Chapter 26: Return
In the center of the town, a dozen foremen who were frightened by the magical, invisible "palm thunder" looked at each other, and in response to the words of the masked man in front of them, they could only nod.
We are all poor people who come here to earn some money to support our families. Although we have signed a contract with Ruyifang, why bother risking our lives with such a fierce bandit with secret skills?
"Okay! Then I'll pay this month's wages first, so that everyone can be happy."
Jiang Xia pointed at a box at his feet with a smile and kicked it open. The neatly stacked silver inside was shining with a different light under the sun.
"Come one by one. All are available."
He made a "please" gesture and said to the foremen:
"I heard that you guys came here to do the work, and it was agreed that you would be paid one silver coin a month, but you only got less than half a cent. I won't do such rubbish. All the money that those bastards withheld this year is now here.
take it back.
Give it to the workers, this is what they deserve.”
After that, he pointed to the small box next to the big box and said:
"That box is specially for you. It contains all the benefits you deserve. Don't deduct the labor wages of the poor people under your command. I made it clear when I gave it to them.
This is all the grace of the court and the kindness of Lord Sun. You must remember it carefully."
Having said that, Jiang Xia pointed mysteriously at the sky, then pointed at his own eyes, made an explosion gesture with malice, and finally pointed at the corpses.
He said to a dozen foremen with different expressions:
"God is watching what you do. You can have your own little tricks, but don't let me catch you!"
"Finally, I've left some 'trinkets' on the road leading out of the mountain. Don't let the poor people go to their deaths. If I don't allow you to go out and report the news, no one can go out.
Understand?"
The foremen nodded again. There had been rumors before that the road leading out of the mountain was blocked. Now hearing this masked man with secret skills say so, it confirmed the rumor.
"Go ahead, get paid, and work hard for the court."
Jiang Xia smiled and waved his hand, watching more than a dozen foremen find carts and transport large boxes of silver to the town. Soon, bursts of noise were heard in the town.
The miners still don't understand.
But give out money.
This is a rare good thing, a lot of money, who doesn’t like it?
After doing all these things, Jiang Xia did not stay here. He pulled off the felt hat on his head, pushed the mask upwards, smoothed his messy hair, and rushed to the Huang family's house.
When he walked into the alley, he heard some movement behind him, and saw Su, wearing a colorful mask and carrying a gun, jumping down from the wall.
“That won’t work.”
Sue said:
"You can't fool them. Once they find out that you only have a few people helping you, they will riot immediately. The Ruyifang tycoon has occupied this place for many years, and they are used to being ruled.
They will not obey your little favors.”
"I don't need them to obey, and giving them money is just to keep them stable temporarily."
Jiang Xia turned around and said to Su:
"I didn't intend to rely on them at all. Am I so naive in your mind? Go back and pack your things, bring some local specialties or something, and we'll go back tonight."
"Well?"
Su was a little confused for a moment and didn't realize what Jiang Xia meant by going back.
"What? Don't you want to go back to see Roger?"
Jiang Xia joked:
"Is it because you think this world is good and you plan to defect to the Black Hand Society and follow me in the future?"
"Back to the wasteland? Okay."
Although Su was wearing a mask, his joy at this moment was beyond words.
He rubbed his hands, thinking that Jiang Xia might have lied to him.
But unexpectedly, Jiang Xia was so willing to fulfill his promise, which made Su Zai's anger and alienation towards Jiang Xia suddenly lessen a lot.
"But the star array was broken and buried in the ruins."
Su flexed his fingers and said:
"How do we get back?"
"It's a secret, don't ask."
Jiang Xia waved his hands mysteriously, looking like a hermit who has a plan of his own. He said:
"Hurry up and pack your things. Take as much as you want. I'm counting on you to put in a good word for me in front of Rogge, so that the bad guy won't pull out his gun and shoot me the moment he sees me.
Sue, we can barely be considered friends now, right?
You won't sell me out, will you?"
