Recognition

"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 trailing behind began to complain.

Captain Wang looked at the seemingly endless mountain forest ahead. He was as anxious as a cat on a hot tin roof, but when he looked back at the exhausted officers, he nodded and agreed to a temporary rest.

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

Old Bart shook his head. "Five years ago, I heard the girl mention an abandoned ancient city in these mountains, but I don't know the exact location. I've been a shepherd for twenty years; I haven't been up here in far too long."

Old Bart looked at the surrounding forest, his expression turning troubled.

He wasn't lying. Even for a hunter who frequented the mountains, a three or four-year hiatus would be enough to make anyone lose their bearings.

Let alone the fact that he hadn't stepped foot in these mountains for twenty years. Looking at them now, everything felt alien.

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

Zhou Huasheng, who had been listening nearby, hurried over to ask, hoping to squeeze some clues out of the old man.

But at the sight of him, Old Bart's face turned cold. He snorted and turned away, clearly unwilling to waste a single word on the man.

Rebuffed, Zhou Huasheng could only sit back down on his rock, looking embarrassed.

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

"Something's there!"

An officer pointed toward the brush and shouted. Everyone's expression shifted instantly; they raised their guns and stood on high alert.

This was deep, wild forest. The beasts here were no joke. They only had handguns; if they ran into a tiger or a bear, they might not make it out in one piece.

"Don't move!"

Captain Wang waved his hand, signaling everyone to stay calm. He kept his eyes locked on the grass. The rustling stopped as if the creature had heard the commotion.

After a long moment, a woman's voice drifted from the brush: "Is anyone there? Who is it?"

Hearing that voice, Old Bart's eyes lit up. "It's Guanjin!" He slapped his thigh. "Guanjin! Guanjin, over here!"

With that, Old Bart scrambled up and ran toward the grass.

Captain Wang followed closely behind. As the group pushed aside the foliage, they found Yang Guanjin, the woman who had been taken by Yang Zixuan and his crew.

Her face was covered in mud. When she saw Old Bart, her eyes turned red, and she rushed forward to hug him, sobbing.

"Are you hurt? Let me see!"

Old Bart cradled her head, checking her frantically, terrified that his precious daughter might have suffered even the slightest injury.

Captain Wang and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Though it was a bit of a mood-killer to interrupt a family reunion, Captain Wang still stepped forward, thick-skinned, to ask, "Comrade Yang, it's good that you're safe. We were all very worried about you. By the way, how did you escape? Where are those guys?"

Yang Guanjin froze for a moment, her tear-filled eyes overflowing. Large, bean-sized tears began to fall, and Old Bart's heart nearly shattered at the sight.

"They forced me to lead the way, but a thick fog rolled into the mountains. I ran away when they weren't looking. They're still chasing me. Captain Wang, you must not let them get away."

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

Any man would feel a surge of protective instinct at the sight, especially since their entire goal in coming here was to deal with Yang Zixuan's group.

One by one, they puffed out their chests, wishing they could charge over right now, drag those three audacious bastards here, and force them to kowtow and apologize to Comrade Yang.

In a nearby thicket, Xu Tong and Mad Dog slowly lowered themselves.

"That little lady is a fast learner. You only taught her once, and she's already acting like it's the real deal." Mad Dog gave a thumbs-up, looking genuinely impressed.

"Passable."

Xu Tong shook his head, clearly not entirely satisfied with Yang Guanjin's performance, though coming from him, "passable" meant she had made significant progress.

One had to remember that every time Yang Guanjin had tried to act before, his eyes had been filled with nothing but disdain and contempt.

"Are you a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama or an actor in real life?" Mad Dog asked, suddenly full of curiosity about Xu Tong's real-world identity.

Xu Tong squinted at him. "Why don't you come join me? We could form a team."

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

"You're too crazy. Laozi playing along with you this once is already generous enough." He pointed to the clothes he was wearing—Zhang Hu's outfit.

Three hundred script points weren't easy to earn. He'd barely gotten his hands on them before Xu Tong demanded he put on Zhang Hu's clothes to lure Captain Wang toward Yang Zixuan's location.

The task wasn't exactly hard, but saying it was easy would be a lie.

It wasn't hard because he could track the scent of Yang Zixuan's group; finding them wasn't a challenge—he had found Xu Tong using that very ability.

But finding them was one thing; the real difficulty was whether he could slip away unnoticed from under the noses of Yang Zixuan, Xiong Tao, and Captain Wang's team.

If he were exposed, the trouble would be immense. They might stop fighting each other and focus all their fire on him instead.

That was why Xu Tong had given him three hundred script points—he hadn't left him any room to refuse. Otherwise, why would he pay such a massive fortune?

Xu Tong felt a slight pang of regret. While his words had been half-joking, they were also a tentative invitation.

Although Mad Dog wasn't his ideal teammate, he was undoubtedly a highly qualified one.

He possessed a super-sensitive sense of smell, access to special medicinal channels, and, most precious of all, he was a decent person.

I believe that putting Mad Dog into any team would make him an indispensable core member.

"Enough talk, it's Laozi's turn to take the stage. Don't blame me if I botch the performance, though; I'm not exactly a master actor!"

As Mad Dog spoke, he stood up, a paper mask appearing in his hand. He pulled it over his face, and from a distance, it already bore a seven or eight-part resemblance to Zhang Hu.

Xu Tong had made this mask on the fly. It was a pity he lacked the proper materials and was pressed for time, otherwise, he could have done better.

Even if it didn't reach the level of lifelike perfection Old Song could achieve, it was still eight or nine parts similar. If he added a bit of makeup to cover the edges, the effect would surely be even better.

