Chapter 60: Jiao Mountain
Chapter 60: Jiao Mountain
September slipped by, and October arrived.
Chen Chuan focused solely on practicing the Zhouyuan Combat Technique, repeatedly refining his Positive Free Hand Stance, and even made time to study the basic saber techniques that Cheng Zitong had taught him in his spare moments.
On a rest day in early October, Cheng Zitong called Chen Chuan in the morning, saying, "Chuan, the assigned mission can begin. The teacher has already arranged everything. The person accompanying you is my junior master, a peer of yours. You can call him Senior or Senior Brother."
"He's waiting downstairs for you right now. There will inevitably be unexpected situations during the mission, but he's more experienced. Just follow his lead when the time comes."
"Yes, teacher, I've noted it," Chen Chuan replied, then asked, "Teacher, what's this senior brother's name?"
"Ren Xiaotian," Cheng Zitong answered.
Chen Chuan thought to himself that this senior brother had a rather wild name.
After the call, he thanked the dormitory manager, returned to his room to prepare, and took the elevator downstairs. Upon exiting the building, he saw a gray-green SUV parked not too far away. A man, standing less than 1.6 meters tall and appearing to be in his thirties, waited by the car with a stern expression. When he noticed Chen Chuan, he briefly said, "Chen Chuan?"
Chen Chuan nodded and asked, "Senior Brother Ren?"
"Yes, get in," Ren Xiaotian said, opening the driver's door and climbing into the vehicle with a long stride.
Chen Chuan made his way to the passenger seat, opened the door, and slid into the seat. Once the door was closed and his seatbelt fastened, the SUV started its engine.
Unlike the accommodating Wei Chang'an, whom he had interacted with before, this Senior Brother Ren remained silent, not uttering a word, for a long stretch after they left the school gates.
Chen Chuan wasn't sure if it was his personality or some other reason, but since the senior brother wasn't talking, he didn't want to disturb him. Instead, Instead, he used this time to practice his breathing technique.
After a while, Senior Brother Ren suddenly spoke up, "Your basic breathing technique?"
"Yes," Chen Chuan replied.
Senior Brother Ren fell silent again, and after a moment, he said, "It's pretty good."
Chen Chuan glanced at him, confirming that this senior brother wasn't much of a talker. After some thought, Chen Chuan took the initiative and asked, "Senior Brother Ren, where are we headed?"
Senior Brother Ren seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, "We're going to Jiao Mountain."
Chen Chuan appeared thoughtful and asked, "Jiao Mountain? And what exactly are we doing there?"
"We're retrieving an item for a client," Senior Brother Ren explained.
Chen Chuan recalled the words Lu Ke had shared with him in the past and could roughly guess their destination for this trip.
At that moment, Senior Brother Ren handed him a notebook, saying, "Take a look."
Chen Chuan took the notebook, flipped through it, and saw it was filled with densely written words, all related to the assigned mission. The key points were highlighted with red lines at the bottom.
Since the client's payment was made in full upfront, after confirmation between the commissioning company and the client, there would be no additional compensation or reimbursement for any extra expenses incurred during the mission. Therefore, the executor had to bear all the unnecessary costs themselves.
If any variables arose during the mission, the executor was also responsible for handling them appropriately. Failure to do so or mission failure would result in a lowered evaluation, making it difficult to secure decent assigned missions in the future.
To avoid such situations, one must ensure a high success rate and strive to minimize costs. Chen Chuan noticed that the notebook had a note in bold pen at the back: "Information channels are crucial."
He nodded in agreement.
What was being compared here were the information channels—one that could quickly find various assigned missions, and another that provided timely updates on the required mission details. The more detailed and precise the information, the higher the success rate and the lower the cost. Therefore, having a solid network was essential for those specializing in this line of work.
However, right below the statement "Information channels are crucial" was another line: "Protecting yourself is the most important."
Chen Chuan agreed even more with this statement. Assigned missions were merely tools on his path to self-improvement. If he couldn't protect himself, none of it would be meaningful.
