Luo Ping looked much more weathered, with more and messier facial hair, and his head a complete disarray resembling a bird's nest. The sunglasses perched on his nose didn't cover his eyes, seemingly making him look more like the image of Sharp Brother.

When he waved to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, he bent down and craned his neck, his movements still carrying a hint of lecherousness, just like how he used to recommend Playboy and scandalous comics to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei on the road outside Fengcheng County.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei instinctively picked up their weapons and aimed them at Luo Ping, one with a short needle and the other with a gun. This was already a subconscious reaction, very natural.

Luo Ping's reaction, as before, was to blurt out "Holy shit," and he raised his hands high in the air.

He gave a wry smile and said, "Big brother and sister are still so vigilant."

With weapons pointed at him, he dared not make any moves and called over his shoulder, "Shu, Master Shu, come over here, see who has come to visit!

"Big brother and sister don't believe me, come and vouch for me."

Shu is here?!

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei were both somewhat taken aback.

Then where is Chai Xin?

Shu's head, covered in tree roots, soon appeared, giving Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei a toothy grin, though it appeared somewhat strained.

"Old brother and sister, long time no see. It's really good to see you. Without you two, I didn't know what to do."

Shu seemed to have found his saviors and hurried over.

Luo Ping's eyes suddenly widened as he watched Shu rush past, leaving him behind. Luo Ping had already been fawning by calling them big brother and sister, but now this guy was even more over the top?!

Decades older and still calling them big brother and sister! Why wouldn't he call me big brother?!

Luo Ping was confused.

Shu had already reached Lu Xi'an.

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both lowered their weapons but still held the short needle and gun in their hands.

"Weren't you heading south? Why are you back here?"

Shu asked. More than a month ago, he had parted ways with the old brother and sister before him, thinking they must have gone far away, and might never see them again in this lifetime. Now something had happened, and he had no way of asking them for help, but who knew they would appear in front of him again.

This made Shu genuinely surprised.

But the surprise was buried under anxiety, and coupled with Shu's deeply wrinkled face, it was hard to decipher.

Lu Xi'an said, "There was an earthquake south of Jianshan City, collapsing the tunnel in the mountain. We couldn't get through, so we had to turn back."

Shu muttered immediately, "It's fate! It's fate! The heavens have shown a sign! I knew it!" He turned back to Luo Ping excitedly, saying, "See, Xiaoluo, I knew it, good people are rewarded, the heavens have shown a sign! The old brother and sister have returned, Chai Xin is saved now!"

Luo Ping: "..."

He still couldn't understand why Shu called them old brother and sister while he was only Xiaoluo.

Old chap, what kind of eyesight do you have?! I'm clearly more weathered than those two, right?! Look at those two, the guy is young and handsome, and the girl is young and pretty, like they stepped out of a comic, standing here like they don't belong to this world, how can you compare that to me?!

"What happened?!"

Lu Xi'an asked, "Master Shu, where is Chai Xin?"

"Oh...it's a long story..."

Shu sighed deeply and said, "You'd better hurry and move the car over. It's a bit dangerous on the road; who knows if people from the mountain will notice."

Lu Xi'an then instructed Yao Wei to get in the car and drive it off the road, towards Luo Ping and Shu in the woods.

Lu Xi'an, however, didn't get in the car. He followed alongside cautiously, staying vigilant to avoid any accidents or traps for their car.

After the car drove through the woods and finally stopped at the foot of the mountain, Lu Xi'an felt completely at ease.

After getting out of the car, they saw a hidden crack at the foot of the mountain. The crack was just big enough for one person to squeeze through, leading into what seemed to be a more spacious stone cave, appearing pitch dark.

"This is where we've been hiding for the past few days. But with four people going in, it'd be a bit cramped, and it's too dark inside. Plus, there's a lot of food stored, and the smell has become unpleasant over time. We might as well talk here."

Luo Ping said.

He knew that Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei had many questions, so he got straight to the point, "Are you wondering where Chai Xin is?"

Lu Xi'an indeed noticed the strange smells wafting from the crack, a mix of unknown fruits and meat, which indeed made people hesitant to get closer.

If it wasn't for the sake of concealment, they wouldn't even want to stay here.

Lu Xi'an had already been observing Luo Ping and Shu's expressions for a while.

Luo Ping's face was fairly calm. Lu Xi'an knew this fellow was used to seeing a lot, so it wasn't easy to read anything from his expression. However, Shu, despite appearing anxious, didn't seem all that sad.

Judging by Shu's appearance, along the way, he must have developed some feelings for Chai Xin, and now seeing more anxiety than sadness, Chai Xin shouldn't be dead.

