However, the man ignored him and continued picking at the leaves on the bare branches.
"Alright! I understand. What about the other two?"
"They ran away! They ran away with the veteran!"
How many people are there in total?
"There might be seven! Oh, and they also stole our offering! A seventeen-year-old woman! You have to help us get her back!"
A hint of unease flashed across Qiao Zhuang's face, then he turned to look at his assistant who was bringing food to the boy.
"Take everyone out. I need to talk to him! No one is allowed to come in without my permission!"
The assistant nodded quickly, then dragged the trembling boy and several injured waiters out of the room.
With a loud bang, the door slammed shut, and Qiao Zhuang's face immediately contorted with rage.
"Damn it! Tell me, what have you all done? Didn't we agree not to do anything underhanded? Why don't you ever learn your lesson?"
A hint of mockery flashed across the man's face.
"Ha! Not doing it? If we don't do it, we won't have anything to eat! If we don't have anything to eat, we'll starve to death. We're just a small family, not as wealthy as Boss Qiao!"
Qiao Zhuang's face was not good. His small eyes rolled around as if he was thinking about something, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
"Since I've already said I'm cutting ties with you all, then we have nothing to do with each other anymore! What are you doing here?"
"We may not have any dealings with each other, but the outsider you're looking to arrest has trespassed on our territory, killed our people, and stolen our offerings. Mr. Qiao, you have to take care of this, don't you?"
The man walked towards Qiao Zhuang. Although he was covered in scars, his large frame blocked most of the light, casting a long shadow that completely enveloped Qiao Zhuang.
Qiao Zhuang's eyelids twitched. He knew that the person in front of him was not someone to be trifled with. Although Da Long was more ruthless than him before, this person immediately showed his true colors after Da Long's death. He was more cunning and better at detecting even the slightest movements of people than Da Long.
"Those people aren't the ones I need to arrest. This is beyond my control! You can go back now!"
Just then, the man suddenly produced a sharp knife from somewhere and pressed it directly against Qiao Zhuang's lower back.
A slight crack appeared at the corner of his mouth, emitting a chilling laugh.
"Heh heh, Boss Qiao, you're going to turn your back on me now, aren't you? Since you're going to be so heartless, don't blame me for being ruthless too!"
Qiao Zhuang felt a chill run down his spine. Although he had already reached into his pocket, the man behind him grabbed his wrist before he could even touch the pistol.
"Don't try anything funny, you have to give me an explanation today!"
Qiao Zhuang hated being threatened the most. He was somewhat annoyed, but dared not make any rash moves. The man behind him was a reckless guy, and with his wealth, it was really not worth getting involved with him.
"Fine, you win. What do you want? Just say it! As long as it's within our power!"
"Great! Give us a boat, thirty women, ten pigs, and cotton-padded clothes and shoes for a hundred people!"
Qiao Zhuang was stunned after hearing this.
"What...what do you want? I can give you women, pigs, clothes, and shoes, but what do you want the boat for?"
"Hmph! Don't ask so many questions! This is not something you should be asking!"
"you!"
Qiao Zhuang wanted to speak, but the man's knife had already pierced his lower back, and a piercing pain made him break out in a sweat.
"Let's talk this out. I can give you the boat! But you can't mess with the old soldier! You have to promise me that! Otherwise, we'll all die!"
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" The man didn't agree, his words were somewhat ambiguous, clearly indicating that he had something on his mind.
...
Meanwhile, Lu Yuan and his group had followed the truck to a higher location.
As soon as we got off the bus, we felt a strong sea breeze. We immediately wrapped ourselves in our clothes. The sea breeze was damp and cold, and it made our bones ache.
The veteran stood in front of the car door, shouting at the top of his lungs towards the people inside.
"Quick! Prepare a few rooms! We have guests!"
The people in the distance shouted something, and the veteran led everyone toward the camp.
"Let's go quickly, the wind here is too strong, you can't stand it after a while! Don't catch a cold, it can kill you!"
The group quickly followed him and ran towards a three-story building in the distance.
Upon arriving at the barracks, the group discovered that the entire barracks was filled with people, each holding a gun and looking as if facing a formidable enemy. However, everyone looked weak and pale, making it impossible to reconcile them with the strong and robust soldiers they remembered.
Seeing the soldiers crowding the corridor, the veteran looked somewhat embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, my comrades have run out of supplies, and now we can only stay here and keep warm together! But don't worry, there are other places to stay, so it won't disturb your rest!"
Lu Yuan quickly waved his hand: "Big brother, that's not what I meant. Just find us a place to stay! Oh, and let's all take out our food! We'll see if we can get some water to replenish everyone's supplies later!"
So, the group quickly took off their backpacks and started taking out their food.
Seeing Lu Yuan and his companions' magnanimity, everyone immediately showed expressions of gratitude.
"Come, come, it's not a lot, but it's a small token of our appreciation! We've done so much to protect the civilians here, you can't fall!"
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