"Is everything you're saying true?" the shadowy figure asked.
I said, "I don't think I have any reason to lie to you."
What else do you know?
"That's all I know. I've only met Jiang Bai twice. The second time, he was captured by the people of Central Town," I said truthfully.
The shadowy figure said, "I need you to take us to Central Town now!"
My expression changed, and I said, "Impossible! I just came from the central town. If I suddenly went back with a group of strangers like you, it would definitely arouse their suspicion!"
The shadowy figure said, "You have no choice. You only have this one choice now. If you don't go, then I will have no choice but to kill you all."
I stared intently at the guy in front of me and said, "If you let me pass over now, you're asking for death!"
The shadowy figure said, "Whether you go there now or not, you're doomed anyway. What's the difference?"
I was furious, but dared not show it. I said, "You want to save your friend, and we want to live too! If you really intend for me to die in exchange for your friend, then I have nothing to say. You can kill us all right now!"
The shadowy figure fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.
Although my eyes were fixed on him, I could also clearly see everything around me out of the corner of my eye.
There were about four or five people on the other side. As for whether they were downstairs or not, I don't know.
However, I have no way to deal with these people in front of me.
The shadowy figure then said, "I can spare your lives, but you must take me into the central town."
I squinted, about to speak, when Song Muyuan behind me spoke up: "I can take you in."
The shadowy figure and I both turned to look at Song Muyuan at the same time.
"No way!" I said decisively.
Song Muyuan said, "My friend, my brother just came out of Central Town today because of his special identity. If he suddenly goes back, the people in Central Town will probably be suspicious. So if he takes you in, you'll probably run into a lot of trouble before you even start recruiting."
I was about to speak to dissuade him, but the shadowy figure stopped me, saying, "Go on."
Song Muyuan glanced at me, his eyes filled with bitterness, and said, "But I'm different. I'm just a nobody, and the people in Central Town basically won't pay any attention to me, so I can just take you in."
The shadowy figure said, "You really can take me in?"
Song Muyuan said, "Tomorrow is the last day of the Central Town Conference this month, and it will also be the day with the most people. I can take one of you in, but that's all I can do. As for what to do after you're inside, that's up to you. I don't know anything about the situation inside."
The shadowy figure said, "Just take me in, you don't need to worry about the rest."
Song Muyuan said, "I'll take you in tomorrow morning."
I looked at Song Muyuan with concern, unsure of what to do.
The shadowy figure then removed the knife from my neck and said, "Alright, you'll come with me to Central Town tomorrow. As for getting in, you can just lead me in, and once I'm inside, you can leave. I don't want to kill anyone or hurt any innocent people. As long as you don't try anything funny, everything will be fine."
"I understand," Song Muyuan replied.
The shadowy figure said, "I'll be watching you tonight. If any of you dare to run away, I'll kill you all."
After the shadowy figure finished speaking, he went straight to the other side of the wall and leaned against it, seemingly not wanting to go downstairs, but wanting to stay here and keep watching us.
This makes me feel helpless. I originally wanted to discuss it with Song Muyuan, but they are watching us now, which makes things very inconvenient for us.
Using the flashlight beam, I looked at Song Muyuan's slightly flustered face and whispered, "You can't go tomorrow!"
Song Muyuan said, "Brother Lu, it's most appropriate for me to take them. Don't try to persuade me, or we'll all die."
I looked at Song Muyuan, not knowing what to say. To be honest, I didn't expect him to stand up for us.
"Alright, be careful tomorrow."
"Um."
I knew Song Muyuan had made up his mind, so I didn't try to stop him.
I went to Jingjie's side and saw that she had just fainted. I put Jingjie on the mat I had slept on before, glanced at my little sister who was still fast asleep, and breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm completely wide awake now. After being disturbed by these guys, I simply can't fall asleep.
I took the flashlight and approached the shadowy figure. The figure looked at me and asked in confusion, "Why aren't you asleep?"
I said, "I can't sleep. Now that we're cooperating, how about we go downstairs and talk?"
The shadowy figure glanced at me, then had someone search my body. After confirming that I had no weapons, he nodded and followed me downstairs.
When I got downstairs, it was still pouring rain outside.
I took out a pack of cigarettes from my pocket, shook out two, lit them, and asked, "Are you Yao Chengjie or Lu Changkong?"
"My surname is Yao," the other person said.
So that's Yao Chengjie?
I said, "What I'm about to tell you is very simple, so I hope you can be honest with me too."
"Why should I?"
His words startled me, and I didn't know how to respond. I then said, "There's no reason why I should say anything. I'm just saying what I think. If you don't want to say it, then forget it."
The other person didn't speak, silently smoking.
I said, "Actually, my situation is similar to yours. Although I don't know what grudge you have against Central Town, I think there must be some conflict between us. I'm in a very complicated situation right now. The raiders that Central Town has developed are burning, killing, and looting all over the area, and my team is no exception. Two groups of them have already come. Luckily, we're in a place that's easy to defend and difficult to attack, otherwise we would have died several times over."
Yao Chengjie remained silent, seemingly uninterested in what I was saying.
I said, "My main purpose in coming to Central Town this time is to see what kind of place this is and, incidentally, to resolve the trouble I'm facing."
"This is my current situation. I've said everything I need to say. I don't care whether you want to talk about your own things or not. I'm just saying this to tell you that we are just a group of ordinary people who want to survive. We have no other purpose, so I hope you won't go too far."
After I finished speaking, I threw the cigarette I had finished smoking into the heavy rain.
The moment the cigarette butt went out, Yao Chengjie said, "They killed Chang Kong."
(End of this chapter)
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