Chapter 851: The Frozen Tundra's Legacy
Chapter 851: The Frozen Tundra's Legacy
After having lunch at Cheng Zitong's house, Chen Chuan bid farewell and left.
As he stepped out, the sun shone brightly, and birds chirped in the treetops. This time, he didn't hide himself but walked directly past the entrance of Lakefront Retreat.
On a stone table by the road, two elderly men sat on either side, one holding a teapot, chatting and squinting as they basked in the sun.
Suddenly, they spotted Chen Chuan walking by, and they couldn't help but stare, their squinting eyes widening in surprise.
Chen Chuan nodded to the two men and said, "Happy New Year, seniors."
The two elders were startled for a moment, then stood up involuntarily and replied, "Happy New Year, Happy New Year..."
After Chen Chuan passed by, the two men continued to stare, and after a while, one of the elders exclaimed, "Old Qian, did you see that? Did you see it?"
"I saw it, I saw it. Old He, my old bones can't take your slaps..." The other elder quickly moved away.
Old He retracted his hand and grabbed his beard, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "He's a martial artist! A martial artist is wishing us a Happy New Year. Well done, old man! It's worth it! Worth it, haha!"
Old Qian couldn't help but nod vigorously.
Unlike ordinary people, as retired instructors from Wu Yi Academy, they were well aware of the significance of martial artists. For them, the position of the Security Director was prestigious, but it was just a position that many could hold. However, the title of martial artist was a realm not easily attained by everyone.
This title held an irreplaceable status in the hearts of those who had dedicated their lives to martial arts.
The two elders stared until Chen Chuan was out of sight, then they glanced at each other with a knowing look. They had something to boast about for the entire New Year, no, every year!
Old He looked behind him, "That was Cheng Zitong's house. Cheng Zitong's disciple is truly exceptional. Have you heard? When Cheng Zitong wanted his student to study under Old Qiao, he asked for a sword manual. Old Qiao agreed to give the manual, but on the condition that Director Chen followed his disciple as an assistant. I wonder if Old Qiao is blushing now."
"Isn't that so? Old Qiao hurriedly went to Central City with his disciple last year. What do you think he was up to? He was protecting his reputation. Who knows, he might still be trying to regain his honor."
"Hey, I heard about that. What's the point of Old Qiao competing with Cheng Zitong? They're master and disciple. What's there to talk about?"
"Don't you understand? It's a competition for the path! No one would give up that easily."
"Then let me tell you, Old Qiao should give up this idea. His disciple can't catch up to Cheng Zitong's student in eight lifetimes. It's not shameful to admit defeat."
"Admit defeat? Hiding is also a solution. As long as I don't see it, I won't consider it a defeat!"
As the two men were chatting, a car suddenly appeared from outside.
Old He looked over, "Hey? Isn't that Director He's car leading the way? He must be here to greet the New Year. The sun must be rising from the west. In the past, the Patrol Bureau would send a few officers to greet us during the New Year, but this year, the director himself has come."
At that moment, both men realized something and looked at each other, their expressions filled with meaning. Everyone knew that Director He was an ambitious official, and it was clear who he was trying to impress.
But it wasn't Director He's fault; he just wanted to advance his career.
When Chen Chuan left, he saw a convoy approaching from a distance and recognized the visitors. However, he had no interest in meeting them, so he walked along the path leading to the dormitory.
Inside the dormitory, a resident student who had just finished training was sitting by the window, drinking water. He glanced down unintentionally and suddenly froze.
Then, he became excited, "Chen Chuan, it's Chen Chuan!"
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Chen Chuan seemed to hear his voice. He turned around, looked at him, and smiled, nodding at him. The student trembled with excitement and waved frantically.
After a while, he saw that Chen Chuan had walked out of his line of sight. He immediately rushed outside, not taking the elevator but quickly running down the hallway to the ground floor. Once outside, he looked left and right but couldn't find Chen Chuan, leaving him feeling slightly lost.
After standing for a while, he became excited again and ran to the public phone below the dormitory. He picked up the receiver and dialed a number. As soon as the call connected, he eagerly said, "Guess who I saw today?"
After returning from the academy, Chen Chuan spent the following days visiting old classmates.
However, most of his former classmates became reserved and distant after learning about his current position. Only his middle school friend and buddy, Ding Jiao, remained the same as before.
In Ding Jiao's words, "Who cares about positions? He's still the same person. Xiao Chuan was my buddy before, and he's still my buddy now."
Chen Chuan told him that his family might be moving, and Ding Jiao felt a bit reluctant to let him go. Even when Chen Chuan moved to Central City, he would return once a year, but now it seemed unlikely that he would come back again.
