Lunch could properly be considered a mutual farewell feast. The two of them rode their bicycles to the eastern side of town to eat at a mutton restaurant, blowing through more than forty yuan in one go. Using the pretext that "going to the frontier carries risks," Han Qingyu laid the groundwork and carefully accounted for every detail, small and large, tying up every loose end to keep his story from falling apart.
All told, the meal lasted for a full two hours or more. On top of that, he helped tidy up the soon-to-be-vacant old house after eating, picking out a few things his family could use. Tying them along with the big black umbrella to the crossbar of his bicycle with a piece of rope, it was already past three-thirty by the time Han Qingyu set off for home.
When he left, Plague-Chicken Fei rode out on his bicycle as well, saying that after this parting they might not see each other for two or three years... so he would see him off for a stretch.
"All right, piss off back from here. Once you get to the military, remember to work hard."
Not far out of the county town, Han Qingyu stopped his bike, looked back, and waved.
"You got it... In that case, let's both piss off in our own directions. Let's each work hard to make something of ourselves."
Wen Jifei planted one foot on the ground and whipped the tail of his bike around to turn back.
Han Qingyu turned back around and pedaled forward. He had ridden barely twenty meters when—
*Beep!*
A sharp, short blare of a car horn sounded practically in his ear, making him jump with fright. At the same time, he could sense the rolling of car tires right behind him, pebbles crackling and popping beneath the wheels.
Han Qingyu glanced toward the window of the jeep... turned his handlebars, and moved toward the side of the road to yield.
*Beep!* Another honk.
The jeep drew close once again.
"..." Putting away the idiotic thought of racing a motor vehicle, Han Qingyu moved further aside, edging all the way onto the shoulder, while putting a bit more force into his pedals.
The result was the same. The jeep honked again, relentlessly accelerated into a drift, and whipped its front end diagonally across his path, cutting him off and forcing him to a halt right on the edge of the road.
The car window rolled down.
Lao Jian was alone, sitting in the driver's seat, turning his head to smile at Han Qingyu. It was the sort of smug, self-amused, playful smirk that came from having nothing to fear after pulling a prank...
If not for his fear of dying, Han Qingyu really would have punched him right in the face.
"Surprised?" Lao Jian asked with a smile. Today he was dressed like an ordinary cadre, looking the part, so it was no wonder Han Qingyu hadn't recognized him earlier.
"Are you... keeping tabs on me? Worried I'll blab..."
*Come to think of it, if he's been tailing me since this morning... then earlier, when I was dashing and leaping around in the woods... I was still far too careless!*
Han Qingyu felt guilty and flustered, but he kept his expression in check and said, "Don't worry. I know how serious this is. I won't say a word."
With that, he cast a cautious glance ahead and behind.
Looking ahead, there was no one nearby.
Looking behind... *Dammit.*
Less than a hundred meters away, Wen Jifei had stopped, his bike turned sideways as he squinted in this direction. *Don't come over, you idiot,* Han Qingyu shouted in his mind, anxious yet helpless.
For now, in Han Qingyu's eyes, Lao Jian was essentially an impermanence demon who could drag someone down to purgatory at any moment.
"Not deliberately tailing you," Lao Jian said, glancing back toward the county town. "It's just that the county town is only this big. It was a coincidence, so I followed you for a bit."
As he spoke, Han Qingyu saw Wen Jifei pedaling hard, racing over at top speed.
Naturally, he was in Lao Jian's line of sight as well.
"He's my classmate. I didn't tell him anything," Han Qingyu quickly turned back to explain to Lao Jian.
Lao Jian gave a chuckle and nodded.
*Screeech—* "What's going on?" Plague-Chicken Fei arrived with a hard brake, his rear wheel kicking up before swinging sideways and landing to a stop. He was clearly anxious, yet a grin remained on his face as he pointed at the jeep's wheel. "Doesn't look like... you two bumped into each other."
In his mind, Han Qingyu's family didn't know any cadres, and the jeep's repeated maneuvers had clearly carried a provocative tone.
Lao Jian looked him up and down, deliberately darkening his expression as he said, "A bit of private business. It doesn't concern you."
"Oh." Figuring it definitely wasn't anything good, Wen Jifei smiled and continued, "It does concern me. What's the specific situation? Spell it out, and I'll take the fall."
*You take the fall? You take your uncle or aunt's fall! Take, take, take!* Han Qingyu cursed violently inside.
Plague-Chicken Fei's habit of acting like a street-smart hoodlum had developed in school. In these times, students loved playing at schoolyard gangs and brotherhoods. As a poor country boy, Han Qingyu wanted no part in that, which naturally led to some inevitable trouble. Meanwhile, Wen Jifei—likely because he had a wealthy father with connections everywhere—was the kind of guy who excelled at stirring up trouble, had zero fear of consequences, and especially loved taking the fall for others indiscriminately.
Multiple times, Han Qingyu or other classmates hadn't even come to blows with anyone, but the moment Wen Jifei stepped in to "help," a fight... erupted.
And in actual fighting ability, he was nowhere near as tough as Han Qingyu.
"You take the fall? I'm afraid this isn't something you can carry," Lao Jian narrowed his eyes, impossible to tell if he was deliberately testing him or not. He continued, "Do you know what this classmate of yours is about to do?"
Wen Jifei replied as if it were obvious, "Join the military. Go to the frontier."
Lao Jian smiled and nodded.
Han Qingyu seized the chance to jump in: "Stop butting in! My enlistment was actually arranged with help from Uncle... Uncle Lao."
Saying those words made him feel intensely aggrieved, but there was no helping it.
"Ah... A misunderstanding?!" *Snap.*
Wen Jifei snapped to attention on the spot and threw a crisp military salute.