Su snorted proudly, but did not answer. He used the power of his prosthetic legs to push him onto the low roof next to him, and then activated the optical camouflage module of his prosthetic legs.
Like a chameleon, it ran quickly on the roof and ran towards the Huang family's house.
Jiang Xia shook his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
When he returned to the Huang family's house, Mrs. Niu was making lunch, and Liu Laosi was standing at the kitchen door, chatting with Mrs. Niu in a casual manner.
When the skinny monkey saw the boss coming back, he immediately came up to flatter him, but he heard Jiang Xia say:
"Old Four, please take the trouble tonight and guard the mountain pass in Su's place to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from escaping."
"Oh well."
Liu Laosi agreed readily. He had made a lot of money when he raided the homes of the six managers before, so he was very excited and full of energy.
After hearing Jiang Xia's instructions, he went to the kitchen to get some dry food, picked up his pistol, and went out.
He already had wealth and felt much more at ease.
Even if Jiang Xia really lost, this worm was confident that he could sneak into the mountains during the chaos, flee with his wealth, and become a rich man somewhere else.
Now that I have a way out, the fear in my heart will naturally disappear.
Jiang Xia also knows this.
Su reported to him that Liu Laosi had kept some valuables for himself, but he didn't care.
This isn't a game, how can anyone follow you wholeheartedly all of a sudden?
If he could not defeat Ruyifang and ended up being deserted by his friends and relatives, he could only blame himself for his incompetent tactics, and could not blame others for being fickle.
And to be honest, what Liu Laosi has achieved now has far exceeded Jiang Xia's expectations.
He did not ask this local man, whom he had just met, to do more for him. After all, he had already gone through the most dangerous, weakest and most helpless time.
As long as we get it done tonight, everything will be on track.
"Jasmine, come here."
Jiang Xia was sitting in the hall, thinking about something, when he saw a girl in a cloth skirt, holding a water pitcher and a piece of braised bone in her hand, walking past the front of the hall.
The girl was humming a strange song, obviously in a good mood.
Compared to Su's sorrow, she was really heartless. It seemed that in less than two or three days, she had completely adapted to this strange yet beautiful new world.
Hearing Jiang Xia's call, Jasmine suddenly shrank her neck.
She looked back at Jiang Xia and subconsciously hid the braised bones in her hand behind her back. She had stolen them from the kitchen when Mrs. Niu wasn't paying attention.
In the wasteland, in the Eternal Life Society where rationing is strictly implemented, stealing food is a serious crime.
Although, she was no longer there.
She carefully held the small jug and moved step by step to the hall. She sat on a chair, glanced at Jiang Xia, then turned her head and took a small bite of the braised bones.
The complex taste immediately stimulated Jasmine's taste buds.
It was difficult for her poor language to describe the rich taste. It was much more delicious than roasted rat meat or something. She didn't know how to describe it, it was just delicious.
This world of material abundance is wonderful.
"Eat if you want. Why are you hiding from us? Are you afraid that we will snatch it away?"
Jiang Xia joked , and Jasmine nodded, then shook her head.
"Oh, just get used to it slowly."
He sighed, reached out and touched Jasmine's head, and then said:
“Do you like this world?”
"Um."
Seeing that Jiang Xia had no intention of punishing her, Jasmine became a little bolder. She grabbed the marinated bones with both hands and started chewing on them like a hamster. When she heard the question, she raised her head and nodded.
She really liked this new world.
Even though she had only been here for less than three days, she had been hiding in a village in the mountains.
But here there is endless water and delicious food. You don’t have to worry about going hungry, working to a certain schedule, or being scolded.
This kind of life is much better than the good life she had imagined.
"I'm taking Sue back to the wasteland tonight."
Jiang Xia said to her:
"Do you want to go back together?"
Jasmine was stunned for a moment, and the meat in her mouth instantly lost its flavor.
When she thought about having to face the Black Hand Society's fighters after she returned, and the wanted list from the Eternal Life Society, she suddenly felt worried and sad.
After several seconds, she looked up.
