Chapter 42
Autumn arrived in the blink of an eye.
The two stopped working the night shift and resumed their normal routine.
While I was still adjusting to my new schedule, I encountered a grumpy SUV driver on the road.
The driver neither needed help nor accepted intimidation. When Wang Le shattered the windshield with steel balls from his slingshot, the driver not only didn't stop in fear but also chased after him relentlessly.
His off-road vehicle was also significantly better, accelerating faster than the RV. The body had also been modified with spikes. In the collision, the RV had several dents in addition to the marks left by the black bear, but the off-road vehicle was completely unharmed.
Moreover, the vehicle is quite large, about half the size of a motorhome.
Unfortunately, they didn't encounter the SUV siblings who would help them deal with the road bully. The two of them struggled until they actually scattered glass shards and nails, even quickly spreading them across the entire lane, before finally forcing the other party to stop cursing.
This incident left the two, whose routines had not yet fully adjusted, physically and mentally exhausted.
Fortunately, they soon found a medium-sized service area. Considering the need to prepare for the upcoming cold weather, and the fact that the service area had a good supply of insulation materials, the two decided to stay for two more days to rest and recuperate.
There were only two vehicles in the service area, both large trucks, and neither of them envied the other. Everyone either stayed indoors or went about their own business, ignoring each other.
After Fang Xiaoyu and her companion stopped there, they devoted themselves to repairing and modifying the RV, while the eldest princess would wag her tail from time to time and hand them a tool.
Aside from eating and sleeping, the two spent all their time creating mischief, not even noticing when the two large trucks left.
They worked like this until noon the next day, and the RV was only half finished. Seeing that the progress was a bit slow, they simply ate something and took a short rest before continuing.
At this moment, an SUV turned into the service area and drove all the way to the supermarket entrance before stopping.
The SUV was missing its right-side rearview mirror, and the left-side windshield had a noticeable crack, not to mention the body was riddled with dents and scratches.
A disheveled father and son got out of the car, seemingly starving. They first looked around warily, then stopped when they saw the RV, people, and dog. Seeing no danger, they went straight to the food area and ate and drank there.
After quenching their thirst and hunger a little, the father and son each carried two large bags full to the rest area. During this time, the son glanced at the RV, but after being warned by his father, he didn't look at it again.
The two passed two closed doors in the rest area, exchanged a glance, and chose the furthest empty room to go inside. They remained quiet thereafter and never came out again.
Fang Xiaoyu and Wang Le were busy until 11 p.m. before they finished everything.
Looking at the RV, its exterior restored to its original condition, and the storage compartments and cabinets inside filled to the brim and neatly arranged, she felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
After locking the RV and making sure all the windows were tightly closed, I ate a quick dinner and a late-night snack. It was past midnight.
Fang Xiaoyu and Wang Le said goodnight to each other, and then took the eldest princess to a room to rest.
At 3:30 a.m., people are in the deepest sleep.
Father: "No one was left in the RV."
Zi: "I'll go check it out later."
Father: "Be careful, they might have a backup plan."
Son: "Don't worry."
The young son quietly opened the window, carefully jumped out, and after observing carefully to make sure no one was paying attention, he crept along the wall towards the RV.
We have to thank the RV owner for parking the RV very close to the window for convenience, or perhaps for surveillance purposes, so we didn't have to walk far to get there.
He carefully avoided being seen, took out his small tools, fiddled with the door, and successfully opened the RV.
Upon entering, he was astonished by the abundance of supplies inside. He then checked the driver's seat and, feeling confident, cautiously peeked out and waved to his father.
The father was delighted, but seeing all the things in the room, he was reluctant to leave. After hesitating for a moment, he took a bag and tiptoed out.
Fang Xiaoyu was exhausted and slept soundly.
As the eldest princess struggled and whimpered, her brain told her to get up, but she couldn't open her eyelids.
She was jolted awake when she heard Wang Le shout "Get down!" She grabbed the wrench from under her pillow, jumped out of bed, pulled back the curtains, opened the window, and jumped out.
The eldest princess also jumped out and rushed to the front.
Two groups of people are currently facing off in front of the RV.
Wang Le wasn't even wearing shoes; he clearly rushed over as soon as he discovered the situation. Fortunately, he arrived in time and caught the one who was slower.
