Zixuan and the others.

The mission wasn't difficult, but calling it easy was nonsense.

It wasn't difficult because he could smell Yang Zixuan and the others, so finding them was no problem. In fact, that same ability was how he'd found Xu Tong.

But finding Yang Zixuan and the others was easy. The hard part was getting away cleanly under the eyes of both Yang Zixuan and Xiong Tao's group and Captain Wang's group.

If he got exposed and they discovered him, he'd be in real trouble. The two sides might stop fighting each other and focus their fire on him instead.

So when Xu Tong offered him three hundred script points, he had no room to refuse. Otherwise, why would he be getting such a huge windfall?

Xu Tong couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. He'd meant it partly as a joke, but it had also been a tentative invitation.

Mad Dog wasn't his ideal teammate, but he was definitely an excellent one.

He had an incredibly powerful sense of smell, as well as access to special drugs. And, more importantly, he was a decent guy.

Xu Tong believed Mad Dog would be an indispensable core member of any team.

"Enough talk. It's my turn to make an entrance. But if I mess it up, don't blame me. I'm not that good an actor!"

As he spoke, Mad Dog stood up. A paper mask appeared in his hand. He put it on, and from a distance, at a quick glance, it already looked about seventy or eighty percent like Zhang Hu.

Xu Tong had made the mask on the spot. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough materials, and he'd been short on time. Otherwise, he could have made it better.

Even if it couldn't reach Old Song's lifelike level, he could probably have made it eighty or ninety percent accurate. With a little makeup to cover the rest, the effect would surely have been even better.

Xu Tong thought he'd have to stock up properly after he returned this time.

Mad Dog lunged forward and was already more than ten meters away.

"Brat, I finally found you!"

Soon, he heard Captain Wang's roar in the distance, followed by two sharp gunshots.

He looked up and saw Captain Wang and the others chasing after the man. Only Yang Guanjin, Old Bart, Zhou Huasheng, and the two officers left behind remained in the woods.

The atmosphere immediately grew strange.

Old Bart glanced sideways at Zhou Huasheng, watching him coldly as he slowly pulled a long whip from his sleeve.

Yang Guanjin stared at Zhou Huasheng, icy hatred flickering in her eyes, as if she held some deep grudge against him.

At first, Zhou Huasheng was completely baffled. Their stares made him uncomfortable, and when he realized they were looking at him with growing hostility, he began to feel a little uneasy.

At last, Old Bart seemed unable to hold back any longer. He gripped the whip, sprang to his feet, and shouted, "You beast! Do you still recognize me?"

Zhou Huasheng froze at his words, then forced himself to answer. "Heh, old friend, how could I not recognize you? Aren't you Old Bart, the old herdsman from the Forest Farm?"

"Hmph!" Old Bart sneered. "You really are a heartless bastard. Have you forgotten who saved you from a bear's jaws more than twenty years ago?"

As he spoke, Old Bart rolled up his sleeve, revealing two gruesome scars.

Seeing the scars on Old Bart's arm, Zhou Huasheng shuddered. His face filled with disbelief, and he cried out, "It was you!"

In an instant, he was reminded of the past, when he'd led a team into the mountains on an expedition and encountered a bear. If not for that hunter, he would have been nothing but a pile of bones by now.

He remembered clearly that the hunter had knocked him out of the way, only to have the bear's claws tear open two gashes in his arm.

Now, those very scars were on Old Bart's arm. He'd never expected that.

Zhou Huasheng narrowed his eyes and studied Old Bart's face closely.

He hadn't noticed it before, but now, looking carefully, he could see the weathered face gradually lining up with his hazy memories.

"How is that possible? You... shouldn't you be dead?"

"Hmph. You're not dead yet, so how could I dare to die?"

As Old Bart spoke, he raised his whip and lashed Zhou Huasheng across the face.

Crack! The whip struck, and a welt immediately appeared on Zhou Huasheng's face. He rolled on the ground in pain.

"Stop! Don't do that!" The two officers, who'd been watching the commotion, saw things getting out of hand and hurried to intervene.

Just then, a bug flew out of Yang Guanjin's mouth. Unlike the one before, this one had a pair of wings as thin as a cicada's. It zipped past the two officers, leaving behind a strange fragrance.

They only breathed it in once before collapsing unconscious.

Seeing this, Zhou Huasheng's expression grew even more bizarre. He stared at Yang Guanjin with wide eyes and cried, "Witchcraft? How can you...?"

"Of course I can. When Miao children are born, a mother bug is planted in them. It's passed down to daughters, not sons. Didn't my mother ever tell you that?"

Yang Guanjin said coldly.

"Your mother!" At that, Zhou Huasheng was struck as if by lightning. He stared at Yang Guanjin in shock. "You're... I..."

"You beast! You Han people always say even the fiercest tiger won't eat its cubs. Back then, you were ruthless enough to burn the whole village. Heaven must be blind to have let you live this long!"

Old Bart had waited a long time for this day. Now, the fury he'd held inside for so many years was finally about to pour out.

"No... It wasn't me... He forced me to do it. It wasn't me!"

Zhou Huasheng's face turned deathly pale as he shouted in his defense, but Old Bart had stopped listening. He raised his whip, ready to beat the bastard to death.

Seeing that things were going badly, Zhou Huasheng grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Old Bart, then turned and ran into the woods behind him.

Old Bart started after him, but Yang Guanjin grabbed his sleeve. "Don't. It's not time to kill him yet. Wait a little longer."

"Rustle, rustle... Ah..."

After running an unknown distance in an unknown direction, Zhou Huasheng suddenly slipped. His foot missed its mark, and he pitched sideways, falling headfirst into an earthen pit.

He was already old, and a sharp pain immediately shot through his lower leg. Looking down, he saw that his whole leg was covered in blood, with a broken piece of wood stuck in his shin.

"Uuugh..."

The pain nearly made him pass out, but he clenched his teeth and didn't dare make a sound. His hands clutched his clothes tightly. Whether from pain or fear, his forehead was already beaded with sweat.

"Need a hand, Mr. Zhou?"

Just as Zhou Huasheng's mind descended into chaos and he had no idea what to do next, a familiar voice suddenly came from beside him.

"It's you!"

Zhou Huasheng looked up, eyes wide, at Xu Tong, who had appeared out of nowhere. Shock and anger contorted his face, and he glared at him resentfully. "You swindler!"

He wanted to tear Xu Tong limb from limb. If it weren't for that damn swindler, he'd probably be under Yang Zixuan and the others' protection by now, having found the Ascension Bureau long ago. How had he ended up like this?

Seeing his furious expression, Xu Tong couldn't help smiling. His smile held a hint of amusement. "Since you don't want to see me so badly, should I leave?"

At that, Zhou Huasheng froze. He looked at his injured leg and finally accepted his fate with a sigh.