Lu Xi'an felt somewhat relieved in his heart and asked, "Is he up on the mountain?"

Luo Ping's eyes widened instantly, "How do you know?!"

"Then it seems that's the case."

Lu Xi'an didn't answer, and asked, "What's going on exactly? Can you tell us now?" He looked around again, detecting no other movements, then asked, "Is it just the two of you here?"

"It's just the two of us."

Luo Ping sighed and sat down on the ground, "After the incident happened earlier, I sent everyone who was still alive here to the county town of Shanyang County, to get them out quickly.

"If nothing happens afterwards, I would hang a flag in the county town and return.

"Ah... It was so hard to set up such a large situation, but now it has all ended in failure. I knew it, people shouldn't trust so easily!"

Shu immediately slapped his thigh and lamented, "Blame me! Blame me! It's my fault!"

Luo Ping patted Shu on the shoulder and said, "How can it be your fault? Those two are quite adept at disguising, just look at how I was duped too. I thought they were good people who could join the team, or else how would I have been fooled now?"

Shu said, "But if it weren't for us bringing them along..."

Lu Xi'an interrupted the conversation between Luo Ping and Shu, saying, "Can we talk about responsibility later? Can you first tell us what's going on now?"

Shu wavered and said, "This is a long story..."

Then Luo Ping interrupted Shu, saying, "Let me make a long story short."

Shu slapped his forehead, making the roots on his head rustle, and said, "You're right, you do the talking. You're better at it than me, I'm getting old, my mind's muddled, I can't explain clearly."

Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei both turned their eyes toward Luo Ping.

Luo Ping sighed and said, "This business probably started ten or twenty days ago—honestly, I didn't keep track of the exact time, too many things have happened recently, I don't have the energy to count the days.

"At that time Chai Xin and Shu came over, holding your map—the one with the letter written on the back.

"They went to Shanyang County..."

At this point, the story was interrupted by Shu.

Shu added, "Actually, we first came to the north side of Shanyang County here. You mentioned before that Xiaoluo was on the north side of Shanyang County, so Chai Xin and I came here to look.

"But here there's no village in front and no shop behind, we couldn't find anything no matter how hard we tried, so we had to go to Shanyang County."

Luo Ping rolled his eyes speechlessly and said, "I asked you to come here not to find me, but for me to find you.

"My people and I were in the mountains, if you come here, you will definitely see us. Who would have thought you both were stealthy, how do I look for you then?"

Shu scratched his head.

Luo Ping continued to explain to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, "Later the two of them went to Shanyang County, and heard my name in the county town, that's when they finally showed up.

"When I learned about them, I went to find them."

"Ah!"

Upon hearing this, Shu heavily slapped his thigh again, filled with regret.

Luo Ping looked at him briefly, then said to Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei, "To be frank, brother and sister, you really are better than me, you found such decent people right after you left and introduced them to me.

"I have traveled far and wide for so long, yet never met such good people—well, except for you both."

Lu Xi'an said, "The people you have in Shanyang County aren't bad either, when I asked them about your location before, they refused to tell me, even risking offending me."

Luo Ping shook his head and said, "It's not the same, they really do follow me often, but they're all ordinary people with good consciences.

"But Neo-Humans are different, the two you brought are Neo-Humans. In this world, most Neo-Humans are no longer human."

"Ah!"

Shu let out another heavy sigh, slapped his thigh, filled with annoyance.

Lu Xi'an glanced at Shu, and from his sighs and Luo Ping's words, he thought of the three red dots on the mountain.

He actually wanted to ask Luo Ping why he arranged for others to be in the county town of Shanyang County, which was so far from here, but since there were more pressing matters to understand now, he didn't ask.

This question, he would leave it for later.

He continued listening as Luo Ping said, "Shu and Chai Xin met two people halfway, both Neo-Humans.

"Those two aren't D-types, can't hide. So when they came over earlier, Chai Xin and Shu asked them to wait first.

"Chai Xin and Shu came to take a look, stayed here for two days, before mentioning these two people."

"Oh—"

Suddenly, Shu cried out in a shrill voice, the cry sounding as though it was squeezed out from his throat, his facial features scrunching together, looking even more menacing and terrifying, making him seem like a hundred-year-old child, completely unrecognizable.

This cry interrupted Luo Ping's words.

Shu cried as he said, "Blame me! It's my fault! Chai Xin is still young, doesn't have much experience, how could I not be cautious around people?

"I was only worried about Xiaoluo's side, stayed here for two days, saw nothing was wrong, was then daring enough to call those two beasts!

"I never thought, those two people are the real beasts!"

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