https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-852-The-Hunt-for-the-Abnormal-Traces/12983045/
Chapter 851: The Ice Field's Secret
Chapter 851: The Ice Field's Secret
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 his identity but walked directly walked past the entrance of Lin Lake Villa.
Two elderly men sat on either side of a stone table by the roadside, 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 at them 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 elders continued to stare, and after a while, one of them exclaimed, "Old Qian, did you see that? Did you see that?"
"I saw it, I saw it. Old He, don't hit me. My old bones can't take your blows..." The other elder quickly moved away.
Old He retracted his hand, stroking his beard, and said excitedly, "He's a fighter! A fighter is wishing us a Happy New Year. Well done, old man! It's been worth it! Worth it, haha!"
Old Qian couldn't help but nod vigorously.
Being retired teachers from Wuyi Academy, they were well aware of the significance of the title 'fighter.' For them, the position of Defense Chief was prestigious, but there had been many who held that position. However, a fighter? That was a realm not easily attained.
This title held an irreplaceable status in the hearts of these men who had dedicated their lives to martial arts.
The two elders stared after Chen Chuan until he was out of sight, then glanced at each other with a knowing smile. Now they had something to boast about for the entire year, no, for years to come!
Old He looked back, "That person just came out from Director Cheng's house, right? Director Cheng's disciple is truly exceptional. Did you hear? Initially, Director Cheng wanted to get a saber manual for this student, so he went to Old Master Qiao. Old Master Qiao said he would give it, but only if Chen Chuan followed his disciple as an assistant. I wonder if Old Master Qiao is feeling embarrassed now."
"Isn't that right? Old Master Qiao left for Central City with his disciple last year. What do you think he was up to? He was saving face. Who knows, he might still be trying to regain his pride."
"Hey, I heard about that. What's the point of Old Master Qiao competing with Director Cheng? They're senior and junior brothers. What's there to argue about?"
"Can't you see? They're not competing; they're fighting for the past! Neither will back down."
"Let me tell you, Old Master Qiao should just give up on that thought. His disciple can't catch up with Director Cheng's student in eight lifetimes. It's not shameful to admit defeat."
"What defeat? Hiding is also a strategy. As long as I don't see it, I won't consider myself defeated!"
As the two were chatting, a car suddenly drove by from outside.
Old He looked ahead, "Hey, isn't that Director He's car leading the way? He must be coming to greet the New Year. The sun must be rising from the west. Usually, the Administration Bureau sends a few officers as a formality, but this time, the director himself has come."
At that moment, the two elders realized something and exchanged meaningful glances. Everyone knew that Director He was an ambitious official, and it was clear whom he was trying to curry favor with.
But one couldn't blame Director He; he was just too eager for a promotion.
When Chen Chuan left, he saw the car convoy arriving from a distance and recognized the visitor. However, he wasn't interested in meeting them, so he walked towards the dormitory area.
Inside the dormitory building, a resident student, having just finished training, was sitting by the window drinking water. He glanced down unintentionally and suddenly froze.
Then, he became excited, "Senior Chen, it's Senior Chen!"
Just as he spoke, Chen Chuan seemed to hear his voice, turned around, smiled at him, and nodded. The student trembled with excitement and waved vigorously towards the ground.
After a while, when Chen Chuan was out of sight, the student immediately ran outside without taking the elevator. He quickly rushed down the hallway to the ground floor and looked around, but Chen Chuan was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
After standing for a while, he became excited again and ran to the public phone below the dormitory. He picked up the receiver, dialed a number, and impatiently said, "Guess who I saw today?"
After returning from the academy, Chen Chuan spent the following days visiting old classmates and catching up with them.
However, most of his former classmates became reserved and distant upon learning of his current position, except for his middle school friend and desk mate, Ding Jiao, who remained the same as before.
In Ding Jiao's words, "What does a position matter? A person is still a person. Xiao Chuan was my buddy before, and he's still my buddy now."
Chen Chuan told Ding Jiao about his family possibly moving away, and Ding Jiao felt a bit sad. Even when Chen Chuan moved to Central City, he would return once a year, but now, it seemed unlikely he would ever come back.
Chen Chuan gave his personal phone number and telegraph contact information to the man, telling him to reach out if he needed anything. He assured him that if he ever wanted to go to Central City, he just had to let him know in advance. Chen Chuan also mentioned that he wouldn't stay away forever, as Yangzhi City was his hometown, and his old family home was still there. He would have to come back and visit.
