Yan Tuo returned with various kinds of breakfast, and as expected, he won a lot of favor. Many people here only knew of him as the boss but had never interacted with him. When they received this thoughtful gesture, they were pleasantly surprised. Some felt flattered, and even the breakfast in their hands seemed to taste better.
He directed his attention to the man who had been brought into the operating room in the middle of the night. The man’s name was Tian Xiang, in his twenties. He had a gunshot wound, which made it difficult for him to move. Xiong Hei had told him to recover on-site, reassuring him that his salary would still be paid and that he could return to his position once healed.
Yan Tuo approached with the lunch bag in hand. Lu Xian, who was brushing his teeth, glanced at it and mumbled, “Hey, don’t just give the patient any random meal. Avoid anything spicy.”
Yan Tuo responded, “I know the basics, beef and egg drop porridge—good for protein.”
Lu Xian didn’t say anything more, and Tian Xiang, hearing the conversation, quickly adjusted the electric hospital bed to help him sit up. He pulled out the small dinner tray, his eyes full of gratitude. *The boss is really down-to-earth,* he thought, *even taking care of something as small as a meal.*
Yan Tuo unpacked the lunch bag, took out the porridge, opened the lid, and placed the spoon on the tray. “Can you eat by yourself?” he asked.
Tian Xiang hurriedly nodded. “Yes, yes.”
He scooped up a spoonful and put it in his mouth, and before fully tasting it, he exclaimed, “It’s so delicious.”
Yan Tuo smiled and sat on the stool next to the bed. “Brother Xiong told me about what happened yesterday. Thank you for your hard work.”
Tian Xiang looked flustered. “It wasn’t hard, not at all. Brother Xiong is the one who pays me and gives me opportunities. It’s all thanks to him.”
Yan Tuo remained silent for a moment. Xiong Hei, despite seeming big and brainless, had gathered a loyal group of followers. They were willing to risk their lives because Xiong was generous with money and loyalty.
Yan Tuo sketched out a diagram in his mind, focusing on Lin Xirou’s group. At the center were the land owls led by Lin Xirou. Their exact number was unknown, but he suspected the excel sheet Lin Ling had copied secretly held information about their distribution. The number of people was missing, but it had progressed to No. 017, Zhu Changyi. These people were scattered everywhere, living ordinary lives in different fields—except for Xiong Hei.
The inner ring comprised ghosts. In Nie Jiuluo’s words, they were strange renegades—neither dead nor crazy but completely devoted. Yan Tuo suspected his father, Yan Huanshan, was one of these ghosts, but not a “good” one.
The list of ghosts was blank, which is why Yan Tuo kept his distance from everyone around him, unsure of whom he could trust.
The outer ring contained people like Tian Xiang—ordinary in appearance but dangerous nonetheless. Even ghosts would give way to them. The number of these individuals was also unknown.
When he finished his mental diagram, Yan Tuo felt a deep sense of loneliness, like a tiny ant trying to pull down a hot air balloon, fighting an enormous and strange organization on his own.
Sometimes, he felt like his progress was too slow. Seven years had passed, and he’d made little headway. But then, he reminded himself: *As long as I don’t lose, as long as I’m still standing, it doesn’t matter how slow it is. After all, no matter how fast I go, I still won’t get my home back.*
…
Snapping back to the present, Yan Tuo asked, “Have you been with Brother Xiong for long? How many years?”
Tian Xiang was a little nervous. “I was introduced to Brother Xiong by a friend. I’ve been with him for four years. Last year, Brother Xiong arranged a position for me at the company. It’s stable, and he even pays for insurance and the housing fund.”
Yan Tuo nodded. “Are you used to working at the company?”
Tian Xiang nodded rapidly. “Yes, Mr. Yan, I’m very strict with myself and know the rules well.”
“Is this your first time in Stone River?”
“No, no, this is my second time. I’ve been here once before.”
Yan Tuo seemed familiar with the previous incident. “Last time didn’t go too well, did it? Someone almost got killed. You should be more cautious.”
He recalled what Lu Xian had said—someone had been sent here in early September, and they nearly died. Their rib was broken, almost puncturing their lung.
Tian Xiang shuddered. “Yes, last time, I was careless. I thought it was an ordinary camper, but they fought back fiercely. Everyone panicked, and things got out of hand.”