When Fang Xiaoyu came out, he was pinning down a middle-aged man, a knife pressed against the man's neck, and sneered, "I'll give you five seconds. Get down now, or I won't hesitate to make a hole in your dad's neck. Five—"
A young boy was sitting in the driver's seat of the RV, looking at his father and Wang Le, seemingly at a loss.
"Go! If you go far away, they won't be able to do anything to you." The middle-aged man shouted at the top of his lungs, but as soon as he finished shouting, he felt a pain in his neck and a warm flow down. He immediately lay there, too afraid to move.
Things were scattered around his feet, and a tattered bag was floating back and forth close to the ground.
"Ha, fine, listen to your dad, drive away." Wang Le's hand holding the knife was steady, his expression colder than ever before. "But you'll have to leave your dad's body behind. Three—"
The boy panicked even more: "No, there's four too!"
"Your dad scolded you for the fourth thing. The second thing—" Wang Le said calmly, then pushed the knife forward a little more, making the wound on the middle-aged man's neck even bigger and causing the blood to flow faster.
"Don't hurt him!" The boy was terrified by the indifference to human life in his eyes and jumped out of the car.
As soon as he came down, the young man was bitten on the trouser leg by the eldest princess and refused to let go, which frightened him so much that his legs went weak and he sat down on the ground.
Fang Xiaoyu only had a wrench, nothing to tie people up. While the person was entangled by the eldest princess, she got into the car, grabbed a roll of duct tape, and noticed a copper wire on the driver's seat. She took that too and closed the car door again.
After tying the father and son up, Wang Le put away the knife, his face still showing the lingering anger of being woken up, but he became gentle when facing Fang Xiaoyu: "Go to sleep, leave the rest to me."
The boy pleaded, "Stealing the car was wrong of me, please, could you please help stop my dad's bleeding? He's going to die."
The middle-aged man smelled the blood and felt a warm, damp, itchy pain in his neck and upper body, and felt remorseful.
He shouldn't have brought that bag; otherwise, the bag wouldn't have torn, the contents wouldn't have fallen to the ground, and he wouldn't have attracted this killer. He and his son could have easily driven away in their RV long ago.
It's a pity that you can't buy foresight.
"Why didn't you do this earlier?" Wang Le instantly withdrew his gentle expression. Seeing that Fang Xiaoyu hadn't left, he assumed she had softened and explained, "You've held back your strength; you won't die anytime soon."
But Fang Xiaoyu wasn't soft-hearted: "After you stop his bleeding, have them clean up everything on the ground. Use what you can, don't waste anything."
Wang Le readily agreed and urged her to go and rest quickly.
Perhaps because she hadn't rested well, Fang Xiaoyu's head was buzzing. Seeing that he could handle it, she went back as she pleased, leaving the eldest princess here to help him.
She climbed out through the window when she came out, but the door was still locked when she went back, so she went back the way she came, climbed in through the window, and looked up at him again.
Wang Le returned a smile that showed his white teeth. Seeing that the window in her room was closed again and the curtains were drawn halfway, he coldly tied the boy's hands, which were tied behind his back, to his front, leaving two fingers free to move. He loosened the restraints on his feet and said, "Go and bandage your father. Don't expect me to provide anything to stop the bleeding. Go to the pharmacy and get it yourself. Princess, please keep an eye on him for me."
The eldest princess barked and followed the boy closely, biting him whenever she sensed something was wrong.
When the boy brought back the hemostatic medicine, gauze, and bandages, the middle-aged man's lips looked rather pale. He was also frightened, and with trembling hands, he sprinkled the medicine powder on the wound. Seeing that the bleeding was indeed slowly stopping, he breathed a sigh of relief and sniffed as he prepared the gauze and bandages.
Wang Le still remembered Fang Xiaoyu's request. After the bandage was finished, he tapped the ground with his chin and said, "Clean it up."
The middle-aged man was tied up with his hands behind his back and lay on the ground unable to get up; the only one who could handle him was the teenager.
He sniffed as he tidied up little by little, wiping away any bloodstains with his clothes until they resembled those of a middle-aged man.
He quickly finished tidying up, put the contents in a new tote bag and placed it on the ground. His hands were then tied behind his back again, and he squatted down with the middle-aged man.
Not knowing what they would face next, the father and son looked uneasy, glancing every now and then at the big yellow dog that was eyeing them menacingly.