Xu Tong pondered to himself that after this return, he must make sure to stock up on supplies.

Mad Dog lunged forward, his body surging more than ten meters away in an instant.

"You brat, I've finally found you!"

Soon, he heard the roar of Team Leader Wang not far away, followed by two sharp cracks of gunfire.

Looking up, he saw Team Leader Wang and his men had already given chase, leaving only Yang Guanjin, Old Bart, Zhou Huasheng, and two remaining police officers in the woods.

The atmosphere suddenly turned subtle.

Old Bart squinted, his cold eyes fixed on Zhou Huasheng as he slowly and deliberately drew a long whip from his sleeve.

Yang Guanjin glared at Zhou Huasheng, a cold, icy hatred flickering in the depths of her eyes, as if she harbored some deep, blood-feud grudge against him.

Zhou Huasheng was initially baffled. Being stared at by the two of them made him feel uneasy all over, but when he noticed their gazes growing increasingly hostile, he finally began to feel a chill run down his spine.

Finally, Old Bart seemed unable to hold back any longer. He raised the whip in his hand, stood up abruptly, and barked, "You beast, do you still recognize me!"

Zhou Huasheng froze at these words, bracing himself as he replied, "Heh, old comrade, how could I not recognize you? Aren't you Old Bart, the old herdsman from the Forest Farm?"

"Hmph!" Old Bart let out a cold laugh at this. "You really are a heartless wretch. Have you forgotten who saved you from the jaws of a bear twenty years ago?"

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

Seeing the marks on Old Bart's arm, Zhou Huasheng shuddered, a look of disbelief crossing his face as he shrieked, "It's you!"

In an instant, he couldn't help but recall that year when he had led a team into the mountains for a survey and encountered a black bear. If it hadn't been for that hunter, he would have been nothing but a pile of dirt by now.

He remembered clearly that the hunter had tackled him out of the way, only to have his own arm torn open by the bear's claws.

That those two scars were now appearing on Old Bart's arm was something he never could have imagined.

Zhou Huasheng couldn't help but squint, scrutinizing Old Bart's face.

He hadn't noticed it before, but looking closely now, this face, weathered by time, gradually aligned with his blurred memories.

"How is this possible? You... you were supposed to be dead!"

"Hmph, you're not dead yet, so how could I dare to die!"

Old Bart raised his whip and lashed out at Zhou Huasheng's head and face.

With a sharp "crack," a welt immediately appeared on Zhou Huasheng's face, the pain sending him rolling on the ground.

"Stop!" The two police officers, who had been watching the spectacle, realized the situation had turned sour and rushed to intervene.

At that moment, Yang Guanjin spat a bug from her mouth. Unlike the previous ones, this insect had wings as thin as a cicada's. It flashed past the two officers, leaving behind an indescribable fragrance.

The two men only took a light sniff before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Seeing this, Zhou Huasheng's expression turned even more bizarre. He stared at Yang Guanjin with wide eyes and shrieked, "Gu sorcery? How do you know..."

"Of course I know. When a Miao girl is born, she is implanted with a mother-bug. It is passed down to daughters, not sons. Did my mother not tell you that?" Yang Guanjin said with a cold face.

"Your mother!!" Hearing this, Zhou Huasheng was struck as if by lightning. He stared blankly at Yang Guanjin, shocked, "You are... my..."

"You beast! You Han people often say that even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. You were so heartless back then that you burned the entire village. Heaven must be blind to let you live until now!" Old Bart had been waiting for this day for a long time; now, the rage of so many years was finally ready to erupt.

"No... it wasn't me... he forced me to do it, it wasn't me!" Zhou Huasheng's face turned deathly pale as he shrieked in his own defense, but Old Bart was no longer listening, raising his whip to beat the beast to death.

Seeing the situation was dire, Zhou Huasheng grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it at Old Bart, then turned and bolted into the woods behind him.

Old Bart started to give chase, but Yang Guanjin grabbed his sleeve: "Don't. Now is not the time to kill him. Wait a little longer."

"Rustle, rustle... ah..."

He didn't know how far he had run or in what direction. Running blindly, Zhou Huasheng suddenly slipped, stepped into thin air, and tumbled headfirst into a dirt pit.

Already advanced in age, Zhou Huasheng felt a wave of excruciating pain shoot through his lower leg. Looking down, he saw his leg was drenched in blood, with a broken piece of wood impaled in his calf.

"Wuu wuu wuu~~~~"

Under the immense pain, he nearly fainted, yet he gritted his teeth, not daring to let out a single sound. His hands gripped his clothes tightly, and whether from the pain or sheer terror, beads of sweat had already broken out across his forehead.

"Need some help, Elder Zhou?"

Just as Zhou Huasheng's mind was in chaos, wondering what he should do next, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

"It's you!!"

Zhou Huasheng looked up, eyes wide as he stared at Xu Tong, who had appeared out of thin air. He was both shocked and furious, his face full of resentment: "You swindler!"

He wished he could skin Xu Tong alive. If it weren't for this damned swindler, he would have already found the Ascension Bureau under the protection of Yang Zixuan and the others by now; how could he have ended up in such a state?

Seeing his unquenchable hatred, Xu Tong couldn't help but smile, his expression playful: "Since you don't want to see me so much, shall I leave?"

Hearing this, Zhou Huasheng froze. He looked at his injured leg and finally let out a sigh of resignation...

It's already five in the morning. I wrote a long chapter, so I won't be updating today. I'm going to rest, clear my head, and get some sleep. Goodnight. (There are typos, I'll fix them tomorrow; I'm too tired.)