"Greetings, Chief!"
Then he poked his head forward with an obsequious grin. "Chief, which unit are you from? Talk about a coincidence, I happen to be enlisting as well. So Chief, wouldn't you say that serving to defend the nation means going wherever the motherland needs us most? Somewhere like the frontier would be best, right?"
Lao Jian listened with a smile, slowly shifting his gaze to cast a meaningful look at Han Qingyu's face.
"Get lost! Do you think enlisting is child's play?!" Han Qingyu quickly turned and snapped at his friend.
Only then did Lao Jian speak up: "He's right. Where you go in the military isn't up to you."
"...Ah." Wen Jifei replied dejectedly. In the presence of a chief, he didn't dare say much more.
Han Qingyu finally let out a hesitant breath of relief.
"Tell you what, since we're heading the same way, I'll give you a lift and we can chat. Hang your bicycle on the back of my jeep," Lao Jian said to Han Qingyu, then turned back to Wen Jifei. "Goodbye, young comrade. Once you get to the military, remember to perform well."
"Yes, sir! Rest assured, Chief!"
Before leaving, Wen Jifei gave the chief another goofy salute.
...
The jeep jolted along the gravel road.
Inside the vehicle.
"What, nervous just now?" Lao Jian smiled with irritating smugness and asked, "Afraid of dragging your brother into danger?"
No response. Han Qingyu kept silent. Ever since climbing in, he had barely uttered a word, wary that more words meant more mistakes.
"I, on the other hand, am feeling more and more like recruiting you was the right call," Lao Jian continued on his own. "Calm, filial, resourceful, and loyal to your friends... By the way, I'll be personally taking you to the unit this time."
"Aren't you the captain?" Han Qingyu turned to look at Lao Jian, his eyes filled with confusion.
"Can't be helped. You saw it that night too—the source energy block wasn't found this time," Lao Jian explained. "I have to head back, explain the situation, and undergo an investigation."
Perhaps having truly begun to treat Han Qingyu as one of his own soldiers, Lao Jian no longer seemed guarded in his speech.
"Do you guys... eat that stuff?" Judging that his secret hadn't been exposed and that source energy blocks were truly exceedingly precious, Han Qingyu acted earnest and curious as he asked, "Is that why you guys run so fast, and..."
"Eat it?! Hahaha!" Lao Jian gripped the steering wheel and burst out laughing. "You think it's like thousand-year ginseng or lingzhi mushrooms on TV dramas?... In reality, people with slightly higher source energy absorption capacity—sure, I've seen some. But swallowing it directly like you're talking about? Never seen it... never even heard of it."
Then he seemed to pause and ponder. "Though I have heard there are people with exceptionally high degrees of fusion, but I've never seen one in person."
"Oh." Han Qingyu nodded with a blank, bewildered look.
On a straight stretch, Lao Jian suddenly slowed down. He turned, leaned across, and flicked a catch on the backrest of the rear seat.
The backrest folded forward, revealing a hidden compartment within.
Neatly stowed inside the compartment was a set of the strange gear Han Qingyu had seen on Lao Jian and the others that night:
A rectangular metal case in a dark, muted tone stood upright. Its upper-left and lower-right corners were sheared off, exposing two ports, while around the midway point on each side—at asymmetrical heights—there was another port each.
Han Qingyu recalled that when they wore the metal case on their backs, it seemed to hang diagonally, with the upper-left port resting near the right shoulder and the lower-right port angling down toward the left, just above the small of the back.
Corresponding to the number of ports, four metallic straps of unknown material hung inside the hidden compartment. Though clearly metallic at a glance, they appeared flexible.
Finally, there was a straight, pitch-black blade that was not very long but fairly thick, with an overall crude finish, along with an awl-shaped small dagger of the same material.
"This, you've seen before... After source energy is refined, we load it into this device for use. Over time, the body does absorb a little, becoming tougher than an ordinary person's." Lao Jian snapped the seatback shut, turned back around, and continued driving as he spoke: "But that's as far as it goes; it's not as exaggerated as you think. Take me, for instance. After nearly ten years, if I don't activate the device and you stab me with a knife, I'll die just the same."
Hearing this, Han Qingyu subconsciously pulled his gaze back... and glanced at Lao Jian.
"What, tempted?" Lao Jian gave a self-deprecating smile. "Do you want me dead that badly?"
"..." Han Qingyu did not rush to deny it this time.
Lao Jian chuckled. "Resentment aside, you can't kill me. Besides, killing me wouldn't do any good. So many people saw you that night, and the report has already gone up."
"..." Han Qingyu sighed. "Honestly, even if I talked about this, nobody would believe me."
Lao Jian shook his head, speaking with a touch of helplessness: "Even if ordinary people don't believe it, there will always be someone listening with an agenda. I'm sorry, but we can't take that risk. You'll understand all this later..."
As he spoke, a black communicator the size of a cigarette pack beside him suddenly flashed red, chiming twice with a sharp *beep-beep*.
Lao Jian glanced at Han Qingyu... picked up the communicator, and connected the call.
"Area 752, Lao Jian, on standby," he said.
Han Qingyu couldn't hear the voice from the other end very clearly, catching only a few muffled words and phrases: *depot... sortie... defense... nearby area backup...* and the like.
"Understood. My position is favorable. En route immediately."
Lao Jian terminated the call.
Inside the jeep, the two exchanged a look.
Han Qingyu said earnestly, "If you've got business, go ahead. Just drop me off right here and I'll ride my bike—"
Lao Jian hesitated for a moment. "I need you to do me a favor."
Han Qingyu: "..."
Before he could reply, the jeep surged with acceleration, veering onto another mountain road and speeding away.
Chapter 8