Looking at the water jar and the marinated bones in front of him, he raised his greasy hand like a punching bag, made a "small" gesture, and asked in a low voice:
"Can you come back? Can you come back once a year? Just once would be fine."
"You misunderstood."
Jiang Xia laughed in silence, shook his head, and explained :
"I'll go there tonight and come back tonight. I'm going to stay here for a long time. I'll only go to the wasteland occasionally. Our meeting was a coincidence, and I never asked you about it.
Let me ask you now, do you want to go back to the wasteland, to the Eternal Life Society, or stay here and follow me in the future?"
"I follow you!"
Jasmine did not hesitate and answered:
"I am very capable. Although I am just an apprentice, I learn things very quickly and eat very little. All I need is water to drink every day.
Please keep me, I don’t want any wages.”
"Hahaha"
Jiang Xia laughed and said:
"Okay, you'll follow me from now on, and remember to call me boss.
Let's go meet Rogge tonight and discuss business with him. However, I don't know much about the wasteland, nor about the Black Hand. First, you tell me what they are best at.
And, what is the most valuable thing they have?
If you were doing business with them, what would you most want from them?
All this information told me that I must not miss anything.”
——
That night, when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, in the large cellar in the backyard of the Huang family's house that Butler Huang used to store things, Jiang Xia, who had changed into his thermal imaging combat uniform, moved his shoulders.
There are several oil lamps lit all around, and among the shadows, one can see Su who is somewhat excited, and Jasmine who has changed back into her wasteland outfit.
Su's body was covered with all kinds of specialties.
Many of the oil paper packages contained food and smoked meat, and the several containers on his body were filled with clean water.
There was a row of bamboo tubes inserted on his belt, which contained strong liquor bought by Liu Laosi.
There were several jars at his feet, also filled with water and wine.
For the wastelanders, this is the best gift.
Jasmine also had a lot of bags on her.
She is now Jiang Xia's first employee, so naturally she has to follow her boss's instructions. Her bag also contains the "gift" that Jiang Xia wants to give to the Black Hand Society.
Everything is ready, just waiting for Jiang Xia to use his "secret technique".
He took a deep breath, placed his left hand on the handle of the pistol at his waist, closed his eyes, concentrated and calmed his mind. The strange tree that looked like it was made of starlight reappeared in his mind.
The tiny bud on the bare branch was no longer as dim as before. In the past two days, it seemed to have been fully recharged, with light flowing on it.
As soon as Jiang Xia focused his attention on the flower, starlight began to flow before his eyes. Just like last time, the scene of the wasteland with rolling yellow sand was reflected in front of Jiang Xia like a mirror.
It's like there's a layer of water separating the inside and the outside world.
He could still feel Su and Jasmine, as well as the pile of things, behind him. His consciousness seemed to spread out at this moment, wrapping them up like a net.
Then, in my consciousness, I took a step towards the desert town in front of me.
A familiar feeling, like passing through the water, brushed through Jiang Xia's consciousness and body. At that moment, he felt a sense of confusion, but it only lasted for a moment.
When he opened his eyes again, a surprised scream came from beside him.
The familiar desert, the familiar desolation, the rough wind blowing on my face.
The familiar and extremely annoying electrical noise came to my mind again, as well as this damn, disgusting desolation, this hopeless and desperate place.
He wanted to get away from here countless times, but when he really came back, Su knelt on the ground with joy, shouting and screaming, almost going crazy.
He is back!
He is really back!
But this noise brought them trouble the next moment.
"do not move!"
"Don't move!"
The Black Hand warriors reacted quickly as always. Less than ten seconds after the three outsiders arrived here, they were blocked from all sides by five or six pulse guns.
There was also a rapid-fire cannon mounted on top of the low wall, with its black muzzle pointed at them.
The slightest movement would result in death on the spot.
Jiang Xia curled his lips, stretched out his hands, and made a French military salute in the yellow sand.
He shouted:
"Where is my good friend Roger? A friend is visiting, why don't you come out to greet him? I'm here to discuss business with him!"
"You rough wastelanders are so rude."
