Different

By the roadside, Chen Yiming returned with three sacks on his back.

Chen Shaojie, Zhong Chaofeng, and Lin Yongxin hurried over and took one sack each.

"Hold on to those. What's inside is important."

Chen Yiming gave the three of them a warning.

The map, Mutated Beast jerky, and medicine—any one of them was worth far more than the cash they had taken earlier.

Some rare kinds of Mutated Beast jerky were hard to buy. He had already decided to start training Chen Yingying as soon as he got back. The jerky was all for his younger sister.

With the map, he had what he needed to take the first step in his next plan.

While Chen Yiming was speaking to the three men, Dong Fen walked alone to Zhao Baolong, who lay by the roadside.

"Blame yourself for being no use to me anymore."

Dong Fen crouched and quickly tipped several red pills from a bottle she kept inside her clothes.

"You damned woman."

Zhao Baolong's eyes widened. Ignoring the pain that felt as though every muscle in his body was tearing apart, he struggled to get up.

The red pills were a slow-acting poison that targeted the heart. Without an antidote, the heart's ability to pump blood would gradually weaken until even a few steps left the victim exhausted.

Dong Fen held the struggling Zhao Baolong down with one hand and lightly struck his chest with the other. His mouth opened reflexively. She quickly put the pills in, clamped his mouth shut, and made him swallow them.

Only after confirming that Zhao Baolong had swallowed the red pills did Dong Fen say goodbye to him.

"I couldn't risk leaving trouble behind, could I? Now there's no way you'll come back alive."

Dong Fen had done it to eliminate any future threat. It was all because Chen Shaojie had suggested that crooked scheme. Her instinct to survive had exposed what she really thought.

If she did not harden her heart now, and the war ended early enough for both of them to survive, Dong Fen—who was weaker than Zhao Baolong—would have to pray he did not come after her later.

Once Zhao Baolong was sent to work at the front, where there was not even enough medicine for the soldiers, he would have no chance of treatment. He would simply be worked to death.

Chen Yiming noticed what was happening to Zhao Baolong, but Dong Fen had acted too quickly. No one had expected her to do such a thing.

After she finished, Dong Fen got up, walked over, and explained to Chen Yiming.

"Don't worry, sir. That slow-acting poison won't take effect right away. I just didn't want Zhao Baolong to have a chance of coming back alive."

Hearing her explanation, Chen Yiming instantly understood why she had handed over everything she owned so readily.

These bandits really were cold-blooded. Once they saw that a situation could not be salvaged, they could turn on anyone—even their own husband.

"What about those people in the weeds?"

Chen Yiming suddenly thought of the others. His fight with Zhao Baolong had probably frightened them into hiding there.

"All of you stay here, especially you, Dong Fen. Don't think you can get away."

With that warning, Chen Yiming set off at full speed.

The moment he finished speaking, he vanished from sight. Seeing him move even faster than he had during the fight, Dong Fen felt a flicker of hope that she could escape while he was gone. It died just as quickly.

On the roof of a house beside the spot where the four lay hidden,

"Waiting here for me so late, are you?" Chen Yiming asked.

He was in a good mood and could not resist teasing them.

Just how unlucky were these four to run into him? Chen Yiming had not gone looking for them, yet they had delivered themselves right to him.

A few minutes later, the four obediently followed Chen Yiming back to the roadside.

Half an hour later.

East Lake City, western district, at the entrance to a cluster of three- to five-story buildings.

The City Patrol office was inside.

It was nearly seven-thirty. From time to time, other City Patrol teams like Chen Yiming's registered with the gatekeeper before going in to turn in their assignments.

Other City Patrol teams generally brought in two or three people, most of them gaunt refugees.

Chen Yiming's group was different. Apart from the listless Zhao Baolong, the other five had powerful muscles and a menacing air.

They were clearly martial artists, drawing repeated looks from the other City Patrol teams.

When it was Chen Yiming's group's turn to register, the old gatekeeper gave them a closer look.

"Three at the Second Body Metamorphosis and three at the First Body Metamorphosis. Is that right? If you deliberately report false information, your team could lose its license."

Chen Shaojie stepped forward to speak for Chen Yiming and took a cigarette from his pack, offering it to the old man.

"Old Zhang, our adviser is a talented student at the Praying Mantis Snake Sword Academy. Go ahead and register them. We wouldn't try to fool you."

"I see."

The old man could tell that the people Chen Yiming's group had brought in were martial artists. Still, appearances were not necessarily accurate. A professional assessment would settle it.

Not far away, many in the team waiting to register behind Chen Yiming could hardly believe what they had heard Old Zhang say.

Where would the City Patrol find so many people at the First or Second Body Metamorphosis to arrest? And even if they did, how could one team capture several at once?

Most ordinary City Patrol squad leaders were only at the First Body Metamorphosis. A few stronger ones had reached the Second.

In the city's urban villages, people of unknown identity at the First or Second Body Metamorphosis were usually bandits who had slipped in from the Wilderness Zone.

At the same level, City Patrol squad leaders accustomed to keeping order inside the city were no match for bandits from the Wilderness Zone.

When they encountered someone too formidable, City Patrol teams would usually pretend not to notice anything wrong. The bandits did not want trouble either, so the two sides maintained an unspoken understanding.

The City Patrol's main targets were generally refugees who had slipped into the city. They had little ability to resist the patrol's armed force. Squad leaders rarely even had to intervene, leaving the arrests to their subordinates.

The old man soon let Chen Yiming's group through. Chen Shaojie led the way to a building dedicated to processing completed assignments.

Ten minutes later, Chen Yiming's group emerged from the building.

"Adviser Chen, you're incredible."

Zhong Chaofeng was the first to flatter him as they came out.

"He's right, Adviser Chen. The other teams were stunned. You should've seen their faces."

Lin Yongxin had worked for years and knew how to smooth things over. He joined in the praise.

"Cousin, why don't we book a table and celebrate our first victory?" Chen Shaojie suggested from beside them.

Chen Yiming glanced at them but said little.

He had worked for years after graduating in his previous life. He knew they were flattering him mainly because they wanted to earn more assignment rewards by working with him.

"Give me everything. I've got somewhere to be, so I'm leaving first."

Chen Yiming still had his part-time job that evening. He turned down his cousin's suggestion, picked up their haul in both hands, and left.

There were still a little over ten minutes before his swordsmanship class. At his current speed, he had enough time to stop by home on his own before heading to class.