Chapter 60: Smoked Hills
September ended, and October arrived.
Chen Chuan cast aside all unnecessary thoughts and focused on practicing the All-Encompassing Force along with Principal Sanshou. He also spent some time practicing the basic saber technique that Cheng Zitong taught him.
When the holiday after the first ten days of October arrived, Cheng Zitong called him in the morning. “Xiao Chuan, you can start going on dispatch missions now. I’ve made the necessary arrangements. My martial nephew will guide you. He’s considered to be of the same generation as you are, so you can just refer to him as your senior brother.
“He’s waiting for you downstairs. When you’re out on dispatch missions, unexpected situations will inevitably pop up. He has more experience, so just do things according to what he says.”
“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. By the way, Mr. Cheng, what’s his name?” Chen Chuan asked.
“Ren Xiaotian,” Cheng Zitong answered.
As in, a bold spirit howling in defiance at the heavens? That’s a wild name.
After hanging up, Chen Chuan thanked the dormitory supervisor and went back to his room to prepare. Then, he took the elevator down. After he stepped out, he saw a grayish-green SUV parked nearby. In front of it stood a man in his thirties, who did not even hit 160 centimeters. He appeared stern and stuffy. “Chen Chuan?” he asked upon seeing him.
Chen Chuan nodded. “Are you Senior Brother Ren?”
“That’s me. Get in,” Ren Xiaotian said and opened the door to the driver seat and got into the SUV.
Chen Chuan got into the front passenger seat. Once he shut the door and fastened the seatbelt, Ren Xiaotian started the SUV and began driving.
Compared to the sociable Wei Changan, Ren Xiaotian remained stony-faced and quiet even after they had traveled quite a distance from the university.
Chen Chuan did not know whether that was just the person Ren Xiaotian was or whether there was another reason for his silence, but since he was not saying anything, Chen Chuan did not want to bother him. He did not waste his time and started practicing his breathing technique.
Ren Xiaotian asked, “The basic breathing technique?”
“Yes,” Chen Chuan answered.
Ren Xiaotian fell silent again. After a while, he said, “It’s pretty decent.”
Chen Chuan spared him a look and became certain of it: Ren Xiaotian was simply the type who did not know how to make small talk. After some thinking, he decided to take the initiative. “Where are we going, Senior Brother Ren?”
Ren Xiaotian seemed to sigh in relief before saying, “Smoked Hills.”
“Smoked Hills, huh? What are we specifically doing there?” Chen Chuan asked with a contemplative look on his face.
“We’re retrieving something for our client,” Ren Xiaotian answered.
Chen Chuan remembered what Lu Ke had told him before and had a guess as to where they were going in Smoked Hills.
Ren Xiaotian then handed him a notebook. “Take a look.”
Chen Chuan took it and flipped through it. The pages were crammed with words detailing the mission. Ren Xiaotian had even underlined the important points with a red pen.
Since the clients paid one lump sum after coming to an agreement with the agent company, there were no additional fees or compensation. Hence, the agent carrying out the mission would have to bear all additional costs.
If anything unexpected popped up, the agents were the ones who had to deal with it. If they did not take care of the problem properly or failed the mission, their evaluation points would be deducted, and it would be difficult for them to receive any decent missions in the future.
In order to avoid such things, they had to make sure they completed the mission successfully and cut down on all costs. At the end, there was a line written with a sharpie pen, “Information channels are really important.”
Chen Chuan agreed with that.
Information channels allowed agents to gain a competitive edge. First, they let them find all sorts of missions. Second, they provided them with all the necessary information. The more detailed and accurate the information, the higher the success chance, and the lower the cost. Hence, connections were of utmost importance for agents.
Immediately after that line was another string of words, “But it’s most important to protect oneself.”
Chen Chuan resonated with this even more. Missions were just tools for him to pave his way forward. If he could not protect himself, then all of it would be meaningless.
He went back to the start and started reading again. He then found that there was information from both new and old missions inside the notebook. Ren Xiaotian had underlined the really important details with red, which Chen Chuan guessed was done recently to make it easier for him to understand everything.
