Chapter 17 Manage the meal!_1

Inside the cargo bay disguised as a refrigerated transport truck, Huai Shi sat restlessly, looking around, feeling that the few people sitting next to him looked familiar.

Finally, he had an epiphany and pointed at the person opposite him, "Hey, were you the one who jabbed my neck with a needle last time?"

The person opposite him lifted his eyes to glance at him, seemingly uninterested in engaging, and too lazy to even toss a bone his way.

The icy atmosphere of escorting a prisoner to his death made Huai Shi especially uneasy.

"Report, I need to use the restroom..."

The soldier opposite him pointed to a bucket in the corner of the cargo bay.

"I have to do a number two!"

The soldier on the other side still pointed at the bucket without moving, indifferent to whether it was for a number one or a number two.

In the swaying cargo bay, Huai Shi's expression twitched, he leaned back as much as he could to distance himself from the bucket... and prayed that nothing inside would splash out!

He quickly realized something was off, "Wait a minute! Those bastards have seen our faces! How are we supposed to investigate? We'd be delivering ourselves right to their doorstep as soon as we walked in!"

Liu Dongli, sitting beside him, pulled out two mask-like things from his chest and tossed one to him.

"High molecular plastic mask."

Ding!

Huai Shi added his own sound effects in his mind: You have obtained the legendary item - Human Skin Mask X1

Curiously examining the strange object in his hands, he couldn't help but wonder why he was sent here, and why Liu Dongli also showed up looking all deflated.

"It's for a reduced sentence," said Liu Dongli as he sat cross-legged, smoking, "Once we finish this one, I'm free. Then it's the sea's breadth for the fish to leap, the sky's height for the birds to fly."

In the silence, Huai Shi looked at him with pity, "…You do know that in movies, as soon as someone says that, they're guaranteed to die during the last mission, right?"

"..."

"It's fine for you to be carefree about dying, but I'm not ready to go yet. Not only am I a virgin, but I haven't even had a chance to get rich. Isn't that a bit too harsh?"

"Relax, relax."

Liu Dongli patted his shoulder, his cigarette in hand as he gestured, "The mission is simple; infiltrate the place, extract information, and if possible, blend into the scene and capture that bastard red-handed. If anything goes wrong, send out an alarm, and over a hundred muscly bros with long guns and short cannons will come in to rescue you. What are you scared of?"

"..." Huai Shi looked around at the circle of muscular men, feeling slightly reassured, "Do they have experience in rescuing hostages? They didn't bring a negotiation expert either?"

"Ah ha, don't worry."

Liu Dongli chuckled, "The Sublimators Suppression Troops of the Special Affairs Department never negotiate. They just take care of both the kidnappers and hostages together. So, have you picked out your coffin yet? I recommend the one with the crane on it, looks classy..."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes.

He completely lost hope.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, the truck stopped at the back door of a meat shop in Old Pond Town. Following the shouting of the shop owner, two people disguised as movers came out from the inner compartment and carried two pork sides into the shop.

The meat was real, the shop was real, and even the truck was real; they could find its number on the transportation company's website if they checked.

It was just temporarily taking the place of the truck that was scheduled to deliver goods today.

After the delivery, the driver excused himself to have a meal, parked the truck, and after walking a distance with Huai Shi and Liu Dongli, sat down to look at pin-up girls in the restaurant, casually waving his hand to signal the two to go about freely at a distance.

"What should I do now?"

Huai Shi looked around, utterly befuddled. He just saw Liu Dongli pat his shoulder casually and say, "Just stay put, I'll go and buy you an orange tree."

With that, he flicked his hair and walked onto the street, striking up a conversation with an old lady.

It was unclear whether Cowherd's charm was too overwhelming or his affability too astonishing, but in no time, they were calling each other 'big sister' and 'little brother,' with the old lady beaming from ear to ear as she led him away, destination unknown.

Leaving Huai Shi standing there, a black question mark over his head.

The Three Questions of Life flooded his mind, clueless about what to do next.

"You say I should sneak in, but you could at least tell me how to do that. How can you just dump me here—what's the deal?"

Huai Shi covered his face, only to hear the flapping of wings as a raven landed on the wall.

Before he could feel relieved, he heard the raven's voice in his head: "Don't speak, you've got a bug on you."