*Camping,* Yan Tuo thought. *That’s what they call random captures now? And they even brought people to the ER…*
He suddenly remembered what Lin Ling had mentioned about hearing someone get beaten by Xiong Hei on the second basement floor of the farm. The man had begged, saying, “I have no grudge against you.” Aunt Lin had even warned Xiong, “Careful, don’t kill him, keep him alive.”
It sounded eerily similar to this situation with Yue: the captured person didn’t know what was going on, but they had to be kept alive. There was no use in killing them.
Yan Tuo realized he couldn’t ask too much more without raising suspicion, so he casually changed the topic. “In this line of work, you have to stay vigilant. Look at what happened to you this time,” he gestured to Tian Xiang’s wound, “I heard he’s still blind.”
Tian Xiang’s expression turned fierce, forgetting to be humble for a moment. He cursed angrily, “Damn, I’m just unlucky, Mr. Yan. Do you think I’m that cursed? A blind guy shoots at me, and he hits me…”
Yan Tuo replied calmly, “At least it didn’t hit your brain. It could’ve been worse.”
Tian Xiang froze for a moment. A chill ran down his spine. Yan Tuo’s seemingly casual comment struck fear in him. *Yes, what if it had hit my brain…*
Xiong Hei asked him to go to the temple to worship God, and he had to go and give thanks, thanking God and Buddha for saving him from catastrophe. He swallowed hard and said, “Mr. Yan, you really are a master, and you woke me up with just one word.” No wonder they say that as a person, you should be… optimistic. Optimistic people can really see the good side of bad things…”
Yan Tuo originally wanted to rebuke Tian Xiang, but he didn’t expect his words to end up complimenting him instead. However, having been by Tian Xiang’s side for so long, it would be strange to act otherwise. He stood up: “It’s okay, anyway, the blind man’s accomplices are in our hands. I’ll go over and take a look…”
As he spoke, he asked, seemingly casually: “Are they still over there?”
Lin Xirou should have two bases in Shihe, either on this end or “that end.”
Tian Xiang responded casually and only realized what he said after speaking: “Ah, no, Mr. Yan, don’t go over there, it would be a waste of time. They were sent to the farm last night.”
So, they were sent to the farm.
Yan Tuo smiled. “That one is in quite a rush. It snowed last night, yet he’s hurrying this much.” He also pointed to the porridge on the small plate. “Eat up, before it gets cold.”
Yan Tuo used the excuse of going out early to buy breakfast and said he was tired, wanting to go back and rest. Lu Xian gave him a knowing look: “Just say it already. Can you change? Your diligence never lasts more than three seconds.”
Ignoring him, Yan Tuo entered the house, shut the door, and locked it.
He really just wanted a quiet place to organize his thoughts.
People were at the farm.
It was a tough situation. The second floor of the basement was too heavily guarded. Even if he closed the gates and destroyed the computer monitoring, how would he get through the people inside? How would he get Jiang Baichuan out?
Maybe he should take his time, go to the farm first, and then make a plan after meeting Jiang Baichuan.
Just as he was thinking, his phone rang.
It was Lin Ling.
Yan Tuo was surprised and asked the first thing that came to mind: “Did something happen?”
Lin Ling was his companion, yes, but not his ideal partner.
She was too timid. After the incident at the farm, she was so frightened that she fell ill. For a long time afterward, she couldn’t sleep without the lights on and couldn’t stomach dishes with lotus root.
She had two small desires in life. One was to be admitted to a university elsewhere, but when Lin Xirou said “no,” she never brought it up again. The second was when Yan Tuo, seeing how pitiful she was, suggested that she could leave secretly. He told her not to make any careful plans because Aunt Lin was too shrewd. “You won’t hide anything from her,” he said. “Don’t tell anyone, not even me. Just go out shopping one day, then suddenly head to the station, buy a ticket, and leave. When you get to your destination, buy another ticket for the next station, then another, and so on. It should be hard for anyone to track you.”
Lin Ling looked at him with tears in her eyes and asked, “Are you leaving?”
Yan Tuo shook his head. “This is my home. I’m not going anywhere.”
Lin Ling hesitated for a long time, but eventually, she followed his advice. One day while out shopping, she made her move.
Yan Tuo was genuinely happy. He was unlucky himself, but he didn’t want to drag anyone down with him.