Time flew by, and half a month passed in a blink.
During this time, Chen Chuan had been making arrangements for his family's move to Central City. Just then, he received a phone call from Civil Affairs Chief Zhu Xian, asking if he could come to the Civil Affairs Hall. Zhu Xian mentioned that a representative from Yuan An Corporation had visited and needed his presence for an urgent matter.
Chen Chuan was unsure what the issue was, but from Zhu Xian's tone and choice of words, along with the mention of Yuan An Corporation, he could tell it wasn't a trivial matter.
He immediately agreed to come over. Since his family was using the off-road vehicle, he arranged for a nearby vehicle to pick him up and headed straight to the Civil Affairs Hall. Upon arrival, Secretary Pan escorted him to the reception hall.
Waiting there was not only Civil Affairs Chief Zhu Xian but also a man standing beside him. As Chen Chuan entered, the man took the initiative to walk forward, extending his hand to shake Chen Chuan's, "Director Chen, allow me to introduce myself. I am Bao Ning, the branch manager of Yuan An Corporation."
Chen Chuan took a look at the manager, who was in his forties, with half of his face covered in implanted floral skin. He was thin, with prominent cheekbones, and his hair was styled upright, half white and half green. This makeup would be rare in Yangzhi City but was quite common in Central City.
Bao Ning apologized, "Director Chen, I'm sorry to trouble you today, but our company has encountered an unexpected situation. As you are the Director of Security and Defense of Jibei Dao, we had to disturb you."
"What's the matter?" Chen Chuan asked.
Bao Ning gestured, and immediately, his assistant handed him a hard-cover file, which he presented 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 as he recognized the content. It was the very incident that Nian Fulu had mentioned—the one he had planned to inquire about once he returned to Central City.
The report described how, during the previous stage, Yuan An Corporation had been constructing a railway in the northern region when they unexpectedly unearthed two individuals.
The report also included two sets of on-site photographs, providing a rough idea of the two people—a man and a woman, both with exceptionally large builds. They wore clothing made from a special material, displaying a touch of ancient martial arts style, but the specific design was unclear.
Moreover, one had white hair, while the other had yellowish hair, and both had deep-set eyes and high noses, clearly not natives of Donglu.
"After discovering these two individuals, we consulted professionals who suspected them to be ancient martial artists," Bao Ning continued. "Astonishingly, we detected faint life signs, so we placed them in a secure location, intending to transport them to our company for further handling. However, a few days ago, the train carrying them was attacked by unknown forces, and both individuals went missing."
Manager Bao added, "At present, we're unsure if they escaped on their own or 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 serious matter. Yuan An Corporation, as a state military enterprise, is known to employ martial artists. Why didn't you assign martial artists to handle and protect them during the transportation?"
Manager Bao lowered his head, filled with shame, and said, "We were indeed negligent and didn't pay enough attention. Since they only had weak bio-signals, we assumed there wouldn't be any issues. I apologize! If there are any losses incurred due to this incident, Yuan An Corporation is willing to take full responsibility." As he spoke, he bowed slightly.
Chen Chuan gave him a meaningful look, well aware of the intentions of companies like Yuan An. This wasn't a matter of negligence but rather the opposite.
It was easy to guess that upon discovering the two individuals, Yuan An Corporation must have realized their immense value and wanted to conduct private research on them. However, the branch office lacked the necessary facilities, so they had to transport them to the headquarters.
To ensure a safe journey, they should have assigned martial artists to accompany the transport, but such an arrangement would have left a record at the Martial Arts Council. To avoid drawing attention to the incident, they decided to skip this step.
Chen Chuan examined the report and noted that the two individuals had been discovered in late November, but the company only arranged for their transportation to the headquarters a few days ago, seemingly in a rush. He suspected that the company might have realized he was in Yangzhi and feared he would inquire about the incident, prompting them to expedite the transport.
Now, with the two individuals missing, the company felt they couldn't contain the situation, leading them to seek his assistance.
After some thought, Chen Chuan concluded that two unidentified martial artists with unknown intentions roaming freely posed a significant danger. As this incident also involved the security of Jibei Dao, he, as the Director of Defense, couldn't ignore it. He had to find a way to locate and contain these two individuals!
...
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(End of Chapter)
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