Ling Cage: Twelve Talismans? I have everything I need.

Chapter 52 Encountering an Acquaintance on the Ground

"When to set off?"

Hong Kou's voice was calm, but she was extremely excited inside.

"Let's go now!" Qianli waved his hand.

"The goods to be delivered have been loaded onto the truck and are just waiting for you."

"Remember to maintain your original state on the way and avoid unnecessary trouble. Once you leave the shielding tower's range, there will be more Devouring Beasts."

Shielding tower?
Hong Kou and Po Xiao exchanged a glance. They already knew from the school that Dragon Bone Village was immune to the Devouring Beasts because of the shielding tower.

But they haven't seen what a shielding tower looks like yet, and they hope to see it on the way.

The two followed Qianli into the car.

The convoy drove out of Longgu Village and headed along the bumpy, abandoned dirt road.

Qianli led the way, with Hongkou and Poxiao sitting in the back of his truck.

The carriage was filled with goods covered tightly with tarpaulins, including old-world junk that Yang Chen had restored to its original condition, and equipment that was still usable.

Outside the car window, the mountainous area where Longgu Village is located has been left behind, replaced by desolate and severely weathered land.

Hong Kou and Po Xiao maintained their original state, and through the car window, they could occasionally see the figures of the Devouring Beasts wandering in the distance.

But they did not react at all to the lifeless convoy.

As dawn broke, he watched the Devouring Beast's figure flash past the window, then glanced at the shielding tower standing atop the mountain in the distance.

He asked in a low voice, "Qianli, will the shielding tower keep all the Devouring Beasts out?"

Before Qianli could answer, the fully armed man sitting in the passenger seat spoke up.

The sound was as if it had been specially processed, deep and indistinct.

"The shielding tower releases a special magnetic field, and as long as it is within the coverage area, the Devouring Beast will not approach."

The sound seemed to make Qianli very uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but reach out and pick at her ears.

"I'd say you should talk less, or take off your helmet before you speak."

The man didn't utter a word in rebuttal, but instead pulled a Nepalese kukri from his trouser leg and held it against Qianli's throat.

Qianli couldn't help but tilt his head back, so frightened that he even spoke in his local dialect.

"Just kidding, just kidding. There are some new people here, I'm just trying to liven things up."

"Who is this?" Hong Kou's eyes were full of doubt.

After all, this person had been taciturn since boarding the vehicle, rarely speaking, and his body was completely covered by equipment.

Qianli slowly moved the man's hand away and introduced them to Hong Kou and the other person.

"You can just call him Er Tong."

Two tubes
Hong Kou glanced at him cautiously. The helmet had two cylindrical protrusions, which did indeed resemble the two of bamboo tiles on a mahjong tile.

"Of course, Happy Cool Baby is fine too." With the knife moved away, Qianli spoke confidently again.

"Does Happy Cool Baby know this? Old-world cartoons, if you change the color to black, they'll look exactly like him."

"If you keep talking, I really don't mind cutting your mouth open. I'll get you treated by Boss Yang when we get back to the village."

Er Tong toyed with the Nepalese knife in his hand, changing the angle of the blade to reveal a cold glint.

It's easy to tell from his tone that he was absolutely serious.

"With one stroke of the blade, your two mouths can be thrown out to feed the Devouring Beast."

"Hey! If you scare me again, everyone will be in trouble if Guiyuan leaks!" Qianli shouted, advising Ertong not to do anything foolish.

"Humph"

Er Tong snorted coldly, stopped talking, and turned his head to look out the window at the scenery.

Hong Kou and Po Xiao exchanged a glance; it seemed that this guy named Er Tong wasn't so easy to talk to.

Then he asked Qianli, "How many people who have traveled from the lighthouse have been taken in by the settlements over there?"

Qianli drove, looking ahead: "I don't know the exact number, but Elder Nan has been in contact with them a lot." "I heard that he was a Dustman in the Lighthouse. He was lucky and didn't follow the others when he came down. He was picked up by their team that went out to search for supplies."

"As for the others, so much time has passed, they've probably turned to dust by now."

Dust people...

Hong Kou's mind flashed back to those figures, their faces blurred, silently toiling at the bottom of the lighthouse.

They were stripped of their names, left only with cold, impersonal numbers; their lives were as insignificant as a feather in the "life formula."

It is fortunate to be able to be reborn on earth in one's later years.

“You’ll see it when we get there,” Qianli added.

"Most of you who travel far away are elderly, so we usually arrange for you to stay in the living area and take care of things like the vegetable garden."

Most of the day's journey was spent in silence and vigilance.

As dusk began to paint the sky with its golden hues, a settlement built against a massive, rugged black mountain came into view at the edge of the horizon.

It wasn't as vibrant as Dragonbone Village; it was more like a massive, rugged fortified stronghold.

Tall walls, constructed of a mixture of metal and rough rock, surround the core area.

The walls were covered with watchtowers and gun emplacements.

The convoy bumped along the rutted dirt road and drove into the settlement's heavy gate, which was welded from scrap armor plates.

On the gate tower, several guards dressed in a mix of leather armor and metal plates, and carrying crude firearms, watched them.

One of the leading guards recognized the vehicle as belonging to Dragonbone Village and waved to the crowd below.

The heavy metal door slowly opened.

Qianli parked the car on a relatively flat open space inside the gate and called Hongkou and Poxiao to get out of the car: "We're here. The unloading point is in the warehouse over there."

As soon as the group got off the car, an elderly man with gray hair came up to greet them.

"Did you encounter any danger on the way?"

Qianli nodded: "It's nothing. You've already discussed the goods with Elder Nan, right?"

The old man's main role here is resource coordination, similar to that of the South Star.

"Yes, it's already been arranged with Antarctica." The old man pointed to the bungalow next to him.

"The crystal coins and some raw materials are over there; please inspect them."

“Okay, you guys unload the goods, we’ll go take a look.” Qianli nodded.

They then walked towards the bungalows with Hong Kou and the other two, while the rest of the caravan stayed behind to help them unload the goods.

There were only eight people in the bungalow, mostly young men, carrying supplies out.

Two of the elderly people were sitting in front of a computer.

Hong Kou's gaze unconsciously swept over the two old men.

Suddenly, her gaze settled on one of the elderly men.

The old man had gray hair and a face full of deep wrinkles. He was staring at the computer screen, taking notes in a notebook.

Hong Kou felt that the face looked somewhat familiar.

The old man stood at the front of the procession during the departure ceremony.

The old man seemed to sense the gaze, raised his head, and his cloudy eyes swept blankly over Red Bandit and Dawn.

When his gaze fell upon Hong Kou's striking red hair, and her familiar appearance alongside Dawn's, the old man's cloudy eyes widened suddenly!

His lips trembled violently, as if he had seen something that could never possibly be there.

The ledger in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

"Red...Red Bandit...Captain?!"

(End of this chapter)