What the hell?

Huai Shi's eyes widened.

"Are you dumb, little bro? You're under surveillance," the raven sighed. "Can't blame you, though, that girl's intuition is too sharp. Honestly, there are some doubts about your identity too. If I had known, I wouldn't have suggested you collaborate with the Astronomical Society, especially since I'm still in my escape phase..."

What kind of nonsense is this?!

Huai Shi's eyes widened.

"Escape phase, you say." The raven looked at him puzzled. "Ah, I'm a wanted fugitive on the run from the Astronomical Society, I remember being pretty high on their list. Didn't I tell you?"

You didn't say shit!

Great, now I, the 'second fifth,' and you, the fugitive, together with this bunch of crazy cult scammers, are all wrapped up together.

Eventually, I'll be thrown in jail, you'll be shot, and those nuts will be sentenced—what a bright future for us all.

"Don't panic, she isn't certain yet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent you out in the hope that you'd slip up. Listen to me, this time it'll be a close call with no harm done."

Huai Shi rolled his eyes; he had completely given up on his pathetic teammates by his side.

Please, just let me solo queue.

He sighed and stood up, starting to stroll around on the streets. Everything he saw was ordinary and common.

Tinged with a sense of decay.

The streets were mostly populated by the elderly, barely any young people in sight—probably all gone to work out of town, right?

Makes sense, given that Xinhai's economy hasn't been doing well lately. After all, the last time it was considered a big city was seventy or eighty years ago. The fact that it's still on the map is a miracle in itself.

Any ambitious young person would probably have gone off to work in Yanjing, Jinling, or Yangzhou. I heard that the new Cabinet is keen on boosting the coastal economy, but could it really be better than the inland environment?

With things being this way, Huai Shi simply pushed aside any thoughts of his undercover mission and started wandering the streets with his hands in his pockets.

The afternoon sun cast its slanting rays across the earth, warming his body.

In a daze, Huai Shi seemed to see the entire town wavering like a reflection in the water, with countless shadows emerging from the heavens. But soon, the bizarre illusion faded, and everything went back to normal.

Leaving him drenched in cold sweat and shivering.

This place has a problem, doesn't it?

.

.

"The target has started to move."

Accompanied by the surveillance report, inside the temporary command center in the huge truck outside the town, everyone perked up, putting on headphones and looking toward the screens.

On the screen, in addition to the surveillance feeds from various parts of the town, the enlarged image in the center was of Huai Shi, who seemed to have nothing better to do than wander around aimlessly.

In the prolonged silence, everyone watched Huai Shi walk east and loiter west, looking like a listless idler wandering about with no particular purpose.

It didn't look like he was in hiding at all, more like he had encountered a ghost and shuddered.

Compared to Liu DongLi, who was like a fish in water and had already infiltrated the circle of elderly lady friends, Huai Shi seemed to just be skimming the surface, and there was no sign that he was under any suspicion.

Just when everyone was gradually becoming speechless, another report came from the front: "The target is starting to conne…"

The voice cut off abruptly.

In the image, Huai Shi ran into a small convenience store, bought a packet of cigarettes and a lighter with his undercover pay, and even indulged himself a bit by purchasing a five-yuan ice cream.

Then he squatted on the steps under the sun and started slurping it up.

An overwhelming scent of a salted fish hit them in the face…

This guy was beyond help, wasn't he?

Ai Qing, who always maintained a calm expression, couldn't help but twitch a bit, beginning to question internally: Was there something wrong with himself for suspecting that this salted fish was hiding something?

How had that enthusiastic and lively kid turned into this sort of ghost after a few years of not seeing him?

Could it only be said that the saw of time is truly a masterpiece of craftsmanship?

Seeing Huai Shi so committed to wasting his time, the people in the command center didn't know what to say anymore, and some looked at Ai Qing, wondering whether to give him a push, but Ai Qing had not spoken from beginning to end.

Forget it, one more person or one less didn't make much difference.

Their current work was full of issues; not only did they need to unravel the interpersonal relationships of Old Pond Town within a few short hours, but they also had to review past surveillance footage for any trace of clues.

The Depth Detector had already been brought in and was being installed intensively; there was no time to waste on a salted fish.

