My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 231 Rainy Night Rescue

Hu Yi looked at Yabalov's towering figure and immediately felt a sense of relief. Then he glanced at the bag in Yabalov's hand: "—What's that?"

"Weapons. Didn't you say there might be trouble?" Yabalov opened the canvas bag with both hands, and the other four surrounded him, picking through it and each taking a sheathed military dagger and stuffing it into their pockets.

"This...this..." Hu Yi clicked his tongue. "Is it necessary? You can't just hurt people and cause trouble."

"I know, it's just for self-defense." A tall, burly man grinned at him. "Most people wouldn't dare come near if they saw this."

"Alright, we'll be careful." Seeing that they all had knives on their hands, Hu Yi hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should also choose a handy weapon to carry for courage.

Suddenly, headlights appeared in the distance. The pre-booked van honked its horn, pulled up, and braked sharply. The driver, alert as ever, leaned out and whistled, "Attention passengers bound for Abalensk! The bus is about to depart! Please board as soon as possible!"

The men, laughing and joking, climbed into the car one after another. Hu Yi folded his long umbrella, feeling that it could also serve as a means of self-defense, then bent down and slapped a hundred-dollar bill at the driver: "Let's go! To Abarensk!"

The preparations had taken quite a bit of time, and the group left the market at exactly seven o'clock. By the time they were out of the main urban area with the flow of traffic, it was already past eight. Hu Yi, feeling anxious, leaned over to ask the driver, "How much longer until we arrive?"

"I don't know, I'm not familiar with the roads around here, and besides, it's nighttime and raining." The driver stopped the car and studied the navigation for a while: "There are still more than 100 kilometers to go, and if all goes well, it should take about an hour and a half."

"Okay, let's continue!" Hu Yi took out his phone and dialed the number that had called him that afternoon: "Hello! I've left Moscow now! I expect to arrive in Abarensk in about an hour and a half!"

"What did you say? I can't hear you! What? Speak louder! Another hour and a half?! That's too slow! Hurry, hurry!" The man was surrounded by a cacophony of shouts and noise, and his own pronunciation became increasingly incoherent, as if he were getting more and more drunk.

"Is my friend alright?" Hu Yi shouted into his phone.

"Your friend? Who?" the man muttered to himself for a few moments, then suddenly realized, "Ha! That fat guy! Right!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Where is he? Can I talk to him?!"

"No! He's not here!" the other person said smugly. "I hid him!"

"Hide it?! Why? Where do you want to hide it?" Hu Yi's voice was almost hoarse from shouting.

"A place only I can go in, only me!" The man's voice suddenly turned cold and stern, but his words remained incoherent. "If someone else finds out, he can't go back, understand? The same goes for you. So, when you arrive in Abaryansk, call me, you must!"

"Okay! I will!" He stammered this last sentence for a full half minute. Hu Yi, sweating profusely, asked loudly, "May I ask your name?"

"Call me...call me...Andrei...hiccup! Goodbye!" The man laughed a few times and hung up the phone.

"What nonsense! You're a lunatic! You drunkard! If you can't handle it, don't drink so much!" Hu Yi cursed angrily, but then felt a chill run down his spine from the warning he had just received, and couldn't help but touch the umbrella next to his seat.

"What's wrong?" Yabalov asked with concern. "Is your friend alright?"

"To be honest, I... don't know anything." Hu Yi shook his head blankly, then slapped the back of the driver's seat: "Drive faster! Faster!"

The driver was eager to get there and back as soon as possible, so he kept a safe speed throughout the journey. Unfortunately, the southbound highway was difficult to navigate; many sections lacked streetlights, and although the rain had stopped, dark clouds obscured the moon, making it pitch black all around.

Not only that, the road conditions were also unsatisfactory. There were potholes here and road repairs there, and the navigation information was from who-knows-when, leading them into a ditch if they weren't careful. The group had to get out of the car from time to time to ask for directions.

After much back and forth, stopping and starting, winding and turning, the car finally arrived at the small town of Chekhov after a full two and a half hours. The driver went to ask someone for directions and returned to the car to announce the good news: "Guys! Abarensk is almost here! We should arrive in half an hour!"

The passengers, who were all dozing off, perked up at the news. Hu Yi took out his phone to contact the man named Andrei again, but no one answered.

"What should we do? Could something have gone wrong?" Yabalov asked worriedly.

"We're already this far, no matter what happens, we have to go check it out." Hu Yi stared straight ahead. "Drive!"

Not far from Chekhov, the car turned west onto a country road lined with trees on both sides. After driving in complete darkness for twenty minutes, we rounded a bend, and suddenly a brightly lit town came into view.

"We're here!" the driver exclaimed in a low voice. "Finally! That must be Abarensk!"

"Great! My goodness, it's already eleven o'clock!" The group stretched out in the cramped car, and Hu Yi continued to call Andrei, but no one answered.

"Slow down, drive slowly." Hu Yi leaned forward, gazing at the distant town. The image of Andrei's incoherent ramblings flashed through his mind, and he felt a slight pang of tension. "Turn off the headlights!"

The car moved slowly at idle under the cover of night and stopped at the edge of the woods. The town was just a few dozen meters ahead; any further and it would be exposed to the streetlights.

The driver turned off the engine, and several people got out of the car. From a distance, they could hear shouts and commotion. Although they couldn't make out what they were shouting, it sounded like cursing and fighting. The whole town looked like a battlefield where people and horses were all over the place, and it was quite a scene of chaos.

The group exchanged glances, and Yabalov asked in a low voice, "What do we do? Did the call go through?"

Hu Yi shook his head: "No one's answering. Let's go check it out quietly."

"I'll go by myself," a long-faced man named Bacha volunteered. "You guys wait for me in the car."

"Okay, thank you." Hu Yi put his arm around his shoulder. "First, let's see if this is actually Abalensk, what kind of people are gathered in the town, and then check the road conditions nearby."

"Got it." Long-faced Bacha tightened his belt, trotted along the edge of the woods, and crouched down to slip into the town.

Hu Yi and the others waited in the car for more than ten minutes when suddenly the car door opened. The group was so startled that they almost jumped up. It was Chang Lian who had returned.

"Damn it! Where are you?!"

"I came through the woods." The long-faced man panted slightly. "Yes, this is Abaryansk. There are many people in the town, many people."

"Who are they?"

"I couldn't see very clearly, but they must be the townspeople. They seemed to be having a party, everyone was holding a drink and shouting like crazy. I didn't dare to go closer."

"The townspeople?" Hu Yi breathed a slight sigh of relief. "What are they shouting? Did you hear me?"

"Not entirely sure." The long-faced man pondered for a moment. "It seems to be calling... Fatty... Andrei?"

(End of this chapter)