However, he didn’t expect Lin Ling to be found by Xiong Hei the next afternoon. Lin Xirou was furious. She yanked Lin Ling’s hair, slapped her several times, and waved the three ticket stubs she’d found. “Haven’t I been good to you? I raised you all these years, and you dare try to run away without a word? Why did you run? Where were you going? Tell me!”
Lin Ling couldn’t come up with a convincing lie, and she was too scared to tell the truth, so she just sobbed and trembled.
Seeing the situation spiraling, Yan Tuo stood up.
He said, “Forget it, Aunt Lin. Don’t be angry; this is my fault.”
Lin Xirou was stunned for a moment, then seemed to realize her overreaction. She awkwardly smoothed her hair. “You? What do you mean?”
Yan Tuo knew that this lie had to be big enough to get past her.
He explained, “Lin Ling likes me. She confessed to me two days ago, but I turned her down. I told her we grew up together, and I didn’t have those kinds of feelings for her. I guess she couldn’t handle the rejection and wanted to run away so she wouldn’t have to see me again.”
Adolescent girls do tend to have a lot of impulsive thoughts. Lin Xirou accepted his explanation easily, regretting her earlier outburst. Embarrassed and feeling a bit guilty, she smiled and said, “Girls grow up fast. I should’ve paid more attention.”
After that, Lin Xirou comforted Lin Ling in every possible way. She bought her new clothes and trinkets and made time to talk with her, helping her with her emotions. She told her to look beyond her surroundings because the scenery right around her might not be the best.
In short, everything seemed to return to harmony. At least, in Lin Xirou’s eyes, it did.
But for Lin Ling, it didn’t.
She secretly went to Yan Tuo and told him that she had a feeling she couldn’t escape. Lin Xirou would definitely find her and bring her back.
She asked him again, “Yan Tuo, why do you think Aunt Lin adopted me? There must be a reason.”
……
Lin Ling had naturally become his companion. While it wasn’t the ideal partnership, it was certainly better than facing the challenges alone. Yan Tuo took good care of Lin Ling, allowing her only to assist with the most secretive and secure tasks. These included helping him cover his tracks, gathering bits of news, stealing the Excel sheet from Lin Xirou’s computer, and secretly tracking the movements of the people on the list.
Lin Ling rarely called him unless something urgent was happening.
Sure enough, Lin Ling’s voice came through, low and urgent. “Yan Tuo, do you remember that table—the one with the surnames of the hundred families?”
“Of course,” Yan Tuo replied.
“Those people have always stayed put, lived honestly, and rarely traveled far from home except for work-related needs. But in the past two days, I’ve found that five of them have gone out.”
“Five?” Yan Tuo gasped. The table had been numbered up to No. 017 and was compiled from No. 003 Xiong Hei. The numbering wasn’t continuous and had some omissions, meaning that aside from Xiong Hei, there were only a total of ten individuals on the list.
For more than half of them to leave was alarming.
He quickly pulled out his laptop from his suitcase, powered it on, and asked, “Do you know where they went?”
“The first to arrive was Xi’an. Then they split into two groups. You remember Nos. 010 and 015, right? They should be headed to Shihe, where you’re staying now. Nos. 004, 009, and 016 mostly went to farms.”
As the table opened, Yan Tuo quickly scanned the numbers.
Nos. 010 and 015 were both male and from their photos, they appeared strong and imposing. Nos. 004, 009, and 016 included two women and one man, all relatively thin and gentle in appearance. One of the women appeared to be in her sixties.
It seemed that the first group leaned toward brute strength, while the second was more about careful deliberation.
Lin Ling continued, “I don’t know much about Shihe’s setup, but one of the three who went to the farm was picked up by the company’s shuttle. Didn’t the shuttle have a dash cam? I secretly checked the footage. Although the images were mostly outside the car, you could hear the audio.”
Yan Tuo raised an eyebrow, surprised. “That’s quite clever of you.”
Lin Ling blushed slightly. “You didn’t take me with you this time, and I’m just sitting at home. I wanted to contribute more.”
Yan Tuo chuckled. “Well, you did good. But tell me, did you find anything significant?”
Lin Ling sighed, “I listened to the entire conversation. The man made a few phone calls from the car. His parents didn’t say much, but there was one call where he lowered his voice and spoke very vaguely. However, one sentence stood out to me.”
“What did he say?”
She hesitated, then recounted, “He said, ‘It’s useless if you oppose it. Everyone has already voted; you have to follow the rules, and I’m in favor of the death penalty.’”