He’s really thoughtful. Mr. Cheng found someone reliable as a guide for me.
The SUV headed east. After they left the city, they drove down a public road that led to a wasteland with practically no roads.
Chen Chuan observed the desolate place outside and felt as if he had left civilization, even though they were not that far away from Yangzhi City.
The six counties around Yangzhi City were located to the west and south. The north was full of hills and small towns, while the area close to the Smoked Hills in the east was scarcely populated. According to rumors, only a few criminal organizations existed here.
Meanwhile, quite a number of people lived in Smoked Hills itself and made a living by scavenging or picking through waste. While they were Great Shun Republic citizens in name, they did not actually get to enjoy any benefits. They did not even get an ID. Hence, they did not exist on any records.
Chen Chuan stared at the black, ring-shaped hills in the distance. According to Lu Ke, there were quite a number of villages in the hills, but the villagers did not trust each other and had their own territories.
Most of the time, the Smoked Hills residents traded with the people from North Ornament Highlands and the towns and villages nearby in order to get resources. Among them, the Chain Links Gang was one of their major customers, but by the looks of it, the car was not going to the villages.
The road was incredibly bumpy, but fortunately, the two men were in good physical shape and did not feel any sort of discomfort. After approximately three hours, Chen Chuan saw a scorched land and a massive black hill on the horizon. They were about to enter Smoked Hills.
Ren Xiaotian handed him a mask and a scarf. “Put them on.”
Chen Chuan took them and immediately wore them. Most of the residents in Smoked Hills had respiratory diseases, which was highly likely due to the unique dust in Smoked Hills, so masks were a necessary precaution when entering.
Just then, Chen Chuan saw a somewhat flat road, and he theorized that it was built in the past for trade purposes. After another half an hour or so, Chen Chuan saw a simple road sign made from abandoned tires and metal wires. They were twisted to form the words, “Southern Ravine Village.”
A man wearing dirt-covered overalls popped up behind the road sign, perhaps due to hearing the sound of the engine. He wore an old pair of goggles and a leather hat that covered his ears. His expression was wary, and he checked the car plate to see whether it matched with whatever was written in the paper in his hands. Then, he waved at them.
Ren Xiaotian drove over and parked the SUV near the road sign. He then put on a hat and a scarf to cover himself tightly. “Let’s go.”
He opened the door, hopped out, and strode over to the man.
Chen Chuan got out as well and felt a powerful gust blow against him. It brought with it some fine dust. He cast a glance at Smoked Hills, which seemed to reach into the clouds, and pulled his cap down before following Ren Xiaotian.
The man in the overalls jogged over and extended a dirt-stained hand to Chen Chuan while grinning. He started sucking up to Chen Chuan by saying, “You must be Mr. Ren. You’re so young, but already so capable.”
Chen Chuan gestured to say no and motioned to Ren Xiaotian, “He’s Mr. Ren.”
The man immediately knew that he got the wrong person, but he did not feel embarrassed. He simply turned to shake Ren Xiaotian’s hand. “Mr. Ren, you’re so humble despite being so talented.”
“Are you Lao Mi?” Ren Xiaotian asked with a stony face.
“That’s what everyone calls me, yes.”
“Where’s the stuff?”
Lao Mi sighed. “I had it with me and was going to bring it here for the trade, but something happened while I was leaving the village—”
“We can negotiate the price, but don’t lie to me,” Ren Xiaotian interrupted him dryly.
Lao Mi hurriedly denied it with a wave of his hand. “I’m not! That’s really what’s going on. We’re worried that something unexpected might happen, you see? That’s why our mayor would like you to trade in the village itself. That way, we can all negotiate at ease, right?”
Ren Xiaotian remained silent for a while before taking out a revolver from his shirt pocket and pointing it at Lao Mi’s forehead. As he stared into Lao Mi’s panicked eyes, he said flatly, “Give me the stuff, or die.”