And amidst the hustle and bustle, the listening device on Huai Shi picked up a distant hailing: Hey, lad, yes, you, come over here.

In the image, Huai Shi looked perplexed as he got called over by a group of old men pushing hand carts.

"Yes, you, whose kid is this? Come over and lend a hand!"

Huai Shi was dazed for a long time, slurping on the leftover ice cream stick, as if he finally remembered his job as an undercover agent, and reluctantly went to help the group of old men push the cart and unload goods. He managed to get the hand cart into a critical yard after some effort and then got tasked with moving a jumble of broken gongs, drums, and opera costumes down from the cart, putting them away in an organized fashion.

In the yard, there seemed to be a gathering taking place, with a bunch of dark-skinned old men sitting on the ground, chatting gleefully about something. Furthermore, some were gathered around a table playing cards, and in a corner, a pot was set up for boiling water; all that was missing were a few tables set up for a banquet.

It looked like there might be food to eat?

Huai Shi's eyes brightened.

The half-step he had taken outside was retracted back in.

Going undercover was simply impossible, this lifetime was impossible, and I might as well mix in and get my food without a fuss, not even asking for a few more pieces of meat, just enough rice would do.

But as Huai Shi waited left and right for the signal that the canteen had started serving food, he saw seven or eight old men on the ground picking up broken gongs, pipas, and suonas, starting to play the tune of a two-person comic show.

And when they realized they had a strange spectator watching, the old man in the middle playing the suona got even more excited, after blowing a long sequence, he proudly shook the thing in his hand at Huai Shi, as if to say, "See how awesome I am? Be envious..."

Huai Shi felt no ripple in his heart, he just clapped dryly and even felt like laughing a little.

If he hadn't left his dining utensils at home today, he would have let the old man see what ABRSM Level Eight Performance was all about... What's more, combined with meditation, the emotional power of his cello was ridiculously strong, if he put in a little effort, he could make your cow cry.

To his surprise, the group of old men got even more enthusiastic, blowing one piece after another at Huai Shi, the spit flying several meters from the suona, and who knows what black technology they used to connect with a subwoofer, almost shaking Huai Shi's molars loose.

After finishing, they even challenged Huai Shi by tilting their chins at him:

"Young man, how about a piece from you?"

"Fine, today I'll give an old man like you a little show."

Huai Shi curled his lips, looks like reality wouldn't allow him to keep a low profile anymore.

He casually rummaged through the pile of broken instruments, found an erhu that could be played, crossed his legs, no longer concerned about keeping a low profile and undercover, and started playing a mixed mashup of Horse Racing, Moon Reflected in Er-Quan, Bach's unaccompanied cello, Above the Moon, and Pomp and Circumstance.

Limited by the equipment, many parts were out of tune, and Huai Shi had to emulate the crazy Paganini, trying to play a whole song with just one string. But unexpectedly, after finishing his medley with closed eyes, he opened them to see a dense crowd of heads before him.

Those old men who were playing cards, chatting, smoking, and fiddling had gathered around without him knowing, pointing and looking serious and focused.

It was all over.

Huai Shi's heart tightened: had he exposed himself?

A few old men whispered among themselves, the one in the middle scrutinizing Huai Shi with a puzzled expression, "Where did this young fellow come from? How come I've never seen him before?"

"I... I'm new here... just a worker!"

Huai Shi instinctively stood up to run away: "I'll go now, I'll leave right now..."

"No rush."

The old man grabbed Huai Shi's shoulder, smiling so happily it was as if he was watching someone stuck in the bathroom getting toilet paper handed to him, "Lee Lao San that bastard ran off and didn't come today, and our Gospel Class is short of someone who can play the erhu. Come with us to the church talent show tonight, forty bucks a gig, including dinner, what do you say?"

A church?

A talent show?

Wait a minute, how did I infiltrate so quickly?

Huai Shi's face was bewildered.

Although his gut reaction was to refuse, considering he was still under surveillance, he could only bitterly nod in agreement.

"Fine!"

He hesitated a moment, then laid down his condition, "But I need to eat first!"

Feeling the increasingly severe chill at the back of his head, Huai Shi could almost imagine a tangible death crawling on his back, grinning wickedly.

However, what did this have to do with him being a cold, unfeeling Negative Energy Generator?

He'd think about hitting the road after eating his fill!