"How did you get that car?" Wang Le squatted down, rummaged through his bag, and asked.
The middle-aged man realized they thought they were habitual thieves and explained with a pained expression, "It's my boss's car. I'm his assistant, and I borrowed it for a day. I never expected it to end up here. This is really our first time doing this."
"First time?" Wang Le scoffed, "To be able to open the car door without a key or damaging the lock cylinder on your first time, and to be able to ignite a fire with a copper wire in a short time on your first time, you're exceptionally gifted."
Feeling guilty, the boy whispered, "I learned it all at the shop."
"This is really the first time," the middle-aged man hurriedly added. "He's not good at studying, he just likes cars and mechanics, so I sent him to work as an apprentice at someone else's auto repair shop. He learned a bit of everything, just a little bit. It was my fault for being greedy, I promise I won't do it again. The child is still young, please forgive him."
Wang Le ignored his pleas for mercy and noticed the notebook in the bag—a softcover notebook commonly found in convenience stores. They had the same cover in their RV. On a whim, he casually flipped it open and glanced at it. The next second, his eyes froze.
The familiar font and content, only without a fancy cover, were his handwritten survival manual compiled by his companions.
"Where did you get this notebook from?"
The middle-aged man observed his expression but couldn't discern anything. After mentioning a neck pain, he gestured for his son to speak.
The boy whispered, "I found it on a shelf on the second floor. It looked useful, so I took it. If you want it, big brother, you can have it."
"Need not."
Wang Le threw the notebook back, originally intending to punish the father and son by making them squat on the ground in the wind all night, but now he changed his mind.
He lowered his voice: "You have fifteen minutes. Pack up the oil and supplies and leave immediately. Just remember one thing: this book—take photos or print it as you like, but destroy it at the end. Don't let a fourth person see it."
The middle-aged man asked incredulously, "You're letting us go?"
Wang Le uttered lightly, "Get out, or stay here and squat for a night before getting out. Choose one."
As he spoke, he deftly twirled the knife in his hand a few times, then with a swish, firmly embedded it into the hard copy.
"Let's go! Let's go now!" The older father saw his father's cold eyes, as if saying another word would send a knife to his head, and quickly made his decision.
Wang Le snorted coldly, sheathed his dagger, and with two quick slashes, cut the tape binding the two men's feet. He raised his chin, signaling to start the timer.
The father and son struggled to their feet and hurriedly ran to the supermarket, only remembering to untie each other's hands after they arrived.
The boy hesitated: "There are knives in the supermarket too, and he's all alone..."
The middle-aged man was somewhat tempted, but recalling the pressure Wang Le had brought, his neck also stung: "...Forget it, stealing a car was a last resort. The off-road vehicle is barely drivable. Let's not put the cart before the horse. Besides, that guy... seems to have something going for him."
The boy obediently replied, "Oh."
Wang Le patted the eldest princess: "You've had a hard night. Do you want to come with me to the RV to rest later, or go back to find her now?"
Without a word, the eldest princess immediately abandoned him and hurried to the rest area to find Fang Xiaoyu.
Wang Le chuckled, but his mood wasn't as relaxed as his expression suggested. However, upon hearing the eldest princess scratching at the door, the door opening, and her drowsy whispers, he felt relieved.
This is fine as it is.
I threw away so many manuals, but I didn't expect there would still be some that slipped through the net here.
Fortunately, Fang Xiaoyu didn't see it, otherwise the "back to square one" argument would have resurfaced. But even if she did see it, it wouldn't matter; he could still use the same excuse. However, it's best if similar situations don't happen too often, otherwise, the lie will eventually be exposed.
He was somewhat surprised when he heard it that day; she had noticed it so early.
They could only tell one lie after another to avoid arousing further suspicion.
He has already lost too many companions, and even he himself doesn't know how far he can go in the future. Every one less desperate person is a blessing.
The father and son parked their SUV in front of the supermarket. Fifteen minutes was enough for the two of them to split up and move most of the water, food, medicine, and bottled oil, and finally fill up the gas tank as well.
Originally, he wanted to linger a little longer and take more, but when he glanced at the man in front of the RV and saw him staring blankly at him while making a gesture with a knife, he dared not have any more thoughts. He put the bag of things that the boy had cleaned on the ground into the car and hurriedly drove out of the service area.
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