Chen Chuan gave the man his personal phone number and telegram contact, telling him to reach out if he needed anything. He also mentioned that if he ever wanted to go to the Central City, he should just give him a heads-up. Finally, he added that he wasn't really planning on not coming back, as this was, after all, his hometown, and his old house was still here. He would have to come back and take a look.
Time flew by, and half a month passed.
By this time, Chen Chuan was already making arrangements for his family's move to the Central City. Just then, he received a call from the Civil Affairs Director, Zhu Xian, asking if he could come to the Civil Affairs Bureau. He mentioned that representatives from Yuhai Corporation had come over and that there was a rather urgent matter that required his presence.
Chen Chuan didn't know what the issue was, but from Zhu Xian's tone and choice of words, as well as the mention of Yuhai Corporation, he could tell that this wasn't a trivial matter.
He immediately agreed to come over. Since the family's off-road vehicle was in use, he boarded a nearby vehicle that had been arranged and headed straight for the Civil Affairs Bureau. Upon arrival, he was escorted by Secretary Xiao Pan to the reception hall.
Waiting there was not only the Civil Affairs Director Zhu Xian but also another person standing beside him. As Chen Chuan entered, the man stepped forward, extended his hand, and shook hands with Chen Chuan, introducing himself, "Director Chen, I'm Bao Ning, the regional manager of Yuhai Corporation."
Chen Chuan took a look at the manager, who was in his forties, with half of his face covered in floral-patterned skin implants. He was very thin, with prominent cheekbones, and his hair stood tall, half white and half green. This style was rarely seen in Yangzhi City but was quite common in the Central City.
Bao Ning apologized, "Director Chen, I'm sorry to have summoned you here today. But our company has encountered some unexpected circumstances. As the Chief of Safety and Defense in Jinbei Province, we had to trouble you."
Chen Chuan asked, "What's the matter?"
Bao Ning gestured with his hand, and immediately, an assistant handed him a hard-cover file. He presented it to Chen Chuan with both hands, "Director Chen, this is our company's incident report. Please take a look."
Chen Chuan took the file and browsed through it, raising an eyebrow in surprise. The report detailed the very incident that Nian Fuli had mentioned earlier. He had intended to inquire about it again when he returned to the Central City, but now, the matter had come to him.
The report described how Yuhai Corporation, while constructing a railway in the north, had accidentally unearthed two individuals at a particular section. Two sets of on-site photographs were included in the report, revealing two individuals with unusually large bodies, dressed in clothing made from a special material with an ancient nomadic style, though the specific design was unclear.
One of them had white hair, while the other had yellowish hair. Both had deep-set eyes and high noses, clearly not of Donglu descent.
"After discovering these two individuals, we consulted professionals who suspected that they were ancient martial artists. Astonishingly, we detected faint life signs from them. So, we placed them in a secure location, intending to transport them to our company for further handling. However, during the transport, the train carrying them was attacked by unknown forces, and both individuals disappeared."
Manager Bao explained, "Currently, we're unsure if they woke up and escaped or if they were abducted by the unknown forces."
Chen Chuan raised his head and said, "Since these two individuals exhibit life signs and are suspected to be martial artists, this is an extremely dangerous situation. Yuhai Corporation, as a national military-industrial enterprise, is known to have martial artists among its ranks. Why didn't you assign personnel to handle and protect them?"
Manager Bao lowered his head, filled with shame, and said, "We were indeed negligent and didn't give it enough attention. As the two individuals only had faint bio-signals, we assumed there wouldn't be any issues, leading to this incident. We're truly sorry! We at Yuhai Corporation are willing to take responsibility for any consequences arising from this matter." As he spoke, he bowed slightly.
Chen Chuan gave him a meaningful look, well aware of the mindset of these companies. It wasn't a matter of insufficient attention but rather too much attention.
It wasn't hard to guess that after discovering these two individuals, Yuhai Corporation must have realized their immense value and wanted to conduct private research on them. However, the branch office lacked the necessary facilities and had to transport them to the headquarters.
Reading the report, Chen Chuan found that the discovery had occurred at the end of November, but they had only recently started the transportation to the headquarters, and it seemed rushed. He suspected that they might have sensed his arrival in Yangzhi and were rushing to move the individuals, fearing that he would inquire about the matter upon hearing the news.
Now, with the two individuals missing, they felt they couldn't contain the situation. That's why they had come to him.
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment. Two martial artists with unknown identities and intentions, if they were still alive and allowed to roam freely, it would be extremely dangerous. As the matter also involved Jinbei Province's security, he, as the Chief of Safety and Defense, couldn't ignore it. He had to find a way to locate and control these two individuals!
...
(End of Chapter)
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