The moment Shabi's clone was activated and finished processing the incoming data, he flew into a rage. "I died? How could I possibly die? What happened?"
The AI butler replied, "No comment."
"Where did I die?"
"No comment."
Cursing under his breath, Shabi forced himself to regain his composure and accept reality. "Open the latest suspect location map."
Dozens of glowing dots were scattered across the digital map. The AI updated their positions every half hour and plotted trajectory lines based on their previous coordinates.
Shabi traced his finger across the display before tapping on NB711. "No signal feedback for hours... Did they enter Heishuigou Road?"
"No comment," the AI butler replied.
"Anyone brave enough to enter Heishuigou and still make it out alive ought to be worth my time." Shabi fixed his gaze on the exit of Heishuigou Road. "Dispatch an aircraft. I'm heading to the Nanshang City Agent Base."
"The aircraft will be ready in five minutes."
*Me? Die? It had to be an accident. Definitely an accident. Without a doubt.*
***
Chu Yu kicked open the door to a restaurant. Ding Shi entered with his gun drawn, moving through the building with caution. After five minutes, he confirmed the place was clear, but found no rope.
Chu Yu and Ding Shi searched ten storefronts along the road, establishing a secure perimeter. Mumu and the other two remained by the car at the entrance of the village.
Ding Shi went up to the restaurant's rooftop and looked out. Dozens of houses stood on either side, showing no sign of human activity. He wasn't looking for Fei Lang, but for rope. None of the ten storefronts had any, which meant Fei Lang had clearly anticipated this. That brought up another question: in a village of nearly a hundred households, where was Fei Lang trying to lure them?
If his hunch was correct, Fei Lang would have left the clue somewhere conspicuous. With that in mind, Ding Shi spotted an elementary school over three hundred meters away. Abandoned for decades, the school still had a flag fluttering from its flagpole. A flag meant rope.
So that was where Fei Lang had placed his piece. Now it was up to him to counter the move.
Having formed a plan, Ding Shi called up Chu Yu, their team leader. She came up, and with Ding Shi pointing the way, she spotted the flag as well.
"Action beats overthinking," Chu Yu said. "Let's move."
The two headed downstairs, stopped by the village entrance to brief Mumu and the others, and then set off along the path toward the school. The path had side branches and was flanked by houses and overgrown weeds—places where someone could be lying in wait at every turn.
After cautiously picking their way down the trail bordered by weeds, the view ahead suddenly opened up. The winding dirt path led toward a single-log bridge. Chu Yu picked up her pace. "Careful, the log bridge might be rigged."
"Don't move!" Ding Shi barked.
Chu Yu froze instantly, paused mid-stride on one leg like a golden rooster.
Gripping his gun with both hands, Ding Shi scanned left and right. Once he was sure the immediate area was safe, he stepped over to Chu Yu, took hold of her clothes, and eased her backward. Chu Yu crouched down to examine the ground. Ahead, a patch of weeds was flattened, and a stretch of gravel looked loose. Ding Shi kicked a stone onto the weeds. With a sharp snap, a bear trap sprang into the air. Looking at its jagged steel teeth, stepping on it would have completely ruined a foot.
Ding Shi's expression turned grim. "He even used the sun's position, hiding the trap in what little shadow there was. He didn't rig the path through the weeds because our guard would be at its highest there. Instead, he took advantage of our relief upon clearing the weeds and our anticipation of the log bridge to lay the trap right here."
Ding Shi grumbled discontentedly, "Didn't the system boost Fei Lang's IQ a bit too high? He's only ever dealt with ordinary people who wandered into non-signal zones by mistake. How could he have developed such a crafty mind?" What other traps had an opponent like this laid up ahead?
Chu Yu triggered a second bear trap and asked thoughtfully, "Ding Shi, what if we ditch the path and just cut straight across?"
"Cut straight across?"
"Through houses if there are houses, across streams if there are streams. No matter how smart he is, he won't be able to guess which straight line we'll take." A straight line ran from the village entrance to the school, and another straight line ran from where they stood now to the school. Chu Yu said, "This is his home turf. Our only chance to catch him off guard is to move fast and do the unexpected."
Ding Shi looked surprised. "That's actually a great idea."
Chu Yu flashed a peace sign with a bright smile. "I am a headhunter, after all. The corporate world is nothing but the Thirty-Six Stratagems in disguise."
She asked, "Ready?"
"Ready."
"Let's go."
The two left the path and jumped down into the dry fields. Cutting across the fields, they plunged into the stream, waded to the opposite bank, slipped between two houses, and rapidly closed in on the school.
A motorcycle burst out from the school grounds, veered right, and sped away. It was too far off; Chu Yu and Ding Shi could only watch it leave. The two hastened their pace into the school and reached the base of the flagpole.
The flag was hoisted by a cotton rope. In terms of strength, cotton rope wasn't particularly top-tier, but it would be more than enough.
They lowered the flag, cut the knot, and acquired a seventy-meter cotton rope.
Having secured what they came for, they were about to pull out quickly when a flash of reflected light caught Chu Yu's eye. Looking up, she spotted something glinting at the top of the twenty-eight-meter flagpole.
"Ding Shi." Chu Yu stopped him, pulling him by the sleeve over to where she stood. Ding Shi looked up, and the glint from the top of the flagpole dazzled his eyes as well.
"Wait, that doesn't make sense," Ding Shi said. "This instance doesn't have skill slots or item slots, which means we can't bring outside items in, nor can we take items from inside the instance out. It shouldn't be anything remarkable."
Chu Yu said, "What if it is? Maybe it's a playing card that reveals the truth." When she had listened to Ding Shi describe his past spoils, she had been very intrigued by the idea of "the truth." Ding Shi's truth had come from the Seven of Spades found in San Niang's coffin. Looking up at the flagpole now, the object really did look like a playing card.
Ding Shi said, "I respect your opinion."
Chu Yu had intended for Ding Shi to retrieve it, given that a chunk of flesh had just been carved out of her forearm. But Ding Shi clearly wasn't being much of a gentleman—if you want it, go get it; I respect your choice.
Chu Yu had no choice but to admit it. "I can't climb up there."
Ding Shi was just as frank, sighing, "What a coincidence. Neither can I."
Chu Yu laughed. "Do you think there's a ladder around?"
"It's not about a ladder," Ding Shi replied. "We shouldn't have taken the cotton rope down. We were supposed to use it to hoist someone to the top to retrieve the card." Now that the rope had already been pulled down, leaving only a bare pole, there was nothing they could do.
"Let's go, then." Regretful though she felt, Chu Yu gave it up decisively.
Continuing in a straight line, the two made it back to the village entrance without a hitch. Brother Kai and Ding Shi hitched the rope between the two vehicles. Brother Kai reversed, towing away the first black sedan. Then the second, and finally the third. By the time they finished, it was already past four in the afternoon. Only thirty kilometers remained of Heishuigou Road.
Chapter 54