He continued flipping through the notebook, noticing that the information within was a mix of new and old, with the most crucial points specially marked with red pen for his convenience. He thought to himself, "This senior brother is quite considerate, and the person the teacher found is indeed reliable."
The SUV drove out of the city, crossed the National Avenue, and headed towards the wasteland where there was barely a road.
Chen Chuan looked out at the desolate landscape, feeling as if they had suddenly left civilization far behind, even though Yangzhi City wasn't that far away.
However, Yangzhi City's six counties were concentrated in the west and south, with the north consisting mostly of mountainous areas and small towns, and the east, near Jiao Mountain, was sparsely populated. It was rumored that only a few illegal organizations existed in this area.
On the other side of Jiao Mountain, there were many people who made a living by scavenging trash. They were nominally citizens of Dashun Republic, but in reality, they didn't enjoy any civil rights and didn't even have household registrations, so they didn't exist in any official records.
He gazed at the distant black silhouette of the mountains, and according to Lu Ke, there were many villages near the mountains, but they didn't trust each other and had their own territories.
Most of the time, the people of Jiao Mountain traded with those from the northwest, in the Zhang Mountain area and surrounding villages, obtaining supplies from there. The Iron Chain Gang held a significant share of this trade.
However, this time, they weren't heading in that direction.
The journey was bumpy, but fortunately, both of them had excellent physical fitness and didn't feel any discomfort. After driving for about three hours, they came across a patch of dark, charred soil, and in the distance, a massive black mountain shadow gradually rose above the horizon, indicating they were approaching Jiao Mountain.
Ren Xiaotian handed him a mask and a neck gaiter, saying, "Put these on."
Chen Chuan took them, knowing that most of Jiao Mountain's residents had lung diseases, possibly caused by the area's unique dust. Putting on these protective gear was necessary, so he quickly donned both items.
By now, they could see a faintly visible, relatively flat road ahead, likely cleared for travel. After driving along this road for about half an hour, a simple road sign appeared on the side, constructed from old tires and metal wire hoops. At the top, the words 'South Gully Village' were crudely bent out of the metal wire.
As the sound of their vehicle approached, a man covered in gray dust, wearing a work uniform, old-fashioned windproof goggles, and a leather hat with earflaps, cautiously peered out from behind the road sign. He checked the license plate, compared it to a piece of paper in his hand, and then waved both hands at them.
The off-road vehicle slowly drove up and stopped not far from the road sign. Ren Xiaotian put on his hat and quickly wrapped the neck gaiter tightly around his neck, saying, "Get out." He opened the door and jumped out, walking towards the man.
Chen Chuan also got out of the car, and as soon as he stepped outside, he felt gusts of strong wind blowing, carrying fine particles of dust. He glanced at the distant Jiao Mountain, which seemed to merge with the clouds, and raised his hand to hold down his student hat, following Ren Xiaotian.
As the two of them approached, the man hurried over with a smile, extending his dirty hand towards Chen Chuan and bowing slightly. "Mr. Ren, right? You're so young and capable."
Chen Chuan gestured to the side, saying, "This is Mr. Ren."
Realizing his mistake, the man quickly turned to shake hands with Ren Xiaotian, feeling no embarrassment. "Mr. Ren, you're truly an enigma."
Ren Xiaotian's face remained stern. "Are you Old Mi?"
"Yes, yes, that's me. Everyone calls me that."
"Where's the stuff?"
Old Mi sighed. "I had the goods on me, ready for the trade, but I ran into some trouble when leaving the village..."
Ren Xiaotian's voice was dry. "The price can be negotiated, but don't lie to me."
"No, no," Old Mi quickly waved his hands. "It's like this. The village is worried about trouble, so the village head wants you to come to the village for the trade. That way, it's safer."
Ren Xiaotian was silent for a moment, then suddenly pulled out a revolver and pressed it against Old Mi's forehead. Staring into Old Mi's shocked and panicked eyes, he said in a flat tone, "Give me the goods, or you die."
...
(End of Chapter)
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